the Seine and in the siege of Paris. The deliberate German targeting of civilian morale presaged the total wars of the 20th century. Background After the Battle of Wörth, Crown Prince Frederick detached General August von Werder to move south against the fortress of Strasbourg. The city commanded a bridgehead across the Rhine, threatening southern Germany. Opposing forces German Werder's force was made up of 40,000 troops from Prussia, Württemberg and Baden, which lay just across the Rhine from Strasbourg. Werder's force eventually included the Landwehr Guard Division, the 1st Reserve Division, with one cavalry brigade, 46 battalions, 24 squadrons, 18 field batteries, a separate siege train of 200 field guns and 88 mortars, 6,000-foot artillerymen and ten companies of sappers and miners. The artillery parks at Vendenheim and Kork had a total of 366 guns and mortars, with 320,404 shells, case shot and shrapnel provided. French At the time, Strasbourg (along with Metz) was considered to be one of the strongest fortresses in France. Marshal Patrice de MacMahon evacuated Alsace after Wörth and left only three battalions of regulars to hold Strasbourg. Stragglers from Wörth, various other remnant forces, 130 marine infantrymen and elements of the Garde Mobile and National Guard militia improved the garrison's strength to 23,000. The fortress had at least 1,277 guns but no military engineers. The French commandant was the 68-year-old Lieutenant-General Jean-Jacques Uhrich. Siege On 11 August, Baden's force put Strasbourg under observation. They occupied the nearby town of Schiltigheim, fortified it, and captured the Strasbourg suburb of Königshofen. Werder understood the value of capturing the city, and ruled out a lengthy siege of starvation. He instead decided on a quicker action, bombarding the fortifications and the civilian population into submission. The first shells fell on the city on 14 August. Terror bombardment On 23 August Werder's siege guns opened fire on the city and caused considerable damage to the city and many of its historical landmarks. The Bishop of Strasbourg, Andreas Räss, went to Werder to beg for a ceasefire, and the civilian population suggested paying 100,000 francs to Werder each day he did not bomb the city. Uhrich refused to relent, and by 26 August Werder realized he could not keep up such a bombardment with the amount of ammunition he had. On 24 August, the Museum of Fine Arts was destroyed by fire, as was the Municipal Library housed in the