December 1870, the regiment proved itself in the bloody Battle of Loigny-Poupry, for which First Lieutenant Hermann Ehrne von Melchthal (8th Company) received a Knight's Cross for bravery in the face of the enemy. The regiment recaptured Orléans the following day. On 7 December 1870 Second Lieutenant Friedrich Krieger, head of the 11th Company, repelled an attack by superior French forces on an artillery unit at Lemons (near Meung) and engaged in a counter-attack on his own initiative. He pursued and captured numerous French soldiers and an enemy artillery battery; for this he received a Knight's Cross. On the same day Second Lieutenant Alfred Meyer distinguished himself through his brave actions in a battle at Le Bardon (north-west of Meung), resulting in the award of a Knight's Cross on 24 May 1871. In the Battle of Beaugency on 8 December 1870, the regiment held its positions against the French attacks. The regiment was kept on alert during the siege of Paris, but did not have to intervene in the fighting. The regiment had officially fielded 66 officers and 2879 men at the start of the war; 54 officers and 2193 men were present at the victory parade in Munich on 16 July 1871. In 8 transports, 34 officers and 2333 men had been sent as reinforcements, so that the regiment had suffered a total loss in terms of dead, wounded and diseased, of 46 officers and 3019 men, that is, 100 more men than had originally belonged to the regiment at the start of the war. Notable members Commanding officers The commander was always the king himself, but the military and administrative leadership of the regiment lay with the colonel-commandants, or after 1872, with the commanders. Pour le Mérite awards, 1914-1918 5 December 1917, Lieutenant of the Reserve Ferdinand Schörner 29 May 1918, Colonel Franz Ritter von Epp Military Order of Max Joseph Knight's Cross awards, 1914-1918 15 November 1915, First Lieutenant Hans Freiherr von Speidel (killed 28 December 1916) 25 June 1916, Prince Heinrich of Bavaria (killed 8 November 1916) 23 June 1916, Lieutenant Colonel Franz Ritter von Epp 11 July 1916, Captain Emmerich Freiherr von Godin 24 June 1916, Captain of the Reserve Günther Freiherr von Pechmann 20 July 1916, Lieutenant of the Reserve Wilhelm Meng 6 January 1917, Major Robert Graf von Bothmer (killed 28 September 1918) 6 January 1917, First Lieutenant Ludwig Graf von Bothmer 10