 Changarnier returned to France after the general amnesty, and resided in his estate in the department of Saône-et-Loire.At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 he held no command, but was present with the headquarters, and afterwards with Bazaine in Metz.He was employed on an unsuccessful mission to Prince Frederick Charles, commanding the German army which besieged Metz, and on the capitulation became a prisoner of war.