By General Faidherbe's advice the Army of the North was wholly disbanded, as being too weak to face the strength opposing it. After the XXIInd Corps had been transported by sea to Cherbourg, the Army of Brittany under General de Colomb was composed of it, the XXVIIth and part of the XIXth Corps, and, including Lipowski's volunteers, Cathelineau's and other details, its strength was some 150,000 men. General Loysel with 30,000 ill-armed and raw Gardes-Mobiles remained in the trenches of Havre.
General Chanzy, after his retreat on Mayenne, had made a movement to the left, preparatory to a new operation with the IInd Army of the Loire from the Caen base, which, however, was never carried out. The XVIIIth, XXIst, XVIth, and XXVIth Corps stood between the lower Loire and the Cher from Angers to Châteauroux, in a strength of about 160,000 men strong, the XXVth under General Pourcet was at Bourges, and General de Pointe's Corps at Nevers. The Army of the Vosges had withdrawn southward of Châlons sur Saône, and the remains of the Army of the East assembled under General Crémer at Chambéry as the XXIVth Corps.
The total of all the field-troops amounted to 534,452 men. The volunteers, even those most to be relied on, were dismissed, and the National Guard was designated as for the present "incapable of rendering any military service." In the depôts, the camps of instruction, and in Algiers there were still 354,000 men, and 132,000 recruits were on the lists as the contingent for 1871, but had not yet been called up.
In case the war should be persisted in, a plan for limiting it to the defensive in the south-east of France was under consideration, for which, however, according to the report sent on February 8th by the Committee of Inquiry to the National Assembly, scarcely more than 252,000 men in fighting condition were available. The fleet, besides, had given up so considerable a number of its men and guns for service on land, that it was no longer able for any great undertaking at sea.
On the German side the first consideration was to reinforce the troops to their full war-strength, and replenish the magazines.
The forts round Paris were at once armed on their fronts facing the enceinte. In and between these were 680 guns, 145 of which were captured French pieces; more than enough to keep the restless population under control. A part of the forces previously occupied in the siege, being no longer required, were removed, in order that the remaining troops should have better accommodation. Besides, it seemed desirable to strengthen the IInd Army, which had in its front the enemy's principal force. In consequence the IVth Corps marched to Nogent le Rotrou, the Vth to Orleans, and the IXth, relieved there, to Vendôme; so that now the quarters of this army extended from Alençon to Tours, and up the Loire as far as Gien and Auxerre.
The Ist Army was in the north with the VIIIth Corps on the Somme, and the Ist on both sides of the Lower Seine; in the south the Army of the South occupied the line of demarcation from Baume to Switzerland, and the country in the rear.
At the end of February the German field-army on French soil consisted of:—
| Infantry | 464,221 | men with 1674 guns. |
| Cavalry | 55,562 | horses. |
Troops in garrison:—