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Origin and history

The Faidherbe column, located at Pont-Noyelles in the Somme, is a memorial erected in memory of the Battle of Hallue (or Battle of Pont-Noyelles), which opposed the French troops of General Faidherbe to the Prussian forces of General Manteuffel on 23 and 24 December 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war. This fight marked a fierce resistance of French soldiers, although eventually forced to retreat.

The monument was financed by public subscription, organized by an Amienese committee in July 1872, and built on land offered by the mayor of Pont-Noyelles. Inaugurated on 4 May 1873 in the presence of René Goblet, it was designed by Edmond Duthoit, chief architect of the Historic Monuments. The column, ten meters high, is decorated with commemorative plaques detailing the forces in presence and bears the Latin motto: "resurgent primi mors illorum immortalitate plena est".

On the night of 21-22 March 1903, the monument suffered degradation attributed to anarchists: the gate was torn, the plates broken, and inscriptions hostile to the army were engraved. The damage, estimated at 1,000 francs of the time, was repaired in 1904 by French Remembrance. Until 1913, annual patriotic ceremonies were held to commemorate the battle.

The column, built of limestone from the Oise, overlooks the valley of the Hallue, near the place where Faidherbe had established his command post. It was listed on 23 September 2003. Nearby, an ossuary and graves of soldiers in the communal cemetery also remind of this conflict.

This monument illustrates both the tribute to the soldiers who had fallen in 1870 and the political tensions of the time, between national memory and anti-militarian protests. Its sober architecture and isolated location make it a discreet but powerful symbol of French resistance during this war.

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