Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Motsawar 1870 a farkon Yaƙin Franco-Prussian ya sanya shi a matsayin shugaban Rundunar Sojoji ta VIII (Rhineland), wanda ke cikin Sojoji na Farko karkashin von Steinmetz. Ya kasance jagorancinsa da ƙarfinsa wanda ya ba da gudummawa ga nasara a Spicheren
a ranar 6 ga watan Agusta, kuma von Goeben ya lashe laurels kawai da aka samu a kan gefen dama na Prussian a Gravelotte a ranar 18 ga watan Agusta. A karkashin Manteuffel, Rundunar ta VIII ta shiga cikin ayyukan game da Amiens da Bapaume, kuma a ranar 8 ga Janairu, 1871, Goeben ya gaji wannan janar a cikin umarnin Sojojin Farko.