The forces ranged against each other at the opening of the war of 1866 may be briefly exhibited in tabular form, thus:—
| Prussian army (exclusive of depôt and garrison troops) | 351,000 |
| Armies of German States allied with Prussia | 28,600 |
| Italian army | 240,840 |
| ——— | |
| Total ... 620,440 |
Artillery: Prussian guns, 1,092; Italian guns, 480: total, 1,572.
| Austrian army:—Infantry, 321,140; cavalry, 26,621; artillery, 24,601; engineers and pioneers, 11,194: total | 383,556 |
| Armies of German States allied to Austria | 160,586 |
| ——— | |
| Total 544,142 |
Artillery: Austrian guns, 1,036; German guns, 360: total. 1,396.
Thus, merely reckoning the field armies on both sides, the accession of Italy threw a decided preponderance, even of numbers, into the scale of Prussia. Austria, to oppose the Italian army, was obliged to keep 150,000 of her best troops south of the Alps; had one-third of these stood in line at Königgrätz, the fortune of the day would probably have been different. In the special and scientific services Prussia had an additional superiority over Austria; she had 30,000 cavalry, 35,000 artillery, and 18,000 pioneers, while the Austrian strength in each of these branches was considerably smaller. Besides, the Austrian system was thoroughly obsolete, and its organisers had neglected to adopt the needle-gun despite its proved superiority in the Danish war. The Prussian army, thanks to Von Roon and Von Moltke, had been raised, on the contrary, to the highest degree of efficiency.
The forces of the Prussians, which were formed into three armies, were distributed in the following manner. The First Army, commanded by Prince Frederick Charles, the King's nephew, consisted of three infantry and one cavalry corps, numbering 120,000 men; its headquarters were at Görlitz, close to the eastern frontier of Saxony. The Second Army, commanded by the Crown Prince, contained the Guards corps and three others, numbering 125,000 men; the headquarters were at Neisse in Silesia, being purposely placed so far to the south in order to induce a belief that the objective of this army was Olmütz or Brünn, and to disguise as long as possible the real design of leading it across the mountains into Bohemia. The Third Army was that of the Elbe, commanded by General Herwarth von Bittenfeld, whose headquarters were at Halle; it numbered about 50,000 men, including cavalry. Besides these three armies, which were all designed to act against Austria, special forces to the number of about 60,000 men were prepared to invade Hanover and Hesse-Cassel, and afterwards to operate against the forces of the southern States friendly to Austria, as circumstances should direct. The forces that were to attack Hanover were under the command of Lieutenant-General von Falkenstein, the military governor of Westphalia. Those that were detailed against Hesse-Cassel were commanded by General Beyer, whose headquarters were at Wetzlar, the chief town of a small Prussian enclave, surrounded by the territories of Nassau, Hesse-Cassel, and Hesse-Darmstadt.
THE BATTLE OF LANGENSALZA. (See p. [426].)
In the North of Germany the campaign was brief indeed, although it opened with a Prussian reverse. Through some mismanagement the real superiority of force which the Prussians could bring to bear against the Hanoverians was not made available, and Major-General Flies, the Prussian commander, was about to attack an army considerably more numerous than his own. Misleading reports as to the movements both of the Bavarians and Hanoverians had reached Von Falkenstein at Eisenach. He therefore ordered Goeben with his division to watch the Bavarians, who were supposed to be advancing from the south, and despatched Manteuffel towards Mühlhausen, a town between Göttingen and Langensalza, under the erroneous belief that the Hanoverians were now retreating northwards, and meant to seek a strong position among the Harz Mountains. The Hanoverian general, Arenttschildt, entertained no such intention, but, expecting to be attacked from Gotha, he had drawn up his little army on the northern bank of the Unstrut, a marshy stream that runs past Langensalza in a general easterly direction, to join the Saale near Leipsic. The Prussians advanced gallantly, drove in the Hanoverian outposts on the right or south bank of the Unstrut, and attempted to cross the river. But the Hanoverian artillery, judiciously posted and well served, defeated this attempt. A number of partial actions, in which great bravery was exhibited on both sides, occurred in different parts of the field. The Prussians, however, being decidedly over-matched, were unable to gain ground; and about one o'clock General Arenttschildt ordered his brigade commanders to cross the Unstrut and assume the offensive. This was done—ineffectually for a time on the Hanoverian left, where the swampy nature of the ground by the river presented great obstacles to an advance—but with complete success on their right, where General Bülow drove the Prussians steadily before him, and was able to use his superior cavalry with considerable effect. The excellent military qualities of the Prussian soldier, and the deadly rapidity of fire of the needle-gun, prevented the retreat from becoming a disaster. However, General Flies had no choice but to order a general retreat, and fall back in the direction of Gotha. Two guns and two thousand stand of arms fell into the hands of the victors, whose cavalry continued the pursuit till half-past four, making many prisoners. The Hanoverian situation, however, was really desperate, and on the arrival of the main body of the Prussians the Hanoverians were compelled to capitulate. The King fled into Austria, but his ally the Elector of Hesse-Cassel was made a prisoner of war.