In front of the 7th Division were the wooded heights of Maslowed, known also as the Swiep Wald. This forest, extending about 2,000 paces from east to west, and about 1,200 from north to south, covered a steep ridge intersected on its northern slope by ravines, but falling off more gradually towards the Bistritz. Against this formidable position Von Fransecky sent four battalions, which encountered two Austrian battalions, and, after a severe struggle, drove them from the wood. Now was the time to break the Austrian line between Maslowed and Cistowes, and, turning upon either point, or both, roll up the flanks of the broken line. The advanced battalions were quickly reinforced by the rest of the division; but all attempts to débouche from the wood were baffled. Heavy reinforcements were drawn from the Austrian IVth and IId Corps, and a furious counter-attack was made upon the Prussians. Calling for assistance, Von Fransecky was reinforced by two battalions of the 8th Division; but he was still struggling against appalling odds. With fourteen battalions and twenty-four guns, he was contending against an Austrian force of forty battalions and 128 guns. Falling back slowly, contesting the ground inch by inch, the Prussian division, after a fierce struggle of three hours, still clung stubbornly to the northern portion of the wood. Still the Austrians had here a reserve of eleven battalions and twenty-four guns, which might have been hurled with decisive effect upon the exhausted Prussians, had not other events interfered.
As soon as the 7th Division had advanced beyond Benatek, the 8th Division advanced against the woods of Skalka and Sadowa. Two bridges were thrown across the Bistritz, west of the Skalka wood, by the side of two permanent bridges, which the Austrians had neglected to destroy. The reserve divisions (5th and 6th) advanced, at the same time, to Sowetitz, and the Reserve Artillery to the Roskosberg. As soon as the 8th Division crossed the Bistritz, it was to establish communication with the 7th Division, and turn towards the Königgrätz highroad. The woods of Skalka and Sadowa were occupied without much difficulty; the Austrian brigade which occupied them falling back in good order to the heights of Lipa, where the other brigades of the IIId Austrian Corps were stationed. On these heights, between Lipa and Langenhof, 160 guns were concentrated in a great battery, which sent such a “hailstorm of shells” upon the advancing Prussians as to check effectually all attempts to débouche from the forests.
The 4th Division advanced from Mzan, and the 3d from Zawadilka, soon after the 8th Division moved forward. The retreat of the Austrian brigade from Sadowa had uncovered the flank of the outposts, and compelled the withdrawal of the troops successively from Dohalitz, Dohalica and Mokrowous to the main position westward of Langenhof and Stresetitz, and these outposts were consequently gained by the Prussians with slight loss. Further advance of the 4th and 3d Divisions was, however, prevented by the rapid and accurate fire of the Austrian batteries.
The advanced-guard of the Army of the Elbe had gained the left bank of the Bistritz, part of the left wing crossing by the bridge of Nechanitz (which had been repaired with gates and barn doors) and part by wading breast-deep across the stream. The right wing of the advanced-guard was obliged to march down stream to Kuncitz, where it crossed, after dislodging a small force of Saxons and repairing the bridge. The Saxon outposts were all driven back to the main position, and the Prussian advanced-guard occupied the line Hradek-Lubno, thus covering the crossing of the main body. The Prussians succeeded in throwing only one bridge at this part of the field; and as the entire Army of the Elbe was obliged to cross upon it and defile through Nechanitz, the deployment was necessarily slow.
At 11 o’clock the Prussian advance had been checked. The Army of the Elbe was slowly forming in rear of the line Hradek-Lubno. The First Army, advancing, as we have seen, by echelon of divisions from the left, had gained the position Maslowed-Sadowa Wood-Mokrowous, thus executing a wheel of about an eighth of a circle to the right. The immediate object of the advance had been practically gained, it is true, by the occupation of the line of the Bistritz, and the conversion of the strong advanced posts of the Austrians into good points of support for the Prussians. Yet Fransecky was sorely pushed on the left, and the 8th Division was suffering so severely from the fire of the Austrian guns, that Frederick Charles deemed it necessary to order the 5th and 6th Divisions to move up to the Sadowa wood. All attempts of these fresh troops to gain ground towards the heights of Lipa were repulsed, and the Prussian advance again came to a standstill. A counter-attack by a single Austrian brigade against the Sadowa wood (made without Von Benedek’s permission) was repulsed.
The position of the First Army was now critical. The last battalion of the infantry reserves had been brought into action. Von Fransecky was on a desperate defensive. The other divisions were all subjected to a furious, crushing fire from nearly 250 pieces of artillery, which the Austrians had brought into action on the heights from Lipa to Problus; while, owing partly to the wooded ground, partly to the difficulty of crossing the stream, and partly to the inefficiency of the Prussian artillery officers, only 42 guns were on the left bank of the Bistritz to reply to this formidable cannonade. Only a portion of Frederick Charles’ guns were brought into action at all; and their long range fire from the positions west of the Bistritz was ignored by the Austrian batteries, whose entire energy was devoted to a merciless pelting of the Prussian infantry.
The statement of the Prussian Staff History that the center was in no danger, seems, therefore, to savor more of patriotism than of candor. To advance was impossible. The infantry was suffering terribly from the Austrian fire; the artillery was feebly handled; and the cavalry could render no assistance. There was danger that the army would be shaken to pieces by Von Benedek’s artillery, and that the demoralized troops would then be swept from the field by the comparatively fresh infantry and cavalry of the Austrians. The King and his generals eagerly scanned the northern horizon with their glasses; and, with the intense anxiety of Wellington at Waterloo, waited for tidings from, the army on the left, and strained their vision for a sight of the advancing columns. The question of retreat was discussed. The Reserve Cavalry was ordered up to Sadowa, apparently with a view to covering the withdrawal of the army to the right bank of the stream. It was now past 1 o’clock. It was resolved to hold the line of the Bistritz at all hazards, and a heavy artillery fire was kept up. In the meantime, events on other parts of the field were already beginning to extricate the First Army from its perilous situation.
At 11:30, the 14th and 15th Divisions of the Army of the Elbe having come upon the field, an attack was ordered upon both flanks of the Saxons. The 15th Division, followed by a brigade of cavalry, moved, through Hradek, against Ober-Prim. The 14th Division moved on the heights east of Popowitz, through the forest, against Problus. The advanced-guard, between the two divisions, moved to the attack, pushing its flanks forward, for the double purpose of avoiding the heavy fire from the enemy’s front and masking the movements of the turning divisions. The Prince of Saxony, believing it a favorable opportunity to assume the offensive, attacked the Prussian advanced-guard with a Saxon brigade. The attack, though made with great spirit, was repulsed. Again the Prince attacked, this time with two brigades; but the advancing Saxons being struck on the left flank by the 15th Division, were driven back with heavy loss, and Ober-Prim was carried by the Prussians. General Herwarth Von Bittenfeld had succeeded in bringing 66 guns to the left bank of the Bistritz, and he now pushed them forward to within 2,000 paces of Nieder Prim, upon which they concentrated a heavy fire, under cover of which the place was carried by a regiment of the 15th Division. The 14th Division, having gained possession of Popowitz and the wood east of that village, now joined the 15th Division in a concentric attack upon Problus. The Prince of Saxony had not only observed the preparations for this attack, but he had also observed the arrival of the Prussian Second Army at Chlum; and he now, at 3 o’clock, ordered a retreat to the heights southwest of Rosnitz. The troops at Problus, acting as a rear-guard, offered a stubborn resistance to the advancing Prussians; but they were driven from the village, and the advance of the 14th and 15th Divisions was checked only by the artillery fire of the Saxons and the VIIIth Corps, stationed on the hills north-east of Problus.
During this time the Second Army had been working great results. At 8 o’clock Von Alvensleben, commanding the advanced-guard of the Guard Corps, at Daubrowitz, heard the cannonade in the direction of Benatek. Without waiting for orders, he at once put his command in march for the scene of conflict, notifying his corps commander of his departure, and sending word to Von Fransecky that he would be at Jericek by 11:30. The rest of the corps quickly followed, marching straight across country, up hill and down hill, pushing through the heavy mud with such restless energy that several of the artillery horses dropped dead from fatigue. The advanced-guard arrived at Jericek at 11 o’clock, and at the same hour the heads of the columns of the main body arrived at Choteborek, to which point the Crown Prince had hurried in advance of the troops.
The VIth Corps advanced from its position, near Gradlitz, in two columns. The 12th Division marched, via Kukus and Ertina, to the heights east of Rosnow, detaching a battalion and a squadron to mask the fortress of Josephstadt. The 11th Division marched, via Schurz, to Welchow. As soon as it neared the latter place Von Mutius, commanding the corps, ordered both divisions to keep connection and march to the sound of the cannonade. The troops pushed on “over hills, meadows and ditches, through copses and hedgerows,” across the swampy valley of the Trotina, part of the troops crossing the stream by the single bridge, and part wading breast-deep through the water. At 11 o’clock the 11th Division arrived at the heights north of Racitz, and came under the fire of the enemy’s batteries.