Austria-Hungary

by G. E. Mitton

On June 29 the King left Berlin and on July 1, arriving at the army headquarters in Bohemia, he assumed supreme command of the three Prussian armies then engaged in the war.

Two days later was fought the supreme action of the war in the battle of Königgratz or, as it is better known, Sadowa, which settled for ever the leadership of the Germanic states. At first the Austrians were stationed in the village of Sadowa, but being driven out by a rush, they retired into the wood above, and held it strongly, and here a fierce struggle with the bayonet followed.

The Prussians advanced against the nearest trees, but did not at first make much impression, for the Austrians being here again concealed, the fire of the needle-gun did not tell, and a whole battery placed at the far end of the wood fired through the trees, and told on the Prussian ranks with awful effect. But the assailants fought on and at last broke down the obstacles at the entrance, and then dashed in.

Affairs did not apparently go more favourably for the Prussians in the centre. The whole of the First Army was severely engaged, with the exception of eight batteries of artillery and cavalry, which were still held in reserve.

When Chlum was taken the Crown Prince advanced to the help of his generals against Lissa wood, and encouraged by this reinforcement, which had so unexpectedly turned the tables on the foe, the Prussians of the First Army leapt to the charge and made for the Austrian batteries, which had previously done them so much damage. The Austrians, thus cornered, attempted to escape and made their way down to the hollow ground on the other side. But even then, though mowed down by the needle-guns, the Austrians were not beaten. Even when the Prussian artillery was brought up and sent its shells bursting over the heads of the retreating soldiers the retreat never became a rout. Terrible fighting followed, as the Austrians took up their position in the valley and played their batteries on the pursuers. The manner in which the Austrians worked their artillery on this occasion provoked the admiration of their enemies and passed into a proverb. The cavalry on both sides met in a tremendous collision, but for the Austrians the day was lost, and thenceforth they retreated, and the pursuit was continued to the Elbe.

One hundred and seventy-four guns, twenty thousand prisoners, and eleven standards, fell into the hands of the conquerors. The total loss of the Austrian army amounted to almost forty thousand men, while that of the Prussians was not ten thousand.

Worse equipped, worse generalled, but equally brave, to the point of foolhardiness, the Austrians lost none of their morale in such a battle.

This was not the end of the war, but it practically decided it. There were many other actions of less importance, but none to equal Sadowa. Thenceforth the Prussian army steadily advanced on Vienna.

An armistice was proclaimed when the Prussians were already in sight of Vienna, at Wagram, where Napoleon had won his victory. Here, on July 25, they were drawn close together, “like a crouching lion ready to spring upon the Danube should the negotiations for peace fail.”

This was what they saw: On the right lay the rounded hill of the Bisamberg studded with vineyards, cornfields, and woods, among which vain search with glasses was made to discover any signs of hostile batteries. Beyond the Bisamberg could be seen the narrow gorge from which the Danube issues, and further still the rough, rugged recess of the hills above Klosterneuberg, rising steeply up from the water’s edge, with their summits capped with heavy masses of dark green foliage, and their sides sprinkled over with fir trees. A little to the left and at the foot of the hills the city of Vienna lay sparkling in the sun; the tops of the steeples and the roofs of the houses glittered in the bright flood of light. Far away on the left front spread the Marchfeld, beyond which could be seen the dim blue line of hills which gird the valley south of the Danube, while directly to the left the dark Carpathians towered up to the sky.