Prince Frederick Charles sent forward his major, Von Unger-Manstein, and the Brandenburg brigade of Düppel marched forward, playing, “Heil dir im Siegerkranz!”[53]
The rest need not be told here. Bismarck followed his King in the battle. The warlike monarch dashed into the grenade fire of the enemy, on which Bismarck made him pause, and said, “As a major I have no right to counsel your Majesty on the battle-field, but as Minister-President it is my duty to beg your Majesty not to seek evident danger!” With a friendly smile, the royal hero replied, “How can I ride off when my army is under fire?”
In the evening Bismarck reached Horitz; there he thought to pass the night on the open road; and had already laid himself down under an open colonnade, when the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, who heard of the circumstance, sent for him to his quarters. Who could tell, even remotely, what were the feelings and thoughts of Bismarck that took their course through his heart and head on that eventful night? And on the following day he rode behind his victorious monarch, deeper and ever deeper into the land of the vanquished enemy, from Bohemia into Moravia. Certainly Bismarck was grateful for the great victory; but a deep seriousness sat upon his countenance, for he knew that he was riding towards the silent battle-field where he was commander-in-chief, and where he had to be the victor.
On his road he wrote the following letters to his wife:—
Hohenmauth, Monday, 9th July, 1866.