Königgrätz, Battle of

Königgrätz, Battle of, also known as the Battle of Sadowa, decisive battle in the Seven Weeks’ War between Prussia and Austria, fought on July 3, 1866, between the Prussians under Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke, and the Austrians and their Saxon allies commanded by Count Ludwig August Benedek. Moltke had pushed his three armies forward on a wide, converging front, seeking a battle of envelopment to surround and annihilate the Austrians. Although demoralized by a series of small defeats, Benedek had the advantage of choosing the position. He selected a ridge 13 km (8 mi) north-west of Königgrätz (now Hradec Králové, Czech Republic), near the village of Sadowa, where he dug in and prepared the field for his artillery. The Prussian First Army located the Austrians late on July 2, and prepared to attack early the next day. This forced Moltke to hurry his Second and Elbe armies into action, and precluded an encircling movement. Expecting to face only part of the Prussian force, Benedek planned a counter-attacking battle, keeping a large reserve. He had 190,000 Austrian troops and 25,000 Saxons under his command; Moltke’s force of 200,000 Prussians had not all been brought up by the morning of July 3.

The battle began at 7.30 a.m. Anxious that the Austrians should not escape, Moltke used the First Army to pin them, bringing up the Elbe and Second armies for flank attacks. The Elbe Army moved forward on his right, but with limited success against well-led Saxon troops. The First Army was pinned down below the Austrian positions, under artillery bombardment, for four hours. However, shortly before noon Benedek was informed that the Second Army had arrived, far earlier than expected, and that his right flank had been compromised by the commander of his IV Corps. By 1 p.m. the Second Army had driven back the weakened Austrian right. The key village of Chlum on the right flank fell to a combination of Prussian drive and Austrian ineptitude, opening up Benedek’s whole position. This success, which brought the Prussians on to the ridge by 3 p.m. was timely; elements of the First Army were beginning to waver. Benedek threw his reserves into a desperate and badly organized attempt to recapture Chlum, but they were driven back by the rapid fire of the Prussian breech-loading “needle-guns”, which could be loaded while lying down, unlike the Austrian guns, which required the user to ram the cartridge down the muzzle. The Prussians were unable to exploit battlefield victory with an effective pursuit. The powerful Austrian cavalry covered the withdrawal of their army over the River Elbe. The final shots were fired at 9 p.m.. Prussian losses were 2,000 killed and 8,000 wounded; the Austrians lost 5,700 killed, 36,000 wounded, 8,000 missing, and 22,000 captured. The Austrians accepted the verdict of the battle, a process made easier by the determination of the Prussian chief minister, Otto von Bismarck, to avoid humiliating them. Königgrätz was a critical test for the modern systems of a centralized war planning and rail-based logistics.