by H M Hozier
Every regiment of Bersaglieri consisted of a staff, eight field battalions, each of four companies and a depôt division. The companies of the Bersaglieri were of the same strength as those of the Line. Thus the effective strength for war of each regiment of Bersaglieri amounted to 152 officers and 4,872 men, or altogether to 5,024 men. The five regiments therefore would afford 25,120 combatants.
The Bersaglieri were armed with short rifles and sword bayonets: the rest of the infantry with Minié rifles and ordinary bayonets,
CAVALRY.
4 Regiments of Cavalry of the Line (heavy).
7 Regiments of Lancers.
7 Regiments of Light horse.
1 Regiment of Guides.
With the exception of the regiment of Guides, all the regiments of cavalry had six field squadrons and a depôt squadron.
Each squadron on a war footing mustered 5 officers, 145 men, 112 horses. The regimental staff consisted of 11 officers, 7 men, and 18 horses. The regiment therefore numbered 41 officers, 877 men, and 738 horses. A regiment might accordingly be considered to bring about 700 sabres into the field.
This would give for the effective force on a war footing of the eighteen regiments (exclusive of the Guides) 12,600 sabres. The depôt of a regiment consisted of 14 officers and 59 men. The regiment of Guides, which was chiefly intended to furnish orderlies for general officers, consisted of seven squadrons, and had altogether 60 officers, 1,074 men, and 858 horses. The Heavy Cavalry as well as the lancers carried the lance.
ARTILLERY.
1 Regiment of Pontoniers, who, in the Italian service as in the French, are included among the Artillery.
3 Regiments of Garrison Artillery, Nos. 2, 3, 4.
1 Regiments of Field Artillery, Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
6 Companies of Artificers.
The regiment of Pontoniers had nine companies on a war footing; each regiment of Field Artillery had sixteen field-batteries and two depôt batteries; each regiment of Garrison Artillery had sixteen companies and two depôt companies. Two batteries of the fifth regiment were Horse Artillery batteries. Except these, the Italian army possessed no horse artillery. From the five field regiments there could be placed in the field eighty field-batteries, each of six guns, forming a total artillery force of four hundred and eighty guns.
These guns were all rifled, and were divided into batteries of 8-pounders or 16-pounders.
ENGINEERS,
Two regiments of Sappers. Each regiment on a war footing had eighteen field companies and two depôt companies.
MILITARY TRAIN.
Three regiments. Each regiment had on a war footing eight companies and one depôt company. Each of the field companies mustered 8 officers, 330 men, and 420 horses.
ADMINISTRATIVE TROOPS
were divided into seven companies, which contained all the hospital attendants and commissariat soldiers.
The total strength of the Italian Army in the field was thus:—
Infantry 202,720
Bersaglieri 25,120, with 480 guns
Cavalry 13,000
Organisation,—In time of war the army was divided into divisions.
Each division consisted as a general rule, of:—
2 Brigades of Infantry, each of two regiments;
2 Battalions of Bersaglieri;
1 Regiment of Light Cavalry;
3 Batteries of Artillery (two 8-pounder batteries and one 16-pounder battery);
1 Company of Sappers.
Such a division would quite bring into the field a force of 10,000 Infantry and 700 cavalry, with 18 guns.
Several such divisions, generally three or four, were amalgamated into a corps d’armée, for which a special reserve was then formed. This reserve consisted of one battalion of Bersaglieri, four squadrons of cavalry, and a 16-pounder battery for each division, which were deducted from the strength of the division. A company of sappers, and a company of pioneers with a bridge train to throw a bridge over three hundred yards, was added to a corps d’armée.
An army was formed by the conjunction of several corps d’armée, and had an additional force of reserve artillery and engineers, with a pontoon train capable of constructing a bridge six hundred yards long. A division of reserve cavalry was formed out of the four Heavy Cavalry regiments, which were divided into two brigades, and of the two Horse Artillery batteries of the service.
Recruiting,—The recruiting of the Italian Army was conducted by conscription; substitutes were, however, allowed About 50,000 recruits were levied annually before the war. These were divided into two portions proportionately to the vacancies in the ranks. The recruits of the first portion served for eleven years, of which the first five were spent under the standards; those of the second portion were called out and then dismissed, but were liable to military service for a period of five years.
Besides the regular army, a National Guard existed in Italy. This was of the character of a burgher guard, and existed for the most part only upon paper. It was intended, however, after 1866, to form, in case of war, a mobilised National Guard of 220 battalions, mustering about 110,000 men, to act as garrison troops.
There existed also a corps of Carabineers who did the duty of a gendarmerie, and numbered over 20,000 men, but these would rarely be ever available against an external enemy, as to them were entrusted all the police duties of the Peninsula.
At the beginning of the war the Italian forces were strengthened by the formation of volunteer corps to serve under General Garibaldi; of these there were forty-two battalions. As with all irregular troops, it was extremely difficult to discover what number these corps mustered, but they may apparently be safely calculated as 35,000 men.
Italian Fleet.—The Italian fleet consisted of:—
1 screw line-of-battle ship;
13 crew frigates;
7 steam frigates of the second class, of which six were ironclad;
2 sailing frigates of the second class;
2 steam corvettes of the first rank, of which two were ironclad;
2 sailing corvettes of the first rank;
17 corvettes of the second and third rank;
14 smaller vessels;
8 screw gunboats;
25 transport vessels.
The number of guns mounted on these vessels amounted to 1,524; the number of men employed in them was 14,000 officers, seamen, and engineers.
The infantry of the Marine consisted of two regiments organized on the same principles as those of the Infantry of the Line, and clothed and armed in the same manner as the Bersaglieri.
BOOK 4
CHAPTER 1: Prelude of the War
The Germanic Confederation possessed five Federal fortresses, originally raised to protect Germany against an invasion from France. These were Mainz, Luxembourg, Landau, Rastadt, and Ulm. At the end of May the garrisons of Mainz and Rastadt, in accordance with the constitution of the Confederation, were composed of a mixed force of Austrian and Prussian and some other Federal troops. When it became evident that war was likely to break out between the great German Powers, Bavaria proposed in the diet on the 1st June, that the Prussian and Austrian garrisons should be withdrawn from these fortresses, as well as from the free town of Frankfort, which was occupied in a similar manner, and that the guardianship of these places should be handed over partly to the troops of the States in which these places were situated, partly to the reserve division of the Federal Army.
To prevent the bloodshed which would have in case of war ensued between the soldiers of these mixed garrisons, the motion was unanimously accepted. It was determined that Mainz should be held for the Confederation by troops of Bavaria, Saxe Weimar, Saxe Meiningen, Anhalt, Schwarzburg, and the two Lippes; Rastadt by those of Baden, Saxe Altenburg, Coburg Gotha, Waldech, and Reusz; and that a Bavarian division should remain in Frankfort.
The Prussian and Austrian troops were, in accordance with this resolution, withdrawn from the fortresses of the Confederation. The Prussians were assembled unde
r the command of General Von Beyer at Wetzlar. The Austrians were attached to the 8th Federal corps, which was placed under the command of Prince Alexander of Hesse, an Austrian general who had gained distinction at the Battle of Montebello in 1859.
On the 14th June, when Prussia declared the Germanic Confederation dissolved, war became inevitable. Prussia had at this time concentrated her main armies on the frontiers of Saxony and in Silesia. In rear of these lay the hostile States of Hanover and Hesse-Cassel, the troops of which might either act against the communications of the Prussian armies, or by withdrawing south of the Maine unite with the Bavarians and Austrians, and swell the armies of these two powers with their contingents. In front of the right wing of the Prussian main line lay the hostile kingdom of Saxony, which if left unoccupied would have formed a convenient ground for the débouché from the Bohemian mountains of the Austrian columns, covered by the Saxon Army. In order to prevent the forces of the two former States from causing annoyance to the rear of her armies, and to seize the initiative in Saxony, Prussia took most rapid measures.
The decree against Prussia had been passed at Frankfort on the 14th June.
A telegraphic summons was despatched to the three States of Saxony, Hesse-Cassel, and Hanover, which demanded that they should immediately reduce their armies to the peace establishment which had existed on the 1st March, and should agree to the Prussian project of the 10th June for the reform of the Germanic Confederation. If the three States agreed to this demand, Prussia would undertake to guarantee to them their sovereign rights; if they did not within twelve hours consent to do so, war would be declared.
The governments of these States did not reply. Prussia declared war against them on the evening of the 15th June, and on the 16th Prussian troops invaded their territories.
Position of Prussian Troops at the End of the First Fortnight of June.—Prussia had commenced her preparations for war on the 27th March, when five divisions had been placed on a war footing, five brigades of artillery been strengthened, and the fortresses in Silesia and the province of Saxony armed. The mobilisation of the whole army had been decreed on the 7th May, and on the 19th of that month the concentration of troops in Silesia, Lusatia, and Thuringia had begun. On the 1 st June the corps d’armée of the Guard had been sent to Silesia, and the 8th corps and 14th division despatched to Halle: a reserve corps was at the same time formed at Berlin. The main Prussian armies were composed of three principal sections:—
1st. The First Army, under the command of Frederick Charles, which consisted of the and corps d’armée (Pomeranian), 3rd (Brandenburg), 4th (Saxony), and of a cavalry corps formed of fifteen regiments. It lay round Heyerswerda and Görlitz.
2nd. The Second Army, under the command of the Crown Prince of Prussia, which consisted of the Guard corps, the 1st corps (Prussia), the 2nd (Poland), the 6th (Silesia), and of a cavalry corps of seven regiments. It lay in Silesia,
3rd. The Army of the Elbe, under the command of General Herwarth von Bittenfeld, which consisted of the 8th corps (Rheinland), and the 14th division of the 7th corps (Westphalia), as well as a cavalry corps of three regiments.
In rear of these was the reserve corps in Berlin, under the command of General Mülbe, which consisted of two divisions of Landwehr and six regiments of Landwehr cavalry. A third division of Landwehr was also in course of formation at Berlin.
By the 15th June Prussia had prepared troops for the invasion of Saxony, Hanover, and Cassel. The First Army and the Army of the Elbe, which was stationed round Halle and Torgau, were designed to act against Saxony. Hesse-Cassel and Hanover were to be invaded by the then separated divisions, which after the occupation of these States were united under the command of General Vogel von Falckenstein, and on the 1st July named the Army of the Maine.
On the morning of the 15th June, the troops destined to act against Hanover consisted of the division which General von Manteuffel had mobilised in Schleswig, and with which he had invaded Holstein. After the Austrians quitted the latter duchy this division had been concentrated at Harburg, where it was supported by a flotilla of Prussian gunboats on the Lower Elbe and on the coast of the North Sea. A second division was also collected for the same purpose under General von Falckenstein, near the fortress of Minden, in that portion of the Prussian province of Westphalia which projected into the southern boundary of the kingdom of Hanover.
The greatest part of this division was formed by the 13th division, one division of the Westphalian corps d’armée. The Prussian garrisons which had been withdrawn from the Federal fortresses were united with some other detachments, and formed into a division under General Beyer, which numbered 17,000 men. It was posted at Wetzlar, in the Prussian enclave, that was surrounded by the territories of Hesse-Cassel and Nassau.
Positions of the Austrian Army at the End of the First Fortnight of June.—Feldzeugmeister Von Benedek, the hero of San Martino, assumed the Supreme command of the Austrian Army of the North on the 18th May, and spread the seven corps d’armée and five divisions of cavalry, of which it was composed, between Cracow and the Elbe, along the lines of railway which run through most parts of the Austrian provinces. These seven corps were:—
The 1st, under the command of Count Clam Gallas, which was posted at Prague.
The 2nd, under Count Thun Höhenstadt, at Olmütz. The 3rd, under the Archduke Ernst, at Brünn.
The 4th, under Count Festetics, at Teschen. The 6th, under Baron Ramming, at Olmütz.
The 8th, under the Archduke Leopold, at Brünn.
The 10th, under Count Huyn, afterwards under Count Gablenz, with only nine battalions, at Bömisch Trübau.
The cavalry divisions attached to this army were:—
The 1st light cavalry division (Baron Edelsheim), consisting of six regiments and three batteries of horse artillery.
The 2nd light cavalry division (Prince Thurn and Taxis), four regiments and two batteries.
1st reserve division of cavalry (Prince Schleswig-Holstein), six regiments and two batteries.
2nd reserve division of cavalry (Von Zajtsek), six regiments and two batteries.
3rd reserve division of cavalry (Count Coudenhove), six regiments and two batteries.
Positions of the Austrian Army of the South.—The Austrian army of the South consisted of three corps d’armée, and was under the command of the Archduke Albrecht One of these held Eastern Venetia and Istria, while the other two were posted in the renowned quadrilateral formed by the fortresses of Peschiera and Mantua on the Mincio, and Verona and Legnano on the Adige.
The third corps d’armée, under the Archduke Ernst, served as a general reserve, which might be either directed against Italy, or sent into Bohemia, as circumstances required.
Positions of the Italian Army.—The Italian Army was divided into four corps d’armée. The first of these, under Giovanni Durando, was stationed in the middle of June at Lodi. It consisted of four divisions, and was intended to act upon the Lake of Garda and the Upper Mincio. The second of these divisions, under Cuchiari, was at Cremona. It consisted of three divisions, and was designed to act upon the Lower Mincio, and against Mantua. The third, under Delia Rocca, was posted in rear of the two former on both sides of the Po, with its headquarters at Placenza. It contained four divisions. The fourth, under Cialdini, consisted of five divisions, and had its headquarters at Bologna, where it was intended to operate on the Lower Po and Lower Adige.
The campaign on the Mincio did not commence quite so soon as hostilities in Germany. It is necessary, in order to preserve the clearness of the narrative, to disregard the Italian campaign until the course of events in Germany has been tolerably developed. It is sufficient here to mention that Italy declared war against Austria on the 20th June.
Army of Saxony.—The army of Saxony had been mobilised, and was by the end of the first fortnight of June ready to take the field. It was distributed through the kingdom of Saxony, with its main body in Dresden and Pima.
Army of Hanover.—The ar
my of Hanover was totally unprepared for war, and was for the most part peaceably garrisoned in the neighbourhood of the town of Hanover.
Army of Bavaria—The Bavarian army was concentrated, in the middle of June, between Bamberg and Würzberg, under Prince Charles of Bavaria, in three divisions of infantry, one reserve brigade of infantry, one corps of reserve cavalry, containing eight regiments and two batteries, one corps of reserve artillery of ten batteries.
Eighth Federal Corps.—The eighth corps of the Federal Army was formed at Frankfort, but not with great alacrity. The Government of Baden was by no means eager to put its troops into the field against Prussia, but was obliged to do so for fear of the duchy being overrun by its powerful neighbours in case of refusal to do so. When this corps was formed, it occupied Frankfort, and was placed under the command of Prince Alexander of Hesse. The troops which composed it were:—
Those of Würtemburg, 14,000 men and 42 guns.
Those of Baden, 12,000 men and 38 guns.
The troops of Hesse-Darmstadt, 10,090 men and 24 guns.
The Nassau brigade, 5,000 men.
An Austrian division, formed from the garrisons which had withdrawn from the Federal fortresses, and mustered 12,000 men.
The total strength of this corps was in round numbers fifty-three thousand infantry, thirty-three squadrons, and one hundred and fourteen guns.
CHAPTER 2: Prussian Occupation of Hanover
On the evening of the 15th June, Prussia declared war against Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, and Saxony. The two former States, unless their armies were quickly disabled, could hinder effectually the Prussian communications between Berlin and the Rhenish provinces. An Austrian occupation of Saxony would have much facilitated operations against the open province of Brandenburgh and against Berlin, while it would have seriously impeded a Prussian advance into Bohemia, Against these States, then, it was necessary, that Prussia should act with immediate energy, in order, if possible, to disarm, certainly to occupy, them before she could turn her attention against her principal enemy Austria, and the States allied thereto. By excellent combinations punctually carried out this result was obtained. In the course of a few days three of the most important middle States of Germany were completely overrun by Prussian troops: and their sovereigns driven from their capitals and countries as if by a thunderbolt.