The Seven Weeks' War

by H M Hozier

  The Prussian invasion of Hanover and Hesse-Cassel was effected by combined movements from different points far apart: the enterprise was accordingly attended with considerable difficulty. It was very undesirable to weaken the main Prussian armies on the frontiers of Saxony and Silesia by the smallest detachments. Orders were accordingly sent to General Falckenstein, who was in Westphalia, to invade these States with both his divisions, and to occupy them. Göben’s division was to be directed from Minden on Hanover, to which town that of General Manteuffel from Harburg was also to march. Beyer s division was ordered at the same time to invade Hesse-Cassel from Wetzlar. The Hanoverian army was not yet mobilised, that of Cassel was but a weak contingent, so that it was calculated that it would be quite possible, with these three Prussian divisions, to bring superior numbers to bear upon any decisive point.

  It was however necessary, in order to carry out these combinations, to withdraw all the troops from Holstein, where demonstrations in favour of the Prince of Augustenburg might cause trouble. In order to insure tranquillity in that duchy, several Landwehr battalions were despatched to Altona and Lauenburg, as soon as the invasion of Hanover was resolved upon. Wetzlar was evacuated, but the 8th Federal corps at Frankfort was not yet sufficiently organised to cause any apprehension, as for several days it would be unable to make a movement forward.

  The rapid progress of affairs and the Prussian declaration of war on the 15th had caused great excitement in Hanover. When the Austrian troops, round which the army of Hanover might have rallied, had been withdrawn from Holstein, all idea of defending the capital of that kingdom had been given up; and on war being declared, it was determined to save the army by a movement towards the south, where it might unite with the Bavarians. This movement was made on the night of the 15th, chiefly by railway to Göttingen, but with such hurry that many important articles of equipment were forgotten: such were the reserve ammunition and the field dispensaries. On the morning of the 16th. King George of Hanover followed his troops and collected them round Göttingen.

  General Falckenstein broke up from Minden at daybreak on the 16th, and on the 17th, at five o’clock in the afternoon, the first Prussian troops, after two forced marches, entered the town of Hanover. The railways from Hanover northwards towards Lüneburg, eastwards to Brunswick, and westwards to Minden, as well as the line behind the retreating army of King George, had been broken up by the Hanoverians. The main body of the division of General Manteuffel had a long portion of railway to restore, and was obliged to wait the resumption of transport along the line, so that it did not reach Lüneburg until the evening of the 18th.

  Here two battalions of the 25th regiment were placed on the railway, and pushed up to the capital: the remainder of the division reached the town on the next evening.

  18th.—The government of the country was immediately taken under Prussian superintendence, and no opposition could be made by a population which was surprised, and totally unfit to defend itself, as its members were untrained to the use of arms.

  At the same time the Prussian Navy had commenced operations. A battalion of the 25th regiment was, at ten o’clock on the evening of the 17th June, placed on board of the two transport vessels, Loreley and Cyclops, which belonged to the Prussian squadron on the Lower Elbe, and on a private steamer which belonged to a merchant of Harburg. The vessel steamed down the Elbe, and, at one o’clock on the morning of the 18th, arrived at Twietenfelt Here the battalion was disembarked, and immediately moved against the small fortress of Stade.

  At its head marched a detachment of seamen from the transport fleet, who were destined to act as pioneers. About three o’clock in the morning, the small column reached the neighbourhood of Stade. It was observed by a Hanoverian cavalry outpost, which immediately galloped back to alarm the unsuspecting garrison. The Prussians pursued as quickly as they could; but when they reached the place, the gates were already closed.

  The sailor-pioneers rushed forward to the gate, and smote upon it heavily with their axes. After a few vigorous blows it gave way a little. The axes were more vigorously plied, and in a few minutes the door fell with a crash across the roadway. Over the obstacle the Prussian infantry dashed into the town, and were received by shots directed from a few of the garrison who had located themselves in some of the houses. These shots did little execution, and the Prussians pushed on towards the market-place. Here some forming detachments of Hanoverians opened fire upon them, and a slight skirmish ensued. This was terminated by the commandant of the place, who, finding his men outnumbered, and in immediate danger of being surrounded and captured, ordered them to cease firing, and demanded a parley. This was granted by the Prussian commander; in a few minutes terms of capitulation were agreed upon, and Stade by the fortune of war ceased to be a fortress of the King of Hanover.

  On the 19th June, Fort William and the batteries on the Weser, which were evacuated on the appearance of the Prussian flotilla, were occupied; and two days later, in a similar manner, Emden and the coast batteries on the Ems fell into the hands of the invaders. Thus on the 22nd June, the Prussians were in possession of the whole of Hanover with the single exception of the southern enclave of Göttingen.

  In consequence of these vigorous and energetic measures, all the Hanoverian provisions of weapons and ammunition for the war fell into the hands of the Prussians, as well as the whole field equipment for the army in the way of waggons and matériel. These gains amounted to sixty cannon, ten thousand new rifled small arms, eight hundred waggons, and a large quantity of gunpowder. These losses were of great detriment to the Hanoverian cause, and gave into the hands of Prussia instruments of offence which her generals knew full well how to turn to account.

  The Hanoverian army halted at Göttingen,—paralysed, it was unable to move, and had to be organised. Had it been in a fit state of preparation for war, it might on the 16th or 17th have reached Cassel, and by the Cassel and Bebra railway effected a retreat in safety to the south. As it was, however, on account of the tardy measures and want of foresight of the Hanoverian Ministry, the brave soldiery of which it was composed were forced, after a display of great gallantry, valour, and devotion, to succumb to a catastrophe which will be treated of in another portion of this history.

  CHAPTER 3: Prussian Occupation of Hesse-Cassel

  The Electoral Prince of Hesse-Cassel was fortunate enough to save his army from falling into the hands of the enemy, but could not prevent the invasion of his country. The troops of Cassel, on the receipt of the Prussian declaration of war, immediately prepared to retire from Cassel towards the Maine. On the 16th the retreat was commenced; and that day, chiefly by means of the railway, they reached the neighbourhood of Fulda, This movement could not be prevented by the Prussians, for the nearest Prussian troops were those at Wetzlar, and the railway between Cassel and Marburg had been broken up. On the 19th June the army of Hesse-Cassel reached Hanau, and secured its communication with the eighth corps of the Federal army at Frankfort.

  The territory of Hesse-Cassel did not, however, escape an invasion. On the night of the 15th June, General Beyer concentrated his troops, which numbered 17,000 combatants, on the frontier of Hesse-Cassel at Gieszen, and began his march into Hessian territory on the morning of the 16th at two o’clock. At Gieszen he published a proclamation, in which he announced to the people that Prussia had been obliged to declare war against the elector, but that the war was only to be carried on against the government, not against the country, which, on the contrary, was about to behold the dawn of better days and more fortunate circumstances.

  On the 16th Beyer’s advanced guard reached Marburg. The Prussian pushed through this town, and during the next two days urged his troops by forced marches towards Cassel. He sent a detachment to his right against the railway which leads from Cassel by Bebra to Hersfeld and Eisenach, and broke up the line at Melsungen. His object in this was to prevent the retreat to the south of any Hessian troops which might still be in the north of the electorate. He was,
however, too late to attain this object, as Cassel had been cleared of its garrison on the night of the 16th, and it was already at Hanau.

  On the evening and during the night of the 19th the Prussian troops passed into Cassel, the capital of the electorate, which is about eighty miles, or five long ordinary marches, from Wetzlar. The elector had not gone away with his troops, but had remained at his castle of Wilhelmshöhe, which was long renowned for the orgies held there by Jerome, King of Westphalia. On the night of the 22nd the Prussian envoy. General von Röder, made fresh propositions to him. Of these the principal was that the Elector should agree to the Prussian project for the reform of the Germanic Confederation. The latter did not, however, feel able to comply with the Prussian demands, and on the 22nd was taken as a State prisoner to the Prussian fortress of Stettin on the Oder, where a portion of the old castle of the dukes of Pomerania was given up to him as a residence.

  Shortly afterwards cholera broke out at Stettin, and permission was given him to go to Königsberg, in East Prussia; of this permission, however, he made no use. Hesse-Cassel was now in the power of the Prussians. A more important result of the invasion was that the Prussian General Beyer was established in the rear of the Hanoverian army at Göttingen, which, without preparation, commissariat, military train, or reserve ammunition, was thus exposed to attack by a force nearly as large as its own, in its flank if it attempted to move southwards, in its rear if it turned to bay and faced its pursuers from the north. The Hanoverian army was already practically disarmed, paralysed, and prisoners.

  CHAPTER 4: Prussian Occupation of Saxony

  The troops designed for the invasion of Saxony were the army of the Elbe and the First Army. The former was to advance from the north, the latter from the east On the evening of the 15th June, when the Saxon Government had rejected the Prussian ultimatum, and received the declaration of war, the retreat of the Saxon army commenced, in order to gain Bohemia by way of Bodenbach, and there to unite with the Austrians. The funds from the treasury and the royal plate had already been packed up, and the waggons in which they had been placed accompanied the army.

  Means were also adopted to impede as much as possible the advance of the Prussian troops. Saxon pioneers were set to work upon the railways which lead from the frontier upon Dresden. Of such railways there are two, that which follows the valley of the Elbe and joins the Leipsic line at Rieza and that which from Görlitz leads by Bautzen upon the capital of Saxony. At nightfall the Saxon pioneers commenced their work, but in the dark, and under constant apprehension of being broken in upon by the Prussian advanced guards, they made but little progress. The rails were taken up, but were neither carried away, nor twisted, nor broken so as not to be again immediately available. At eleven o’clock at night the wooden bridge which carries the railway branches to Leipsic and Chemnitz across the Elbe, near Rieza, was set on fire by means of petroleum. Its destruction was not accomplished, for only two piers were burnt, and the whole bridge was again made passable within a few days.

  While the work of destruction went slowly on in Saxony that night, heavy masses of Prussian troops were drawing together, and dosing down to the very frontier line of that kingdom. Between Görlitz and the border on the west, Prince Frederick Charles marshalled three strong corps d’armée. On the north General Herwarth von Bittenfeld divided his force into three columns, which were to advance by Strehla, Dahlen, and Wurzen, on the left bank of the Elbe. During the few dark hours of the short summer night, the last preparations for the invasion were made. The main bodies were collected together about midnight, and the soldiers piled arms to rest and wait for dawn.

  Few slept; a dull and heavy murmur continually rose from the crowded columns, and told the subdued but deep excitement which pervaded the hearts of the men; and this excitement was not without a cause, for the soldiers thought that the Austrian was in Dresden, and that there would be a battle on the morrow. At last the first faint streaks of dawn appeared; the troops eagerly fell into their ranks, and before the sun had risen the advanced guards were pushing briskly over Saxon ground.

  The pioneers engaged upon the railway fled before the invaders’ columns, fortunate to avoid being taken. Bittenfeld, from the north, reached Rieza about nine o’clock, and occupied that town in force. Two pontoon bridges were thrown across the Elbe below the town, a portion of the troops crossed, and marched on to Grossenhain, while the rest were directed up the left bank of the river, towards Meissen. Hardly had Bittenfeld’s troops established themselves in Rieza, when a detachment of the field railway corps came up, who immediately commenced the restoration of the lines which had been removed, while pioneers were set to repair the burnt portions of the bridge.

  In the meantime, the columns of the First Army were advancing in Lusatia. A detachment entered the town of Löbau, which was found without any garrison. The railway bridge here was not blown up, though it had been mined. The lines were, however, torn up, and laid in confusion on the way; but the Prussians employed the country people immediately to restore the railway. Bautzen was also occupied. Here the line had again been torn up, but was quickly repaired. But Prince Frederick diaries moved cautiously, for the passes of Reichenberg and Gabel were on his left To cover his communication with Görlitz, and to shield his left flank, he pushed a strong detachment along the Zittau road to a point a little beyond Ostritz.

  On the 17th a detachment was thrown out on the right to feel Bittenfeld’s left, and the prince pushed troops to Bisschofswerda, on the Dresden road, while Bittenfeld’s advanced guard occupied Meissen. On the 18th a simultaneous advance was made on the capital. The advancing columns met with no opposition, and that afternoon the Prussian colours were hoisted over Dresden.

  The Prussian outposts were then pushed forward without encountering any opposition up to the frontier of Bohemia. Leipzic and Chemnitz were occupied, and the line of railway between Leipzic and Plauen, as well as that between Dresden and Chemnitz, secured by Prussian troops. On the 20th June the whole of Saxony was in the undisturbed possession of the troops of Prince Frederick Charles and of Herwarth, except where the Saxon standard floated above the virgin fortress of Königstein.

  At the time of the inruption into Saxony, Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia issued this address to the inhabitants:—

  His Majesty the King of Prussia, my most gracious master, having been compelled to declare war against the King of Saxony, a portion of the troops under my command have today crossed the frontier between Prussian and Saxon Lusatia.

  We are not at war with the people and country of Saxony, but only with the government, which by its inveterate hostility has forced us to take up arms.

  Private property will be everywhere respected by my troops, who are also directed to protect every peaceful citizen from injury.

  I entreat you to repose confidence in our intentions, and to be assured that my soldiers, by strict discipline and good fellowship, will alleviate the hardships of war as much as possible. Provisions will never be exacted without a due receipt for them.

  Frederick Charles, General of Cavalry.

  Headquarters, Görlitz, June 16, 1866.

  The administration of the country was undertaken by Royal Commissioners; but the Saxon officials and organs of administration were retained. A kindly feeling soon sprang up between the soldiery and the inhabitants, although there were occasional disturbances with the officials, chiefly with regard to the war contributions of fuel and forage which the country was required to furnish. The excellent discipline of the Prussian soldiery showed itself conspicuously in Saxony. The fears and prejudices of the inhabitants subsided more and more every hour, and the Prussians within a few days regarded themselves and were regarded as if in a friendly country.

  At this time, as a security against the chances of an Austrian attack, and as a support for further operations, the reserve corps of General Mülbe was ordered up from Berlin to Dresden. The positions of the armies about to be engaged in hostilities were, on 30th Jun
e, after the occupation of Saxony, as shown in the following sketch.

  The Prussian dash into Saxony was a great military success. It gave Prince Frederick Charles the advantage of being able to attack the Austrians on a narrow front, if they should issue from the passes of the mountains, instead of being obliged to fight them on their own terms in an open country, as would have been the case had they been allowed to occupy this kingdom. At that moment the Prussian patrols and pickets were pushed close up to the Austrian frontier, the issue of the narrow defile which the Elbe cleaves in the Iron Mountains was secured, the Saxon troops had retired into Bohemia, and without pulling a trigger the Prussian army had, by the rapid action of its chief, gained as great advantages as could have been looked for from a victorious battle in this part of the theatre of war. There was only one point in Saxony where Saxon troops were still found, and where the Saxon standard was still hoisted.

  The little fortress of Königstein, situated on an isolated sandstone cliff on the left bank of the Elbe, about nine miles from the Austrian frontier, was still occupied by a Saxon garrison. Inaccessible, from the steepness of the rock on which it stands, and at a considerable distance from the surrounding heights, this fortress has never been reduced. From the hill of Lilienstein, which stands on the opposite side of the river, and has a command over the fortress of more than 150 feet, Napoleon attempted to bombard Königstein, but his artillery was not heavy enough to send shot over the 3,000 yards which separate the summit of the two hills. With their rifled cannon the Prussian artillery could now easily, from the hill of Lilienstein or from that of Paffenstein on the opposite side, have engaged the guns of the fort on equal terms; but the Prussian commander did not deem it worthwhile to drag artillery to the top of these steep hills in order to force the capitulation of the small garrison of 1,200 men, who, in the event of Saxony remaining in his possession, must fall into his hands, and, in case of his being obliged to retire, could add so little to the force of his enemies. Königstein, guarded by its escarpments and impossibility of approach, was still allowed to retain its reputation for impregnability.