by H M Hozier
Directly to the south were clearly seen the bold swelling masses of the Bohemian mountains, which here rise higher than in any part of the chain except where the Schneekoppe looms over the passes which lead into Silesia. The break in the mountain line which shows the defile through which passes the road to Reichenberg could be distinctly seen from here. Many eyes were often turned towards the gap in the clear relief of the hills against the sky, and many sought to know whether Prince Frederick Charles had come south to force that pass, or expected the Austrians to issue from it But those who had that day marched along the seventeen miles of dusty road from Görlitz could have little doubt with what object the First Army had advanced; the amount of transport which stretched in almost a continuous line for twelve miles of the way, told clearly that it was attached to an army destined for more than the mere defence of a frontier.
Prince Frederick Charles on the 22nd broke up his quarters at Görlitz, drew the First Army together, and launched it by the two roads which lead through Zittau and Seidenberg respectively, towards the Austrian frontier. The headquarter staff left Görlitz about three in the afternoon, and pushed along a road crowded with marching troops and military carriages to Hirschfeld. The road from Görlitz to that place was covered with an almost unbroken stream of infantry regiments, batteries of artillery, cavalry detachments, military carriages, and a long line of country waggons as supplementary transport, while the thick cloud of dust, which rose about a mile and a half to the left, showed that an equally strong column was pushing forward by the Seidenberg road. The heat was great, and the dust, rising in dense clouds from beneath the feet of the men and horses, or wheels of the carriages, hung heavily upon the marching columns; but the men stepped out cheerily, for they were anxious to advance, and they did not seem to suffer from fatigue. The regiments marched in with drums and fifes playing, ranks closed up, no stragglers, and the men keeping step so well that, but for the dust on their clothes and appointments, they might have been imagined to be going for instead of returning from a march.
The chaussée leading from Görlitz to Zittau is broad enough to allow four carriages to pass. The march was excellently arranged; there was no confusion, and no halts had to be made except those which were necessary to allow the men to rest The carriages of the military train were scrupulously kept to one side of the road, so as to leave the rest clear for die troops. Its own baggage marched in the rear of each battalion, but it was not much; only one waggon with the reserve ammunition, a cart for the officers’ baggage, three or four packhorses to carry the paymaster’s books, and the doctors’ medicine carts. The soldiers marched strongly; their faces were lit up with excitement, for they knew that every pace brought them nearer to the enemy, and they longed for battle. The country people on the road or working by the wayside exchanged kind words with the men, and expressed many good wishes for their success, and did so with sincerity, for the Prussian soldiers who had been billeted in the Saxon hamlets had made themselves great favourites with the villagers.
Never was a march better conducted. The standing crops which fringed the road for almost its entire length were in no single place either trampled down or passed through. The road was crowded and dusty, but the men never left it, and, if there was a halt where corn grew by the wayside, no soldier went further from the line of march than to sit on the narrow fringe of grass which separates the chaussée from the cultivated ground, and in no case were the field, intruded upon. The staff officers, too, with a wise provision for the comfort of the troops, and with a careful regard for the farmers, had arranged that halts of long duration should be made by alternate regiments at places where the hay had been cut and carried home, and the short grass could, without itself suffering any harm, afford relief to the heated feet of the soldiers.
The road about a mile south of Görlitz descends a steep hill, formed by the spur of the Landeskrone, which runs down to the edge of the Neisse, and on which the town of Görlitz is built It then runs along the valley as far as Ostritz; on the right are wide unenclosed fields covered with rich crops, which terminate on the low line of hills that fringes the valley towards the west; on the left runs the slow stream of the Neisse, shrouded in willows; beyond the river a chain of gentle elevations separates its valley from that formed by the Rolte rivulet, up which runs the road from Görlitz by Seidenberg to Friedland. A mile south of Ostritz a chain of hills, standing directly across the road, forms a defile through which the river winds with a narrowed stream, the road bends to the right, and goes over a hill thickly covered with fir-trees, but soon descends again, and at Hirschfeld rejoins the course of the river. Two good military positions for an army retreating on Görlitz are afforded on this road—that behind Hirschfeld, where in front of the hill a rivulet crosses the way; and a second where, in front of Görlitz, the road dips down into the valley.
The Prussian troops were on the night of the 22nd in force in Zittau and Seidenberg, and the troops were placed along the road which connects those two towns. Headquarters were established in a very picturesque, but not over-clean, Saxon village. Prince Frederick Charles and his staff occupied the village inn; the square in front, half market-place, half green, was crowded with the carriages of the military train. Soldiers were billeted in every cottage, and chargers stood in every stable. The little hamlet was a continual scene of busy turmoil; horses were being attended to, arms were being cleaned, and the men were making ready for tomorrow’s march; while now and then a distant trumpet on the left told that the evening watches were being set by the troops that lay towards the frontier.
The resources of this little village were sorely taxed by the sudden inroad of hungry men; the common room of the inn was filled with a multitude of soldiers hungry with a long day’s march. Each man bought a large piece of bread and a junk of meat, and retiring to a side table, or bench, cut it up with his pocket-knife, and made a hearty meal. The regimental officers fared no better than their men. The campaign had already begun, and a great deal of the outward distinctions of ranks had been, as is always the case, shaken off, but the real discipline was unimpaired.
The health of the army was excellent; the sick only averaged 2½ per cent, which would be a remarkably small number even in a period of profound peace. The sanitary arrangements were so good that there seemed to be every chance of this small proportion of illness being maintained.
The surgeons, hospital attendants, and sick-bearers wore on their left arm a white band with a red cross, as a mark of their profession and their neutrality.
No declaration of war against Austria was made by Prussia; but on the morning of the 23rd, at daybreak, Prince Frederick Charles sent one of his aides-de-camp, Major von Rauch, to announce to the commander of the nearest Austrian post that he in the course of the day intended to pass the Bohemian frontier. Von Rauch, as is usual in such cases, accompanied by a trumpeter, whom he caused constantly to sound, and himself waving a white handkerchief, fell in with one of the Austrian patrols, which was furnished by Radetzky’s hussars. The patrol fired on the staff officer, fortunately without effect; he boldly rode up to it, and on explaining the object of his visit, was conducted blindfold to the commandant of the advanced post, which was Reichenberg; this officer, of course, apologized for the mistake which his patrol had made, and the aide-de-camp, after a long and early ride, was escorted back to within a short distance of the Saxon frontier, where he soon met the advancing columns of his own army.
Prince Frederick Charles, late on the night of the 22nd, issued the following General Order to the First Army:—
Headquarters, Görlitz,
June 22.
Soldiers!—Austria, faithless and regardless of treaties, has for some time, without declaring war, not respected the Prussian frontier in Upper Silesia. I therefore, likewise, without a declaration of war, might have passed the frontier of Bohemia. I have not done so. I have caused a public declaration to be sent, and now we enter the territory of the enemy in order to defend our own country.
Let our undertaking rest with God. Let us leave our affairs in the hands of Him who rules the hearts of men, who decides the fate of nations, and the issue of battles. As it stands written in Holy Writ—‘Let your hearts beat to God, and your hands on the enemy.’
In this war are concerned—you know it—the maintenance of Prussia’s most sacred rights, and the very existence of our dear native land. Her enemies have declared their intention to dismember and to destroy her. Shall the streams of blood which your fathers and mine poured out under Frederick the Great, in the War of Independence, and which we ourselves latterly shed at Düppel and Alsen, have been spilt in vain? Never! We will maintain Prussia as she is, and by victories make her stronger and mightier. We would be worthy of our fathers.
We rely on the God of our fathers, who will be mighty in us, and will bless the arms of Prussia.
So, forward with our old battle cry, ‘With God for King and Fatherland! Long live the King!’
Frederick Charles,
General of Cavalry.
On the morning of the 23rd the Prussian armies crossed the frontier of the Austrian territories. General Herwarth von Bittenfeld, with the Army of the Elbe, marched by the high road from Schluckenau to Rumburg. Prince Frederick Charles, with the 4th corps d’armée, followed by the 2nd corps, and the cavalry corps, advanced along the road and railway leading from Zittau to Reichenberg, while the 3rd corps moved from Seidenberg and Marklissa over the passes of Schönwald and Neustadtl on Friedland.
The troops were early under arms, and fell into their ranks a little after daybreak, under a steady downfall of drizzling rain. They had to march many miles from their billets to the places where they were to form columns for the advance, but they stepped out well over the slippery grass and sloppy roads, and were all ranged in proper order close to the Austrian frontier, but still on Saxon ground, a little after 7. At 6 the commander-in-chief left his last night’s quarters at Hirschfeld, and by the Zittau road reached the frontier a little before 8. The frontier is marked on the road by a tollhouse, in front of which a long bar supplies the place of a gate. This bar balances near its end furthest from the tollhouse on a pivot, and, by means of a weight at the end of its shorter arm, can be raised almost perpendicularly upwards when the road is to be left open for a free passage.
On this bar are painted the alternate black and gold stripes which are the distinctive colours of Austria. The bar was raised that day, but not quite in a vertical position; high enough to allow a man on horseback to ride under it, it still sloped over the road. It was here that Prince Frederick Charles took up his position to watch his troops march over the border. He had hardly arrived there before he gave the necessary orders, and in a few moments the Uhlans, who formed the advanced guard of the regiments that marched by this line, were over the frontier. Then followed the infantry.
As the leading ranks of each battalion arrived at the first point on the road from which they caught sight of the Austrian colours that showed the frontier, they raised a cheer, which was quickly caught up by those in the rear, and was repeated again and again till, when the men came up to the tollhouse and saw their soldier prince standing on the border line, it swelled into a roar of rapturous delight, which only ceased to be replaced by a martial song that was caught up by each battalion as it poured into Bohemia. Their chief himself stood by the roadside calm and collected; but he gazed proudly on the passing sections, and well he might, for never did an army cross an enemy’s frontier better equipped, better cared for, or with a higher courage than that which marched out of Saxony that day. Ever and anon he would call from a passing battalion some officer or soldier who had before served under him, and with a kindly inquiry or cheerful word, won a heart, for soldiers love officers who take an interest in them.
Everywhere the prince was greeted by the troops with loud cries of joy; as he rode along the way by which the regiments were marching they cheered him continuously. At one point his reception was peculiarly remarkable. A Pomeranian regiment (the 2nd), which had served under him when he was a divisional general, had piled its arms for a halt, and the men were lying down by the side of the road to rest Suddenly the word was passed among them that the prince was coming; with one accord they sprang as if by magic to their feet, made two long lines along the road through which he might pass, and gave him such a cheer as only old soldiers can.
The concentration of the troops and the advance into Bohemia were most excellently managed. This same army had exactly a week before entered Saxony, prepared to fight in that country; within that time Saxony had been entirely occupied, and within six days the majority of the troops were again concentrated, and began their march into Austria. The advance was conducted in this way:—The troops the previous night were concentrated on the frontier; on the morning of the 23rd, on the right, Herwarth von Bittenfeld pushed forward two columns from Dresden by Schluckenau and Rumburg; Prince Frederick Charles advanced from Saxony; his troops marched in five columns; the column on the right followed the high road from Zittau; the right centre column marched along the railway lying to the left of that road; the centre column followed a road to the left of the railway. The left centre column marched by the Seidenberg road, and the left column by the Marklissa road east of this highway.
Thus on a broad front, and by several roads all within a distance which would allow the different corps to concentrate in a very few hours, the army moved to the front well in hand and without inconvenience to the troops. The march within Austrian territory was distinguished by the same regard for private property that was so scrupulously observed in Saxony. The Austrian villagers at first looked on the irruption of the army of the northern Germans half in fear, half in curiosity, but soon they came to be on speaking terms with the soldiers, and then were quickly seen supplying them with drinking water and doing them other good services.
The castle of Grafenstein, in which the headquarters were fixed on the night of the 23rd, is the property of Count Clam Gallas, who commanded the first Austrian corps in Bohemia; it is beautifully situated on the top of a hill, covered with thick foliage, which rises abruptly from the low ground of the valley of the Neisse. The count had not left much furniture for the use of his unexpected guests, as nearly all the moveables were sent away some time before to Vienna, but a stock of mattresses were found in the house which the servants good-naturedly lent to the temporary occupants, and a prince of Prussia and his staff were accommodated in the rooms of an officer who was waiting to fight a battle with their army beyond the mountains.
Two of Radetzky’s hussars were taken prisoners; they were out with a patrol and came into collision with a patrol of the Prussian regiment of Magdeburg hussars; in the skirmish the horses of these two Austrians were shot, and the men were taken. They were the first prisoners of the war. The rapid concentration of the Prussian army produced some feats in marching, which were quite extraordinary for troops who had only just taken the field. The 5th Pomeranian Hussars marched three days successively for long distances, and on the 22nd made fifty English miles; they were again on the line of march on the 24th, with horses in excellent condition, and the men looking as if they had only just turned out of barracks.
The Prussians were now on the northern slopes of the mountains, and one day’s march would, without opposition, take them through the passes. The highest hills were now so close that with a glass the stems of the fir-trees which clothed them could be easily distinguished. The road to Reichenberg lay straight and open before them. The march of the 23rd was different from that of the preceding day; it was a march which showed that the enemy might be found in front The heavy baggage and reserve commissariat transport was all a day’s march in rear; the only carriages which were present in the column of route were the guns and waggons of the artillery, the hospital carnages, and the few waggons which are necessary to regiments when actually about to fight.
The advanced posts, on the evening of the 23rd, were pushed forwards about seven miles; th
ere were vigilant patrols and pickets out, and all was provided for against a surprise. These precautions are of course always necessary with an army in the field; in the present case their utility was not put to the test, for the Austrians were not in force in the neighbourhood.
Count Clam Gallas, to whom the Austrian commander had entrusted the guidance of the Austrian and Saxon troops on the Iser, had only pushed patrols of light cavalry up to and beyond Reichenberg. Several skirmishes took place between them and the Prussian hussars, dragoons, and lancers, who formed the advanced scouts in front of each column, in which the Austrian cavalry was generally outnumbered and obliged to retire.
It rained steadily all the night of the 23rd, and the morning brought no improvement in the weather, but the troops were in high spirits, and appeared to care nothing for the wet. On the 24th the army of Prince Frederick Charles marched by three roads: the left column by way of Eisniedel on Reichenberg; the centre by Kratzkau on the same town; while General von Bittenfeld came from the mountains, and moved upon Gabel. Some of the regiments halted at Reichenberg, and were billeted in the town for the night; others were pushed through and took up positions in front Many battalions had to bivouac that evening; but, although the ground was moist and damp from incessant rain, the weather was warm, and the troops did not take much harm from their first night in the open. The army was now drawn together and concentrated round Reichenberg; for General von Bittenfeld at Gabel was only twelve miles to the right.