The Seven Weeks' War

by H M Hozier

  This lower slope is covered with a dense forest of fir trees; the summit of the hill is in general a flat plateau, clothed with greensward, but near the edge of the precipice fir trees are thickly planted, and form a belt along the summit, with an average breadth of loo paces, while, conspicuous near the place where the hill line turns towards Bossin, stands a high solitary cone rising 100 feet above the plateau, bare of trees, but covered with green grass. Opposite this high cone of the Muskey Berg, and close to the river, but still on the southern bank, lies the isolated hill of the Kaczowberg. It is considerably lower than the Muskey Berg range, and is not wooded. Its length is about 500 yards, and its longitudinal direction is at right angles to that of the stream. The distance between the summits of the Muskey Berg and the Kaczowberg is about two miles, and through the valley between these two hills run the road and railway from Podoll to Münchengrätz. Between these hills the valley is a dead flat plain.

  It was at the time of the action richly cultivated, intersected by rows of fruit trees, and covered with wheat, barley, clover, and potato patches. No hedges divided the different farms, but brooks and ditches made the ground very difficult for the action of cavalry. Looking from the bridge of Podoll along the valley towards Münchengrätz, the Muskey Berg lies to the left front, the Kaczowberg to the right front; between them are seen in the distance the schloss and spires of the town, but further view is stopped by a low range of elevations, topped by dwarf plantations, which lie between the roads from Münchengrätz to Fürstenbrück, and from Münchengrätz to Jung Bunzlau, and runs from the village of Bossin to that of Wessely.

  The Austrians had thrown up a redoubt and a battery for eight guns on the Kaczowberg; the latter would have enfiladed the Podoll road, but no guns were in it, for the Prussian advance had been rapid, and there was not time to arm the work. Still, it was expected that the enemy would stand here, and the Prussian commander advanced prepared to fight He intended to strike for no meagre victory. He formed a plan by which to capture the whole opposing force; but, though skilfully designed and punctually executed, his adversary did not stand quite long enough to allow of its complete development, for the Austrian commander sacrificed his position and the town of Münchengrätz, after a sharp combat, but without a regular battle.

  The Prussian leader calculated that if he made a demonstration of a careless march towards Münchengrätz by the high road and railway, the Austrians who might be on the Muskey Berg would lie there quiet till the heads of his columns had passed their position, in order that their artillery might take the marching troops in reverse, and that he might himself in the meantime turn their position. By the same bait he also hoped to hold his adversaries on the Kaczowberg until their retreat was cut off. To effect this double object the 7th division was to move from Türnau by a road on the south side of the Iser, which at the village of Wschen crosses the road from Podoll to Sobotka, at Zdiar. It was then to take the Austrians on the Muskey Berg in rear, for this hill slopes gently on its reverse side towards a rivulet which forms the little lake of Zdiar. The division was afterwards to push on over the hill and strike the road from Münchengrätz to Fürstenbrück, between the village of Bossin and the former place.

  On the right bank of the river General Herwarth was to advance from Hühnerwasser on Münchengrätz, cross the Iser, and occupy the town, throwing out at the same time the fourteenth division to his left, which by Mohelnitz and Laukewitz should take in reverse the defenders of the Kaczowberg. The divisions of Horne and Manstein were to push down the main road from Podoll, while strong reserves closed down to Podoll. A division of infantry was to cross at Hubelow and attack the Kaczowberg in front, while a division of cavalry kept the communications open between the divisions on the right bank of the river. A strong division of cavalry was also sent from Türnau to scour the country towards Jicin, in the direction of Josephstadt.

  About eight o’clock on the morning of the 28th, Prince Frederick Charles, with General von Voigt-Rhetz, his chief of the staff, and General Stülpnagel, his quartermaster-general, came down to the bridge of Podoll, and almost immediately the Jägers, who formed the advance guard of Horne’s division, crossed the bridge, but not before an opening cannonade in the direction of Münchengrätz told that Bittenfeld was already engaged. On a hill upon the northern bank there was a convenient spot from which to see the whole theatre of the combat, and here the Prussian staff went to watch the course of the action.

  There was not a cloud upon the sky, and the sun poured down a tremendous heat; thick clouds of dust rose from the columns on the road, but this line was only followed by the artillery, the train, and the main body of the regiment. As the Jägers passed the bridge they threw out skirmishers to the right and left, who went in a long wavy line pushing through the standing corn. The cavalry scouts clustered thickly on the flanks of the skirmishers, and horsemen in more solid formation followed in their rear. It was a fine sight; the long line of rifles extending almost across the valley, felt carefully through the crops. The Uhlans, with their tall lances and fantastic pennants, hovered about the flank, and the heavy masses on the road pushed on steadily behind the centre of the light troops.

  But attention was called towards Münchengrätz, where the progress of Bittenfeld’s attack could be traced by the puffs of white smoke which rose from the discharges of the artillery. The Prussian cannonade was seen to be slowly advancing, and that of the Austrian to be retiring, while a heavy cloud of black smoke rising close beside the town showed that the Austrians had retired from the right bank of the river and had burnt the bridge. For a short time the fight was stationary, but in about a quarter of an hour a bright flash of flame and a much heavier smoke rising from the Austrian line told that an ammunition waggon had exploded. Their battery then ceased firing, and rapidly retired, while a quick advance of the Prussian cannonade showed that Bittenfeld’s pioneers had quickly thrown . their bridge, and that his corps was across the Iser. But the Austrians did not go far, for in a short time they were again in action in the direction of the Jung Bunzlau road, and one battery was drawing off towards Fürstenbrück.

  It then seemed that Bittenfeld had halted; the cannonade ceased in this direction. The view of the Muskey Berg from the position occupied by the staff is extremely beautiful, but it was not the sandstone cliff ’s of the opposite mountain, nor even the advancing Prussians in the plain, that General Voigt-Rhetz, the chief of Prince Frederick Charles’s staff, was so carefully scanning with his glass,—he saw a group on the highest point of the cone of the Muskey Berg which looked like a general’s staff, and he smiled quietly as he saw his adversaries getting entangled in the toils which had been so carefully woven for them. The heads of the Prussian columns were some way past the hill, and were pushing steadily towards Münchengrätz, when the well-known puff of smoke rising from the dark firs on the Muskey Berg plateau showed that the Austrians had opened fire upon them. The battery on the hill did not appear to be of more than four guns, and at first they fired slowly, nor did they do much execution.

  Their shells, projected from so great a height, went straight into the ground, and did not ricochet among the troops; but they were well aimed, and in most cases burst at the proper moment, and every now and then a man went down. As soon as the Austrian guns opened fire the troops in the road were turned into the fields, and moved on in open order; the train waggons were also hurried on to the softer ground, and halted separately where best concealed. Four Prussian batteries quickly opened fire, but the Austrian guns stood high, and the height of the hill deceived their aim; at first their shells fell short, but soon they got the range; still the fir-trees and rocks protected the Austrian gunners, and the batteries in the plain seemed to do little execution.

  Orders were soon sent to them to cease firing, for the enemy’s guns did not much harass the marching troops, and other means were taken for clearing the hill A squadron of Uhlans was directed to pass close along the foot of the Muskey Berg, so that the guns on the plateau
could not be depressed sufficiently to hurt them, and were to gain a steep path which leads to the summit between the highest point and Bossin, while an infantry brigade was to support the movement; but before this plan could be carried into execution the seventh division was heard engaged on the reverse side, and the Austrian battery quickly limbered up and retired. The guns were not intercepted by the seventh division, but here General Franzecky made 600 prisoners from the infantry which was on the hill to support the battery.

  While the seventh division was still engaged behind the Muskey Berg, four Austrian guns appeared on the summit of the hill, between Bossin and Wessely, and opened fire against the Prussian columns, who were now again advancing over the plain. But Franzecky was pushing towards them, and his artillery threatened to enfilade them, so that they soon had to retire. The seventh division then struck the road between Münchengrätz and Bossin, and attacked the latter village. Bittenfeld had already pushed towards it from Münchengrätz, and supported this attack. The first round of Franzecky’s artillery set fire to a house, which began to burn fiercely, and the flames were soon communicated to the next, for most of the cottages in this country are built of wood, which, dried in the hot summer sun, readily takes fire. After a sharp skirmish the Austrians were driven from the village and retired in the direction of Fürstenbrück, and they left here 200 prisoners, and General Herwarth von Bittenfeld had already captured 200. The Austrian soldiers who had been taken chiefly belonged to Italian regiments, and showed no disposition to fight; twenty-five of them in one mass laid down their arms to Lieutenant von Bülow, who, being one of Prince Frederick Charles’s aides-de-camp, was returning from delivering an order, and saw these men separated from their regiment. He collected about half-a-dozen train soldiers and rode up to them, when they surrendered without offering any resistance.

  The Austrians made no attempt to hold the Kaczowberg. The only points they attempted to defend were the Muskey Berg, Münchengrätz, and the village of Bossin. They lost at least a thousand prisoners, and about three hundred killed and wounded.

  With the occupation of the village of Bossin ended the combat of Münchengrätz, in which by a series of strategical movements, with little fighting, and slight loss—for the Prussian killed, wounded, and missing did not number 100—Prince Frederick Charles gained about twelve miles of country, and took 1,000 prisoners, turned the strong position of the Kaczowberg, and effected his secure junction with the corps of General Bittenfeld.

  The headquarters of the Army of the Elbe and of the First Army were established at Münchengrätz. The majority of the inhabitants had fled from the town; the army had outmarched its provision trains, and there was nothing to be bought in the place. On account of actual necessity the soldiers were allowed to take what eatables they could find in the place, but little had been left, for the Austrian Army was there the night before, and their commissariat appears to have been as miserably corrupt as it was in the Italian campaign. The prisoners reported that they had had nothing to eat for two days, and begged for a morsel of bread; but the Prussian Army was hard set itself for provisions, and there was but little to give away. Nor were the Austrian hospital arrangements such as they ought to have been. Twenty-six wounded men were found here when the Prussians marched in, lying in a cottage on a floor covered with blood, untended, with their wounds undressed, and saying that they had had no nourishment for forty-eight hours; no surgeon had remained with them, nor was their condition reported to the Prussian commander; fortunately they were discovered accidentally by a Prussian staff officer.

  Hospital necessaries were scarce, but Prussian medical men were sent to attend them, and application was made to the magistracy of Münchengrätz to supply linen with which to dress their wounds. These are reported to have refused to assist in alleviating the sufferings of their fellow-countrymen, who were shot down in defending the very passage to their own town, till Count Stöhlberg, a Prussian officer of cuirassiers, roused by their barbarity, drew his sword on the burgomaster, and threatened him with death unless the wants of the wounded men were attended to, when the necessary materials came forth. The Prussian troops were very weary. They had marched and fought that day (the 28th) over a long distance and in a heavy country. There was little water away from the river, and the soldiers had suffered much from thirst; but they marched nobly.

  Few stragglers were ever seen, except those who had fallen fainting out of the ranks, and were lying half stupefied by the roadside; but none lay long without succour, for the krankenträger, or sick-bearers, hovered with their water-bottles round the flanks and in the rear of the marching as well as of the fighting battalions, and gave a willing aid to all that needed it.

  The army of Prince Frederick Charles was now concentrated round Münchengrätz; two divisions were near or in Bossin: a large force covered the left at Zehrow and south of Türnau, and threw its outposts towards Sobotka. The force in front of Prince Frederick Charles was the Austrian first corps d’armée, the brigade Kalik, which had lately returned from Holstein, and the cavalry division of General Edelsheim. To these the Saxon Army was joined, and the whole allied force was under the command of Prince Albert, Crown Prince of Saxony.

  By the actions of Liebenau, Hühnerwasser, Podoll, and Münchengrätz, the whole line of the Iser was won by the Prussians, and a great strategical advantage gained, the distance from the Second Army which had on the 27th commenced its advance from Silesia, was still, however, great; for from thirty to thirty-five miles lay between the left wing of Prince Frederick Charles and the extreme right wing of the crown prince: difficulties still existed which had to be overcome before the junction of the two armies could be effected. Count Clam Gallas, on being driven from the line of the Iser, retired to Gitschin, and there took up a defensive position. Before tracing the means which Prince Frederick Charles adopted to dislodge him from this point, it is desirable to cast a glance over the preceding actions.

  The actions of Liebenau and Hühnerwasser were fought by the Austrians merely as reconnaissances, and may be passed over in silence. But why did Count Clam Gallas neglect to defend Türnau at all, and hold Podoll with only a single brigade? It was undoubtedly his object to hold the line of the Iser and to there check his enemy for as long a time as possible. Münchengrätz is, at the most, but twelve miles distant from Türnau; he had 60,000 men at his disposal, and could therefore have well held the whole line had he thrown up the necessary entrenchments. It seems, however, that the Austrian general committed the great error of despising his enemy. Had he ranged part of his army on the plateau south of Türnau and Podoll, broken the bridges at these places, and thrown up earthworks to impede the passage of the river, and at the same time collected the other part or his force at Münchengrätz, and there made similar defensive preparations, the line of the Iser might, indeed, still have been forced by the Prussians, but only by the employment of their whole strength; and, probably, only after the lapse of a considerable amount of time.

  Had it been forced, the Austrian retreat from both points to Sobotka would have been secure. Had it not, the Prussians would have been compelled to seek for a passage further to the north at Eisenbrod or Semil, and to have made a flank march in a country which in that direction is broken into ravines and hollows by the spurs of the Giant Mountains. It might be urged against such dispositions that by breaking the bridges Count Clam Gallas would have deprived himself of all chance of assuming the offensive in case of a favourable opportunity. His duty and object, however, was not to crush but to detain Prince Frederick Charles: the defeat of the Prussian First Army was to have been effected by the arrival of Feldzeugmeister Benedek himself with overwhelming forces, before or after having disposed of the crown prince.

  The Austrian position on the Muskey Berg was tactically strong, but strategically weak. By the surrender of Türnau, Count Clam Gallas exposed the right flank of that position, and allowed his retreat to Gitschin to be threatened.

  CHAPTER 3: Action of Gitschin
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br />   The fourth Prussian corps, consisting of the seventh and eighth divisions, had been sharply engaged at Podoll and Münchengrätz, and was allowed to halt at the latter place on the 29th June. That evening it marched as the reserve of the First Army, which moved from the Iser towards Gitschin by three roads—the left from Türnau by Rowensko, the centre from Podoll by Sobotka, the right from Münchengrätz by Ober Bautzen on Sobotka, while the Army of the Elbe moved on the right wing of the First Army by Unter Bautzen and Libau.

  On the evening of the 28th, the fifth division was pushed forward from Türnau as far as Rowensko, on the road to Gitschin, where it halted for the night, with the sixth division a short distance in rear of it The same evening the third division, with the fourth in rear, was pushed to Zehrow, on the road from Podoll to Sobotka; and its advanced guard, consisting of the 14th regiment and two companies of the second Jäger battalion, in the course of the night occupied the defile of Podkost, after a sharp skirmish.

  On the afternoon of the 29th, the fifth division broke up from Rowensko at two o’clock, and advanced towards Gitschin. The third division, which had a longer march before it, left Zehrow for the same place at mid-day.

  The distance from Türnau to Gitschin is about fifteen miles; from Münchengrätz to the same town about twenty miles; and Podoll to Podkost about six miles.

  Four roads lead from the town of Gitschin, almost towards the four points of the compass; that of the north to Türnau, of the west to Sobotka, of the south to Kosteltz, and of the east, but bending southwards, to Höritz. From the Kosteltz road to the Türnau road runs, about three miles’ distance from Gitschin, a semicircular range of steep broken hills; on their slopes and summits spruce and silver firs grow in thick woods which occasionally reach down into the cultivated ground. Here and there upon these hills are patches of corn or clover land, while at various intervals there are little villages, which generally consist of ten or twelve large wooden cottages separated from each other, and standing in orchards. Near the foot of the range of hills the ground is much broken up by shallow ravines and gullies.