by H M Hozier
The Prussian battalion from Lindenau had arrived on the south flank of Wiesenthal Another battalion came up with that of the advanced guard, and the Prussians occupied the village. The Prussian artillery also arrived, and came into action with great effect against a Bavarian battery posted on the south-west of Wiesenthal. At the same time the needle-gun told severely on the Bavarian battalions at the foot of the Nebelsberg. Three of these retired into the woods which cover the summit of that hill, while the fourth took post behind the rising ground. Swarms of Prussian skirmishers swept swiftly across the plain in front, and made themselves masters of the edge of the wood. But the Bavarians held fast to the trees inside, and would not be ousted. Two fresh batteries of Bavarian artillery, and several new battalions, were seen hurrying up from Rossdorf. At this moment it was supposed that Manteuffel’s cannonade was heard opening in the direction of Nornshausen. This was in truth but the echo of the engaged artillery. But the Prussian columns hurried forward, and dashed with the bayonet against the wood-crested hill. The Bavarians awaited the charge, and their riflemen made serious impressions upon the advancing masses. But the men of Westphalia rushed on.
After a short, sharp struggle, the hill was carried; and the Bavarians fled down the reverse slope, leaving hundreds of corpses, grisly sacrifices to the needle-gun, to mark the line of their flight. General Goeben had achieved his object. He halted his troops, and prepared to rejoin Falckenstein. Leaving a rearguard of one battalion, three squadrons, and a battery to cover his movement, and the removal of the killed and wounded, he withdrew his two brigades to Dermbach. The Bavarian march to unite with the eighth corps had been checked; and Falckenstein had lodged his leading column securely between the separated portions of his adversary’s army. The Bavarians in the night, finding their road barred, retired, to seek a junction with Prince Alexander by some other route.
They did not, however, move over the western spurs of the Hohe Rhön, in the direction of Brückenau, whence they might have stretched a hand to Prince Alexander, who on the night between the 5th and 6th July was only seven miles from Fulda. They preferred to move by the woods on the eastern side of the mountains towards the Franconian Saale and Kissingen. Thus they made a movement which separated them from their allies, instead of bringing the two corps close together. Prince Alexander had sent an officer to the Bavarian camp. He was present on the 4th July at the action of Wiesenthal, and returned to the headquarters of the eighth Federal corps with a report of the failure of the Bavarians. On the receipt of this intelligence, Prince Alexander appears to have abandoned all hope of effecting a junction with Prince Charles north of the Maine. He faced about, and moved back to Frankfort, a town which, until its subsequent occupation by the Prussians, appears always to have had a singular attraction for the eighth Federal corps.
On the 4th July, the same day that General Goeben pressed the Bavarians back at Wiesenthal, the leading division of Falckenstein’s army had a singular skirmish in the direction of Hünfeld. As General Beyer, who commanded the Prussian advanced guard, approached that town, he found two squadrons of Bavarian cavalry in front of him. Two guns accompanied these squadrons, which opened fire on the advancing Prussians. The weather was wet, and a clammy mist held the smoke of the cannon, so that it hung like a weighty cloud over the mouths of the pieces. A Prussian battery opened in reply. The first shot so surprised the Bavarians, who had not anticipated that there was artillery with the advanced guard, that the cuirassiers turned about, and sought safety in a wild flight They left one of their guns, which in their haste had not time to be limbered up. Beyer pressed forward, and found Hünfeld evacuated by the enemy. Indeed it is said that these cuirassiers, who had been pushed forward by Prince Alexander to open communications with Prince Charles, were so dismayed by one well-aimed cannon-shot, that many of them did not draw rein till they reached Wurzburg.
Prince Alexander withdrew towards Frankfort Falckenstein pushed forward on the 6th; he occupied Fulda with Beyer’s division, while Goeben and Manteuffel encamped on the north towards Hünfeld. The object of the Prussian advance was obtained. On the 5th July the Bavarians and the eighth Federal corps were separated from each other by only thirty miles; on the 7th seventy miles lay between them.
Prince Alexander left the Würtemberg division to hold the passes of the Vogels-Berg towards Giessen. The Bavarians, after the action of Wiesenthal, drew back and took up a position in the neighbourhood of Kissingen, on the Franconian Saale.
General Falckenstein, on the 7th, united his whole army at Fulda. He had the choice of attacking either of his separated enemies. To pursue the eighth Federal corps by Giessen, would probably allow it to unite with the Bavarians by moving up the Maine. To advance directly upon Frankfort with the Bavarians on the Saale in his flank and rear, and with the defiles of Gelnhausen, occupied by the eighth corps, in his front, would be extremely hazardous.
Prince Charles was also considered the more formidable antagonist, and the one upon whom it was the more necessary to inflict a heavy blow.
On the 8th July General Falckenstein commenced his march from Fulda. He did not turn towards Gelnhausen, as was expected in the Bavarian camp, but moved against the position of Prince Charles. On the 9th the Prussian Army reached Brückenau, and orders were given for a flank march to the left, over the Hohe Rhön, against the Bavarians on the Saale. Beyer’s division moved as the right wing along the road to Hammelburg; Goeben advanced in the centre towards Kissingen; and Manteuffel on the left upon Waldaschach. On the morning of the 10th July, at nine o’clock, Beyer’s division, which had received very doubtful intelligence of the presence of the Bavarians in Hammelburg, began its march towards that town.
About eleven the head of the advanced guard fell in with the first patrols of the enemy’s cavalry in front of Unter Erthal, a small village on the road from Brückenau, about two miles south of Hammelburg. These retired on the Prussian advance, but unmasked a rifled battery, posted beyond the houses. A Prussian field-battery quickly unlimbered and came into action. Under cover of its fire an infantry regiment made a dash at the bridge by which the road from Brückenau crosses the Thulba stream. The bridge was not seriously defended, and after a short cannonade the Bavarians drew back to Hammelburg. At mid-day three Prussian batteries topped the Hobels Berg, and after a few rounds from the guns the infantry rushed down with loud cheers to carry the houses. This was, however, not an easy task. The Bavarian General Zoller held the town with something over three thousand men; he determined to bar the passage of the Saale. The odds were too unequal. The Prussians numbered about fifteen thousand men. Yet the Bavarians clung with a high courage to the houses, and opened a biting fire of small arms on the assailants. Their artillery, too, supported well the infantry defence.
Two Prussian infantry regiments threw out skirmishers, and attempted to put down the fire of the Bavarian riflemen. But these were protected by the cover of the houses; and the defenders’ artillery from the hill of Saalch splintered its shells among the ranks of the Prussian sharpshooters. The fight did not gain ground for about an hour. After that interval two more Prussian regiments and two additional batteries came into play. Heavily the Prussian pieces threw their metal upon the Bavarian guns at Saalch. The fire of the latter grew weaker and weaker. They were rapidly being silenced by superior force. Some houses, kindled by the Prussian shells, at the same time caught fire, and the town began to burn fiercely in three places. Still the Bavarians clung to the bridge, and stood their ground, careless equally of the flames and of the heavy cannonade. Beyer sent forward his Jägers to storm the place.
No longer could the defenders endure the assault. The quick bullets of the needle-gun rained in showers among the burning buildings, scattering fire and death among the garrison. The defence had to be abandoned; and the Bavarians, pursued by salvos of artillery, drew off to the south-east, and the Prussians gained the passage of the Saale at Hammelburg.
On the same day as General Beyer fought the action of Hammelbu
rg on the right, Falckenstein’s central column was heavily engaged with the main body of the Bavarians at the celebrated bathing-place of Kissingen. On the 5th July eighty Bavarian troopers, flying from Hünfeld, passed in hot haste through the town. The visitors and the inhabitants were much alarmed, but the burgomaster quieted them by a promise that he would give twenty-four hours’ warning if the place was in danger of being attacked by the Prussians. This assurance had more weight, because even on the 8th July Bavarian staff-officers sauntered about the Kurgarten as quietly as if in a time of the most profound peace. Some of the troops which had been quartered in Kissingen and its neighbourhood were on the 9th sent to Hammelburg. All appeared still, and yet the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages were already flying from their homes to avoid the Prussians. The Bavarian intelligence department does not appear to have been well managed.
By mid-day on the 9th it was too late for the burgomaster to give his warning that the Prussians were already near. The Bavarians concentrated about twenty thousand men, and took up their position. The visitors and inhabitants could not now retire, and had to remain to be the involuntary witnesses of an action. Those who lived in the Hotel Sauner, which lies on the right bank of the Saale, were allowed to move into the less exposed part of the town. None were permitted to quit the place for fear of their conveying intelligence of the Bavarian dispositions to the enemy. The wooden bridge over the Saale, as well as the two iron ones, were destroyed, but of one iron one in front of the Alten Berg the supports were left. It was through the assistance of these that the Prussians gained the first passage of the river; for they knew the localities well, as many of their staff-officers had frequently visited the fashionable watering-place of Kissingen. The stone bridge was barricaded hastily as well as possible, and its approach protected by two 12-pounder guns. Five battalions, with twelve guns, held the town itself. The Bavarians had chosen a very strong position; they held the houses next to the bridge as well as the bank of the Saale
beyond the bridge. Their artillery was posted on the Stadt Berg, but not on the important Finster Berg. A battery on the latter hill would have prevented the Prussians from gaining the passage of the river from the Alten Berg. Behind the village of Haussen guns were also in. position. All the bridges outside of Kissingen were destroyed, and all points favourable for defence occupied by infantry. General Zoller commanded the Bavarians.
On the 10th July, at early morning, Prussian hussars appeared. Columns were soon afterwards descried on the roads towards Klaushof and Garitz on the west of Kissingen; and a battery came into position on a hill between Garitz and the river. At half-past seven in the morning, the Bavarian guns near Winkels and the two 12-pounders at the bridge opened on the leading Prussian columns, which consisted of General Kummer’s brigade. Kummer’s artillery replied, and in a short time the rattle of musketry, mingling with the heavier booming of the guns, told that he was sharply engaged.
The main body of Goeben’s division had in the meantime reached Schlimhoff. Here it received orders to detach three battalions by Poppenroth and Klaushof, who were to attack Friedericshall under the command of Colonel Goltz. When General Wrangel’s brigade approached Kissingen, it received orders to advance on the right wing of Kummer’s brigade, to seize the Alten Berg, and if possible, by extending to its right, to outflank the Bavarian position. A squadron was sent at the same time to reconnoitre the ground beyond Garitz. A battalion was despatched as an advanced guard against the Alten Berg; and a battery of artillery came into action on the northern spur of that hill. The Alten Berg was quickly cleared of Bavarian riflemen by the Prussian Jägers.
A company under Captain von Busche was then sent against the bridge on the south of Kissingen, which the Bavarians had partially destroyed, but where the piers had been left standing. Tables, forms, and timber were seized from some neighbouring houses, and with secrecy and rapidity the broken bridge was so far restored that before mid-day. men could cross it in single file. Von Busche led his company over the stream, and then directed his men against a road on the further side, from the cover of which the enemy’s marksmen annoyed them considerably. This company was followed by a second, and as quickly as possible a whole battalion was thrown across the stream. The battalion gained the wood on the south-east of Kissingen; here a column was formed, and under cover of many skirmishers advanced against the town. More men were pushed across the repaired bridge, and soon two and a half Prussian battalions were engaged in a street fight among the houses. The remaining portion of Wrangel’s brigade was at this time directed in support of Kummer against the principal bridge. Infantry and artillery fire caused the Prussians severe losses, but they pushed on towards the barricade. Their artillery outnumbered that of the defending force, and, protected by it, the battalions carried the bridge.
The army of Bavaria boasted to have had at that time a hundred and twenty-six cannon. Of these only twelve came into action at Kissingen, five at Hammelburg. The rest were uselessly scattered along the bank of the Saale, between these two places.
The passage of the stream by the Prussians decided the action. They secured the Finster Berg and the Bodenlaube, with the old castle of that name, and pushed forward with loud cheers into the heart of the town. Here the Bavarian light infantry fought hard, and, suffering heavy sacrifices themselves, inflicted grievous loss on the Prussians. The Kurgarten, held by three hundred riflemen, were stormed three times by Wrangel’s men without success. It was carried on the fourth assault. A young lieutenant, who commanded the Bavarians, with the whole of his men, refused quarter, and died in the place they had held so well At a little after three the whole town was carried.
The Bavarians did not yet renounce the combat. The corps which retreated from Kissingen took up a position on the hill east of the town, and renewed the battle. Wrangel’s brigade received orders to clear the hills south of the road which leads to Nudlingen, of the enemy. This was to be effected by the fusilier battalion and the second battalion of the 55th regiment. The first battalion of the same regiment cleared the way, and, extended as skirmishers, advanced along the road. The other troops followed in reserve. The Bavarians had taken up a position on both sides of the road, and greeted the Prussians with an artillery fire from the Sinn Berg. They fought well, and not till seven o’clock did Wrangel occupy Winkels. The Bavarians were supposed to be retiring, and Wrangel’s troops were about to bivouac, when a report came in from the 19th, which had occupied the outposts, that the Bavarians were advancing in force.
Two battalions of the 55th, a 12-pounder battery, and a squadron of hussars, were immediately sent to reinforce the outlying troops, while two companies of the 55th were sent into the hills on the right to menace the left flank of the enemy’s advance. The battery and squadron advanced at a trot General Wrangel in person went to the outposts, and was receiving the reports from the commanding officer of the 19th, when some rifle bullets came from the southern hill into the closed columns of the regiment. The Bavarians, under Prince Charles himself, had come down with nine fresh battalions of their first division. They had seized the hills which lie on the north of the road, and were pressing rapidly forward under the cover of their artillery. The Prussian cavalry and battery, as well as the 19th regiment, were pushed back. The 55th, coming up, threw themselves into a hollow road, and, under the protection of their fire, the retreat was for a time checked Prince Charles urged on, however, superior forces, and those, too, had to retire.
The Prussians now took up a position on the heights south-east of Winkels, where two batteries came into play. The retreating battalions halted here, and the fight stood still. One battalion of the 19th regiment and two companies of the soldiers of Lippe were sent by Wrangel into the hills on the north of the road, while the second battalion of the 55th was pushed up there on its southern side. As soon as these flanking troops had gained their positions, the whole brigade advanced in double-quick time, with drums beating. The charge succeeded, though the loss was great. The Bavarians
were driven back. The Prussians regained their former position, and Prince Charles relinquished his attack.
The Prussian left column, which was formed by Manteuffel’s division, on the 10th July also secured the passage at Waldaschach, about five miles above Kissingen, and at Haussen. At neither place did the Bavarians make any obstinate stand.
The Bavarians appear to have been surprised on the Saale. The Prussian march, previous to the battle of Kissingen, was so rapid that they did not expect an attack till the following day. In consequence, their whole force was not concentrated on the river. The troops which held Kissingen and Hammelburg were unsupported, while those which should have acted as their reserves were too far distant to be of any service. The latter, on the other hand, arrived so late that their comrades had already been defeated, and they themselves, instead of acting as reinforcements, met with only a similar fate to those first engaged. The Bavarian staff were unprepared. They had no maps of the country, except one which the chief of the staff, General von der Tann, borrowed from a native of one of the small towns near the field.
CHAPTER 3: The Actions on the Maine
When Prince Alexander of Hesse turned to retreat on the 5th July, he might still, by a rapid march along the road which leads from Lauterbach to Brückenau, have made an attempt to unite with the Bavarians before they were attacked at Kissingen by the Prussians. This course he appears, however, to have considered too hazardous. He retired to Frankfort, and on the 9th July concentrated his troops round that town. His first division was at Frankfort: the second in some villages north of the town, on the river Nidda; the third division at Bergen, and the fourth at Bockenheim. The reserved cavalry was towards Friedberg; the reserve artillery across the river, in Offenbach. The two banks of the Maine were connected by a bridge, which leads from Frankfort to Offenbach.