The Seven Weeks' War

by H M Hozier

  2. All the inhabitants of the ceded districts are to be allowed full freedom to settle in whichever country they choose for a year after the exchange of the ratifications.

  3. In the cession of the country of Hesse-Homburg, the pictures, library, and such things in the Ducal Castle are not included, as likewise the orangery. These all remain the private property of the Grand Ducal House.

  4. At the same time as the Prussian troops withdraw, the civil officers in the lands at present occupied will cease to act, and the Grand Ducal officials will return to their duty.

  5. It is understood that the same regulations for the post and telegraph services as are to come into force in the province of Oberhessen, from its feeing included in the Bund, are by this Treaty to be extended to the provinces of Stachenburg and Rheinhessen, which are south of the Maine.

  6. All prisoners of war are to be exchanged in eight days after the ratification of this Treaty.

  7. In reference to the right of garrisoning Mayence, which is to remain to Prussia, the same arrangements are to hold good between the Prussian garrison and the territorial government as did between the former garrison of Bund troops and the territorial government.

  All telegraphic offices in Mayence must be entirely in the hands of the Prussian Government The railway telegraphs will not be disturbed unless in cases of absolute necessity for the security of the fortress.

  8. The Grand Ducal Government is ready to surrender the direction of the administration of the Main-Weser Railway from the Hesse-Cassel frontier to Giessen into the hands of the Prussian Government, provided that the latter will give to the former a yearly account of its receipts.

  9. If the Prussian Government wishes to send troops returning from Bohemia or Bavaria by the Schwandorf to Würzburg line, the Grand Ducal Government will transport them, and will be paid for the same by the Prussian Government.

  10. No subject of the grand duke or of the King of Prussia is to be annoyed or disturbed in person or property on account of his conduct during the time of the war.

  11. In reference to Article 18 of the Treaty, it is understood that this article only holds good till the year 1892, if the said saltwork is not acquired by Prussia before that year.

  12. The ratifications of this convention are to be exchanged at the same time and place as those of the above Treaty.

  CHAPTER 6: Formation of the North-German Confederation

  After the war the Prussian Government determined to annex the territories of Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, and the free town of Frankfort On the 17th August, Count Bismarck introduced a bill into the Prussian House of Deputies for this annexation, which was carried by two hundred and seventy-three votes, in a house of three hundred members; and these territories became provinces of the Prussian monarchy. By the treaties with Austria, made before and after the war, Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenberg were also united to Prussia. The area of Prussia, which before the war was 127,350 square miles was increased to 160,000. Her population was raised from 19,000,000 to 23,000,000 inhabitants.

  In August the governments of Prussia, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Saxe-Weimar, Oldenburg, Brunswick, Sachsen-Altenburg, Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, Anhalt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Rodolstadt, Waldeck, Reusz (of the younger line), Schaumburg-Lippé, Lippé, Lübeck, Bremen, and Hamburg, concluded an offensive and defensive treaty for the maintenance of the independence and integrity as well as of the internal and external security of their States, and undertook a common defence of their territory, which they guaranteed by this treaty.

  2. The aims of the Confederation shall be definitely laid down by a Confederate Constitution on the basis of the Prussian outlines of the 10th of June, 1866, with the co-operation of a common Parliament which is to be called together.

  3. All existing treaties and agreements between the Confederates are to remain in full force, as far as they are not expressly modified by the present Federation.

  4. The troops of the Confederates are to be under the supreme command of the King of Prussia. The duties during war will be arranged by special settlements.

  5. The Confederate Governments will appoint votes to be taken on the basis of the elective law of the Empire of April 12, 1849, for deputies to the Parliament, and will call the latter together in common with Prussia. They shall also send Plenipotentiaries to Berlin, in order to settle the Bill of Confederation in accordance with the outlines of the 10th of June, 1866, which is to be laid before the Parliament for its consideration and approval.

  6. The duration of this agreement is until the formation of the new Confederation, and is settled for one year if the new Confederation is not concluded before the expiration of a year.

  7. The above Treaty of agreement shall be ratified and the ratifications exchanged as soon as possible, at the latest within three weeks of the date of its conclusion, at Berlin.

  The only States north of the Maine which, on the conclusion of this treaty, were not united to Prussia in the North-German confederacy, were Reusz (of the older line), Saxe-Meiningen, and the Kingdom of Saxony. The Regent, Princess Caroline of Reusz, soon, however, concluded the same treaty with Prussia.

  On the 20th September, Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Meiningen, who did not approve of the new order of things, abdicated, and the new duke, George, declared himself ready to enter the confederation.

  After a long delay, peace was finally concluded between Prussia and Saxony, on the 21st of October. By this treaty, Saxony entered the North-German Confederation. The Saxon troops were to form an integral portion of the North-German army, under the supreme command of the King of Prussia. Saxony was to pay a war contribution of ten millions of thalers, (£1,500,000), in three instalments; the last instalment was to be paid on the 30th April, 1867; one million, however, was to be remitted, in consideration of Saxony giving up to Prussia so much of the railway between Görlitz and Dresden as ran on Prussian ground. A direct railway was to be constructed from Leipsic to Zeitz. All the Saxon telegraphs were to be given up to Prussia. The salt monopoly in Saxony was to be abolished. The fortress of Königstein was to be given over to Prussia; Dresden was to be held by a garrison half Prussian half Saxon, the latter not to muster more than three thousand men. The commandant was to be appointed by the King of Prussia, the second in command by the King of Saxony.

  The conclusion of the treaty of peace with Saxony was virtually the last act in the formation of the North-German Confederacy. The Parliament had afterwards to agree formally to the settlement of the Confederation, as it did in the early months of 1867, but practically, Northern Germany was united into one confederate power under the sceptre of the House of Hohenzollern by the end of October, 1866.

  BOOK 10

  CHAPTER 1: The War in Italy

  When Prussia declared that she regarded the Austrian proceedings at Frankfort as a declaration of war, King Victor Emmanuel, in consequence of his alliance with the government of Berlin, declared war against Austria. On the 20th of June, General La Marmora, the chief of the Staff of the Italian army, sent an intimation to the commandant of Mantua that hostilities would commence on the 23rd. The Archduke Albrecht accepted the intimation, and made ready for action.

  The theatre of war in which the troops of Italy and those of the Austrian Army of the South were about to engage has formed one of the ordinary battlefields of Europe. (This theatre of war has been so frequently and so lately the scene of memorable campaigns, and so many good maps of it exist, that it is thought unnecessary to supply one). Its communications with Vienna lay along two lines. The railway which from the capital by way of Trieste runs through Goerz, Udine, Treviso, and Padua to Verona, connects Vienna with the quadrilateral: and the line by Salzburg, Innsbrüch, Botzen, and Roveredo, although not completed between Innsbrüch and Botzen, afforded a subsidiary line for the supply of troops camped under the protection of the fortresses.

  The quadrilateral itself consisted of the strongly entrenched camp of Verona, on the Adige, the small
er and less important fortress of Legnano, on the same river, the lately strengthened fortifications of Peschiera at the issue of the Mincio from the Lago di Garda, and the fortress of Mantua, which lies further down the Mincio, with its citadel and Fort St George on the left bank, and its minor works on the right banks of the stream. The fortified Borgo Forte supports the line of the Mincio in front of the confluence of that river with the Po, while Venice, with many adjacent forts, protected the rear of the quadrilateral towards the sea.

  The Italians, in acting against the quadrilateral with their army concentrated, could either advance across the Mincio and rush headlong against its parapets and embrasures, or, by advancing from the Lower Po, push towards Padua to cut the main line of communication with Vienna. General La Marmora had a very difficult problem to solve, and was not fortunate in the conditions he introduced into its solution. His information as to the Austrian designs was manifestly exceedingly faulty, while that of the Archduke Albrecht was excellent The Italian general was bound to assume the offensive, for political reasons. Neglecting a plan for his campaign which had been forwarded from Berlin, he adopted one which, as is believed, had been determined upon in case of the prosecution of the war of 1859, by a mixed council of French and Italian officers.

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  The plan of campaign forwarded from Berlin is supposed to have been the product of General von Moltke, and to have been as follows:—A corps of Italians of about one hundred thousand men was to cross the Lower Po to the east of the Mincio, and take up a strong position between Mantua and Legnano, and by their presence hold the Austrian Army within the quadrilateral, while the remainder of the Italian army, by aid of the fleet, disembarked in the neighbourhood of Trieste, and pushed directly upon Vienna.

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  The main attack was to be made against the Mincio and the Adige by the principal army, under the personal command of King Victor Emmanuel. Each corps of this army was reinforced by one division, so as to consist of four divisions. These corps were the first corps of General Durando, consisting of the divisions of Cerale, Pianelli, Sirtori, and Brignone; the second corps, under Cucchiari, consisting of the divisions of Angioletti, Longoni, Cosenz, and Nunziante; the third corps, under Della Rocca, consisting of the divisions of Cugia, Govone, Bixio, and the Crown Prince Humbert. If, as has been before observed, each division may be reckoned at twelve thousand men, with eighteen guns, the whole army, including the division of reserve cavalry, mustered about one hundred and forty-six thousand men, with two hundred and twenty-eight guns.

  The Italian staff from its information concluded that the Archduke Albrecht would await an attack behind the Adige, and determined to cross the Mincio, and occupy within the quadrilateral the ground not held by the Austrians. After taking up this position, and so separating the fortresses from one another, the main army was to give a hand across the Adige to General Cialdini, who with his corps was to cross the Lower Po from the direction of Ferrara. General Garibaldi, with his volunteers, was to support the movement on the left by attacks on the passes which lead from Northern Lombardy into the Tyrol. On the day immediately succeeding the declaration of war, the main body of the king’s army was moved towards the Mincio. On the 22nd June, the day before hostilities were to commence, the headquarters of the first corps were at Cavriana, those of the third at Gazzoldo, those of the second at Castelluccio. On the night between the 22nd and 23rd, the king in person moved to Goito.

  The passage of the Mincio was intended to take place at seven o’clock on the morning of the 23rd, by the division of reserve cavalry, the whole of the third corps, and Cerale’s, Sirtori’s, and Brignone’s divisions of the first corps,—altogether about eighty-seven thousand combatants, with one hundred and thirty-eight guns. To cover this advance, Pianelli’s division of the first corps was to remain on the right bank of the Mincio, and watch the garrison at Peschiera. Cosenz’s division of the second corps and one brigade of Nunziante’s division were detached towards Mantua; the other brigade of Nunziante’s division was posted on the right bank of the Po, to keep open the communications with Cialdini, and to observe Borgoforte.

  Angioletti’s and Longoni’s divisions of the second corps were to remain near Castelluccio, and if they received no further orders, to cross the Mincio on the 24th and support the other two corps, which on that day were to be in position between the Mincio and the Adige.

  On the morning of the 23rd the passage of the Mincio by the Italians commenced. Cerale’s division crossed at Monzambano, Sirtori’s at Borghetto and Valeggio, and Brignone’s at Molino diV olta, between Volta and Pozzolo. The reserve division of cavalry passed at Goito, and was followed by the four divisions of the third corps. The two divisions of Bixio and of Prince Humbert were pushed to Belvedere and Roverbella, the divisions of Govone and Cugia encamped near Pozzolo and Massimbona. The three divisions of the first corps bivouacked near the points where they had crossed the stream on the left bank of the Mincio.

  The reserve cavalry pushed patrols to Villafranca, which fell in with a few weak detachments of Austrian cavalry, but no other signs of the enemy were perceived.

  A coronet of heights lies on the south side of the Lago di Garda, upon the left bank of the Mincio, which, on the south, between Valeggio and Somma Campagna, sinks into the plain of Villafranca, on the east, between Somma Campagna and Santa Giustina, drops towards Verona and the valley of the Adige. Since the very slight nature of the enemy’s detachments discovered by the cavalry confirmed the Italian headquarter staff in the idea that the Archduke Albrecht did not intend to hold the ground between the Mincio and the Adige, but to await an attack behind the latter stream, it was resolved to occupy these hills, and, on the 24th, to take up a position on the heights between Valeggio, Castelnovo, and Somma Campagna.

  The orders issued for the Italian advance of the 24th June were, that the first corps should leave the division of Pianelli on the right bank of the Mincio, and should move the headquarters of its main body to Castelnovo. There Cerale’s division was to assume a position facing towards Peschiera, while those of Sirtori and Brignone at Santa Giustina and Sona should form front towards Pastrengo and Verona, The line taken up by the first corps was to be prolonged through Somma Campagna and Villafranca by the third corps, and to Quaderni and Mozzecane by the division of the reserve cavalry. The divisions of Angioletti and Longoni were to cross the Mincio at Goito, and take post at Marmirolo and Roverbella, as reserves. Orders were also issued that a field bridge was to be thrown at Torre di Goito, above Goito, and that the field-bridge at Molino di Volta, as well as the permanent bridges at Monzambano, Borghetto, and Goito, should be covered by bridge-heads.

  Confident of his information, and without scouring the country with his cavalry, General La Marmora ordered the advance of the 24th to be made only according to the ordinary habit of route marching. The troops did not breakfast before starting, proper rations were not served out to them, and the provision trains followed the columns. No preparation appears to have been made for combat. Scouts do not seem to have been sent out to observe the roads from the fortresses, and the soldiers of the infantry were loaded with their knapsacks under the broiling sun of Italian midsummer. This negligence and temerity met with its just reward.

  The Archduke Albrecht had as field troops under his command, the fifth Austrian corps d’armée, led by Prince Liechtenstein, the seventh corps, under Field Marshal Maroicic di Madonna del Monte, the ninth corps, under General Hartung, and a division of reserve infantry formed out of fourth and border battalions under General Rodich. After a short time Rodich replaced Prince Liechtenstein in the command of the fifth corps, and General Rupprecht received the command of the reserve division.

  As soon as the Prussians entered Holstein, the Austrian commander in Italy concentrated his troops between Pastrengo and San Bonifacio, (station on the railway between Verona and Vicenza, and about midway between those towns), so that they could be united with facility on either bank of the Adige, in case
of necessity for action. After deductions for necessary detachments, the Archduke had three brigades of each corps, and a strong brigade of the reserve division ready for battle. His force was thus ten brigades, mustering about sixty thousand combatants, which the cavalry raised to sixty-two thousand five hundred. To these, two hundred and seventy guns were attached.

  At the time that Italy declared war, the reserve division was posted at Pastrengo as the right Austrian wing, the seventh corps at San Bonifacio as the left wing, the fifth and ninth corps were concentrated at Verona. A few brigades were pushed forwards towards the line of the Lower Po, to watch Cialdini. A light cavalry brigade, pushed forward towards the Mincio to watch the army of King Victor Emmanuel, received orders, in case the latter crossed that river, to fall back, without committing itself to any serious action, by way of Villafranca.

  This brigade of cavalry withdrew on the 22nd, as soon as the Italians seriously showed that they intended to cross the Mincio, to Villafranca. On the 23rd, when the Italians crossed it, they withdrew further, with no more resistance than the exchange of a few cannon shots near Dossobuono, and that evening took post under the forts of Verona.

  On the afternoon of the 23rd, a staff-officer, who had been sent to Somma Campagna, reported to the Archduke Albrecht that the heights near that place were not yet occupied by the Italians, but that heavy clouds of dust could be seen to the south moving towards the Adige.

  Archduke Albrecht, who had before thought that the Italians after crossing the Mincio, would move directly upon Isola della Scala to join Cialdini on the Lower Po, was confirmed in his idea by this report from Somma Campagna. He concluded that King Victor Emmanuel was moving, by way of Isola, to Albaredo on the Adige, there to throw a bridge and cross that river. From Goito to Albaredo the distance is over thirty miles. The archduke calculated that the Italians could not reach Albaredo before the evening of the 24th, and that, as they must then throw a bridge, they could only with difficulty commence the passage of the Adige on the morning of the 25th. The archduke calculated that on the 23rd he could occupy the heights by Sona and Somma Campagna, and could, on the morning of the 24th, attack with strong force the Italian flank near Villafranca, while his reserves could at the same time be at Castel d’Azzano.