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JUNE 26TH
On the 26th of June the Army of the Elbe marched upon Niemes and Oschitz. The advanced-guard encountered an Austrian outpost near Hühnerwasser, and drove it back after a sharp skirmish. The main body of the Army of the Elbe bivouacked at Hühnerwasser, with outposts towards Weisswasser, Münchengrätz and Gablonz. In the evening there was another brisk outpost fight in the direction of Münchengrätz, in which the Austrians were again worsted.
In the First Army the advance on this day was begun by General Von Horn, whose division had held the outposts the night before. At Liebenau Von Horn struck the Austrians, whose force consisted of a small body of infantry, four regiments of cavalry and two batteries of horse artillery. Driven out of the village, and from the field where they next made a stand, the Austrians retreated across the Iser, via Turnau, to Podol. The First Army now occupied a position extending through Reichenberg, Gablonz, Liebenau and Turnau; Von Horn’s division extending down the Iser from Turnau, with outposts near Podol. Free communication—in fact a junction—was now established with the Army of the Elbe, one division of which occupied Bömisch Aicha.
An attempt made by a company of Prussian riflemen to seize the bridges at Podol, about dusk in the evening, brought on a sharp fight. The forces on each side were reinforced until parts of two Prussian and two Austrian brigades were engaged. A stubborn infantry battle was carried on by moonlight until 1 o’clock in the morning, when the Austrians retreated towards Münchengrätz. By this victory the Prussians secured the passage of the Iser at Podol; the shortest line to Gitschin was opened to them; the communications of Count Clam-Gallas with the main army were threatened; and a plan which he had formed to riposte upon the Prussians at Turnau was thwarted.
We will now turn to the Second Army. On this day the Ist Corps concentrated at Liebau and Schomberg, ready to cross the frontier. The Vth Corps was at Reinerz, about twenty miles from the Ist. The Guard Corps, which had just crossed the frontier, in front of Neurode, midway between the two corps, was in a position to support either. The VIth Corps was at Landeck and Glatz, part of its cavalry being sent forward to cover the left of the Vth Corps and maintain communication between the two. After passing the mountains, the entire army, pivoted on Nachod and Skalitz, was to wheel to the left, seize the Josephstadt-Turnau railway, and form a junction along that line with the armies of Frederick Charles. On the evening of the 26th, the advanced-guard of the Vth Corps occupied Nachod. The distance between the Crown Prince and Frederick Charles had now been reduced to about fifty miles, while the distance between the extreme corps of the Austrian army was about the same. Von Benedek’s strategical advantages were already beginning to disappear. The Prussian demonstrations towards Olmütz had caused the Austrian IId Corps to be retained dangerously far to the right; Count Clam-Gallas was struggling against superior numbers on the Iser, and Von Benedek had only four corps with which he could immediately oppose the four corps of the Crown Prince.
No. 4.
POSITION OF BOTH ARMIES ON THE EVENING OF THE 26TH. JUNE.
The Austrian commander ordered the following movements for the next day:
The Xth Corps, from Josephstadt and Schurz, upon Trautenau;
The VIth Corps, from Opocno to Skalitz;
The IVth Corps, from Lanzow to Jaromir;
The VIIIth Corps, from Tynist to beyond Jaromir, to support the VIth;
The IIId Corps, from Königgrätz to Miletin;
The IId Corps, from Senftenberg to Solnitz;
The Reserve Cavalry, from Hohenmauth and Wildenschwerdt to Hohenbrück;
The Light Cavalry to accompany the IId Corps.
JUNE 27TH
On the 27th of June the Crown Prince pushed forward the Ist Corps against Trautenau, and the main body of the Vth Corps upon Nachod. One division of the Guard supported each corps.
The Ist Corps, under Von Bonin, marched in two columns from Liebau and Schomberg, and was to concentrate at Parschnitz, about two miles east of Trautenau, where it was to rest two hours before moving upon the latter place.
Contrary to expectation, the left column arrived first at Parschnitz, the right (with the advanced-guard) being delayed by bad roads. Trautenau was as yet unoccupied by the Austrians; but instead of seizing the town and the heights which overlooked it, on the farther bank of the Aupa river, Von Clausewitz (commanding the left column) obeyed the strict letter of his orders, and waited at Parschnitz two hours, from 8 to 10 A. M., until the advanced guard of the right column arrived.
While Von Clausewitz was thus idly waiting, Mondl’s brigade of the Xth Austrian Corps arrived, and took up a strong position in the town and on the heights which commanded it. A stubborn fight took place before the Austrians could be dislodged; and Mondl fell back in good order upon the main body of the Xth Corps, which was hurrying towards Trautenau. Believing himself in complete possession of the field, Von Bonin, at 1 o’clock, declined the assistance of the 1st Division of Guards, which had hurried up to Parschnitz, and the division, after a halt of two hours, marched off to the left, towards Eypel. About half past 3 o’clock the entire Xth Corps, under Von Gablentz, arrived on the field, and made a vigorous attack upon the Prussians. Von Bonin’s left wing was turned; and, after fighting six hours, the Prussians were driven from the field, and retreated to the positions from which they had begun their march in the morning.
The Prussian defeat was due to two causes:
1. The delay of Von Clausewitz at Parschnitz, when common sense should have prompted him to exceed his orders, and seize the unoccupied town and heights of Trautenau. For two hours these positions were completely undefended by the Austrians, and could have been occupied by Von Clausewitz without firing a shot.4
2. The fatuity of Von Bonin in declining the assistance of the Guards. Von Bonin knew that Mondl had not been routed, that he had fallen back “slowly and fighting,” and he did not know what other force might be in his immediate front. He had no reason to expect that he would be allowed to pass through the defile without the most stubborn opposition. He knew that he had been opposed by a single brigade, and the plucky resistance of that small force should have made him suspicious that it had stronger forces at its back. His orders were to push on to Arnau, some twelve miles from Trautenau, and to carry out these orders it was necessary to sweep aside the opposition in his front. His declension of assistance when the firing had scarcely ceased, and when the aid of the Guards would have enabled him to clinch his success, was inexcusable. Like Beauregard at Shiloh, Von Bonin seems to have labored under the delusion that a victory could be sufficiently complete while the enemy’s army still remained in his front.5
The Austrians had certainly gained a brilliant victory. With a force of 33,600 men, they had defeated 35,000 Prussians, armed, too, with breech-loaders, while the victors had only muzzle-loading rifles. The loss of the Prussians was 56 officers and 1,282 men, while the Austrians lost 196 officers and more than 5,000 men. This disparity of loss illustrates the difference in the power of the old and the new rifles; it also speaks volumes for the pluck of the Austrian soldiers.
But the Austrian victory was doomed to be as fruitless as it was costly; for Prussian skill and valor on other fields obliterated all that was gained by Von Gablentz in the bloody combat of Trautenau.
The march of the Vth Corps, under Von Steinmetz, lay through the defile of Nachod, five miles in length, in which the entire corps was obliged to march in a single column. The advanced-guard, which had seized Nachod the night before, pushed forward rapidly, beyond the outlet of the defile, to the junction of the roads leading to Skalitz and Neustadt, where it received orders to halt, and thus cover the issue of the main body through the defile. While the advanced-guard was making preparations for bivouacking, its commander, General Von Loewenfeldt, received news of the approach of the Austrian VIth Corps, which, as we have seen, had been ordered upon Nachod. Hastily forming for action, the Prussian advanced guard received the attack of a brigade, which was reinforced until nearly the whole Austrian corps was engaged. It was a desperate struggle of six and one-half battalions, five squadrons and twelve guns, against twenty-one battalions, eighty guns and a greatly superior force of cavalry. For three hours the advanced-guard sustained the unequal conflict, with no other reinforcement than Wnuck’s cavalry brigade. The Prussian force, in one line 3,000 paces long, without reserves, was sorely pressed, until the main body began to issue from the defile and deploy upon the field. The entire Austrian corps was now engaged. Finally, after a successful charge of Wnuck’s cavalry brigade upon the Austrian cuirassiers, and the repulse of a heavy infantry attack, Von Steinmetz assumed the offensive, and the Austrians, defeated with great loss, retreated to Skalitz. In the latter part of this action the Prussians were under the immediate command of the Crown Prince. The Prussian loss was 1,122, killed and wounded; the Austrians lost 7,510, of which number about 2,500 were prisoners.
No. 5.
POSITION OF BOTH ARMIES ON THE EVENING OF THE 27TH. JUNE.
The 1st Division of the Guards halted this night at Eypel; the 2d Division at Kosteletz.
This day, which had seen two bloody actions fought by the Second Army, was one of inaction on the part of the armies of Frederick Charles. The day was consumed in constructing bridges across the Iser, at Turnau and Podol, and in concentrating the main body of the army on the plateau of Sichrow, preparatory to an attack upon the Austrian position at Münchengrätz.
JUNE 28TH
The First Army and the Army of the Elbe made a combined attack upon Count Clam-Gallas at Münchengrätz, the Austrians being assailed in front and on both flanks. The Austrian commander had begun his retreat before the Prussian attack commenced; and after a brief resistance, he fell back upon Gitschin, with a loss of about 2,000 men, killed, wounded and prisoners. The Prussian loss was only 341. The armies of Frederick Charles were now completely united. One division was pushed forward to Rowensko, and the remaining eight, numbering, with the cavalry, upwards of 100,000 men, were concentrated upon an area of about twenty square miles. Some distress began to be felt because of the short supply of food and the difficulty of getting water; for only part of the provision trains had come up, and the Austrian inhabitants, when they abandoned their homes, had filled up the wells. Two roads led east from the Prussian position; one via Podkost, and the other via Fürstenbrück, but both united at Sobotka. The Austrian rear guard was driven from Podkost during the night, and both roads were open for the Prussian advance on the following morning.
Frederick Charles has been severely (and it would seem justly) criticised for his inaction on the 27th of June. His explicit instructions from Von Moltke should have been enough to cause him to hasten forward, and so threaten the Austrian left as to relieve the pressure on the Crown Prince. And there was another reason for prompt action. As already mentioned, the victory of Podol had opened to Frederick Charles the shortest line to Gitschin, from which place he was now distant only fifteen miles, while Clam-Gallas, at Münchengrätz, was twenty miles away from the same point. The town of Gitschin, like Ivrea in 1800, or Sombref and Quatre-Bras in 1815, had accidentally become a strategic point of the first importance by reason of the relative positions of the opposing armies and the direction of the roads necessary for the concentration of each. All the roads leading from the Iser, from Turnau to Jung Bunzlau, center at Gitschin, whence other roads branch out to Neu Bidsow, Königgrätz, Josephstadt, Königinhof, and other important points. The possession of Gitschin by either army would seriously delay, and perhaps eventually prevent, the concentration of the other. A prompt movement to Gitschin by Frederick Charles would have cut off Clam-Gallas, who could then have effected a junction with Von Benedek only by a circuitous march of such length as to make it probable that his two corps would have been eliminated altogether from the problem solved on the field of Königgrätz. As the Austro-Saxons at Münchengrätz, covering the roads to Prague, could have protected their communications with that city, while menacing the communications of the Prussians with their base, it was, doubtless, necessary to dislodge them from that position; but Frederick Charles might have promptly pushed to Gitschin a force sufficient to seize and hold the place, and still have kept in hand enough troops to defeat Clam-Gallas so heavily as to drive him back in complete rout; for Frederick Charles’ force numbered, at this time, nearly 140,000 men, while Clam-Gallas had not more than 60,000.
This movement would not have really divided Frederick Charles’ army, for the force at Gitschin and the one attacking at Münchengrätz would have been practically within supporting distance, and in direct and unimpeded communication with each other. Moreover, the nearest troops available to oppose such a force thrust forward to Gitschin would have been the single Austrian Corps (the IIId) which was at Miletin, quite as far from Gitschin as the main body of Frederick Charles’ army would have been. Frederick Charles’ entire army could have been at Gitschin quite as soon as Von Benedek could have sent thither any force large enough to offer respectable opposition; and the necessity of hurrying troops to that point would have caused the Austrian commander to relax materially the pressure upon the Crown Prince; a pressure which Frederick Charles had every reason to believe greater than it really was. Hozier states that the Prussian commander had formed a plan to capture the entire army of Clam-Gallas; but Adams truly remarks that the destruction of the Austro-Saxons at Münchengrätz would not have compensated for a severe defeat of the Crown Prince. Moreover, as we have seen, Clam-Gallas was not captured but fell back upon Gitschin, whence he was able to form a junction with the main army. Had Frederick Charles pushed a force to Gitschin, and with the rest of his army dealt Clam-Gallas such a blow as to send him reeling back towards Prague, the Prussian general would have reaped the double advantage of interposing between the divided forces of the enemy, and facilitating his own junction with the Crown Prince. Adams correctly says of Frederick Charles: “The fault attributable to the Prince is, that with a superiority of force at his command, which gave him unbounded advantage over his enemy, he refused to incur risks which that fact reduced to a minimum, in the general interests of the campaign.”6
To return to the Second Army:
The Crown Prince received information, at 1 o’clock in the morning, of the defeat of the Ist Corps at Trautenau.
The 1st Division of the Guards was at once ordered to move against Von Gablentz from Eypel, and the 2d Division (which had been intended to support the Vth Corps) was ordered from Kosteletz to support the 1st Division. The movement was begun at 4 A. M. Anticipating the attack, Von Gablentz took up a position facing east, with his left in Trautenau and his right at Prausnitz, about five miles south of the former village. A brigade of the Austrian IVth Corps, ordered to his assistance from Jaromir, mistook the route, and did not arrive in time to participate in the action.
The Prussian attack was begun by the 1st Division of the Guards at 9:30 A. M. The Austrian center and right were forced back upon Soor and Altenbach. The brigade on the Austrian left was contained by two Prussian battalions until the arrival of the 2d Division, at 12:30 P. M., when it was driven back upon Trautenau, and the greater part of it captured. The main body of the Austrians was driven from the field, and retreated upon Neustadt and Neuschloss. The Prussian loss was 713, killed and wounded; the Austrian loss 3,674, killed, wounded and prisoners.
No. 6.
POSITION OF BOTH ARMIES ON THE EVENING OF THE 28TH. JUNE.
While the Guards were thus engaged in repairing the defeat of the Ist Corps, the Vth Corps was battling with the Austrians at Skalitz. Baron Ramming, commanding the Austrian VIth Corps, having called for reinforcements, Von Benedek ordered the VIIIth Corps to Dolan, about four miles wrest of Skalitz, and gave the command of both corps to the Archduke Leopold. Early on the morning of the 28th the VIIIth Corps relieved the VIth in its position on the east bank of the Aupa, in front of Skalitz, and the latter took up a position as a reserve in rear of the right wing. The IVth Corps was stationed at Dolan. On the Prussian side, Von Steinmetz had been reinforced by a brigade of the VIth Corps. The Austrians had begun a retrograde movement before the Prussian attack commenced; and the corps of Baron Ramming was already too far to the rear to give efficient support to the VIIIth Corps. After a severe action, the Austrians were driven from their position, and retreated upon Lanzow and Salney; the IVth Corps, as a rear guard, holding Dolan. The Prussian loss in the battle of Skalitz was 1,365 killed, wounded and missing; the Austrians lost nearly 6,000 men, of whom 2,500 were prisoners.
The battles of Soor and Skalitz opened the passes of Trautenau and Nachod to the unimpeded advance of the Ist and VIth Corps. During these battles the Crown Prince was stationed at Kosteletz, from which point he might easily reach either battle field, if his presence should become necessary. In the night he went to Trautenau.
The distance between the advanced guard of Frederick Charles, at Ztowa, and that of the Crown Prince, at Burkersdorf (near Soor), was only twenty-seven miles.
JUNE 29TH
Intelligence received at the Prussian headquarters of the battles in which the armies had been engaged, rendered it certain that of the seven Austrian army corps, the IVth, VIth, VIIIth and Xth were opposed to the Crown Prince, and that only the Ist Corps and the Saxons were arrayed against Frederick Charles. The position of the IIId Corps was unknown; but it was clear that it was the only one that could come to the assistance of Count Clam-Gallas, as the IId Corps was known to be far to the rear. The necessity of relieving the Crown Prince from the overwhelming numbers of Von Benedek,7 and the prospect of being able to deliver a crushing blow upon the inferior force in his front, alike rendered it of the utmost importance that Frederick Charles should move promptly upon Gitschin. Apparently impatient at the Prince’s delay, Von Moltke reiterated the instructions already given him, saying, in a telegram from Berlin on June 29th: “His Majesty expects that a speedy advance of the First Army will disengage the Second Army, which, notwithstanding a series of successful actions, is still momentarily in a precarious situation.”
Frederick Charles, who had already decided to advance without further delay, at once moved as follows:
The Left, from Turnau, via Rowensko;
The Center, from Podol, via Sabotka;
The Right, from Münchengrätz, via Ober Bautzen and Sabotka;
The Army of the Elbe, from Münchengrätz, via Unter Bautzen and Libau.
The advance of the army was rendered difficult by the small number of roads available. The leading divisions were started as early as possible, to make a long march, in order that the other divisions might march in the evening on the same roads. It was, even then, necessary for the Army of the Elbe to make a long detour.
Count Clam-Gallas, having been promised the assistance of the IIId Corps, resolved to make a stand near Gitschin. His position was on a range of hills west and north of that village, his right resting upon the village of Eisenstadt, his left on the Anna Berg, near Lochow. In front of the center were the rocky heights of Prywicin, which, being almost impassable for ordinary pedestrians, would isolate the attacks of the enemy, while, terminating in front of the Austrian position, they could not interfere with the free movements of the troops on the defensive. In front of the hills were ravines, gullies and broken ground. The position was thus very strong for an army whose rôle was a purely defensive one.
Von Tümpling’s division, (5th) leaving Rowensko at 1:30 P. M., came in contact with the enemy shortly after 3 o’clock. Von Werder’s division (3d) left Zehrow at noon; but, having a greater distance to march, did not strike the enemy until 5:30. Von Tümpling immediately attacked the Austrian right, with a view to cutting off Count Clam-Gallas from the main army of Von Benedek. The action continued, with varying fortune, until 7:30, when, Von Tümpling having carried the village of Dielitz, in the center of the Austrian right wing, Von Werder having gained ground on the left, and Von Benedek having sent word that the assistance of the IIId Corps could not be given, Count Clam-Gallas ordered a retreat. The Austrians retired in good order upon Gitschin; the retreat of the right wing being covered by an attack of a brigade upon the Prussians at Dielitz; that of the left by an attack of a regiment of infantry and a battalion of rifles. Both attacks were repulsed with heavy loss. Following the enemy, the Prussians, after a sharp fight with the Austrian rear guard in the streets, occupied Gitschin after midnight. The Prussian loss was 2,612 killed, wounded and missing; the Austrians lost about 7,000 men, of whom 4,000 were prisoners. Count Clam-Gallas reported to Von Benedek that he had been defeated, that he was no longer able to oppose Frederick Charles, and that he was retreating upon Königgrätz.
Von Benedek now determined to throw his main force on Frederick Charles, leaving a containing force to oppose the Crown Prince. But with this object in view, his dispositions were faulty. Strangely ignoring the results of the battles of Nachod, Soor and Skalitz, he seems to have thought that one corps would suffice to hold the Crown Prince in check; and on the morning of the 29th he issued orders for the advance of the IIId Corps to Gitschin and the Reserve Cavalry to Horzitz. The IId, VIth, VIIIth and Xth were to follow on the next day in the direction of Lomnitz and Turnau. But during the day events occurred which necessitated a complete change of plan.
In the Second Army the Ist Corps marched via Trautenau to Pilnikau, and the cavalry division following it halted at Kaile, where the Crown Prince established his headquarters.
The Guards advanced upon Königinhof, from which place they drove out a brigade of the Austrian IVth Corps, capturing about 400 prisoners.
The Vth Corps (with one brigade of the VIth) marching upon Gradlitz, encountered the other brigades of the Austrian IVth Corps at Schweinschädel, and after an action of three hours, drove them from the field with a loss of nearly 5,000 men, killed, wounded and prisoners. The Austrians retreated to Salney. The Crown Prince had now reached the Elbe.
During the day Von Benedek, becoming alarmed at the progress of the Second Army, countermanded the order for the IIId Corps to move upon Gitschin, and directed it to remain at Miletin. The Ist Corps and the Saxons were ordered to join the main army via Horzitz and Miletin; but the orders, as we have seen, came too late to save them from their defeat at Gitschin. The rest of the army was concentrated before night upon the plateau of Dubenetz, against the army of the Crown Prince, as follows:
No. 7.
POSITION OF BOTH ARMIES ON THE EVENING OF THE 29TH. JUNE
The IVth Corps at Salney, with the 1st Reserve Cavalry Division, and the 2d Light Cavalry Division on its right and rear;
The IId Corps at Kukus, on left of IVth;
The VIIIth Corps near Kasow (one brigade in line on left of IId Corps, the other brigades as reserve);
The VIth Corps on the left of the VIIIth;
The 3d Reserve Cavalry Division on the left of the VIth Corps;
The 2d Reserve Cavalry Division on the extreme left wing;
The Xth Corps, in reserve, between Stern and Liebthal.
Five army corps and four cavalry divisions were thus concentrated on a line five and one-half miles long. The nature of the ground was unfavorable to the interior communications of the line, but it was, in the main, a strong position, with the Elbe on its front, and the fortress of Josephstadt protecting its right flank.
The junction of the Prussian armies now seemed assured, and the strategical situation was decidedly against Von Benedek. His great fault was his failure to decide promptly in regard to the army which he should contain while throwing his weight upon the other. Placing an exaggerated value upon his interior position, he does not seem to have considered that every hour of Prussian advance diminished his advantages; and he was, apparently, unable to make his choice of the two plans of operations which presented themselves. His best move, if made in time, would have been against Frederick Charles. True, his communications could have been quickly cut, in this case, by a successful advance of the Second Army across the Elbe; while in moving against the Crown Prince, his communications could not so readily have been seized by Frederick Charles. But, on the other hand, topographical features made it an easier matter to contain the Second Army than the First Army and the Army of the Elbe. If the Austrian field marshal had learned the lesson taught at Atlanta, Franklin and Petersburg, he would have made use of hasty entrenchments. The Xth Corps and VIth Corps, strongly entrenched, could certainly have held the passes against the assaults of the Crown Prince. The ground was admirably adapted to defense, and the entrenchments would have more than neutralized the superiority of the needle gun over the Lorenz rifle. To have invested and reduced the entrenched camps, if possible at all, would have required much more time than Von Benedek would have needed for disposing of Frederick Charles. To have advanced by the road leading to Olmütz or Bömisch Trübau, the Crown Prince would have been compelled to mask the passes with at least as many troops as garrisoned the camps at their outlets, or his own communications would have been at the mercy of the Austrians. This would have left him only two corps; and an invasion of Moravia with this small force, every step of the advance carrying him farther away from Frederick Charles, would have been an act of suicidal madness, which he would not have seriously contemplated for a moment. When Osman Pasha, eleven years later, paralyzed the advance of 110,000 Russians, by placing 40,000 Turks in a hastily entrenched position on their right, at Plevna, he showed plainly how Von Benedek might have baulked the Second Army with entrenched positions at the Silesian passes.
Leaving, then, two corps to take care of the Crown Prince, the Austrian commander would have had (including the Saxons) six corps, and nearly all of the reserve cavalry and artillery, to use against Frederick Charles. Count Clam-Gallas, instead of undertaking the task of holding the line of the Iser, should have destroyed the bridges; and opposing the Prussians with a strong rear-guard at the different crossings, obstructing the roads, offering just enough resistance to compel his adversary to deploy and thus lose time, but avoiding anything like a serious action, he should have fallen back via Gitschin to form a junction with Von Benedek. He could thus have gained sufficient time for his chief to arrive at Gitschin as soon as Frederick Charles; and the army of the latter, numbering not more than 130,000 men,8 would have been opposed by an army of fully 200,000 Austrians. What the result would have been we can best judge from the course of the battle of Königgrätz before the Crown Prince arrived upon the field.
Hozier, Adams, Derrécagaix and (above all) the Prussian Official History of the Campaign of 1866, claim that the best move of Von Benedek would have been against the Crown Prince. If we consider the successful passage of the defiles by the Second Army as a thing to be taken for granted in Von Benedek’s plan of campaign, there can be no doubt that the Austrian commander should have turned his attention to the Crown Prince, and that he should have attacked him with six corps, as soon as the Prussians debouched from the defiles of Trautenau and Nachod. The line of action here suggested as one that would probably have resulted in Austrian success, is based entirely on the condition that the Second Army should be contained at the defiles, by a force strongly entrenched after the American manner of 1864-5; a condition not considered by the eminent authorities mentioned above. After the Crown Prince had safely passed the defiles, Von Benedek had either to attack him or fall back. The time for a successful move against Frederick Charles had passed.
Von Benedek had carefully planned an invasion of Prussia. Had he been able to carry the war into that country, his operations might, perhaps, have been admirable; but when the superior preparation of the Prussians enabled them to take the initiative, he seems to have been incapable of throwing aside his old plans and promptly adopting new ones suited to the altered condition of affairs. Von Benedek was a good tactician and a stubborn fighter; but when he told the Emperor “Your Majesty, I am no strategist,” and wished to decline the command of the army, he showed a power of correct self-analysis equal to that displayed by Burnside when he expressed an opinion of his own unfitness for the command of the Army of the Potomac. The brave old soldier did not seem to appreciate the strategical situation, and was apparently losing his head.9 With all the advantages of interior lines, he had everywhere opposed the Prussians with inferior numbers; he had allowed the Crown Prince to pass through the defiles of the mountains before he opposed him at all; six of his eight corps had suffered defeat; he had lost more than 30,000 men; and now he was in a purely defensive position, and one which left open the road from Arnau to Gitschin for the junction of the Prussian armies.
“Probably the latter was informed … that no immediate danger was impending, or he would not have waited leisurely to form. The first duty of the advance, on coming into collision with the enemy, is to occupy rapidly such localities as may prove of use in the impending action.”
Nevertheless, the fact remains that the heights were unoccupied when Von Clausewitz arrived at Parschnitz; and it was his duty, as well as that of Mondl, on coming into collision with the enemy, to occupy rapidly such localities as might have proved of use in the impending action. As to engaging Mondl “on the very strong ground he by that time had fully occupied,” it is sufficient to state that he had only a brigade, while Von Clausewitz had a division. A subordinate commander assumes a grave responsibility when he violates or exceeds his orders; but it is hardly to be expected that an able division commander will fetter himself by observing the strict letter of an order, when he knows, and his superior does not know, that the condition of affairs in his front is such as to offer an opportunity for a successful and valuable stroke, even though that stroke be not contemplated in the orders of his chief. Von Alvensleben understood matters better when he marched without orders to assist Von Fransecky at Königgrätz. If a division commander were never expected to act upon his own responsibility when a movement is urged by his own common sense, it is evident that the position of general of division could be filled by a man of very limited abilities.
