Battle at Werbach
The battlefield of Werbach and Bischofsheim
| date | July 24, 1866 |
|---|---|
| place | Werbach , Grand Duchy of Baden |
| output | Victory of Prussia and its allies |
| consequences | Armistice in Würzburg on August 3, 1866 |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 5,000 soldiers | 5,000 soldiers |
| losses | |
|
12 dead; 59 wounded |
7 dead; 60 wounded 16 missing people |
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Main Campaign in 1866
The battle near Werbach took place during the German War as part of the Main Campaign on July 24, 1866 between the Prussian Alliance and the German Federal Army .
prehistory
After his invasion of Frankfurt (July 16), Vogel von Falckenstein , the commander of the Prussian Main Army, was recalled and replaced by Edwin von Manteuffel . The army was also increased to 60,000 men. From July 21, the Prussians marched from Frankfurt in the direction of Würzburg to prevent the unification of the Federal Army. After crossing the Odenwald , there were battles with Baden, Hessian and Württemberg units of the VIII Corps of the Federal Army on the Tauber until July 24th .
The VII Army Corps of the Federal Army was formed by the Bavarian Army . This corps under Prince Karl of Bavaria was in the Würzburg area . Karl von Bayern was also the commander-in-chief of the federal troops in southern Germany (= West German Army) and the aim was to lead the two federal corps into battle together against the Prussian Army.
Associations involved
In the Werbach area on July 24, 1866 (three weeks after the decisive battle of Königgrätz ) the 13th Prussian division met with the Oldenburg-Hanseatic Brigade under the command of Major General Ludwig von Weltzien , as well as the Baden division under the command of Prince Wilhelm von Bathing .
- The 8th Federal Corps, consisting of four divisions under the command of Alexander von Hessen-Darmstadt, was divided into the following places on July 24th:
- 1st (Württemberg) division near Tauberbischofsheim under Lieutenant General Oskar von Hardegg
- 2nd ( Baden ) Division near Werbach under Lieutenant General Prince Wilhelm von Baden
- 3rd (Grand Ducal Hessian) Division near Großrinderfeld under Lieutenant General von Perglas
- 4th (Austrian- Nassau ) division near Grünsfeld - Paimar under Field Marshal Lieutenant Erwin von Neipperg
- The Prussian Main Army consisted of three divisions under Edwin von Manteuffel
- 13th Infantry Division under Lieutenant General August Karl von Goeben - advance on Tauberbischofsheim and Werbach
- combined division under Major General Gustav Friedrich von Beyer - advance on Werbach
- combined division under Major General Eduard Moritz von Flies - advance on Wertheim
Ordre de Bataille of the participating associations in a contemporary representation:
2nd (bad.) Division in the VIII Federal Army Corps 1866
Oldenburg.-Hanseat.Brig. Weltzien in the 13th Inf. Div. of the Prussian Main Army 1866
Combined Div. Beyer in the Prussian Main Army in 1866
Events on the Tauber
On the advance, the Prussians advanced to three places on the Tauber: the Goeben division on the right wing to Tauberbischofsheim, the Beyer division in the center to Werbach and the Flies division on the left wing to Wertheim. On the Tauber, the Prussians first met the VIII. Corps, which was already planning to march towards Aschaffenburg . On July 23, there was a first battle near Hundheim , but the commander of the VIII Corps, Prince Alexander of Hesse, realized too late that he was facing the entire Army of the Main. Shortly after the Oldenburg Brigade arrived in front of Hochhausen, the Avant-garde of the 13th Prussian Infantry Division under August Karl von Goeben, the Wrangel Brigade reached the Tauber near Bischofsheim and on July 24 the battle began at Tauberbischofsheim with the Württemberg division of the VIII Army Corps under Lieutenant General Oskar from Hardegg .
The combined Prussian division Flies crossed the Tauber near Wertheim without encountering any resistance . Prince Alexander had assumed that this transition would be covered by the Bavarian army corps.
Course of the battle near Werbach and Hochhausen
The Baden division stood on July 24th at 12 noon between Werbach and Werbachhausen on the right bank of the Tauber and also controlled the Tauber crossing at Hochhausen , where 2 companies of the 2nd regiment were located. The 3rd regiment was in Werbach itself. The 2nd Infantry Brigade from the Baden Division was deployed with five battalions and two artillery divisions - a total of around 5,000 men.
At 12.30 p.m., the Oldenburg- Hanseatic Brigade under Major General Ludwig von Weltzien reached the heights southwest of Hochhausen. After artillery battles near Hochhausen and Werbach, the infantry attack by 3 battalions of the Oldenburg-Hanseatic Brigade began at 3 p.m. on Hochhausen. The Oldenburg Brigade had three Oldenburg and one Bremen infantry battalions, as well as two artillery divisions. The brigade received support from the Fusilier Battalion of the 8th Rhenish Infantry Regiment No. 70 and two other artillery divisions of the combined Beyer division, so that around 5,000 men were deployed.
The avant-garde of the Beyer Division also intervened in the battle with the fusilier battalion of the 8th Rhenish Infantry Regiment No. 70 and an artillery division. The Baden troops evacuated Hochhausen without significant resistance. At 4 p.m. the infantry attack on Werbach began, where the Baden troops offered heavy resistance, but ultimately had to retreat in the Welzbach valley. A battery in Württemberg near Impfingen set fire to Hochhausen, but was soon driven from its position. The Baden division withdrew to the Bavarian Unteraltertheim , with the rearguard remaining with Steinbach - the Baden army was thus pushed out of the Grand Duchy of Baden.
consequences
Prince Alexander, the commander-in-chief of the VIII Army Corps , saw his right flank threatened by the withdrawal of the Baden division and sent the Hessian division from Großrinderfeld to Wenkheim on July 24th .
The VIII Federal Corps united with the VII Army Corps advancing from Würzburg with the Bavarian troops . In Würzburg, on August 3, 1866, an armistice was agreed between Baden and Prussia. Bavaria had already agreed an armistice on July 28, Württemberg and Hesse on August 1.
Small monuments
Memorial to the Baden soldiers who fell in 1866 in Werbach
Memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Oldenburg regiment in the Hochhausen cemetery
literature
- War History Department of the Great General Staff Ed .: The campaign of 1866 in Germany , Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son, Berlin 1867, pp. 653–657 in the Google book search
- Wilhelm von Baden: To assess the behavior of the Baden field division in the campaign of 1866: according to authentic sources , Darmstadt and Leipzig 1866, pp. 27–35 online in the Google book search
- HvB: The German War in 1866: According to the sources by H. v. B. With 6 portraits, 2 cards, 3 supplements and the complete Ordre de bataille of the Prussian, Austrian, Saxon, Hanoverian and West German armies , Verlag von Neumann-Hartmann, Elbing 1867, pp. 344–347 online in the Google book search
- Alexander von Hessen-Darmstadt : Campaign journal of the Commander-in-Chief of the 8th German Federal Army Corps in the campaign of 1866 in West Germany , Eduard Zernin, Darmstadt & Leipzig 1867 online in the Google book search
- Theodor Fontane : The German War of 1866 . Volume 2: The Campaign in West and Central Germany. Berlin 1871, pp. 210–213 online in the Google book search
- Ernst Becker: History of the 2nd Baden Grenadier Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm No. 110. Berlin 1877, p. 112–119 and list of losses on p. 170, digitized in the Internet archive
- Adolf Legde: History of the 2nd Badischer Dragoon Regiment No. 21 , Berlin 1893, pp. 38-40 Digitalized in the Internet Archive
Web links
- Plan of the battlefield of Tauber-Bischofsheim and Werbach (cartographic material from July 24, 1866).
References and comments
- ↑ Already on July 22, 1860 Prussia and Austria had a truce agreed to a truce to negotiate, which was then completed on 26 July.
Coordinates: 49 ° 40 ′ 18.5 ″ N , 9 ° 38 ′ 38.2 ″ E