Battle of pig skulls

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Battle of pig skulls
Part of: German War
The Battle of Pig Skulls (Alexander von Bensa, 1866, HGM)
The Battle of Pig Skulls
( Alexander von Bensa , 1866, HGM )
date June 29, 1866
place Pig skull , Bohemia
output Victory of the Prussians
Parties to the conflict

Prussia KingdomKingdom of Prussia Prussia

Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Austria

Commander

Prussia KingdomKingdom of Prussia Karl von Steinmetz

Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Tassilo Festetics

losses

394 fallen and wounded

1450 dead, wounded and prisoners

Chronological sequence of military conflicts in the
German War and
3rd Italian War of Independence (both 1866)

The battle near Pig's Skull ( Bitva u Svinišťan in Czech ) took place on June 29, 1866 during the German War between Prussia and Austria . The IV Army Corps of the Austrian Army under Lieutenant Field Marshal Tassilo Festetics tried to stop the advance of the Prussian 2nd Army under Crown Prince Friedrich , but was defeated by the V Army Corps under General von Steinmetz's infantry and had to withdraw.

Starting position

The three Prussian armies had marched into Bohemia from different sides and separated by the Giant Mountains . While the Prussian chief of staff Moltke wanted to achieve the unification of his armies, the Austrian commander-in-chief, Feldzeugmeister Benedek , tried to use his supposed advantage of the inner line to unite with the Saxon army and to defeat the first army under Friedrich Karl separately from the other armies. After the battle of Skalitz, however, the second army had reached the rear of the Austrian army and this required a fundamental regrouping by Benedek.

On June 29, 1866, Benedek planned a retreat in the direction of Königgrätz to ensure this should Festetics with his IV Army Corps stop the second army. While a part of the Queenhof was supposed to oppose the Prussian Guard Corps , another part was supposed to delay Steinmetz's advance.

Advance on pig skulls

On June 29, 1866, the Austrian reconnaissance patrols revealed that the guards were still at Praussnitz and the V Corps at Skalitz. The VI. Army corps under Louis von Mutius was still behind on the way via Nachod, his first brigade was initially assigned to the V Corps. Steinmetz had to give his troops a break after the march through the mountains and two heavy skirmishes and did not leave until 2:00 p.m. To this end, he issued the following marching orders:

“The V Army Corps with the detachment of Major General von Hoffmann will continue the march on Gradlitz today. The avant-garde (under special orders from Lieutenant General von Kirchbach ) leaves at 2 p.m., goes from Zlic via the Aupa to Ratiboritz, from there via Westec and Westernec to tour the left wing of the enemy outpost chain behind the Trebesnow-Miskoles section, clears the terrain against Horicka on the right flank and wins the Chawalkowic-Gradlitz road. The main body , reserve artillery and General von Hoffmann follow Lieutenant General von Kirchbach. "

Skirmish

From this advance, the first artillery battles developed with the Austrian batteries set up near Schweinschädel. Although he was not supposed to fight with superior enemy troops, but only to achieve a delay, Festetics did not want to leave his position without a fight, so as not to weaken the morale of his troops, and so the batteries remained in position and fired at those ready to attack forming Prussia.

The Prussian 10th Division under General von Kirchbach ordered the 19th Infantry Brigade under General von Tiedemann (Grenadier Regiment No. 6 and Infantry Regiment No. 46) to take action against the Austrian batteries, the 8th Jäger Battalion had against the to attack the brickworks there. FML Festetics threw the brigade under Colonel Poeckh against the Prussians (infantry regiments No. 37 and 51, and the 8th Jäger Battalion). The Austrian brigade under Archduke Josef (Infantry Regiments No. 67 and 68, and 30th Jäger Battalion), which was not in combat, was in position south of Schweinschädel between the Aupa River and the road to Josefov (Jaroměř) .

The first attacks by the Prussians led to the penetration into the town of Schweinschädel, where they inflicted considerable losses on the Austrian defenders with the rapid fire of their breech-loaders. To support the attack, five Prussian batteries were raised to support the advance of the infantry. As the Prussian regiments penetrated further into the place, there was a battle over a massive dairy farm, which was defended by a battalion of the Austrian Infantry Regiment No. 37 under Lieutenant Colonel Augustin Terstyánszky. This unit offered resistance to the Prussians for a long time, but was almost completely wiped out or fell into captivity.

General von Steinmetz called off the further attack when his regiments were already out of the town. After the end of the battle, Festetics withdrew via the Aupa and was able to successfully break away from its pursuers. The Prussian advance towards Gradlitz was continued from Schweinskädel.

losses

The Prussians lost 15 officers, 379 soldiers and 15 horses, of which 8 officers and 77 soldiers were killed; the Austrians, on the other hand, 39 officers, 1,411 soldiers (320 of them captured) and 90 horses. Of the prisoners, 120 were not wounded. Regiment No. 37 suffered the heaviest losses with 1,026 men.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Geoffrey Wawro, The Austro-Prussian War; Cambridge University Press; ISBN 978-052162951-5
  2. ↑ Austria's battles in 1866 From the K. and K. General Staff . War History Bureau, p. 186
  3. ↑ Austria's battles in 1866 From the K. and K. General Staff . War History Bureau, p. 190
  4. ↑ Geoffrey Wawro: The Austro-Prussian War. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1998, ISBN 978-0-521-62951-5 , gives the Austrian casualties as 2,000 men
  5. ↑ The campaign of 1866 in Germany, War History Department of the Great General Staff, gives 37 officers and 1,447 soldiers among the Austrians, including 3–400 unwounded prisoners

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