Battle at Stresetitz

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In the final phase of the Battle of Königgrätz (July 3, 1866), two Austrian cavalry divisions led strong cavalry attacks in the battle near Stresetitz and Rosberitz-Langenhof to relieve the defeated infantry. It was one of the last great cavalry battles of the 19th century, with around 8,000 horsemen in combat. In battle, 39.5 Austrian squadrons faced about 31 Prussian squadrons in two separate skirmishes. The attack by the Hessen cuirassiers near Rosberitz threw the Prussian cavalry brigade under Major General Georg von der Groeben back to Langenhof. At the same time, an attack by the 3rd Reserve Cavalry Division against Prussian dragoons was carried out at Stresetitz with variable success. These cavalry attacks did nothing to change the general defeat of the Austrians.

prehistory

Map to the battlefield

The approach of the Prussian 2nd Army had been delayed due to unfavorable weather conditions. At the height of the Battle of Königgrätz around noon on July 3, the Austrian Feldzeugmeister von Benedek had intended to start a counterattack in the Swiep Forest. When the announcement of the approach of the Prussian 2nd Army arrived on the battlefield, the threat to the right wing became apparent and an immediate regrouping of the abandoned attack was necessary. The brigades of the Austrian II and IV Corps under Generals Anton Mollinary von Monte Pastello and Karl von Thun and Hohenstein had to quickly resume their old positions between Chlum and Nedelist. The withdrawal of the IV Corps from the Swiepwald was hasty, the II Corps withdrew more slowly and was able to repel a weak attack by the Prussian cavalry.

Intervention of the Prussian Guard Corps

After the Crown Prince of Prussia had grasped the situation, he immediately deployed his infantry to attack the opposing right wing. On the orders of the Oberste Kraft zu Hohenlohe , the batteries of the Prussian Guard Corps shot at the Austrian defensive position between Horenowes and Trotina from the line reached Žíželeves, Racitz and Habrina . The artillery fire between the artillery of the Guard Corps and 5 Austrian batteries was concentrated in the southeast area of ​​Horenowes. Reinforced with seven more batteries, the Prussian artillery had an overwhelming advantage over the enemy: 90 Prussian guns stood against 40 Austrian guns. At 1 p.m. the 1st Guards Division (General Wilhelm Hiller von Gaertringen ) reached the village of Horenowes. The 2nd Guards Division (General Heinrich von Plonski ) approached the village of Žíželeves with the middle column. In the east the VI marched . Corps under General Louis von Mutius on Racitz, with the 11th Division on the right and the 12th Division (Lieutenant General von Prondzynski ) on the left of the Trotina River. Both units wanted to intervene before the V Army Corps (General of the Infantry Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz ) came up behind the VI. Corps followed.

While the Austrian 2nd Light Cavalry Division under Major General Emmerich von Thurn und Taxis secured the Elbe by taking a position west of Lochnitz , the Prussian 12th Division occupied the village of Sendrasitz . In Racitz and on the lower Trotina , the troops of Lieutenant General Heinrich Adolf von Zastrow (11th Division) encountered only weak parts of the Brigade of Major General Gustav von Henriquez (2nd Corps), which retreated to Lochnitz due to the open left flank along the Elbe. At 2 p.m., the Austrian IV Corps was finally forced out of their positions between Maslowed and Horenowes , and the Prussian army took over the elevation positions there. The brigade of Colonel Emmerich von Fleischhacker and the 7th Hussar Regiment secured in the Cistowes area until the end . With the collapse of the right wing, she too had to retreat to a position between Lipa and Langenhof. From there to Wsestar, the Austrian reserve formed a battle line secured by 120 cannons, which was supposed to stop the Prussians. The Prussian 1st Infantry Brigade attacked down the slope against Rosberitz. The I. and VI. Corps defended themselves in Rosberitz to stop the Prussian advance, but were pushed back. In the east, meanwhile, the Prussian 11th Division passed Sendrasitz and penetrated Nedelist . At the same time, five battalions of the 12th Division crossed the Trotina river in the village of the same name and followed the main road to Königgrätz.

Battle for Chlum

Václav Sochor : The Battery of the Dead

With the support of 70 cannons, the Prussians penetrated to the key point of the Austrian position at Chlum . The defense of Chlum was entrusted to Colonel Carl von Eppan, while Colonel Slaveczi led the 46th Infantry Regiment Sachsen-Meiningen and the 62nd Infantry Regiment "King of Bavaria". Shortly after 1 p.m., the brigadier Charles of Appiano ordered that his brigade, which was suffering from enemy fire, should evacuate the village. The artillery of the Austrian III. Corps tried to stop the front of the enemy infantry. A battalion of the 46th Infantry Regiment was defending itself south of the village. The 7th battery under Captain August von der Groeben tried to prevent the advance of the Prussians from Chlum. The later so-called "Battery of the Dead" was attacked in the rear from the north and completely overrun by the Prussian 1st Guard Infantry Regiment. The battery lost 53 soldiers and 68 horses as well as seven of its eight cannons, but the act of the brigade still holding southeast of Chlum enabled the Appiano brigade to break away. After the conquest of Chlum, the Prussians fell into the hands of 14 enemy guns within a few minutes. The reserve artillery of the Prussian Guard Corps was deployed on the eastern heights of Chlum. The Dreyse needle guns tore large gaps in the Austrian columns on all sides . The department of Lieutenant Colonel Freiherr von Schimmelpenning was surrounded and had to capitulate with 600 soldiers. The Appiano Brigade withdrew after heavy losses in the direction of Sweti and Königgrätz. Field Marshal Lieutenant Thun seemed to have given up the battle and decided to save his troops on the bank of the upper Elbe to the Königgrätz Fortress - an act that brought the rest of the Benedek army into a serious situation. Thun later tried to justify the fact that he had ordered the withdrawal of the units of the Henriquez Brigade after the Prussians had occupied Chlum half an hour earlier and had already started to cross the river at Predmeritz .

Benedek couldn't believe that the important positions in Chlum had fallen. He immediately ordered a counterattack to regain Chlum. Also the deputy commander of the IV. Corps, General von Mollinary and the commander of the VI. Corps, Wilhelm von Ramming advocated starting a counterattack on Chlum. At 3:30 p.m., Ramming attacked without instructions from Benedek with two intact brigades under Colonel Ferdinand von Rosenzweig to secure Rosberitz and retake Chlum. At the same time, Austrian guns doubled their firepower on Langenhof to support the attack. The counterattack, which the 1st Reserve Cavalry Division was supposed to support, hit three Prussian guard battalions, which were commanded by Colonel Bernhard von Kessel . Kessel's guardsmen pushed further south and occupied Rosberitz. His units took part in a timely attack by the 11th Division (from the direction of Nedelist), smashed Rosenzweig's brigade and forced the enemy troops to flee to Rosberitz. During the battle, General Hiller von Gärtringen fell after being hit by shrapnel, but his troops kept Chlum firmly in their hands.

Withdrawal of the Austrian army

At 4 p.m. Chief of Staff Helmut von Moltke gave the Prussian 1st Army the order to proceed in the center. With the disintegration of the Austrian front, the Austrian III. and X. Corps via the Langenhof and Rosnitz line. In the meantime, the Prussian Alvensleben brigade was also successful in the east and, after a violent clash with the remnants of the Fleischhacker brigade, which carried out its withdrawal from Cistowes, occupied the Lipa forest. Immediately after the Lipa forest was lost, the middle column of the 2nd Guard Division also stormed the village of Lipa.

To relieve the troubled infantry, two Austrian cavalry divisions finally attacked in the battle near Stresetitz and Rosberitz-Langenhof, where 39.5 Austrian squadrons faced around 31 Prussian squadrons.

Equestrian battle between Rosberitz and Langenhof

Between 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm the Prussian 1st Army resumed the advance in the center between Sadowa and Mokrowous. Their peaks already reached Langenhof and Stresetitz, from the north the infantry guards of the 2nd Army stood in front of the village of Lipa. The following cavalry battle broke out after the Austrian brigades Leiningen, Friedrich von Mondel and Knebel (X. Corps) had just withdrawn from the Rosberitz area, where the Deutschmeister infantry regiment and parts of the Poschacher brigade had last held. In this situation, the only thing that could be achieved was an orderly withdrawal while avoiding the destruction of one's own strength. At that time there were still troops from the Austrian brigades Rosenzweig and Poschacher in Rosbèritz. The Austrian 1st Reserve Cavalry Division marched to the right of the Abele Infantry Brigade in the area west of Wschestar and Rosnitz. The Schindlöcker cavalry brigade had previously returned from Chlum parallel to the road to Wschestar . The Solms cavalry brigade had moved to Langenhof and, after heavy fire, dodged towards Rosnitz. The Solms brigade had the Hesse regiment on the right and Ferdinand cuirassiers on the left.

The Prussian Cavalry Brigade Groeben (Hussar Regiment 12 and 4th and 5th Squadron of Dragoon Regiment 3) reached Lipa when at 4.10 p.m. they were from the Austrian Cavalry Brigade Schindlöcker (Cuirassier Regiments 9 and 11) of the 1st Reserve Cavalry Division (Prince of Holstein) was attacked, which had orders to cover the retreat of the Austrian army. The Prussian Brigade Groeben attacked with the 3rd Neumark Dragoon Regiment and the 12th Hussar Regiment over Langenhof. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd squadrons of Dragoon Regiment 3 swung out towards Stresetitz. The Prussian Hussar Regiment No. 12 (Colonel Barnekow) started the attack against the withdrawing Brigade Leiningen. The Cuirassier Regiment 11 followed as a second meeting in the fight. After Major General Groeben personally specified the thrust south of the village of Rosberitz for the hussars, this movement was followed by 6 squadrons. The half-left turn required for this was not fully implemented due to the increased speed. The hussars began their attack against the enemy infantry in an oblique angle from the column line, while the dragoons, which were not level, formed squadrons to the right. When the left wing of the Prussian Hussars passed through on the Dorfstrasse, they received flanking fire from the infantry of the remnants of the Leiningen and Mondel Brigades and the 28th Jäger Battalion of the Knebel Brigade.

Skirmish between Imperial and Royal Hussars and Prussian Cuirassiers ( Alexander von Bensa , 1866)

After the Prussian 12th Hussars swerved out of the enemy volley fire, they moved backwards at a slow gallop to the right when they were unexpectedly attacked by enemy cavalry from the direction of Rosnitz. As soon as the Prussian cavalry appeared at Langenhof, the Schindlöcker brigade had received orders to attack. The cuirassier regiment Stadion, followed by 2 squadrons of Kaiser cuirassiers, could not develop fully, only the 4th and half 3rd squadrons initially attacked. The Prussian 12th Hussar Regiment was not able to parry this enemy on its own, so a squadron of the 3rd Dragoons swerved to the right against the opposing cuirassiers. In the following battle the Dragoons were broken up by the stadium cuirassiers in complete dissolution, although they still received support from the 4th Dragoons Squadron on the left, while the second meeting of the Imperial Cuirassiers and the Nikolaus Hussars regiment intervened on the Austrian side. When the Schindlöcker Brigade took up the pursuit of the Prussian hussars on the Chaussee via Rosbèritz, a new enemy fell on its right flank. The Pomeranian Uhlan Regiment No. 4 (Colonel von Kleist) led a flank attack against the stadium cuirassiers and thus relieved the Groeben brigade, which was flowing back to Langenhof.

Austrian

kuk dragoon helmet

1st Reserve Cavalry Division , FML Wilhelm von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg

Brigade Major General Eugen von Schindlöcker

Brigade Major General Prince von Solms-Braunfels

3rd Reserve Cavalry Division , Major General Karl Graf von Coudenhove

Brigade Major General Prince Windischgrätz

Brigade Major General Adolf von Mengen

Prussia

Prussian cuirassier helmet

2nd Cavalry Division , Major General Hann von Weyhern

1st Cavalry Division , Major General von Alvensleben

Equestrian battle at Stresetitz

Meanwhile, on the southern wing of the battlefield, the positions of the Saxons on the heights of Problus and in the Briz forest began to totter. A flank attack by the Piret Brigade against the left wing of the Prussian Elbarmee was intended to support the swaying Saxon corps. The Prussian cavalry division Alvensleben (Brigade Pfuel and light brigade Rheinbaben) had received an order at 3 a.m. to go to the right wing of the Elbarmee via Johanneshof and passed the bridge at Nechanitz shortly after 4 a.m. with the light brigade Rheinbaben.

The Austrian 3rd Reserve Cavalry Division was therefore given the task of covering the right flank of the Piret Brigade (I. Corps) and preventing enemy cavalry from breaking out in the valley between Problus and Stresetitz. The Thuringian Hussar Regiment and the two left squadrons of the Neumark Dragoons under Lieutenant Colonel von Willisen rode past Langenhof towards Stresetitz. Hardly finding cover, they were attacked from Rosnitz by the brigade of Prince Alfred von Windischgrätz. Even before and during the attack, the Windisch-Grätz brigade was fired at by Prussian batteries and various infantry detachments from Problus. The 2nd Brandenburg Uhlan Regiment No. 11 (Lieutenant Colonel zu Hohenlohe) of the Brigade of the Prince of Mecklenburg had appeared east of Stresetitz and attacked the enemy left wing. The right wing of the Austrian Cuirassier Brigade continued their attack in a northerly direction towards Langenhof. The groups of the 3rd Dragoons and 2nd and 8th Cuirassiers were moving west. Because the 3rd Dragoons were attacked, the 11th Uhlan Regiment, which had just approached, started the attack from the eastern exit of the village across the ravine. The left wing of the 11th Uhlans, especially the 4th Squadron, was carried away to the west by the 3rd Dragoons streaming back. While the 1st squadron of the Uhlans pushed the Austrian cuirassiers in the flank, the three remaining squadrons got into the rear of the cuirassiers, but were in turn attacked by the Austrian Wrangel cuirassiers, who in turn advanced in several squadrons. Despite the volley fire from Infantry Regiment No. 35, two Prussian batteries were ridden through by the cuirassiers, and only at Langenhof was further pursuit stopped by grape fire from the Prussian artillery. All Austrian attacks on the infantry units of the Prussian 35th and 49th regiments were repulsed with great losses. The losses of the Austrian regiments Prince Karl and Count Wrangel were therefore very heavy and amounted to 378 men and 470 horses. Major General Windischgrätz had to leave the battlefield wounded after this meeting.

The top of the Prussian cavalry mass in the approach of Problus was raised by the l. Guard dragoon regiment formed. The cavalry brigade of Major General Mengen, now entering the battle behind the Windischgrätz brigade, saw the Prussian cavalry break forth in a straight line from west to east and immediately ordered the attack. The Alexander Uhlan regiment was placed on the left, the König von Bayern cuirassier regiment on the right at the first meeting, followed by the Graf Neipperg cuirassier regiment. The first meeting of the Mengen Brigade was broken up by the guardsmen, the dragoons pushed the Uhlans partly northwards, partly to Stresetitz and partly southwards to Problus. Before the heavy Bayern cuirassiers could turn the battle by penetrating the left flank of the enemy, the Blücher hussars of General August von Werder's 3rd Division also successfully attacked the Austrians from Unter-Dohalitz .

Lieutenant Colonel Count Finckenstein advanced with his regiment to throw himself at the Uhlans, but the left wing companies of two battalions of the Brandenburg Fusilier Regiment No. 35, which were some distance away, drove the Uhlans, who were looking in vain for an exit, back towards Problus. The parts of the Alexander Uhlans that had evaded to the south were then covered by grape fire at the southeast corner of Problus and turned in a wide arc around Problus to the north and ran into the lances of the 1st Guard Uhlan Regiment at Stresetitz. With ruthless vehemence the riders tried to escape through the intervals of the Abele infantry brigade behind them, behind Rosnitz, and through the Leiningen brigade near Wschestar, creating wild disorder and panic. The Austrian division Coudenhove had generally high losses and was dispersed over most of the battlefield, partly behind Briza, partly behind the 2nd Reserve Cavalry Division, which was still holding northeast Klacow.

consequences

Wilhelm I meets the Crown Prince after the battle, mural by Emil Hünten for the Berlin Hall of Fame

The losses of the Austrian cavalry amounted to 64 officers, 1984 soldiers and 1,681 horses. However, the attacks meant that the enemy could be held for more than half an hour. The Coudenhove division crossed almost all of the existing bridges over the Elbe and gathered in the night at Holitsch, Pardubitz and Königgrätz. As the entire Austrian army threatened to be encircled, von Benedek gave up the battle around 5 p.m. and ordered a retreat to the Königgrätz fortress. The I. Corps under FML Leopold Gondrecourt had to use three brigades to prevent the Prussians from cutting off the retreat of the main Austrian power. At the Elbarmee , the 14th Division under General Hugo Eberhard zu Munster-Meinhövel was able to push the Saxons out of the village of Problus with its 27th Infantry Brigade under General Emil von Schwartzkoppen . The defenders of Problus were among the last battalions to leave the battlefield and reared the Austrians. Before this corps could detach itself from the enemy, it had suffered losses of 279 officers and 10,000 men, of which 2,800 men were taken prisoner.

literature

  • Gordon A. Craig : Königgrätz. 1866 - a battle makes world history , Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1997, pp. 245–248
  • Austria's fights in 1866 , volume 3, edited according to field files by the kk Generalstabs-Bureau für Kriegsgeschichte, Verlag des kk Generalstabes, Carl Gerold's Sohn, Vienna 1868, p. 345 f.
  • Berthold von Quistorp: The great cavalry battle near Stresetitz in the battle of Königgrätz . Published by Joseph Graveur, Neisse 1870
  • Theodor Fontane : The German War of 1866 . Volume 1: The campaign in Bohemia and Moravia, Berlin 1870, p. 610 f.
  • Frank Zimmer: Bismarck's fight against Emperor Franz Joseph. Königgrätz and its consequences . Styria Publishing House, Cologne 1996