Battle of Münchengrätz

Battle of Münchengrätz

Part of: German War

Area map of the battle near Münchengrätz

date	June 28, 1866
place	Münchengrätz , Bohemia
output	Victory of the Prussians

Parties to the conflict
Prussia	Austria
Commander
Friedrich Karl of Prussia Eberhard Bittenfeld	Eduard Clam-Gallas
Troop strength
3 divisions	3 infantry brigades
losses
about 150 men	about 900 dead and wounded, 1,800 prisoners

The Battle of Münchengrätz was a victory of the Prussians over the Austrians in the German War on June 28, 1866. The battle took place between troops of the Prussian 1st Army under Prince Friedrich Carl and the Elbarmee under General Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld on the one hand and units of the Austrian I. Corps under Cavalry General Eduard Clam-Gallas on the other side.

March

Cavalry General Eduard Clam-Gallas

On June 27th, the Elbarmee was able to unite with the 1st Army, which for its part had crossed the Jizera at Turnau and Podol on the same evening . The Prussian Elbarmee started moving at 6 o'clock in the morning because the advanced left wing of the Prussian 1st Army encountered major obstacles if the Herwarth Army were to advance from the west against the left wing of the Austrians. General Count Clam-Gallas intended to maintain his position at Münchengrätz on June 27th, but pushed his troops north of Münchengrätz to the village of Kloster, where a Jizera crossing was defended against the advancing Prussian Elbarmee. Flowing west of Münchengrätz to the south, the Iser closed the battlefield to the west, so that the Prussians first had to force the crossing in order to attack the Austrians. The left wing of the Austrians stretched out as an echelon with a flank against the Elbarmee, but neither left nor right sufficiently covered. The center formed the front to the north, the right wing extended to the northeast, where the Prussians were offered an open flank. To the north of it the Iser accompanied some mountain ranges, the Musky and Kaezowberg formed a transverse range on which Clam-Gallas set up his troops for defense, but neglecting the protection of the flank of his right wing. Clam-Gallas believed the inaccessible heights on the Musky Mountains were adequately secured with a few batteries. A part of the allied Saxon troops under Crown Prince Albert was concentrated on the left wing, a second part formed the reserve. The Prussians advanced in five columns. Two columns of the Elbarmee marched over Hühnerwasser and Aicha and met the advanced left flank of the Austrians, which included a part of the Saxons, and the left flank of the Austrian center on the Kaezowberg. The Austrians' right wing found powerful support on the mountainous terrain.

battle

The Elbarmee reached the battlefield after seven o'clock in the morning. The 14th Division under General zu Munster-Meinhövel advanced via Boehmisch-Aicha to Munchengrätz. The Austrians formed a complete battle order in front of Haber and Kloster. Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia sent the 8th Division under General von Horn and the 6th Division under Major General von Manstein against the center of the Austrians. The 7th Division under General Fransecky had occupied Turnau and had taken the right flank of the Austrians on the Muskyberg and had to bypass the opponent's position in the North the order. The fighting began simultaneously on the left wing and in the center. The Fransecky Division made its way on the south side to the high plateau of the Muskyberg, at the head of the ascending column were two battalions of Infantry Regiment No. 27 under Colonel von Zichlinski. The Austrian batteries had a massive impact on the enemy columns between Weißleim and the monastery. The defense of the Clam-Gallas corps was formed by three brigades:

• Brigade Poschacher under Major General Ferdinand Poschacher von Poschach with Infantry Regiment Baron Martini No. 30 under Colonel Franz Bergou and Infantry Regiment König von Prussen No. 34 Obst. Carl swordsman
• Brigade Leiningen under Major General Viktor Graf Alt-Leiningen-Westerburg with 32nd Jäger Battalion under Colonel Friedrich Prohaska, Infantry Regiment Graf Gyulai No. 33 under Colonel Joseph Zerbs and Infantry Regiment Graf Haugwitz No. 38 under Colonel Friedrich Fürgantner
• Brigade Piret under Major General Ludwig Piret de Bihain with Infantry Regiment Grand Prince Constantin No. 18 under Obst. Carl Hervay von Kirchberg and Archduke Sigismund No. 45 Infantry Regiment Colonel Carl Ritter von Ripper

General Herwarth raised his batteries on the western edge of the hill to use them to fight the enemy batteries. As soon as a Iser bridge was built, the Prussians attacked in battalions at Münchengrätz. After the battle of the batteries, the Prussian line of attack with infantry regiments No. 69, 40 and 33 and the Fusilier Regiment No. 28 moved rapidly down into the valley. The extreme right wing of the Prussians, formed by the bulk of the Elbarmee and the 14th Division, advanced simultaneously. The Austrians had to withdraw their front batteries so that they did not fall into the hands of the enemy. The Prussian avant-garde quickly penetrated Münchengrätz. The Saxon 2nd Division entered the battle with only one battery and two squadrons. Count Clam-Gallas noticed his line being bypassed on the right wing and feared being cut off. The troops of the Prussian left wing pushed against Podiost and Sobotka. The Austrians fled to Smidar to unite with the main army under FZM Benedek . The batteries on the mountains covered the area from the monastery to the Iser bridge to cover the retreat in order to prevent the Prussians from pursuing them. The guns were rescued, only from the cover several hundreds fell into captivity.

consequences

The Prussian II Army Corps had advanced through Zehrow and Daubrow, the bulk of the Cavalry Corps followed behind. The Prussian 7th Division moved into camp near Bossin, the 8th Division advanced without a fight to Dobrawoda; the 6th division remained at Brezina. The accompanying 2nd Cavalry Division under Hann von Weyhern covered at Hrdetz. From the Elbarmee the following 14th division had also reached Münchengrätz, the 15th division gathered south of it at Wesela and the 16th division stopped at Haber in the evening. The retreat of the Austrians led via Fürstenbruck and Unterbautzen to Gitschin . The loss-making victory brought the entire Iser line into the hands of the Prussians and forced the Austrians, together with the Saxons who had moved in forced marches from Dresden, to retreat to Gitschin, where another battle took place on the following day . The Austrians lost 2,000 men, 1,600 of them prisoners. The Prussians had lost about 150 men.

literature

• Heinz Helmert, Hans-Jürgen Usczeck: Prussian-German Wars from 1864 to 1871 - Military Course. 6th revised edition, Military Publishing House of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-327-00222-3
• Karl Winterfeld: Complete history of the Prussian War of 1866 , Gustav Hempel Verlag Berlin 1866, p. 193 f.