Warmatrix

Map of the Battle of Königgrätz, early phase

The Battle of Königgrätz, aslo known as the Battle of Sadowa, was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian war. It was the largest battle in the 19th century CE, with nearly half a million men engaged.
The Austro-Prussian war of 1866 CE was a struggle between Austria and Prussia over power in Germany. Austria had been the dominant power in the region for several centuries, but Prussia had been rising up since the 17th century CE and had become strong enough to rival Austria. Otto von Bismarck, the leading figure in Prussia, provoked war with an invasion of Schleswig in north Germany. The conflict that ensued was surprisingly short, fought mainly in Bohemia. It was decided in several battles, Königgrätz being the most important.
The opening skirmishes and battles of the war had yielded a few pyrrhic victories for the Austrians; on the whole they had suffered the most. Many men were killed and morale was low, prompting their incompetent commander Ludwig von Benedek to order them to retreat to the Elbe river. Von Benedek, seeing the state of his army, urged his emperor to make peace. The emperor refused such an early defeat and requested more information, which von Benedek interpreted as a order to make a final stand. This he did, between Sadowa and Königgrätz.
The Austrians numbered 215,000 and had used two days to partially dig in before the pursuing Prussians catched up with them. The Prussian commander Helmuth von Moltke, who had directed most of the campaign from Berlin through telegraph messages, traveled to the front for the grand finale. The Prussians did not use their cavalry to scout properly and discovered the enemy rather late, but then quickly drew up a plan of attack. All three Prussian armies, which had been operating mostly independently in the previous battles, were to converge on Königgrätz and encircle the Austrians. On the day of the battle two of the armies, the Army of the Elbe (39,000 men) and First Army (85,000 men) approached from the west. They arrived mid-morning in rainy weather and went over to the attack.
The Prussians were intimidated by the number of enemies and by fire from the Austrian artillery. The latter's rifled guns outranged the former's smoothbores and their crews were better trained too. Nonetheless the Prussians managed to advance in the center through forest and villages and capture Sadowa. However once they emerged from cover and smoke they were again at the mercy of the enemy artillery. This halted the advance.
The Austrians, having superior numbers, mounted counterattacks. Like in earlier battles they advanced in dense but antiquated infantry columns, hoping to come close enough for a bayonet charge. This prevented them to take advantage of the superior range of the their Lorenz rifled muskets. Worse, it exposed them to fire from the Dreyse needle guns of the Prussian infantry, which fired less far but quicker. Von Benedek realized that a massive frontal attack would probably fail, despite the Austrians superior numbers. He considered a cavalry charge to turn the tables, but hesitated. Instead he tried to outflank the Prussians on their right, though his movements were cautious and indecisive.
In the early afternoon the Second Prussian Army, 97,000 men led by crown prince Frederick, arrived from the north. They were supposed to have been present at the start of the battle, but difficulties in communication had delayed them. Once on the battlefield, they hit the Austrian right flank hard. The latter defended for about two hours and made some counterattacks, however their position deteriorated rapidly and von Benedek ordered a retreat. The Prussian pursued hotly, forcing him to order a cavalry rearguard to stand and fight, so that the infantry could retreat over the bridges over the Elbe. The tactic worked, though at high cost for the brave cavalry. Most of the other Austrian troops fled chaotically through Königgrätz, ignoring their commander.
Benedek lost the battle because his indecisiveness; failing to make use of his numbers, superior artillery and cavalry; ignoring the threat of the Second Prussian Army. Von Moltke had aimed to crown his victory by encircling the Austrians and then destroy them, but had only half succeeded. Still he scored a decisive victory. The Prussians suffered 9,000 casualties; the Austrians lost 41,000, half of them prisoners. After Königgrätz the Austrian army was so battered that victory in the war was impossible. A few small battles were fought and a few weeks later peace was made. Austria was excluded from German affairs and Prussia formed the North German Confederation, including most of north Germany and strengthening the country.