Koniggratz

Background.
Opposing Armies.
Opening Moves.
The Battlefield.
The Battle.
Prussian Army
Austrian Army
Saxon Army
Photographs
Bibliography

The Opposing Armies.

Theoretically, the Austrian army, which was made up of conscripts, had 10 corps of 83,000 men each. This mass of manpower was, however, a long time in forming from its cadres onto the battlefield. Further problems arose with their Italian regiments who had to be moved away from their recruiting areas for fear of desertion once it was understood that Italy had thrown in her lot with the Prussians. Moreover, while Prussia had the Landwehr, Austria had no militia to provide a backup service in functional or fortress duties. Worse yet, certain professions within Austrian society were exempt from military service-a substitute could be hired to serve in another man’s place.

Because of these problems, plus deductions for any sick, labours and security forces, Austria could only place 320,000 men in the field; of these, only 240,000 would be able to operate against Prussia, while 80,000 were needed on the Italian front. The army was divided into 10corps, three of which were assigned to northern Italy. Austria had no divisional system except in the cavalry, the infantry being formed into brigades of two regiments and a Jäger battalion. A corps had four such brigades, plus a regiment of light cavalry. The brigades manoeuvred in dense battalion columns of some 1,000 men each, relying on the mass attack with the bayonet. The Austrian army was well served with artillery, her rifled field guns being complemented by a section of Raketengeschütz, or rocket batteries, which never seem to be considered by many historians writing about the campaign.

Prussia had nine army corps, each comprised of two infantry divisions and an artillery reserve. Each division had four infantry regiments, four batteries of artillery and four squadrons of cavalry; in all, some 15,000 men, 600 horses and 24 guns. Unlike the Austrians, whose infantry was armed with the Lorenze muzzle-loading rifle, the Prussians enjoyed the benefit of the breech loading Dreyse needle gun, which could fire five rounds per minute and could even be fired from the prone position, thus reducing the enemy’s target. When advancing to the attack, battalions moved in parallel columns, by companies.

Both Prussia’s cavalry, and to a large extent it artillery failed to play a major role in the campaign. The latter suffered from a combined lack of funds and bad administration, and although the steel breech-loading cannon was used in small numbers on the battlefield, the problems with the breech remaining tightly sealed after only firing a few rounds caused it to be regarded with caution by artillery commanders. The cavalry was simply neglected, being used in the main for duties behind the lines instead of for intelligence gathering.

At the outbreak of hostilities Prussia could muster more than 350,000 men, of which 250,000 were set against Austria. Prussia could also call upon large numbers of reserves if the need arose, an element totally lacking in the Austrian system.