The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-05 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 5, 1866.

Those who value the independence of Germany,
and respect the balance of power in Europe, will
regret to see the complete victory which the Prus-
sians have won in the pitched battle so long talked
of, which came off on Tuesday last. Many had
foreseen this result in consequence of the dis-
heartened state of the Austrian army, and the spirit
which was impressed into the Prussians in conse-
quence of their repeated victories. According to
the accounts received the defeat of the Austrians
was most complete and entire, and the Prussian
bulletins seem scarcely able to express
in a sufficiently definite manner the
nature and extent of the victory. Of course
we are prepared for exaggeration, but in the pre-
sent case we fear that there is too much reason to
believe the main part of the story true at any rate.
No news whatever has comp from the Austrian
head-quarters, which in itself is a bad sign, and, in
point of fact, there is good reason for supposing
this may be the last great engagement of the war.
We hardly see how Marshal BENEDEK can recover
from this crushing blow to his army, and recruit
his scattered forces sufficiently to allow of a
renewed attack, or even of an available defence
against the enemy. The rapidity of the Prussian
tnanceuvres at first seems to have paralysed the
Austrians, and they never recovered the shock.
The great thing, however, which decided the war
in favour of the Prussians was the superiority of
their weapons. The needle-gun has played an im-
portant and conspicuous part in the stern struggles
and fierce encounters that have recently taken place
in such numbers on the soil of Bohemia. We hear
from Paris that the Prussians commenced the at-
tack, and that at first the victory was with the
Austrians, but the tide of fortune soon changed,
and both the Austrian wings were driven back by
the Prussians.

The details from the Prussian headquarters speak
of ten thousand Austrian prisoners already taken,
but the losses cannot be readily ascertained in con-
sequence of the extent of the battle-field. The
fighting was very severe, and the Austrians seem
to have made a strong stand, no doubt thinking
that all depended on the result of the venture.
The combat lasted twelve hours, and it, took six
hours for the Prussians to obtain a strong position,
which was obstinately defended by the enemy ; at
two p.m. it was finally taken by storm, and
this was the turning-point of the affair.
After that the victorious army seemed only to drive
the others before them. A despatch, dated yester-
day morning, states that the Austrians are retreat-
ing, pursued by the Prussian cavalry, and are in
complete rout"—the road is strewn with arms and
baggage they threw away. In. this battle three
Austrian archdukes were •wouuLled, General
FESTETICS lost a leg, two staff officers were killed,
and Prince WINDISCIIGRATZ and Prince LICHTEN-
STEIN were taken prisoners. On the whole,
it seems difficult to imagine how the de-
feat could have beenanamotrheiscircumstance,
ciconclusive on
the Austrian side ;
coupled with the fact that the Imperial forces were
weakened by heavy losses before the engagement at
Sadrow, 20,000 prisoners being taken by the Prus-
sians, renders it almost impossible for them again
to make a stand in this war.

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