The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-06 00:00:00

BENEDEK'S RETREAT.

(From the Times' Military Correspondent)
VIENNA, July 30.

When the Army of the North retreated on
Olmutz after its defeat at Koniggratz, Benedek's in-
tention was to call together his shattered forces and
give them rest behind the line of forts till their
strength should be recruited and their spirits re-
vived, and then either take the field against one of
the Prussian columns, or lie in wait for an oppor-
tunity of cutting off their communications; but
though Olmutz is well provisioned to enable its gar-
rison to stand a siege, food enough for a largearmy
could not havebeen accumulated from the surround-
ing country, and the communication with Vienna
must have become very difficult, if not completely
cut off. This wasp robably the reason why he re-
ceived an order to bring his army back over the
Danube, and place his corps under the command of
the Archduke. After despatching by railway as
many troops as possible, with their baggage trains,
stores, and artillery, there still remained the greater
part of five corps to be conducted to Presburg, for
the Prussians had by this time occupied so much of
the country that a direct retreat upon Vienna was
impossible without fighting a great battle, and this
the state of his army forbade.

The Ist Corps was sent to occupy Prerau and
prevent the 4,500 Prussians known to be some-
where in the direction of Troppa from descending
upon the railway and destroying it. This measure
was taken about the 12th of July, and the corps re-
mained in the position assigned to them until they
were joined by the Bth Corps on the 15th.
On the 14th the 2d and 4th Corps left Olmutz,
and proceeded by way of Tobitschau, Kajetein,
Zaimeck, and llradisch, meeting with slight resist-
ance easily overcome at Tobitschau, and marching
the rest of the way to Presburg without oppo-

sition.
On the 15th,. the 6th Corps marched by way of
Weiskirchen and the valley of the Beckzwa, without
being molested by the enemy. On the same day
the Bth Corps, and Benedek himself with his Staff,
left the lines to follow the course taken by the 2d
and 4th Corps on the previous day. The Prussians
were known to be in the neighbourhood, and the 11
orders were that this small army was to hold itself
prepared to meet the enemy at any point along the
route that he might select for an attack. How this.
order was carried out I leave your military readers
to judge from what follows. In front of the
column was half a regiment of Lancers ; then a
brigade infantry; after that came four batteries of
artillery of reserve, then train, and finally the bulk
of the corps, the other half regiment of Lancers
bringing up the rear. One of the most obvious
precautions in marching through a country where
the enemy may be expected to appear is to throw
out cavalry patrols and infantry skirmishers on both
flanks, to give timely notice of an enemy's advance ;
but this important duty appears to have been ne-
glected, or only half executed, for the Brigade Weber,
which marched on the right flank of the column, was
too far to the rear, and the cavalry division of Prince
Taxis marched from Olmutz at 8 a.m., three hours
after the infantry, and did not come up until too
late to be of any service. This was no fault of the
cavalry leader, for he only obeyed orders. Benedek
and his Staff rode near the guns.
Disposed as above, the column marched on, and
the cavalry in front had already passed through
Tobitschau, when the head of the column was at-
tacked by a Prussian force, which delayed its march,
while a batteryof guns took the whole road under its
fire, being posted on the rising ground a little to
the right of the column, and near its front. At the
same time two squadrons of Prussian Cuirassiers of
the Guard appeared advancing over the brow of the
hill,, also to the right, but abreast of the Austrian
batteries on the road. Benedek himself ordered
three batteries of artillery, one after the other, to
come into action against the Prussian guns, so they
advanced into the cornfields on the right within 300
or 400 yards of the cavalry, whom they supposed to
be part of the division of Prince Taxis, in spite
of warning voices among the officers of the Staff,
who knew that time had not yet allowed the Austrian
horse to come up. Whatever doubts there may
have been as to the nationality of the force on the
hills were soon solved, for the first squadron of the
Prussian cavalry charged the Austrian batteries,
not vigorously, but at a slow trot and with ranks
that wavered and undulated at every step—" not
at all beautiful to see," as an officer on Benedek's
Staff expressed himself in conversation. Now, the
Staff of a General is accompanied by a small cavalry
detachment, intended to act partly as a guard, partly
as orderlies, partly to lead spare horses, and the
number present at this critical moment was barely
40, some of whom had horses to lead, while others
carried on their saddles the light luggage needed by
an officer for a few days' campaign. But, few and
encumbered as they were, some of them were unable
to draw their swords, they were animated with a full
belief in the superiority of the Austrian cavalry, a
belief which had become assurance through a know-
ledge of the almost invariable success that has at-
tended the Austrian horse in all its attacks upon
Prussian cavalry alone ; so the Staff Dragoons, with
led horses, baggage, undrawn swords and all, flung
themselves recklessly upon the Prussian flank just
as it had passed between the guns whose drivers re-
treated rapidly with the limbers. Many of the Staff
officers joined in the melee, which was soon settled
by the retreat of the Prussian Cuirassiers to rejoin
the second squadron which had not mustered up
courage to support their comrades. A few minutes
later four new squadrons appeared to swell the
numbers of the Cuirassiers, when they charged
again, and this time captured two of the batteries,
which were quite unprotected. As infantry was
accumulating on the Prussian side, the Bth Corps
formed front to the enemy in line of battle, but
about this time Prince Taxis came up' and re-
ported that two Prussian corps were advancing
to attack, so the Austrians withdrew to the left
bank of the March by a bridge at Dub, in the
direction of Prerau, where they arrived after
march of 21 hours from Olmutz, driven from their
intended a
intended line of retreat, and with another unsucess
ful affair to brood over. It is painful to have to re-
late the gradual demoralisation of brave troops, but
I am compelled to say. that the infantry had by this
time lost all heart. They had been taught that their
rush was to be irresistible, and they had piled up
hecatombs of slain in front of the first Prussian po-
sitions in their gallant attempts to verify the belief,
but they had failed—signally failed—to drive back
those lines topped with spikes and fringed with im-
movable steel and perpetual fire. The odds were
always three or four to one against them, even if the
numbers of men were equal ; what now remained
but to creep home to Vienna, and tell their Emperor
that his children had been faithful unto death, though
so cruelly beaten, and to warn him that they could
not win under the conditions placed before- them ?
-'-'very messenger from Vienna was charged to say
on his return, " Make peace, or the army will be
annihilated." Every spirit was oppressed by the
gravity of the situation. Every heart failed for fear.
And yet not all. Prince R. upert's cavaliers were never
more confident nor more reckless than were Edel-
sheim's Hussars and Lancers. How they dashed at
anything in the shape of cavalry that appeared, how
they harassed the enemy and proteeted their army's
retreat, bow they tried to
tempt
with Bianken v
lffethe Prussian horse-
men to engage
anday
say)how
completely (whatever the Prussian
officialsall" m
they established the superiority of the Austrian horse,
will some day be described by a more A
than mine. For the present it must sufZetnotgpievne
the opiaions of Prussian officers themselves in their
conversations with parlementaires and Austrian
officers with whom the truce has brought them in
contact. "We cannot sufficiently praise your
cavalry and artillery, but for your infantry we have
learnt to care nothing." Dashing achievements
seldom fall to the lot of artillery ; but who can re-
fuse the hero's crown to the boy lieutenant who,
sole survivor of the officers in his battery at Konig-
.gratz, was ordered by an aide-de-camp to retire his
,guns, and simply answered—" how can I ? I have
only 12 horses, and about one gun detachment left."
.He succeeded, however, in dragging away two
guns.
On the same day or the next there was an alarm
of Prussian Hussars near rrerau,' and Col. Mar-