The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-08-01
THE GERMAN WAR.


| ofMen Engaged Hand-to-hand Fight
/ ing-Stirring Details, etc.
| The military correspondent of thu
1 London, Tines, at the Prussian head
quarters, gives the fullest and cleares
account of the battle of Sadowa thai
has yet been published We copy the
principal passages:
| The first shot was fired about half
! past seven. The Prnssian horse artil
lery, close down to the river, replied tc
the Austrian guns, but neither side fired
heavily, and for half an hour the can
nonade consisted of but little more than
single shots At quarter before eight
| the King of Prussia arrived on the
field, and very soon after the horse ar
tillery were reinforced by other field
batteries, and the Prussian gunners be-
gan firing their shells quickly into the
Austrian position.
| But as soon as the Prussian fire &C
lively commenced, Austrian guns seem
ed to appear, as if by magic, in every
point ofpthe position from every road,
from, every village, came flashes of fire
and whizzing rifle shells, which, burst
ing with sharp crack, sent their splin-
tiers rattling among the guns, gunners,
carriages and horses.
| As soon as the cannonade in front
became serious, the guns of the seventh
division began to lombard the village
of Benatek, on the Austrian RIGHT. The
Austrians returned shot forishot, and
neither side either gained or lost ground.
In the centre, too, the battle was very
even-the Prussians pushed battery af.
ter battery into the action, and kept up
tremendous fire on the Austrian guns
but these returned it, and sometimes
with interest, for the Austrian artillery
officers knew their ground, and every
shell fell true; many officers and men
fell, and many horses were killed or
wounded ~
Gradually the Prussian cannonade
appeared to get stronger, and the Au-
strian batteries between Dohelnitz and
Donaricha retired higher up the hill.
but the guns at Mokrowens still stood
fast, and the Prussians had not vet
crossed the Bistritz; but many guns
were now turned on Mokrowens, and
at 10 o'clock the battery there was also
obliged to retire little.
While this cannonade had been going
on, some of the infantry had moved
down toward the river, where they took
shelter from the fire under convenient
undulation of ground. The English
division came down on the left hand
side of the causeway, and under the
cover OF the rising in the ground form
ed its columns for the attack on the vii
lage of Sadowa; while the Third and
Fourth divisions on the right hand side
OF the road prepared to storm Doheln-
itz and Mokrowens. Buta little before
their preparations were completed, the
village of Benatek, on the Austrian
right, caught fire, and the Seventh d.
vision made dash to secure it, but the
Austrians were not driven out by the
flames, and here for the first time in the
battle was there hand-to-hand fighting.
The Twenty-seventh regiment led the
attack, and rushed into the orchards of
the village; the burning houses separa-
ted the combatants, they poured volley
after volley at each other through the
flames; but the Prussians found means
to get round the burning houses, and
taking the defenders in reverse, forced
them to retire with the loss of many
prisoners.
1t was ten o'clock when Prince Fred
erick Charles sent General Stuhnapi to
order the attack on Sadowa, Dohelnitz
and Mokrowens. The columns advanc-
ed, covered by skirmishers, and reached
the river bank without much loss, but
from there they had to fight every inch
OF their way. The Austrian infantry
held the bridges and villages in force.
and fired fast upon them as they ap-
preached. The Prussians fired much
more quickly than their opponents, hut
they could not see to take their aim the
houses, trees and smoke from the Au-
strian discharges shrouded the village. |
Sheltered by this the Austrian Jagers
fired blindly where they could tell, by
hearing, that the attacking columns
were, and the shots told tremendously
on the Prussians in their close forma-
ton; but the latter improved their DO
sitions, although slowly, and by dinti of
sheer courage and perseverance. for
they lost men at every yard of their adj
vance, and in some places almost paved
the way with wounded. Then. to helm
the infantry, the Prussian artillery turn
ed its fire, regardless of the enemv's
batteries, on the villages, and made ire
mendous havoc among the houses
Mokrowens and Dohelnitz both caught
fire, and the shells fell quickly and with
fearful effect among the defenders of the
flaming hamlets; the Austrian guns
also played upon the attacking infantry,
but at this time these were sheltered
from their fire by the houses and trees
between. n
In and around the villages the fight
ng continued for nearly an hour; then
The Austrian infantry, who had there
lriven out by rush of the Prussians.
'etired, but only little way up the
slope, into line with their batteries
The wood above Sadowa was strongly
acid, and that between Sadowa and
8enatek, teeming with rifemen, stood
% bar the way of the Seventeeth diyis-
on. But Gen. Fransky, who comman-
led this division was not to be easily
stopped, and he sent his infantry at the I
wood, and turned his artillery upon the
Austrian batteries.