Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1866-08-28
tFrom the Baltimore transcripts
The War in Europe,

10 SuA 4S3I VIII Ne Spee0liy and GER
tainly concluded. It may not be uninterest>
ing to review briefly the rapid succession of
events by which,iR less than teoo ntonths.
such wonderful changes have been made on
the continent.
On the 9TH of June the Prussian army,
under General Manteuffel, entered Holstein:
the Austrians, under Gablenz being only
brigade, retiring before them. The Austrian
ambassador at Berlin left on the 18th. and
the Prussian ambassador thereupon left vi
emma. Prussia, Austria and Italy all declared
war on the same day, the 18th of June, the
anniversary of Waterloo. On that day the
PrussIan armies marched on several points at
once. The first move IN a career of unpar-
alleled ceierity was to occupy those States
which interviewed between her and the Rheu
ish provinces of her kingdom, and which
were known to be unfriendly On the 18th
therefore, hers armies rushed down upon
Saxony aud other territories, and in one day
secured the whole of North Germany. Elec-
toral .Hesse Darmstadt shared the same fate.
and Austria Silesia was invaded before Aus
trla had stirred step. AS Prussia advanced,
she enrolled in her army all the men she
could seize, up to forty years of age Italy
was not as prompt, for though she declared
war on the 18th, it was not till the 23d that
the Italian army crossed the Mincio, unop-
posed. On the 9th, the anniversary of S OIL
terino, occurred the battle of Custozza, in
which the Italians were defeated, the war
thus fairly opening where it closed in 1859.
the battle beginning near illafranca where
Napoleon and Joseph then. made peace,
and pretty much on the same spot
where Radeski defeated the Italians in 1913.
Inc Prusslan advance sOuthward was made
in two great armies. One of these, the east
nrn TU9c lHnrf hat d.. i
from Reichenberg, some sixty or seventy
miles west of the former. These armies
started simultaneously On the 18th of June,
their object being to advance southwark and
at the same time towards each other. so as to
form a junction. The eastern army on the
10th compelled the Austrians to evacuate
the Nachod Pass, and on the 9th was
fought the battle of Nachod, in which the
Prussians brought ninety guns into play, and
after a most desperate fight compelled tic.
Austrians to retreat, leaving five guns be-
hind them. On the same day, about ten
miles distant, Prussian army that had en-
tered Bohemia through the Landshut Pass
was attacked by the Austrans under Cab
leuz, and u bloody fight, lasting nearly all
day, followed, in which the Austrians were
defeated, and Gablenz's corps nearly de-
stroyed. On the 18th another battle took
place at Skalitz, about FIVE miles beyond Ma
chod. This was bloodier and more obsti-
nate contest than any which preceded it, and
was continued on the 29th, when the Aus
trlans were completely broken, losing twenty
guns, and twenty-five thousand killed, wound
ed and prisoners. Each day their retreat
was continued, and on the 5Oth they evacua-
ted Oswiecin.
Whilst the Eastern army was pushing on
its uninterrupted career OF victory, the Wes-
tern army under Prince Frederick Charles
was equally prompt and successful On the
10Th 1t met the Austrians and Saxons at Lo
Liebenou, and, after determined resistance.
drove them across the Iser. Overtaking the
Austrians the same night at Podoll bridge, a
furious battle ragged from 8 z. NJ till past
midnight, the fight being carried on with
great desperation from hour to hour through
the streets of the village, but ending in the
sullen retreat Of. the. Austrians to Turnau,
where the battle ragged on the 9th very Sc
verely, and the AustriauS were driven again
with great loss On the 18th, tercer en-
counter took place at Munchengratz, where
the Austrians lost three thousand killed and
wounded, besides many prisoners, On the
succeeding day, the left wing of the Austrians
aud Saxons made their last stand against the
conVerging armies oil the enemy, at Gitschiu
After long and bloody contest, Gitschin was
taken by storm III the afternoon, the Prus-
SLAMS capturing 81 guns ond 5000 prisoners,
the Austrians retreating in the darkness of
the night. On July LIST, the sixth day after
they started, the two victorious Prussian ar
mics seem partially to have united, though
wholly! On the I'd of July, the united
armies passed forward under the nominal
command of the King in person, and on the
I'd of July overlook the Austlians under
Benedek at Sudowa. The particulars of this
last and decisive battle are first in the public
recollection. The arrival of the rest of the
Crown Princes army, at critical period Of
the battle, settled the fate of the day. Thus
in fifteen days after the declaration of war,
aud the eighth day after the grand Prussian
advance commenced, the military power of
Austria was so completely overcome that she
turned her thoughts to peace, and negotia-
ticns for that object, now about to be consum-
mated, were begun.
Various causes have been assigned for this
tremendously rapid succession of victories,
such as the marvellous celebrity of the Prus-
slams the needle gun, which is a breech-
loader, whilst the Austrians have only Brown
Bess, the Prussian gun, as is proved, shooting
six times to the Austrian's once the modern
rifed cannon of the Prussians, whilst the
Austrians have only the old fashioned short
range smooth bore. These causes all had
their influence, but the Austrians, who fought
throughout as bravely as their opponents,
ascribe the success of Prussia chiefly to the
superior generalship of the Prussian leaders
Certainly no such military abilities have been
exhibited since the days of the great Napo-
leon, as those of the Prussian commander-in-
chief. The movements of his armies seem
to have been made with the speed and regu-
larity of railroad trains.
Prussia is now the undisputed head of
Germany, with compact territory north of
the Main, and thirty millions of homogeneous
population. Italy has Venetia, and Austria
will be lucky if she can hold on to Hungary.