The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1866-08-03

ties were not more than four miles from my
actual point Of observation. Once the en-
gugement had fairly begun, and the troops
had begun to change their positions, even
General Beuedek himself could not tell
where they were, and his staff were, of
course, still more ignorant Notwithstaud.
ing the violent wind which prevailed, the
artillery and musketry fire clung in tue val
leys and undulations, and mingling with
the fog and rain clouds at times quite OBJ
scured the field The Austriaus have an
excellent system Of 6eld teegraphs ; but it
could not be adapted to the exigencies of
the battle, and like most human appliances
and inventions, it was found wanting at
the critical moment. | can only describe
what saw, and as that was necessarily not
all, there may be many mistakes and errors
in the account, which better informatiop
will rectify. Tho general formation of the
Austrian line was in having masses of col
umus checkerwise, iianked by powerful
divisions Of artillery, and his cavalry was
kept in the low grounds near the Prague
road and behind Klum, in the rear of his
center, where it was disposed to act against
the enemy as soon as he showed symptoms
OF unstcadiness. .s.t i.sa
The Austrians seemed for the most part,
to be posted on high grounds. The only
disadvantage to which they were exposed,
so far as ! could see, was that the Prussians
were covered on their proper left by
good deal of wood. The course of the
roads ran rather in their favor Here and
there the Prussians may have got some bit
of good fortune in knoll, a hillock, or viii
lagc, but on the whole, in my judgment,
such as'it is, they had to assault an enemy
better placed for defense than they were
for attack At the time when l reached
the tower the firing was not very heavy,
and it was principally carried ON by three
Austrian batteries posted in front of the
solitary tree | have mentioned toward the
right. There was several Austrian officers
in the tower and they were of opinion that
the Prussians had only been making q dem
onstration to try our right, and finding it
too strong would probably retire.
RECEIVING THE SHOCK.
1t looked as if the Prussans had attacked
| the position almost smultaneously''fro left
to right, for no sooner had the actien deve!,
| oped itself on the center than it rolled
back from Nachanitz, on the left and before
half-past nine the whole range of hills, aud
valleys and slopes for nine miles and more
was as if the earth had been turned into
snow wleaths, agitated in a wintry gale.
| Before ten o'clock thicker and darker
! gale rose from the trees and the village on
! the right. "Imilovitz is in flames " ex-
claimed the guardian of the tower. The
officers said "Ja so! aud Ieml" and
uttered various other sounds Of varied i'm
port, possibly, smoked their cigars and
| looked on. llnilovitz, indeed, blazed up
furiously after time, and in about quar-
ter of an hour or more the Austrian bat
teries which had gone down the slope toiled
up again, unlimbered and fired from the
brow, and then other batteries came mp
near the big tree, and | could see men dot.
ting the slope of the hill, coming toward
the railway, amid those who could never
move of their own accord again. These in
creased in number.
Puffs of smoke high in the air, or rising
| from the ground showed where the Prus-
sian fire was plying the Austrans on the
right; hut their guns replied vigorously,
and all through that day, though something's
ill-placed, the Austrian artillery behaved
most galiantly. 1t was difficult to ascer-
tain why the Austrian corps on the right
were SO unsteady, and why so many men
were leaving the ranks of regiments still
invisible but after time another sponge
! like raincloud wiped away everything aud
left it all like clean slate, from behind
which there issued rolling fire of cannon
as close as the volleys Of fen de .jOie.
When the shower passed away the cannon
ade on the right near tfe tree had sensibly
diminished, and the Austrians seemed to
have the advantage all along the front
| judging by the advance of their guns aud
infantry, except near the lett center and
righ: OF their line. o .t..e
! sADowA IN FLAMES.
On the extreme left another black cloud
now rose up licked by flames at the base.
Sadowa burns. And so it was. Tho pleas
ant little village, snug church, hospitable,
mill-all were burning. 1t was with surer
divination of the coming woe than we
had that the poor people fled in tears or
remained in hopeless sorrow in their homes.
! The heat OF this great battle burned up
whatever it touched, and sent forth the
lava which destroyed as it flowed on all
sides. Between the big tree and Klum, in
the center aud far away toward the second
ridge, the fight was raging with extraordi,
nary fury from ten clock till halEpast ten,
and that half hour seemed an age. Bnt
! still the Austriahs advanced. One gray
mass of men followed another into the
smoke and was lost there. Toward Sadowa
| and Nechaniiz Oh the left they were also
gaining ground, and before eleven O'Clock
their columns had gone out of sight into
! lD6 N0li61 OI uluuldliOlHs anu tHt INSSlhuS
could be seen by their fire to have fallen
back on the opposing slope of the second
range of hills,
Between ll:30 and 12 o'clock
! the Austrians were TO all intents successful
on the ceuter and on its flanks, although
the fury of the canuonade and the incessant
rattle of musketry all along the front from
the front of Ne(hdnitZ to the plateau be-
tween Klum, attested the severity of the
struggle aud the obstinate resistance of the
Prussians. Probbis, another pretty village,
was now in flames three villages burning
at once, farm houses adding their contin-
| gents to the fire and smoke, caissons blow
ing up, shells bursting, and the slopes and
hill tops covered with gray aud blue specks,
each a man nagony or in death. Again
the cavalry moved onward. This time one
division, in three bodies, crowned the
ridge aud formed near the front line, nnder
the church, on the left of Klum, in the
center and left of the position, and there
they waited once more. But now on the
right the action awoke again, and, to our
surprise, very heavy FIRE of mnsketry,
comparatively close at hand, came from the
direction of SmirlintZ the Austrians on the
crest of the ridge moved uneasily, while
many more stragglers than one cared to
see pressed down toward the railroad
| Whatever the cause of the agitation, the
| Prussiaus on the center and left pressed
their attack with renewed vigor and the