Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1866-08-17
The Prussian Victory.

which the contest shifted its phases. II
But far more astonishing do the as n
poets change of the war in mid Eu- !
rope. A brilliant months campaign L
has brought forth results 50 great 0
that already twice have all on looking
nations predicted peace to be at hand f
and, if the contest shall still go on, ;.
it will be the fault of the antagonists, {
not of the satisfied spectators. In y,
the double war which Austria wages +
two grand events have occurred, the
one military, the other political, of
the highest moment-the great battle
near Coniggratz, on the Northern
frontier, the abandonmentof Y enetia,on
the Southern. These have altered
the spectacle Of the contest as quickly
as the turn of kaleidoscope; the
former event renders belated and :
trivial the details OF the preparatory
series of battles in Bohemia, which
otherwise had received volumes off
study and commentary, and the latter
makes even the field Of Custo2za one
of mere historic interest. With the
slate of war thus re,arranged and
sponged afresh by great movements,
one recalls the pointed telegram of
/ Lincoln, in answer to the news of the
battle of Iuka, "How does it all sum
up"
/ 1t sums up. then, in the North, that
the grand strategic victory won by
! PrusSia'5 maneuvering in SaXony-it-
self equivalent to a campaign-has
been crowned and consummated by a
tactical triumph in series CT engage
ments eliminating at Sadowa. Else
where, the operations are fully set
forth, and it is enough here to say that,
after series Of spirited contests,
FROM the 26th to the = 9th OF June, the
Prussians. advanced through Bohemia
with great vigor, carried the Austrian
position at Gitschin by assault on the
lst of July. On the Sd, the Prussian
armies, the army Of the Elbe under
Prince Frederic Charles, and the army
of Siesia under the Crown Prince,
burst successfully upon Benedek's
army, which he had retired to a point
Horitz and Koniggratz. A twelve
hours battle cnsued between the COM
battants counted by the hundred thou
sand; recalling, in the number who
} fought and number who fell, the annals |
of those va8ts hosts under whose tread
!, the continent shook in the days of the
elder Napoleon. From the battle
field the Austrians broke, at length,
leaving great spoils to the victors-I
, the magnitude still unsettled, but say
= II guns and 1900 prisoners, as the
: medium estimate
The battle of Bohemia seems to
: have been a well-fought field, in which
Austrian and Prussian stood up TO-
) gether with all their traditional ener-
= gy and courage. Uniustructed yet as
: to the relative number employed, one
may surmise that the Prussians were
numerically superior, at least during
the aft DON, when the Crown
Princes army came up and turned
! Benedek's right; for Ben e d e k
f h a d almost entire u lost the
! use Of the First Corps Clam Calais }
of Gablenz's corps, and of the Saxon
t corps, by the previous disastrous bat
: ties, in which they were quite disin-
+ tegrated, many being made prisoners.
, The Prussian troops, moreover, seem
: to have been the more vigorous in
e giving battle, and to have rushed upon
: the Austrian bayonets not merely with
!, elact, but with positive ferocity. This
t splendor of action can doubtless be
c traced to a two-fold causc-a moral
, influence in the prestige Of success
i which had crowned their arms through
e out the brief campaign through Sax
h ony and Bohemia, and by which spirits
had been excited to frenzy of en-
/, thusiasm; a mateFia l influence in
g their famous breech-loading rife, a
e weapon which they knew by exper-
e fence to be better than the antique
implements held in the hands of their
= enemy. The constant sight of the
:. havoc played by this arm must have
y inspired the greatest confidence On
n the field, and have somewhat dispirit-
it ed the Austrians. The victory was
S purchased at bloody cost, but the dis
/ advantage of loss is with the Aus
e TRANS, not only form the actual num-
e bers put out of the campaign, but
n from very serious disorganization
d OF the remainder. In such a crisis,
1t the only thing to be done is to in
e terpose some entirely new and fresh
it corps, with confidence untarnished by
le disaster. Accordingly, we shall soon
t. expect to hear that large body of
: troops from the Mincio have been
N sent through Vienna on the way to
E. Bohemia, with the laurels of Custozza
y still fresh upon them.
e. In its issue upon the future cam
g paign, the victory of Sadowa is of
great moment. 1t gives the Prussians
y the entire possession of the Elbe
st from source to mouth. 1t assures the
Is control of some very important rail
t road and highroad lines of supply in
N the rear, which till this moment Bene.
Il dek menaced, and to settle the safety
ut of which indeed, more than for any.
O. thing else, the late battle was requir
If ed. 1t effectually covers, for the
ic present, the occupation of Saxony, a
i point of the highest Importance, never
1t hereto q fixed fact; and instead Of
Is preparing to blow up the fine ORES
I'd den bridges, in case of possible re
treat, the Prussian garrison there car
e. smoke their pipes and talk over the
De "news from the 'front.'" Above all