page_title: Battle of Langensalza (1866)
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Langensalza (1866) / Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: Gilt bronze, d. = 36 mm. George V, King of Hanover, 1851-1866 He was the grandson of King George III of Great Britain. As a legitimate male-line descendant of George III, he remained a member of the British Royal Family, and second in line to the British throne, until the birth of Queen Victoria's first child, Victoria, Princess Royal, in 1840. Contrary to the wishes of the parliament, Hanover joined the Austrian camp in the war. As a result, the Prussian army occupied Hanover and the Hanoverian army surrendered on 29 June 1866, the King and royal family having fled to Austria. The Prussian government formally annexed Hanover on 20 September, but the deposed King never renounced his rights to the throne or acknowledged Prussia's actions. From exile in Gmunden, Austria, George V appealed in vain for the European great powers to intervene on behalf of Hanover. Head l., around: "GEORG V v. G. G. KOENIG v. HANNOVER"/3 lines between 2 laurel branches: "LANGENSALZA 27. JUNI 1866.". Edge letttering: "C. RÖHRS". v. Heyden 235. Medallist: (Heinrich) Jauner, 1833 Wien - 1912 Vienna, Austria. Condition: UNCIRCULATED.
context_page_description: The Battle of Langensalza was fought on 27 June 1866, during the Austro-Prussian War, near Bad Langensalza in what is now modern Germany, between the Kingdom of Hanover and the Kingdom of Prussia. The Hanoverians won the battle but were then surrounded by a larger and reinforced Prussian army. Unable to link up with their Bavarian allies to the south, the Hanoverians surrendered.
  That marked the demise of the Hanoverian army and the annexation of Hanover into the burgeoning Prussia, which systematically unified Germany into the modern nation state.
context_section_description: Hanover began in an excellent position, as the Prussian attack happened to occur during Hanoverian summer exercises, and its army was already mobilised. Realising the vast size of the total Prussian force, George directed his 19,000 man army under General Alexander von Arentschildt to withdraw quickly and to march south to link up with Bavarian allies. Prussia pressed 40,000 total troops into Hanover, which then split into four detachments under Generals Falckenstein, Goeben, Flies, and Beyer. Falckenstein, recognizing the absence of an army to fight, marched unopposed into the Hanoverian capital, north of the marching Hanoverians.  General Helmuth von Moltke, the Prussian commander, also ordered Goeben to the north and, in turn, deployed Beyer to the Hanoverians' south, and Flies, with 9,000 troops, quickly marched around to the west. That formed a box around the Hanoverian army, with Prussia itself forming the Eastern side.
  Moltke ordered Flies to hold fast and to intercept Hanoverians trying to break through westward as Falckenstein's force performed the main Prussian assault from the north. In direct defiance of his orders, Flies gathered his detachment and directly attacked the Hanoverian army.  Following a feint toward Thamsbruck to the North, the Prussian forces under Flies made a concentrated assault toward Merxleben. The much larger Hanoverian force and artillery fire drove them back toward the actual city of Langensalza. Having a force more than twice the Prussian detachment's size, Arentschildt severely routed Flies's troops, capturing more than 900 men.
  Although the Hanoverians attained a decisive victory in the actual battle, the fighting halted their movement and allowed the other Prussian forces from the north and the south to converge on the battle site.  Out of options, George and the Hanoverians pulled back to the east, which was farther from their Bavarian allies. Pinned down against the Harz Mountains and out of options, George surrendered in Nordhausen two days after the battle.
caption: Battle of Langensalza (1866) Hanoverian Medal, reverse.
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