Battle of Königgrätz The Battle of Königgrätz ( ) , also known as the Battle of Sadowa , Sadová , or Hradec Králové , was the decisive battle of the Austro - Prussian War , in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire . Taking place near Königgrätz ( Hradec Králové ) and Sadowa ( Sadová ) in Bohemia on 3 July 1866 , it was an example of battlefield concentration , a convergence of multiple units at the same location to trap and / or destroy an enemy force between them . Preliminary campaign . At the outset of the war in June , the Prussian armies were gathered along the Prussian border : the Army of the Elbe under Karl Herwarth von Bittenfeld at Torgau , the First Army under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia between Senftenberg and Görlitz , and the Second Army under Crown Prince Friedrich in Silesia west of Neiße ( Nysa ) . The Austrian army under Ludwig von Benedek was concentrated at Olmütz ( Olomouc ) . The campaign began with Herwath von Bittenfeld ' s advance to Dresden in the Kingdom of Saxony , where he easily defeated the Saxon army of 25 , 000 and joined with the First Army . The reluctant Austrian commander Benedek had moved his troops out of their staging point at Olmütz only on 18 June , moving north in three parallel columns with the I Corps protecting the right flank . The Austrians took up positions at the fortress Josefstadt and the mountain passes from Saxony and Silesia . On 22 June , Prussia ' s Chief of the General Staff , Helmuth von Moltke , ordered both armies under his command to Gitschin ( Jičín ) near the Austrian positions , a daring maneuver undertaken to limit the war ' s duration despite the risk of one army being overtaken en route . Fortunately for Prussia , Benedek was indecisive and failed to use his superior numbers to eliminate the Prussian armies individually . Initially , the Austrians were pressed back everywhere except at Trautenau , where they bested the Prussians despite great losses to their own forces . By 29 June , Prince Friedrich had reached Jitschin and inflicted a severe defeat on the Austrian I Corps under General Clam - Gallas . The Crown Prince had reached Königinhof ( Dvůr Králové ) despite stiff resistance . On 30 June , Friedrich ' s First Army advanced to within one day ' s march of the Second Army . However , for the next two days the Prussian cavalry lost sight of the Austrians entirely , although Moltke ' s guess as to their actions — a retreat to the Elbe River — proved correct . Eve of the battle . Dismayed by his losses , Benedek had ordered a withdrawal and urgently requested that Emperor Franz Josef make peace as the only way to save the army from a " catastrophe " . When this was refused , and an ambiguous last sentence of the imperial telegram was interpreted as ordering a final stand , Benedek drew his Austrians up against the Elbe between Sadowa and Königgrätz . The Prussians finally sighted the Austrians on the eve of 2 July near Sadowa , and Frederick Karl planned to attack the next morning . Moltke ordered the Crown Prince Frederick to join forces with the other two armies at the point where the Austrians were assembled , but the telegraph lines to the Second Army ' s positions were out , necessitating the dispatch of two mounted officers at midnight to ride the twenty miles ' distance in time . They arrived at 4 a . m . The Crown Prince ' s Chief of Staff , Leonhard von Blumenthal , an able logistician , immediately reorganised Second Army ' s route plan . The battle . The Austrian army of 240 , 000 faced the Prussian Army of the Elbe ( 39 , 000 ) and First Army ( 85 , 000 ) on 3 July . The Austrian infantry was partially fortified and supported by cavalry in the rear and artillery units with firing range across hilly , wooded terrain . The battle began at dawn in subsiding rain and mist as Prussia took its position west of the Bystřice River . Shortly before 8 a . m . , the Austrian artillery opened fire , pinning down the Prussian right flank under Herwarth von Bittenfeld . The Saxons on the Austrian left fell back in good order , and proceeded to rain down fire on the advancing Prussian right from higher ground . Herwarth von Bittenfeld hesitated to order a full attack , and instead the advance guard of seven battalions , under Brig . General von Schöler pulled back to the river around 10 : 00 and took a defensive stance . The Prussian center , with the Prussian 7th Division under General Eduard Friedrich Karl von Fransecky , having secured the Prussian rear earlier , led the advance into Swiep Forest , where it was met by two Austrian corps . The 7th Division had to both clear out the forest , and cover the Prussian left until the Second Army , under the crown prince , arrived . The Prussians methodically cleared the villages of Austrian defenders . King Wilhelm I of Prussia ordered the First Army across the river to support Fransecky . Sadowa was captured , but a fierce battle ensued in a nearby forest . The Austrian artillery held off the Prussians by firing into the smoke of the Prussian advance . The Prussians were slowed , and although the river was easy to wade , transporting artillery across it was extremely difficult . The Prussian attack was halted as the advancing Prussian 8th and 4th Divisions were cut down by the Austrian artillery as soon as they emerged from the smoke . However , the Austrian leader , Benedek , refused to call for a cavalry charge which later commentators have argued might have won the battle . Reserve units were deployed at noon , but the outcome of the battle was still uncertain and Prussian commanders anxiously waited for the crown prince . To this point the Austrian superiority in numbers and position had held the day . Their weapons had longer range , which meant that the outnumbered Prussians could neither advance against the artillery barrage , nor effectively engage the Austrian infantry . The Prussians had attempted to bring three armies together for the battle , but problems with sending orders by telegraph and moving men by railroad had meant that only two of the three armies had arrived in time . The Prussian center , in the cover of the forest , was able to hold its position , and discourage a mounted charge by the Austrians , who were thought to have superior cavalry . However the close contact of the fight in the forest began to negate these advantages , the Austrians could not train their artillery on the close fighting , the damp weather made a cavalry charge risky , and Austrian IV Corps was committed piecemeal to the fighting . At this point the relative strengths of the two armies were beginning to reverse . The shorter range of the Prussian artillery as compared to the Austrian was moot , while the vastly higher rate of fire from the Prussian breech - loading needle gun , compared to the Austrian muzzle - loading small arms and cannon were paramount . In addition the needle gun could be operated while prone in defense , and while moving quickly on the advance , while the Austrians had to stand up after each shot to reload their Lorenz rifle s . At 11 : 00 came the deciding moment of the battle ; the Austrian center began a maneuver to flank the Prussian 7th Division , which had pushed back and held off nearly a quarter of the Austrian army . Colonel Carl von Pöckh was sent to drive the Prussians back , and with a fierce infantry charge managed to force the 7th Division back to the outskirts of the forest . Benedek ' s corps commanders pleaded with him to launch a counterattack to destroy the Prussian First and Elbe armies before the Second army arrived , but Benedek declined to act , letting the opportune moment slip by . However , the tide of battle was about to turn , as flanking fire raked Pöckh ' s battalion , annihilating it as a fighting force and killing its commander . The fire came from the first elements of the crown prince ' s army as they arrived , and the 8th Division stiffened the Prussian center to hold off the Austrian thrusts . While divisions from the Austrian II and IV Corps were committed to the fighting , there was no decisive infantry charge , nor did the Prussians present a flank that could be attacked with cavalry . The Austrians were caught having moved from their defensive position to attack , and their right flank was exposed to the arriving Prussian infantry . At 14 : 30 Crown Prince Frederick finally arrived with the main bulk of his almost 100 , 000 men , having marched with all possible haste all morning , and hit the Austrian right flank retiring from Swiep Forest while the Prussian artillery pounded the Austrian center . By 16 : 00 the last individual counter - attacks by the Austrian I and VI Corps were broken , even as Benedek ordered a withdrawal . Lt . General Friedrich Hiller von Gärtringen ' s 1st Prussian Guard reached the Austrian artillery , forcing them to stop reforming an artillery line and pull back . He had attacked because he saw the artillery as holding together the Austrian position , and his attack destroyed the lone cavalry battery that stayed to fight , and forced the others to flee , along with their reserves . At this point , having taken severe casualties , lacking artillery and cavalry cover , the high ground in enemy hands and the center being rolled up , the position for the Austrians deteriorated rapidly . The Second Prussian Army completely broke through the Austrian lines and took Chlum behind the center . The Army of the Elbe , which had merely held position after the early morning bloodying by the Austrian artillery and the Saxon infantry , attacked and broke through the Austrian left flank . It seized Probluz , and proceeded to destroy the Austrian flank . The Prussian king ordered all remaining forces into the attack all along the line , which had been slowed by the final counter - attack from the battalions of Brigadier General Ferdinand Rosenzweig von Dreuwehr ' s Austrian brigade . The arriving reinforcements joined the fight just as the Austrians had forced the 1st Prussian Guard back to Chlum . The result was a decisive shock of firepower which collapsed the Austrian line . The Prussian advance was so rapid that Benedek ordered a series of cavalry countercharges to back up his artillery and cover the general retreat he ordered at 15 : 00 . These were successful at covering the Austrian rear , keeping the bridges over the Elbe open for retreating Austrian soldiers , and preventing pursuit by the Prussians , but at a terrible cost : 2 , 000 men and almost as many horses were killed , wounded or captured in the action . Benedek himself crossed the Elbe near 18 : 00 and several hours later informed the emperor that the catastrophe of which he had warned had indeed occurred . The battle ended with heavy casualties for both sides . The Prussians had nearly 9 , 000 men killed , wounded or missing . The Austrians and allies had roughly 31 , 000 men killed , wounded or missing , with 9 , 291 of these being prisoners . Compounding the Austrians ' losses was Austria ' s earlier refusal to sign the First Geneva Convention . As a result , Austrian medical personnel were regarded as combatants , and withdrew from the field with the main bulk of the forces , leaving the wounded to die on the field . Aftermath . Königgrätz was the decisive battle of the Austro - Prussian War . Following the battle the Prussians continued to pursue the defeated Austrian Nord - Armee and fought a series of minor clashes with the last skirmish being fought at Blumenau on July 22 just as the Armistice to put a halt to the fighting was being signed . It provided a great opportunity for Prussian statesmen , by clearing a path toward German Unification , in particular with the Little Germany , or Germany without Austria solution , with the subsequent foundation of the North German Confederation . The outcome also ensured that Prussia would have a free hand when the inevitable war with France came to pass in 1871 . After this Prussian victory , France attempted to extract territorial concessions in the Palatinate and Luxembourg . In his speech to the Reichstag on 2 May 1871 , Chancellor Otto von Bismarck stated : The Königgrätzer Marsch was written to commemorate the battle . The French public resented the Prussian victory and demanded " Revanche pour Sadova " or " Revenge for Sadowa " , which formed part of the build - up to the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 .