Three weeks after the Prussians
invaded Bohemia, the Austrian 
Army of the North was desperate 
for a major victory.  At Sadowa,
Austrian commander Field Marshal
Ludwig von Benedek tried to win 
one.

Having learned the power of the 
Prussian Needle-gun the hard 
way, Benedek chose to fortify a 
series of small hills between 
the Bistritz and Elbe Rivers.  
Relying on entrenched infantry 
and artillery firing over 
measured ranges to halt the 
Prussian advance, Benedek held 
a full third of his army - 
nearly 60,000 men and 320 guns, 
in reserve for a counterblow 
which he planned to launch as 
soon as the Prussian wave had 
broken on his defenses.

On the Prussian side, Helmuth 
von Moltke, Chief of the 
General Staff, had planned a 
pincers movement.  The Prussian 
First Army would hold the 
Austrians in place from the 
west, then the Second and Elbe 
Armies would surround the 
Austrians from north and south 
respectively.

The battle began on the 3rd 
of July, 1866, in a heavy 
rainstorm.  Advance elements 
of First Army became engaged 
in an artillery duel with the 
Austrian X Korps artillery.  
As the Prussians began to 
attempt to cross the Bistritz, 
two Austrian corps commanders 
on the right flank decided to 
seek glory in battle.  Unaware 
of the approach of Prussia's 
Second Army, Festetics of IV 
Korps and Thun of II Korps 
abandoned their trenches and 
advanced to the west, leaving 
a gaping hole in the Austrian 
defenses facing north - exactly 
from where Second Army was 
coming.

At the southern end of the 
line, the Elbe Army crossed 
the Bistritz in the morning, 
then pushed east, routing 
elements of the Austrian VIII 
Korps and forcing back the 
Saxon Army in the afternoon 
before running out of steam.  
In the center, Thun and 
Festetics became involved in 
heavy fighting in the Swiepwald 
woods, mauling the Prussian 
7th Division, but losing 
nearly as many men themselves.  

Still, the general feeling in 
the Austrian Army was that 
they had won. Two major 
Prussian thrusts had been 
stopped, and it was time to 
launch the counterattack. 

Just as Benedek was about to 
issue that order, word arrived 
from the north.  The Prussian 
Guards - elements of the Second 
Army, were assaulting Chlum.  
The Austrian positions in the 
Swiepwald collapsed.  Thun 
ordered his Korps to retreat 
across the Elbe, further 
exposing the Austrian position. 
Benedek himself led an infantry 
brigade in a futile 
counterattack.  The Austrian 
reserve attacked north and 
nearly retook Chlum in hand to 
hand combat, but was stopped 
short. The Austrian cavalry 
attacked and swept the Prussian 
cavalry away with ease.  Then, 
the Needle-guns turned on the 
Austrian cavalry, and the 
counterattack was over. 

The Austrian artillery massed 
across the highway leading to 
Koniggratz, and covered the 
Army's retreat.  