be left between the ground they had occupied and the left of the
Austrians, who were continually retiring there. The houses burning
fiercely in Klum emitted volumes of smoke, which were swept away
towards the right. Another village lying apparently to the left
of Prague road, named Gres Biaritz, or Hiaritz, as well as I
could catch the name, was now in flames. More tumbrils blew up in
that direction, so that there were now six or seven villages and
hamlets on fire from left to right. The battle was assuming a more
awful and tremendous aspect, and the faint rays of sunshine which
shot at intervals through the lifting clouds only gave the scene
greater terror. Horses without riders careered among the wounded,
who were crawling all over the plain, dismounted dragoons dragged
themselves to the rear, and men came crawling along in such numbers
that they appeared like a broad fringe to the edges of the battle.
The rolling of musketry in the hollows beyond smothered the voice
of the cannon. At last the reserves behind were pressed forward
with energy. Their artillery unlimbering opened from sixteen guns
into the dense blue columns which were driving the Austrians before
them, and checked their advance, till the Prussian artillery,
getting upon the small ridge and firing down so as to get a slight
enfilade, began to knock over horses and men. The Austrians,
however, here, as elsewhere, stuck to their pieces admirably, and
it was not till the Prussian infantry, getting into a clump of
timber, opened a sharp fire on their flank that they limbered up,
leaving more than one black heap to mark the position they had
occupied. Meanwhile the Austrians on the left pursued their onward
career. The Saxon reserves pushed up the hills in the direction
of Nechanitz; and a great body of cavalry sweeping round between
the left and centre, dashed in wavelike columns through the smoke
towards the Prussians, and menaced their artillery, against which
some thirty or forty pieces in line were directing a steady and
rapid fire. Prussian prisoners begun to arrive at intervals between
the convoys of wounded, winding their way along the Prague road.
Most of those men belonged to the 6th and 31st regiments, to judge
from the numbers on their shoulder-straps; and among them was an
officer of great stature, with red moustaches and whiskers, who
bore his captivity with great _sang froid_, and walked along like
a conqueror. As the Austrian left and centre gained ground, the
right yielded, and column after column of Prussians came upon the
ridge, firing as they advanced, while their guns on the flanks
swept the slowly retreating, but not disorderly, Austrians with
shrapnel and shell. At times the Austrians halting opened a brisk
fire; once or twice several regiments formed square to receive
cavalry, but I could not see any Prussian horse on the slope near
them. There was a hesitation, both in the Austrians and the enemy,
which was not intelligible, and several times the officers at the
head of the Prussian columns riding forward, fired over their
horses’ heads, and stood up in their stirrups as if to see into the
hollows. A shell burst close over one of them, and when the smoke
cleared away, man and horse were down, and never stirred again. The
folds of the ground must have hid most of the Prussians from the
Austrian artillery as they got near the big tree, for the gunners
principally directed their pieces against the Prussian guns, which
received accessions rapidly, and occupied their full attention. At
last the Prussians were perceived, and five battalions of Austrians
from the reserve, coming from the extreme right, tried to check
their advance by a flanking fire. The Prussians halted, and in an
instant a fire of surprising volume and sharpness flew along their
front. The Austrians for a few minutes replied steadily, but they
fell fast, and at last two battalions, with great vigour, charged
up the hill, but were broken in the run, were shaken by a rolling
volley and by several rounds from the artillery in flank, and
retreated in some disorder towards the left, behind a spur of the
ridge. The enemy pressed on anew, and soon gained the _plateau_
close by the big tree, where they dipped into an undulation only
to reappear at the other side, and then formed up in compact
square-like formations, pushing out lines of skirmishers towards
Klum, from which they were about a mile distant. The Austrians
below them and nearer to Konigsgratz halted and faced round to meet
a new enemy, for the Prussians now showed near the railway, and
a sanguinary encounter took place around some houses in a wood,
in which artillery and musketry raged for a quarter of an hour
in a perfect tornado. A range of buildings near a large factory
chimney on the very banks of the Elbe, as it seemed to me, was the
scene of another very severe struggle. Another village, Trothina,
burst into flames, and from under the very smoke appeared the
Prussian skirmishers on the very extreme right, followed by more
infantry. The enemy were, indeed, quite inexhaustible in number,
though still he could not hold his own on the left. Suddenly an
Austrian battery, galloping from the left centre, began to mow
down the Prussians on the right. They were retiring behind the
burning Trothina. But their artillery was at hand again. From a
lane above the village a battery opened on the Austrians, and,
at the same time, another battery, wheeling over the slope below
the big tree, crossed its fire on the devoted Austrians. “_Ein
Kreuz feuer? Ein Kreuz feuer?_” exclaimed the officers. “Good God!
where do they come from?” Where, indeed! This combat now assumed
larger proportions. The Prussian right showed in great force, and
the hills were covered with their regiments advancing in the most
perfect order. All over the field were hundreds limping away, and
piles of dead lay in rows along the lanes and in the thick corn.
The enemy, whose strength had been hidden from us by the hills, now
displayed numbers, which accounted for the retreat of the Austrians
on the right.
The Austrian gunners could not hold up against the cross fire, and
the weight of pieces opposed to them. What avail was it that they
were winning on the centre? Through the glass they could be seen
pressing on from point to point in a tempest of smoke and flame.
It was now near two o’clock. On the left and centre there could be
no hesitation in declaring that the Prussians were all but beaten.
It seemed as if a charge _en masse_ of the horse deployed for
miles on the _plateau_ could roll up their centre on their left,
or crumble the left into pieces. The fire at Klum, in the centre,
which had died out, broke forth with fresh violence, and all the
village began to burn. The Prussians in the centre made another
grand effort, and it would only be a repetition of adjectives,
utterly feeble at the strongest, to endeavour to give the smallest
conception of the roar of cannon which announced and met this fresh
attempt to change the fortunes of the day. The strong wind could
not clear away the smoke, which poured in banks as agitated as the
sea itself over the battle-field, now contracted to the centre and
right, for all towards the Prague road the fight had apparently
ended in the discomfiture of the Prussian left. As it contracted
it heated up, and the caissons and tumbrils blew up repeatedly.
The movements of the Austrians from the right centre to oppose the
last effort of the Prussians increased the open interval between
the centre and the extreme right resting on the lower ground near
the river, but the Austrians did not perceive it, or if they did,
could not prevent the advance of the enemy along the _plateau_
by the big tree towards Klum. The Austrian right and reserves
become more unsteady, but their artillery contests every foot of
ground. Suddenly a spattering of musketry breaks out of the trees
and houses of Klum right down on the Austrian gunners, and on the
columns of infantry drawn up on the slopes below. The gunners fall
on all sides--their horses are disabled--the fire increases in
intensity--the Prussians on the ridge press on over the _plateau_;
this is an awful catastrophe--two columns of Austrians are led
against the village, but they cannot stand the fire, and after
three attempts to carry it, retreat, leaving the hill-side covered
with the fallen. It is a terrible moment. The Prussians see their
advantage; they here get into the very centre of the position.
In vain the staff officers fly to the reserves and hasten to get
back some of the artillery from the front. The dark blue regiments
multiply on all sides and from their edges roll perpetually
sparkling musketry. Their guns hurry up, and from the slope take
both the Austrians on the extreme right and the reserves in flank.
They spread away to the woods near the Prague road and fire into
the rear of the Austrian gunners.
Thus a wedge growing broader and driven in more deeply every
instant was forced into the very body of the Austrian army,
separating it at the heart and dividing its left and centre
from the right. The troops in the centre and left are dismayed
at hearing the enemy’s guns in their rear, and are soon exposed
to the fire which most of all destroys the _morale_ of soldiers
already shaken by surprise. The right, previously broken up and
discomfited, hurry towards the Prague road in something like
confusion, and spread alarm among the reserves of the centre and
left. The regular lines of the columns below are gradually bulging
out, and are at last swallowed up in disordered multitude. Officers
gallop about trying to restore order. Some regiments hold together,
though they are losing men in heaps every instant. The left wing
is arrested in its onward progress. The Prussian Generals in front
of them and on the centre, seeing their enemy waver, throw their
battalions against them, and encourage their artillery to fresh
efforts; but the formidable Austrian cavalry prevents any hasty
or enthusiastic demonstrations on the part of the Prussian right,
whom long continued fighting and heavy losses must have somewhat
enervated.
Even yet there was hope for the Austrians! There, on the Prussian
front, wheeled a force of horse with which a Murat or a Kellerman
or a Seidlitz could have won a battle and saved an empire. There,
still unshaken, were at least 40,000 men, of whom scarcely one
had ever fired a shot. The indomitable Austrian artillery still
turned hundreds of muzzles on the enemy’s guns, and girt their men
in a band of fire. To let slip that cavalry on both sides of Klum,
to crash through infantry and guns, seemed really worth doing,
though failure would have made the difference between a defeat and
a rout. It would have been a supreme deed fit for such a force to
accomplish or to perish in attempting. And there were no natural
obstacles visible from the tower to a grand charge. The Prussian
right, separated from its centre and left, would have been rolled
down into the valley among the Austrians, and utterly crushed,
and the Austrian centre and left have been liberated to continue
their contest with the enemy. Moments were precious. The Prussian
fire became more severe, the wavering of the Austrians greater.
The falling of trees on the Prague road, the rush of fugitives,
the near approach of the Prussian shells to the place, some of
them bursting over the railway station, were awful warnings of the
state of the battle. All the roads were blocked up with retreating
trains and waggons. Men were throwing down their arms and wading
through the inundations. The Austrian gunners on the causeway began
to catch a sight of the Prussians near at hand in the woods, and
opened on them with shrapnel and shell. It was now somewhere about
2.30; but it was not possible to note time when such things were
going on so near. Scarce could the glass be directed to one point
ere an exclamation from a bystanding officer or an awful clamour
carried it to another. Seconds were of inestimable value--not
only that hundreds were falling, but that they were falling in
vain--that all the issues for which an empire had summoned its
might and the Kaiser his people to the field were being decided,
and that the toils of generations of Emperors, warriors, and
statesmen were about being lost for ever. The genius of the
Prussian was in the ascendant.
The spirit of Bismark or his genius ruled the battle-field. While
the Austrian was hesitating, the Prussian was acting. The lines
of dark blue which came in sight from the right teemed from the
vales below as if the earth yielded them. They filled the whole
back ground of the awful picture of which Klum was the centre.
They pressed down on the left of the Prague road. In square, in
column, deploying or wheeling hither and thither--everywhere
pouring in showers of deadly precision--penetrating the whole line
of the Austrians; still they could not force their stubborn enemy
to fly. On all sides they met brave but unfortunate men, ready to
die if they could do no more. At the side of the Prague road the
fight went on with incredible vehemence. The Austrians had still
an immense force of artillery, and although its concentrated fire
swept the ground before it, its effect was lost in some degree by
reason of the rising ground above, and at last by its divergence
to so many points to answer the enemy’s cannon. Many Austrians
must have fallen by their own artillery. Once an Austrian column,
separating itself from the great multitude below, with levelled
bayonets, led by its officers in front waving caps and sabres,
went straight at the wood around Klum and drove back the Prussian
Tirailleurs, but were staggered by fearful volleys of musketry.
Their officers were all killed or wounded. They fell suddenly back.
Down came the Prussians, but they were received on the bayonet
point and with clubbed muskets, and were driven back to the shelter
of the wood, and some were carried off prisoners in the retreating
column. Indeed, handfuls of Prussians were coming into the town
behind us all the day, showing how close the fight was, and a
considerable body of the 27th Regiment, with some officers, are
now in the Grosser Ring. Chesta and Visa were now burning, so that
from right to left the flames of ten villages, and the flashes of
guns and musketry, contended with the sun that pierced the clouds
for the honour of illuminating the seas of steel and the fields
of carnage. It was three o’clock. The efforts of the Austrians
to occupy Klum and free their centre had failed, the right was
driven down in a helpless mass towards Konigsgratz, quivering
and palpitating as shot and shell tore through it. “_Alles ist
verloren!_” Artillery still thundered with a force and violence
which might have led a stranger to such scenes to think no enemy
could withstand it. The Austrian cavalry still hung like white
thunder-clouds on the flanks, and threatened the front of the
Prussians, keeping them in square and solid columns. But already
the trains were streaming away from Konigsgratz, placing the Elbe
and Adler between them and the enemy. The grip of the Prussians
could not be shaken. Word was brought to me to leave at once, for
the city gates were about being closed, and the gunners on the
walls were laying their pieces to cover the inundations and the
causeways. One more glance showed a very hell of fire--cornfields,
highways, slopes, and dells, and hillsides covered with the
slain--the pride and might of Austria shattered and laid low. What
happened more I can only tell from hearsay. But I am told that at
the last the Austrian horse saved all that was not lost, and in
brilliant charges rolled back the tide of Prussian infantry; that
the gunners threw their pieces into the Elbe and into the inundated
fields as they retreated; that men were drowned in hundreds as
they crowded over pontoon bridges hastily laid and sunk or burned
ere the columns could cross over; that luggage-trains, reserve
ammunition, guns, and prisoners, the spoils of that enormous host,
fell into the hands of the victors, who remained masters of that
hard-fought field, covered for nine miles with myriads of the
slain. Well might Benedek exclaim, “All is lost but my life! Would
to God I had lost that too!”
There is no account of our losses, estimates varying from 10,000
to 25,000. If prisoners be included, I am inclined to think the
latter number correct. The loss in guns is reckoned at 150 to 180.
It would not astonish me to hear it was more.”
INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE.
Incidents of the battle are furnished by several other
correspondents of the London papers. The following are selections:--
“In the Austrian ranks some striking instances of inhumanity have
been exhibited. Yesterday, a prisoner was brought hither loaded
with chains, to suffer well-deserved punishment. He was a Croat,
and was taken in the very act of cutting off his own wounded
captain’s fingers to get quicker at his rings.
In the knapsacks of the fallen Austrians were found spare suits
of regimentals that had never been worn; and, according to the
prisoners, those uniforms were intended to be worn at the solemn
entry into Berlin.
One correspondent was informed by an Austrian officer, a prisoner,
that in Konigsgratz, on the 2nd July even, there were 7000 wounded
Austrians. But--disgraceful as the fact may seem--three days after
the battle of Skalitz, wounded Austrians--such is the testimony
of Prussian officers and surgeons--were found with wounds still
bleeding on the field among the dead bodies.
At 1.5 the staff galloped off to see the position on the right,
passing through the 6th Corps, which was in reserve. As the
green plumes were seen rapidly advancing, the bands broke into
the National Anthem, and the men cheered their commander as he
passed with no uncertain note. Faces broke out into broad smiles;
Jager hats were thrown into the air; all seemed joyous in the
anticipation of an approaching triumph. Benedek, however, waved to
them to cease, shouting in his peculiar tone of voice, always clear
and distinct, “Not now--wait till to-morrow, my children.”
By half-past four o’clock the whole army was in full retreat; its
rear, harassed by the enemy, was protected by the artillery and
cavalry, who are said to have made many desperate charges, and to
have been more than decimated. The bridges across the Adler and
the Elbe are few and narrow, and the several columns meeting at
such points became confused and intermixed. Guns that could not be
carried away, were thrown off their carriages into the river; many
were lost in this manner, but it is said that comparatively few
are taken. A captain of artillery, who heard me asking about the
loss in guns, said, “Out of my whole battery I have but one gun and
seven horses left, and many others are in like condition.” Another
said, “We have no artillery.” Every head was hung down, every
spirit depressed. It was not merely a battle, but an empire lost,
unless diplomatists can at last unweave the net which baffled them
before, and which the sword has failed to cut. The soldiers knew
nothing of all this; their only trouble was the fatigue from which
they suffered, or the thought that the day’s battle would have to
be fought over again before they could reach the pleasant plains
and reap the benefits held out to their imaginations in Benedek’s
proclamation issued but a few days ago. The night was chilly, and
bivouac fires lined the sides of the road at intervals. Had it
been an advance instead of a retreat, we might have enjoyed the
picturesque scene. Round fires of firwood, flaming high above their
heads, stood or sat the brave fellows who had laboured so hard and
fought so gallantly on that day. Some stood warming themselves by
the blaze which lighted up their bronzed faces to as red a glow as
that of the pine stems that towered over them; others sat resting a
wounded arm or leg on the bed of branches plucked for them by their
more fortunate comrades; others, again, lay about in every attitude
of exhaustion.”
SAGUNTUM, SIEGE OF.--Like Numantia, one of the most important in
history, occurred B.C. 219. The citizens, after sustaining the
siege for eight months, with heroic bravery, to prevent themselves
falling into the hands of Hannibal, buried themselves in the ruins
of their city. They burnt their houses and all their effects, and
thus reduced the city to ashes.
ST. ALBANS, BATTLES OF.--The first fought, May 22nd, 1455, between
the houses of York and Lancaster. The second between the Earl
of Warwick and Queen Margaret of Anjou, who conquered. Fought,
February 2nd, 1461. This battle was fought on Shrove-Tuesday,
and resulted in the death of the Earl. “The Earl of Warwick, who
now put himself at the head of the Yorkists, was one of the most
celebrated generals of the age, formed for times of trouble,
extremely artful and incontestably brave, equally skilful in
council and the field; and inspired with a degree of hatred against
the Queen that nothing could suppress. He commanded an army, in
which he led about the captive King, to give a sanction to his
attempts. Upon the approach of the Lancastrians, he conducted
his forces, strengthened by a body of Londoners, who were very
affectionate to his cause, and gave battle to the Queen at St.
Alban’s. In this, however, he was defeated. About 2000 of the
Yorkists perished in the battle, and the person of the King again
fell into the hands of his own party, to be treated with apparent
respect, but real contempt.”
ST. CHARLES.--On the 6th of November, 1837, a riot occurred at
Montreal, but no lives were lost. On the 10th, Sir John Colborne,
the Commander of the Forces, removed his head quarters from Sorel
to Montreal. On the same day, a detachment proceeded to St.
John’s under the command of Captain Glasgow. He found a large
body of people posted on the opposite bank of the Richelieu,
and the cavalry proceeded to take possession of the bridge, in
order to prevent them from crossing. On the 16th, warrants were
issued for the apprehension of twenty-six of the chief leaders.
As a party of volunteer cavalry, newly organised, who had charge
of two prisoners, were returning to Montreal, a large body of
peasantry fired upon them from behind the fences near Longueuil,
and compelled them to abandon their prisoners. Colonel Wetherall,
with a considerable force, proceeded immediately from Chambly in
the direction of St. Charles, for the purpose of dispersing a
large body of people who had assembled there, and fortified their
position. At some places the insurgents fled on the approach of
the army, but at St. Charles the defenders were so obstinate that
the Colonel was obliged to storm and carry the works, burning
every house but one. The slaughter was great on the side of the
unfortunate and misguided people, but slight on that of the troops.
Another party of troops, who were marching from Sorel up the course
of the Richelieu to effect a junction with Colonel Wetherall,
were not so successful. At St. Denis they met with such a strong
opposition, that they were compelled to abandon their intention and
march back to Sorel. This success on the part of the insurgents was
only of short duration, for, on the winter roads being formed, the
same party marched through the country without opposition. Having
captured St. Charles, and dispersed a considerable body collected
for the purpose of cutting off his return, Colonel Wetherall came
back to Montreal, bringing with him the pole and cap of liberty,
which had been reared at St. Charles, and twenty-five prisoners.
Four or five battalions of troops were raised in Montreal, and
upwards of 50 corps of various kinds in other parts of the country.
One of the most tragical events which took place at this time was
the murder of Lieutenant Weir. This young officer had been sent
overland to Sorel with a despatch directing the officer in command
to prepare a force to accompany Colonel Gore, who was to leave
Montreal in the afternoon in the steamboat. The roads were so bad
that travelling was almost impossible, and he could not reach Sorel
by land until half an hour after Colonel Gore and his division
had crossed the St. Lawrence and marched on their route to St.
Denis. Taking a fresh calèche, he hastened to join his troops;
but, mistaking the road, he passed them and arrived at St. Denis
before them. Here he was made a prisoner, closely pinioned, sent
forward to St. Charles, and on the road was barbarously murdered by
his brutal guardians. The fact and the circumstances attending it
were only ascertained on the second expedition to St. Denis. The
body was found in the Richelieu, and was brought to Montreal for
interment. The funeral took place with military honours, and so
solemn and imposing a sight was never before witnessed in the city.
Martial law was proclaimed in the District of Montreal on the 5th
of December, and Sir John Colborne invested with authority to
administer it. Immediately after this the attention of Government
was called to the preparations making at the Lake of the Two
Mountains, at St. Eustache, St. Benoit and St. Scholastique, where
the most active and able leaders of the revolt had fortified
themselves in a formidable manner.
On the morning of the 13th of December, Sir John Colborne, with
about 1300 men, advanced towards the district from Montreal along
the left hank of the Ottawa. On the 14th the army crossed the
river and invested the village of St. Eustache. The attack was
completely successful, though attended with much destruction of
life and property. The handsome church was set on fire as well
as the _presbytère_ and about 60 of the principal houses. One of
the leaders was killed near the church, and a large number burnt
or suffocated from the flames; of the troops only one or two were
killed and a few wounded.
The next day, as the troops marched forward to St. Benoit, His
Excellency was met by delegates bearing a flag of truce, and
stating that the insurgents were prepared to lay down their arms
unconditionally. Almost every house exhibited something white; and,
on arriving at St. Benoit, 250 of these misguided men were found
drawn up in a line and suing for pardon, stating that their leaders
had deserted them. They were immediately dismissed to their homes
and occupations. With the return of the troops from the county of
the Two Mountains the military operations, connected with the first
insurrection in Lower Canada, may be said to have terminated.
ST. DIZIER, BATTLES OF.--_In France._--Between the Allied armies
and the French--one of the engagements being commanded by Napoleon
himself. The French sustained in these battles, as in several
proceeding, severe defeats, and led the way by which the Allied
armies entered Paris. Fought, January 27th and March 26th, 1814.
ST. JEAN DE LUZ, BATTLE OF.--“Soult had a strong position on
the Nivelle from St. Jean de Luz to Ainhoe, about twelve miles
in length. General Hill, with the British right, advanced from
the valley of Baztan, and attacking the French on the height of
Ainhoe, drove them towards Cambo, on the Nive, while the centre of
the Allies, consisting of the English and Spanish troops, under
Beresford and Alton, carried the works behind Sarre, and drove the
French beyond the Nivelle, which the Allies crossed at St. Pé, in
the rear of the enemy. Upon this the French hastily abandoned their
ground and works on the left of the Nivelle, and during the night
withdrew to their entrenched camp in front of Bayonne. Wellington’s
headquarters were established at St. Jean de Luz, November 10th,
1813.”
ST. QUENTIN, BATTLE OF.--Philip II, of Spain, assisted by the
British, defeated the French here, August 10th, 1557.
ST. SEBASTIAN, BATTLE OF.--The fortified works, through which ran
the high road to Hernani, were carried by the English Auxiliary
Legion, under General Evans, after very hard fighting. The British
naval squadron off the place, lent, under Lord John Hay, very great
aid to the victors. Fought, May 5th, 1836. Again, on the 1st of
October, same year, a vigorous assault was made on the lines of
General De Lacy Evan by the Carlists. Both sides fought with great
bravery, but the Carlists were repulsed after suffering severely.
The Anglo-Spanish loss was 376 men, and thirty-seven officers
killed and wounded. The General was also wounded.