The Battle of Hühnerwasser (Kuřívody) was the first battle of the
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...
. It was the first engagement in the opening days of the
Königgrätz campaign, fought in Bohemia on 26 June 1866. It was fought between troops of the Prussian Elbe army under General
Herwarth von Bittenfeld and troops from the Austrian I Corps, led by Leopold Gondrecourt.
Gondrecourt ordered troops from Count Leiningen's brigade – a battalion of Slovak jäger and a battalion of Hungarian line infantry – to attack the Prussian outposts at Hühnerwasser and throw them back across the
Iser. The attacking cavalry first made contact with an advanced Prussian post stationed between the trees, which alarmed the rest of Prussian general von Schöler's brigade, that consisted of four infantry battalions, one Jäger battalion, five squadrons and 12 guns. The superior firepower of the Prussian
Dreyse needle gun Dreyse may refer to:
* Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse (1787–1867), German firearms inventor
* Hitch Dreyse, a fictional List of Attack on Titan characters, character in ''Attack on Titan'' (''Shingeki no Kyojin'') series who serves in the military po ...
s stopped the Austrian attacks. Gondrecourt then recalled his troops and retreated towards Münchengrätz (Mnichovo Hradiště). Prussian captain pursued the retreating Austrians. Near the Hühnerwasser town a concealed squadron of Nicolaus Hussars counterattacked the advancing Prussian detachment, which suffered substantial losses.
Only after securing the woods around noon, General Schöler was able to support the advanced troops at Hühnerwasser and defeated the Austrian Haugwitz battalion, which subsequently retreated. Prussian commander Herwarth arrived at the battlefield around 1.00 pm and organized the consolidation of the area. Austrian losses amounted to 277, while the Prussians lost one officer and six men killed, as well as 3 officers and 40 men wounded.
References
Bibliography
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Geoffrey Wawro
Geoffrey Wawro (born 1960) is an American professor of military history at the University of North Texas, and director of the UNT Military History Center. His focus is modern and contemporary military history, from the French Revolution to the pres ...
, ''The Austro-Prussian War. Austria's war with Prussia and Italy in 1866'' (New York 2007), p. 129-130.
Huhnerwasser
June 1866
History of the Liberec Region
Battles involving Prussia
Hühnerwasser
Battles involving the Austrian Empire
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