Sadova

Sadová 

a city in Czechoslovakia (in the region of East Bohemia), near which the decisive battle of the Seven Weeks’ War of 1866 was fought on July 3. The battle of Sadová is known in German and Austrian literature as the battle of Königgrätz.

The Austro-Saxon Northern Army (215,000 men and 770 guns) was under the command of General L. von Benedek. After meeting engagements at Trautenau (Trutnov), Nachod, Skalitz (Skalica), and Gitschin (Jičina), the Northern Army took up positions on the hills east of Bistritz Brook on July 1, with the front toward the west and with the right wing turned toward the Elbe River (Labe). The Prussian forces (221,000 men and 924 guns), which consisted of three armies under the command of King William I (actually under Chief of Staff H. von Moltke), advanced from the west with the First Army and the Army of the Elbe and from the north with the Second Army.

On the morning of July 3 the Prussian First Army of Prince Frederick Charles (84,000 men) attacked the center of the Austrian troops north and south of Sadová. General Herwarth von Bittenfeld’s Army of the Elbe (40,000 men), which arrived soon after, attacked the Austrians’ left wing, and some of his forces enveloped it. To repel the attacks, the Austrian command moved its right wing westward, but at midday the Prussian Second Army (about 100,000 men) of Crown Prince Frederick William launched a strike from the north at the flank and rear of the Austrian troops. This decided the outcome of the battle. The Austrian troops retreated in disorder beyond the Elbe River toward Königgrätz (present-day Hradec Králové), but the Prussians did not pursue them. The Austrians lost 44,300 men and 187 guns, and the Prussians lost 9,200 men.

The defeat at Sadová forced Austria to conclude the Treaty of Prague of 1866. The deciding role in the defeat was played by the Prussians’ superiority in combat matériel (the Dreyse needle guns) and strategy (a concentric offensive by separate armies). Nevertheless, insufficient coordination prevented them from encircling the Austrian troops.