Austria -- Description and travel; Hungary -- Description and travel
When Chlum was taken the Crown Prince advanced to the help of his
generals against Lissa wood, and encouraged by this reinforcement,
which had so unexpectedly turned the tables on the foe, the Prussians
of the First Army leapt to the charge and made for the Austrian
batteries, which had previously done them so much damage. The
Austrians, thus cornered, attempted to escape and made their way down
to the hollow ground on the other side. But even then, though mowed
down by the needle-guns, the Austrians were not beaten. Even when the
Prussian artillery was brought up and sent its shells bursting over
the heads of the retreating soldiers the retreat never became a rout.
Terrible fighting followed, as the Austrians took up their position in
the valley and played their batteries on the pursuers. The manner in
which the Austrians worked their artillery on this occasion provoked
the admiration of their enemies and passed into a proverb. The cavalry
on both sides met in a tremendous collision, but for the Austrians
the day was lost, and thenceforth they retreated, and the pursuit was
continued to the Elbe.
One hundred and seventy-four guns, twenty thousand prisoners, and
eleven standards, fell into the hands of the conquerors. The total loss
of the Austrian army amounted to almost forty thousand men, while that
of the Prussians was not ten thousand.
Worse equipped, worse generalled, but equally brave, to the point of
foolhardiness, the Austrians lost none of their morale in such a battle.
This was not the end of the war, but it practically decided it. There
were many other actions of less importance, but none to equal Sadowa.
Thenceforth the Prussian army steadily advanced on Vienna.
An armistice was proclaimed when the Prussians were already in sight of
Vienna, at Wagram, where Napoleon had won his victory. Here, on July
25, they were drawn close together, “like a crouching lion ready to
spring upon the Danube should the negotiations for peace fail.”
This was what they saw: On the right lay the rounded hill of the
Bisamberg studded with vineyards, cornfields, and woods, among which
vain search with glasses was made to discover any signs of hostile
batteries. Beyond the Bisamberg could be seen the narrow gorge from
which the Danube issues, and further still the rough, rugged recess
of the hills above Klosterneuberg, rising steeply up from the water’s
edge, with their summits capped with heavy masses of dark green
foliage, and their sides sprinkled over with fir trees. A little to the
left and at the foot of the hills the city of Vienna lay sparkling in
the sun; the tops of the steeples and the roofs of the houses glittered
in the bright flood of light. Far away on the left front spread the
Marchfeld, beyond which could be seen the dim blue line of hills which
gird the valley south of the Danube, while directly to the left the
dark Carpathians towered up to the sky.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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