Battle of Königgrätz 1866
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 3 July 1866 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1866 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Czechia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Austro-Prussian War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 50.2100, 15.8300 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Königgrätz (or Battle of Sadová; Czech: Bitva u Hradce Králové) was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. It took place on 3 July 1866, near the Bohemian city of Hradec Králové (German: Königgrätz) and village of Sadová, now in the Czech Republic. It was the single largest battle of the war, and the largest battle in the world since the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.
Prussian forces totalled around 285,000 troops, whilst Austria had 240,000 men on the Bohemian front. Austrian commander-in-chief Ludwig von Benedek had accepted the post with reluctance because he was unfamiliar with both troops and local terrain. Superior training, Moltke's tactical doctrine, and the Dreyse needle gun were instrumental in the Prussian victory; moreover, as a Prussian innovation in European warfare, full advantages of railroad transport in action were taken. The Austrians relied heavily on the bayonet charge. Prussian artillery was ineffective and almost all of the fighting on the Prussian side was done by the First Army under Prince Friedrich Karl and one guards division under Wilhelm Hiller von Gaertringen from the Second Army.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Königgrätz (revision 1381256183), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Austro-Prussian War
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- Battle of Dermbach 1866
- Battle of Gerchsheim 1866
- Battle of Gitschin 1866
- Battle of Helmstadt 1866
- Battle of Hundheim 1866
- Battle of Hühnerwasser 1866
- Battle of Kissingen 1866
All 21 battles of the Austro-Prussian War →
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