| Battle of Burkersdorf | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Austro-Prussian War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Prussia |  Austrian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Crown Prince Friedrich Prince August | Ludwig von Gablenz | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Guard Corps | X Corps | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 713 | 3,819 | ||||||
The Battle of Burkersdorf was fought on June 28, 1866, during the Austro-Prussian War. It featured the Austrian X Corps against the Prussian Guard Corps and ended in a Prussian victory.
After having beaten back Bonin's I Corps at Trautenau in the only Austrian victory against the Prussians, Glabenz's position became untenable due to the Austrian loss at Nachod and the Prussian Guard Corps' advance towards Eipel (Upice), and he was ordered to retreat towards Prausnitz (Brusnice) to block the Prussian Guards. At 9:00 AM Prussian hussars scouted X Corps decamping from the heights near Trautenau, and the Prussian Guard commander ordered an advance towards Deutsch-Prausnitz, south of Trautenau. Meanwhile, having received his marching orders at 7:00 AM, Glabenz lost time in ordering the retreat and he decided to send his Grivicic brigade to Radec to hit the Prussian Guard in the flank. At 8:00 near Burkersdorf Glabenz marching columns encountered the 2nd Prussian Guard brigade. Glabenz deployed his Knebel and Mondel brigades in a defensive semi-circle. The Austrian 64 gun main battery was able to hold the Prussians for an hour but at 9:30 AM they broke through to Burkersdorf (Střítež). Having been able to shift the majority of his Corps westwards to Pilnikau (Pilnikov), Glabenz left a regiment from Knebel's brigade behind as rear guard to hold up the Prussians at Burkersdorf. By 10:00 AM the town was taken by the Prussians Guards only after heavy fighting which cost them 500 men. The Austrian rear guard then joined Glabenz's retreat. [1]
Having been ordered by Glabenz to march towards Radec and not knowing the outcome of the fighting at Burkersdorf (Střítež), Colonel Grivicic at 12:00 AM reached the town of Rudersdorf (Rubínovice), where he stood poised between the 1st and 2nd Prussian Guard Divisions. At Rudersdorf Grivicic encountered a Prussian battalion which had been detached as flank protection. Assuming he was faced by an entire division, Grivicic took up a defensive position against the Prussian battalion. By 1:00 PM, having understood his mistake, Grivicic restarted a cautious advance against the Prussian line, which had been reinforced by a second battalion and later by the 4th Guards Brigade. Failing to make headway against the Dreyse needle gun, Grivicic halted the advance and then retreated towards the town, which was then fought over house-to-house. As three new Prussian Guard battalions appeared and turned his right flank, making the brigade collapse and disperse. In all, Grivicic brigade lost 2512 men and was effectively destroyed. [2]
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused primarily by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared in question following the decisive Prussian victory over Austria in 1866. According to some historians, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia in order to induce four independent southern German states—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt—to join the North German Confederation; other historians contend that Bismarck exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. All agree that Bismarck recognized the potential for new German alliances, given the situation as a whole.
In the Battle of Lützen, Napoleon I of France defeated an allied army of the Sixth Coalition.
The Battle of Königgrätz 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 and village of Sadová, now in the Czech Republic.
The Battle of Gravelotte on 18 August 1870 was the largest battle of the Franco-Prussian War. Named after Gravelotte, a village in Lorraine, it was fought about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Metz, where on the previous day, having intercepted the French army's retreat to the west at the Battle of Mars-la-Tour, the Prussians were now closing in to complete the destruction of the French forces.
The Battle of Custoza took place on the 24 June 1866 during the Third Italian War of Independence in the Italian unification process.
The Battle of Trautenau or Battle of Trutnov was fought on 27 June 1866, during the Austro-Prussian War. It was the only battle of the war that ended in an Austrian victory over the Prussians, but at a large cost.
The Battle of Gitschin or Jičín was a battle of the Austro-Prussian War on 29 June 1866, ending with a Prussian victory over the Austrian forces. There is a memorial there today at Jičín in the Czech Republic.
The Battle of Náchod on 27 June 1866 was the first major action of the Austro-Prussian War. The advance guard of General Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz's 5th Corps occupied some high ground near Náchod as part of a Prussian advance into Bohemia from Silesia. Elements of the Austrian 6th Corps under General Von Ramming came on the scene and attacked the Prussians but were repulsed. As more Austrians arrived, they were ordered into attacks which proved both costly and unsuccessful. Finally, the badly mauled Austrians retreated from the field. The Prussian infantry enjoyed a technical advantage in having the needle gun, a breech-loading rifle that could be fired and loaded from a prone position. Consequently, the Austrian infantry, which were only equipped with muzzle-loading rifles, suffered a disproportionate number of casualties.
The Battle of Schleiz took place on October 9, 1806 in Schleiz, Germany between a Prussian-Saxon division under Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien and a part of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte's I Corps under the command of Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon. It was the first clash of the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. As Emperor Napoleon I of France's Grande Armée advanced north through the Frankenwald it struck the left wing of the armies belonging to the Kingdom of Prussia and the Electorate of Saxony, which were deployed on a long front. Schleiz is located 30 kilometers north of Hof and 145 kilometers southwest of Dresden at the intersection of Routes 2 and 94.
Albert Ferdinand Adolf Karl Friedrich von Bonin was a corps commander of the Prussian Army at the Battle of Trautenau in 1866, and a colleague of Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz. He made his military career from Oberst (1851), Major general (1854) to Lieutenant general and adjutant of the king (1858). In 1863 he became Kommanierender General and 1864 General of the Infantry.
The Battle of Münchengrätz or Battle of Mnichovo Hradiště was fought near Mnichovo Hradiště, modern day Czech Republic, on 28 June 1866 during the Austro-Prussian War. It ended in a Prussian victory over the Austrian Empire.
Battle of Skalitz was a minor engagement in the Königgratz/Sadowa campaign of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 in Bohemia on June 28. The Battle of Nachod the previous day set the scene for Steinmetz to advance on Skalitz where he defeated Archduke Leopold.
The Battle of Schweinschädel(Czech: Bitva u Svinišťan) took place during the Austro-Prussian War between Prussia and Austria on June 29, 1866. The IV Army Corps of the Austrian Army under Tassilo Festetics tried to stop the advance of the Prussian 2nd Army under Crown Prince Friedrich, but was defeated by the V Army Corps under General von Steinmetz and had to withdraw.
The Battle of Hühnerwasser (Kuřívody) was the first battle of the Austro-Prussian War. 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.
The Battle of Podol was a minor engagement in the opening days of the Königgrätz campaign of the Austro-Prussian War in Bohemia on 26 and 27 June 1866. The battle took place in modern-day Svijany between troops of the Prussian First Army and elements of Eduard Clam-Gallas' Austrian I Corps.
Ludwig Karl Wilhelm Freiherr von Gablenz was an Austrian general of Saxon origin.
Ernst Ritter von Hartung was an Austrian Feldzeugmeister and military theorist.
Wilhelm Ludwig Karl Kurt Friedrich von Tümpling was a Prussian General der Kavallerie. Tümpling commanded a division in the Austro-Prussian War and VI Army Corps during the Franco-Prussian War.
The Battle of Gerchsheim was an artillery battle during the Austro-Prussian War as part of the Campaign of the Main on July 25, 1866, between the Prussian Alliance and the German Federal Army.
The Second Army was a formation of the Prussian Army during the Austro-Prussian War. Being a wartime formation, afterwards the field army was demobilized.