THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION, 
368 
Now we may proceed to the actual contest. The 1st Prussian Army 
consisted of the three corps, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, each corps having two 
divisions. The 2nd Corps was opposite the villages below Sadowa, the 
4th was on its left; one of its divisions (the 8th) prepared to cross the 
Bistritz at Sadowa; the other, (7th,) was sent against the village of 
Benatek. The 3rd Corps was held in reserve. Whilst these dispositions 
were being made a heavy artillery fire was being exchanged. 
When this fire, which had begun before seven, had lasted about two 
hours, the King, who had arrived on the field, ordered the 8th Division and 
the 2nd Corps to cross over the brook, and by 9 o'clock they were fully 
engaged. Towards ten the head of the Elbe Army, under General von 
Herwarth, reached Nechanitz, effected a passage there, and proceeded to 
execute the manoeuvre entrusted to it, by sending a division round the 
Austrian's extreme left. As however this was an operation requiring some 
time another division was launched against the front, so as to support the 
left of the 2nd Corps and establish a feeling with the 1st Army generally. 
The remaining division, of which the Elbe Army consisted, was for the 
present held in reserve. 
Erom nine o'clock till noon the combat was maintained by the 2nd and 
4th Corps, from Benatek to Mokrowous, with a courage and an endurance 
deserving the highest praise. They tenaciously held the villages and ground 
immediately beyond the brook, and if they could not carry the slopes of the 
hills it was because they were fighting on widely unequal terms. The 
Austrian infantry were more numerous, and the Austrian artillery, turning 
to proper account the advantages of a selected position, had cut down trees 
and made preparations for developing to the utmost the effect of their guns. 
It would have seemed a reasonable result, and have implied no discredit to 
the Prussian soldiers, if they had been hurled back across the Bistritz, as 
the only reward of their venturesome operations. 
The hour at whicli a part of the Crown Prince's Army might have been 
expected to make its appearance felt had now long past, and no signs of its 
approach were visible. The Prussian staff began to feel uneasy, not that 
they doubted of ultimate victory for help would surely arrive before the day 
was over, but they began to fear that their own unequal struggle could not 
be much longer maintained, and if they had been able to withdraw the 
divisions that were now under fire, without too much risk of disorder, they 
would probably have done so. The troops being too deeply engaged to 
render such a measure practicable, the only alternative was to reinforce 
them, and about 12 o'clock the 3rd Corps was ordered to take part in the 
battle. 
Soon afterwards it was observed by the eager watchers of the King's 
staff that the artillery fire from the Austrian right was aimed in a new 
direction. The fact was cheering, but some doubt remained whether it was 
really caused by the arrival of the Crown Prince or whether the 7th Division, 
which was fighting in front of Benatek, had got too far to the left. It was 
not till two o'clock that the uncertainty was fully removed. Then massive 
columns of infantry were seen crowning the ridges; an evident disturbance 
was produced in the enemy's arrangements, and the King's painful anxiety 
was turned into confidence and joy. 
The 1st Division of the Guard (from Koniginhof) was the first to arrive 
