Battle of Hühnerwasser

Battle of Hühnerwasser
Part of the Austro-Prussian War
Date 26 June 1866 Location Hühnerwasser, Bohemia Result Prussian victory
Belligerents
Prussia	Austria
Commanders and leaders
Theodor Alexander von Schoeler	Leopold Gondrecourt
Strength
1 brigade	1 brigade
Casualties and losses
50 7 killed 43 wounded	277 killed, wounded or captured

The Battle of Hühnerwasser 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 and troops from the Austrian I Corps, led by Leopold Gondrecourt.

Gondrecourt ordered troops from Count Leiningen's brigade^[1] – a battalion of Slovak jäger and a battalion of Hungarian line infantry – to attack the Prussian outposts at Hühnerwasser and throw them back across the Iser. The attacking troops stumbled across a Prussian company stationed between the trees, which alarmed the rest of Prussian general von Schoeler's brigade. The four Prussian companies used the advantage of the Dreyse needle gun to stop Austrian attacks. Gondrecourt then recalled his troops and retreated to Münchengratz, having lost 277 men. Prussian losses were 50 men.^[1]

Citations

Bibliography

• Barry, Q. (2009). The Road to Königgrätz: Helmuth von Moltke and the Austro-Prussian War 1866. Solihull: Helion. ISBN 978-1-906033-37-8.
• Geoffrey Wawro, The Austro-Prussian War. Austria's war with Prussia and Italy in 1866 (New York 2007), p. 129-130.

Coordinates: 50°35′10″N 14°48′15″E / 50.586029°N 14.8041556°E / 50.586029; 14.8041556