European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Soldiers of the 2nd army Cav regt from Nornberg West Germany look Over the Koni Gratz Battlefield near Sadov a Czechoslovakia. Lessons to be Learned for today a soldiers czech Battlefield Story and photos by Vince Crawley Niernberg Bureau the opening of Eastern Europe also has meant reopening the Patchwork stories of such places As Hradec Kra love a 19th-Century Battlefield in what is now Western. Czechoslovakia. A half million soldiers fought there in a War that few americans have Ever heard about. At stake was control Over the future of Germany. The underdog prussians won the overrated austrian Empire lost. The rest As they say is history. Prussia to the North was a rising Power that wanted to dominate the German political scene. Since the austrian hapsburgs were trying to stay in charge Prussia s aspirations led to War. The Campaign has been called the seven weeks War the Austria prussian War the War of 1866. The fighting at Hradec Kra love lasted just one Day july 3,1866. It rained most of that Day and the armies fought in mud. It was the largest european Battle until the trenches of world War i. The Battle is a Maze of overlapping histories. Today some Call Hradec Kra love by its German name Koni Gratz. Others use the name of a nearby Village Sadova. There was no country called Czechoslovakia then but the people in the kingdom of Bohemia were called czechs. And Bohemia the site of the Battle was part of the austrian Empire. There were moments of grandeur As when 10,000 cavalrymen Rode against each other. There were moments of stupidity As when the prussian soldiers who were being chewed up by overwhelming austrian artillery were accused of cowardice by their King. There were scenes of tragedy As austrian troops with old fashioned muzzle loading rifles tried to hold out against prussians who were armed with modern Breech loaders Able to fire three times faster. A _ and there were scenes that will be repeated As Long As there Are wars As when a glory hungry commander marched his infantrymen All night then sent them into a Dawn attack without breakfast. When evening finally came the proud austrian army had been decimated. All of this happened three years to the Day after Confederate maj. Gen. George Pickett s heroic but suicidal civil War charge up cemetery Ridge outside the town of Gettysburg a. The two Battles Are similar. Both were decisive. Both were Quot modern Quot in that the commanders used telegraphs and railroads to help control and move Ever larger numbers of men. And like Gettysburg Koni Gratz is one of those textbook Battles that . Officers study in their military colleges. So with the opening of the East the 2nd army Cav regt of Nurnberg West Germany sent about 50 of its officers on a terrain walk near Hradec Kra love. Quot weapons change vehicles change but the ground Means More to us the army than it does to any other Branch of service Quot said col. Don Holder the regimental commander who took most of his officers to the site. Quot the lessons of history will be incomplete unless you get out on the  he said today s soldiers have much to learn from the old Battlefield and its commanders. Prussia and Austria fought a flexible Battle with roughly equal numbers he said. For four decades nato commanders have planned for a dug in defense outnumbered three to one by the Warsaw pact. But that is changing now. Quot open warfare equals free Man Euver Quot Holder said. Quot As Force Levels go Down in Europe As we begin to make our operations plans based on Force parity these kinds of things begin to regain  he also pointed out that the War of 1866 was unpopular with most of the prussian people. Quot the government was at Odds with the people Over the Issue of the army Quot Holder said. Quot it s hard to fight a War fast. We As american soldiers have to Bear this in mind. You be got to win fast. Like our most recent activities Quot in Panama. Holder and his officers also toured the Battlefield museum in a Small farmhouse Northwest of Hradec Kra love. The two rooms include weapons uniforms and other relics most of them found by local Farmers after the Battle. There is also a scale Model of the fighting positions and surrounding terrain. Exhibits Are identified in czech and German. The curator does not speak English. To stripes Magazine july 12, 1990