Thus far the Prussians had gained but little advantage; but at that
hour the powerful division of the Crown Prince, which, like that of
Blücher at Waterloo, had been delayed by recent rains, appeared on the
Austrian right. The wing of Benedek's army was soon turned. Bittenfeld
then broke the left, and under a general advance of the Prussian lines
the Austrian centre gave way in confusion. The field was quickly
swept. The overthrow of the Austrian army became a ruinous rout, and
the out-flashing sun of evening looked upon a demoralized and flying
host, scattering in all directions before the victorious charges of
the Prussian cavalry.

The overwhelming victory of the Prussians was not without its rational
causes. Indeed the antecedents of victory may always be found if all
the facts of battle are known and analyzed. It remained for the battle
of Sadowa to demonstrate practically the superiority of the
needle-gun. This arm had been adopted by the Prussian government and
was now for the first time on a great scale brought to the crucial
test. Hitherto the old plan of muzzle-loading had been followed by all
the nations of Europe and America. In our country the Civil War had
come almost to its climax before breech-loading was generally
introduced. Austria had continued to use the old muzzle-loading
muskets. It seems surprising that nations, of whom intelligence and
self-interest may well be predicated, should continue in such a matter
as war to employ inefficient weaponry long after a superior arm has
been invented.

If one might have looked into the gunshop of M. Pauli at Paris in the
year 1814, he might have seen a gunsmith, twenty-seven years of age,
plying his trade under the patronage of Napoleon the Great. That
gunsmith was Johann Nicholas Von. Dreyse, of Sömmerda, who presently