At Wörth 17 different regiments were represented on a front of 5700 paces.
"The assault on Elsaszhausen (Wörth), after preliminary forest fighting, mixed up the troops of the different brigades and in some cases caused the dissolution of battalions. . . . The 44th Brigade was the only one that remained in fairly good order. Abreast and in rear of it were portions of all the other regiments (of the XIth Army Corps) which, at the moment, however, represented no actual reserves. Even the battalions in the first line hardly appeared to be tactical entities."[1]
At several points it was possible to assemble the stragglers into formed bodies; but the men in these, commanded by strange officers, easily succumbed to the influences of the combat, and the units disintegrated rather quickly as soon as they came under fire.[2]
In the Giefert Wald (Spicheren) out of 32 companies (4 brigades) only four companies fought together as a battalion. In the little Wenzelberg Wood (at Nachod) there were engaged 7-1/2 Austrian battalions (belonging to four different regiments) and 2 Jäger-Battalions, all of these troops belonging to three different brigades.[3] No attempt was made to lead these troops as one body.
In the oak wood at Dubno (Skalitz), there were engaged 12-1/2 and 8-1/2 battalions belonging to four different regiments and to two different army corps. "The Prussian orders led to a breaking up of the order of battle and to a considerable mixing of brigades, regiments and battalions. In consequence of this, control was lost to a certain extent by the commander-in-chief, and the result achieved was mainly due to the skill and intelligence of the subordinate leaders—especially that of the commanders of battalions and half battalions."[4]
"The wooded region in rear of St. Hubert was thickly infested with stragglers of all arms. White, red, and blue shoulder straps were to be seen in profusion; men with and without rifles; some with helmets, some with caps, some bareheaded. There were no officers present except those stretched wounded upon the ground. The superior officers riding through the valley assembled the men they found, but it proved only a small force that they gathered, for the greater portion of the men were safely ensconced to one side of the bottom of the valley."[5] "At 5 P. M., the garrison of St. Hubert had increased to 43 companies, belonging to seven different regiments, and the result was utterly hopeless confusion."[6]
