Sadowa

sa-do'va, a village in Bohemia near the cathedral city of Koniggratz. It lies on the Elbe, about sixty-two miles east of Prague. The village is noted as the scene of the decisive battle of the Seven Weeks' War, fought July 3, 1866. The Prussians, numbering 220,000, under the command of William I and the Crown Prince, defeated 205,000 Austrians under the command of Benedek. The Austrians lost 40,000 men; the Prussians, 10,000. As the result of this battle, Austria retired from the confederation of German states, and left Prussia free, as the event proved, to form the present German Empire.