Excerpt from The Last Campaign of Hanover: A Lecture Delivered at the Royal United Service Institution, on 1st April, 1870, Before Field Marshal H. R. H. The Duke of Cambridge, K. G., Etc;, Etc;, Commanding-in-Chief

The importance to Prussia, with the view to subsequent operations against the south, of first making herself mistress of these three countries, was very great. Hanover lies directly between the western and eastern provinces of Prussia, and, in an enemy's hands, interposes an effectual bar to the passage of troops between them; in like manner hesse-cassel interposes between these western and eastern possessions; and, moreover, through Cassel passes that railroad which is the great artery of communication between those provinces. Of Saxony I need not now speak.

At once, after her declaration of war, Prussia put her tr00ps in motion. At this time the army of Hanover was in that unfortunate condition which is known as a peace footing. Large numbers of her infantry were on furlough; her cavalry and her artillery were perhaps in a some what better condition than usual, because it was the season of the summer drills, and they happened to be called out for regimental exercise; but they had only horses for a peace establishment. Neither cavalry nor artillery had the preper number of horses required for them to take the field, and some of the guns were actually led out to fight this campaign horsed with horses from the King's stables, and driven by the King's stablemen. At the time of this declaration of war, and of the immediately subsequent movement of Prussian troops, the Hanoverian army was in a state of dislocation, as it is termed, though immediately after the decree of mobilisation had been passed in the Diet on the 14th of June, it had been ordered that the tr00ps should be assembled at certain points by the 23rd June. But all the arrangements for the mobilisation of the army pointed towards concentration in the northern portion of the kingdom. There were no arrangements what ever for the assembly of troops in the south there were no maga zines, there were no stores of supplies, there was, in fact, nothing ready for such a concentration. But when Hanover saw that the Prussian tr00ps were about to advance from Minden towards Hanover, when she saw that troops were actually in the north of her own terri tory, as some of them were, before war was declared, it was impossible for her, as she well knew, to concentrate in time in the north, and there fore the order was issued for the concentration of the whole army in the extreme south of the Hanoverian territory, at the well known uni versity town of Gottingen.

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