Dragoon Jacob Vitner, officers Ludwig Windischgraetz and Robert Kutschenbach - the fate of a saber connected with the battle of Trutnov 1866th
Abstract
Jacob Vitner, a simple young man from the countryside, was in 1860 drafted into the army. Six years later, in the uniform of the Dragoon clashed with the Prussian Cavalry soldiers on the battlefield near Trutnov.
Their memories recorded in writing, which for this generation of ordinary soldiers sporadic affair. War and military life perceived from the perspective of a simple villager, without chivalric ethos.
Vitner memories also reveal various irregularities and weak moments of his superiors, of which the official chroniclers either not learned or intentionally conceal. This was true even in the case of conflict between the regimental commander Windischgraetz his deputy Kutschenbach whose service careers are part of my studies.
Besides the written sources also analyze the nature of the sources of material, namely two cool weapons with individual dedications to the Battle of Trutnov. I come to the surprising conclusion that these two sabers are authentic monuments to those two protagonists Vitner memories.