The Battle of Schleswig occurred near Dannevirke on Easter morning, 23 April 1848 as the second battle of the First Schleswig War of 1848–1850.[1]
Prussia had just entered the war and had sent almost 12,000 troops to Schleswig-Holstein on command of the German Confederation. Counting reserves, General Wrangel commanded in total more than 18,000 men – almost three times the size of the Danish forces. The German Reich troops did not participate in the battle, but their presence forced the Danes to fight defensively against the Prussians.
Prelude
Following the outbreak of hostilities between the Provisional Government of the secessionist Duchy of Holstein and the Kingdom of Denmark, the former sought to move northwards into the Danish-held Duchy of Schleswig, whose population was mostly German albeit with large Frisian and Danish minorities in the North and West of the state. The secessionists began amassing an army to perform this task in which they found many eager recruits, however, the vast majority lacked military experience. This army moved northwards along railway tracks into the fortified Danish position of Rendsburg. The garrison surrendered without a fight, with the vast majority of common soldiers and non-commissioned officers joining the rebels. Most high ranking officers moved northwards, however, and swore allegiance to the Danish Armed Forces. Danish armies then gathered from their positions on the island of Als and the Danish city of Kolding. As this was occurring the rebels moved to continue their march into Schleswig to secure the city of Flensburg, the largest settlement in the Duchy. The Danes marched to meet them, which resulted in the Battle of Bov on 9 April. The engagement was short and the Danish army was able to achieve victory with minimal losses. In spite of the success, Denmark failed to fully destroy the secessionist host with the exception of a Hunter Corps of Kiel University students. The provisional government was forced to abandon the vast majority of Schleswig and retreat back to Rendsburg, however, the secessionists were able to secure a diplomatic triumph of far greater proportions; the German Confederation was marching to their aid following an official recognition by the German Confederation Diet on 12 April. With the German Confederation army due to arrive, the Danes would not entertain the idea of storming Rendsburg and instead dug into defensive positions north of the city. Following the arrival of Prussian reinforcements, the Germans would sally out from Rendsburg to engage the Danish army.
Battle
On a cold and wet spring morning, the Germans went on the attack. The plan of the Prussian leader, General von Wrangel, was to move the army up to a point just south of Dannevirke, camp there, and attack the following day. But the Prussian Guard on the right wing (which at that time was a good distance in front of the left wing) arrived at the rally and met virtually no Danes, so the commander decided to go against Bustrup and Frederiksberg (Kratbjerg). Here, southeast of Bustrup, they were met by the Danish avant-garde. The Danes were outnumbered by 1.5:1 and had to retire to two small hills, Galgebjerg and Risbjerg. General von Wrangel, ordered the leader of the left wing, General von Bonin, west to Lille Dannevirke.
Shortly afterwards, however, he decided instead to attack the two small hills north of Bustrup, and ordered von Bonin to turn around, but the order reached only the rear of Bonin's column. At that time, the Danes, with the 1st and 11th Battalion, went on the counterattack against the Prussians at Bustrup. The Prussian lines faltered until the rear of Bonin's column, under Colonel Steimetz, attacked the Danes' left flank and sent them on the run. This led to a general Danish withdrawal to the hill Jordbærbjerg, and the Prussians occupied Friedrichberg. When Bonin reached the area south of Lille Dannevirke, he suddenly discovered that almost half of his troops were missing. At that time he was finally ordered to turn around, but when he faced the Danish troops, he decided to stay and soon after receiving reinforcements from the Schleswig-Holsteinian troops, he attacked, and the Danes withdrew to Husby and later to Skovby.
On the eastern wing, the Prussians took Jordbærbjerg, and fierce fighting unfolded around the scrub-covered hills and a farm (Kratbakkerne and Annettehøj). The Danes planned to attempt a counterattack but this was called off and a general, but orderly, withdrawal was carried out. The day belonged to the Prussians and the Schleswig-Holsteinians, but the Danish forces under Colonel Læssøe had defended themselves skilfully, and the losses were limited. However, an appallingly large number of the wounded died.
Aftermath
The battle lead to an acute bout of discouragement in Denmark – a sharp reversal from the optimism of the March entry of Denmark into war. The Danish army conducted a general retreat from the battlefield to Flensburg. Amid the retreat the Danes had neglected to organize a proper rear guard in accordance with the fact that Danish high command believed Wrangel would not conduct a pursuit. This assumption was incorrect, and the Danes soon thereafter realized their position in Flensburg was not tenable. The majority of the Danish army conducted an ordely withdrawal to the island of Als. The army also withdrew to Funen leaving Jutland open to Wrangel's troops, as only a token force retreated into Danish Jutland to guard the peninsula. With German entry into the war the Danish Armed Forces assumed a far more defensive posture. Because the Danes couldn't defeat the Prussian army in open combat they would continue the war using delaying tactics so as to force the Prussians to the negotiating tables upon the favorable intervention of foreign powers. The battle inspired writer Carl Ploug to write a song about the battle, "Paaskeklokken kimed mildt..." (full text)
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