Sundeved 1848

We are back with the Schleswig War this week with the action at Sundeved. The Danes had bided their time and waited for the German allies of Schleswig to pull back.  The Danes then crossed to the Sundeved peninsula and pushed forward, hoping to defeat the Schleswig defenders in detail, before the supports could come up. The Danes also hoped for some naval support from the Als Fjord.

Here is a general view of the battlefield with Dybbol Mill, the Danish objective, in the far distance.  The Danes need to capture the villages to ensure their lines of communication.  The main effort was made up the lefthand road, directly towards Dybbol, with a flanking manoeuvre up the righthand road.

At first good progress was made, the 2nd Schleswig jaegers were driven out of the first village along the lefthand road and the flanking force, with artillery support easily captured the village on the right.  There was no sight of sails in the fjord, but the main force pushed on towards Stenderup.  Their progress was halted by a charge of the Oldenburg Dragoons

Their charge caught the supporting Danish artillery unawares, their shots went wide, and overran a unit of jaegers.  They then hit the 4th Infantry Regiment before they could deploy and scattered them to the winds.  However, the Oldenburg horsemen were now isolated from the rest of the Schleswig forces and were charged by a regiment of Danish dragoons, this forced them to retire, but they had delayed the Danish attack long enough for the garrison of Stenderup to be reinforced.

Slowly, the main Danish force advanced.  By the fjord they faced 4 battalions of Schleswig infantry who carried out a model fighting retreat.  Firing a volley as the Danes came in range and then falling back forcing the enemy to advance again.  Danish infantry approached Stenderup, whose outer defences were held by a militia battalion.  They repulsed the first attack, but were forced to withdraw when flanked by jaegers and fired on at close range by artillery.  This left the 2nd Schleswig jaeger as the garrison of the village.  Eager to make amends for their earlier retreat they forced a second attack to retreat and seemed invulnerable to close range artillery fire.

The Schleswig cavalry again intervened; the Schleswig dragoons routing a unit of Danish dragoons who were covering the flank of the attack on Stenderup.  The Danes did not stop running until they were over the pontoon bridge.  Like the Oldenburg Dragoons, the Schleswig Dragoons now found themselves isolated and found themselves surrounded by Danish cavalry.  They tried to cut their way to freedom, but very few made it and the unit played no further part in the action.  However, the Danes now found themselves under fire and one unit routed, again not stopping until it crossed the pontoon bridges.  In front of Stenderup the 6th Danish Infantry had sustained such heavy losses from rifle and artillery fire that it had to retire from action.  Two further units also retreated due to losses from the fire of the Schleswig troops covering the area between the fjord and the road.

The Danish commander was beginning to think it was not going to be his day.  "Where was the d....d navy?  They had promised him support".  Unfortunately, contrary winds had kept the navy at its moorings and the army was going to have to fight this battle on its own.  At least the flank attack on the right was making progress.  A third attack on Stenderup was organised, with troops coming in from three sides.  Amazingly the Schleswig jaegers held on.  Schleswig artillery stopped the attack from the right and jaeger volleys halted the other two attacks.  However, ammunition was now running low and further Danish units were readying for a fourth attack; this one with artillery support.  Firing off their remaining ammunition the jaeger fought like demons, but were forced by weight of numbers to give ground. 

As they reached the now fully manned Schleswig defences they received well deserved cheers from their comrades.  

It was now late in the day and the Schleswig commander believed his men had done enough to halt the Danes.  The militia had fought well, making good use of the ground to slow the advance and the cavalry had suffered losses but bought the time necessary to form a defence line.  For the Danish commander all he could do was try and hold what ground he had captured.  Several of his units would take time to recover from their losses and the officers of those units which had routed would need to be replaced.

This was a classic action where the ground made it difficult to make full use of superior numbers

Battle of Schleswig

Following the Battle of Bov the Prussians were 'invited' by the Diet to enforce the Diet's recognition of Schleswig and General Wrangel organised an advance to the north. It was now the Danish forces who were outnumbered and to buy time they fought a delaying action. General Wrangel's plan was to outflank the Danes as the Schleswig troops had been at Bov, but poor staff work and a 'gung ho' attitude resulted in a poorly co-ordinated frontal assault.



A general view of the Danish position. The main line of defence was the old boundary 'wall', (actually an earthen bank but here represented but stone) with reserves held on the low hills to the rear. The lake on the Danish left was too shallow for naval vessels, but the line of retreat lay along its northern shore.

Wrangel's plan was to pin the Danish in place and then his flanking force would roll up the line; what could go wrong? On the first move Wrangel received a dispatch from the flanking force commander indicating that the going was very difficult and the maps supplied were inadequate. Further he was unable to say when he would be in a position to attack. In light of this Wrangel made a new plan, advancing on his right to cut the Danish line of retreat. The attack would be led by the Prussian troops, supported by other Imperial troops whilst the Schleswig brigade would pin the Danish right.



As the Prussians advanced the danish general pushed forward a jaeger battalion to harass their flank. This moved through the fields began to fire on the right hand battalion of the Prussian attack. A battalion of Prussian jaeger were sent to deal with this irritation. Exceeding his orders to contain the enemy skirmishers, the Prussian jaeger officer charged his opponent. The Danes had the benefit of cover and position and easily repulsed the Prussians who fell back in disorder and had to be rallied by Wrangel himself. Emboldened, the Danish jaeger pushed forward to take the small village on the Prussian right and began to fire at the supporting artillery. Wrangel had to take one of the battalions from the attack on the main line to tackle the jaegers. Forming column, they moved forward, fired a volley and charged. Only to find that the Danes had decided to fall back of their own accord, (actually they failed a morale test).

Meanwhile, the 3 remaining Prussian battalions were not doing too well. First one was forced back by artillery fire and then a second. This left only the 1st battalion of Kaiser Franz gallantly advancing.

In the centre the Imperial troops were making slow progress, cautious that the Danish cavalry may move out and attack them. On the Prussian left the Schleswig troops were also cautious. Their jaeger were sniping away at Danish jaeger and the cavalry had already suffered casualties from the Danish artillery.

The Danish commander was receiving regular reports on the progress (or lack of it) of the Prussian flank attack because his right wing cavalry were shadowing the enemy. On the other side of the field Wrangel had had no further communication from his flanking force and was in the dark as to their progress. However, he had more than enough to do. After rallying the jaegers he had to rally the line battalions falling back from the Danish artillery fire. He managed to find time to send an aide to order the Imperial troops to attack in the centre. This they did, and, as expected, the Danish cavalry attacked. The infantry fired ineffectual volleys and routed.



Their blood up, the cavalry charged the second line of infantry. One unit stood firm and fired a volley which shattered the danish charge. A second unit did not stand and only the intervention of the Oldenburg Dragoons prevented total collapse.

One crumb of comfort for Wrangel was that Kaiser Franz had reached the boundary bank and crossed it. They were fortunate that the troops holding it were understrength, but it was a success and it needed to be supported. The rallied Prussian battalions were sent forward again as Danish reinforcements moved to attack Kaiser Franz. A prolonged struggle began with the odds stacked against the Prussians.

Over on the Danish right troops began to move towards the centre. The Schleswig infantry attacked, only to be met with concentrated artillery fire and forced back. Their cavalry fared no better. The Imperial forces in the centre took time to recover from the cavalry attack and could not intervene. A courier had arrived to deliver a message to the Danish commander that the Prussian flanking force was now in a position to affect the battle and he took the decision to pull his troops back while he could.

Unfortunately for Wrangel his flank attack was on the Prussian side of the earthen bank and was no real threat to the Danes. He could only watch as his enemy pulled away. His Prussian infantry reached the bank where the battered remnants of Kaiser Franz greeted them with taunts about only arriving when the job was done.

The day belonged to the Danes. They had inflicted heavy casualties on their opponents and pulled back relatively unscathed; a textbook delaying action.

First Schleswig War 1848-1851

This is a new departure for us. We used 15mm figures and adapted a set of AWI rules with which we were familiar. This rules set is particularly appropriate as the Schleswig army was a mix of units of differing military training, very similar to the American forces in the AWI. Unusually for us, they are computer moderated, so generals have no idea of the status of units once they have been in action for a short time.

We started with the action at Bov. A force of Schleswig troops had invaded Denmark before the promised Austrian, German and Prussian troops arrived to help them. The Danes seeing an opportunity to eliminate the Schleswig army quickly moved forward and caught the Schleswig forces before they could retreat. One force advanced from the north, a second was landed to the east and moved towards Flensburg, hoping to block the line of retreat and a cavalry force moved around the western (left) flank.
Naval support was also available to the Danes, as they had ships in the sound on the Schleswig right which covered the road leading back to Flensburg.



The Schleswig army took up position behind a small river which was fordable to all but artillery. Two bridges crossed this river and they were covered by the artillery. Two line battalions and a jaeger battalion covered the coast road; three battalions and a jaeger battalion the road inland. The two cavalry regiments were placed in the centre.

The Danish commander concentrated his cavalry on his right and the two infantry brigades (8 battalions plus two jaeger battalions) initially pushed forward to force a crossing by the bridges. To the east of Flensburg, two battalions plus a jaeger battalion moved to attack the sole Schleswig battalion garrisoning Flensburg.



At first the Schleswig defence had some success, particularly at the inland bridge, as the 1st Danish line regiment, which led the advance, was routed when charged by the defenders. On the coast road, the first line of defence (militia) crumbled when charged by the lead Danish unit, but the second line held, bottling up the advance. The naval guns then lent their weight to the Danish attack, softening up the defenders before a second infantry push. The line held long enough for the Schleswig general to rally the militia, before it had to give ground, pounded by naval guns and outnumbered by the Danish infantry. They then routed, leaving the militia to hold the Danes back.



Over on the Schleswig left the Danes were enjoying more success. The cavalry crossed the river and although the Schleswig dragoons charged forward to hold the line they were defeated in a tough struggle with the Danish 3rd Dragoons. Skirting the Schleswig defences the Danish cavalry pushed forward. After sending an aide off to request assistance from the 2nd Schleswig Dragoon regiment, the commander of the 1st dragoons moved his men forward again, hoping to delay the enemy advance.

In Flensburg the situation was deteriorating. The garrison battalion were doing their best, but being only part-trained they struggled to hold the Danish jaegers back. When the skirmishers were reinforced by two line battalions the writing was on the wall. With most of their officers wounded, the militiamen were unable to stand when they were charged and routed back through the Flensburg streets.



For the Schleswig commander the day was lost, all he could do was try and extract as much of his battered army as he could. He ordered the 1st Dragoons to charge the Danish horse and the left wing infantry to hold the line long enough to enable units to move over from the right. On the coast road the militia continued to fall back under fire from the Danish fleet. The routers on the road ran straight into the arms of the Danes in Flensburg, for them the war was over. In the centre the initial success was eclipsed by a second Danish advance which was supported by artillery. The defenders again failed to stand and fight and routed back towards Flensburg, where they too were captured. The 1st Dragoons tried to buy time for the infantry, but their charge was easily defeated by their opponents and then the Danish cavalry moved to attack the rear of the remaining Schleswig infantry in the centre. A brave, but futile attempt by the jaegers to stop the cavalry resulted in them being overrun and few escaped to rejoin the army the following day. Assailed from the front by infantry and from the rear by cavalry the remaining infantry and artillery recognised the inevitable and surrendered. Only 4 out of the original 10 battalions made it back to the German lines, to be joined over the next few days by dribs and drabs of fugitives.

The only thing stopping a complete Danish victory was the sight of the Austrian, German and Prussian forces barring their way. The Danish commander was reluctant to take on twice his own number, especially as the political situation was unclear.



After the war, Lord Palmerston is reported to have said

"Only three people have ever really understood the Schleswig-Holstein business; the Prince Consort, who is dead; a German professor, who has gone mad; and I, who have forgotten all about it"

Lull before the storm

There is a short break now before the final stage of the Chiraz campaign. The umpire is keeping a tally of the points gained by Lorraine and the Electorate, but my feeling is that the final battle will decide it, as things have been balanced up by the rather eccentric Lord Percy.

The metal mountain is diminishing slowly; the 2nd and 3rd battalions of Austrian infantry regiment 37, Weidenfeld are now primed and ready to be started. The 1st battalion is based up and ready for action.

One advantage of the smaller figure scales is that troops originally bought for one period can 'migrate' to another without offending the eye. True, if they are picked up and examined closely, their true origin will be discovered; but, on the table, en masse, they can pretend to be someone else. This is true for some Franco-Prussian and Risorgimento Austrians and Italians. Over the next few weeks they may find themselves as the protaganists in the First Schleswig War, joined by some rogue ACW types. Hopefully, I will be able to provide some photographs of these 'renegades' in a future blog.

Meanwhile, here is a picture of the Austrian light cavalry, from an earlier war,who could really do with some more infantry supports, hence the move to get regiment Weidenfeld ready for action.