The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-26 00:00:00

TIM SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 26, 1864

THE FALL OF DYBBOL.

(From the Times Special Correspondent at the Danish
Head- quarter s.)
ULKEBOL, April 19.

I was early in the saddle this morning, as I had
devised, and used my best diligence to learn all par-
ticulars respecting that fall of Dybbol about which
I gave a hasty and somewhat crude report in my
lest night's letter. I was able to ascertain that the
taking of the bastions on the left was effected almost
without fighting. Gen. Gerlach has long in.en ailing,
and the officers of the Staff, harassed by incessant
duty at outposts, were so utterly worn out as to be
almost altogether unable to take the reeponeiiities
of the supreme command upor. themselves. The
little Danish army, engaged in so arduous and des
peseta a teak, laboured under the further disadvene
tags el being without a head. lam very reluctant
to believe what I hear, hut I am assured that
while the forts had falieu into the enemy's hands
soon after ten, the news of the disaster only reached
headquarters at half-past twelve. Possibly some
of the aides-ge-camp were shot down on their
way from the Dybbol heights to the bridges. Pos-
sibly, also, Major t3tjernholm, who has known no
rest for many a weary night, was overcome by a
sleep which his atcendants were unwilling to dis-
turb. Msjor Ituase, the second in command at the
Staff, was out at Dybbol, whence his dead body was
only sent back this afternoon. The fire of the Prus-
sian cannon wss so very violent, that the men on
the bastions hardly ventured to be on the look out.
The Prussians ceme up, and the Danes withdrew.
Tnat is the whole history of the fall of Dybbol,
Somewhat longer resistance, I am told, was made
at the tete-de-pont. But the Prussian artillery was
turned agaiast it from the captured hill-crests, and
nothing was left but to out off all communication
between Sonderved and Ala by the destruction of
the bridges. The battalions of Danish infantry,
enveloped by large German nausea, shattered by a
perfect whirlwind of s'-,ells, cut off from all retreat,
had but little chance of resistance. Ore general, 6
colonels or lieutenant-colonels, and 33 officers of
lower rank, fell dead. The loss among the men
cannot yet be ascertained. We may judge of it by
the laws of proportion. The number of men left
on the other side of the bridges is somewhat vaguely
stated at 2,000, 4,000, and even 7,000 or 8,000.
These are the dead, wounded, or missing on a
field where there hardly was any action.
There was not a man in his senses who was not for
a long time prepared for some such dreadful
catastrophe. That Dybbol should be abandoued
and the attempt made to remove its defenders by
stealth in the night, was the opinion firmly enter-
tained by all officers mature in the art of war.
That opinion was fully and unreservedly shared by
the men at headquarters. Even on the eve of the
disaster, leave to act upon that suggestion was asked
by telegram from Copenhagen. The telegram
transpired, and, as you are aware, most people were
convinced that the troops would before morning be
withdrawn. The answer of M Moored was
" Dybbol should be held at any price."
Between 1 and 2 o'clock I stood on the summit
of one of those earth-mounds which give the land-
scape in this country a peculiar character, and
whence I obtained a very extensive view of the
opposite Dybbol heights. At Bastions Nos. 3,4,
10, and others, large bodies of Prussian troops
were aeon massed together, as in battle array. Pre-
sently, long columns of infantry began to advance
from the Dybbol road, the Sattrup road, and all
the other avenues converging on the tete de
pont. Down they came, leisurely, their colours
flying in the air, perfectly heedless of the batteries
on the Alsen side, several of which, truly, were
merely a heap of ruins, but one of which, at least,
the Church Battery, firmed with 16 large guns, was
in good fighting condition, could sweep at pleasure
the whole extent of the open fields opposite, and
might have crushed those descending Prussian bat-
talions by hundreds. I was perfectly thunderstruck
at the inaction of the Danes on thanoccasion, and
inquired of all I met as to the cause, but ether met
with flat disbelief of my assertions, or the only ex-
planation 1 had was, that " there was no ono about
to give orders, and the cannons could not go off of
themselves." .

It may be, however, that the Danes were held in
check by the appearance of a parlementaire who
was marching in the van of all these columns; but,
at the time, the Prussian batteries were still firing
lustily from Itagebol, and at all events it seemed to
me rather strange that the advance of whole divi.
alone should take place during the negotiations for
a truce. The armistice, however (toryfen-ruhe), was
agreed upon bet meen the parties, and was to last till
7 o'clock in the evening. I profited by the respite,
rode round and into Sonderborg, and by standing
on the arbour in the gcrden, among the northern
windmills, which, as I often said, is my best obser-
vatory on this side of the Sound, I saw that the
Prussian columns were broken up, And %Ilthat mass
of men was swarming freely over the slopo Ot the
hill, down to the waterside, till close to the sirt
where the bridges so lately stood, ie, 120 to 150
yards from the castle and piers and Sonderborg.
That mere ditch of sea water is all that now sepa-
rates the DAne from the invading enemy.
A bustle in the crowd attracted me to the landing
place on our side, where a melancholy sight awaited
me. A beat, bearing Prussian colours, had rowed
across, bearer of 36 bodies of Danish officers killed
in the affair of yesterday, which the enemy gave up
to their comrades for funeral honours. The bare
carcases were almost all that was sent back of
those gloriously-fallen vvarrors. Not only wore
their pockets turned inside out, but the buttons of
their coats, which were deemed to be silver, but
were only German silver (poadbly current as silver
among Germans), had been torn or cut off, and all
the corpses had been robbed of their boots. That
there should be marauders about the Prussian tents
should be no wonder, for theihnish army is unique
in the perfect security reigning in its whereabouts;
but surely the Pruosian authorities, if they meant to
play a courteous and generous part towards a fallen
foe, ought to have set a guard of honour round these
remains, and not suffered them
to be desecrated by
the ruffians prowling about their
camp.

April 20, Morning.

The truce expired last evening at 7 o'clock, and
the Prussian cannonade instantly recommenced.
It soon larguished, however, towards sunset, and
nothing of importance occurred during the night.
It is rather early at the present juncture to calca•
late the chances of the German coming across the
water and terminating their enterprise by the con-
quest of the Isle of Ale. It may greatly depend on
ot their e it rh
eowndisposition
inclinationp 0 st ionof
to
pnes attempt
Yes-
terday there was hardly a man in the whole Danish
army who was not half dead with fatigue, and who
did not seem to have grown 20 years older in one
day with chagrin and humiliation. But a night's
rest has done wonders among them, and, were they
only well led, the island might bo no easy prey
even to an enemy flushed with his recent too easy
victory.

General Gerlach moved his cparters last evening

from the Ulkebol to the Horup Prestagaard ; he
will presently embark to Funen. His successor in
command will probably be Steinman.
Poor Major Rosen! A braver or an abler officer
was 11,4 t to be found in the whole Danish army.
His promotion to his present rank dates from a
week back, and wes granted in remuneration of
signal services. • I met his brother, my friend,
Farmer Rosen, of Ronhave, last evening, at Horup.
The sorrow on his countenance made a deeper im-
pression on my soul than all the ghastly wounds
with which the last two months have made me
familiar. I durst not address him, This day the
body of his brother was laid before him. Only
yesterday his sweet home at Ronhavo and all his
substance were a prey to the flames. Himself and
family have no other shelter than what the hospi-
tality of friends tenders then,. There let them live
down their sorrows and repir their leases as they
eml! Yet these Rosens are Helsteiners, born and
bred ; but the Crown of Denmark has nowhere
ii3.nt entke.s. Thcir devotion to
more loyal or va
their country's cause cost them dear. But these
are only some of those sad episodes of war to which
no chapter of history is dedicated.