The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-08 00:00:00

THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN WAR.

(Rom the Times Special Correspondent with the Allled
Armies.)

PRUSSIAN HEADQUARTERS, HADEIISLEBEN,

MARCH 3.

South Schleswig has a good deal changed its ap-
pearance since I last wrote you thence tawards the
middle of February. The snow is gone, the railway
is open, the troops who then crowded its towns and
villages have moved northwards. The difference is

great to the traveller both as regards locomotion
and accommodation. The passage of troops from
Germany into the Duchies seems almost to halve
ceased except in comparatively small bodies, chiefly
detachments going to join their regiments. Ot
stores for the supply of the very large Austro-Prus-
sian army now in Schleswig vast quantities conti-
nually pass, filling trains of prodigious length.
Judging from appearances, little or nothing in the
way of food is now to be found upon the spot, and
everything has to be sent from the south, even hay
for the horses. One has been accustomed to hear of
Holstein and Schleswig as rich and productive pro-
vinces, but the latter at least has soon been drained,
to all appearance, of its provisions both for man and
beast.

Flensburg, a fortnight ago so thronged, is now
but slenderly garrisoned; but still the hotels are
full, the war bringing thither persons of various
descriptions, some connected with the supply of the
army, others more curious travellers from other
parts of the duchy. Hero you are reduced to horse
carriages, and make but moderate way along heavy
roads. The snow, which at Hamburg and in Hol-
stein had totally disappeared on Monday and Tues•
day, and in South Schleswig lay only in streaks and
patches on the north side of banks and in places
sheltered from the sun, increased in quantity as I
approached Apenrade, a poor town, situated in the
innermost corner of one of those deep bays or inlets
frequent on the coast of this peninsula. The night
was so dark that it was with difficulty we bad
avoided collisions with the numerous vehicles met
or passed on the road, and as an arrival at Ha-
dersleben iu the middle of the night would have
been tantamount to passing the remainder of it in
the carriage, I resolved to put up at Apenrade—at
the Stadt Hamburg, of course, the prosperous city
on the Elbe enjoying the distinction of giving its
name to the principal hotel in every Schleswig and
Holstein town I as yet have visited. I had been for-
tunate enough to become acquainted in the railway
carriage with an amiable Austrian officer, who,
having left the service, is making the campaign en
amateur, in company with his former regiment, and
who had gone back to Hamburg for a day or two,
chiefly, as it appeared to me, to obtain a fe w thousand
cigars for the solace of his comrades. Besides his
pleasant companionship his uniform was the best
possible passport, and his acquaintance with the road
and the ways of the country most valuable. The inn-
keepers i❑ Schleswig have been so spoilt of late by
unusual custom that the first sign they make when
a traveller enters their gates is a doubtful shako of
the head, as if there were little hope of accom-
modation. In the morning cams an early start from
Apenrade over a hard-frozen road, our driver in the
Danish livery—a red cloak with yellow collar.
There was plenty of snow now; not in large quanti-
ties on the level surfaces, but filling the ditches, and
in large drifts against the banks and in the hollows,
and soon flakes began to fall. "At Hadersleben it
always snows," remarked my fellow traveller ; and
since my arrival it certainly always has snowed,
although but slightly. It does• not look as if the
end of winter was at hand in this bleak region, but
fortunately the troops are now all under roofs, except
some of those on outpost duty. Hadersleben is
crowded. I know not how meny men are here, but
the number must be very considerable, and all the
villages and hamlets and farmhouses around the
town seem thronged with them. This being pre-
sent the head-quarters both of the Commander-in-
Chief, Marshal Wrangel, and of General Gablenz,
who commands the Austrian corps d' armee, there
are, of course, a great many officers here, and the
difficulty of procuring even the humblest accommo-
dation amounts almost to an impossibility. The
Austrian and Prussian head-quarters are nearly op-
posite to each other at the two principal inns, and
I first sought hospitality at the house where a black
and yellow banner waves over the door, and which
is known by the sigcs of the Raven. But the Raven,
in the person of an obliging landlady, who spoke
English (it is surprising what numbers of persons
in Schleswig, even not in the seaport towns or of
the higher classes, are acquainted with our lan-
guage) could only croak its regrets that not even a
nook, a cupboard, a cellar, or a bed under a table,
was at my disposal. At every inn and publichouse,
and at many private houses where I made inquiries,
the answer was the same. One or two other
travellers, who had also arrived that morning, de-
termined to return to Apenrade, and I was thinking
of hiring the carriage that had brought me, with
the view of using it as a dormitory and dwelling-
plaoe during my stay at Hadersleben, when the
kindness of a countryman relieved me from my ems
barrassment and procured me comfortable quarters.
As regards the military operations of the cam-
paign, they seem to be, for the moment, somewhat
at a standstill. Probably, the proposed Conference
has something to do with this, but other causes may
also be assigned. It is agreed on all hands that the
Danish fortified position at Duppel and Alsen can
bo taken only by a heavy sacrifice of life or by regu-
lar and tedious siege operations. It can hardly be
deemed surprising if Governments and Generals he-
sitate to adopt the former plan, and to lose thousands
of good soldiers for the satisfaction of driving the
Danes from their earthworks and getting possession
of a petty island. On the other hand, if trenches
are to be opened and a bombardment proceeded to,
the necessary materials are not yet at hand in suffi
dent quantity. As regards what is likely ty occur,

this is unquestionably a worse place than Berlin for
obtaining information ; one hears 50 different
opinions, and " shaves" in abundance fly about ; but
if anything positive as to what will next be done be
really known, it is only to the chiefs, and they of
courz,e keep their counsel. Viewing the state of
affairs by the light of common reason, it appears
certain that, if the Conference be not decidedly ac-
cepted by all parties invited, and accepted speedily,
the war must go on. If the Danes will not give up
Duppel and Alsen it is manifest that the Austro,
Prussian army cannot remain here doing nothing
bat eating its rations and amusing itself with out-
post skirmishes while an enemy is firmly posted on
its flank. The war, now virtually suspended, will
be resumed, and probably prolonged until a season
when it will be more likely to extend itself to other
countries than it is at the present moment. The
conflict, now localised, may become European in
spring.

It is difficult to believe that Denmark has any-
thing to gain by obstinately refusing the Conference.
By this time she must surely be convinced that
nobody is disposed to take up arms to reinstate her
in Schleswig upon the old footing—even with the
withdrawal of the 15th November Constitution.
She can no longer hope for the terms she might
easily have obtained before the war commenced. A
personal union is the best she can now expect, and
if she were wise she would at once accept it as the
basin of an arrangement, and proceed to a Con-
ference on that understanding.
A glance at the map of North Schleswig shows
that the present headquarters of the allies are at a
great distance from the only place where there is
any ;present likelihood of fighting taking place.
From here to Gravenetein, where Prince Frederick
Charles has his quarters, it is fully 30 miles, and
thence to Duppel it is four or five miles more.
Hadersleben, however, is a central and natural po-
sition, considering that the Danes are in Jutland,
and the Prussians as far north as Kolding, where
they have been fortifying themselves, and imme-
diately outside of which their advanced posts are.
It has been reported here these last two or three
days that the head-quarters would soon go back to
Flensburg, and this seems not unlikely especially if
Duppel is to be attacked, as they would there be
much nearer to the scene of operations. Their re-
moval would not necessarily imply considerable
charges in the present distribution of the army.
Hadersleben is about 16 miles from Kolding. Some
small outpost affairs have lately occurred in front
of the latter place, and there is a report of a detech-
merit of Prussian Hussars having been taken
prisoners by the Danish Dragoons—whom the
people here tell me are very good cavalry ; but in
the absence of great events numerous rumours of
small ones circulate, many of them with little or no
foundation. The capture of 260 Danish prisoners
in the affair of the 22d of February is stated to have
been the consequence of an imprudent sortie.
Prince Charles of Prussia is at present at his son's
headquarters at Gravenstein. It was reported that
he was coming to take the command of the army,
from which Marshal Wrangel was said to be about
to withdraw, but this report is hitherto unconfirmed.
It excites general surprise that the Marshal, who is
nearly, if not quite, eighty years of age, has borne
the fatigues of the campaign, the exposure and
severe cold, so well as he has done. He is never in
a carriage, but goes through the whole of it on
horseback. The troops, both Prussian and Austrian,
so far as I have as yet had opportunity of observing,
are in excellent spirits and good condition, and 1
am assured that, with the exception of some cases
of skin diseases—the consequence, probably, in great
measure, of the total impossibility there has been
for the soldiers to keep themselves clean in bivouacs,
and iu a season when every drop of water is con-
verted into ice—the army is extremely healthy.
The severity of the cold may have caused a good
deal of discomfort, and even of pain and cases of
frost-bite, especially among the unfortunate 'wounded
at Oversee, but it cannot be said to have been in-
salubrious. At about the same season of the year
the Spaniards in Morocco had little cold but much
rain, and the cholera raged among them. Deci-
dedly Scandinavia is in some respects more favour-
able than Africa to winter campaigning.
The subjoined commnnications have passed be-
tween the Commander-in• Chief a the Austro-
Prussian and Danish armies with respect to the
occupation of Kolding

" Headquarters of the Royal Danish Army, Camp
in Jutland, Feb. 29.
Your Excellency,—By direction of my Government I
have the honour to call your Excellency's attention to the
fact that Raiding, now occupied and burdened with re-
quisitions by the Prussian and Austrian troops, as well as
villages and country districts to the north of that town, lie
within the frontiers of Jutland. I request your Excellency
to be so good as to honour mo with an answer, in proof that,
in conformity with my instructions, I have made this com-
munication to you.

I seize this opportunity of assuring your Excellency o:
;he high consideration, &c.,

VON HEGERMANN-LINDENCRON,
Lieutenant-General.
To his Excellency Field-Marshal Baron Von Wrangel,
commanding the Royal Prussian and Imperial Austrian
troops, &o. _