The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-28 00:00:00

THE WALT t IN DENMARK.

(From Me Times ASpe(da4 Correspondent with the Allied

Army.)
BROACXER, March 20.
I took a ride. yesterday afternoon round the Prus-
sian advanced posts, as far as Rickebull, passing
over most of the ground in which the fight of the
17th inst. occurred. Taking a northward road from
Broacker I reached the high road, rather in advance

of Nubel, and proceeded along it, past Frydendal,
to the hill usually known as the Ruhenberg, but

_ -
which Ido not find named on any map. It is im•

mediately on the right of the highway, and has re-
mained in the hands of the Prussians since its cap-
ture on Thursday last. A strong picket of infantry
and two howitzers are stationed there. A roof of

planks has been laid over a pit, forming a sort of
but for the men to sleep in. Immediately below the
crest of the hill the ground is slightly hollowed out
and here straw is spread, and men lying down on
it watch the proceedings of the enemy, Judging by
the eye, I estimate the distanea from this hill to the
nearest Danish fort (No. 5) at half an English mile,
or little more. At the further end of the first field

from the advanced picliet, and behind the hedge
of the next field were the sentries. About 150

yards further stood the Danish sentries, spread
along a line by twos. Every now and then a few
shots are fired by the men in advance, the tempta-
tion beinglas it seems too strong to resist. A house
a little in rear of the hill had been burnt during the

fight on Thursday. Having seen all that was to
ba seen, and had a good look at the Danes
moving about within their lines, I returned
along the highway and took the cross road through
West Duppel. The village is not nearly so much
destroyed as was reported; a few houses have been
burnt, but the majority are still standing. Many
bear the marks of shell and bullet, including the

church, which is nearly the rearmost building of the
village, and whose belfry and walls had suffered

from Prussian shot. Around it and in the neigh-
bouring houses the Prussian garrison is now chiefly

stationed, the foremost houses of the Tillage being
too much at the mercy of the fire from the Danish

forts. Continuing my way along a narrow lane

still northwards to Rackebull, I passed just within
the advanced posts, extended behind the hedge-row
a rising ground to the tight, and suddenly, by fa-
vour of a dip in the land, obtained an excellent
view ot Fort No. 9, and, to my surprise, for I was
not aware it could be seen from that part of the
line, ot the town ot Sonderborg—from the north-
west, ,s I previously had seen it from the south-
west, this latter being, nowever, by far the best point
to observe it from. Oa Fort No. 9 was visible a black
mass of troops, the Danish outposts were very near,
and the Prussians in the lane and fields seemed
much upon the alert, as if anticipating a brash.
Rackebull, a small straggling village, was occupied
by a considerable number of soldiers, and they had
established a lookout place on the roof of a house
by means of two connected ladders, reaching to the
summit of the sloping roof. Desiring, if possible,
to return home by another road, I and my com-
panion pulled up in the middle of the village, and
began to study a map. This was too much for
the equanimity of the soldiers, who had already
eyed us with something more than curiosity as we
pursued our zigzag way among the scattered cot-
tages. Two civilians, evidently foreigners—for our
tongue, I fear, betrayed us in some inquiries we had
made about the road—presenting themselves thus
among the outposts within easy distance of the
Danes, and pausing in the market-place to look at
a map and ask questions, what could they be but
spies? It was exactly what spies might be exp:cted
to do, so, at least, evidently thought the garrison of
Rackebull. With the corner of my eye, as I sought

the right path upon the map, I marked the rising
suspicion, and when I looked up, we were surounded.
" Who are you, and whence come, and whither
going ?" The honest, good-humoured fellows, who
seem to dream of spier, had, I believe, sent for an
officer, but he was not immediately to be found.
The production of a piece of paper, bearing a few
magical wards and a magnificent seal (the seal is
of great effect in such cases, especially if one has to
do with people who, like Tony Lunipkin, are not
very apt at reading handwriting) quickly produced
an apology and opened a passage. As there is no
second road, except a very circuitous one, from
Rackbull to Breaker, we returned by the way we
came, varying it by passing through the Buffo'
Koppel, a sloping and picturesque woodland patch.
The whole of the ride was through a country which,
when, spring, shall have replaced the stubborn win-
ter that still refuses to relinquish its icy grasp of
the soil, will certainly be extremely beautiful.
Last night a battery of three rifled 12 pounders was
established on the right of the Ruhenberg, a little
to the rear of that important hill and nearer to the
Venning Band. This morning there has been some
pretty brisk firing, the Danish batteries have been
unusually lively—irritated, I suppose, at seeing
their enemy closing in upon them. They have been
firing shell from large ship guns-68 pounders, I
believe—and at one time, when I wasobserving them
from a height near Broacher, they seemed to be
paying particular attention to the new battery, es
if they considered its intrusion unwarrantable.
Several shells burst in it or unpleasantly near to it,
but what casualties occurred I have not yet heard.
The distance is not great, but it is astonishing what
a deal of powder and shot it sometimes takes to
make up a few dead men even at short range. Of
this we had an example in the combat of the 17th.
Considering the amount of shell and rifle bullets
then fired away one might have expected a heavy
butcher's bill. But the Prussian loss is returned as
less than 100—between 80 and 90, I hear, Concern-
ing the loss of the Danes exaggerated rumours have
been current, but I have good grounds for believing
that when you get the returns from the other side
it will prove to have been nearly 100 dead and
about twice as many wounded, besides the 270 pri-
soners before mentioned. The Danes left many dead
and wounded behind them, and the latter are in the
Prussian hospital, with the exception of two or
three who have already died of their wounds. On
Friday there was a suspension of arms for a few
hours for the purpose of burying the dead left on
the field. This morning gravedigging was going on
in Broacker churchyard, so probably there have
been some more deaths in the hospital. The doctors
tell me that most of those who are mortally wounded
die within the first two days. For the disparity of
the loss of the 17th betweeen Prussians and Danes
I can account only by the great superiority of the
rifles used by the former. Reverting to the recent
little action, and with reference to the account I
gave of it in my letter of the 18th, I find that it
commenced with a kind of sortie of the
.11anes—
that is to say, two battalions advanced on Racke •
bull, hoping to burn it before the troops stationed
there could be reinforced. They were quickly re-
pulsed, but this brought on the fight. It was not
at first intended to keep West Duppel (East
Duppel, erronecusly reported to have been taken,
was situated close to Fort No. G, and was razed
to the giound by the Danes some time ago) but
Prince Frederick Charles, for reasons which
are not public, bat which may easily be divined,
afterwards resolved to do so, and sent down
an aide-de-camp with the requisite order. The
place must soon have been taken if the attack
oa Duppel was to proceed, and of course it was best
to keep it when once c-ptured. Unfortunately the
had already been evacuated, and had to be
taken again—with less fighting, however, than the
first time,
according 'o the opinion of various officers
engaged. The interval between the end of the first
fight and beginning of the second was very brief.
Tne extent of ground acquired by the Prussians is
not great, but it is decidedly important, by reason
of the diminution it makes in the distance between
besiegers and besieged.
strong,
The Danish positions are
certainly exceedingly and although one
heard speak, some time ago, of taking them by a
rush after dsuniulg the garrison a little by a heavy
cannonade, I do not hear anything of the kind now,
but on the contrary, men talk of regular approaches
being made, and of the place being
treated like
another Sebastopol, which fortress, at least in the
strength of its massive earthworks and the weep-
ness of some of its ascents, it not a little resembles.
If the Danes be as • good soldiers as their friends
represent them, and as they have to some extent
proved themselves to be in the present war, the

Prussians have a great deal of work before them,
and certainly will not gain the place without paying
dearly for it. And if they have to take the place—
which they cannot do without great loss of life—l
think you will find that the military spirit of Ger-

many will have been roused by the conflict, and that
the personal union will no longer be agreed to by
the German Governments. Here, in this poor little

Schleswig village, with a name as rugged as the
climate and the coast, we hear not much of politics,
dee few papers (a couple of ten days old limes that
have just reached me, after wandering over the
greater part of Schleswig and part of Jutland, are
quite a treasure), and know nothing of what diplo-
matists are planning and doing. But there are some
things that will stand out pretty clearly before us.
The allies will not leave their lines round Duppel
until the Danes have evacuated it de gre ou de force;
the siege may be a long one, but they will ultimately
take the place, because their resources are greater,
their implements of war better, and their troops, in

my belief, and as I think the incidents of the cam-
paign have already shown, of superior quality to those
of their enemy; finally, the prolongation of this
conflict greatly increases the danger of its leading
to an European war. These three propositions are,
I think, incontrovertible, and they certainly claim
some consideration at the hands of those who desire

and have it in their power to restore and maintain

peace in Europe.
It is afternoon and, as I write, I hear the big
Danish guns occasionally booming, but the cannon-
ade seems less lively. To-day is Prince Frederick
Charles's birthday, and the soldiers said this morn-
ing that the unusually brisk and early interchange

ofshols was in celebration of the festival. The

Prince is very popular with the troops under his
orders; his activity is great, and he is constantly to
be seen riding about and visiting the lines and out-
posts. He has long had the reputation of a very
smart soldier, and he has now the opportunity,
doubtless much coveted, of proving his military
capacity in ate important command and a difficult
enterprise.
A Danish officer taken the other day at West
Duppel states that five of the Prussian shells fell
in Sonderborg, and caused no small sensaCon, as
well as considerable apprehension lest these live
proofs of the powers of the Prussian guns should
only be the precursors of a great many others. You
may tranquilize the minds of your friends in that
place by informing them that there is no present
intention of practising upon its buildings or shelling
out its inhabitants. But when the day comes for
an assault upon the forts, they had better be upon
their guard. There are certain fire-shells in store
for them which assuredly will not miss their mark.
Nothing can save Sonderborg upon that day when
the Prussian artillery shall devote it to destruction.
Advantageous points for the observation of the
surrounding country, including the greater part of
that corner of the mainland which the Danes still
occupy, abound in th© neighbourhood of the quaint
and pretty village in which I have for the present
taken up my quarters. The nearest of these points
is the churchyard, which forms the rendezvous for
idlers and others desirous to watch the exchange of
shots between batteries and forts. Just within the
low parapet wall separating it from the road, above
which it is somewhat elevated, groups of soldiers are
nearly all day to be seen, and in the morning, before
the reliefs go out, one usually meets there officers of
all ranks, smoking their after-breakfast cigar or
waiting for their horses to be brought up, while the
surgeons from the neighbouring hospital stroll in
after going their rounds, as though it were to watch
the sexton preparing a last resting place for those
their skill has been inadequate to save. There is
naturally no small interchange of news, of remarks
on the past incidents and future probabilities of the
campaign, and it is possible that not a few canards
are first hatched iu that cemetery. Field glasses
are in demand to ascertain what may have occurred
during the night, whether any new battery has
sprung up on our side, or any visible damage been
sustained by those upon the other, especially by
that inveterate fellow, No. 2 Fort, who has hitherto
fired more than any three of the others—perhaps
than all put together, and who has been pelted in
proportion. Then, from one corner of the church,
high above the ground, project two poles, from
which depend sundry cords, to which latter at
times black balls are attached, arranged in various
positions, signalling orders or information to other
similar posts at a distance. Persons whose curiosity
is not to be satisfied by what they can see from the
ground below, may, by ascending sundry ladders,
squeezing theasseives through trapdoors, and ven-
turing over some very ricketty temporary flooring,
reach a high station within the church, where they
will find a guard of soldiers, loopholes in the wail,
and a good telescope through which to look down
upon the surrounding country. I have not yet had
leisure fully to ascertain all that is done within that
ceurcle, but one feat that is daily performed on a
certain part of its exterior is worthy to be pointed
out to that eccentric Englishman who is said con-
tinually to attend the exhibitions of the most intre-
pid lion-tamer in hopes of seeing him one day de-
voured by his beasts. Broacker church has two
steeples, strongly reminding one, by their form, of
Reculvers, and constantly intruding themselves into
view, owing to their elevated position as one wan-
ders over the surrounding country. The points of
the slated steeples, rising out of towers which, as
well as the body of the edifice, are of a whiteness
pure enough to make any London church shake
with envy, are surmounted by tall iron rods, sup-
porting two quaint figures, which, if they had legs,
would represent a caricature of feathered bipeds,
and which are supposed to be cocks, and to have
been once gilt—probably thinly, or very long ago,
for the process sadly wants renewing. About halt
way up each rod is a rusty iron ornament, of no
great size, and of a form difficult to describe, but
from below they looked to me like iron Catherine
wheels, the rods passing through their centre. On
one of the &et days that I was at Broacker, returning
home towards dusk, I was startled at seeing a living
creature, whose genus I could not immediately de-
fine, apparently transfixed on the iron rod of the
north steeple. Its limbs moved and curled them_
selves round the rod, as if in the agonies likely to
be caused by impalement ; and it was rather a relief
to find, on nearer approach, that the strange object
was not writhing in the tortures of a cruel death,
but only a man looking through a telescope. By
opening a doer in the side of the steeple, which fell
back into a horizontal position and so served as a
platform, and by planting a ladder upon it, he had
got to the top of the steeple; then began the ascent
of the finial, and that was more difficult, but its base
is an iron ball, looking like a cauldron with the
cover on, and upon this he had managed to get
and thence firmly to fix two wooden bars, by means
of a cord, transversely on the iron rod, forming two
steps, which enabled him to reach the ornament
betore-mentioned. Upon this he sat, with one arm
round the rod, calmly sweeping the enemy's lines
with a long telescope. On the platform of the
steeple a soldier lay upon his back looking up at
this adventurous climber, and probably transmit-
ting his communications to some one within. By
the aid of my glass I made out that the man on the
red was tall and stout and bearded, and that he
seemed as much at his ease in that perilous post as
if lee had passed his life. Assuredly he mast, at
oue time or another, have been either a sailor or a
tiler, or perhaps he has taken lessons of Biondin.
I have got used to seeing him 11077, for he passes
hours every day up there, and I have seen him
go down and get up very steadily and delibe-
rately, assisting himself by one or two rope-ends
that hang from the rod ; and I have left off suppoi-
ing that he must end by scattering his brains on
the tombstones below for want of a firm grasp or of
a head that never knows dizziness, and I hardly
think it would be worth the while of a sensation-
seeker to take up his quarters in Broacher on the
chance of his coming to grief. A man who passes
his drys in so exalied a position may be euppo-ed
unwilling to condescend to earth even for his
nightly rest ; and I suspect he must take his meals
and sleep in some lofty nook of that ancient edifice.
I did think I saw him one day turning a corner,
and I rushed after him to express my respect for
his performances, and inquire about the manners
and habits of the Danes, which he is always prying
into, but I did not find him ; and, as I saw him a
f,w• minutes later sitting cross-legged on the iron

bar, I suppose I was mistaken. He is a most pe-
cu'iar and interesting feature of the scenery in
Broacker churchyard, and I sincerely hope that a
deviation of the finial from the perpendicular,
which I to-day observed, will not increase to such
an extent as to deprive the army of his services,
and the commanding officer of the valuable infer-
mation he doubtless conveys to him. Perhaps he
had better try the other steeple.
An officer and eight men, including two Danes,
who had died of wounds received on the 17th, were
buried this afternoon in Broacker churchyard. One-
half of the wounded from that affair now in hospital
here are Danes.

The following is the full text of the Message of
the King of Denmark to the Rigsdag

We, Christian IX., &c., send our Royal greeting to the
Rigsdag.
The deliberations of the Rigsdag close at a period preg-
nant with important events, Many of your number when
you return to your homes will find them occupied by the
enemy. Accept our thanks for having quietly and un-
dauntedly remained at your posts in the Legislative Assembly,
affording powerful support to our Government in the struggle
for the country. Carry our greeting with you to all quarters
of the land, Tell your fellow• citizens that our heart bleeds
at the thought of the sufferings of our faithful subjects on
both sides of the Konigsau, but tell them at the same time
that our enemies little know the. Dane if they fancy the
burdens they impose upon him will arouse the wish within
his breast that we should sacrifice the holy cause of the
country.
By threats of employing force our predecessors upon the
throne were induced to assign to the duchies of Holstein
and Lauenburg a peculiar position in the monarchy, and the
situation thereby rendered necessary is now styled a breach
of treaty obligations. An execution has been carried out in
Holstein upon pretext of these obligations, and Sohleswig
is occupied as a pledge. During the execution in Holstein,
and under the protection of the troops of the German Con-
federation, free scope is given to the revolutionary move-
ment directed against us. The occupation of Schleswig is
made use of to treat that portion of the country like a Prus-
sian or Austrian province. Clerical and civil officials are
dismissed in crowds, clergy and persons in authority are
carried off to prison upon frivolous pretexts, and treated
worse than common criminals ; the monument to our brave
fallen warriors is desecrated and torn down; our own initials
are obliterated from all public buildings ; the use of the style
"Royal" is prohibited ; the ancient flag of the country, the
Dannebrog, is made to give place to the revolutionary banner
of 1848; the regulations of toe special Schleswig cunstitution
with regard to language are violated by an arbitrary decree.
The enemy has not even been content to stop here; he
has crossed the Konigsau and now overruns North Jutland.
Still we stand alone. We know not how long Europe
will remain an indifferent spectator of the acts of violence
committed against us and our people.

We repeat our assurance to the Rigsdag. We are ready
to do everything to obtain a peace which would be service-
able to the country; but our enemies must be aware that
the time is still distant when we or our people can be com-
pelled to submit to a peace humiliating to Denmark.
The last word of your King to you and to your onstitu-
ents is—Endurance I
God be with you.