The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-17 00:00:00

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THE WAR IN DENMARK,

(Rom the Special Correspondent of the Morning Herald.
ASSENS, ISLE OF FIINEN, May 10.

Little more than one division of the army, or
between four and five thousand men, is concen-
trated round Assens. Of these but a regiment
occupies the town. The others extend their quar-
ters to the outlying villages in radii of about three
miles from the centre. Amongst the regiments in
the district I recogaise some of my old friends of
, the 2d. They aro now indeed few, only five or
six officers remaining, and about 230 men out of the
two battalions of 1600. Of course the remnant is
not amongst the number of killed and wounded;
hundreds of them, I am sorry to say, have gone as
prisoners into Germany. But I believe the gallant
Second, who had been previously much distin-
guished, did all that men could do in the terrible
fight of the 18th. The more I hear of that sad
affair the more I am convinced that the success of
the Prussians was almost altogether due to a sur-
prize. Of course, a successful surprize is part of
good military tactics, and reflects credit on the
general who makes use of it with effect; and,
doubtless, also, it shows want of military skill, or
at least prudence, in the commanders of an army
to suffer themselves to be taken unawares. I '
have no more doubt than I have of my
existence that it' the Danes had been aware of the
intention of the enemy on the 18th, and could
have made any tolerable guess as to the hour
of the attack, the assaulting columns would have
been hurled back with immense losses. The whole
affair cannot in its misfortunes be attributed to the
least deficiency of undaunted bravery on the part of
the Danish soldiers. Slowness of apprehension,
confidence that all things take their usual routine
course, and, most probably, the slaughter of the
officers in immediate command nearly at the same
moment and early in the attack, caused a disaster
which there is nothing new to retrieve. One of the
2d Regiment tells me a story which is difficult to
credit, but which must bo true from the authority
on which it is given. In one of the forts a Danish
officer was fighting desperately even when sur-
rounded by the enemy. A stout Prussian closed
upon him behind, and held his arms pinioned, while
another came in front, and, defenceless and at
their mercy, really made a prisoner as the poor
gentleman now was, the barbarous ruffian put the
muzzle of his rifle to his forehead and blew his
brains out. How sad it is in war that the most
gallant men generally go down, and in the ardour
and brutal excitement of a fight the very acts of
bravery which should render them glorious for
ever lead to the loss of their useful lives.

I am told that in Alsen there is not a shot fired,
and there seems to be there a well understood
truce. This is probably useful to both sides—to the
Danes if they believe the place to be untenable, and
intend to evacuate it should a real attempt to take
it be made; to the Prussians, because they are
completing their works, and leisurely making all
necessary preparations to erect batteries in order
to sweep the banks of the Sound. If the Danes,
however, intend to defend the island I fear they
are not playing a very wise game to leave the
Prussian gentlemen at rest. But it is so entirely a
national characteristic to resist obstinately, but to
originate no attack, that one could not expect any
other course to be pursued. lam here assured
that the real intention is to resist vigorously the
passing of the Alsen Sound by the enemy, and that
there are many more troops on the island than I
had believed possible. This intelligence I receive
with reserve, but as a military friend promises to
accompany me in a few days to the scene of our
former campaign, I shall, as an eye-witness, be able
to give you more precise information. At the
same time you must not expect from me any
intelligence which I consider calculated to do in-
jury by its publication to the Danish cause. Such
would neither be grateful nor gentlemanlike. This
once quiet town of Assens seems utterly surprised
at the additional bustle which must necessarily
arise at the seat of the head-quarters of an army.
It is a pretty but very dull place, with an excel-
lent harbour sheltered from all winds by the
islands which lie near it. The streets are very
clean and wide and the houses well built, but
the whole ground has an unsightly flatness
about it, and there is only hill enough to pro-
vide a lodging and a breeze for three windmills
instead of over a dozen which one generally sees
surrounding most of the Danish sk, 'ond-rate towns.
Assens has one advantage not uaual in small towns
in any country. It boasts of a very pretty little
park, well planted and tastily loud out as a pleasure
ground and promenade for the people of the place.
At one extremity of the park is the public ceme-
tery, entirely removed from the town. In fact, Den-
mark is by no means behind the rest of the world
in many of the improvements of modern civilisation.
If she follows somewhat in the rear of our fast days,
it is in retaining freshly some of the virtues of a
purely agricultural people—love of truth, honesty
in dealings, unshowy hospitality, and firmness of
purpose when she thinks she has a just cause to de-
fend. If such be remnants of an antediluvian era
and the pre-railway period, they will doubtless be
sneered at by the money-getting men of more push-
ing countries; and yet I hope such virtues—let
others call them follies—may linger a little longer
amongst the simple Danes, who are the truest gen-
tlemen of nature that I have yet met. They may
be "too good to live," as a cynical friend of mine
said, but they possibly have a nobler boast—they
are good enough to die. This is what many
cannot say. The town here, though pretty enough
and clean enough, is thought a miserable quar-
ter by the officers of the staff. This is quite
natural on a sudden transition from all the
excitement of a continued battle, as the
defence of Dybbol may really be called for, for six
weeks, to a little summer bathing place. Some slight
efforts have been made to retrieve the natural dul-
ness of the place. A theatre has been established,
and a pompous playbill placed each morning on
your table announces the able cast of the novelties
specially got up for the great occasion. A military
band, too, playa each evening at five before the win-
dows of the mess-room of the staff officers at the
hotel. Again, at watch-setting, at nine o'clack,
military music parades the streets, and loud brass
instruments and national airs attract crowds of little
boys, and, indeed, of more full-grown and of
better dressed persons, who seem, so unusual is
the thing, to look upon as "airs from heaven"
what better educated ears are sometimes obliged
unwillingly to acknowledge as mere resembling
" blasts from —." I need not complete the
sentence, but you have sometimes beard our own
English volunteer bands of music in the early stage
of their existence. Do not understand me as
throwing any general imputation on our music
here. I have heard one or two very tolerable bands,
but ears that have listened to the Austrian soldier
music, and the Imperial Guards' band at Paris, and
the Royal Artillery's sweet strains at
will sometimes be a little more exacting than
reason is quite fair.
One can now see something more o Woolwicin
theh Danish,
seemed never
soldier than during the winter, when lie was enve-
loped in enormous great-coats, which
removed from the body. The clothing of soldiers
of the line is a dark blue tunic, of substantial
material, piped in red, and having a broad
shoulder-strap, on which the regiment is notified in
brass numerals. The buttons, which are in two
are of white metal, plain and
withoutrows
number or device whatever. The
trousers any number
are made long and full,
in colour of
in
al
Danish or light blue, having pockets at the sides
which seem to have wonderful attractions for the
wearer's hands. They are seldom removed from
them, and hence, probably, the rather stooping
gait and rounded shoulders. The full-dress cap is
one of those ugly transition hats which we have' I
sometimes seen on soldiers' heads in England, and