The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-14 00:00:00

The War in Denmark

(From the Times Special Correspondent lately alike Danish
Head-quarters.)
COPENHAGEN, May 10.
General Wilater left Copenhagen on Saturday.
It was said he was only going to Assens, in Funen;
but I have reason to believe that his further
destination is Frederickehaven, in the north of
Jutland, whither three regiments were to accoms
pany or to follow him. General Wilster was, as
you may remember, in command at Frederickstadt,
on the Eider, at the outbreak of the war in Schles-
wig, and when the abandonment of the Dannewerke
was resolved upon he withdrew his garrison from
the stronghold which was committed to his care,
and effected his retreat with a skill and in an order
that was highly commended at the time. Subse-
quently Wilater was sent to Fredericia, in Jutland,
and had the supreme management of that fortress
till, on the first attack of the Austrians, he was
wounded, together with Major Hoffmann, the
chief, and two other officers of his staff, and had to
resign his command to Col. Lundig. Gen. Wilater
has now recovered from his wounds (his less fortu-
nate chief of the staff, Hoffmann, died the other
day, after long suffering), and upon his effecting
the junction of his troops with the division of
Hegermann-Lindenkrone it is expected he may
achieve something worthy of his well-established
renown.

General Wilster is a comparatively young man—
not, I should think, above 45 years old ;
at any rate
in the fall enjoyment of all his faculties. It has been
the ill-lack of Denmark in this war to have her
troops commanded by men promoted to the highest
ranks by mere right of seniority, men who talked
in their proclamations of " unsheathing a sword
which had hung on their side for 50 years, forget.
ting that the innocent weapon had done little more
for half a century than rattle and clatter on the pa-
lace stairs at the King's levees, or lie in the corner
of a room at the War-office. But here, in Denmark,
we had worthy gentlemen who won, perhaps, their
epaulettes and girt on their swords at the Peace of
1814, who, in all probability did good duty in a
subordinate capacity at the head of a company or a
battalion during the wild desultory war of 1849,
and who, after rusting like old blades in their scab-
bards, have emerged at the head of their country's
forces, and have assumed the general direction of a
campaign merely on the strength of their having
outlived their comrades and superiors. The evil is in
the system, and the system is fair and honest in
theory, no doubt, though pre ctically the effect is
deplorable. We have had here for the last three
months generalissimoG whom it would have delighted
poor Thackeray to describe—padded and painted
septuagenarians, but who seldom showed them-
selves to their soldiers, and before whose counterfeit
juvenility their soldiers could scarcely keep their
countenance. Wilster and Lundig, Lessons, and Du
Plat, and others who have done good work, had also
seen war, and it was upon these and upon subaltern
officers on the Staff, such as Stjernholm, Rosen, &c.,
that the real conduct of the campaign eventually
devolved. It is high time now, if the war is to pro-
ceed, that the true leaders should stand forth in the
foremost rank, and
the departure of Wilster for
Jutland is looked upon here as a good move, espe-
cially as he will find in command of one of Linden-
krone's brigades that Col. Beck who at the head of
the 10th (Copenhagen)
Regiment strood his ground
so manfully against a large force of Austrians at
0 verso on the retreat from the Dannewerke.
What good that small Lindenkrone division, even
if raised by the reinforcements that are to be sent
with Wilster to a force of 8,000 or 10,000 comba-
tants, may effect upon
Coming into collision with
such masses of troops as the Austro-Prussians can
bring against it, I shall not undertake to discuss.
One cannot help wondering at the pluck and energy
of this little Denmark, who,
after being worsted in
defence of these strongholds on which her chief reli-
ance rested, does not even in these extremities shrink
from a prolonged conflict in the open field. There
are, I am told, in those wilds of Northern Jutland,
all along the line of the winding Lumfjorden,
swamps and morasses most propitious to the ma-
noeuvres
Danes, it is true, have no light troops of any kind ;
and although
they contend that their foot soldiery
a
anan
and
extensive
trained to do duty as light infan-
try,guerilla warfare. The
still I question whether their mea are of the
proper bulk re
aua rm offd
and build for bersaglieri work; and,
although it might
be possible to pick out individuals
from the various corps in some manner answering
the purpose,
I doubt whether soldiers the vast ma-
jority of whom have hardly been three months
under arms can be fitted for such complicate service
as that of tiraleurs and Zouaves on the spur of the
moment.
Events will solve all these questions if hostilities
are to be carried on. This very day the Conference
meet in London, and the result of their deliberation
ought to be either an armistice or a breaking up of
all farther negotiation. As far as I can make out,
the Government here build no very solid hopes on
endeavours
the results attainable by the well-meant
of the mediating Power
s• For their own part, they
seem anxious for a cessation of hostilities, and are
willing to meet their adversaries more than half-
way. I have been positively assured that the Copan
hagen Cabinet is not only ready to give up the
blockade of the Baltic ports, but also to accede to the
restitution of the captured vessels. On the other
hand, they deem themselves entitled to demand the
complete evacuation of Jutland • and the indemnifi-
cation_
viduals who have
of the communities and ind I
been either subjected to contributions, or who have
otherwise been despoiled and plundered by the Ger-
man invaders. Such an arrangement would leave
the Austro-Prussians in possession of the whole
Schleswig mainland, and fully satisfy the demands
put forward by Marshal Wrangel at the outbreak of
the war. His intimation to General do Mete was
that be, Wrangel, should be allowed to occupy and
to administer Schleswig in the name of the allied
Sovereigns. What the Danes would tot give of
their own accord has been now taken from them by
force of arms, and tho parties have it now in their
power to treat on the basis originally proposed by
the German Powers. I believe that, with a view to
remove all subjects of dispute, the Danish Govern-
ment would consent to the temporary abandonment
of Ale, Arnie, and other minor isles belonging to the
duchy of Schleswig, into the enemy's hands.
All these matters are, I have no doubt, being de-
bated in London, in the bosom of the Conference,
at the moment I am writing; but, whatever the
results of to day's sitting of the Plenipotentiaries
may be, I thought it might at some future
time, and in the event of the negotiation mis-
carrying, be of importance that the world should
know what I firmly believe is the disposition of mind
of the Danish Ministers at this moment. There is
no hope in their hearts that the m1(144'118° Wh"