The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-17 00:00:00

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG.
(From the Times)
ADVANCE OF THE HOLSTEIN TROOPS ON
ECKERNFOUDE ; REPULSE OF THEIR AT-
TACK ON THE BRIDGE OF MISSUNDE.

RENDSBERG, SEPT. 13.—The severest engagement
that has taken place between the two armies since the
battle of Idstedt occurred yesterday, the Schleawig-
Holstein troops having made a reconnaissance to-
wards Eckernforde and Missunde in a strong force,
and attacked the bridge across the Schlei at the latter
point, but without success; after cannonading the
defences of tire bridge on the north bank of
the Schlei for more than an hour, the artillery
was recalled, and the troops supporting it retired
along the line of country by which they had ad-
vanced during the day, bivouacing to the north of
their original positions. After the cannonade ceased,
and as the troops sent forward with the batteries
were retiring, the Danes, who had drawn in the
bridge, threw it across the creek again, issued
from the entrenchments with several field-pieces,
and for some time annoyed the Holsteiners,
who were on the chaussee to Eckernforde,
and immediately south of it considerably ; but
they were in too great force to be pursued, and as
soon as the Danes discovered the strength of the bat-
talions which had not been engaged, they ceased the
pursuit and regained their fortified position. The at-
tack had the result of proving that the Danes have
constructed such entrenchments that, without a very
superior force, they cannot be taken, and then only'
with the certainty of sustaining a great loss; and this
is true of every point of their position south of the
Schlei, from Missunde to the town of Schleswig itself.
It was known on the evening of the 11 th that a
movement somewhat more important than usual was
contemplated. A large number of waggons, put in
requisition for the baggage, the knapsacks of the
infantry, &c., left Rendsburg during the night; the
head-quarters of the advanced guard, under Colonel
Gerhard and Major von Stutterheim, were at Holz
bunge, a little hamlet between the two lakes Wit-
tensee and Bistensee. In a farm-house here
the Colonel and his adjutants were finishing a
Teniers-looking breakfast when I arrived, and de•
tachments of troops were already moving forward
between Rendsburg and this point. I passed them
concentrating on the line of road northward, from
several directions, by Budelsdorf. The waggons
that had gone in the night were already packed
with the knapsacks of the infantry and chasseurs,
which are thus taken on without compelling the men
to march under an oppressive weight. Further on
two pontoons were mounted on waggons, with others
carrying the materials for bridging over a stream,
but they were never used, and this part of the
train did nothing but encumber the narrow
roads, both during the adeance, and- the retreat, if the
word may be used, and if in using it I do not " mis-
call retire." The first purpose of the movement was
to clear all the country north from the head of the
Wittensee Lake to Eckernforde, Missunde, and as fir
west of it towards Schleswig as might be possible, of
the Danish troops encamped in the intervening space,
but not entrenched. A force quite strong enough to
effect it was taken • the whole of the advanced guard
of Colonel Gerhard's brigade moved up through Da-
mendorf to Osterbye; the 4th and 12th battalions of
infantry formed the right wing of the advanced guard,
and took a parallel route, but more to the east, upon
Kochendorf; a corps of Jagers, still more to the
right, advanced on Westerthal and Eckernforde itself.
I took the same road as the 4th battalion of Infantry
to Oeterbye, since one route must needs be chosen,
and cannot speak of what occurred on the left
and centre, except from report. For some time our
route lay along the shore of the Wittensee, close
to the water's edge ; it was a lovely morning, cool,
with a brilliant sun—one of those days which make
the early autumn one of the pleasantest seasons
of the year. The lake shone like a sheet of
silver, and the wooded banks were reflected
clear and sharp in it to every minute detail
in its depth. Beyond the village of Great Wittensee
we turned off the Eckernforde road to the left, and
by various indirect and crooked ways—which the
maps themselves do not give very accurately, for
more than one mistake had to be rectified by return-
ing—we got on the ground till lately within the
Danish lines. It was anticipated that the Danish
outposts would be found somewhere about Osterbye,
and the calculation proved pretty correct. About
half-past twelve o'clock an irregular fire of small
arms to our right indicated that the Jagers advancing
in that direction on Westerthal had come upon them,
and it was equally as evident that the Danes were re-
tiring; the same process was going on on the left,
and we had nothing to do but to listen and speculate.
We had got beyond Osterbye and were approaching
Kochendorf before anything was visible, but there we
saw the last of a Danish company being driven from
a wood to the right of the latter village. The Danes
retired so readily, and were dislodged from point to
point with so little difficulty, that they plainly acted
on orders to fall back if attacked in any force
without exposing themselves to loss, and retire
within the fortified position behind them ; thus the
advance was little more than a march ; by
three o'clock the whole staff were in Kochendorf,
and the extensive camp constructed by the Danes
to the north of the village abandoned. But the
country between Kochendorf and Missunde was
not quite cleared of them; a few field-pieces were
still keeping up a fire on them as the 2d and 4:h bat-
talions of the Holsteiners were coming up from the
rear and forming a little in advance of the village
itself. It was four o'clock before the artillery intended
for the attack on the bridge at Missunde was sent
forward, accompanied by the above-named bat-
talions. As two or three thousand men and a long
train- of heavy guns, with all their attendant am-
munition and reserve waggons, are not to be moved
over a given space of ground in the twinkling of an
eye, and I had had some previous experience of
how long such a process requires, I gave them an
hour to get into position, and sat down quietly on the
top of a hill near the village to calculate chances ;
the first problem being whether the Holsteiners
would take the bridge or not, and the second
which of the neighbouring localities looked the
most promising as to refreshments. On the slope
of a hill in front of me was the empty camp of the
Danes, and as where soldiers congregate something
in the shape of a " public" is never far off, I fol-
lowed the moving column towards it; and found,
just where it might have been expected, a little
Wirthshaus ; three girls were flirting audaciously
with the artillerymen as they passed by, leaving all
the work of the crisis to an old woman who was
hoisting water from a well. A still older man, in a state
of stupefaction, was looking at the soldiers, and won.
dering, in plait Deutsch, " Where, in God's name,
do all the people come from ?" He caught me by
the collar with the hook of his stick, and appealed
to me as a Landsmann to solve the difficulty. I
told him simply " Rendsburg and the camp," but be
shook his head doubtfully, and I fear has not settled
the matter to his satisfaction yet. There was a
bucket of cold water at the door, which the soldiers
were drinking greedily, and a remote prospect of cof-
fee inside if I looked strictly to the grinding and boiling
myself. A beginning was made, and till the end should
be reached, I, like the old man, watched what was
passing. A cannoneer was walking up and down the
entrance, stamping and swearing for pain, his hand
having been severely burned by a grenade. Some
waggons with wounded drove up, for the can-
nonade that had driven the Danes from their
last position had not been quite harmless ; the
wounds were mostly severe; one poor man had
his leg completely shattered ; another, who had been
struck in the stomach, was already in the agonies of
death, and more were arriving. The immense mass
of suffering on such occasions soon destroys even
the wish of rendering assistance from the utter
hopelessness of the effort, and the spectator be-
comes fearfully indifferent. In the middle of
such a scene we were obliged for self-preservation
to take something ; our going without would have
bean no use to others ; and as the time was nearly up
I followed the course of the battalion, which led di-
rectly past the deserted camp. It was a long square of
thatched sheds, very neatly constructed, with single
huts in the centre. I went into some of them with a
few of the Holsteiners, who were left as guards over it.
The interiors were quite snug, the seats provided
with plaited straw matting, and in some the
floor. The Danes had had time to remove all their
baggage, and not a single article had been het
behind • but the tables were still marked with
the chalked scores of the last game of cards. The
Holsteiners confessed that " their people" had never
succeeded in building such a camp, and could not
enough admire the " finish" that had been given
to everything. They allowed they might learn
something,from the Danske. I thougbt of selecting
one crib for the niglet, but fate had otherwise ordered
it. A cannonade in front indicated that the attack
on the bridge had begun. The 2d and 4th battalions
were stationed to the south of the Eckernforde
chamssie • the artillery was on the rising ground over-
looking the Schlei, beyond Cosel supported by a body
of Jagers, I do not know of what corps, and some
infantry and cavalry ; but throughout the day
the greater part of the line was not in action
at all. The Danes bad abandoned the tete du pont
on the south bank, had withdrawn the bridge, and
returned the fire of the Holstein field pieces from
the strong fortifications on the north bank ; the
Schlei at this point is very narrow, not more than 200
paces across. To the west of the bridge were two
Danish gunboats, which also took part in the
action.. It lasted from half-past four till nearly
six, when, as no impression had been made on the
works, the firing on the ;Holstein side was stopped,
and the guns brought back to the Eckernforde
chaussee, towards the main body of the force. The
whole were preparing to retire to their positions
in the rear, when it appeared that the Danes had,
with almost incredible celerity, again thrown the
bridge across,
.aud. had sent out a force with geld- .