Battle of Lundby The Battle of Lundby happened south of Lundby in northeast Himmerland on 3 July 1864 in the Second War of Schleswig . A Danish company of the First Regiment tried a head - on bayonet charge down a long hillside , but stopped 20 meters in front of the earth dike that the Prussians lay in cover behind . This battle was the last in the Second War of Schleswig , and resulted in great Danish losses . Background . At the time the fight in Jutland had really been given up . The army had been severely defeated at Dybbøl in April and a few days after displaced from Als . The remaining forces had withdrawn north of Limfjorden and were being evacuated from Frederikshavn . The First Regiment under Lieutenant - Colonel H . C . J . Beck had been left behind in Nørresundby to hide the retreat as long as possible , secure the sea - inlet crossings and - if possible without disproportionate risk - advance southwards . On 1 July the Prussians sent three scouting units north from Hobro . Beck decided immediately to move to the south with Fifth Company ( 160 men ) against Ellidshøj . Here he expected to meet one of the commands in night ' s lodging . This had moved south , but another was reported from Gunderup to the east , which Beck reached at dawn . Here a column of dragoon s was seen to the north , and by scouts it was found that it stopped in Lundby . The battle . The scouts had been seen by the Prussians who had gone in cover with about 70 out of 124 men behind an earth dike in Lundby ' s south edge . From the burial mound Kongehøj about 500 metres south of the town , a long flat hill slopes down to the town . Beck ordered the company commander , Captain P . C . Hammerich , to carry out a strong determined bayonet charge from Kongehøj . Several locals were here and offered to lead the company easterly through a ravine or westerly where some fences would be able to give cover , which Beck however refused , as his company was not to be led by a farmer , and as the straight road was the shortest . With cheers the company ran forward in half columns . The Prussians with their breech - loading rifles fired 3 salvos ( the first at 200 meters ' distance ) , stopping the attack 20 meters in front of the earth dike . The Danish loss was 70 men , being three - quarters of their force , against three wounded Prussians . The Prussians did not choose to exploit the victory to chase the remaining Danes ; instead they broke formation and went to Hobro bringing both their own and Danish wounded . They also brought 13 dead to Gunderup . Result and analysis . The fight ' s immediate result was a clear defeat for Denmark , as the Danish side had a loss of 32 dead , 44 wounded , 20 captured , and two missing - in all 98 - against only three wounded Prussians . In the big picture the fight would not mean much - Denmark had already lost the war , and a possible victory would hardly have altered this . Generally it is said that an attacker at the start should have a strength superiority on a factor of three ; Here were the Danes not even twice so many as the defending . But yet different causes come from analysing supplementary causes of the Danish defeat . Muzzle loaders and breech loaders . The Prussians had more modern breech loading rifles that could shoot faster than the Danish muzzle loading rifles . Thus the Prussians had a bigger firepower , than the number of soldiers points out , and the relative strength is shifted to their advantage . Especially old sources point to this difference that incidentally is repeated everywhere in the Second War of Schleswig . Bad leadership . There is a considerable criticism of Beck ' s leadership during the battle : All of these points may be partly correct in themselves , but they leave unanswered the question of why Beck acted like he did . A possible explanation is that he needed to repair his reputation : He was a politician and had during the First War of Schleswig 15 years earlier been passed over for promotion for criticism by Colonel Læssøe , and would probably suffer the same again , for in February during the battle of Sankelmark he left his unit while it was in battle . Bayonet charges . Some sources also indicate that bayonet charges already were known to be hopeless , and that Beck ought to have known this . The regulations had a procedure for bayonet charges , and this makes the criticism by Beck unreasonable . At the same time it can contribute to explain the outcome - to the extent that it is correct that bayonet charges already ought to have been disused . Verdict at the time . Observers at the time did not consider the battle ' s outcome as a defeat , as it is widely considered today . Here had been wise initiative and energy , which just is , which is expected in war . Julius Strandberg wrote a broadside , in which the good commander was praised in a way , so it is difficult to see through that Denmark actually lost . Beck was subsequently appointed as Colonel and Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog .