After the failure of the forces of the Duchy of Schleswig and Holstein at the Battle of Bov, the Prussian army was called upon by the German Confederation.  The provincial government set up by Prince Noer, nephew of King Frederick VII of Denmark, was finally recognized by the German Confederation and Prussia was brought in for military aid.  Prussia was more than happy to give aid in order to keep the people of the German Confederation in their debt.  The head of the Prussian force was the Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Graf von Wrangel who knew that only a show of force would begin to scare the Danish force.  Also knowing the terrain of Denmark and the small area which connected Schleswig to the Danes tight, Wrangel felt that a large army would intimidate Frederick and force him to withdraw and leave Schleswig to lead its life in independence. 

                Part of the Prussian army at the time was two very young and prevalent military minds who would eventually be a part of the American Civil War.  The first was Alexander von Schimmelfennig who had come from a long lineage of the military.  Much different than other men who had served in his family, he was small in stature and socially awkward to many.  He would never fraternize with other soldiers, unless they were part of his family also serving in the military, and would often seclude himself to read military theories and philosophies in his spare time.  At the time of the Schleswig-Holstein War, he had not been diagnosed, but he suffered from chronic dyspepsia causing him some severe medical problems.  Never caring about his appearance, he would often wear old uniforms and kept his hair in an unkempt fashion.  The other was Leopold von Gilsa who was more prominent in the Prussian army than his colleague, Schimmelfennig.  Von Gilsa was already a Major and his family ties came from the Duchy of Brunswick.  His father, Baron von Gilsa, was also a military man which can explain the quick rise of the ranks for his son.  These two men were part of the twelve thousand strong force of Prussians heading towards the Duchy of Schleswig to fight for the freedom of the people in revolt.

                The Schleswig-Holstein War of 1848 has often been forgotten in the annals of history for two major reasons.  The first is that it was occurring during the terrible revolutions of 1848 caused by France and sweeping through Europe.  There are some historians who even state that the German Revolution had some causes from the Schleswig-Holstein War.  The second reason it is often forgotten is because of the fast paced nature of the engagements.  Unlike the American Civil War where battles are spread out between weeks, the Schleswig- Holstein War boasts engagements within days of each other.  This also has to do with the small neck of Denmark and Schleswig.  The nature of the geography forces combat to occur and Wrangel knows this going into the conflict.

                On April 23rd, Wrangel placed himself on the downside of an overlook out of sight from the Danish army.  His force of twelve thousand Prussians were quietly waiting for the attack from the Danish while the force sent from the German Confederation engages the Danish.  The German Reich Troops were sent as a militia force to skirmish with the Danish army and force them to ride into the lines of the Prussians.  A battle which seems a lot like the engagement at Cowpens during the American Revolution, the German Reich Troops began to retreat into the lines of the Prussians and following closely were the Danes.  The Prussians opened fire on their enemy and the slaughter began.  The Danish force, under Colonel Frederick Laessoe only had four thousand Danish with him and had not expected Wrangel and his army.  Happening on Easter morning, the Battle of Schleswig stands as a testament to the Prussian army and as a catalyst.  Now, with Prussia aiding the German Confederation in a militaristic fashion, the Prussians felt as though they had more claim to the people of Schleswig than the confederation had.  This would cause problems politically for Wrangel and the Prussian high command in the months to come.  Victorious at the Battle of Schleswig, the Prussian army pushed on believing that now was their chance to invade Denmark.  Wrangel and his men forced their armies into the Jutland of Denmark and the war would continue. 

                At the Battle of Schleswig, many historians believe that Alexander von Schimmelfennig fought with distinction and gained his captaincy there.  The reason this is speculation is because the records of the Schleswig-Holstein War of 1848 are not complete and spotty at best.  Because the Prussia army would lose this war, there is belief that there was a purposeful loss of records.  While both Schimmelfennig and von Gilsa would fight in this war, there is little to no historic record as to where they fought. 

                Also occurring on April 23rd was the Battle of Mysunde which ended in a victory for the German Confederation.  This was a big deal for the confederation due to the lack of Prussian involvement in the battle.  This also scared the Prussian army into the belief that the confederation could win victories without them.  On April 24th, the Battle of Oeversee brought another Prussian victory forcing the army farther into the Jutland and creating a scare for Frederick VII who had now called the Prussian threat an invasion against his people.  No longer considering it a rebellion of the people of Schleswig and Prince Noer, who was out of the picture now, he had to think about reinforcing the army or ending this conflict politically.  After the Battle of Oeversee, Frederick would seek the sanction of a political end to this small conflict and the fighting would cease for a month.  It would be the longest cease fire in the year of 1848 for this war.

Next week, we will talk about the end of the Schleswig-Holstein War in 1848 and the treaty which would cause Alexander von Schimmelfennig to resign. 



Image of The Battle of Schleswig is courtesy of wikipedia.org

Europe in 1848 was headed down the road to disaster.  The area of the German Confederation was no different.  After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the creation of the Confederation took over three hundred and sixty city states and transformed them into thirty eight.  There was concern that the areas of Prussia and Austria would intervene militaristically and instead of being seen as a threat, became part of the confederation.  This movement of the confederation was not without border disputes and the first came just south of Denmark.

                Split into thirds, the area of Schleswig saw three different types of nationalities.  First were the Germans who spoke German and held the traditions of Germany.  The second were the Danish who spoke Danish and felt more of a pull towards Denmark.  The third were a mix of people of both German and Danish descent.  After the February revolution in France when King Louise Phillipe was deposed, the people of Denmark and part of Schleswig began to feel the same way and wanted a liberal constitution.  This movement came when King Christian VIII died early in 1848 and Frederick VII took over from the House of Oldenburg in Denmark.  However, there has been some speculation as to the validity of his character, but many historians believe that he was impotent which created a problem in the lines of the monarchy.  He set out a Royal Decree that the females of the House of Oldenburg be eligible for the Danish Kingdom and the people responded in revolt. 

                In March, the people of Denmark, along with some Danes from Schleswig, met in Copenhagen to revolt against the monarchy and demand a liberal constitution.  They claimed the Royal Decree of Frederick to be illegal and either demanded the overturn of that decision or that Frederick be deposed.  Either way, there was a want to destroy the monarchy in order to gain their liberal constitution.  Frederick became angry with this demonstration and looked to the German Confederation for answers, especially those in charge of the Duchy of Schleswig and Holstein.  A movement like this was determined that the people of Northern Schleswig (the Danish in Schleswig) wanted to secede from Denmark, even though they were never really part of Denmark.  The German Confederation claimed not to know what was going on and was surprised as they were when the word reached them of the revolt.  This caused a massive panic throughout all of Europe that France was at it again by creating a sense of revolution among the people.  With the creation of nationalism, France once again set Europe ablaze. 

                The confederation was not entirely helpful in this endeavor and sat by as Schleswig and Holstein created a provincial government outside of the realm of Denmark.  Frederick became outraged and declared that the people were in rebellion.  In response to Frederick’s claim of rebellion, the head of the Duchy of Schleswig, Prince Frederik of Noer, gathered the 5th Lauenburger Rifle Corps, also known as the Jagercorps, and other students from Kiel University.  Kiel, being the capital of Schleswig, housed some of the most intellectual minds in northern Germany.  The only university that outperformed it was the University of Bonn at the time.  Noer and his forces targeted the fortress at Rendsburg where there was a known arsenal in order to fuel their rebellion.  Inside were the 14th, 15th and 16th infantry along with the 2nd Regiment of Artillery.  At the beginning of the rebellion, the Danish military had a laissez-faire attitude about the whole ordeal and left the doors to the fortress wide open.  This would allow Noer and his force to march in and seize the fort without any fighting.

                The forces under King Frederick VII were surprised not only that such a force could be created by the rebellious forces, but that it was done so quickly.  Noer gave an impassioned speech about the right of the people to secede and join the confederation and forced the men of the 14th, 15th and 16th Infantry, along with the 2nd Regiment of Artillery, never to fight against the people of Schleswig again. 

                Once the fortress had been held and the arsenal used to its full capacity, Prince Noer commissioned General Krohn to head the army against the Danish and change this rebellion into war.  Krohn took seven thousand Schleswig men to Flensborg on the border of Schleswig and Denmark.  There, he stationed his seven thousand only to be surrounded by seven thousand Danish ready to attack.  There is little historic record on the Schleswig-Holstein War of 1848, but many historians believe that there were close to nine thousand Danish present at Flensborg.  Krohn knew that he had to retreat but before he could, he was assaulted on April 9th in the first major engagement of the war.  Known today as the Battle of Bov, General Krohn could not find any way around the Danish and panicked.  Two hours away from the fighting was Prince Noer, who was riding as fast as he could to aid in the fight.  By the time he would reach the field, the battle was over and the casualties from the entire fight, one hour of combat, was one thousand men of Schleswig compared to seventy four Danes.  It was a shattering loss for the rebels but it was not without recognition.

                Prussia, part of the confederation but still its own country, decided to give aid to the people of Schleswig and employed Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, along with twelve thousand soldiers, to lead the forces of Schleswig and Holstein.  Two men of the Prussian force would be present later in Gettysburg.  One was Alexander von Schimmelfennig and the other Leopold von Gilsa.  Most likely ignorant of each other now, they would share in this combat that would start their military careers of distinction in Europe.

                Join us next week as we talk about the engagements of the Schleswig Holstein War and the contributions of Schimmelfennig and von Gilsa!        


Image of The Battle of Bov courtesy of wikipedia.org

One of the aspects of the American Civil War people tend to find fascinating is the amount of immigrants who fought during the conflict.  Most people immediately think of the Irish as the most soldier giving nationality during the war, but aggregate totals show that the Germans gave more to support the efforts of the conflict than any other nation.  According to Philip M. Cole, a leading historian of the Civil War, there were 176,000 Germans fighting for the Union army while there were only 144,000 Irish.  Many of the German forces who fought during the war arrived some time earlier, between 1853-1859 as part of the exiled group of revolutionaries during the year of 1848.  At the Battle of Gettysburg, it would be the German commanders who aided in the formation of the fishhook, and brought forth decisions to bring down the entirety of the Eleventh Corps, also known as the German Corps.  These men have forever gained the notoriety that their actions were less than desirable on the battlefield and have been stained by history.  On the contrary; some of them held prestigious ranks in the Prussian or German armies and would only begin to face failure after everything collapsed for them during the Revolution of 1848.

To be fair, the nation of Germany was not truly Germany at the time of 1848.  It was still a group of German principalities and city states ruled by the Baron or the Emperor of Prussia at the time.  Though these principalities existed, there was an organized group which led the people of Germany as one country known as the German Confederation.  The Confederation served its purpose as a standing formed government who did nothing more than just serve as a beacon.  Created shortly after the fall of Napoleon, the Confederation was a direct product of the Congress of Vienna in order to replace the Holy Roman Empire.  The main objective which the Congress of Vienna hoped for, however, was that the German Confederation would become a buffer zone between Austria and Prussia.  The Confederation combined thirty five city states unto one government which then categorized the city states into provinces.  In an attempt to combine the economic intentions of Europe, Prussia infiltrated the German Confederation with promises of economic stability and military aid when needed.  This was generally not thought of as a problem since there had been peace for quite some time after the fall of Napoleon.  The German Confederation always saw Prussia as a friend who could aid them when needed.  But the hotbed of possible friction came on the borders of the Confederation, mainly France and Denmark as the year of 1848 neared.

It was this economic stability promised by Prussia which upset some of the working middle class as they wanted Germany to unify out of the Confederation.  Many saw the Confederation as useless and without power since many of the principalities were still in control of the people.  The German Confederation did no more than just become a beacon of power for a dull German Unification.  The reaction from Prussian and Confederation powers stated that Germany was unified under the Confederation with aid from the Prussia empire.  By 1842, the German economy began to boom without the help of Prussia as they discovered the industry through the influx of furnaces which they used to build the steel gun, cast-steel axles and breech loading rifle to name a few.  The greatest part of this influx of industry was their advancement of weaponry which caused some concern in other nations.  German security was at a high, but this movement brought down some economic measures of other nations such as Prussia, Austria and Great Britain who was supplying at least half of Germany's manufactured goods.  The positive for Germany in this movement was that economic stability in their own right brought them closer to political unification.  

Since it was the middle class which was bringing about the economic stability, there began to be this awareness that there was no need for those in power to be the ones to unify the country.  In 1848, the German Confederation and the Prussian Empire went to war with Denmark over a border dispute in the province of Schleswig-Holstein which was the perfect cover for the middle class to revolt.  While many other nations were going through revolution in 1848, none compare to the social aspect which Germany had created.  In that year, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto which became the cornerstone of the German Revolution.  With its beginnings in the newspaper and the  political spectrum, the German Revolution of 1848 would soon become militaristic in nature causing strife throughout the country.  The revolution would also became the reason for the fall of the German Confederation and shortly after the Civil War, the country would unify under Otto von Bismark.  It would be a long road for the people of Germany to be unified and only through great failure would they eventually become the country they are today.  

The people who stood behind The Communist Manifesto would not be unified, however.  As we will see in the coming parts of this series, the interpretation of the work will separate many of the Germans between true communism and socialism.  The men who fought in the battles against Prussia and the German Confederation would part ways because of the interpretations of the work.  The German Revolution of 1848 is possibly the most important of all of the revolutions of that year due to the lasting power of Karl Marx have on our society today.  Throughout all of the Cold War, the issue of communism was a danger and there are those who remember the days of "I'd rather be dead than red."  We do not think of the American Civil War when we think of communism or socialism, but it was extremely prevalent to society at that point.  One thing is very important, however, when analyzing the communists and socialist in the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg; they still fought for the Union while putting aside their political differences.    

Join me next week when I talk about the Schleswig-Holstein War and the emergence of Alexander von Schimmelfennig.

Image courtesy of wikipedia.org

Special Thanks to Philip M. Cole for his work called You'll Be Scare.  Sure - you'll be scared: Fear, Stress and Coping in the Civil War, (Ortanna: Colecraft Industries) 2010, pp. 72.