Battle of Bov

Battle of Bov
Part of the First Schleswig War
Battle of Bov by Georg Bleibtreu
Date 9 April 1848 Location Near Flensborg, Schleswig Result Danish victory
Belligerents
Duchy of Schleswig	Denmark
Commanders and leaders
Prince of Noer Gen. Krohn	Hans Hedemann
Strength
7,000 Freikorps	15,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
35 killed 5 officers 138 wounded 3 officers 923 captured 13 officers Total: 1,096 casualties	16 killed 3 officers 79 wounded 5 officers Total: 82 casualties

The Battle of Bov (German : Bau) was a battle between troops fighting for Schleswig-Holstein, and those for Denmark, which happened on the 9 April 1848 in the area of Flensborg in Denmark, during the First Schleswig War. Denmark won the engagement. It was the first battle of the First Schleswig War.

Background

In 1848, the First Schleswig War started, as Schleswig-Holstein was trying to separate from Denmark, and Denmark considered it a part of the country. The Kingdom of Prussia, the Austrian Empire and the German Confederation, sent troops to support Schleswig-Holstein in its attempt to secede from Denmark, and become a part of the German Confederation. Wishing to defeat Denmark before the German, Austrian, and Prussian troops arrived, 7,000 Schleswig-Holsteinian soldiers under General Krohn occupied Flensborg on March 31, 1848.

Prelude

Map of the battle

Danish troops landed on the Holdnaes peninsula east of Flensborg and, worried that he would be surrounded, Gen. Krohn asked for permission to withdraw his soldiers from the settlement. His request was approved, and he planned to fall back during April 9. Danish commanders had decided their attack would start before Krohn withdrew. They decided that the left flank of the Danish army would launch a diversionary attack, whilst the right wing and cavalry would encircle the enemy, and their attacks would be supported by a naval squadron in Flensborg Fjord. The Schleswig-Holsteinians were arranged according to the plan that they were going to withdraw, and were not prepared to put up a co-ordinated resistance.

Battle

On the morning of April 9, the Danish forces advanced. The avant-garde under von Magius with 3rd Hunter Corps and 12th Battalion, supported by 4 guns, attacked from the northeast the Schleswig-Holsteinian main position at Bov. From the east, the 1st Hunter Corps and a couple of companies of the 5th and 9th Battalions carried out a sham attack on the Schleswig-Holsteinian position in the forest around Kobbermøllen. It was defended by a hunting corps and the Kiel students under the command of Major Michelsen.

Memorial Site in Flensburg

After a hard fight, Bov fell to the Danish Avantgarde, and the Schleswig-Holsteinians withdrew, first to Nyhus and then to Harrislev, where they had barricaded the entrances to the town and arranged the houses for defense. Around 12pm, The 1st and 11th Battalion attacked from the north and west and the 2nd Battalion from the south, while two guns supported the attack.

After a fierce battle, the Schleswig-Holsteinians were forced back to the outskirts of Flensburg, where they occupied a new position in the woods north of the city, and in a brickworks and some houses on the northern outskirts of the city. After repeated attacks by the 2nd Battalion, the Schleswig-Holsteinians were finally forced to surrender or flee south.

While this was going on, Major Michelsen's forces were still standing at Kobbermøllen, not knowing that their main force had to withdraw from Bov. Around 12pm he was finally informed that Nyhus had been abandoned, and his strength was thus in danger of being cut off. He ordered a retreat, but was shot down by Danish warships from Flensburg Fjord during the retreat, and his force was partially disbanded.

Some of the Schleswig-Holsteinians took a position on Møllebakkerne north of the city, while others managed to reach back to the outskirts of Flensburg, where they got stuck in a brickworks and some houses. The 2nd Battalion tried several times to occupy the enemy positions but was repulsed. Only when the 4th Battalion came to the rescue from the west, it finally succeeded in retaking the houses, which the Schleswig-Holsteinians defended themselves. Shortly afterwards, the Schleswig-Holsteinian forces on Møllebakkerne also surrendered. Michelsen himself fell badly wounded in Danish captivity and died shortly after.

Unfortunately for Hedemann, he could not prevent the withdrawal of the Schleswig-Holsteinian main force. After a hard march through difficult terrain, Bülow's 1st Infantry Brigade had to give up going west of the battlefield, and it had instead set course for Flensburg. The Cavalry Brigade also had to give up surrounding the enemy.

But the Danish victory was secured. Around 14:30pm the fighting was over, and the Schleswig-Holsteinians fled south in disorder and confusion.

Aftermath

The Danish army followed and took up the position at Dannevirke. Hedemann's planned encirclement of the opponent's army succeeded only in part, so that the Schleswig-Holsteinian main force could escape back to Rendsburg; its losses were 16% of its total strength; the Danish losses were 0.8%. The victory at Bov was greeted with cheers in Denmark and gave rise to great optimism regarding the Danish chances of victory in the impending war.