Except for the Crimean War, there was only one amphibious assault during a European War after the mid-19th century. This would be the Prussian assault on the Danish Island of Alsen during the Second Schleswig War (or the Prusso-Danish War for you Brandenburg sympathizers as our editor would say).

This scenario has several interesting choices for players to make. As the Prussians, where do you land? Do you land on the West Side of Alsen under the protection of your guns or the East side to outflank the Danes? As the Danes, do you intervene with the gunboat the Rolf Krake and risk it being shot up? If you don't have a Danish army, keep on reading. Your French Crimean or Franco-Prussian War army will work if you don't mind them wearing red pants instead of light blue ones.

I would like to give Ralph Weaver of the Continental Wars Study group credit for the information and maps. Through Ralph's articles, he has made this conflict more accessible to wargamers.

Historical Background

The origins of the 1864 Prusso-Danish War go back hundreds of years. The two southern provinces of Denmark, Schleswig and Holstein, though German in language and culture, were under Danish control. The Germans rebelled in 1848 but the rebellion was put down in 1851.

In 1863, the conflict resurfaced when Denmark formally annexed the two provinces. Prussia got help from Austria and invaded Holstein in February 1864. See Map 1. The Danes fell back to their fortification line, the Dannevirke.

The Prussians outflanked the Dannevirke by crossing the Schlei waterway. This caused the Danes to retreat to their old defensive works at Duppel (Dybol). These works protected the crossings to the Danish island of Alsen. A chain of islands then led to Copenhagen.

The Prussians put Dybol under siege while the Austrians marched through Denmark. The Danes were hoping that the fortifications would hold against the Prussian assaults. However, the Prussian artillery was better than it was in 1851. On April 18th, the Prussians stormed the forts and took Dybol. The Danes fought a spirited rear guard action and withdrew to Alsen.

A truce was then agreed to and a peace conference was set up in London. The Danes used this time to strength Alsen by digging trenches and setting up batteries. Some troops held the trenches by the beaches but most of them were held as a reserve to counter the Prussian landings. See Map 2 for an overall view of the situation.

The peace conference broke up on June 25th with no agreements reached. Meanwhile, the Prussians made plans and preparations to assault Alsen. The Danes had 12,000 men and 138 guns to defend Alsen. Most of the troops were located South of Kjaer creek. See Map 3.

Twelve positions with 19 guns (4, 12 and 24 pounders) were North of the creek on the shore line. In contrast, 24 positions with 47 guns were south of the creek. The Danish defense was composed of three lines. The first line had a series of trenches manned by one company each from the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 4th regiment. The second line had two more companies from the two battalions with horses waiting to deliver messages. Finally, the third line had reserves housed in huts to the rear.

The Prussians planned on assaulting the Danes where they were the weakest and using surprise before the Danish reinforcements arrived. The Prussians planned the assault for June 29th in the early morning. The first troops to go ashore would be 2000 men of the 24th and 64th regiments in 163 boats.

The boats set out at 1:45 AM. After a few minutes, the fusiler battalion from the 64th regiment was already ashore. The Danes responded with a heavy fire but only from 400 men. By 3:00 AM brigades Roder and Goben were ashore.

The Danish gunboat, the Rolf Krake tried to respond. It had an armament of two twin turrets with one 64 pounder apiece plus four quick firing guns. The Prussians fired on the Rolf Krake with their batteries on the shore across Alsen. The captain of the Rolf Krake felt Alsen was already lost and withdrew.

The Danish 4th regiment having only 200 men left decided to retreat. The Prussians then advanced south. Meanwhile, the Danes reformed and attacked the Prussians at Kjaer. See my Kjaer scenario in the previous issue of Clash of Empires. The Danes quickly lost. Altogether including the fight at Kjaer, The Prussians lost 84 killed, 281 wounded and 7 missing. The Danes suffered heavily, losing 216 killed, 426 wounded, 1878 prisoners and 536 missing.

Orders of Battle

Danes:

4th Infantry Regiment: Major A.F. Rauch (POOR)
1st Infantry Battalion: Captain Mathesson (AVERAGE)
2nd Infantry Battalion: Major Rauch (POOR)
5th Infantry Regiment: Major Myhre (POOR)
1st Infantry Battalion: Captain J. Hammer (POOR)
2nd Infantry Battalion: Major A.B. Rothe (POOR)
Artillery: four heavy batteries

Prussians:

24th Regiment: Colonel Count Von Hacke (AVERAGE)
Fusiler Battalion, commander (AVERAGE)
1st Infantry Battalion, commander (AVERAGE)
2nd Infantry Battalion, commander (POOR)
64th Regiment: Colonel Von Kamlensky (AVERAGE)
1st Infantry Battalion, commander (AVERAGE)
2nd Infantry Battalion, commander (AVERAGE)
3rd Infantry Battalion, commander (AVERAGE)
Artillery: four heavy batteries.

More Prussian Amphibious Assault on Alsen Island 29 June 1864

Alsen 1864: Background and Order of Battle
Alsen 1864: Scenario and Special Rules
Alsen 1864: Large Map (slow: 106K)
Alsen 1864: Jumbo Map (very slow: 223K)