Military Actions
of Denmark in the 1800s

Order of Battle: Danish-German War of 1864

by Rudy Scott Nelson


DANISH ARMY

Notes. Danish field batteries were standardized with 6 x 6 pdr and 2 x 13 pdr Howitzers. Their larger defensive guns were muzzle-loaders which slowed their rate of fire compared to that of the Germans and exposed their gunners to rifle fire while reloading. Danish regiments consisted of two battalions each. A battalion's field strength averaged 864 men in 4 companies. Dragoon squadrons averaged 145 men and were often deployed as independent units. There were 4 squadrons per Dragoon Regiment. Each engineer company averaged 115 men.

1st Division: Attached 2 Btys of 6pdrFA; 1 engineer company

    1st Brigade: 2nd Rgt; 22nd Rgt
    2nd Brigade: 3rd Rgt; 18th Rgt
    3rd Cavalry Bde: 3 Squadrons of Dragoons

2nd Division: Attached 2 Btys of FA; 1 engineer company

    4th Bde: 4th Rgt; 6th Rgt
    5th Bde: 7th Rgt; 12th Rgt
    6th Bde: 3 Squadrons of Dragoons

3rd Division: Attached 3 Dragoon Squadrons; 2 Btys of 6pdrFA; 1 Engineer co.

    7th brigade: 1st Rgt; 11th Rgt
    8th Brigade: 9th Rgt; 20th Rgt
    9th Brigade: 19th Rgt; 21st Rgt

4th Cavalry Division: Attached 1 bty of 6pdr FA

    1st Cavalry Bde: 3rd Dragoon Rgt; 5th Dragoon Rgt
    2nd Cavalry Bde: 6th Dragoon Rgt; ?? Dragoon Rgt

Infantry Reserve: 8th Rgt; 15th Rgt
Artillery Reserve: 5 6pdr field btys; 5 fortress companies
Ministry of War Reserve: 13th Inf Rgt; 14th Inf ; Liv Foot Guard Liv Mounted Guard; 2nd Dragoon Rgt (3 Sqd)

PRUSSIAN ARMY

Notes : The third battalion of infantry regiments were classified as fusiliers. Each battalion averaged 250 men in 4 companies. Cavalry regiments averaged 155 men in 5 squadrons. Batteries consisted of 6 guns each. Guns were either 4pdr/80mm or 6pdr/90mm. Later reinforcements included several batteries of heavy seige artillery. The 55th Rgt includes Lippe-Detmond troops.

PRUSSIAN I CORPS

6th Infantry Division

    11th Brigade : 35th Fusilier Rgt (3 Bns); 60th Infantry Rgt (3 Bns)
    12th Brigade : 24th Infnatry Rgt (3 Bns); 64th Infantry Rgt (3 Bns)
    3rd Cavalry Brigade : 3rd Hussar Rgt (4 sqd); 11th Uhlan (4 Sqd); 6th Cuirassier (4 sqd)
    Artillery : 3 btys FA; 3rd Pioneer Bn; 3rd Train/Spt Bn

13th Infantry Division

    Schmidt's Brigade (25th ?) : 13th Infantry Rgt (3 Bns); 53rd Infantry Rgt (3 Bns)
    Goben's Brigade (26th ?) : 15th Infantry Rgt (3 Bns) ; 55th Infantry Rgt (3 Bns)
    Cavalry Brigade (-) : 7th Dragoon Rgt (4 Sqd)
    Artillery : 4 Btys FA; 7th pioneer Bn; 7th Train/Spt Bn

Cavalry Reserve Division

    6th Brigade: ?? Cuirassier Rgt (4 Sqd); ?? Hussar Rgt (4 Sqd); 1 Horse bty = 6 guns
    13th Brigade : 4th Cuirassier Rgt (4 Sqd); 8th Hussar Rgt (4 Sqd); 1 horse bty = 6 guns
    Artillery Reserve : 8 btys FA

PRUSSIAN II CORPS (aka III Combined Corps)

Guards Division

    Guard Brigade : 3rd Foot Guard Rgt (3 Bns) ; 4th Foot Giard Rgt (3 Bns)
    Grenadier Guard Bde: 3rd Gren Gde Rgt (3 Bns); 4th Gren Gde Rgt (3 Bns)
    Guard Reserve : Guard Hussar Rgt; 2 x 4pdr Gde FA = 8 rifled guns

5th Division

    9th Brigade : 8th Infantry Rgt (3 Bns) ; 48th Infantry Rgt (3 Bns)
    20th Brigade : 18th Infantry Rgt (3 Bns); 52nd Infantry Rgt (3 Bns)
    21st Brigade : 10th Infantry Rgt (3 Bns); 50th Infantry Rgt (3 bns)
    Support Reserve : 3rd Jager Bn; 1 Bn arty + 1 FA bty of 6 guns

AUSTRIAN VI CORPS

(aka II Combined Corps)

Notes : Each infantry battalion consisted of 168 men authorized in six administrative companies but were deployed in the field in only three "tactical divisions" per battalion. Jager battalions consisted on 168 men in 6 companies but were deployed in the field in only three "tactical divisions" per battalion. Cuirassier and Dragoon regiments had 6 squadrons and averaged 170 men per squadron. Hussar and Uhlan regiments had 8 squadrons and had 200 men per squadron. In some cases squadrons were converged for the war instead of calling up wartime reserves which resulted in fewer squadrons per regiment being deployed to Denmark.

First Brigade : 30th Rgt (2 Bns); 34th Rgt (2 Bns); 18th Jager Bn; 4pdr Bty = 8 rifled guns
Second Brigade : 14th Rgt (2 Bns) ; 27th Rgt (2 Bns); 9th Jager Bn; 4pdr bty = 8 rifled guns
Third Brigade: 6th Rgt (2 Bns); 80th Rgt (2 Bns); 11th Jager Bn; 4pdr bty = 8 rifled guns
Fourth Brigade : 35th Rgt (2 Bns) ; 72nd Rgt (2 Bns); 22nd Jager Bn; 4pdr Bty = 8 rifled guns
Fifth Brigade Cavalry : 2nd Dragoon Rgt /6 Sqdns; 9th Hussar Rgt/6 Sqdns; Horse Bty = 8 ? guns
Artillery Reserve ; Pioneer Bn; 1 x 4pdr FA Bty = 8 rifled guns; 3 x 8pdr FA Bty = 8 rifled guns

OTHER SOURCES

Also used in preparing the artices on the Danish-German War included :

The Danish-German War of 1864 by J. Nielson (Tojhusmuseet 1991)
Pro Rege Et Grege (Danish Life Guards) by J. Gram-Andersen (Tojhusmuseet 1994)
The Austrian Army 1836-66, 2 vols. by D. Pavlovic (Osprey 1999)
Uniform Painting Guide to the North German Confederation Army (Outpost 1997)
Uniforms of the World by Knotel and Sieg ( Scribners 1980 reprint)
The Attack on the Duppel Entrenchments, 1864 by Cpt P Smith (Pallas Armata excerpts)
The Army of Denmark, 1861 (Pallas Armata excerts)

More 19th Century Danish Wars

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