Historical Setting In 1807 an English force of 30,000 men (among them the later Duke of Wellington) invaded the Island of Zealand, and together with a strong naval fleet of 24 ships-of-the-line forced the Danish Government, after having shelled Copenhagen, to surrender her fleet including 17 ships-of-the-line and 17 Frigates. Denmark declared war on Britain and concluded an Alliance with France. The year after the Danish Army was reorganised, and put on a war footing. Action, however, was mainly limited to skirmishes at sea, and some fighting along the Swedish-Norwegian border. (Sweden was at war with Russia and Denmark). Sweden was forced to cede Finland to Russia, and after Marshal Bernadotte became Crown Prince hoped to wrest Norway from Denmark as compensation for Finland. In 1812 a division was put at Napoleon's disposal, but did not directly participate in the campaign against Russia. Two months before the Russian campaign started Russia and Sweden had concluded an Alliance, whereby the two States agreed upon forcing Denmark to cede Norway to Sweden. Denmark thus became Napoleon's last ally. General State of Defence: After the reorganisation of 1808 the strength of the Army was 39,000 Line and 31,500 reinforcement troops, the letters quality and training not equal to that of the Line. Military service was to be 8 years in the Line, followed by 6 years in the reinforcement battalions, which were only called out during war. Leadership was generally good, though rather old. Thus the average age of the generals (23 in 1810) was 60. Prince Frederick of Hessen, brother-in-law of the King, and only 42 (1813), was probably the ablest of the generals. The Danish infantry were about average, while the cavalry were considered to be among the best in Europe. The main arm of the infantry was the musket, of course. Only the Jager corps were armed with rifles. Effective range was 300-400 paces, 1 round per minute. Because of the low rate of fire, half were armed with sharpshooter muskets. It was found that rifles were ineffective against cavalry. All other Jagers and sharpshooters were armed with sharpshooter muskets. The Sharpshooter corps usually fought in close order, while the Jager corps were used as skirmishers. There were three main fortresses in Denmark ? Copenhagen, Rendsborg and Kronborg (Elsinore), and a number of smaller ones : Korser, Nyborg, Fredericia, Fladstrand, Hals Skanse (near Aalborg), Frederiksort (near Kiel), Gluckstadt, Gottorp, Helgoland and Christianse. Only Nyborg, Frederiksort and Helgoland had permanent garrison coys. Infantry 1 Battalion of Life Guards (4 coys): at Copenhagen. 13 Infantry Regiments: Danish Life Regt; Norwegian Life Regt: King's Life Regt; Crown's Life Regt; Prince Frederick's Foot Regt. -- at Copenhagen. Infantry Regiment Funen -- at Fredericia 1st Infantry Regt. Jutland -- at Aarhus 2nd Infantry Regt. -- at Viborg 3rd Infantry Regt. -- at Aalborg Infantry Regiment Slesvig -- at Slesvig Queen's Life Regiment -- at Gluckstadt Infantry Regiment Oldenburg -- at Rendsborg Infantry Regiment Holsten : at Holsten 3 Jager Corps: Zealand, Slesvig and Jutland. 3 Sharpshooter Corps : Zealand (at Kronborg), Jutland, Holsten. The Jager-Grenadier Coy of Altona (volunteers) : 140 men. 1 Marine Battalion of 4 Coys. 1 Reinforcement Battalion on Langeland Island. An Infantry Regiment consists of 2 Line and 2 Reinforcement battalions: 1. Battalion 1 Grenadier and 4 Musketeer Coys. 2. Bttn: 1 Jager and 4 Musketeer Coys Each COY- 3 Officers and 165 others; total 40 Officers and 1,660 men. 3. Battalion 1 Jager and 4 Musketeer Coys. 4. Battalion 1 Jager and 4 Musketeer Coys. Each COY- 3 Officer and 162 men A Jager or Sharpshooter Corps has 2 battalions; 1 Line and 1 Reinforcement, each of 4 Coys Of 75-80 men. Thus a battalion has 300-325 men. TOTAL - 67 battalions. Cavalry: Mounted Life Guards : 2 Sqds (each of 70 Officers and Men) at Copenhagen. 4 Heavy Cavalry Regts : Life Cavalry Regt (Slesvig); Cavalry Regt. Zealand (Slagelse); Cavalry Regt. Slesvig (Horsens) and Cavalry Regt. Holsten (Haderslev). 3 Light Dragoon Regiments : Life Regt. Light Dragoons (Itzehoe); Light Dragoon Regt. Funen (Odense) and Light Dragoon Regt. Jutland (Randers). 1 Hussar Regt. of 6 Sqds of Cavalry - 135 Officers and men (4 Sqds on Zealand, 2 (2nd and 6th) in Holsten). A 7th Hussar Sqd is transformed into Uhlans (the Bosniaks). A 4th Light Dragoon Regt. was raised 1807 : Prince Frederick Ferdinands Light Dragoon Regt. The Field Jager Corps (Kiel) : 1 sqd(?) (volunteers). A Light Dragoon or (heavy) Cavalry Regt. consists of 4 Sqds, each of 5 Officers and 158 men (of which 12 armed with rifles as flankers). TOTAL - 41 Squadrons and the Field Jager Corps. Also in existance 3rd November 1813 to 18th January 1814 the Hussarcorps Zealana at Rendsborg (4 Officers and 225 others). There were also several voluntary mounted Jager units on the isles during 1808-14. Artillery and Engineers: Line Artillery: 9 Foot Coys; 1 Horse Coy at Copenhagen Line Artillery: 3 Foot Coys; 1 Horse Coy at Rendsborg Reinforcement Artillery: 8 Foot Coys on Zealand and 2 in Jutland Reinforcement Artillery: 6 Foot Coys in the two Duchies. A company has 165-170 men. A battery (= Coy) has 8 guns and 2 howitzers. Guns are 12 pdrs, 6 pdrs or 3 pdrs. Howitzers are 36 pdrs, 10 pdrs or 6 pdrs. The Horse Artillery have 6 pdr cannon and 6 pdr howitzers. Gunners have no muskets, only swords. 1 Coy. of Artisans. 1 Coy. of Miners. 37 Engineer Officers. A small Sapper Corps 1808-14. Each infantry regiment earlier had 4 3pdrs attached, which were usually massed. However, there are 3pdr batteries in 1812-13, so I suppose the regimental guns have disappeared. Of the Line batteries at least 2 were heavy 12 pdr batteries. There were about equal numbers of 3 pdrs and 6 pdrs. Militia Coastal Militia: Only for local defence. From 1802-12 only about 1/3 were armed with muskets. 1812-14 they were reorganised in 30 battalions all with muskets. These battalions were probably well below the 800 in a regular battalion. 20 on Zealand and isles, 4 on Funen and Langeland, 8 in Jutland, 6 in the twin Duchies. Bornholm Militia: 1 battalion of reasonably well trained men : 4 Musketeer and 1 Jager Coy each of 200 men. In addition a Landstorm of 11 Coys of variable strength (in all 2,500). 4 Dragoon Coys of Cavalry 120 men each, 2 Artillery Coys of 250 men each, well trained. Total Militia : 4,500 (including all able-bodied men). The Landstorm was worthless. Volunteer Corp and Citizen Militia: Copenhagen could muster some 11,000 men, of which 4,000 were armed. N.H. The Norwegian Army, separate from the Danish, only operated in Norway. 1813 Campaign Refusing to give up Norway, Denmark continued to stand by the side of Napoleon even after his defeat in 1812. The Danish Auxiliary Corps of 11,000 men was formed under Infantry General Prince Frederick of Hessen, and became part of the French XIII corps under Marshal Davout. The corps was divided into 3 Brigades: Advance Guard Brigade: The French Brig. General l'Allemand, an excellent French Officer detached by Napoleon. 2nd Bn Jagercorps Slesvig 1st and 2nd Bns Sharpshootercorps Holsten 2nd and 6th Hussar Sqds; 1 3pdr battery. 1st Brigade: Major-General Ct. v. Schulenburg 1st, 2nd and 3rd Has Infantry Regt. Oldenburg 4th Bn Infantry Regt. Holsten. 1st Bn Queen's Life Regt and Jager Coy of 2nd Bn. Cavalry Regt. Holsten (4 Sqds). 1 6pdr Foot Battery. Jager Coy of 4th Bn Infantry Regt. Oldenburg. 2nd Brigade: Major-General of the Cavalry Lasson 1st and 2nd Has Infantry Regt. Funen. 3 Bn Infantry Regt. Holsten. 1st and 2nd Has Infantry Regt. Slesvig. Light Dragoon Regt. Jutland (4 Sqds). 1 6pdr Foot Battery and 1 3pdr Battery. Total: 13 Battalions, 2 Independent Jager Coys, 10 Sqds and 40 guns (4 bat Reinforcements end of August Light Dragoon Regt. Funen and 1 Coy of sailors (125 men) Reinforcements end of November 1st Bn 3rd Infantry Regt. Jutland. 2nd Bn (3 Coys) Infantry Regt. Slesvig. Jager COY, 3rd Bn./Inf.Regt. Slesvig. 1 Coy of Louise Augustas Lifejagers (Volunteer unit). The Jager Grenadier Coy Altona. At Gluckstadt: 3rd and 4th Bns Queen's Life Regiment (very bad). 2nd Bn Sharpshootercorps Jutland. 1 Jager Coys from Jagercorps Zealand and Jutland. 1 3pdr battery. After Napoleon's defeat at Leipzig, a combined Swedish-Russian-German army pressed north and after several fierce combats and one minor battle pushed the Danes into Rendisburg. King Frederick VI with the main army on Funen refused to come to Prince Frederick 'a aid and on the 15th December 1313 an armistice was signed. The army was demobilised, all reinforcements and volunteer units dissolved. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 122 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1972 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com