Dybol is a small town on the southern tip of the Jutland peninsula. The battle that decided the outcome of the Second Schleswig-Holstein War took place there. After the incorporation of the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein into the Kingdom of Denmark, Prussia and Austria declared war on Denmark and in January 1864 invaded Jutland.
The city had also become a field of conflict during the First Schleswig-Holstein War (1848-51). The Danes had fortified the site but developments in artillery had rendered these fortifications obsolete. The Prussians arrived before the Danish forts and began the siege on April 7, 1864. The Prussians outnumbered their opponents in numbers as well as in armaments. They had 126 cannons, against 66 of the Danes.
The Dreyse breech-loading needle rifle gave their infantry a great advantage which had a significantly superior rate of fire to the front-loading Minie and Tapriffel system rifles of the Danes.
The Danes, under General Georg Daniel Gerlach, had a total of 11,000 men. Against them Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia extended 37,000.
The fortifications at Dybol were not in the best condition and did not offer security against the heavy Prussian artillery as there were not even shelters for the Danish gunners. So the losses and the fatigue in general of the defenders were great when the Prussians launched their final attack.
The only advantage the Danes had was the presence of their armored ship "Rolf Krake" which covered the fortifications from the sea and bombarded the Prussians with its 68 pdr guns.
Supply
At dawn on April 18, 1864, the Prussians prepared for the raid. Prince Frederick Charles would launch in two offensive waves. The first consisted of 12,000 men and the second of the remainder of his force. The Prussian artillery opened a heavy fire on the Danes which continued until 10.00, having fired 8,000 shells in a period of 6 hours.
The Prussian bombardment had caused great damage to the fortifications as well as losses. Most of the guns of the Danes fell silent . The Danes had arranged about 5,000 of their men in the fortifications, keeping the rest in reserve.
As soon as their artillery bombardment ceased the Prussians rushed out. Six phalanxes, with 2,000 men each, charged in yachts to the accompaniment of military music playing marches. The Danes defended as best they could. But their front-loading rifles did not allow them to fire fast enough to stop the opposing mass.
Battle in the Fortifications
It was, instead, the Prussian breech-loading rifles that did the trick. Fortifications I, II and III were defended by men of the 22nd Infantry Regiment (SP), which had been overworked. Fort I offered no serious resistance and fell in six minutes.
Fortress II resisted effectively fighting against the second Prussian phalanx forcing the opponents to retreat. But soon another Prussian phalanx attacked him supported by the artillery.
The Danes under Lieutenant Anker fought so bravely that after the battle the Prussians erected a monument dedicated to him on the spot! Despite their heroism the few Danes fell fighting and the fort was captured
Fort III was defended by just 19 Danes who found themselves fighting about 1,000 Prussians. Nevertheless, they intercepted three enemy attacks before the survivors were forced to lay down their arms. The Danes had 10 killed and wounded against 123 Prussian losses.
Fortifications IV, V and VI were defended by men of the 2nd SP. The Prussian phalanx charging against Fort IV was so heavily fired upon that it was halted. Finally here too the numerical superiority of the Prussians decided the fight. The fort was surrounded. The Danes fought with bayonets, but finally at 10.13 the fort was in Prussian hands.
At Fort V the Danes also fought fiercely inflicting heavy casualties on the attackers. When the Prussian masses approached three platoons of Danes counter-attacked with the bayonet and briefly drove back the numerous enemy. But here too the result was predetermined and the fortress fell. Fort VI fell the easiest of all as the defenders literally "drowned" in the Prussian sea.
Fort VII was defended by men of the 17th SP who also defended themselves fiercely by executing fanatical bayonet attacks but could not change the result. General Gerlach had meanwhile mobilized his 8th Brigade to counter-attack. A brigade against an army… 3,000 men against 37,000.
However, the battle in the fortifications continued. Fortifications VIII, IX and X were defended by men of the 17th SP. While the 8th Brigade was carrying out its desperate counterattack on Fort VIII, the 5th Company of the 17th SP was writing its own epic.
Despite the support of 28 guns, the Prussian infantry twice failed to overwhelm the heroic defenders of the fort. He succeeded in the third attack when the majority of his defenders were dead or wounded.
The 6th Company of the 17th SP defended the IX fortification. The Prussians had a 9:1 advantage at the point. Nevertheless the Danes put up a splendid fight, and the fort was only captured when most of its defenders had fallen fighting heroically. Fort X was abandoned by order.
The 8th Brigade
The 8th Brigade's counterattack was doomed from the start. The brigade had four battalions, two of the 9th and two of the 20th SP. It was headed by Scharfenberg. Her approximately 3,000 men were ordered to counterattack around 10.30am. The attack briefly caught the Prussians by surprise. However, their superiority was so great that the 8th Brigade could not change the result.
After a while the brigade suffered terrible casualties from Prussian breech-loading rifles losing 45% of its strength (1,400 men). Nevertheless he retreated in order like the rest of the Danes' force. The Persians did not pursue them.
The battle was over. The Danes had a total of about 700 dead, 554 wounded and 3,534 prisoners, a total of 4,834 men. The Prussians had 1,200 dead and wounded.
After the battle and a few more skirmishes that followed, the war ended with the surrender of Schleswig and Holstein to the Prussians and Austrians. Northern Holstein was reunited with Denmark in 1920.