Danish Army commander unit

 

I have the first danish unit finished, and it is an army commander stand made from the Pendraken Leauge of Augsburg range. For the battle of Helsingborg it will be representing the Danish army commander Jørgen Rantzau with his staff, including the adjutant Hartvig Huitfeldt (1677–1748).

Christian Ditlev Reventlow (1671-1738)

The Danish invasion of Skåne 1709-1710 was originally led by Christian Ditlev Reventlow (1671-1738), a distinguished general with experience from the Spanish war of succession, who fell seriously ill on the 27th of march. Command was then given to the Lieutenant general Jørgen Ranztau (ca 1652–1713) merely 14 days before the battle which would prove to be decisive for the entire danish invasion effort.

Rantzau himself was a experienced army officer to say the least, who began his military service before Reventlow was even born, serving abroad as well as in the Scanian wars. After Denmark's disastrous entry and swift exit from the great northern war (March 20th - August 8th 1700), he served in the war of spanish succession, most famously leading the allied cavalry vanguard in the Battle of Oudenarde.

On paper, the battle would have been an even battle, or even slightly in favor for the Danes. While the armies were roughly equal in size, the danish army was made up of a large contigent of veteran units who've taken part in the war of the Spanish succession. It also held a good defensive position in front of a swamp. Sweden on the other hand had to create an army out of thin air from new recruits to re-establish the regiments lost in the year before at Poltava, together with a few regiments that had been kept in Sweden for border defence, though its held one advantage being made up of a stronger cavalry arm, significantly outnumbering the danish cavalry, which eventually decided the outcome of the battle.

The outcome of the battle of Helsingborg was a disaster for Denmark and spelled the end of invasion and any realistic dreams of reuniting Scania with the rest of Denmark. The army lost roughly one third of its men as dead or captured, and a further 3500 wounded. It also lost all its field artillery, and when evacuating the army out of Helsingborg, had to kill off around 6000 horses because they couldn't be transported out fast enough.

Several historians agree that Rantzau made two crucial mistakes while in command. Firstly, the lack of communication to the different sections of the army that he was ordering the right flank to advance resulted in the whole army advancing and partial re-aligning in front of the approaching Swedes, and the fact that he decided to take personal command over the right flank made him lose the overall picture of the unfolding battle, and compounding his earlier mistake.




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