Battle of Bov

Significance

The Battle of Bov, fought near Flensborg on 9 April 1848, was the opening engagement of the First Schleswig War. Danish forces under Hans Hedemann, numbering approximately 15,000, defeated a Schleswig-Holstein force of around 7,000 under the Prince of Noer and Alfred von Krohn, who suffered over 1,000 casualties in the engagement. As the first pitched battle of the war, Bov established early Danish military ascendancy at the outset of the conflict over the duchies' status, setting the immediate operational context for the campaigns that followed.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)