The Danish commander-in-chief, lieutenant general Christian Julius…
February 1864 CE
The Danish commander-in-chief, lieutenant general Christian Julius De Meza, abandons the Dannevirke by night to avoid being surrounded and withdraws his army to Flensburg on February 5; six hundred men are captured or killed, ten of them frozen to death.
The railway from the south to Flensburg is never properly used during this evacuation and the Danish army only evacuates what men and horses can carry or pull by road, leaving behind much artillery, most importantly heavy artillery.
Some hours later, the Prussians and Austrians discover the retreat and begin pursuit.