Battle of Klein Zecker. September 30th.
On September the 30th a force had been ordered by the Prince of Hessen to
perform a forage to the towns of Gross Zecker and Hollenbeck. The force assembled for this
mission consisted of 2nd and 6th hussar squadrons, the jaeger companies Jess and Schou
(could be family!) from the Oldenborgske 1st and 3rd respectively and 2 musketeer
companies from Slesvigske 1st. The force was placed under the capable command
of Major Späth. The Major had also been promised a 2 cannon reinforcement from battery
Gønner, but as these failed to show up at the assembly point in Kogel, Major Späth
decided to begin the march without them.
Späth formed 2 columns and personally led one of them through Seedorf and Gross Zecker,
while the other column, led by captain Jess (who had been assigned hussar lieutenant Ewald
as an assistant) marched over Sterley and Hollenbeck. Both columns had Marienstädt as
their final objective. The enemy the two columns encountered (a mix of Tyrolian jaegers,
Prussian hussars and a few Cossacks) had been taken by surprise and was quickly routed so
that the foraging in Gross Zecker and Hollenbeck could begin unhindered. Thereafter the
march continued towards Marienstädt. During the march the right column suddenly came
under fire from enemy pickets (2-300 of them) in the hamlet Klein Zecker. Captain Jess,
leading the column, instantly deployed his infantry and a fire fight evolved. The fight
quickly grew quite fierce as the Danes took cover among trees and in ditches, and
skirmished with he enemy taking cover in the buildings of Klein Zecker.
The left column had meanwhile marched into a 2 company strong enemy picket near
Marienstädt. Major Späth found it unwise to push any further and ordered captain Jess to
defend his position, while he himself deployed his forces for battle, linking his
musketeer company with captain Jess´s skirmishing lines. The enemy received a number of
reinforcements and several attempts were made to advance out of Klein Zecker, but the
Danish musket fire repulsed every attempt. The foraging ended and 30 wagon loads of
foraged supplies moved from Gross Zecker and Hollenbeck to safety near Kogel mill. When
the wagons were reported to be in safety Major Späth gave the order for a general
withdrawal. The Danes disengaged the enemy and fell back towards the main lines. No
attempts to pursue was made by the enemy.
The Danish losses amounted to 7 wounded (a lieutenant and 5 jaegers from Oldenborgske 2nd
and 1 hussar from the 2nd squadron). The enemy losses are unknown but presumed to be
somewhat higher due to the repulsed breakout attempts of Klein Zecker.
The most important thing about this skirmish were the observations the Prince of Hessen
made. Based on these observations he concluded that the Tyrolian jaegers had a number of
excellent riflemen and that they could shoot at far greater ranges than the Danes.