From The Eagle Rising: The Story of Prussia's Arrival On the World Stage, pub. 1989 by Professor Reinicke Herz
On April 2nd, 1868, the British Royal Navy landed 6 divisions of infantry, under the command of General Archer Lewis, on the German coast at Stade, then part of the North German Federation, an ally of Prussia. They immediately began marching toward the strategic industrial city of Bremen.
As soon as word reached Kermit von Unruh, then acting as War Minister in von Moltke’s place, he recognized it as a vastly threatening operation, and issued orders for coastal defenses to respond.
The Battle of Bremen was joined on April 27th, which began a long and bloody campaign of attrition. By the end of May, Bremen had been reinforced, and Lewis’ early advantage in numbers was cut to equivalency with the Prussian defenders. By June, General Greifswald had arrived with yet more reinforcements, and the battle was decided. The remnants of six British divisions surrendered on July 1st.
But the British were persistent, this time. As they lost their overseas colonies, it became apparent to their leadership that they must crush the Prussian homeland, and soon. In August, another four divisions were landed at Hamburg.
Defending Prussian divisions arrayed themselves near Luneburg, then attempted briefly to dislodge the British from Hamburg. The attack proved pointless, and the Prussians retreated. As three British divisions surged north toward Kiel, another 10 divisions sailed into harbor to ensure the permanence of Royal authority on this shore.
During this time, encouraged by the British landings and knowing that it might be their final chance at regaining independence, Catholic partisans in southern Germany revolted. They underestimated, however, the resolve of the Habsburgs to support them. Not wanting to rejoin the war, Emperor Franz Josef simply allowed the rebels to disrupt his enemy’s rear areas, in hopes that the British would sufficiently weaken Prussia for Austria to force a comeback.
Feldmarschall Manteuffel, returning to the defense of the Fatherland from the battlefields of France, was forced to delay his armies’ urgent ride to oppose these strong and numerous insurrections. The rebellions flared brightly in intensity, but by the end of the year the south fell quiet once more.
Events in the north, however, developed with breathtaking rapidity. Oldenburg and Cloppenburg, two of the more independent provinces of the north, began a pattern of sporadic rebellions, which complicated the Prussian defense. Meanwhile, the British pressed their forces south, attacking first at Lauenburg, and in more substantial strength at Luneburg in November. General Clifford Powell’s nearly 4:1 advantage forced the Prussians to withdraw to a more defensible position. Smaller forces assaulted Stade and Lubeck. And while the Royal Navy frustrated Prussian attempts to reinforce the north by sea, the British used their naval superiority to effect a powerful secondary invasion at Swinemunde.
It was then that Kaiser Wilhelm, and Ministers Roon, Unruh and Rensselaer began a frantic effort to ensure the security of the Prussian capital from the overwhelming onrush of British soldiers.