The game actually has a menu for changing the controls, but it doesn't seem to work.

You're supposed to be able to Press M to modify or E to End and while E does work, M doesn't.

Any ideas? The default controls are terrible.

Regular keyboard it's the ";" key.

For Hungarian users: on Hungarian keyboard, the "M(odify)" key is "É".

Up, Down, Left, Right, Fire, Retreat
There are controls for player 1 and 2, you can also use a joystick, in the North and South directory, there are manual and reference card pdf files.
Notes from a U.S. player:
how to switch which active army type you have selected: You can only control either Artillery, cavalry, or infantry at once. You can tell which type you have selected by the top left icon. (Cannon balls, Horse, and rifle) For the LEFT player it is the LEFT SHIFT key, and for the RIGHT PLAYER, it is the RIGHT SHIFT KEY.

There is also an arcade mode.

Edit: Got controls switched, but mouse directional controls work.
My controls were in german so after setting up , I did: ; to start modifying controls f to quit and o to confirm

Found how to set languages: I think the 3 flags at the beginning, before the main menu are for languages, the one in the middle may be the Britain flag, for British, other languages may be Hungarian and German

The manual seems to list more keyboard commands... Page 6 shows how to pick number of players: 0-2.
I was able to turn sound off with F9

Controls still don't work in game. It may be a problem with dosbox, it hasn't been patched to .3 and may have trouble running the game will try DOSBOX-X quick update: ingame controls don't work,
I can only select items with mouse.
escape works.

Could the 2 player keyboard controls be interfearing with each other... --I also have a 66 percent keyboard, instead of full keyboard?
Update:
Found out you click a blinking area to move there after you click on a guy when starting.