Christian Julius de Meza (14 January 1792 – 16 September 1865) was the commander of the

Danish Army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structur ...

during the 1864

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

. De Meza was responsible for the withdrawal of the Danish army from the

Danevirke The Danevirke or Danework (modern Danish spelling: ''Dannevirke''; in Old Norse; ''Danavirki'', in German; ''Danewerk'', literally meaning '' earthwork of the Danes'') is a system of Danish fortifications in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. This his ...

, an event which shocked the Danish public and resulted in the loss of his command.

Biography

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

descent, de Meza served honorably in the First War of Schleswig and played an important role in securing the Danish victory in the 1850 Battle of Isted—at its time, the largest battle in Scandinavian history. In 1864, de Meza was appointed supreme commander of the Danish forces. His objective was to defend the Danish border against a much greater combined Prusso-

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

army. But at the age of 72, de Meza was well past his prime and his task became even more difficult due to the conflict erupting during the winter season. De Meza estimated that his men were facing certain defeat and a pointless loss of life, and on the evening of 5 February 1864 telegraphed the War Ministry stating that the army since the day before had been preparing to withdraw to the position at

Dybbøl Dybbøl is a small town with a population of 2,339 (1 January 2022)Evacuation of Danevirke During the Second War of Schleswig, the fortifications of Danevirke were evacuated by the Danish army in 1864. This marked the last military use of the ancient defence structure of Danevirke, which has remained in German possession ever since ...

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meza, Christian 1792 births 1865 deaths Danish generals People from Helsingør Danish people of Jewish descent Burials at the Garrison Cemetery, Copenhagen