Werner Hans Frederik Abrahamson Læssøe was a Danish officer known for his service in the

First Schleswig War The First Schleswig War (german: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Krieg) was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswig, ...

. He was the son of Margrethe Juliane Signe Læssøe and the brother of the priest Kristian Frederik Læssøe, the painter Thorald Læssøe and the numismatist Ludvig Læssøe.

Biography

Læssøe became a lieutenant in an infantry regiment in 1830, was a student at the

War College A war college is a senior military academy which is normally intended for veteran military officers and whose purpose is to educate and 'train on' senior military tacticians, strategists, and leaders. It is also often the place where advanced tact ...

in 1832-1836 and was then employed in the general staff, where he was promoted to captain in 1842. For several years he was engaged in measurement and mapping work, which in recent times benefited Hedeselskabet's water supply plans, and served 1844-1845 as a teacher at the war academy, but was removed from this place, because his excessive independent ideas made him less popular with foremen, especially as he was politically leaning towards the National Liberal Party. At the outbreak of

, Læssøe was chief of staff at the army command. He participated in the battles at Bov, Nybøl and Dybbøl Banke. On this occasion, Læssøe came into conflict with the Minister of War, who questioned the competence of the army's leadership. And as a result of the Defeat at Egernførde, the hunt for a scapegoat began. Minister of War Hansen then used the defeat to remove the commander of the high command, General Christoph von Krogh and his chief of staff Frederik Læssøe. But when General

Olaf Rye Olaf Rye (16 November 1791 – 6 July 1849) was a Denmark–Norway, Norwegian-Danish military officer. He died in battle during the First Schleswig War and is considered to have been a Danish war hero. Biography Olaf Rye was born at Bø, Tele ...

was given the task of leading the withdrawal of the Danish army in 1849, he got Læssøe with him in his staff, and he participated in the Battle of Kolding . Læssøe was appointed colonel in 1850 and led the 12th battalion in the

Battle of Isted The Battle of Isted ( da, Slaget på Isted Hede; german: Die Schlacht bei Idstedt) took place on 25 July 1850 near the village of Idstedt (Danish: ''Isted''), in what is today Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The battle was part of the First Schlesw ...

, where he fell during the fighting. Bjerg/Frantzen (2005), side 305 He was buried in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

. Læssøesgade in both Aarhus, Copenhagen and Læssøegade in Kolding is named after him.

References

Bibliography

Biografi
i Dansk biografisk leksikon *

Biography

References

Bibliography

See also