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Hans Birch Dahlerup (25 August 1790, Hillerød – 26 September 1872, Frederiksberg) was a Danish admiral and baron . He was among Denmark's most important naval strategists in the 19th century. Dahlerup rose through the ranks to become rear admiral in the Royal Danish Navy. He also served as Vice Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Austrian Navy after the Revolution of 1848. Dahlerup rebuilt the Austrian naval forces and led the blockade and recapture of Venice in 1849. For these efforts he was knighted by Emperor Franz Joseph.

Dahlerup had a broad interest in culture and science. He was fluent in German, English, French and Italian as foreign languages. He wrote his memoirs, published in four volumes after his death.

Early life

Dahlerup grew up in a family of civil servants in Hillerød on Zealand. His father, Hans Jensen Dahlerup, came from a simple background in East Jutland, but as a young man he was employed by an official in Hillerød, and once sailed as a cabin clerk on a merchant ship to Tranquebar in India. Hans knew little else about his father's family and upbringing. When Hans was growing up, his father was the Amtmann in Frederiksborg County. He was also a civil magistrate and auctioneer. Later, he became a road tax collector, hospital superintendent, and postmaster. His mother, Sophie Marie Birch, was the daughter of a goldsmith. When she died in 1799 of tuberculosis, his father then married her sister, Vilhelmine.

The home was not particularly wealthy, but rich in talent. Hans read avidly from his father's book collection. Hans' brothers and half-brothers became lawyers, priests, and officers. His half-brother Edvard became King Christian VIII's personal physician. His sisters married officials. Dahlerup attended Latin school and considered a university education, but changed his mind after the British attack on the Copenhagen fleet in 1801. The fact that he had a brother three years older in the navy also played a role in his choice of career. He was not yet 16 when he completed the Royal Danish Naval Academy.

Young naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars

When the Gunboat War broke out between Denmark-Norway and Great Britain in 1807, he was a second lieutenant. He served on the ship of the line HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik, which had been sent to Norway and thus avoided the Battle of Copenhagen. He was seriously ill on the lower deck when the ship entered combat during the Battle of Zealand Point, where was captured by the British. As an officer, he was treated well, and the following year he was released.

Dahlerup then came to Silda as commander of two gun schooners and a gun dinghy, crewed by local fishermen, farmers and craftsmen. In 1810 they were attacked by a superior British force and he surrendered the schooner without loss of life. He was again captured and sent to Reading in England, but exchanged in 1811. Back in Bergen he was court-martialed for the surrender, but was acquitted without critical remarks.

The young Dahlerup usually spent the winters during the war years in Bergen. He described in his memoirs a change of mood among his Bergen friends in 1810 and 1811, "to more or less pronounced wishes for separation" from Denmark. Dahlerup was disillusioned, and his sense of loyalty to the king contributed to his wishing to return home tomDenmark towards the end of 1812.

In the summer of 1813 he became commander of a gun sloop in the Sound, where he created obstacles for British and Swedish convoys. In October he was supposed to reconnoiter in the Great Belt, but came across an English and ended up being captured for the third time. He was imprisoned until the conclusion of peace in 1814.

Merchant captain in the Danish West Indies

"Little Marie on Neky's arm", painting by Niels Peter Holbech (1838). Neky served in Dahlerup's home in Copenhagen. The Holbech and Dahlerup families knew each other, and Marie's younger sister Ursula was married to Hans Joost Vilhelm Dahlerup.

Dahlerup was employed as a teacher of navigation and mathematics at the Naval Academy, but was soon granted leave to sail in the merchant navy. At first he was persuaded by an acquaintance from the navy, Louis de Coninck, to join as a mate, while Coninck was a shipowner and captain, to Lisbon and Málaga.

In 1816 he became captain of the English brig Sovereign. With him as mate he had a friend from the navy, Henrik Sneedorff, son of admiral and head of the naval academy, Hans Christian Sneedorff. The crew was mostly Scandinavian. They sailed to Madeira and on to the Danish West Indies to load the ship with sugar and rum.

His stays in the Danish West Indies lasted for months, and Dahlerup became acquainted with many officials and plantation owners, but he particularly valued his friendship with Governor-General Adrian Benjamin Bentzon.

In 1818, Dahlerup and Sneedorff bought their own brig and sailed to England, but were unable to make the venture profitable. They sold the ship and returned to the navy.

Teacher and naval officer

After completing his service in the merchant navy, Dahlerup taught English and naval artillery at the naval academy. He was also chairman of the Søe-Lieutenant-Selskabet and editor of the journal Archiv for Søvæsen . The journal addressed many current political issues, such as slavery in the Danish West Indies. Dahlerup himself brought a black woman, Neky, back to Denmark in the 1830s as a maid, but it is unclear whether she was a slave or free.

Dahlerup praised Governor-General Peter von Scholten's efforts to improve the living conditions of slaves in the Danish West Indies, including better education, the right to free their slaves, the right to change their own slave owners, and protection from arbitrary punishment. Dahlerup saw this empowerment of slaves as a first step towards "the threshold of complete civil freedom". A slave revolt in 1848 overwhelmed Scholten, who single-handedly freed all slaves.

Dahlerup belonged to the navy's permanent officer corps and was assigned to command several naval vessels on cruises to the Mediterranean, Madeira, New York and the Danish West Indies. He also led the inquiries into a violation of sovereignty in the Danish West Indies.

"Thorvaldsen's arrival at Copenhagen Rowing", painting by CW Eckersberg (1839). Dahlerup is sitting next to Thorvaldsen in the rowing boat in the middle of the picture.

In 1838 he took the frigate Rota to the Mediterranean, partly as a training exercise for the crew, and partly to bring the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen and his sculptures and reliefs home from Rome. Thorvaldsen was received as a hero in Copenhagen.

In 1840, Dahlerup was promoted to commander-captain in the navy, and in 1847 to commander . He helped shape naval defense policy as a member of several commissions. He won recognition for his skill, but could be unnecessarily harsh in his outbursts against other officers. [ 1

Revolutionary years and entry into Austrian service

Dahlerup was a man of the absolutist era and had little interest in politics. The absolute monarch, King Frederick VI, was the only one of the three kings he served under whom he actually had respect. The revolutions of 1848 led to democratic reforms and national movements in Denmark and several other countries. He never fully embraced the transition to a constitutional monarchy with the Constitution of 1849.

He denied that the Danes' mindset had become more democratic:

"It was only the upheavals in the conditions of wealth after the state bankruptcy that had shaken the divisions of society; possibly also the excessive indulgence of the government or kings in the ideas of the modern age, from which had arisen a pursuit of popularity, a flattery for a clumsy condescension to the lower and uneducated classes, their manners and tone, all of which in a union had confused and vulgarized the classes of society and broken down authority and respect." The unresolved national affiliation in the duchies of Schleswig , Holstein and Lauenburg , where pro-Germans received support from the German Confederation , led to the outbreak of the First Schleswig War in March 1848. At the same time, the old Admiralty College was being transformed into a naval ministry. Minister of the Navy CC Zahrtmann , who was an old friend of Dahlerup, wanted Dahlerup to take on the task of putting the navy in a combat-ready state. Dahlerup was in poor health and said he was too busy with other tasks. By the armistice in August 1848, the Danes were on the retreat. Dahlerup published a paper criticizing Zahrtmann's naval strategy. The government disliked the outspokenness, but saw it best to let the matter lie. Dahlerup and Zahrtmann became enemies.

In February 1849, Zahrtmann was asked by an Austrian envoy to allow an experienced Danish naval officer to take command of the shattered Austrian navy. The practice of naval officers entering the service of foreign powers, even in wartime, was more common before the formation of European nation-states .

The Danish government saw the opportunity to split Austria and Prussia, who were competing for leadership of the German Confederation, with whom the Danes were in an unresolved conflict in the duchies. Zahrtmann made the offer to Dahlerup, who was reluctant, but appealed to "the importance of the Danish cause". Naval historian Hans Christian Bjerg suggests that Zahrtmann also saw an opportunity to get rid of "a troublesome and competent critic".

The Austrian envoy, Count Károlyi, assumed that the Danes could forego Dahlerup, because the Danish navy, in the absence of enemies at sea, would anyway only be used for blockades and as support for the land forces.

Dahlerup agreed to resign from the Danish Navy with the rank of rear admiral . In return, he would retain his place in the ranking if he rejoined. The democratic Copenhagen Post believed that Dahlerup allowed himself to be used by the imperial power to suppress national uprisings.

National uprising in Italy

The Austrian frigate "Venere" is attacked by a Venetian rebel vessel. Painting by Lorenzo Butti (1850). By the peace treaty after the Napoleonic Wars, Austria had gained control of Napoleon's Italian kingdom and taken over the Italian fleet, with its main base in Venice . The traditional land power placed the navy under the control of the army, which had the disadvantage that many officers moved between the army and navy to advance more quickly. As vice admiral and commander-in-chief of the navy, Dahlerup also received the rank of lieutenant field marshal .

By 1848, the efforts for Italian unification had reached the streets, and Venice and the rest of northern Italy revolted. The Austrians lost their most important naval station, and Commander-in-Chief Anton Stephan von Martini and his staff were captured. When Dahlerup took office, a mood of disintegration prevailed. A majority of the Italians in the navy had joined the revolt. The Austrians were left with few vessels in Trieste and Pola and a crew of many nationalities, who still had Italian as their language of command. They were unable to carry out any effective blockade of Venice.

Admiral Dahlerup arrived in Vienna in March 1849. He was favored by the young Emperor Franz Joseph I , Prime Minister Felix zu Schwarzenberg, and Minister of War Franz von Cordon. All gave him free rein to reorganize the navy. During April 1849, he had reviewed the navy's uniforms, armament, rosters, and diet.

The blockade and reconquest of Venice

The church of San Geremia in Venice on fire during Austrian bombardment. In Venice, the Austrians made the first attempt at aerial bombing in military history. They sent hot air balloons with bombs towards the city. Despite careful weather observations, many of the balloons went off course. Painting by Luigi Querena (c. 1850). When the Emperor's army was victorious at the Battle of Novara in March 1849, the Venetians' allies, Sardinia-Piedmont , were also forced to withdraw their naval forces from Venice. Dahlerup instituted a naval blockade of Venice. At the same time, the Venetian lagoon was surrounded by large land forces, led by Field Marshal Lieutenant Julius von Haynau , so no food supplies could reach the city. While the army was plagued by disease, the navy was spared this and suffered few casualties in battle.

The Italian rebels controlled another port city, Ancona , which the Austrians wanted to help the Papal States recapture. The Austrian commander Franz von Wimpffen wanted assistance from the navy. At the same time, the naval blockade of Venice was to be maintained. Dahlerup made a daring expedition to reconnoiter Ancona's naval batteries. Naval vessels were then deployed to bombard the city. Ancona surrendered to the Austrians in June 1849.

The blockade had weakened in Dahlerup's absence, but the Venetians were unable to break it. In August 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi and his guerrilla fighters tried to enter Venice in small boats. They were discovered by Dahlerup's naval forces, who came close to capturing Garibaldi. Venice was now so ravaged by hunger and cholera that the Venetian fleet attempted to break out, but they avoided engaging the Austrians before finally surrendering.

At the end of August 1849, the reconquest was celebrated. "It was a triumph that surpassed in pomp anything I had ever experienced," recalled Dahlerup, who missed greater recognition from his countrymen. Dahlerup and Field Marshal Radetzky von Radetz sailed down the Grand Canal , to salutes and flag-raising. At St. Mark's Square, they were presented with the keys to the city by the city's officials and clergy. A celebratory service was then held in St. Mark's Cathedral .

The emperor honored Dahlerup with the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Iron Crown, and with it the dignity of baron. He was also appointed Privy Councillor at the court. The Catholic Habsburg allies in the Papal States, Pope Pius IX , awarded Dahlerup the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great.

Honours

Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Iron Crown ( 1849 ) Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog ( 1851 ) Badge of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog ( 1845 ) Grand Cross of the Order of Guadalupe ( 1864 )

References

1. ^ Hauch-Fausbøll, Theodor (1939). Slægten Dahlerup (PDF) (5 ed.). Copenhagen: Dansk Genealogisk Institut. OCLC 464217822.
2. Dahlerup, Hans Birch (1908). Mit Livs Begivenheder: 1790–1814. Copenhagen: Gyldendal. pp. 3–12. OCLC 733974006.
3. Topsøe-Jensen, Theodor. "Hans Dahlerup". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
4. Jørgensen,, Allan (2003). "Admiral Hans Birch Dahlerup, mellem enevælde og demokrati i Danmark og Østrig" (PDF). Marinehistorisk Tidsskrift. 36 (3): 63–87. ISSN 0106-5122.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)