THE LATE DANISH COMMANDER-INCHIEF.

New Zealander, Volume XX, Issue 2139, 13 June 1864, Page 3

THE LATE DANISH COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.

Wb find in a Copenhagen letter the following sketch of General Meza, the Danish Commander-in-chief.— " The General has descended from a family of Spanish Jews, who settled in Denmark about a hundred years ago. Although more than seventy years of age, he retains many of the qualities which with the bulk of mankind are the happy privileges of youth, and become dimmed long before the green old age he enjoys. In this, as in every other respect, he is a worthy opponent of Baron Wrangel, Prussian General, who is nearly octogenarian, but was never seen in a cloak, and will head a charge with something like the fire he exhibited at Waterloo. Herr de Meza was born at Elsinor, the son and grandson of wealthy medical practitioners. At the time of tlie English attack he entered the Artillery, and he served as an ensign in the batteries of Frederickshoven during the campaign. On peace being restored, he soon distinguished himself by a knowledge of mathematics, which' procured him a place in the School of Artillery, and in course of time made him a teacher in the School of War. In the war of 1848 he obtained a brigade, and was ap >ointed chief of the artillery. There was hardly an office in the army military powers were looked upon with greater distrust by the people as well as the troops. The pedantic and capricious dogmatist, whose crochets had been hawked aboat the capital, aud formed the delight of ensigns for many a year, was to encounter all the disagreeables of woe. Tnat he knew more than any man in the country how to point a gun and calculate the flight of a ball, every one readily admitted; but a man who had never allowed a window or a door to be opened, and was wont to appear muffled up to the eyes—a man who was ready to faint on hearing an accent misplaced on one of his favourite French words—did not seem to be the sort of fellow to live in a camp aud beat the enemy. However, when it came to the test, Meza unexpectedly revealed himself in a new character. In the field no one cared less for wind and weather than the morose and hypochondriac General, who,.healthy as he was, had considered himself a sickly valetudinarian all his life. No one was more ready to encounter the inclemencies of the temperature; no one was more exacting in this respect than the adorer of eau de Cologne and the smelling bottle. In all the more important encounters of the campaign he was at the head of the artillery, indefatigable, and as discreet as spirited and bold. His services at Bau, Sehleswitf, Nippel, ahd'Dyppel, won him the applause of the army, and made him a. full colonel at the end of the year. On the sanguinary 12th of April, he took the two Saxon guns, the chief spoil of the war in Danish hands. Having subsequently commanded at Alsen, and garrisoned Fridicia, he took part in the heroic sally in which the Germans were repulsed, and relieved the besieged fortress. His excellent conduct on this occasion won him a general's brevet, which a few month's later was. succeeded by stars, together with his appointment. to the eommandof the ordnance. The opening of hostilities in the second half, of 1850 found him an invalid—having undergone a ,serious operation, he was unable to take the field. On the 24th July, however, ; he fought at Staderup, and the day after shared the honours of Idsted, in the staff of General Krogh. Retreat became necessary, but it was conducted with consummate skill by our hero, whose reputation increased amidst the disasters of the day. i'he troops had not marched very far, when, bringing the artilleiy to a stand, and re-forming, he repelled the .enemy and checked the pursuit. At the conclusion of the war he was named Inspector Royal of Artillery, and in 1858 received the command of the forces in Schleswig, Jutland, and Funen. Having subsequently held command at Copenhagen and Zealand, he had, a month ago, the honour of being sent over to the continent to defend the Dannewerke. His military talents were shared in au eminent degree by Colonel Kauffmann, the chief of his staff. ' Kaulfman, a Holsteiuer by birth, has been in the civil and military service of the kingdom for many years, and proved himself a cool and intelligent officer in the war of 1848. Of late he has acted in various capacities, representing the governmeut in the Diet at one time, and then submitting to be sent to Kiel to coerce the University and frighten the prof•j'ssprs into loyalty."