Ernst Peymann

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Ernst Peymann
Peymann (center left) saying his goodbye to Vice-admiral Steen Bille on 17 August 1807 during the Battle of Copenhagen
Born	(1737-05-22)22 May 1737 Rotenburg, Bremen-Verden
Died	28 January 1823(1823-01-28) (aged 85) Rendsburg, Duchy of Holstein
Military career
Allegiance	Denmark–Norway
Branch	Royal Danish Army
Service years	c. 1755-1807
Rank	Major-General
Conflicts	Seven Years' War Napoleonic Wars Battle of Copenhagen (1807)

Major-General Hinrich Ernst Peymann (22 May 1737 – 28 January 1823) was a Danish Army officer and fortifications engineer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He commanded Danish forces during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807, and led subsequent negotiations after their capitulation.

Career

Early career

Peymann entered the military engineering service in 1755, working on fortifications near Holstein. He was attached to the French Royal Army for a few years and participated in the Seven Years' War, before returning to Denmark to serve as the Quartermaster general of fortifications in 1783. In this capacity he was considered a reliable architect; he constructed a lighthouse, barracks for the Royal Life Guards, and two warehouses in the 1780s, among other buildings. Peymann also served on numerous government construction committees, and worked with officers from the Royal Danish Navy to construct coastal defense structures. In 1789 he became a Colonel in the infantry, and in 1795 a Major general. Later that year he would also become the commissioner of the Copenhagen Fire Brigade, a position he would hold for a decade. He resigned from the engineering branch a year later.

References