During the 1860s, as the issue of Schleswig separatism forced itself to the top of the political agenda, he opposed the government policy of attempting uncompromisingly to impose Danish control in a region where, progressively, the German speaking minority was becoming a majority.

He was sent with the army to Holstein in 1813 and followed General von Kardorff into Germany, but his ambitions to become involved in the fighting were thwarted by the Treaty of Kiel, concluded in January 1814, which finally put an end to two decades of war.

He was based in Flanders, but was able to secure postings to Paris and to Metz which enabled him to engage in the academic study of science and, more specifically, of artillery warfare.

He was almost at once sent with a few fellow officers, including Christian Frederik Hansen and Otto Schlegel, to observe the French expeditionary force that had been sent to provide support in the Greek War of Independence.

In Copenhagen, Tscherning was deployed to teach artillery cadets and appointed a member of the commission created to propose reforms to army training.

However, Tscherning was a man of strong opinions on military matters and on the condition of Danish society more generally, and he was keen to share his views far beyond the confines of the classroom at the Copenhagen officers' academy.

Those contributing to the nation's defence should enjoy better material support, just treatment by the state, promotion based fairly on merit and clear age limits.

There were those who felt that some of his ideas were impractical, that he under-estimated the importance of basic routine skills as necessary underpinnings for wartime preparedness, that his well reasoned strictures on military administration were not matched by strategic and tactical insight.

Despite being 22 years younger than he, the bride was his first cousin,[6] although her father – Tscherning's maternal uncle, General Major Adam Tobias Lützow (1775–1844) – had acknowledged Eleonora as his daughter (and adopted her legally) only in 1837.

[2] Having already gained a good knowledge of rural issues during his time in Frederiksværk, Tscherning became president of the Society of the Friends of Peasants on its foundation in 1846.

To the south Holstein had also, till its abolition in 1806, formed part of the Holy Roman Empire, and now combined its ties to the Danish crown with membership of the German Confederation.

In a century of rising nationalism the tensions this situation created could only increase, and the rebellion took on the character of an international war when Prussia intervened on behalf of the separatists.

By July the Danish army had succeeded in stopping the rebels and their Prussian allies, although the underlying tensions that had triggered the war remained unresolved.

However, he was also constrained by political considerations during the summer of 1848: the Danish government position was widely backed by foreign powers (aside from those in the German confederation), but there was a growing risk that allies might initiate peace talks on Denmark's behalf.

When he resigned in November 1848 Tscherning was not convinced that a further three years of war was desirable and he increasingly came to the view that, while rebellion should be seen for what it was and put down accordingly, that did not mean that regional differences and language rights should be ignored.

He also never lost his enthusiasm for military affairs, and never gave up on his belief in the "nation in arms" concept, in order to "holder Folket friskt og disciplinerer det" ("keep the people energetic and disciplined").