He was also the grandson of the Luxembourg-born military officer and engineer, Johan Caspar von Cicignon (1625-1696).

He became captain in 1720 and then rose through the ranks until 1746 when he was made Colonel and head of the 2nd Vesterlenske National Infantry Regiment.

In autumn 1762, the national government in Copenhagen established an extra per capita tax for every person over twelve years, which was later reduced to a charge per household.

These extra taxes were intended to help pay loans from foreign governments and to support the price of the Danish-Norwegian currency at the stock market in Hamburg.

The extra tax had hit the poor farmers and fishermen in rural areas around Bergen particularly hard.