 He entered the army as a volunteer during the Prussian–Danish War (Schleswig-Holstein War of Succession), where he served in the brigade of Major-General Olaf Rye and partook in the Battle of Fredericia on July 6, 1849.After the war From settled in Copenhagen.He was employed by the Statistical Bureau, where he met Magnus Oscar Møllerstrøm, then the strongest chess player in Copenhagen.