Peter Lotharius Oxholm



Peter Lotharius Oxholm (10 July 1753 – 27 July 1827) was a Danish army officer and governor-general of the Danish West Indies from 1815 to 1816. He also participated in the Battle of Køge against the British troops in 1807

Oxholm was first married to Marie Heiliger, who died in 1794, and later to Ann O'Neill (3 February 1780 – 16 August 1844), daughter of a plantation owner on St. Croix.

In 1814, Oxholm was appointed governor-general of the Danish West Indies.

Military career
He began his career as a cadet in 1763 and was made corporal in 1769. From 1771 Oxholm was page to Queen Carolina Mathilda, and he was present at her arrest in 1772. After having served in Denmark, he left for the Danish West Indies as a lieutenant in 1777. Oxholm returned to Denmark in 1793 and was dismissed from the army with the rank of colonel.

During the English Wars, Oxholm became leader of a regiment (Søndre Sjællandske Landeværnsregiment – the Regiment of Southern Zealand in English) in the militia created in 1801. This militia participated in the Battle of Køge, where Oxholm together with a handful of soldiers barricaded themselves in the cemetery at Herfølge, a small town in the middle of Zealand. After a brief and intense battle, they were forced to surrender and were taken prisoner.