Education
Raasløff spent his school years in Sorø and in 1832 he was admitted to the Royal Military College (Kgl Militære Højskole), from which he graduated in 1838 as second lieutenant in the artillery.
Raasløff spent his school years in Sorø and in 1832 he was admitted to the Royal Military College (Kgl Militære Højskole), from which he graduated in 1838 as second lieutenant in the artillery.
Instead of serving in Denmark, he applied for service abroad and in 1840-1841 he served in the French Army in Algeria. He later summarized his experiences in Algeria in a book, which was translated into several languages. In 1849-1850, he served as captain in the Danish army in the First War of Schleswig, however, in 1851, he left the military in order to go to America and become an engineer
In 1857, he was appointed Denmark"s Minister Resident in Washington, District of Columbia. On behalf of Christian IX, he concluded the first commercial treaty between Denmark and the Qing Empire on 13 July 1863, a treaty which was modeled on the Treaties of Tianjin and governed the relationship between the two countries for several decades.
Between 1 October 1866 and 19 April 1870, he served as the War Minister of Denmark.