Moltke was born in
Parchim,
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, son of the Danish
Generalleutnant Friedrich Philipp Victor von
Moltke (1768–1845). In 1805, his father settled in Holstein, but about the same time was left impoverished when the
French burned his country house and plundered his town house in
Lübeck, where his wife and children were during the
Fourth Coalition. Young Moltke therefore grew up under difficult circumstances. At nine he was sent as a boarder to Hohenfelde in Holstein, and at age twelve went to the
cadet school at
Copenhagen, being destined for the Danish army and court. In 1818 he became a page to the king of
Denmark and a second lieutenant in a Danish infantry regiment.