Civil War Union Army Officer. Nicknamed "Jack of Diamonds", he served in his native Germany during the 1848-1851 Schleswig-Holstein War and in William Walker's 1855 Filibuster Expedition to Central America. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War he was commissioned Captain and commander of Company A, 59th New York Volunteer Infantry (the "Union Guards"), and eventually rose to Lieutenant Colonel and commander of the unit. During the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 2, 1862) he was leading his troops in the repulse of the Confederate attack on Cemetery Ridge when an artillery shell fractured his right arm. He lingered in pain from this injury for nine days before dying on July 11. Before his succumbed to his wounds, he expressed his desire to be buried amongst his fallen men, and his wish was honored. He is one of the two highest ranking soldiers to be interred in the Gettysburg National Cemetery (the other being Lieutenant Colonel George Stevens of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry).
Civil War Union Army Officer. Nicknamed "Jack of Diamonds", he served in his native Germany during the 1848-1851 Schleswig-Holstein War and in William Walker's 1855 Filibuster Expedition to Central America. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War he was commissioned Captain and commander of Company A, 59th New York Volunteer Infantry (the "Union Guards"), and eventually rose to Lieutenant Colonel and commander of the unit. During the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 2, 1862) he was leading his troops in the repulse of the Confederate attack on Cemetery Ridge when an artillery shell fractured his right arm. He lingered in pain from this injury for nine days before dying on July 11. Before his succumbed to his wounds, he expressed his desire to be buried amongst his fallen men, and his wish was honored. He is one of the two highest ranking soldiers to be interred in the Gettysburg National Cemetery (the other being Lieutenant Colonel George Stevens of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry).
Bio by: RPD2
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