I thought it would be interesting to get a mixed demographic of short bio's of men from different walks of life & backgrounds that fought at Antietam.
This idea came to me after reading this excerpt from an article by Ted Alexander:
"The two armies that fought at Antietam represented a cross section of the American population. The soldiers were primarily from small towns or rural backgrounds. Union regiments claimed more urban enlistments. Around one-fourth of the Union troops were from New York.
Pennsylvania was the next largest group. Nearly 25 percent of Lee’s army was from Virginia, with Georgia representing a close second at about 21 percent.
Although the Civil War is generally viewed as a conflict between white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, a close examination reveals an interesting ethnic makeup among Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks alike. Traditional groups such as the Scots-Irish and ‘Pennsylvania’ Germans could be found on both sides. Many Southern soldiers from both ethnicities in the Shenandoah Valley shared cultural, economic and kinship ties with the same groups in south-central Pennsylvania. The influx of immigrants from Germany and Catholic Ireland was well represented, particularly in the North, with units such as the Irish Brigade and the German 5th Maryland (Union) and 20th New York.
All these units acquitted themselves well at Antietam.
The famed Iron Brigade boasted Germans, Norwegians and Métis (men of French Canadian and Indian descent). Indeed, recent research by Iron Brigade scholar Lance Herdegen has uncovered the existence of at least two mulattos who passed for whites and were serving in the ranks. Jews could be found in both armies. The 5th Maryland (Union), made up almost entirely of German immigrants, fought at Bloody Lane. Their commander was Major Leopold Blumenberg, a Jewish immigrant from East Prussia. Among the Confederates opposing the 5th Maryland in the Sunken Road was the 12th Alabama. Captain Adolph Proskauer, another Jewish immigrant from Prussia, served with the 12th and was seriously wounded in the battle.
Even a solid ‘Anglo’ command like the Texas Brigade had its minorities. Captain Decimus et Ultimus Barziza of Company C, 4th Texas, was the son of Italian immigrants. His name in Latin means ‘the tenth and the last’ (apparently his mother had had enough of child rearing when he came along).
Both Louisiana brigades in Lee’s army were very cosmopolitan. Besides Louisiana French of both Creole and Acadian (Cajun) descent, the ranks were filled with men from all over the world. One study has shown that at least 24 nationalities were represented in these regiments, including Greeks, Italians, Mexicans, Brazilians and men from Martinique. The 12th South Carolina contained a number of Catawba Indians."
http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-antietam
Ted Alexander mentioned the German Jew, Leopold Blumenburg so I decided to begin with short bio of him.
He was a Respected leader in Baltimore's large German community. A Prussian Jew, Blumenburg had resigned from the Prussian Army due to the bigotry/anti-Semitism he experienced there. He found that others of less merit were promoted while he could attain no rank higher then that of a junior officer. He immigrated to the United States looking for better opportunities in 1854.
The Jewish community could be as divided as any other over the question of politics, secession or slavery. Rabbi's would argue merits of one side or the other just as the Christian Ministers of the day did.
Blumenburg attended Temple at Har Sinai whose Rabbi David Einhorn, was an active abolitionist. Blumenburg himself became an outspoken proponent of abolition & union. During the secession crisis & the fall out from the Pratt Street Riot in Baltimore, he lived under threat of being lynched & needed a full time body guard. During this time Blumenburg put his clout in the German community & past military experience to good use for the cause of union. He helped recruit the 5th Maryland Volunteer Infantry to answer Lincoln's call for men to suppress the rebellion. He would serve as the Major of that fine regiment.
The 5th Maryland's baptism of fire was one hell of a baptism! On September 17th 1862 the 5th Maryland was the center on Brigadier Gen. Weber's brigade as it plodded across the undulating fields of the Roulette Farm at Sharpsburg MD. With a regiment of New Yorkers on the left & the 1st Delaware on the right these men would be the first to assault the Confederate position in the enemies center. An enemy counseled by a sunken farm lane.
The 5th Maryland advanced with its massive 6 ft tall 300 lb German color barer in the center. His steps so measured & precise that all those around him surged ahead, the alignment of the brigade soon appearing like a crescent bent toward the awaiting enemy. They surged forward with unloaded muskets trusting to turn the enemy out with 'cold steel'.
This was an excepted practice of the day. It was believed that a man with a loaded gun would stop to fire & thus retard the momentum needed to break an enemy with the bayonet.
Knowing his only weapon was his bayonet, it was hoped, a soldier would charge across that deadly space between the lines with reckless abandon. Thus taking the enemy position more swiftly. Weber's brigade would pay a terrible price for using this tactic. They would attempts to take the sunken lane with the bayonet would be repulsed three times!
John B. Gordon would recall the sight of the entire first line of Federal troops mowed down by the Confederate fire. "My rifles flamed and roared in the Federals faces like a blinding blaze of lightning accompanied by the quick and deadly thunderbolt. The effect was appalling. The entire front line, with a few exceptions, went down the consuming blast."
As the casualties mounted Blumenburg found himself in momentary command of the 5th Maryland. His men were reforming on the crest of the slope and lay down to load & return fire into the Rebel position. During this time Blumenberg would suffer a grave thigh wound and be carried from the field. The 5th would eventually be replaced by other units of successive Federal brigades attacking the sunken lane.
Blumenburg's wound crippled him for the rest of his life. He would continue to serve the Union but was never again able to take a field command. He would later become the Provost Marshal of Maryland's Third District.
His loyalty to the Union was rewarded by the brevet rank of Brig. General. His Antietam wound would never properly heal & Leopold Blumenburg finally died from its effects in 1876.
Leopold Blumenburg
This idea came to me after reading this excerpt from an article by Ted Alexander:
"The two armies that fought at Antietam represented a cross section of the American population. The soldiers were primarily from small towns or rural backgrounds. Union regiments claimed more urban enlistments. Around one-fourth of the Union troops were from New York.
Pennsylvania was the next largest group. Nearly 25 percent of Lee’s army was from Virginia, with Georgia representing a close second at about 21 percent.
Although the Civil War is generally viewed as a conflict between white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, a close examination reveals an interesting ethnic makeup among Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks alike. Traditional groups such as the Scots-Irish and ‘Pennsylvania’ Germans could be found on both sides. Many Southern soldiers from both ethnicities in the Shenandoah Valley shared cultural, economic and kinship ties with the same groups in south-central Pennsylvania. The influx of immigrants from Germany and Catholic Ireland was well represented, particularly in the North, with units such as the Irish Brigade and the German 5th Maryland (Union) and 20th New York.
All these units acquitted themselves well at Antietam.
The famed Iron Brigade boasted Germans, Norwegians and Métis (men of French Canadian and Indian descent). Indeed, recent research by Iron Brigade scholar Lance Herdegen has uncovered the existence of at least two mulattos who passed for whites and were serving in the ranks. Jews could be found in both armies. The 5th Maryland (Union), made up almost entirely of German immigrants, fought at Bloody Lane. Their commander was Major Leopold Blumenberg, a Jewish immigrant from East Prussia. Among the Confederates opposing the 5th Maryland in the Sunken Road was the 12th Alabama. Captain Adolph Proskauer, another Jewish immigrant from Prussia, served with the 12th and was seriously wounded in the battle.
Even a solid ‘Anglo’ command like the Texas Brigade had its minorities. Captain Decimus et Ultimus Barziza of Company C, 4th Texas, was the son of Italian immigrants. His name in Latin means ‘the tenth and the last’ (apparently his mother had had enough of child rearing when he came along).
Both Louisiana brigades in Lee’s army were very cosmopolitan. Besides Louisiana French of both Creole and Acadian (Cajun) descent, the ranks were filled with men from all over the world. One study has shown that at least 24 nationalities were represented in these regiments, including Greeks, Italians, Mexicans, Brazilians and men from Martinique. The 12th South Carolina contained a number of Catawba Indians."
http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-antietam
Ted Alexander mentioned the German Jew, Leopold Blumenburg so I decided to begin with short bio of him.
He was a Respected leader in Baltimore's large German community. A Prussian Jew, Blumenburg had resigned from the Prussian Army due to the bigotry/anti-Semitism he experienced there. He found that others of less merit were promoted while he could attain no rank higher then that of a junior officer. He immigrated to the United States looking for better opportunities in 1854.
The Jewish community could be as divided as any other over the question of politics, secession or slavery. Rabbi's would argue merits of one side or the other just as the Christian Ministers of the day did.
Blumenburg attended Temple at Har Sinai whose Rabbi David Einhorn, was an active abolitionist. Blumenburg himself became an outspoken proponent of abolition & union. During the secession crisis & the fall out from the Pratt Street Riot in Baltimore, he lived under threat of being lynched & needed a full time body guard. During this time Blumenburg put his clout in the German community & past military experience to good use for the cause of union. He helped recruit the 5th Maryland Volunteer Infantry to answer Lincoln's call for men to suppress the rebellion. He would serve as the Major of that fine regiment.
The 5th Maryland's baptism of fire was one hell of a baptism! On September 17th 1862 the 5th Maryland was the center on Brigadier Gen. Weber's brigade as it plodded across the undulating fields of the Roulette Farm at Sharpsburg MD. With a regiment of New Yorkers on the left & the 1st Delaware on the right these men would be the first to assault the Confederate position in the enemies center. An enemy counseled by a sunken farm lane.
The 5th Maryland advanced with its massive 6 ft tall 300 lb German color barer in the center. His steps so measured & precise that all those around him surged ahead, the alignment of the brigade soon appearing like a crescent bent toward the awaiting enemy. They surged forward with unloaded muskets trusting to turn the enemy out with 'cold steel'.
This was an excepted practice of the day. It was believed that a man with a loaded gun would stop to fire & thus retard the momentum needed to break an enemy with the bayonet.
Knowing his only weapon was his bayonet, it was hoped, a soldier would charge across that deadly space between the lines with reckless abandon. Thus taking the enemy position more swiftly. Weber's brigade would pay a terrible price for using this tactic. They would attempts to take the sunken lane with the bayonet would be repulsed three times!
John B. Gordon would recall the sight of the entire first line of Federal troops mowed down by the Confederate fire. "My rifles flamed and roared in the Federals faces like a blinding blaze of lightning accompanied by the quick and deadly thunderbolt. The effect was appalling. The entire front line, with a few exceptions, went down the consuming blast."
As the casualties mounted Blumenburg found himself in momentary command of the 5th Maryland. His men were reforming on the crest of the slope and lay down to load & return fire into the Rebel position. During this time Blumenberg would suffer a grave thigh wound and be carried from the field. The 5th would eventually be replaced by other units of successive Federal brigades attacking the sunken lane.
Blumenburg's wound crippled him for the rest of his life. He would continue to serve the Union but was never again able to take a field command. He would later become the Provost Marshal of Maryland's Third District.
His loyalty to the Union was rewarded by the brevet rank of Brig. General. His Antietam wound would never properly heal & Leopold Blumenburg finally died from its effects in 1876.
Leopold Blumenburg