USA > Maryland > Annual report of the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland, 13th-14th, Vol. II > Part 7
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CHAPTER XIII.
THE CIVIL WAR AND THE GERMAN-VIRGINIANS.
N the beginning of 1861 the outlook for the future rapidly darkened ; affairs steadily drifted towards hostilities be- tween the North and the South, and finally the German- Virginians after a long struggle were drawn into the whirlpool of popular excitement. In the western part of the State they belonged in large numbers to the "Union Party," but in Middle and Southern Virginia the great majority sym- pathized with the South, whose constitutional rights they con- sidered threatened. With all their devotion to the Union and pride of American citizenship, they felt in duty bound towards the State where they had become domiciled. Only a small number of Germans avowed the principles and programme of the Republican party and recommended unconditional submis- sion to the Federal Government ; but at this period of the great crisis not one German- Virginian - American or foreign born - was in favor of Secession. All German citizens in the State heartily endorsed a resolution of the Legislature to call a "Peace Congress" in order to avoid civil war. The Peace Congress assembled in Washington, D. C., on the 9th of Febru- ary, 1861, and Ex-President John Tyler presided ; but every proposal looking to a peaceful settlement was rejected by the extremists. Meanwhile the revolutionary example of South Carolina had been followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. These seceded States formed on February 4th a new union under the title of "the Confederate States of America." They organized an army to oppose intrud- ers and seized forts, navy-yards and arsenals. This Southern Revolution would yet have remained hopeless of success and
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never would have resulted in a long and bloody war without the assistance of the Border States. Efforts at conciliation on part of the North might have averted the conflict, but the pleadings of the peaceable Border States were in vain. Rev. R. C. Cave20?) very rightly said in his oration at the unveiling of the Confederate soldiers' and sailors' monument at Richmond on May 30th, 1894, with reference to Virginia and the other Border States :
"Not as a passion-swept mob rising in mad rebellion against constituted authority, but as an intelligent and orderly people, acting in accordance with due forms of law and within the limit of what they believed to be their constitutional right, the men of the South withdrew from the Union in which they had lived for three-fourths of a century, and the welfare and glory of which they had ever been foremost in promoting. States which had been hesitating on the ground of expediency and hoping for a peaceable adjustment of issues, wheeled into line with the States which had already seceded. Virginia, mother of States and statesmen and warriors, who had given away an empire for the public good, whose pen had written the Declaration of Independence, whose sword had flashed in front of the American army in the War for Independence, and whose wisdom and patriotism had been chiefly instrumental in giving the Country the Constitution of the Union, - Virginia, fore- seeing that her bosom would become the theatre of war with its attendant horrors, nobly chose to suffer."
In justice to the memory of the Confederate dead, the dis- tinguished orator protested at this occasion also against the as- persion that they fought to uphold and perpetuate the Institution of Slavery. IIe remarked : "Slavery was a heritage handed down to the South from a time when the moral consciousness of mankind regarded it as a right, - a time when even the pious sons of New England were slave-owners and deterred by no con- scientious scruples from plying the slave-trade with proverbial Yankee enterprise. It became a peculiarly Southern Institu-
209.) "The Memorial Oration," by Rev. R. C. Cave of St. Louis, Mo., the "Weckly Times," p. 3, Richmond, Va., May 31st, 1894.
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tion, not because the rights of others were dearer to the north- ern than to the southern heart, but because the condition of soil and climate made negro-labor unprofitable in the northern States and led the northern slave-owner to sell his slaves down South."
These arguments are based on history !
We are not yet sufficiently removed from the strife to do impartial justice to the motives of its authors. Those who have not felt the bitterness of the then existing conditions ought not to judge the whites of the South too harshly. Let it be remem- bered that in no time or clime have the Caucasians ever con- sented to live with an inferior race save as rulers. . To the present day the British in India, the French in Guiana, Mada- gascar and Tonking, the Dutch, Portuguese and Germans in Africa, the Spaniards in what is now left of their once exten- sive colonial possessions, and our own forefathers on this conti- nent have abundantly demonstrated that the white man will not be governed by uncivilized races. Sentimentalists may de- plore this spirit, but all sober thinkers must recognize the fact as an irreversible one.
Secession was a sudden movement on part of the Cotton States, but Virginia and the other Border States hesitated to approve and to join the Confederacy and they continued their efforts to effect a compromise. In fact it was at that time the common expectation of all thoughtful citizens, and particularly of the Germans, - North and South, - that there would be " no coercion " and " no war."
Mr. Lincoln had become President of the United States on the 4th of March, 1861. The inaugural address of the Presi- dent was very considerate and conservative. He renewed the declaration he had made in previous speeches : that he had no intention to interfere with the Institution of Slavery in the States where it existed. "I shall take care," said he, "that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully executed in all the States. In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it is forced upon the National Authority."
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But these truly moderate words were received by the fanatic leaders in the South as a declaration of war. Mr. Lincoln's promise, not to interfere with Slavery where it existed, did not satisfy them. Eight days after Mr. Lincoln's inauguration two southern commissaries called on him and applied for a peace- able separation of the southern States from the Union, demand- ing the evacuation of Fort Sumter in South Carolina and Fort Pickens in Florida. These demands he could not but refuse,- and the fall of the iron dice of war had to decide.
In the northern States there were two leading parties; one demanded an energetic action against the seceded States; they proclaimed that the Union was an inseparable whole, an Ameri- can State, that secession was revolution and revolution equal to civil war. This party called itself "Republican," and its adher- ents were called "Abolitionists." Another powerful party was the "Northern Democracy" and "no coercion " was its watch- word. Upon this party rested the hopes of the Germans in Virginia and of all friends of peace and unity, and some of the most influential newspapers of the North supported it. The " New York Tribune " opposed all measures to force seceding States to remain in the Union, and voices like this influenced many German-Virginians to declare in favor of a peaceable se- cession.
In the South the politicians were also divided into two par- ties : the "Secessionists" or defendants of "State Rights," who claimed that every State was a political unit and was entitled to enter into a Confederation of States as well as to withdraw therefrom, and the "Union Men," who persisted to uphold the Union of States. The first named did not give time to the lat- ter to get organized ; the demand to join the seceded States was urged, - even the personal safety of the Union men became endangered and many, being alarmed, left their southern homes fugitives.
About this time the German citizens of Richmond held a very well attended mass-meeting at Steinlein's Monticello Hall to consider what steps could be taken to secure peace. H. L. Wigand, an acknowledged Union man, was in the chair, and
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among the speakers was Captain O. Jennings Wise, son of Ex- Governor Wise210), who addressed the meeting in German. But no course was agreed upon, as the majority considered it the duty of every adopted citizen to submit to the will of the peo- ple and to sacrifice their life and fortune, if necessary, in defence of the State.
A very marked change was now taking place among the citizens. The Union party lost many adherents; the cry "to secede " found more supporters and the German-Virginians also yielded to the general current. But they never embraced the southern cause in order to protect the interests of slaveholders; there were no pro-slavery men among the Germans except a few Hebrews; but they were ready to defend the political and commer- cial independence of the States. Time was a great leveler of opinions as well as author of mighty issues in those days.
The Germans in the southern States have been harshly criticized by northern fanatics, and among them by many of their countrymen in the North, for taking up arms in defence of the South. It will readily be granted by every German- Virginian that these northern critics were aiming to carry out the noble design of emancipating the slaves, but they ignored the Constitution of Rights, interest and safety of the white population in the South. The northern accusers were carried astray by passion, inclined to sacrifice a cul- tured part of the southern people to the terrorism of an uned- ucated and inferior race ; and the Germans felt the wrong that the North, having sold its slaves to the South, attempted to com- pel the southern slaveholders to free their negroes without compensation.
Suddenly the news reached Virginia: Fort Sumter has capitulated to the Confederate forces under General Beauregard on the 13th of April, 1861, - and the effect of this event was electrical. Virginia (April 17th), Arkansas, North Carolina
210.) O. Jennings Wise, Captain of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues and killed at the battle on Roanoke Island, had studied jurisprudence at the University at Goet- tingen in Cermany and was for some time Attache to the U. S. Legation at Berlin, Prussia.
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and Tennessee, which had hesitated, now joined the Confeder- acy. President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand troops on April 15th and on April 19th a regiment of Massachusetts troops, passing through Baltimore for the defence of Washing- ton, was attacked. So the first blood was shed, but no one guessed at the time of the terror and the loss which were to follow.
With reference to the Secession of Virginia a remark of the historian Edward A. Pollard may here be repeated. Pollard says211): "Virginia did not secede in the circumstances or sense in which the Cotton States had separated themselves front the Union. She did not leave the Union with delusive pros- pects of peace to comfort and sustain her. She did not secede in the sense in which separation from the Union was the pri- mary object of secession. Her act of secession was subordinate; her separation from the Union was necessary and became a painful formality which could not be dispensed with."
Virginia troops now seized the United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry (April 18th) and the Navy Yard at Norfolk (April 21st.) All over the South the enthusiasm was spread- ing; the rich and the poor were alike eager to enter the army. Army and navy officers of the United States, natives of the South, resigned their charges and joined the Confederate ser- vice; and the majority of the German-Virginians within the present State limits entered military organizations.
It can be asserted that all the recently immigrated Ger- mans, embracing the Confederate cause, did so with throbbing hearts, and in most cases only under the pressure of compulsory circumstances ; but whether voluntarily or not, they have ful- filled their duty in the defence of the State with never falter- ing true German bravery.
About the middle of April, 1861, a "Legion of mounted men for border service" was organized by Col. Angus W. Mc- Donald, Sr., of Winchester and among the captains of the com-
211.) "The Second Year of the War," by Edw. A. Pollard, pp. 45-46. West & Johnston, Richmond, Va,, 1863,
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mand were the following descendants of German pioneers : S. W. Myers, Shands, Jordan, Miller and Sheetz.212) With special pride every Virginian speaks of the "Stonewall Brigade" and this heroic command was mostly composed of descendants of German settlers in the Shenandoah valley. Nearly every other section of the State furnished German-Virginians to the army; there was hardly a company without some German members, but the largest number came from Richmond, where several entirely German companies were formed. The old " German Rifle Company," organized on the 1st of March, 1850, was at- tached to the First Virginia Infantry Regiment as Company "K." Charles T. Lochr, Sergeant of Company D of said regi- ment, gives the following names2 13) :
Florence Miller, Captain, resigned 1861.
F. W. Hagemeier, Capt. after Capt. Miller's resignation.
. C. Baumann, Lieutenant (first year.)
H. Linkhauer, Lieutenant.
F. W. E. Lohmann, Lieutenant, resigned 1861.
Herman Paul, Lieutenant.
Wm. Pfaff, Lieutenant.
George F. Deckman, Sergeant.
H. T. Elsasser, Sergeant.
Gerhard Haake, Sergeant.
Fred. Hebring, Sergeant.
C. E. Gronwald, Quartermaster Sergeant.
Henry Burkhard, Corporal.
Ang. Weidenhahn, Corporal.
Julian Alluisi L. Botzen
Charles Arzberger
John Braw
C. Brissacher
B. Bergmeier Adam Bitzel R, Brunner
G. Blenker
C. Buchenan
Julius Blenker H. Buchenan
John W. Bornickel
W. E. Crec
212.) "The Second Year of the War," by Edw. A. Pollard, p. 50. Richmond, Va .. 1863.
213.) "War History of the Old First Virginia Infantry Regiment." by Charles T. Loebr. Richmond, 1984.
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C. W. Creedins
D. De Bar
C. P. Degenhart
Adamı Diacont
P. Lucke
Ph. Diacont
Wolfgang Diacont
Tobias Merkel Felix Meyer Jos. Nagelmann
John T. Dick Joseph Dilger
David Nolte
Henry Dubel
Henry Nolte
John Emmenhauser
Herman Nolte
Aug. Fahrenbruch
Jos. Ocker
John Fink
Martin Oeters
H. Fleckenstein
George W. Paul
Joseph Gehring
Wm. II. Paul
L. Gelnhausen
L. Peters
J. W. Gentry
L. Raymann
F. J. Gerhardt
P. Reidt
George Gersdorf George Glass E. Grossman
John Rodins
Fred. Gutbier
J. A. Rommel
G. Habermehl
S. Shapdock
Fred. Hach
- Smith
John Hach
Ph. Staab
H. Haderman
M. Stadelhofer
H. Heinemann
Chr. Stephan
J. L. HIelwick
G. Tolker
E. Herzog
John Viereck
A. Hoch
Jacob Wachter
J. P. Hoffman
John Wagner
Andrew Hatke 1 George Koch
A. Werner
J. Winter
. Sergeant Charles T. Loehr mentions in his valuable book also the following officers with German names : Capt. F. B. Shaffer of Company F; Capt. W. E. Tysinger of Company H : Lieutenant F. M. Maun of Company B; Lieutenant M. Seagles of Company C and one hundred and two non-commissioned German-Virginian officers and privates, - all belonging to the First Regiment.
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F. Lauterbach F. Lehmkul Ch. Lindner
Rob. Richter
Jos. Rick
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A new German Company, "The Marion Rifles," was mus- tered into service on May 1st, 1861, and ordered to the Penin- sula on the 24th of the same month. The muster-roll"14) con- tains the following names :
Alb. Leibrock, Captain.
Aug. Schad, 1st Lieutenant. IIeinrich Schnaebele, 2nd Lieutenant.
Edw. Euker,
Jul. Fischer,
Ed. Bell
Coleman Hecht
Heinr. Beckman
John Ilauk
Aug. Braun
A. IIeuers
Chr. B. Braun
Theo. Krone
Fr. Bierschenk
J. Johnson
HI. Buckelman
J. Keppler -
Geo. Blantz
G. Klein
Phil. Briel
Chr. Krebs
W. Doell
Herm. Kroedel
Fr. Dill
John Kolbe
Ad. Drescher
W. Kempf
Charles Euker
H. Lehman
Wm. Eggeling
E. Lieberman
Chr. Eshernbusch
W. Linz
E. Fillman
Ed. Lies
A. Frank
L. Merkel
Aug. F. Fiedler
O. Meister
Aug. Faulhaber
John Miller
H. Grimmel
H. Miller
· Chr. A. Hennighausen
R. Mear
A. v. Halem
John Marxhausen
E. v. Halem
D. Nenzel
H. v. Halem
- Nopwitz
Chas. Haase
Fr. Otto
Wm. Heidmueller
G. Paul
G. Hassenohr
Chas. Pflugfelder
214.) The author is obliged to Lieut. Chr. A. Hennighausen of Richmond for fur- nishing this list. Lieut. Hennighausen was a member of the "Marion Rifle Company."
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Louis Reinhardt
J. Schmidt
C. Roeth
H. Schuerman
II. Reidt
Ch. Siemens
G. Runge
B. Siemon
C. Rungwitz
- Taunbold
Fr. Ries
J. Teske
Ph. Stecker
R. Tiele
Fr. Schneider
E. Wacker
H. Schneider
J. Walter
Fr. Saeger
L. Wuertemberger
John Sevin
Ch. Wagner
Jac. Schwartz
Ch. Volk
Valentin Schwartz
Company II, 19th Regiment Virginia Militia, was first or- ganized as follows215) :
Karl Siebert, Captain.
L. Friedlaender
Chr. Heise
M. Schaaf
F. Martin
H. Rosenstein
Anton Kretzmar
Ch. Funk
S. Bolz
P. Kraus
H. Winten
C. Stephan
Mich. Hanna
L. Nachman
Jos. Adelsdorfer
Fred. Scheiderer
Jac. Heiss
Ed. Senf
A. Fuchs
Jul. Wohlgemuth
T. Singer
H. Ileineman
C. Calbe
R. Morgenstern
E. Asmus
Leopold Rind
C. L. Miller
L. Stein
J. Merkel
Herm. Broedel
Fred. Englert
J. Gessinghausen ·
Otto Huber
Jos. Stump
H. Rabe
M. Hurge
Dietrich Euker
J. Reinhardt
A. Drescher
215.) Reported by Lieut. Ch. A. Hennighausen, Richmond, Va.
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Ph. Rapp
Chr. S. Schmidt
M. Stahl
Ch. Gardewein
F. Wollcher
J. Weckerly
A. Huebner
Geo. Zander
Constantin Ilirt
H. Hahn
C. H. Northheim
- Bernstein
W. Kellner
F. Reine
G. Wolff
Ang. Israels
J. Minnis
Ph. Staub
F. Seibert
Lorenz Welzenberg
In October 1863 Company II was reorganized as " German ITome Guard," serving in the field and guarding the prisons until April 3d, 1865. The roll gives the following names? 16) :
C. Baumann, Captain.
G. Runge, 1st Lieutenant.
Von der Hoehl, 2nd Lieut.
Ch. A. Hennighausen, do., Jr ..
C. F. Fischer, Sergeant.
V. Schwartz,
W. Schotchky,
J. Dinkel,
F. Clevesahl, Corporal.
L. Morris,
R. Senf,
F. Holle,
E. Albers,
G. Aichele
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M. Bottigheimer,
W. Behle
E. Boehme
G. Dietrich
R. v. Bueren
W. Doell
S. Bolz
Ch. Emmenhauser
Ph. Briel
- Ehmig
Ch. Braun
. J. Feldner
W. Becker
C. Feldner
N. Becker
W. Flegenheimer
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F. Busshaus
A. Frank
C. Berndt
W. Finke
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216.) Reported by Lieut. Ch. A. Hennighausen, Richmond, Va.
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A. Frick
A. Frommhagen
B. Fischer
I. Peter
A. Feldheimer
H. Propst
B. Gottlieb
L. Rammstedt
L. Goepphardt
A. Ruppert
J. V. Reif
Chas. Haase
Chas. Schmidt
Chr. Heise
P. Sorg
H. Holzhauer
B. Schaaf
Chr. Holzbach
J. Schumacher
P. Huebner
Jac. Schneider
R. Heusler
John Schneider
W. II. Heinz
Ch. Schoenleber
E. Herzog
F. Schulte
J. Hauser
Ph. Staab
M. Hentze
L. Stern
A. Hopp
Ph. Stecker
G. Hirsch
A. Spies
P. Keil
Ch. Siemens
N. Kestner
Ch. Schoenborn
H. Koppel
A. Schmidt
H. Knorr
A. Schmus
W. Krug
J. Steinman
A. Kolbe
R. Thiele
E. Kuh
Ch. Wiemer
F. Leniggut
G. Wolff
N. Lieberman
L. Welsenberger
H. Meier
R. Werne
C. Mueller
L. Wagener
C. Meister
J. Wolfram
P. Martin
L. Walter
W. Miller
F. Witte
G. Mueller
- Weiner
J. Meier
Jac. Wolff
W. Zimmerman
R. Merkel
N. Nussbaum
J. Nagelsman
G. D. Obitz
- Goyer
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Towards the end of the year 1863 the condition of his health had obliged the author of this history to resign as Ist Lieutenant of Comp. D, 14th Virginia Cavalry, C. S. A., but by request of Governor W. Smith of Virginia he organized a Ger- man company for home defence : Comp. M, 19th Virginia Militia. The Company was composed as follows2.17) :
Herrmann Schuricht, Captain.
. Friedr. Seibert, Ist Lieut. J. Kindervater, 2nd Lieut.
Henry Wenzel, Orderly Sergt.
G. F. Paul, 1st Sergt.
H. Grimmel, 2nd Sergt.
P. Ruhl, 3d Sergt.
F. Schneider, 4th Sergt.
G. A. Krieger, 1st Corporal.
Georg Klein, 2nd
G. Koenig, 3d
P. Rosmary, 4th
E. F. Baetjer
- Grote
- Beck
H. Gundlach
C. Bernstein
J. Guggenheimer
L. Binda
Ch. Haas
Ch. Brown
H. Klein
C. Buckenthal
D. Klein
E. Crehen
A. Krezmarcz
H. Demler
Wilh. Loeffler
C. W. Dow
B. Momonthy
O. Ericson
J. D. Nauk
-+ Feldner
H. Rodenkirchen
G. Freitenstein
- Robert .
Emil Fischer
Henry Schott
J. Fritz
D. Schoenfeldt
E. A. Flemhardt
C. Schulze
L. Gallmeyer
Julius Schultz
J. C. Ganter
John J. Spilling
J. Grom
Chs. Spott
217.) From a "muster-roll" in possession of the author.
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M. Stoll C. W. Thilow
F. Verspohl
F. Warnicke
H. Wenton John Werner J. Wittman
Capt. J. Herbig, formerly a Lieutenant in the Bavarian army, recruited a German "Infirmary or Sanitary Company," but the muster-roll of this troop is lost.
Several German-Virginians occupied very prominent posi- tions in the Confederate army, as :
James L. Kemper, Brig. General of Pickett's Division.
Louis A. Armistead, do
D. C. Kemper, Brig. General Confederate Artillery.
J. N. Adenbousch, Col. of 2nd Virginia Infantry, Stonewall Brigade.
D. A. Weisiger, Col. of 12th Va. Inf. Regiment, Mahon's Brigade.
John S. Hoffman, Col. of 31st Va. Inf. Regiment, Smith's Brigade.
- Neff, Col. of 33d Va. Inf. Regiment.
- Harper, and later J. H. S. Funk, Col. of 5th Va. Inf. Regiment, Stonewall Brigade.
Capt. Buckner; commanding 44th Va. Inf. Regiment, Jones' Brigade.
Col. Harman, of 52nd Va. Inf. Regmt., Gen. Stonewall Jackson's Corps.
Col. Rust, of Gen. Stonewall Jackson's Corps.
V. D. Groner, Col. of 61st Va. Inf. Regmt., Mahone's Brigade. Maj. John Harman, Chief Quartermaster of Stonewall Brigade.
- Sheetz, Capt. of Independent Troop of Horse, Gen. Jack- son's Corps.
Capts. Schumaker and Carpenter, commanding batteries, Gen. Stonewall Jackson's Corps.
Heros von Borke, Col. and Chief of Staff of Gen. Stuart's Cavalry Corps.
Captain - Schubert, Engineer Officer in General Rob't E. Lee's staff.
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Gustav Adolph Schwarzmann, Colonel and Adjutant-Gen- eral of Gen. Albert Pike.
G. A. Peple, Major and Professor at Conf. Navy School.
E. von Buchholz, Captain of Ordinance, Wise Legion.
Dr. Max Roemer, Major of Wise Legion.
- Tucker, Captain and Aide-de-Camp of Gen. Fitzhugh Lee.
- von Massow, Aide-de-Camp of Gen. Mosby ; and although not a native of Germany or Virginia, but of German descent.
Carl Friedrich Henningsen, Brig. General and second in command of Wise Legion.
The following biographies of these officers include all reli- able information that could be procured.
James Lawson Kemper, whose family history has been given in Vol. I, Chapter 4, studied law. In the year 1847 President Polk appointed him Captain of Volunteers, and he took part with honor in the Mexican War. After his return he repre- sented his native county in the Legislature, and the Virginia Convention appointed him Colonel of the 7th Virginia Infantry Regmt. after the secession of the State. He was commissioned Brig. General after the battle of Williamsburg, May 5th, 1862, and fought with distinction in many bloody engagements. On the second day of the battle of Gettysburg Pickett's division had its grand day of honor and death, and Gen. Kemper was one of the victims of the struggle ; he was carried from the field badly wounded. On May 1st, 1864, he was appointed Major- General and placed in command of the forces for the defence of Richmond. The army of Northern Virginia having surren- dered at Appomattox Court House, General Kemper returned to his law office in Madison county and issued a farewell address to his old brigade. " It is the most painful duty of my life," he said in that paper, " to sever the relations which for three years have harmoniously united us; which have carried us together through memorable and fiery trials, and have bound you to my heart with ties stronger than hooks of steel." From 1873-'78 Gen. Kemper was Governor of the State, and then he retired with his family to Orange Court House, honored and loved by his fellow citizens. He died in 1895.
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Gen. David A. Weisiger, a veteran of two wars, the hero of the battle of. the Crater and a successful business man, was born Dec. 23d, 1818, at "The Grove," the ancestral home in Chesterfield county. His paternal grandfather was Samuel Weisiger, who came from Germany of a family prominent for military achievements; he was a relative of Colonel William Smith, of Revolutionary fame, and of the ancient Mayo family of Richmond. He was partner in the firm Rowlett, Weisiger & Tanner, at Petersburg, when the Mexican War began, and soon became second lieutenant of Company E, First Regiment of Virginia Volunteers. While in Mexico Weisiger was appointed adjutant of his regiment, and he made a proud record during the war. On his return home he connected himself again with the commission business, and when the Civil War commenced he enlisted at once, was elected Major of the Fourth Virginia Battalion organized at Petersburg, and promoted Colonel of the Twelfth Virginia. After the battle of the Crater, July 30th, 1864, in which he commanded Mahone's Brigade, of which the Twelfth Regiment was a part, he was commissioned Brigadier- General. Gen. Weisiger was one of the most gallant officers of the Confederate army, of great dash and approved courage. He commanded his regiment and also his brigade in many of the leading battles and was wounded several times. After the war he entered in Richmond in. business and died there Feb- ruary 22nd, 1899.
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