Henry Bohlen (October 22, 1810 – August 22, 1862) was an
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
UnionThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
Brigadier GeneralA brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed services.-...
. He was the first foreign-born Union general in the Civil War.
Bohlen was born in
BremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A port city along the river Weser, about south from its mouth on the North Sea, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
on October 22, 1810, while his parents were traveling in Europe for pleasure. His father was a naturalized citizen of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and domiciled in Philadelphia. When Bohlen was very young, his father placed him in one of the first military colleges in Germany.
Henry Bohlen (October 22, 1810 – August 22, 1862) was an
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
UnionThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
Brigadier GeneralA brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed services.-...
. He was the first foreign-born Union general in the Civil War.
Biography
Bohlen was born in
BremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A port city along the river Weser, about south from its mouth on the North Sea, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
on October 22, 1810, while his parents were traveling in Europe for pleasure. His father was a naturalized citizen of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and domiciled in Philadelphia. When Bohlen was very young, his father placed him in one of the first military colleges in Germany. However, he was called to the U.S. before he had completed his studies. He did not return to Germany to complete his studies. After immigrating to the United States, Bohlen became a rich dealer of foreign wines and liquor.
Mexican-American War
When war with Mexico broke out he accepted a position on the staff of his friend and companion,
General WorthWilliam Jenkins Worth was a United States general during the Mexican-American War.-Early life:Worth was born in 1794 in Hudson, New York, to Thomas Worth and Abigail Jenkins. Both of his parents were Quakers, but he rejected the pacifism of their faith...
, as a volunteer Aide-de-camp. During the war he participated in all the battles under
Major-General ScottWinfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig party in 1852. Known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" and the "Grand Old Man of the Army", he served on active duty as a general longer than any other man in American history and many historians rate...
. When the war ended he resigned his commission and returned to selling liquor in Philadelphia.
Crimean War
Due to the health of his son, he traveled to Europe. When the
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
broke out, he entered the service of the allies, on the French staff. During the war he took part in the siege, storming and the final surrender of Sevastopol. After the war ended he lived in
HollandRotterdam
The Hague
Haarlem
Dordrecht |} Holland is a name in common usage given to a region in the western part of the Netherlands. The name 'Holland' is also often informally used to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands...
until he heard word of the firing on and surrender of
Fort SumterFort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...
.
American Civil War
In 1861 he was granted permission to recruit a regiment in Philadelphia, which was made up of mostly German emigrants at the out break of the American Civil War. He played a key role in organizing the 75th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and he was named its Colonel and commander on September 30, 1861. He served in the division of
Louis BlenkerLouis Blenker was a German and American soldier.-Life in Germany:He was born at Worms, Germany. After being trained as a goldsmith by an uncle in Kreuznach, he was sent to a polytechnical school in Munich. Against his family's wishes, he enlisted in an Uhlan regiment which accompanied Otto to...
.
Bohlen was appointed Brigadier General, US Volunteers on April 28, 1862. He commanded the 3rd Brigade of
Carl SchurzCarl Schurz was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army General in the American Civil War...
's Division in the 1862
Valley CampaignJackson's Valley Campaign was Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's famous spring 1862 campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia during the American Civil War...
against
Stonewall JacksonThomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and probably the most well-known Confederate commander after General Robert E. Lee. His military career includes the Valley Campaign of 1862 and his service as a corps commander in the Army of Northern...
. His brigade covered the retreat of the Union forces at the
Battle of Cross KeysThe Battle of Cross Keys was fought on June 8, 1862, in Rockingham County, Virginia, as part of Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War...
and also participated in the
Battle of Cedar MountainThe Battle of Cedar Mountain, also known as Slaughter's Mountain or Cedar Run, took place on August 9, 1862, in Culpeper County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. Union forces under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks attacked Confederate forces under Major General Thomas J...
.
While conducting
reconnaissanceReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
on the
Rappahannock RiverThe Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately 184 miles in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in...
during the initial stages of the
Northern Virginia CampaignThe Northern Virginia Campaign, also known as the Second Bull Run Campaign or Second Manassas Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during August and September 1862 in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E...
, Bohlen was killed when his force was attempting to recross the river.
On August 26, 1862,
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
reprinted an article from
The Philadelphia PressThe Philadelphia Press was published from August 1, 1857 to October 1, 1920.It was founded by John W. Forney. Charles Emory Smith was editor and owned a stake in the paper from 1880 to his death in 1908. In 1920, it was purchased by Cyrus Curtis, who merged the Press into the Public Ledger...
about the death of Bohlen:
And the army was safely across the Rappahannock, still nearest the enemy, Bohlen's brigade was fighting continually, and unfortunately for the country and its cause... Bohlen was observed by a rebel sharpshooter, while riding across the field, directing the movements of his troops, and shot through the head.
There were rumors that Bohlen was killed by one of his own men, but, evidence suggests that he was liked by his troops and that he died from enemy fire.
Bohlen was buried in
Laurel Hill CemeteryLaurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the second major rural cemetery in the United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998, one of only a few cemeteries to receive the distinction....
in Philadelphia.
Family
The Bohlen family tree includes his grandson Nazi industrialist,
Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und HalbachGustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, "Taffi", ran the German Friedrich Krupp AG heavy industry conglomerate from 1909 until 1941...
, and his great-great-nephew Charles Bohlen a United States diplomat from 1929 to 1969 and Soviet expert.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals
External links
Retrieved on 2008-12-31