Richard Enderlin, Medal of Honor Recipient: Helped President Nixon's Grandfather

From Wikipedia.

Born January 11, 1843 -- Died February 11, 1930

Was a musician and U.S. soldier who received a Medal of Honor  for heroism in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Born in Germany and grew up in Chillicothe, Ohio.  Enlisted in the Army in November 1861.

He thought his unit was not directly engaged in the Battle of Gettysburg, so the bugler voluntarily joined the defense of Cemetery Ridge.  In July 2, 1863, during combat, George Nixon III (the grandfather of President Richard Nixon) was mortally wounded and was carried out of harm's way by Enderlin.

For this action, he was promoted to sergeant the next day and received a Medal of Honor for it on September 11, 1897.

He was later wounded in the foot at the Battle of Dallas (in the Atlanta Campaign).  He served the rest of the war in the  Veteran Reserve Corps until his discharge in May 1865.

Enderlin is buried at Grandview Cemetery in Chillicothe, Ohio.

--Old Secesh

Otto C. Hager, Captain of Co. D., 45th Illinois

He started as a 2nd lieutenant, then 1st lieutenant and finally captain and mustered out in 1865.

From Find-A-Grave

OTTO CHARLES HAGER

BIRTH:  16 May1833 /  Berlin, Germany

DEATH:  24 May1911 /  (Aged 77-78)

BURIAL:  Mount Vernon Cemetery,  Atchison, Kansas

From the May 26, 1911, Atchison Daily Globe

While an infant, his parents crossed the Atlanic Ocean, landed in New York and traveled to St. Louis wheren they lived for a year and then moved to Washington, Missouri.  (On the banks of te Missouri River about 50 miles west of St. Louis.)  The Hagers erected the first log cabin there.

His mother died when he was ten and his father told him he had to go out on his own and earn a living.  He worked several years on a farm near St. Louis and then clerked at a country store 30 miles outside St. Louis.  In 1850, he was clerking in a St. Louis wholesale grocery house.

The year 1861 found him visiting a sister in Galena, Illinois when the war started.  He enlisted in Company D of the 45th Illinois Infantry.

--Old Secesh

President Zachary Taylor's Children-- Part 2: Ann Mackall Taylor Wood

Find-A-Grave.

ANN MACKALL TAYLOR WOOD

Daughter of Zachary Taylor.

BIRTH:   9 April 1811,  Louisville, Kentucky

DEATH:  27 December 1875, Germany

BURIAL:  Cold Springs Cemetery, Lockport, New York  (Maybe.  Might still be buried in Germany)

Married  Dr, Robert Crooke Wood on September 20, 1829, at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien County, Wisconsin.

Her husband was from Rhode Island and eventually became  brigadier general in the Union Army.  The couple had two sons: John Taylor Wood and Robert Crooke Wood Jr. who were officers in the Confederate Navy and Army.

A Family Split by the War.  --Old Secesh

John George Nicolay-- Part 1: Good Friends With Lincoln

The last several posts I have written this man's thoughts on the John Yates Beall case.  What insight might he have on it?

From Wikipedia.

(February 26, 1832 to September 26, 1901)

German-born American who served as private secretary to President Abraham Lincoln and later co-authored a biography on the 16th president.Born Johann Georg Nicolai  in Bavaria.  In 1838 immigrated to the U.S. with his father and later moved to Illinois.  Edited a newspaper and later became assistant Illinois  secretary of state.  While in this position, he met Abraham Lincoln and they became friends.

In 1861, with his first act as president, Lincoln appointed Nicolay as his private secretary where he served until Lincoln's death on 1865.

--Old Secesh

George Washington's Sword

From the NYSED site

The George Washing Collection at the New York State Library.

In an earlier post I mentioned Lewis Washington's George Washington's Frederick the Great's sword and the pistols given him by Lafayette having been given by Lewis' widow to the New York State Library.  I decided to see if they still have them.

They do.

There is a picture of the sword and these words:  This is one of George Washington's swords, alleged to have been given to him by Frederick the Great of Germany.  It was frequently worn by Washington on dress occasions and is represented in the portrait painted in 1834 by Vanderlyn for the United States House of Representatives.

The Pistol (S) Next.  --Old Secesh
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2nd Texas Infantry, the Beckmann Brothers-- Part 1: They Join Company F, A German-Speaking Unit

From the August 23, 2016, Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch  "Theodore Decker Commentary:  After 154 years, family finally learn fate of fallen Civil War soldier" by Theodore Decker.

The brothers, Augustus and William Beckmann  came to America from the Grand Duchy of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany, to find a better life.  They came for land and settled in Galveston, Texas.

Then, war came and they went to fight for their new country.  They enlisted in the 2nd Texas Infantry and became part of Company F, an all-German unit.  I imagine they felt comfortable with former countrymen.  Company F was also called the Mounted riflemen.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find out any more about Company F, but imagine they had an interesting history.

--Old Secesh