War's Hardening Ways-- Part 2: "Waiting For This Fellow To Die"

**  "Am waiting for this fellow to die, so I can get his watch and ring."

--Confederate soldier Jim Randall after being asked by a comrade why he was sitting near a wounded Union officer after a battle.

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**  "We passed the night high up the mountain, where we moved to reach our supply wagons.  A cold rain was falling, and before we found them ... I had lunched comfortably from the haversack of a dead Federal.  It is not pleasant to think of now...."

--  Confederate General Richard Taylor on an incident that occurred during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862, in his memoirs.

--Secesh

Some More On Private Levi Schlegel's Ring

From the April 10, 2013 Reading (Pa) Eagle "Berks & Beyond."

The ring was found by relic-hunter John Blue.  Over his thirty years of digging, he has found a lot of items, but this 2005 find was the first time he was able to track down the original owner's family. 

He found it while looking at a Virginia construction site.  "When you have a metal detector in your car, and you pass a construction site, you stop,' he said.  Thankfully he did or the ring would most likely have been lost forever.

The ring read on the outside "Levi Schlegel, Co. G, 198th  P.V.".  The P.V. stood for Pennsylvania Volunteers.

A Virginia geneaologist helped him find Ernie Schlegel, descendant and library trustee at the Reading Library.

Levi Schlegel was a carpenter by trade.

Some Almost Lost History.  Thanks Mr. Blue.  --Old Secesh

Civil War Ring Returned-- Part 4: Private Schlegel's Ring

In the final months of the war, the 198th Pennsylvania saw a lot of action.  They fought hand-to-hand at the Battle of Hatcher's Run.  Then they fought at Quaker Road, White Oak Ridge, Five Forks.  They lost officers Major Charles J. Meceum and captains George W, Mulfrey and Isaac Schroeder.

After lee's surrender, the unit marched through Fredericksburg on May 9, 1865.  This is where Private Levi Schlegel parted with the ring for some reason.  They then continued on to Washington, DC and then took the train  to Philadelphia and were mustered out of service June 12, 1865.

Schlegel came home to Reading, married and had eleven children.  He died at age 91 in 1932 and is buried alongside his wife at the 167-year-old Charles Evans Cemetery.

One of Those Little Stories That make the War So Interesting.  --Old Secesh

Civil War Ring Returned-- Part 2: Levi Schlegel's Ring

From the April 9, 2013, Washington Post.

How did one private Levi Schlegal come to lose a ring with his name, company and regiment on it way back then?  This ring essentially was the Civil War version of dogtags.  The ring was found near Fredericksburg, a place Mr. Schlegel only passed through a month after the war ended on his way home.

Was it misplaced in camp?  Did he figure that with the fighting over, he didn't need it anymore?

No one will ever know for sure as Private Schlegel died a lot of years ago.

It was found back in 2005.

What is known is that Levi Schlegal was 21 when he enlisted in the 167th Pennsylvania in 1862, a nine month regiment that was disbanded in August 1863 without seeing too much action.

In September 1864, he signed up again in the 198th Pennsylvania, recruited in Berks County, Pennsylvania, where Reading is loacted.  Many in his company, like Schlegel, were 18th century German immigrants like Reuben Reifsnyder, Alfred Seiple, Augustus Shupert and Annes Sicher.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh