Felix Salm-Salm
Encyclopedia
Life
Felix Constantin Alexander Johan Nepomuk, prince Salm Salm, was born in AnholtIsselburg
Isselburg is a town in the district of Borken, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Issel, near the border with the Netherlands, and approximately 10 km west of Bocholt.-Division:...
, Prussia, 25 December 1828. Felix was the son of the reigning Prince zu Salm Salm. He grew up training to be a soldier at a cadet-school in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany and soon became an officer in the Prussian cavalry. Early on he participated in the First Schleswig War between Northern Germany and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, where he demonstrated bravery in battle. After the war he joined the Austrian army for a short time but resigned.
In 1861, he came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and offered his services to the Union army
Union Army
The 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...
in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He was given a colonel's commission and assigned to the staff of General Louis Blenker
Louis Blenker
Louis 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...
. It was at this time that he began to court a red-haired American woman of Indian descent named Agnes
Agnes Salm-Salm
Agnes Elisabeth Winona Leclerc Joy - known as Princess Salm-Salm . She was born in Franklin, Vermont, the daughter of the American General William Leclerc Joy and Julia Willard . Her grandfather on her father's side was Mica Joy who married Mercy Terrill...
. Felix would marry her in August 1862. Agnes Salm-Salm
Agnes Salm-Salm
Agnes Elisabeth Winona Leclerc Joy - known as Princess Salm-Salm . She was born in Franklin, Vermont, the daughter of the American General William Leclerc Joy and Julia Willard . Her grandfather on her father's side was Mica Joy who married Mercy Terrill...
would end up joining Felix on the battlefield because she could not bear being without him. That winter he took command of the 8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment
8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as the First German Rifles or Blenker's Rifles.-Service:...
but would only remain there through the winter. He was appointed colonel of the 68th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment
68th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 68th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Mostly of German immigrants, it was also known as the Cameron Rifles or the Second German Rifle Regiment...
in June, 1864, serving under General James B. Steedman
James B. Steedman
James Blair Steedman was an American soldier, printer, and politician. He also served during the American Civil War as a general in the Union Army, most noted for his performances at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863 and the Battle of Nashville in 1864.-Early life and career:Steedman was born in...
in Tennessee and Georgia, and toward the end of the war was assigned to the command of the post at Atlanta. Here he would receive the rank of brigadier-general.
After the American war was over, he offered his services to Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...
and embarked for Mexico in February, 1866. Maximilian was actively promoting American soldiers to migrate to Mexico after the war to improve relations with the country. Salm-Salm was an interesting case because most of the Americans who moved fought for the Confederacy. By the summer he was appointed colonel. He became the emperor's aide-de-camp and chief of his household. He was captured at Querétaro
Querétaro
Querétaro officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro de Arteaga is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and its capital city is Santiago de Querétaro....
along with the emperor but not before he made a brave charge with his hussar
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
cavalry in an attempt to save Maximilian from the surrounding Mexican Republican army under Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
.
Soon after Maximilian's execution, he returned to Europe, re-entered the Prussian army as major in the grenadier guards, and was killed at Saint-Privat-la-Montagne
Saint-Privat-la-Montagne
Saint-Privat-la-Montagne is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.Saint Privat is located between the former French-German frontier as it was between 1871 and 1918 and between 1940 and 1944...
during the Battle of Gravelotte
Battle of Gravelotte
The Battle of Gravelotte was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War named after Gravelotte, a village in Lorraine between Metz and the former French–German frontier.-Terrain and armies:...
.
His memoirs were edited by German author Otto von Corvin
Otto von Corvin
Otto Julius Bernhard von Corvin-Wiersbitzki was a German author.-Biography:Corvin was born in Gumbinnen to the Rittmeister, and later director of the postal administration, of Gumbinnen Friedrich August Heinrich von Corvin-Wiersbitzki...
.