Henry Bohlen
Encyclopedia
Henry Bohlen was an American Civil War
Union
Brigadier General
. Before becoming the first foreign-born Union general in the Civil War, he fought in the Mexican-American War (on the U.S. side), and in the Crimean War
(on the French
side).
, Germany
on October 22, 1810, while his parents were traveling in Europe for pleasure. His father was a naturalized citizen of the United States
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.
, as a volunteer Aide-de-camp. During the war he participated in all the battles under Major-General Scott
. When the war ended he resigned his commission and returned to selling liquor in Philadelphia.
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 Holland until he heard word of the firing on and surrender of Fort Sumter
.
.
Bohlen was appointed Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers, on April 28, 1862. He commanded the 3rd Brigade of Carl Schurz
's Division in the 1862 Valley Campaign
against Stonewall Jackson
. His brigade covered the retreat of the Union forces at the Battle of Cross Keys
and also participated in the Battle of Cedar Mountain
.
While conducting reconnaissance
on the Rappahannock River
during the initial stages of the Northern Virginia Campaign
, Bohlen was killed when his force was attempting to recross the river.
On August 26, 1862, The New York Times
reprinted an article from The Philadelphia Press
about the death of Bohlen:
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 Cemetery
in Philadelphia.
and his great-great-nephew Charles Bohlen a United States diplomat from 1929 to 1969 and Soviet expert.
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...
Union
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...
Brigadier General
Brigadier general (United States)
A 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...
. Before becoming the first foreign-born Union general in the Civil War, he fought in the Mexican-American War (on the U.S. side), and in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
(on the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
side).
Biography
Bohlen was born in BremenBremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
on October 22, 1810, while his parents were traveling in Europe for pleasure. His father was a naturalized citizen of the United States
United States
The 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 J. Worth
William 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 Scott
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
. 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 WarCrimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. 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 Holland until he heard word of the firing on and surrender of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter
Fort 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
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...
.
Bohlen was appointed Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers, on April 28, 1862. He commanded the 3rd Brigade of Carl Schurz
Carl Schurz
Carl Christian Schurz was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army General in the American Civil War. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.His wife,...
's Division in the 1862 Valley Campaign
Valley Campaign
Jackson'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 Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
. His brigade covered the retreat of the Union forces at the Battle of Cross Keys
Battle of Cross Keys
The 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 Mountain
Battle of Cedar Mountain
The 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 Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks attacked Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Thomas J...
.
While conducting reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
on the Rappahannock River
Rappahannock River
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...
during the initial stages of the Northern Virginia Campaign
Northern Virginia Campaign
The 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 Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reprinted an article from The Philadelphia Press
Philadelphia Press
The Philadelphia Press is a defunct newspaper that was published from August 1, 1857 to October 1, 1920.The paper was founded by John W. Forney. Charles Emory Smith was editor and owned a stake in the paper from 1880 until his death in 1908...
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 Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the second major garden or 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
Gustav Georg Friedrich Maria 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