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The von Rosenberg Family of Texas

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The von Rosenberg Family of Texas:

The Civil War Years

Ann Barnes

with

Billye Beth Baker

The Civil War Years

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Copyright 2014, Ann Barnes

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by The

Electric Scroll. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy-

ing, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without

written permission from the publisher. For information contact The Elec-

tric Scroll, 745 N. Gilbert Rd. Ste 124 PMB 197, Gilbert, Arizona, 85234.

Cover Artwork by Kay Ellen Walker

ISBN: 978-1-940311-14-2


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Other books by Ann Barnes

The von Rosenberg Family of Texas:

The Emigration Story and Much More

Forthcoming:

The Man I Met at the Airport

The Civil War Years

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Introduction

The five sons of Peter Carl and Amanda von Rosenberg

served in the Civil War. Out of curiosity more than anything,

Billye Beth Baker, a descendant of Eugen von Rosenberg began

doing research to see what records were available. It wasn’t

long before stacks of papers and notes began piling up. Her in-

tention was to compile all the research into a book. Little did

she know what a project it would become.

That’s when I came into the picture. After publishing my

first book, The von Rosenberg Family of Texas: The Emigration

Story and Much More was released in 2012, I asked Billye Beth

when she was going to write her book. As it turns out she want-

ed a book written, but had no plans to do it herself. Since I was

already looking for another project I asked her if she would like

me to help her write it. She told me that she would rather I write

it using the notes she had acquired. With that in mind, she made

copies of her papers, packed them up and sent them to me. That

was over a year ago. Since then both she and I have spent hours

and hours of additional research—her by visiting repositories in

Texas and me by making use of sources on line and in my own

library as well as making numerous phone calls and sending

emails to various librarians in Texas.


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My only regret is that on some men we have found very lit-

tle, and their stories are not as complete as we would have

wished. Even so, it is our hope their descendants will come to

know them a little better.

The decision to get involved in the Civil War was not an

easy one for some of them. But since they were all in the age

range (20 to 45) of the requirements of the Conscription Law

calling for the registration of all males, it was bound to happen.

William was 41 years old and Walter the youngest at age 22.

This book doesn’t take issue or a stand with either side. The

only intent is to tell the story as seen through the eyes of our

ancestors who lived through it.

Ann Barnes

The Civil War Years

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Life in Texas

Peter Carl and Amanda von Rosenberg along with their

family arrived in Texas from the German port of Bremen in

December of 1849. The decision to sell their land in East Prus-

sia, known as Eckitten Estate, and travel across an ocean to a

completely different land and way of life was not easy. But

there was really no choice if they wanted to continue to live the

more democratic lifestyle that Peter Carl and his two older sons

had fought to preserve.

So in late August the family sold their land and many of

their belongings, packed up their household and some equip-

ment including wagons, and begin their journey. The women

and children had never traveled more than just a short distance

from Eckitten in Memel, East Prussia.

They had to travel by ship and train to reach the port of

Bremen where they boarded the ship Franciska that would sail

on the North Sea and through the English Channel before

reaching the Atlantic Ocean to begin the long trip that took a

little over three months.

They left the Franciska in Galveston, Texas, and traveled

inland to San Felipe. Peter Carl and his sons Wilhelm and Jo-

hannes, and son- in-law Herman Hellmuth went to look for land

to purchase. During the 23 days they were gone they saw much


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of Bastrop County and surrounding areas before going to the

adjoining county of Fayette . Here they found Nassau farm or

Nassau plantation, as it was sometimes called. The plantation

had been originally purchased by Prince Carl Solms and used

by him while he was in Texas several years earlier trying to es-

tablish the Adelsverein, or the Association for the Protection of

German Immigrants.

In about 1847, after the failure of the Adelsverein and the

flight of the prince back to Germany, Otto von Roeder pur-

chased the 4,444 acre parcel. Peter Carl purchased 800 acres of

the land from von Roeder.

In a letter written in 1850 to his brother Otto, Peter Carl

tells of two properties owned by Otto von Roeder, one being

Nassau and the other a flour mill located about four miles from

Nassau. In the letter he told his brother that he didn’t like the

mill. In the end Peter Carl settled on the purchase of 800 acres

in Nassau as well as the purchase of the manor house. That be-

ing done, Peter Carl named his property Nassau-Rosenberg

since the name Farm Nassau was well-known in Europe as

well.

Upon finalizing the purchase, the men returned to their

waiting family in San Felipe, loaded them up, and the final leg

of the trip to their newly purchased land was underway. They

intended to live on this land for the remainder of their lives.

Nassau was laid out in two separate units. One was a hill

with a farm, gardens, a stable and, a kitchen. The other part, at

some distance, held the slave quarters, stables and a field of

about 20 acres. They settled in the house on the hill, which

sloped to some creeks. The oak trees were so close together that

they seemed to envelop the house. In addition to the oak trees,

The Civil War Years

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there was an abundance of peach and fig trees. The soil was fer-

tile.

Peter Carl had a garden with potatoes, peas, beans, canta-

loupe, and cucumbers. They also had eight horses which in-

cluded two for Eugen, one for Alex and one for Walter; cows,

twenty head of stock, ten hogs, forty-five chickens, four ducks

and four dogs, four cats and two oxen which they had acquired

after they purchased the farm. They also had several slaves of

various ages who probably came with the land sale.

The house itself was built of oak lumber about three to four

feet off the ground on oak blocks. Contrary to Hollywood’s vi-

sions of stately mansions, the house was two rooms built of oak

logs and connected by a large hall with a large covered porch.

While Peter Carl kept busy as a gentlemen farmer, Amanda

continued to write letters to her family and friends back home.

Her letters are long and full of details of her life in Texas. She

encouraged her sister Auguste to join them in Texas, which she

finally did.

Amanda enjoyed the new circle of friends she had made the

past few years and relished in writing all about them. She wrote

of social gatherings and holidays spent together. There were al-

so a few weddings to organize and attend, both in her immedi-

ate family and with friends and neighbors as well.

In one of her letters Amanda tells about the mail route that

is taken for mail going back and forth in answer to an inquiry

about it. The mail to and from Texas went through Bremen,

Germany because both Bremen and New York were connected

by the steam mail ships. The mail then ended up in San Felipe.

Peter Carl often made trips to San Felipe about forty miles from

Nassau and while there picked up their mail. San Felipe is also

where he would sell his cotton and wool from sheep he had


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bought, and in turn buy supplies such as coffee and molasses

that had been shipped down from Galveston.

Despite all her socializing, Amanda admitted that she really

didn’t like to travel. Her reasons aren’t very clear except that

she mentioned several times a fear of snakes and spiders. She

has let her good friend Mrs. von Roeder talk her into going on

outings, albeit reluctantly, especially a fishing trip their com-

bined families had gone on.

Even though they had arrived in Texas in December of

1849, the only mention of Christmas in Amanda’s letters was

that of the weather on Christmas day. The first holiday Amanda

wrote about is Easter Monday, in April 1850. Easter Monday is

commonly celebrated along with Easter Sunday in many Chris-

tian religions in Europe. It was spent celebrating with a large

meal with their family. Johannes Carolina, or Lina as she was

known, and the oldest daughter of Peter Carl and Amanda, had

married Herman Hellmuth immediately upon arriving in Texas

and she and her husband lived a few miles away. German law

dictated that they could not marry before sailing.

William and Auguste Anders had been engaged for several

months and were married just shortly before sailing and had a

farm about four miles from his parents’ home. Johannes wasn’t

yet married, but had his own farm close by, rather than living

with his parents.

Amanda oversaw her household and its duties with the help

of her slaves and Libussa, Peter Carl’s niece, who he and

Amanda had adopted when her parents died. Libussa took to the

chores and the rugged way of Texas life. The adjustments for

them had been great.

The weather, which included extremely hot days in the

summer and the cold ‘northers’ in the winter, seemed to be the

The Civil War Years

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most difficult thing to get used to. Land had been fenced off

and a road ran in front of the house itself. Every so often there

were prairie fires whose black smoke could be seen a great dis-

tance away.

They drew their water from the creek that ran through the

property and lived off what they grew in the garden. They had

chickens for eggs and for eating, and beef and pork from their

own livestock, as well as fruit trees, especially peach, in their

orchard.

Breakfast and supper was often eaten out in the open in the

summer. If it rained they moved from the south side of the

house into the passage on the north. During the nicer days,

Amanda and the girls rarely spent time inside and then only

long enough to clean and sleep.

They learned very quickly that light weight clothing was

best. The men appreciated the light clothing especially consid-

ering all men ages eighteen to forty-seven years old were re-

quired by the state to work one week a year for the state im-

proving roads and performing other work.

Peter Carl had decided to grow eight acres of cotton to use

as a trade for some sheep. Some of the von Rosenberg men

didn’t really care for the farming life and after a few years final-

ly gave in to the pursuit of other endeavors.

Walter was ten years old when the family settled in Texas

in 1849. He had his own horse and some livestock and helped

with the work around the farm. Each morning as a part of their

routine Walter lit the fire in the kitchen, made the coffee, took

care of the wood and brought water to the kitchen.

Each day he helped with the milking along with the other

boys. They also planted corn and cotton and helped clear out

the brush when needed.


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Alex was fourteen years old and a very close companion to

his older sister, Lina. He taught her how to ride a horse and they

often went riding together. He worked alongside Walter and

Eugen helping with the milking of the cows and bringing them

in at night, and planting and hoeing their crops. He attended an

English school and gained a good command of the English lan-

guage. He wrote a short letter to his friend Gustav Knopke in

Memel dated April 3, 1850 as follows:

“Dear Gustav,

We have a fine house for Texas. Father has 5 horses

and 10 cows with calves, Lina and Eugen each one cow, I

and Walter a calf, so has Libussa, Eugen 3 horses. I and

Walter have two. Also cats and dogs. We don’t go to

school now but will go soon. I can understand our 2 ne-

groes. Have been to 2 towns, Routersville and LaGrange,

horseback and by wagon. Killed 2 chicken snakes 5 1/2

ft. long and 2 ft. Father bought sheep, Eugen and I drove

them horseback 12 miles. Today we had 25’ [R] heat.

Two niggers (sic) were hanged in LaGrange; they had

killed and burnt their master. We have nice wild fruit, 3

kinds of nuts, walnut, persimmons, wild grapes and oth-

ers I don’t know.

Greetings to all I know. A. von Rosenberg”

Eugen was the first child of Peter Carl and his second wife

Amanda. Eugen turned nineteen shortly after the family’s arri-

val in Galveston. He lived on the farm and shared the outdoor

chores with his brothers and their hired hands. He favored being

outside more than anything. He had his own cows and horses

The Civil War Years

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and was in charge of hauling freight and express from the near-

est railroad station and was known as a teamster.


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Leaving Nassau

In 1853 a lawsuit was filed against Otto von Roeder by the

creditors of the Adelsverein contending that he sold land which

wasn’t rightfully his. Otto von Roeder appealed to the Supreme

Court but the case wasn’t settled until after the Civil War many

years later. The court upheld the sale on the basis that the Ver-

ein, not having been incorporated either in Germany or the

United States, was not the owner of the property sold to von

Roeder, and by court order von Roeder’s Nassau property was

sold by a sheriff’s sale to satisfy the judgment.

Otto von Roeder lost everything and as a result, Peter Carl

as well as others who had purchased parcels of the farm or plan-

tation lost their money.

It was 1855 when Peter Carl moved the family into Round

Top where they eventually built a house and continued farming

to a lesser degree. He continued to have a garden and the live-

stock that he originally had at Nassau, with the exception of the

sheep he had obtained by trading some of his cotton crop.

Amanda suffered declining health for many years. She

would often mention being confined to bed or not being well in

her letters. Peter Carl also wrote letters on occasion, and includ-

ed details of how Amanda’s illnesses troubled him.

The Civil War Years

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Each episode seemed to become more debilitating than the

last. She would rally on occasion and almost become her old

self only to be stricken again. His letters were very descriptive

of her attacks and treatments yet it has been difficult to really

understand what the illness may have been because of the way

her symptoms are described in letters from her and Peter Carl.

When Amanda was writing her letters she talked about

hemorrhaging. Peter Carl’s descriptions in many ways sounded

more like she had suffered one or more small strokes.

In this respect being in Round Top certainly had its ad-

vantages as medical help was much closer than had they still

been at Nassau which was about four miles from Round Top.

Some of the family was further away including William who

had moved to Austin. Johannes had his own farm next to Nas-

sau as did Eugen.


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Becoming United States Citizens

Peter Carl and his sons Eugen and William all filed their

Declaration of Intent papers on September 15, 1851. Though

Amanda wrote in a letter that Eugen was the first member of the

family to become a citizen of the United States, William’s citi-

zenship was granted first, on April 17, 1855 in Travis County.

Peter Carl and Eugen both became citizens on March 26, 1856.

Application for citizenship laws could vary from time to

time. Usually one had to be in the country three years before the

first step of filing the Declaration of Intent. The next step would

be waiting from two to three years more before a court date was

set to petition for citizenship, at which time another court ap-

pearance was required and citizenship was granted.

In the case of Alex, he waited until 1856 before filing his

declaration. Alexander von Rosenberg filed a Petition for Natu-

ralization on October 27, 1856 and was granted his citizenship

on the same day as recorded on the Index to Naturalization

Records of Fayette County, Texas.

The Civil War Years

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The Declaration of Intent for Eugen von Rosenberg filed September 15, 1851,

Austin County, Texas.


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Changes

Peter Carl and his two oldest sons, Wilhelm and Johannes,

who had Americanized their names to William and John, had

already been engaged in war in Prussia. It was the outcome of

that war that forced the decision to leave their estate and make a

new home in Texas. Now, twelve years later it appeared that a

possible war between the northern and southern states of the

United States was on the horizon.

President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the six-

teenth president of the United States on March 4, 1861. Up until

he was elected, Texas supported the Union. He was a threat to

the states supporting slavery. Texas had embraced slavery and

there were slaves on the Nassau farm. A black flag was raised

in La Grange, a token of mourning upon his election.

By this time the German community of Texas had grown

quite large and had mixed feelings about the Civil War. There

had been no such thing as slaves in their homeland. Many of

them felt as the Union did, that having slaves was not the right

thing to do. Others had accepted it as part of the new way of life

they encountered in their new homeland and either supported it

or were ambivalent toward it. It seemed that those Germans

who were political refugees were the most opposed.

The Civil War Years

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German newspapers that were published in Texas did their

share of stirring up much turmoil, some contending that slavery

was evil. At the beginning of the war many Texans were con-

cerned about the German support of the Unionists while Ger-

man readers and advertisers of some newspapers quickly with-

drew their support of such newspapers.

Eventually, 65 of the Union sympathizers among the Ger-

man settlers in west Texas left for Mexico. In the early part of

1863, Col. William G. Webb reported to John B. Magruder that

about 800 men were ready and prepared to resist the conscrip-

tion law and the state draft. As a result Colorado, Fayette and

Austin Counties were placed under martial law and the re-

sistance leaders were arrested and jailed. For the most part, sen-

timents among the Germans were for the Confederacy.


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Slavery in Texas

Slavery in Texas expanded only in the mid-nineteenth cen-

tury. Prior to that time the Spanish were not interested in slav-

ery as a means of labor. Slavery entered the area when the Brit-

ish-American settlers from the southeast crossed the Mississippi

River and took their slaves with them.

With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 by the United States,

Spain declared that any slave who crossed the Sabine River on

the Texas-Louisiana border into Texas would automatically be

freed. Many slaves ran away to Texas and free blacks would

sometimes move to Texas. Escaped slaves would sometimes

join friendly Indian tribes while others would settle in the for-

ests of East Texas. In 1809 the Texas-Louisiana border was

closed to everyone regardless of ethnicity.

Even though the United States outlawed the importation of

slaves in 1808, the trade continued to flourish, especially in

New Orleans. Between 1816 and 1821 slaves were smuggled

into the United States through Texas’s Galveston Island.

With the conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence

in 1821, Stephen F. Austin was granted permission to bring

Anglo settlers into Texas, most of them southern slave owners.

The issue of slavery became a source of contention between

the English settlers and the Spanish governors. The governors

The Civil War Years

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were wary of the growing American population in Texas and

they disapproved of expanding slavery.

In 1829 Mexico abolished slavery, but granted an exception

to Texas until 1830. Most slaves in Texas had been brought by

slaveholders from the United States. By 1836, there were about

5,000 slaves in Texas.

The abolishing of slavery in Mexico only served to increase

the tension between the Anglo slaveholders and their Mexican

neighbors.

As the Texas Revolution began in 1835, some slaves sided

with Mexico. When the Texas Revolution ended in 1836, Euro-

pean Americans, as they were called, increased the enslaved

population in the Republic of Texas and later the State of Texas

as they settled and developed more acres in cotton. The cotton

industry flourished now in East Texas and slave labor became

more widely used. Free and runaway slaves who weren’t able to

find jobs in Texas sometimes worked herding cattle or moved

on to the Midwest, California, or Mexico.

After the creation of the Republic of Texas in 1836, Anglo-

American slavery raised to new heights as laws were passed re-

ducing the rights of free blacks as citizens. In 1845 when Texas

joined the United States and became a state, the state legislature

passed laws that further restricted the rights of the free blacks.

In 1860 about 25% of all white families in Texas owned at

least one slave. Texas ranked tenth in total slave population.

About 40% of Texas slaves lived on plantations along the

Gulf Coast and in the East Texas river valleys, where cotton,

corn, and some sugar were primary crops.

On the 1850 Federal Census for Fayette County, Family 72,

Peter Carl’s family is enumerated with two slaves. The letters in


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Ancestral Voices mention the possibility of more than that, but

only two whose last names were difficult to read, were listed.

Slave population in Texas

1825 443

1836 5,000

1840 11,323

1850 58,161

1860 182,566

1865 250,000

The Civil War Years

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Before the War

In the six years since arriving in Texas, William had be-

come a United States citizen, learned English, owned his own

farm and worked as an architect. In 1855 he designed a new

courthouse for Fayette County.

He had purchased a farm of 200 acres near Nassau. Twenty

acres were fenced in, and sixteen of the twenty acres had been

cultivated. The remaining land used for the house, kitchen and

corn crib. The country was fertile and had yellow sandy land

that was easy to work. There was plenty of land, water, and

wood.

Unlike the closed rooms of the German style of housing

necessary to keep heat in during European winters, houses in

this part of Texas were opened up to allow the winds to pass

through in the heat of the summer. William’s house was a very

simple structure at first with only one room and a fireplace, but

in time he added on and made changes to it. The kitchens were

separated from the main house, though they’re built similar to

the main house in style. The kitchens are called smoke-houses.

Farm buildings typically include a stable and a corn crib which

are usually under the same roof with a middle room that is open

on two sides.


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Even though it got dark early in the evenings there were

still chores to be done including getting water and wood for the

kitchen before going to bed.

A typical day for William included feeding his two horses

eight ears of corn each, helping with the milking, gathering

several buckets of water from the stream close by, getting

washed up, eating breakfast then hitching up the horses for

plowing. He’d stop at mid-day to water and feed the horses, eat

a meal, and then rest a bit before returning to the plowing that

went on until evening. Each day was pretty much the same,

though the plowing cycled through other tasks, and some days

during the growing season there was nothing to do until the

harvest.

William was unaccustomed to manual labor and the farm

life proved to be strenuous. In the long run, William had to ad-

mit that his father was right when he told William that he would

not like farm life.

Now in 1861 he and his wife Auguste and their children

were in Austin where they had lived since 1856 when William

received an appointment to the General Land Office.

Once again the talk of a war was in the wind and on the

minds of everyone. The issue was slavery and the nation was

divided against itself.

The second oldest son of Peter Carl and Johanna Froelich,

Peter’s first wife, is John. Like his older brother William, John

probably never expected to engage in another military conflict.

Back in Prussia, he was forced to leave his position as an in-

spector for the government because he disagreed with the polit-

ical views of the country.

The Civil War Years

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After completing his education, Johannes von Rosenberg

was mobilized in the National Guards of East Prussia where he

became a Sergeant Major in the infantry.

In his early twenties Johannes already owned his own land

next to Nassau plantation where he was often visited by his sis-

ter. By the beginning of the Civil War, he was 41 years old and

had Americanized his name to John. He had been married for

ten years to Julie Groos.


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Texas before the Civil War

Texas had already had its share of wars. Upon arriving in

San Felipe, the family had already seen the rubble and ruin left

in the aftermath of the war with Mexico. Towns and villages

had been destroyed by the Mexican army. Some of the towns

were in the process of trying to rebuild, but some remained in

ruin as survivors moved on to other locations.

Peter Carl’s brother Ernest had left Prussia years ago to set-

tle in Texas and was part of Long’s Expedition. The history of

Long’s Expedition is sketchy at best and the efforts of the finest

Texas historians have, for the most part, never been able to suc-

cessfully find much information about it.

Texas soil has had six flags fly over it, thus coining the

phrase “Six flags over Texas” which has been commercialized

many different ways, the most popular being the theme park Six

Flags.

The first flag was that of Spain from 1519 to 1685. France

flew her flag from 1685 to 1690, and Spain resumed control

from 1690 to 1821. Texas belonged to Mexico from 1821 to

1836, when Texas became an independent nation.

From 1836 to 1845 the flag of the Republic of Texas was

flown. Then Texas joined the United States and the stars and

stripes were flown from 1845 to 1861.

The Civil War Years

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The next flag was the Texas in the Confederacy flag, which

flew from 1861 to 1865. Finally from 1865 to the present, the

U. S. flag returned, even though Texas wasn’t readmitted to the

Union until March 30, 1870.

Battles on Texas soil date back into the 1500s. Many of

those were incidents with neighboring Mexico. At one time

Mexico even forbade U. S. citizens from moving into Texas.

The Battle of Velasco on June 26, 1832 was a prelude to the

Texas Revolution. It was the first of further battles that would

follow as a result of hostile feelings rising between Texas and

Mexico.

Policies coming from Mexico City created more uneasiness

and Texans decided to request reforms in government policy.

The Convention of 1832 was held October 1, 1832 with a total

of fifty-eight delegates representing sixteen settlements attend-

ing the convention. The Convention adopted numerous resolu-

tions they felt were needed reforms. The resolutions failed

when the Mexican government officials called the Convention

unauthorized and illegal.

Undeterred, the Texans immediately made plans to meet

again in San Felipe on April 1, 1833, for what was named the

Convention of 1833. This new Convention was more aggressive

than the previous one and the agenda remained unchanged. One

vital addition to the reforms proposed earlier was a drafting of a

constitution that was to be submitted to the Mexican Congress.

Stephen F. Austin was elected to meet with Mexican officials,

but to no avail. In fact he was imprisoned in early 1834 with no

specific charges. He didn’t return to Texas until September

1835, on the eve of the Texas Revolution.


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The first battle of the Texas Revolution was the Battle of

Gonzales staged October 2, 1835. After a short fight, the Mexi-

cans retreated with one casualty and no loss on the Texas side.

The Goliad Campaign began October 9, 1835 and continued

until December 11, 1835 during which three more battles en-

sued. Finally on March 2, 1836 the Texas Declaration of Inde-

pendence was signed by members of the Convention of 1836

that created the new Republic of Texas.

During the Goliad Campaign, General Santa Anna of the

Mexican Army lost San Antonio to the Texans. It was a key lo-

cation, and its loss fueled Santa Anna’s determination to retake

it and impress upon Texas the futility of resisting Mexican rule.

General Santa Anna’s troops arrived in San Antonio about Feb-

ruary 23, 1836. He was determined to retake it because of its

key location, and the fact that he decided to impress upon Texas

that it was futile to resist Mexican rule. Santa Anna’s army ar-

rived in San Antonio about February 23, 1836.

About 145 Texans took refuge in the old mission, the Ala-

mo. Within the following two weeks, Mexican forces swelled to

around 2,000 and a few reinforcements for Texas arrived at the

Alamo, taking their total to 189. A battle began on March 6,

1836 and cost all of the defenders in the Alamo their lives.

Finally on April 21, 1836, Texans defeated the Mexican

forces at the Battle of San Jacinto and independence was won.

This was not, however, the end of the Republic’s woes with

Mexico. Encounters with Mexican forces continued through

1843. Much bloodshed and many lives were lost on both sides

through confrontations and executions.

At last on December 29, 1845, and during an influx of

German immigrants arriving in November and December as

The Civil War Years

29

part of the Fisher Miller Grant, Texas was admitted to the Un-

ion as the twenty-eighth state.

On April 25, 1846, the Mexican-American War ignited

once again over boundary disputes. Earlier in February as the

beleaguered immigrants loaded up wagons to make their way

from Indianola on the Gulf of Mexico to their destination at Se-

guin, the teamsters got wind of an impending feud. Realizing

they could make more money helping the cause of Texas in a

war, the teamsters abandoned the immigrants, leaving them

stranded and on their own to make the rest of the trip.


30

Texas and the Civil War

Less than one month after Abraham Lincoln was inaugurat-

ed, on April 12, 1861, the Confederate Army attacked Fort

Sumter, South Carolina. Texas had seceded from the Union

February 1, 1861, and joined the Confederate States of America

March 2, 1861. Texas was the seventh state to secede and the

last state that seceded from the Union before the attack was

made on Fort Sumter.

In the 1850s, many Texans believed that slavery was vital

to the Texas economy and to its future. Slavery had grown rap-

idly in Texas after its annexation in 1845. Population and eco-

nomic characteristics greatly influenced secession. Local needs

also influenced attitudes toward secession. Slaveholders in Gal-

veston were often involved in extensive commercial dealings in

New York and England. Disruption of the Union would disrupt

their business. But secession couldn’t be halted. The public

pressure became too great. Whether having to do with the

economy or slavery, secession became an emotionally charged

issue.

On March 4, 1861 the Secession Convention, having met

earlier in February, once again assembled and took further steps

to join the Confederacy. The results of that convention set the

stage for a bloody war.

The Civil War Years

31

Even though William and John had seen enough of war in

Prussia and had families of their own, the time came when they

were forced to leave them behind and join the Confederacy.

Their three younger brothers were still under age before they

left Prussia so hadn’t served in the army, something all Prussian

males were required to do.

Alex and Walter were still unmarried and either living at

home or close to their parents. Alex had made some land pur-

chases as evidenced by recorded deeds and after his death, his

legal heirs were selling it. Eugen on the other hand, also had a

family.

Amanda and Peter Carl surely must have faced a myriad of

emotions when they realized that all five of the boys would be

engaged in the war. It wasn’t uncommon to perhaps have two

or three members of a family go off to the war, but for their

family, all five of their sons would be gone. One could only

hope they would return safely back to their loved ones and such

might have been the case if Alex had been in a different time

and place. As it turned out, Alex was the one who didn’t come

home but rather lost his own battle with typhoid fever.

In 1862 the U. S. Congress passed the Conscription Act that

produced the first wartime draft of U. S. citizens in American

history. The act called for registration of all males between the

ages of twenty and forty-five, including aliens with the inten-

tion of becoming citizens by April 1. Exemptions from the draft

could be bought for $300 or by finding a substitute draftee.

Southern boys had to carry letters showing they were in the

Confederate Army to avoid being conscripted by the Union re-

cruiters looking for northern draft dodgers.

In Round Top, a petition was circulated asking for signa-

tures for those who wanted to resist the draft. Young men


32

moved around to avoid the draft. Some tried to go to Mexico

but were unsuccessful and were captured.

An announcement was posted on the door of the Round Top

post office saying that the Board of Conscription would be in

La Grange during the third week of June. All men ages eighteen

to thirty-five were to appear. Some immediately headed for

Mexico or found other ways to avoid registration. The Board

was located in a house south of the courthouse. Candidates

would be examined and then given a tag saying they were con-

scripted and enrolled.

The men in Round Top where Peter Carl was living were

slow enlisting. As Texas got deeper into the war, he, being too

old to fight, dressed in his old Prussian uniform representing a

Prussian officer with his sword and lance rode through the

streets of the village, calling all the young men to enlist. His

words worked in stirring up the young men of Round Top and

many rallied as a result.

In the meantime Amanda, still engaged in her letter writing

to her friends and family in Prussia tells them the news of the

War Between the States. As a mother she feared for her boys, as

all five of them are eligible for conscription.

No doubt news of a war in the United States had reached

the shores of Europe. Even though it could often be weeks for

Europe to receive any news from across the ocean, news of

such magnitude would have been spread. Thousands of immi-

grants had been living in Texas for several years and like

Amanda and Peter Carl, corresponded with family and friends

at home. This was too big of an event to go unnoticed, even

overseas.

The Civil War Years

33

William Resigns from the GLO

William moved his family to Austin in April of 1856 when

he was recommended to work for the General Land Office of

the State of Texas. The recommendation was a result of the out-

standing design he drew of the Fayette County Courthouse. As

a result, he joined the GLO as a draftsman and was later ap-

pointed as chief draftsman in 1861 when a vacancy occurred.

While at the land office, William made several drawings of the

City of Austin.

It was while William was working at the General Land Of-

fice that the Civil War broke out and once more he was in the

middle of political turmoil. This time it was a country divided

against itself and the issue was slavery and secession from the

Union. In an undated handwritten summary of his life William

writes:

“S. Crosby re-elected took charge of the Land Office

in November 1861, appointed me to Chief Draughtsman

which position I held until the Fall of 1863, when I was

requested to serve as topographical engineer under Gen-

eral Magruder’s command.

When the question of secession came to be decided by

the voters of Texas I voted for it. My reasons for this act


34

of mine: I had left Prussia being proscribed for my polit-

ical opinions,--I selected Texas for my future home with

full knowledge of the institution of slavery existing here,--

I did not come here as a reformer,--I came here to live

with this people who received this stranger uncondition-

ally, and I felt, right or wrong, my place was with the

people of Texas, to stand with them in upholding the car-

dinal principles of self-government laid down in the Dec-

laration of Independence July 4, 1776.

Inspired by my father who, when the young men in

Round Top, the village where father was living were slow

enlisting, father, representing a Prussian Ulan with

sword and lance rode through the streets of the village,

called out the young men (that) he would show them how

in 1813 the youth volunteered to drive off the French op-

pressions and to take example, the three younger broth-

ers entered active service in the Confederate Army…”

William entered the Civil War October 15, 1863 under the

command of General John Bankhead Magruder, a career mili-

tary officer. He as well as Albert Giesecke and H. R. von

Bieberstein left the land office and were assigned as Assistant

Military Engineers to the Confederate Engineer Bureau. Wil-

liam was appointed a Captain of Engineers, being the chief

draftsman in the General Land Office on leave of absence.

Three of the maps that William and his assistants had drawn

are housed in the National Archives. These and many other

maps relating to Texas public land management had not been

seen for over one hundred years. The three maps show detailed

topographical information about the country between the San

Antonio and Colorado Rivers during the time of the Civil War

The Civil War Years

35

that included fortifications that were built to oppose Union

troops. William and his assistants were on leave from the Land

Office at the request of Captain Tipton Walker of the Confeder-

ate Army. These and other maps are available on line.

William was in the Corps of Engineers and records of his

service and duties are very limited.

Fold3, an extensive online database collection of military

records filmed by the National Archives lists a publication,

Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms,

1861-65, gives a short description:

Known as the “Citizens File,” these original records pertain

to “goods furnished or services rendered to the Confederate

government by private individuals or business firms.”

Three vouchers, two dated October 1863 and one for De-

cember 1863 show payment for services rendered. All are

signed by Captain Tipton Walker in Houston, Texas.


36

Besides these vouchers, copies of Confederate Tax Receipts

showing payment by William on four separate occasions for

1863 and 1864 in Travis County are signed by T. D. Moseley.

The contribution of skilled draftsman to the Confederacy by

the GLO was huge. By providing officers for the Engineer Bu-

reau, the Confederate depended on these trained engineers to

make surveys of roads, rivers, and coastlines and prepare de-

tailed maps. The surveyors and draftsman of the GLO were

The Civil War Years

37

well trained. Some GLO employees were also trained civil en-

gineer architects who could be used for construction fortifica-

tions and bridges for troop movements.

While in the field in the latter part of 1863 and well into

1864, the GLO members who were on leave (there were others

besides William and his two associates) spent most of the time

surveying routes for troop movements and locations of defenses

along the Sabine, Colorado, San Antonio and Brazos Rivers.

William served as a topographical engineer under Major

General John B. Magruder who had a long and somewhat less

than glowing military career beginning in 1830 when he gradu-

ated from the United States Military Academy. At the start of

the Civil War, General Magruder was assigned to garrison forc-

es in Washington D. C. He resigned from the U. S. Army when

Virginia, his home state, seceded from the Union. He was

commissioned as a brigadier general in the Confederate States

Army, and was quickly promoted to major general. He was at

the Battle of Yorktown and at the Battle of Malvern Hill which

became known as the last of the Seven Days Battles.

Some erratic behavior while under the influence, and failure

to carry out orders by General Robert E. Lee, the major general

fell out of favor with his commanding officer and he and sever-

al other officers General Lee considered ineffective were reas-

signed. Major General Magruder was reassigned to command

the District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Apparently William was able to go on leave because in a

letter received from his father, Peter Carl, dated April 1, 1864,

his father wrote that when William went home he found his

family all well.

The letter to William also mentions having received letters

from Walter and Alex from Sabine Pass. The brothers report


38

they are at an abandoned farm house about one-half mile from

Fort Manhasset and are equipped with thirty-two-pound how-

itzers. They spend much of their time on guard duty. Their light

artillery is stationed at the farm and in Sabine City there were

two battalions of infantry encamped, totaling about 600 men.

The Civil War Years

39

Confederate Corps of Engineers

The Confederate Army Corps of Engineers was established

March 18, 1861. The Confederacy also organized Engineer

troops and hired hundreds of civilians and slaves to work on

fortifications, roads, and bridges. They weren’t permanently

garrisoned any particular place, small detachments were sent

wherever their services were needed. In addition to surveying

and mapping, the Engineers were called upon to locate possible

sites for forts and routes for railroads and roads. A detachment

usually consisted of one or two Engineers, two Engineer Ser-

geants and several non-rated enlisted men, sometimes pulled

from the ranks of other branches.

When William had resigned from the General Land Office

in the fall of 1863 he began serving as a topographical engineer.

He spent most of his time headquartered in Houston.

William’s brother John was also in the Corps of Engineers

but his assignment date is unknown. Confederate records were

not as complete as were Union records. For many years Con-

federate records weren’t even available for research. Again on

Fold3, there is a filmed entry like William’s “Citizen File” also

with the remarks of pertaining to “goods furnished or services

rendered to the Confederate government by private individuals

or business firms.”


40

For Johannes (John) only two

records were filed and filmed. Nei-

ther one states when he actually

entered into the Corps of Engi-

neers. One of his records shown

lists him as a Lieutenant and topo-

graphical assistant engineer, but it

is undated. It is an assumption that

he joined sometime after William

as his biographical sketch in The

von Rosenberg Family of Texas

published in 1949 states that he

joined William who was in the

Corps of Engineers.

The First Engineers Battalion

was organized the winter of 1863-

1864 with four companies. It was

comprised of men from Arkansas,

Texas, Louisiana, and Missouri.

The Trans-Mississippi Depart-

ment’s two companies were sta-

tioned in Galveston and were in-

cluded in the surrender in June,

1865. William and John were in

the Trans-Mississippi Department

of the Corps of Engineers. Eugen

was on detached service to the

Corps of Engineers after the fall of Vicksburg as evidenced by

his record of service.

John Von Rosenberg's record of

having been paroled during the

war, proving his military service.

The Civil War Years

41

Walter and Alex

Walter was 22 years old when he was mustered in on Octo-

ber 12, 1861. He was assigned to the Fifth Field Battery, Texas,

and was to serve under Captain Edmund Creuzbaur’s Company,

Light Artillery. Records show he was paid from the time of his

enlistment on the January and February 1862 company muster

roll. Still listed on the company muster roll for the months of

March and April, he was paid up to December 31, 1861. He and

his brother Alex were together during their entire service until

Alex died of typhoid fever October 2, 1864, a few months after

they had been in the Battle of Calcasieu Pass.

By August 31, 1863 Walter was promoted to a Corporal. On

a record not dated, Walter appeared on the bounty pay and re-

ceipt roll where he received and signed for $50 bounty pay.

Bounty pay was essentially a signing bonus for joining the mili-

tary.

In the summer of 1861 the artillery battery recruited in

Fayette County by Ed Creuzbaur’s and J. Fritz Ernst was origi-

nally Creuzbaurs Company of Artillery, Texas Volunteers.

Both Walter and Alex were included in this company and

the entire battery mustered in on October 12, 1861 in San An-

tonio. At that time it became known as Creuzbaur’s Company

under Welhausen’s Battery under Captain Brickhaus. Round


42

Top had become a recruiting station for the northern half of the

county.

The Civil War Years

43

Fifth Texas Field Battery

A note at the bottom of the Company Muster Roll form

states:

This command was accepted into the service of the

Confederate States as a heavy artillery organization Oc-

tober 12, 1861, and was known at various times as

Creuzbaur’s and as Welhausen’s Company Texas Artil-

lery. By S. O. No. 127, Dist. of Tex. , N. Mex, and Ariz.

dated May 2, 1863, it was changed to light artillery and

later it served as Company A, Wilkes (subsequently De-

ge’s) Battalion Light Artillery, which was a temporary

field organization. By S. O. No. 240, Hdqrs. Trans-Miss.

Dept. dated November 19, 1864 it was designated the

Fifth Texas Field Battery and assigned to the Seventh

Battalion Field Artillery.

On a report for the month of April 1865 Walter is accounted

for with the Fifth Texas Field Battery and appears on a Return

of the Seventh Battalion Light Artillery. He is shown as absent

with leave.

A notation printed at the bottom of the card states: The Sev-

enth Battalion Field Artillery, Trans-Mississippi Department, C.


44

S. A. , also known as the Seventh and Fontaine’s Battalion

Light Artillery, was a temporary field organization which was

composed of independent batteries.

The Civil War Years

45

Capt Creuzbaur’s Command

Edmund Creuzbaur was born in Prussia and was an artillery

officer in the Prussian Army. Peter Carl, Wilhelm, and Johan-

nes were also in the Prussian Army. Creuzbaur also immigrated

to Texas in the 1840s. It was on October 12, 1861 that he raised

company A of the Fifth Texas Field Artillery in which Walter

and Alex were enlisted. This unit consisted mostly of German

immigrants.

He resigned his commission after the Battle of Calcasieu

Pass in Louisiana and returned to farming in Fayette County.

His brother-in-law, Charles Welhausen, assumed his command.

Alex’s Civil War records show that he was twenty-five

years old in 1861 when he mustered in as a second sergeant.

The company muster roll for May and June 1862 shows that he

is a first sergeant. Rank of first sergeant continues on through

the rest of his company muster roll records.

Walter was mustered in as a private according to his com-

pany muster roll. His company muster roll for the period of

November/December 1863 lists him as a corporal. In May of

1864 when he and Alex went on furlough to visit their parents;

he was also listed as a corporal. The tables on the next pages

give an overview of their records that are available on the Fold3

website.


46

Walter’s Service Record

Date Unit Assigned Entry

1861 Capt. Edmund Cru-

ezbaur’s Co. Artillery,

Texas Volunteers

Private, Company

Muster-in Roll

1862 5 Field Battery Texas

Capt. Edmund Cru-


Texas Volunteers

Private, Company

Muster Roll

January – October

1863

5 Field Battery Texas

Capt. Edmund Cru-


Texas Volunteers

Private, Company

Muster Roll

November – Decem-

ber 1863

Co. A, Willke’s Battal-

ion Light Artillery

Corporal, Company

Muster Roll

May 1864 Capt. Chas. Welhau-

sen’s Company Light

Artillery

Company Return—on

furlough in Fayette

County

Not dated Capt. Chas. Welhau-


Artillery

Bounty Pay and Re-

ceipt Roll

April 1865 5 Field Battery Texas Return of the 7th

Bat-

talion Light Artillery

The Civil War Years

47

Alex’s Service Record

Date Unit Assigned Entry

1861 Capt. Edmund Cru-

ezbaur’s Co. Artillery

2 Sergeant, Company

Muster-in Roll

January – April 1862 Capt. Edmund Cru-


Texas Volunteers

2 Sergeant, Company

Muster Roll

May – December 1862 Capt. Edmund Cru-


1st Sergeant, Company

Muster Roll

January – December

1863

Capt. Edmund Cru-


1st Sergeant, Company

Muster Roll

May 1864 Capt. Chas. Welhau-


Artillery

Sergeant, Company

Return on furlough in

Fayette County

Not dated Capt. Chas. Welhau-


Artillery

1st Sergeant, Bounty

Pay and Receipt Roll


48

Waul’s Legion

Thomas Neville

Waul was born in

South Carolina in

1815. After being

educated in South

Carolina, he moved

to Vicksburg, Mis-

sissippi where he

studied law under S.

Prentiss. He began

his law practice in

1835 where he quickly became a circuit court judge. In 1850

Judge Waul and his wife Mary America Simmons moved to

Gonzales County, Texas where he owned a plantation and had a

successful law practice.

In 1861 with the possibility of secession, Thomas Waul was

chosen as a representative to the secession convention by the

people of his district. He was also one of the seven delegates

chosen to represent Texas in the Provisional Congress of the

Confederacy. This new constitution bears his name. He contin-

ued his representation of Texas until the formation of a perma-

nent Confederate Government in February 1862 at which time

Waul’s Legion Flag

The Civil War Years

49

Thomas resigned his seat, returned home and began raising a

body of men that became known as Waul’s Legion.

Waul’s Legion completed its organization at Brenham,

Texas, during the summer of 1862. The men gathering came

primarily from Washington, Harris, Caldwell, Gonzales, and

Fayette counties. Eugen von Rosenberg enlisted in Waul’s Tex-

as Legion on June 18, 1862, and was sent for training at Camp

Waul. The Legion was destined for General Van Dorn’s com-

mand at Vicksburg in about August 1862.

In all, about 2,000 men were recruited and were organized

into two battalions of infantry each having six companies, six

companies of cavalry that was organized into a single battalion,

and an artillery battalion of two companies. The combination of

infantry, cavalry, and artillery within a single battalion created

Waul’s Legion.

Even though it contained a cavalry battalion and an infantry

regiment, the legion didn’t serve as one command. The cavalry

battalion originally had six companies but was later increased to

seven. It served in the Department of Mississippi and East Lou-

isiana. The infantry regiment contained 12 companies and

served in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, in-

cluding Vicksburg. Eugen served with the infantry regiment

that was detailed to Vicksburg. While at Brenham, Eugen was

given the rank of second sergeant.

On Monday, August 2, 1862 they received orders to leave

for Arkansas and early Thursday morning the march began.

However, during this march to Arkansas, they were ordered to

report to Vicksburg, Mississippi instead. When they reached

Vicksburg, they had six days to get organized. From Vicksburg

they were ordered to Holly Springs by rail. When they arrived

on October 10 around 11 p. m. they found the retreating Army


50

of Corith. Confusion and chaos were in full swing as lost men

looked for their regiments while trying to make their way

through the cold rain, the dark and mud. Wounded men were

being placed in houses along the road. The lack of firewood to

help ward off the cold created the perfect setting for stealing

from woodpiles. Waul’s Legion was moved to a campsite with

a clear spring, fresh supplies that were brought in, and eventual-

ly muskets with 40 rounds of ammunition each. The Legion

was now part of Earl Van Dorn’s West Tennessee Army. The

next three weeks were filled with day long exercises and drill-

ing.

Eugen was detached from his unit to the Engineering De-

partment in Houston. He was also reported as being in the

Camp of Instruction in the Engineer Corps on November 1,

1863.

An overview of Eugen’s service record on Fold3 is listed

below. There were no records between June 18, 1862 when he

enlisted and through November 1, 1863.

Eugen’s Service Record

Date Unit Assigned Assignment

March 1864 On detached service

April 1864 Private, Co. B,

Timmons

On detached service

April 26, 1864 Camp Lubbock Joined by transfer

May, June, July 1864 Detached to Engineer

Corps

August 1864 – April

1865

Engineer Corps in Hou-

ston

The Civil War Years

51

The Fall of Vicksburg

The Union’s advance towards Vicksburg brought on a se-

ries of moves and retreats from Holly Springs. On the night of

November fifth, the alarm sounded to prepare two days’ of ra-

tions and be ready to fight by daylight. On the sixth they were

informed that it was time to move again. It was bitterly cold and

soldiers warmed themselves with the fires that had been set

along the road they were traveling. Orders changed almost as

fast as they were given. First, they were off again to Holly

Springs, then they found out the Union had taken Holly

Springs.

Instead, they raced across fields, often zig-zagging their

course as the messages arrived. It was dark when they reached

Lumkin’s Mill. Colonel Waul gave a short address to his men

in part telling them he knew that most of them would have pre-

ferred fighting rather than continue marching on empty stom-

achs. But he reiterated that everyone, including him, had to

obey orders. He added that he would try to get them some food.

The men continued to march through the night and about 9

p. m. they halted near a road where they were given cornmeal

and meat. After eating and sleeping, they marched to Abbeville

where their wagons caught up with them. This time they were

to go to Rockfurth for winter quarters. The sound of cannon


52

close by set them ready to march again when a courier rode in

with orders to retreat at once to Oxford.

Joining with the 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment, Waul’s Le-

gion was the Army’s rear guard. They sighted a Union Cavalry

following them and there was a brief skirmish. They then con-

tinued to follow the main line of march. They soon received

word from headquarters to burn all excess equipment and hurry

the retreat. The sky was red, behind, in front and next to them

as cotton, cotton gins, bridges and even houses possibly belong-

ing to Union spies burned.

November 30, 1862, the Legion started marching again with

empty wagons and without casualties. By December fifth they

had arrived in Coffeeville, Mississippi. On December seventh

they arrived in Granada.

Meanwhile, General Grant had stopped his offensive be-

cause of flooding and high water in the rivers and surrounding

lowlands. He made his headquarters in Coffeeville and used

Holly Springs as his supply depot.

General Van Dorn called for volunteers to attack the supply

depot when he learned that it was poorly staffed. He required

that all of the volunteers must be Texans.

The Legion and parts of the Second Texas rose to the task.

Riding in a wide circle to the north, the General was able to cut

off all communications leading into or out of Holly Springs and

at 11 p. m. on Christmas Eve, the surprised Union Army capitu-

lated. The unit arrived back at Grenada on December 28, where

the Legion remained until January 24, 1863.

General Pemberton telegraphed Major General William W.

Loring to prepare General Price’s division and Waul’s Legion

for movement when he realized there was a rapid buildup of

Union troops in the area.

The Civil War Years

53

On January 24, 1863 they went by train to Vaughn’s Station

where they found a closed station and no supplies. Without fur-

ther orders they marched on to Yazoo City where they arrived

January 27th. Supplies were plentiful but quickly used up.

When the Legion was stopped at one of the plantations along

the river, officers went back into Yazoo and bought all the gro-

ceries they could get.

The Legion boarded a steamboat that took them to Snyder’s

Bluff where they arrived on January 29 and constructed a

campsite.

On February 15 they were again moving by steamboat and

traveled upstream to Greenwood on the Upper Yazoo River. On

February 18 they found themselves just three miles below

Greenwood where the Yazoo and Tallahatchie Rivers con-

verged. Well after dark they noticed something moving back

and forth then plunging into the water. With the command giv-

en to fire, instead of men being their target it turned out to be

cattle that were being hidden from Confederate foragers.

A strong fortification was ordered and approved to be built

here and Colonel Waul was placed in charge of the supervision

of the construction. The walls were made of bales of cotton in

zigzag fashion stacked four high and covered with dirt. The

stacks were fourteen feet high and stretched from river to river.

Cannon of various kinds were spaced evenly across the walls

and guns were stationed to be used on approaching ships seen

on either river. A line of rifle pits and trenches across the neck

of land that separated the two rivers was assigned to be manned

by Waul’s Legion. The fort was named Fort Pemberton and a

detachment from Waul’s Legion manned one of the 12-pound

rifled canons. Garrisoning the fort was the Second Texas Infan-

try Regiment, the Twentieth Mississippi Infantry, the Pointe


54

Coupe Artillery and Waul’s Texas Legion, about 2,000 men

and officers.

It was the Union ironclad Chillicothe that opened the battle.

For about an hour the artillery exchange continued. Indiana

Regiments had disembarked from their transports moving for-

ward until they came in contact with the Waul’s Texans that

lined the rifle pits but succeeded in pushing the Texans back in-

to the rifle pits. Fighting resumed with the arrival of a gun boat

whose sights were set on the fort. The Federals were driven

back to their transports after a two-hour exchange of gun fire.

On March 15 the Federals launched one more attack on the

fort. About twenty minutes into the attack, the ironclad, severe-

ly damaged by a Confederate cannon, was forced to withdraw.

Failing to capture the fort—which was surrounded by marsh,

bayous and rivers, and with no other means of attack—and after

several days without success, the Federals returned to their

transports and headed back up river.

General Loring moved from Fort Pemberton and left Colo-

nel Waul in command. On May 4 Colonel Waul received orders

from General Pemberton to leave 300 men at the fort and move

the rest of the Legion by steamboat down to Vicksburg.

By May 12, 1863 the Legion was posted at Ashby Church

on the Big Black River where they set up a battery. On May 16,

the Battle of Champion Hill opened but resulted in a Confeder-

ate defeat. On May 17, the Battle of the Big Black River Bridge

ensued, which caused Pemberton to withdraw behind Vicks-

burg defenses. The Legion was held in reserve until another

Federal attack on May 22.

The Railroad Redoubt had fallen to the Union with attempts

to retake it unsuccessful when General Stephen D. Lee asked

Colonel Waul to retake the Redoubt. Armed with thirty-five

The Civil War Years

55

men of the Legion and led by Colonel Pettus of Alabama and

Captain Bradley and Lieutenant Hogue, they swept into the fort.

Colonel Waul and General Lee were right behind with two ad-

ditional companies. After hours of embattlement, surviving

Federals sought the safety of the ravines and hallows between

the line as they withdrew to the safety of their own entrench-

ments. Apparently General Grant’s plan to break Confederate

lines in order to take Vicksburg by storm had failed. Waul’s

Texas Legion had sealed the breach. After the attack of May 22,

however, General Grant had settled into a siege of Vicksburg (a

starvation blockade) that lasted forty seven days and continued

until the Confederates surrendered July 3, 1863. During the

siege, Waul’s Legion continued to act in a reserve capacity. Af-

ter the surrender, Waul’s Legion was paroled and placed on fur-

lough about mid July 1863 until exchanged. In total 805 were

killed, 1,938 wounded, and 29,620 missing and captured.

On July 9, 1863 the prisoners of war were paroled and each

had to take the following oath:

TO WHOM IT ALL MAY CONCERN, KNOW YE

THAT:

I______________ a ________________ of Co.

_____________________ Reg’t Waul’s Legion Vols. , C.

S. A. being a prisoner of War, in the hand of the United

States Forces, in virtue of the capitulation of the City of

Vicksburg and its Garrison, by Liet. Gen. John C. Pem-

berton, C. S. A., Commanding on the 4th day of July,

1863, do in pursuance of the terms of said capitulation,

give this my solemn parole under oath---

That I will not take up arms against the United

States, nor serve in any military police or constabulary


56

force in any Fort, garrison or field work, held by the

Confederate States of America, against the United States

of America, nor as guard of prisons, depots or stores, nor

discharge any duties usually performed by Officers or

soldiers, against the United States of America, until duly

exchanged by the proper authorities.

________________________

(ATTEST)

Prisoner-of-War oath signed by A. Kneip, son-in-law of Johannes von Rosenberg.

The Civil War Years

57

Eugen’s name appears third from the top on Roll of Prison-

ers of War Captured at Vicksburg Mississippi—Waul’s Texas

Legion. He would have had to sign the same document as ap-

pears above in order to be released and be reassigned to Lt. Col.

Timmons.

Note: On the seventh line up from the bottom appears the

name of A. Kneip, son-in-law of Johannes von Rosenberg.

Based on recommendations rating the most effective units

in the Vicksburg army by General Pemberton, the Legion was

one of the first to be reconstituted after the exchange of prison-

ers had been completed. Once reconstituted, on September 12,


58

1863 part of the Legion participated in the Battle of Mansfield

and in the Red River Campaign. Another battalion of the Le-

gion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Barnard Tim-

mons was detached to serve in Galveston protecting the Gulf

Coast. It was under this command that Eugen von Rosenberg

served. On May 14, 1865 as the war was ending and Confeder-

ate arms were being surrendered throughout the south, soldiers

defending Galveston mutinied against their commanders. How-

ever, Lt. Col. Timmons command was the only unit that re-

mained loyal. Members of Waul’s Legion started making their

way back home about June 19, 1865.

The Civil War Years

59

The Battle of Calcasieu Pass

Creuzbaur’s Battery, the Fifth Texas artillery, spent most of

its early career in Brownsville, Texas on the Mexican border as

heavy artillery. It was later reclassified as light artillery. On

March 5, 1864 the battery was transferred to Sabine Pass but up

to that time had seen no combat. Its one and only battle was the

Battle of Calcasieu Pass on May 6, 1864 in Louisiana in the

southwest corner and about forty miles from the Sabine River,

which is on the Texas-Louisiana border. The pass is about two

miles from the Calcasieu River where it empties into the Gulf

of Mexico. The battle was fought on a u-shaped bend in the riv-

er. It is an absolute flat marshland cut by bayous with a few oak

groves. Long before the Civil War there were settlers living at

the pass who were completely cut off from the rest of the Loui-

siana except by boat.

Calcasieu Pass was an important spot in the river. The

Trans-Mississippi Department depended on clear passage for

providing supplies of corn, beef, muskets, gunpowder and rein-

forcements as well.

For almost three years the Calcasieu River was of little or

no interest to either side of the war, even though the Pass itself

was only about thirty-eight miles from the Texas-Louisiana

border. Even so, after the war began, one company had erected


60

a mud fort on the island which had miles of marshy land. This

was an attempt by the Confederates to keep Union foraging par-

ties from gaining access to food sources needed by the Confed-

erate troops. The island was virtually abandoned during the

winter of 1863-1864 and because of its terrain didn’t seem wor-

thy of invasion or defense.

In April of 1864 the post at Calcasieu Pass was ordered to

be evacuated, but with hesitation on the part of the commanding

officer who felt that it was necessary to keep an eye open for

any of the enemy who might try to send launches up-river. Only

a day or two, later the Trans-Mississippi Department learned

that a large transport of about 1,000 Union troops had passed

Galveston heading east, which was the direction of Calcasieu. It

was the steamer Wave which dropped anchor when it reached

the pass. Soon after the Wave anchored in the river, word was

sent to the Confederate quartermaster depot in Niblett’s Bluff,

Louisiana, and a message was quickly telegraphed to Major

General Magruder, who was in Louisiana at the time. Orders to

attack were hastily dispatched to four companies of the Elev-

enth Texas Battalion as well as to the Sabine Post. However,

only fifty-eight men and sixteen horses of Captain Creuzbaur’s

battery of light artillery were available for combat duty at Cal-

casieu Pass. Half of the roster was on detached service.

The Battle of Calcasieu Pass went pretty much unnoticed

and unnoted in history largely due to more interesting and

newsworthy events and the fact that it was a small battle in and

of itself. The war was in full bloom on May 6, 1864 as major

battles and campaigns were blazing across the Confederate

states.

Aside from the battle of Calcasieu pass, on the same day the

blue and gray armies were conducting the Red River Campaign

The Civil War Years

61

about 200 miles north in Louisiana. The Union Army of the

Gulf had done poorly during the Red River Campaign and was

still retreating. A dam being built across the river was still in

progress which ultimately saved the Union fleet when it al-

lowed the Union Army of the Gulf to fully retreat.

Additionally, Sherman’s 100,000 strong Union Army was

about to swarm into northern Georgia against Atlanta, and Gen-

erals Lee and Grant were involved in the Battle of the Wilder-

ness in Virginia.

Several eye-witness accounts of the Battle of Calcasieu Pass

were written and preserved. One of the most oft reprinted and

talked about was the one written in a letter dated May 10, 1864

by Walter von Rosenberg to his brother William who was a

topographical engineer in the Corps of Engineers.

“Camp of Creuzbaur Light Battery,

May 10, 1864

Dear Brother William:

We are in Camp on the coast, six miles from Sabine

Pass, having just returned from Calcasieu Pass, La.,

where we had a fight with the Yanks. Brother Alex and I

came out of the fight without injury. William Kneip was

killed by the first shot from the enemy. On the 4th of this

month at noon we received orders to get ready to start

for Calcasieu by dusk, so that the United States gunboats

out in the Gulf, observing our coast, could not see the

movement. A detachment under Lieut. W. Meitzen was up

in the country, where part of our horses were grazing,

leaving from forty to forty-five officers and men on duty.

With what teams remained we had to move the battery to

Sabine Pass. There, after completing the teams with


62

mules, the battery was loaded on a steamboat, and went

up Sabine Lake and into one of the bayous, where we un-

loaded about noon on the 5th and in the later part of the

evening started on our march. The men had to walk on

account of the deep sand, which caused slow progress.

However, before day we were in position facing two gun-

boats. Our battery consisted of two twelve-pounder guns,

No. 1 and No. 2, and two six-pounder guns, No. 3 and

No. 4.

Captain Creuzbaur was in command of the battery;

Lieutenant Welhausen commanded guns Nos. 3 and 4.

No. 1 was manned by brother Alex, orderly sergeant, my-

self gunner, H. Kneip, W. Kneip, W. Peters, W. Guers,

John Winn and______; the drivers were F. Koch and F.

Kiel. Guns Nos. 1 and 2 were on the right, facing the

gunboat Granite City; guns Nos. 3 and 4 were opposite

the gunboat Wave. We were about twelve hundred yards

from the gunboats when I was ordered to open fire. Our

fire was soon answered, and W. Kneip fell at the first

shot. We continued firing, notwithstanding the fact that

we were subjected to a heavy crossfire from the gunboats

which were lying in a position, a bend in Calcasieu Bay-

ou between them. In a short time gun 3 became disabled;

F. Fahrenhold, H. Foerstermann, J. Lynch mortally

wounded. Gun No. 4 bravely kept on firing, but could not

advance for want of teams, the horses by mistake had

been ordered back.

We could not observe whether our shots were effec-

tive and Captain Creuzbaur ordered us to advance. Only

guns No. 1 and 2 could advance, No. 3 being disabled

and No. 4 without horses. At about nine hundred yards I

The Civil War Years

63

was ordered to throw shells to obtain the distance to the

Granite City. Then I followed up with a solid shot. We

continued to advance, thereby getting out of the cross-

fire. Gun No. 1 led the advance up to six hundred yards,

when the Granite City hoisted a white flag just as I gave

an order to load. About the time gun No. 2 sank in a

swamp and all efforts of officers and men to raise it were

unsuccessful; it was, however, dug up after the fight was

over. We had now only two guns left for action, but gun

No. 4 being still in the first position without horses, gun

No. 1 was the only one that could be advanced in action.

There being no officer near, I as a gunner ordered an

advance on the Wave. This order was executed so quickly

by the drivers that when we halted about three hundred

yards from the Wave, I was the only man with the gun,

and, noticing some infantry to the right behind a plank

fence, I called on them to assist in bringing the gun into

position. They cheerfully responded, and upon arrival of

the men of No. 1 on a run, led by H. Kneip, we immedi-

ately commenced firing. We were short of men at our

gun. W. Kneip had been killed and W. Guers wounded,

although he had heroically attended to his duty for some

time kneeling. I sent solid shot at the Wave, and, as sub-

sequently disclosed, our balls went lengthwise through

the gunboat. An effort to raise gun No. 2 had been given

up, and soon gun No. 1 had men enough to work her and

bring up ammunition, which Alex had done for some time

alone, for we had exhausted ours.

The Wave had steam up, and we could see men in the

pilot house, whereupon Lieutenant Welhausen ordered

me to send canister into the pilot house. After a few shots


64

the pilot house seemed to be abandoned. By this time we

had plenty of ammunition brought from gun No. 2. Lieu-

tenant Welhausen ordered me to aim for the engine. After

a few more shots the steam was seen escaping. At last

gun No. 4 came up and took position by No. 1, but fired

only one shot, when a white rag was raised on the Wave.

There being no officer near, I as gunner ordered the guns

to cease firing. We called on the gunboat to lower her

boats in order to board her, but none were sent. Where-

upon Major McReynolds, who had come up, asked:

‘What is up here?’ I reported to him the above facts. He

then called for boats to be put off to shore and, as none

were coming, ordered gun No. 4 to send a warning shot

over the gunboat; then turning to me he said: ‘Give it to

them. ’ This done, the white flag came up like lightning,

and a skiff left the steamer for shore. Major McReynolds,

accompanied by me and several comrades, boarded the

Wave. We found that she had suffered fearfully.

Our infantry did splendid service by their constant

fire, sweeping the decks of the gunboats and making it

difficult for the Yanks to handle their guns on deck. I saw

an infantryman standing unflinchingly. I was anxious to

learn his name, but could not. This man’s bravery was

noticed on the Wave, and afterwards prisoners inquired

for him, stating that his daring irritated their men when

firing at him.

The battery was ordered back to Sabine Pass and to

his camp; the infantry was left in charge of prisoners and

gunboats. We captured sixteen guns and one hundred

and sixty-six men (Griffin reported 174 captured).

The Civil War Years

65

The other forces engaged with us were the 21st Tex-

as, Major McReynolds and part of Daly’s and Spaight’s

Battalions, in all 250 to 300 men. All the forces engaged

were under command of Col. W. H. Griffin, of the 21st

Texas Infantry.

(Signed) C. Walter von Rosenberg”

One of Walter’s comrades told how half of the Company

was stationed at Sabine Pass. The other half was with the horses

at Industry Camp. After receiving orders, they loaded their can-

nons and carronades on to a steam ship and took them up to

Johnson Bayou where they unloaded and began marching until

another Bayou was reached. The bridge they had to cross had

been burned down by the Union Army. Another bridge was

built during the night, so camp was made. With the bridge be-

ing ready the next morning, they marched again and they ar-

rived at the battle field before day break.

When the battle did ensue, he and Walter had moved up

closer to shore. The ships were close in front of them. Walter’s

comrade suggested that Walter, who was in charge of the aim-

ing, that he look at the funnels and aim behind them where the

boilers were located. When the cannonball hit, the entire ship

became filled with steam and soon a white flag appeared aboard

the Wave signaling surrender. Victory was theirs. The battle

lasted about one hour and 40 minutes. The other boat, the Gran-

ite City had sixteen holes in the hull near the water line.

Under the supervision of Griffin’s Battalion, prisoners were

already walking back to Texas on the very eve of the battle.

Later on the seventh the remainder, not including wounded, and

the wagon loads of captured provisions and munitions began


66

the long journey along the beach in the care of Creuzbauer’s

Battery and some of Spaight’s troops.

Captured prisoners of the battle were processed and taken to

Hempstead POW camp or Camp Groce as it was also known.

Once abandoned briefly in early 1863 by the Confederates,

the POW camp was reclaimed June 13, 1863 with the arrival of

about one hundred Union soldiers who were taken prisoner at

the battles at Galveston and Sabine Pass. In November of 1863

an order was issued that all Union prisoners in Texas be sent to

Shreveport, Louisiana for a prisoner exchange. Thus, the stock-

ade was practically empty for about five months until May

1864 when about 150 Union officers, soldiers and sailors ar-

rived as captives from the battle of Calcasieu. In August 1864

about 500 more Union prisoners from Camp Ford were sent to

Camp Groce.

In September 1864 a serious yellow fever epidemic broke

out and the prison was evacuated, many of them to the nearby

Camp Felder. The evacuated prisoners were returned to Camp

Groce in October where they remained until December when

they were moved to Galveston and then released to a Union

fleet.

The Civil War Years

67

Walter and Alex on Furlough

Alex and Walter had moved from San Antonio where they

mustered in, first to Brownsville and Fort Brown. In December

1861 their headquarters were moved from Fort Brown 100

miles upriver to Ringold Barracks. In July 1863, their unit was

back at Fort Brown and Walter, Alex, and several others were

ordered to go after deserters and return them to camp.

They were at Liberty, Texas in October of 1863. In early

1864 the unit was moved to Sabine Pass. In April of 1864, their

unit had been notified of their possible movement to Calcasieu

Pass, a small marshy island in the Calcasieu River in Louisiana

about thirty-eight miles from Sabine Pass.

After the battle at Calcasieu Pass on May 6, 1864 and upon

returning to Texas, the brothers were granted a forty-day fur-

lough to La Grange that began May 12, 1864. They arrived ap-

proximately three weeks after the death of their mother Aman-

da, who died on April 22, 1864.

The news of their mother’s death had not reached them be-

fore they arrived home. One can only imagine the shock and

grief this devastating news must have been to them. Instead of

the anticipated happy reunion with their parents, they found

their family grieving at the loss of Amanda while rejoicing to


68

see them. Amanda had been plagued with serious health prob-

lems for several years.

Eugen was at home on April 1, 1864 as stated in a letter

written by Peter Carl to William. There was no record of fur-

lough in his Civil War records for him as there is for Alex and

Walter.

On May 1, 1864 Peter Carl wrote a letter to William telling

him of Amanda’s death. In the same letter Peter Carl also tells

William that Johannes was there as well. The letter also states

that Eugen was to leave “Thursday” which would have been

April twenty-first. On that day, Amanda was on her deathbed

and would die between 4 and 5 o’clock on the twenty-second;

however, whether it was morning or afternoon is not indicated.

One account states that she died of apoplexy, which is an old

medical term for a stroke.

The Civil War Years

69

Alex Dies

Reports indicate that 620,000 soldiers died during the Civil

War. Two-thirds of them died of disease, not wounds. The rea-

sons are many. Poor hygiene was a major factor because of lack

of bathing. Ironically there were few pots available and they

were used for both cooking food and boiling lice-infested

clothes.

Garbage in the camp was also a contributor since it wasn’t

disposed of. Filth from the camp in general was due to latrines

frequently being dug too close to streams, thus contaminating

the water. Overcrowding, exposure to all types of weather, im-

proper and inadequate diet, and spoiled food were all contribu-

tors.

Staples for the Union soldiers was hardtack, a type of

cracker or biscuit made from flour, water, and sometimes salt,

and for the Confederates, cornbread. Fresh fruits and vegetables

were rare. Meat was often spoiled or otherwise contaminated.

Lack of surgeons to handle the huge number of wounded was a

factor. Also many had never been exposed to communicable

diseases such as chickenpox, measles, mumps, and small pox,

to name a few, and so had not built up immunity. Flies, mosqui-

toes, ticks, lice, maggots and fleas were prolific and carried dis-


70

ease. Impure water was also a contributing factor. Infections

and gangrene were very common in wounded soldiers.

The most common disease was dysentery, which was the

number one killer during the Civil War. Number two was ty-

phoid fever, followed by ague, yellow fever, malaria, scurvy,

pneumonia, tuberculosis, and small pox.

Sometime after their furlough, Walter and Alex were again

at Liberty, Texas. They had been there about month when Alex

was diagnosed with typhoid fever and admitted to the hospital

on September 4, 1864.

Typhoid fever, also known as camp fever, is caused by any

of several bacteria, usually salmonella, and is transmitted by the

ingestion of food or contaminated water or by coming in close

contact with someone who is infected. Signs and symptoms of

typhoid fever can appear gradually, often appearing from one to

three weeks after exposure to the disease.

During the first week, a fever starts to increase daily ac-

companied by a headache, weakness and fatigue, dry cough,

loss of appetite, abdominal pain, either diarrhea or constipation

and a rash. During the second week the high fever continues

along with the diarrhea or constipation and considerable weight

loss. The abdomen becomes extremely distended.

By the third week delirium develops and life threatening

complications arise. Recovery may possibly develop during the

fourth week, but such wasn’t the case for Alex. After almost

four weeks, he died on October 2, 1864. News of Alex’s death

must have shaken the family, but there are no letters mentioning

his death except one that Lina wrote years later to someone in

Prussia and again in another letter to her mother-in-law in Ger-

many, saying how much she missed her brother.

The Civil War Years

71

The Confederacy Surrenders

Few battles took place in Texas, largely due to the fact that

Union troops were unable to advance very far into the state.

However, the Union tried several times unsuccessfully to

capture the Trans-Mississippi regions of Texas and Louisiana

from 1862 until the end of the war. With eastern ports that were

captured or blocked, Texas became a back door to the Confed-

eracy as Texas and western Louisiana continued providing cot-

ton crops that were transferred overland to the Mexican border

town of Matamoros and the shipped to Europe in exchange for

supplies. Most of the action was in and around Galveston and

Sabine Pass. Corpus Christi and Brownsville saw some action

largely due to the fact they are seaports in the Gulf of Mexico.

News of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox

Court House to General Grant on April 4, 1865 reached Texas.

News of Joseph E. Johnston’s and Richard Taylor’s surrenders

confirmed that Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas stood alone to

continue the Confederate cause.

Generals Magruder and Kirby Smith ceased trying to rally

their demoralized troops. General Magruder began plans for the

distribution of Confederate government property. He insisted

that an immediate disbanding of the army would prevent depre-

dations by disgruntled soldiers.


72

The haste to disband the army and the necessity of protect-

ing Confederate property from Union confiscation created mass

chaos that included plundering a train, pillaging the quartermas-

ter’s stores in Galveston on May 21, and a mob of ex-

Confederate soldiers demand to open a government warehouse.

Riots continued in Houston until May 26, 1865. Both gov-

ernment and private stores were raided extensively in several

towns including La Grange. Riots also had cost several lives,

flattened twenty buildings, and $17,000 in gold was stolen from

the State Treasury in Austin. By May 27th, half of the Confed-

erate forces in Texas had deserted or been disbanded, and law-

lessness took the place of formal order in many areas of Texas.

When Rip Ford defeated the Union troops at the battle of

Palmito Beach, he learned from prisoners that Confederate

forces were surrendering all over the south. Further attempts to

keep commands intact failed. The battle of Palmito Beach near

Brownsville, Texas on May 13, 1865 was the last battle of the

Civil War. The final surrender of the Confederate Army was

May 4, 1865. General Kirby Smith finally surrendered what

was left of the Trans-Mississippi on June 2, 1865.

Official news of the surrender of Lee and other generals

east of the Mississippi reached Texas about April 20, 1865. The

month of May saw increasing numbers of deserters.

On June 19, 1865 Union General Granger and over 2,000

federal troops arrived at Galveston Island to take possession of

the state and enforce the two-year-old Emancipation Proclama-

tion. On the balcony of Ashton Villa, General Order No. 3 was

proclaimed:

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accord-

ance with a proclamation from the Executive of the Unit-

The Civil War Years

73

ed States all slaves are free. This involves an absolute

equality of personal rights and rights of property be-

tween former masters and slaves, and the connection

heretofore existing between them becomes that between

employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to

remain quietly at their present homes and work for wag-

es. They are informed that they will not be allowed to

collect at military posts and that they will not be support-

ed in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

Many slaves, upon hearing of the emancipation, left imme-

diately even though they were offered wages. Newspapers in

East Texas continued to recommend that slaveholders oppose

the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. Some slave own-

ers didn’t free their slaves until late 1865. Slavery was officially

abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment which took effect De-

cember 8, 1865.


74

Reconstruction

Union troops took possession of the state of Texas on June

19, 1865 as aforementioned. Their job was primarily to restore

order and enforce the emancipation of slaves. Union General

Andrew J. Hamilton was appointed by President Andrew John-

son as the provisional governor on June 17. He granted amnesty

to ex-Confederates if they promised to support the Union in the

future, appointing some to office.

William became a prisoner of war, signing a statement of

such July 28, 1865:

“I, the undersigned, Prisoner of War, belonging to

the Army of the Trans-Mississippi Department, having

been surrendered by General E. Kirby Smith, C. S. A. ,

Commanding said Department to Major General E. R. S.

Canby, U. S. A. , Commanding Army and Division of

West Mississippi, do here give my solemn PAROLE OF

HONOR, that I will not hereafter serve in the Armies of

the Confederate States, or in any military capacity what-

ever, against the United States of America, or render aid

to the enemies of the latter, until properly exchanged in

such a manner as shall be mutually approved by the re-

spective authorities.”

The Civil War Years

75

William also signed an Amnesty Oath in Travis County:

“THIS IS TO CERTIFY, That W. Von Rosenberg has

taken the OATH OF AMNESTY, prescribed by the Presi-

dent of the United States, and his name is duly registered

on the Register of Voters of Travis County.”

Even though no documentation has been found, it is proba-

ble that Johannes would have had to sign the same prisoner of

war statement as did William simply because they were serving

together. Because Johannes was an officer, he probably would

have had to sign an amnesty oath as well.

Walter and Eugen probably had to sign an amnesty oath

along with regaining their citizenship since their names were

included on the 1867 Texas Voters Registration List of Fayette

County, 1867-1869. They would only be allowed to vote if they

were citizens.


76

William stated in his autobiography that he had lost his citi-

zenship but had gotten it back. He was reinstated as a United

States citizen on September 8, 1866 in the District Court in

Austin.

At best, Reconstruction was a time of turmoil and bloody

violence. In June of 1865 at the request of General Sheridan,

George A. Custer accepted the command of the Second Divi-

sion of Cavalry, Military Division of the Southwest to march

from Alexandria, Louisiana to Hempstead, Texas. Custer ar-

rived in Alexandria on June 27 and began assembling his units

which took about a month. He led the division on an eighteen

day march in mid-August. In October he moved the division to

Austin when he became Chief of Cavalry for the Department of

Texas.

William must have written to his father in November or De-

cember of 1865 about Custer, as in a letter dated December 22,

1865, from La Grange, Texas, where Peter Carl now lived to

William, Peter Carl remarks that “we were very glad that you

have taken the position with General Custer, and I believe that

this new position will be of advantage to you.”

Apparently this statement had reference to William return-

ing to the Government Land Office. The land office had em-

ployees who were anti-Confederate, Republican, and Recon-

struction appointees. William was forced to resign his position

in 1867. He then started his own office as a land agent.

During this period of General Custer’s command, there was

considerable friction and near mutiny from the volunteer caval-

ry regiments. They wanted to be mustered out of Federal ser-

vice and resented discipline from an Eastern Theater general.

They also considered Custer as a “vain dandy”. The division

did muster out beginning November 1865 and many of them

The Civil War Years

77

harbored deep resentment against their commander, so much so

that some of them even planned an ambush which was thwart-

ed.


78

After the War

Peter Carl had been living in Round Top since 1855 where

he and Amanda had moved from Nassau. In December 1865 he

moved once more, this time to La Grange. He no longer had

property at Nassau as a result of the law suit, and had sold his

place in Round Top where he had been staying with Eugen. In

La Grange he lived with his daughter. He spent most of his time

in his room, but enjoyed working in his own garden and doing

odd jobs around their house.

In October 1866 a typhoid fever epidemic hit La Grange.

Peter Carl had been complaining about the heat and not feeling

well in general. After a week he became dangerously ill and

was being cared for by Walter both day and night. In a letter

from Lina to her sons who were going to school abroad, she

broke the news to them that their grandpa, Peter Carl, had died

and that Eugen’s son Axel had been sick with typhoid fever.

Peter Carl had seemed better for a very short time, she said in

the letter, but died the night of October 19, 1866 in La Grange

and is buried in the La Grange Cemetery. She also mentioned

that several other distant relatives and friends had succumbed to

the disease.

At the close of the Civil War, William returned to the Land

Office and Johannes returned to his farm. Texas was forced to

The Civil War Years

79

rejoin the Union and was readmitted March 30, 1870. Slaves

had been freed and given citizenship. German citizenship was

questioned in several states because of their strong political and

social influence.

Upon leaving the land office, William started his own land

agency with former state comptroller Clement R. Jones who

operated a land agency in Austin. In 1876 the firm collapsed,

and in 1877 William opened his own land agency which he ran

until his death in 1901.

In 1871 William and his wife Auguste built a large stone

house at Sixteenth and Guadalupe Streets where they lived the

rest of their lives. They had a large family of eleven living chil-

dren, not including Marie who died in childhood. Education

was a high priority in their lives and in 1857 they donated land

and $1000 in gold to help with the construction of the German

Free School located on Mulberry Street on the hill just east of

Neches. Labor was donated by the men of Austin on Saturday

afternoons. When public schools were established in Austin in

1880, William was elected to the first school board and was in-

strumental in the founding of Austin High School in that same

year.

Having been active in Austin’s civic affairs, he had been an

alderman before leaving for the Civil War, and continued in

that office once his citizenship was restored.

From his office at 826 Congress Avenue in Austin, William

conducted business for his land agency as well as serving as

vice president of the City National Bank that was established in

1885.

William and Auguste were also founding members of the

St. Martin’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Austin. A large


80

stained glass window honoring their memory hangs in the edu-

cational building of the church.

William wrote the first history of the German settlement in

Texas in 1894. He wrote it to refute an inaccurate article ap-

pearing in a German language newspaper. This work then be-

came a primary source for many other histories that would later

be written about Germans in Texas. Later in his life William

The Civil War Years

81

was chosen to head a committee to arrange for a monument to

the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy.

In his autobiographical sketch he says that socially he lived

an isolated life and Auguste’s life was filled with that of family

and devotion to him. In a collection of the von Rosenberg fami-

ly papers archived in the General Land Office in Austin, Au-

guste’s name appears on many land transactions. In comparison

to William’s visibility in the community, Auguste seemed to

have preferred to be more of a quiet supporter of her husband.

She died October 6, 1897 and William died December 4, 1901.

Their legacy lives on in their posterity.

By the age of twenty-four, Johannes, who changed his name

to John, had his own farm close to Nassau farm where his par-

ents and unmarried sisters lived. In 1850 he married Julie

Groos, the 19-year-old daughter of Carl Apollo Wilhelm Groos,

who lived close by. Julie’s father had become widowed in 1844

when his wife died, leaving him with eight children.

Julie was a busy housekeeper with twelve children. She was

especially remembered for all the acts of service she rendered

throughout her life to members of her family and community.

She also enjoyed gathering with her friends for quilting parties

and coffee klatches. She died at age sixty-five.

When John went into the Civil War he left a wife and six

children behind to wait for him to return home again. He must

have had a furlough at least once in 1864 when he went to see

Peter Carl and Amanda, only a couple of days before Amanda

died.

Not long after returning from the war, John decided to give

up farming and he moved his family to Round Top, Tex where

he ran a store and an inn for many years before he retired. It

wasn’t until 1879 when he read a postcard from Prussia that


82

John had any desire to communicate with anyone there. The

card was from a cousin, Charlotte von Holtey.

When John left Prussia in 1849 he was embittered and upset

and said that he never wanted to hear from or write to anyone

there ever. Now thirty years later, he did answer Charlotte, tell-

ing her all about his family and business doings. By this time

three of his children had died.

Five of his twelve children preceded him in death as did his

wife Julie, who died in 1894. By 1900 John had retired and was

living with his unmarried daughters, Hulda and Wilhelmine

(Minnchen) in La Grange where he died November 9, 1906 at

the age of 74. He and Julie are buried in the La Grange Ceme-

tery.

When Eugen left for the Civil War in June 1862, he also left

his family of a wife and three children on their farm where, up

to that time, he kept busy hauling freight and express from the

nearest railroad. He was a teamster and never seemed to be af-

fected by the weather, good or bad.

After the Civil War, he made trips to Mexico to sell cotton

and was often gone for three months at a time. He had an iron-

axled, tarpaulin-covered wagon that was drawn by four mules.

He continued driving until he was 80 years old. Eugen had a

small tobacco patch in his backyard that supplied him with the

tobacco for his pipe. He also had pigeons that followed him

around his yard.

Eugen married Theodora Anna Henriette Sack von Roeder

in 1853. She was the widow of William von Roeder, the brother

of Otto. Music was her life and she taught piano and voice. She

was also a talented artist. Eugen and Theodora had five chil-

dren. She had arrived in Texas in 1849 and settled near Round

Top. She died March 21, 1904. Eugen died October 15, 1913 at

The Civil War Years

83

the age of 83. In Confederate Indigent Families Lists of Texas

1863-1865, a report of indigent persons, dependents of Texas

Soldiers in Fayette County, page 141, is listed “E. Vonrosen-

berg, wife & 2 children.”

Both Walter and Alex were unmarried at the time they en-

tered the Civil War together. They both lived at the home of

their parents. They had been together through the entire Civil

War until Alex contracted typhoid fever and died. After return-

ing from the war Walter worked as a cowboy and a drover,

making three trips up the Chisholm Trail to Dodge City, Kan-

sas.

In 1868 Walter married Franciska Elizabeth Spangler, who

went by Elizabeth, the adopted daughter of his aunt, Auguste

Fallier Soergel. They lived close to Round Top. In 1875 they

moved to Round Top and began to care for Elizabeth’s aging

parents who were no longer able to keep their farm. Walter was

a road overseer and deputy sheriff in Fayette County. After sell-

ing their home in 1880 they moved to Ellinger, Texas where

Walter managed the farm belonging to Alex Meersheidt, his

brother-in-law. During this time two more children were added

to the family bringing the number of children for Walter and

Elizabeth to seven.

Walter’s health took a turn for the worse after he was

knocked unconscious when his startled horse caused him to fall

and strike his head on the edge of a loading platform He recov-

ered somewhat but never fully regained his strength or health.

He resigned as manager of the farm where he had been for six

years and bought a smaller farm in 1886.

In 1900 Walter’s bad heart forced him to sell the farm in

Rockdale at which time he moved back to La Grange. Walter

and Elizabeth preferred farm life and the outdoors compared to


84

being in town. They had lived there three years when Walter

died. Before his death, he had loaned each of his children $500

with interest. The interest was to be paid annually to his wife in

order to provide her with a small income. Walter died Septem-

ber 15, 1903. Their son Alex was living with them and contin-

ued to do so when he married in 1905.

In 1909 Elizabeth moved to San Angelo where their son

Edgar and his wife were living. On September 30, 1930 Eliza-

beth filed a widow’s application for a pension. The pension was

approved and began October 1, 1930.

Elizabeth lived in San Angelo keeping busy with family

who lived close by, friends and her church work. She died Jan-

uary 10, 1943 in San Angelo and was buried in La Grange

alongside Walter.

The Civil War Years

85

Also Deserving Mention

Eighteen year old Henry Scholz, the grandson of Peter

Carl’s daughter, Amanda Karoline von Rosenberg Meerscheidt

was also in the Civil War. He served for six months as a drum-

mer. He and his father, Henry Max Theodore Scholz, were both

mustered into the Oswald Battalion on November 4, 1861 by

Captain S. Alexander. Henry was discharged at San Jacinto on

April 30, 1862.

Adolph Kneip, a son-in-law of Johannes (John) von Rosen-

berg was 18 years old when he and his brothers went into the

Civil War. He enlisted June 16, 1862 for a period of three years

at Round Top. He was a private in Co. E., Second Infantry Bat-

talion, Waul’s Legion. Two of his brothers, William and The-

odor, both died in the war. Adolph and his brother Ferdinand

were both in the battle at Vicksburg. Printed at the bottom of

the Company Muster Roll for November and December 1862 it

reads:

“This company was successively designated as Cap-

tain Ledbetter’s Company and Company M. Waul’s Tex-

as Legion. The men were transferred to various compa-

nies of Timmons’ Regiment, upon the formation of that

organization, in March, 1864.


86

“Waul’s Texas Legion, consisting of cavalry, artil-

lery and infantry, was organized in May, 1862, under the

authority given to Colonel Waul by the Secretary of War

on March 6, 1862. It was re-organized in October, 1862,

and then consisted of a cavalry battalion of six compa-

nies, an artillery battalion of two companies, and two in-

fantry battalions of six companies each. After the fall of

Vicksburg the cavalry battalion served east of the Missis-

sippi River and still retained the name of Waul’s Legion,

but it was also known as Willis’ Battalion Texas Cavalry.

Some of its members, who had become separated from

their command and were serving in the Trans-Mississippi

Department, were organized in 1864 into Steel’s Com-

mand Texas Cavalry. Company A of the Artillery Battal-

ion was detached from this command some time prior to

March, 1864, and subsequently became the 1st Infantry

Battalion and it appears to have been transferred to the

2d Texas Field Battery March 28, 1864. The two infantry

Battalions were consolidated by S. O. No. 83, Hdqrs.

Dist. Of Tex., N. Mex. And Ariz. Dated March 23, 1864

and formed Timmons Regiment Texas Infantry.”

“A. Kneip, Pvt, Co. E, 2 Batt’n Waul’s Texas Legion

Appears on a Roll of Prisoner of War patrolled at Vicks-

burg, Miss., according to the terms of capitulation en-

tered into by the commanding Generals of the United

States and Confederate forces July 4, 1863. Paroled at

Vicksburg, Miss., July 9, 1863.”

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87

References

Ancestral Voices, The Letters of the von Rosenberg and

Meerscheidt Families (1844-1897).

The Battle of Calcasieu Pass, by Michael Dan Jones.

Fayette, Travis, and Austin Counties Court Records.

Fold3 website.

General Land Office, Austin, Texas.

Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin,

Texas.

Handbook of Texas Online.

Into the Breach, The Soldiers’ Story of Waul’s Texas Le-

gion, by Paul Ryan.

The Mayo Clinic website.

The von Rosenberg Family of Texas 1949.

Wikipedia website.

Letters, speeches, reports and biographies written by Dale

von Rosenberg, former historian.

The Early History of the von Rosenberg Family, by Ray

von Rosenberg, historian emeritus.

Handwritten autobiographical sketch by Wilhelm von Ros-

enberg.

Letter from Walter von Rosenberg to his brother William

about the battle at Calcasieu Pass.


88

Publications by the von Rosenberg Family of

Texas

The von Rosenberg Family of Texas 1849—Known as Vol-

ume I was compiled by Family Historian Alma Tomlinson and

the Branch Chairmen in 1949. It is a genealogy record of the

first three generations of the von Rosenbergs. It is divided into

two sections. Part I includes the children of Peter Carl von Ros-

enberg and his first wife Johanna Dorothea Froelich. Part II in-

cludes the children of Peter Carl and his second wife Amanda

Fallier. There are short biographical stories, but no photos.

The von Rosenberg Family Record Book II—Known as

Volume II was compiled in 1974 by Family Historian Charles

Wilburn von Rosenberg and the Branch Chairmen as the con-

tinuing record of the descendants of Peter Carl von Rosenberg

and included the Hellmuth and Meerscheidt branches of the

family.

The von Rosenberg Family of Texas 1849-1999—Known as

Volume III was compiled in 1999 by Family Historian Ann

Barnes and committee. It includes all the vital data in Volume I

and II (minus the biographical stories) as well as updated and

corrected information for the previous two volumes. There are

The Civil War Years

89

also over 300 never-before seen photos from the von Rosenberg

photo collection including photos of Branch heads not included

in the previous volumes.

Also featured in Volume III are biographical stories of the

fifth generation of von Rosenbergs, photos of past reunions,

photos of Glenn and Jo von Rosenberg’s first trip to Memel and

Eckitten, an article written by Dale von Rosenberg, as well as

miscellaneous photos taken in and around La Grange and

Round Top. This volume is also fully indexed.

Ancestral Voices—The Letters—Compiled by Historian

Charles W. von Rosenberg contains written correspondence

back and forth from Germany to Texas. Had it not been for the

preservation of these letters, much less would be known about

their lives.

Emigration of the von Rosenbergs to Texas 1849—A trans-

lation of the letters Amanda Fallier von Rosenberg wrote to

friends and family in Memel as she traveled to Texas were in-

cluded in the compiled family history The Froelich Family of

East Prussia. These letters were extracted and translated by

Walter O. Wupperman in 1938.

The von Rosenberg Family of Texas Cookbook—Compiled

by Edna von Rosenberg, Marjorie von Rosenberg, Nettie Green

and Jo von Rosenberg in 1993. It contains a collection of reci-

pes submitted by members of the von Rosenberg family as well

as tidbits and trivia about the early von Rosenberg settlers.


90

The Froelich Family of East Prussia—commonly known as

Familie Froelich was compiled and published in 1909 by Rein-

hold Froelich, a relative of Peter Carl von Rosenberg’s first

wife Johanna Dorothea Froelich. It was translated into English

in 2005 by Laura Wingo. The publication is a compiled family

history of the Froelich family dating back several generations.

Included in The Froelich Family of East Prussia were the

letters Amanda von Rosenberg wrote not only on the way to

Texas but after their arrival and settling in at Nassau as well. It

also includes a few letters from Peter Carl and William von

Rosenberg.

The Civil War Years

91

Other Publications of Interest

Nassau Plantation: The Evolution of a Texas German Slave

Plantation, by James C. Kearney, goes deep into the history of

the origins of the Nassau plantation, how and why it was creat-

ed, and what was to become of it. The book is available from

the University of Texas Press and was published in 2010.

Fayette County - a Postcard History by Jon Todd “JT”

Koenig takes a unique look at Fayette County, Texas, via a col-

lection of postcards and captions. Released in October 2011, it

is available at Amazon.com.


92

The von Rosenberg Family on the Internet

The new website can be found online at any one of the three

urls including:

www.vonrosenberg-family.org

www.vonrosenberg-family.net

www.vonrosenberg-family.com

Also find the von Rosenberg family of Texas on Facebook

where a large collection of photos and documents are displayed.

Go to https://www. facebook. com/vonrosenbergfamilyoftexas.

Visit the blog Texas Family Ties at:

www.texasfamilyties.wordpress.com

Maintained by Ann Barnes.

The Civil War Years

93

About the Author

Ann Barnes is the owner of The Writing Center of Arizona.

She is an author and writing coach. She specializes in teaching

Guided Autobiography workshops and seminars that help peo-

ple write their life stories in a such a way that attendees come

away with a sense of accomplishment and the tools to continue

on their own. As part of the Writing Center’s services, she also

teaches digital and traditional scrapbooking using Heritage

Makers software and tools.

She served as historian for the von Rosenberg family organ-

ization for many years. During that time she coordinated the

publication of the third volume of the family’s compiled histo-

ry. She was also instrumental in setting up the original family

website and helped form the first historian’s committee.

She lives in Mesa, Arizona where she is a member of the

Family History Society of Arizona and the American Night

Writers Association.


94

Connect with me online:

Email: [email protected]

Blog: thewritingcenteraz.wordpress.com

Blog: texasfamilyties.wordpress.com.

Facebook: Ann Barnes

Google+: Ann Barnes

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