Gottfried Weitzel
Gottfried (Godfrey) Weitzel (born November 1, 1835 in Winzeln , now Pirmasens , † March 19, 1884 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) was an American officer of German origin and major general of the Union Army in the American Civil War .
Before the civil war
Weitzel was born on November 1st, 1835 in Winzeln near Pirmasens. In 1837 his family emigrated to the United States and settled in the state of Ohio . He attended the US Military Academy at West Point , where he made friends with members of the family of Robert E. Lee , who was director of the academy at the time. His nephew Fitzhugh Lee in particular became a close friend to him during this time. Weitzel graduated from the academy in 1855 as second in his class. Until 1860 he was busy building and repairing numerous fortifications on the Lower Mississippi, then was chief engineer of the fortifications around Cincinnati and also taught at West Point. In January 1860 he became a first lieutenant and was sent to Washington, DC , where his company provided the bodyguard of President Abraham Lincoln when he was inaugurated.
In the civil war
When the Civil War broke out, he went with his company to Fort Pickens , Florida . In December 1861 he was given command of Company C of the Potomac Army Pioneers . On the staff of General Benjamin Franklin Butler Weitzel took part in his expedition to New Orleans . Thanks to his knowledge of the defensive positions there, some of which he had planned himself, the Union troops managed to take the city. He was now the Deputy Military Commander and Mayor of New Orleans . In August 1862 he was appointed Brigadier General of the Volunteers. He took part in expeditions in East Louisiana under the command of General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks and led a brigade in several battles and eventually a division off Port Hudson .
Together with General Butler, Weitzel was ordered east to the James Army in 1864 , where he was involved in the operations around Bermuda Hundred (see Siege of Petersburg ). He led a division in the 18th Corps and was chief engineer in the James Army. In August 1864 he was finally promoted to major general of the volunteers and took command of the 18th Corps after General Edward Ord was wounded in combat. On September 30, 1864, his corps held the position at Fort Harrison, in the Richmond defensive ring , against attacks by two Confederate divisions personally led by its former director, Robert E. Lee.
Weitzel took part in an unsuccessful first operation against Fort Fisher , North Carolina , and from December 1864 led the newly formed 25th Corps in the James Army, a corps that consisted mostly of colored people. On April 3, 1865, Weitzel's troops took the Confederate capital of Richmond and he himself rode into the city at the head of his corps. First attempts were made to bring order and extinguish fires, which were numerous in the city, then Weitzel sent a telegram to General Ulysses S. Grant , in which he announced the official occupation of the city. He set up his headquarters in the Confederate White House.
After the civil war
1865-1866 he commanded the Rio Grande District in Texas and was then, after retiring from the volunteer service, major in the regular army. In addition, he received the ranks of brigadier general and major general of the regular army for his services in the civil war. In 1882 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Two years later, on March 19, 1884, Weitzel died of typhus in Philadelphia . He is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati , Ohio.
Web links
- Famous Americans: Godfrey Weitzel (in English)
- Images by Weitzel
- Biography
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Weitzel, Gottfried |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Weitzel, Godfrey |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | General of the US Army |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 1, 1835 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tiny |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 19, 1884 |
| Place of death | Philadelphia , Pennsylvania |