William Nikolaus Reed
William Nikolaus Reed (* 1825 at Christiansted , Saint Croix ; † February 26, 1864 in Beaufort (South Carolina) ) was a German-American officer and the highest-ranking black soldier in the Civil War .
Life
Reed was born on the Virgin Island of Saint Croix, which was then part of the Danish West Indies . His father had emigrated from the then Danish Schleswig-Holstein to the Caribbean; Reed's mother was a Creole local. According to the latest research, his ancestors included English farmers and African slaves . He came to Flensburg at the age of five and was educated by a ship's captain. Then he attended the military academy in Rendsburg. In 1844 he enrolled at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel for medicine. In 1845 he became a member of the Corps Saxonia Kiel . He later changed subjects and became a law student.
He signed up as a student for the Schleswig-Holstein Army . As a portepée ensign in the 3rd Jäger Corps in the 1st Infantry Brigade, he fought in the Schleswig-Holstein rebellion . During the Malmö Armistice on January 29, 1849, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant . After being transferred to the 1st Jäger Corps, he reached the rank of Premier Lieutenant in 1850 .
When the Three Years' War was lost and the Schleswig-Holstein Army was disbanded on March 31, 1851, Reed made several trips to the Caribbean . He emigrated to the USA in 1853 and lived as a merchant in New York City . After the beginning of the Civil War , he enlisted on June 1, 1863 for service in the 1st North Carolina Colored Volunteer Regiment , which consisted only of black volunteers . The regimental commander was Henry Ward Beecher . Reed became a lieutenant colonel on June 1, 1863, making him the highest-ranking black officer in the United States Colored Troops . Wounded in the Battle of Olustee , Florida on February 20, 1864, he was rushed to the Naval Hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina. There he died six days later at the age of 39.
literature
- Hans-Georg Balder, Rüdiger B. Richter: Corporated in the American Civil War. WJK-Verlag, Hilden 2007, pp. 101-103.
- George W. Williams: A History of Negro Troops in the War of Rebellion. New York 1888, pp. 141 and pp. 207-208 .
Web links
- Information on Lieutenant Colonel William N. Reed at battleofolustee.org battleofolustee.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ a b c d Wolbert GC Smidt: Biographical study on Reed: An Afro-American in the fight against colonial power , in: Ethnorêma 14, 2018 .
- ^ The album of the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel 1665–1855
- ↑ Kösener Corps Lists 1910, 135 , 48
- ↑ Change note in the master list
- ↑ Jesse J. Johnson: Black Armed Forces Officers 1736-1971. Hampton, 1971, p. 31.
- ^ Naval Hospital Beaufort
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Reed, William Nicholas |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-American officer and the highest-ranking black soldier in the Civil War |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1825 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | at Christiansted , Saint Croix |
DATE OF DEATH | February 26, 1864 |
Place of death | Beaufort, South Carolina |