William Nikolaus Reed

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William Reed as an officer

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ a b c d Wolbert GC Smidt: Biographical study on Reed: An Afro-American in the fight against colonial power , in: Ethnorêma 14, 2018 .
  3. ^ The album of the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel 1665–1855
  4. ↑ Kösener Corps Lists 1910, 135 , 48
  5. ↑ Change note in the master list
  6. ↑ Jesse J. Johnson: Black Armed Forces Officers 1736-1971. Hampton, 1971, p. 31.
  7. ^ 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