On June the 5th, 1862, a 28 years old Prussian clerk, living in New York volunteered as a foot soldier for the 119th Infantry, Company D for the Union (federal) army of the American Civil War. Julius Friederici was part of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division of the XI Corps wearing the crescent moon on his wool hat. It was typical for infantry men to walk daily 25-35 miles and at the days end drink coffee and play cards. In December while he was already hospitalized, Julius was promoted to Sergeant, followed by a 10 day furlough. By early May he was shot in the arm at the Battle of Chancellorsville during General Robert E Lee's glorious victory. Julius was treated at Brooks Station in Virginia, and again was furloughed. By June 8th he was able to return to his infantry in Maryland before the call to Gettysburg would come.
UNION MILITARY AT GETTYSURG
The Union Army of the Potomac under Major General George G Meade
included:
I Army Corps
II Army Corp
III Army Corp
XI Army Corp
July 1, 8am
Confederate troops were unaware of the enormouse Union forces
when they casually entered the town of Gettysburg from the west.
The Confederate Division were suppose to meet two more of General
Robert E. Lee's Divisions further west out of the town. However
short on supplies in the early morning of July 1st General Dole's
Division decided to go "shopping" in the nearby Gettysburg.
As early as 8am fighting broke out when 27,000 Confederate troops accidentally embarked upon 20,000 Union Troops including the occupation of McPherson Ridge just west of Gettysburg. Even though Confederates outnumbered Union troops, by 11am no ones positions had changed when both sides ceased fire to reinforce their troops.
11am
The Union's General,
General Meade decided to create a total of three major defense
lines to the north and west of Gettysburg. The first defense line
is McPherson Ridge in which the Confederates have already failed
to overtake; the second line is Oak Ridge
just north of McPherson; and the third is "the
valley", a wheat field covering the northern region of
town. General Meade calls necessary reinforcements, including
the XIth Corp from Maryland to create these positions.
1pm
XIth Corp under General Howard quickly marches into Gettysburg
joining the troops holding the McPherson Ridge line, but soon
the XI Corp settles in the undefended wheat field of the valley,
General Meades third most northern position. While still more
troops arrives to defend Oak Ridge in the middle. The men of the
XIth Corp are exhausted and hot from their brisk march in their
wool uniforms while it was 76 degrees and humid. The number of
Union troops is now 93,000 vs. the Confederate reinforcements
totaling 70,000 men. With the Union outnumbering the Confederates
and on the defensive, the advantage is in favor of the Union Army
of the Potamic.
2:30pm
The Confederates attempted to attack Oak Ridge but were defeated,
leaving it inevitable that they would attack Meades third position,
the valley.
The Confederate Division in the valley is lead by two Georgian generals: Brig General George Dole's position in the center; Brig General Gordon's position to the east; and General Early attacking from the west of the valley.
General Howard's Union Division in the valley were divided into several Brigades: Col. Wladimir Kryzanowski's men who are in the valley center, Barlow's troops (under General Schurz) covering the east, and the 157 New York covering the west. The men were ordered to create a forceful dense line that the enemy could not penetrate. The approx. 1,500 men took their defensive position elbow to elbow covering a few hundred yards in west to east order: New York, Ohio, PA, New York and Wisconsin infantries.
3pm
Approximately 2 hundred yards north Confederates came charging
toward Howard's line, including Kryzanowski's men. When Barlow's
troops, the most eastern defense line, had unexpectedly advanced
north to the knoll, Schurz
sent Kryzanowski's men to their defense. "On their way they
encountered a number of fences 'which had to be taken down under
a heavy fire of the enemy.'" This movement was highly visible
and caught the attention of the Confederate Generals allowing
the men to receive "artillery fire from two or three different
directions 'and their shells plunged through our solid squares
making terrible havoc.'"
Doles' centered regiment advanced to meet Kryzanowski's Brigade alone. The Ohio Infantry led their brigade in a charge until they came within "within a few yards", when Georgian Confederates, who had been laying on the ground, suddenly stood up and began to returning fire. Even a Union Captain under Kryzanowski admired the advance: "There movements were firm and steady, as usual, and their banners, bearing the blue Southern cross, flaunted impudently and seemed to challenge combat."
Kryzanowski's Brigade retreated some 40 yards, where they waited further attack. Meanwhile, the Union Brigade was never able to reach the defense of Barlow's line, therefore the line broke allowing the Confederates to advance south toward the town of Gettysburg. The Confederate forces had now passed Kryzanowski's line to the east. Barlow's men were now firing south pursuing the Confederate troops advancing towards the town. Confederate General Dole had by now lost his horse making it difficult to give commands, however the most eastern line of his men instinctively saw a situation and ordered themselves to "change front forward", positioning themselves behind Kryzanowski's line who are still fighting Dole's troops to the north. The Confederate troops encountered the men furthest to the east first, who happen to be the regiment from Wisconsin. The Confederates proceeded to attackWisconsin Infantry from the rear with a "devastating effect." As the men turned around to see their enemy, one Union soldier thought the enemy was so close that "the names of battles printed on the Confederate flags might have been read had there been time to read them." Their Wisconsin Colonel believed the severity of the attack on their regiment was "furiously assaulted by vastly superior numbers", which was not true."The disorganization of the 26th (Wisconsin) was a severe blow to the rest of the brigade, since the regiments's opening strength of 443 men made it the largest regiment by far in the brigade." The next regiment in line was the119th from New York.
By now, the Third Division was aware they were fighting both a northern and southern front and created a double line firing in both directions. Because the men were densely aligned, this created two problems: First, it allowed the Confederate line (who had about the same number of troops) to be wider and therefore create a circle around Kryzanowski's men by advancing to the left and right of the Union line. This caused the attack from behind. Secondly, it allowed every bullet the Confederates fired a probable casualty. For instance one Sergeant received a bullet to his eye and his torso before falling to the ground while receiving a third bullet to the thigh. Particular losses were felt by the officers. Immediately upon the attack of the 119th Infantry, Colonel Lockman fell wounded, and his next in command lost a leg. Within a few minutes, Captain Otto Trumpelman, Captain August Volkhausen and Sergeant Morell became wounded and Lieutenants Matthias Rosemann and Emil Frost were killed. In a few minutes, the Infantry lost over a hundred men, but were still lead by Lieutenant Lloyd and Biela. The shock of the attack led 119th Infantry Major Willis to also believe incorrectly that they were facing "an enemy more than twofold our number." By 4pm 140 men of the 119th New York Infantry would be killed, wounded, captured or missing, dwindling the infantry in half.
"Both Schurz and Kryzanowski realized how desperate the situation was. Schurz stopped to say a last farewell to Colonel Mahler, whom he had known in Germany, and then lost his horse to a bullet in the neck as soon as he remounted. Kryzanowski observed that 'the troops were sweaty, blackened by the gunpowder, and they looked more like animals than human beings.' They had bloodshot eyes, and the whole scene was like a 'portrait of hell.' Kryzanowski also had his horse shot from under him, and he fell painfully to the ground. He had such difficulty breathing that Schurz urged him to leave the field. However, the colonel refused to go, and remained with his men after receiving aid from surgeon Charles Stein of the 58th New York. By then the two officers decided that they had no choice but to pull Kryzanowski's men back towards the college and the town."
4pm
The entire Third Division retreated in a disorderly fashion to
Cemetery Hill allowing the
Confederate Army to occupy the town of Gettysburg. This allowed
the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg to be a defeat for the
Union. The defeat of the XI Corps took 2 hours, the entire Brigade
under Kryzanowski happened in 15 minutes, and the New York 119th
fell in only a few minutes. At the northern edge of town, the
disorderly 119th attempted to form a line to again face the enemy,
and "made a plucky stand at the foot of Washington Street,
holding the enemy in check for a while" but instead oddly
chose to take roll call where only 130 men answered, before "retreating
in good order to the (Cemetery) hill."
A Confederate officer later proudly referred to the southern attack on Kryzanowski's men as an "annihilation (of) the Federal brigade."
Acting 2nd Lieutenant Julius Friederici received a dime sized bullet in his back penetrating his stomach, more likely from fighting two fronts than from friendly fire. He may have been an officer between the time several officers immediately fell upon attack, and a few minutes later when the rest of the 100-140 soldiers fell, including himself.
7pm
By evening, around 15,000 men were killed, missing or wounded
from both armies; nearly 9,000 were from the (Union) Army of the
Potomac. The town of Gettysburg was overwhelmed. Many of the nearly
1,500 wounded men from the XIth Corp arrived at the Spangler
Farm, south of town. Other XIth Core casualties were taken
to the Almshouse (near the battle),
Pennsylvania College and other sites.
July 3rd
The Battle of Gettysburg comes to a climax with the Confederate
defeat at Pickets Charge. Wounded soldiers not brought into safety
from field hospitals could witness the battle from the Spangler
Farm. General Robert E Lee retreats to the south with the defeat
of Gettysburg, but not the Civil War. In three days 7 million
bullets were fired leaving 51,000 killed, wounded or missing in
the town of Gettysburg.
Post Battle
On July 4th it rained in Gettysburg, leaving thousands of
wounded soldiers, many only lying on hay in field hospitals, exposed
to infections.
The news was flooded with the massacre at Gettysburg, sending photographers (including Matthew Brady and Timothy O'Sullivan) to make this the most documented battle in the Civil War. Sullivan is believed to have moved bodies for his photos to achieve dramatic effect.
Julius had enlisted in the military documented as a 5'8" blonde, fair skinned, blue eyed soldier, and in 12 months was documented as dark haired, dark skinned 5'7" acting officer. While Julius' was in the field hospital, he saw his Prussian friend Otto Nebelsieck with whom Julius had fought with, shared a tent and stories. Julius was fully conscious, in great pain, and in good spirits considering he was fully aware of his fate. On July 15th, at 28 or 29 years old Julius Friederici died, leaving no wife or children, simply a suitcase of personal property and mementos in a pawn shop, and a final paycheck his family would never receive in full. Eight months later, Otto sends a letter to the Friederici's in Prussia, explaining what happened to their son and brother, as well as his relationship with Julius.
In the weeks following the battle, the overwhelmed citizens of Gettysburg buried tens of thousands of dead soldiers in temporary graves to avoid the spread of infectious diseases. The largest casualties were from the state of New York.
On October 27 the reburial of only 3,555 Union soldiers began, including nearly 1,000 unknown soldiers. While 3,320 Confederate soldiers were in 1863-64 transported to southern cemeteries, eventually both Union and Confederate troops would be interred at the National Cemetery, the majority of the cemetery is representative of northern casualties.
By November 19, not all soldiers were buried properly in time for the newly created National Cemetery dedicated not by President Abraham Lincoln, but by the now forgotten two hour oration by Edward Everett. However, the President's 2 minute Gettysburg Address while humbly dedicated to the soldiers, is appreciative of the opportunity to sustain a free government, and is historically considered "a masterpiece of the English language."
First Sergeant and Acting 2nd Lieutenant Julius Friederici is buried in the center of the outer most row (row 1, position 52) with the New York soldiers marked "Lieut. J. Ferretzy, 119 N.Y."
