Christian Lubitz

Name: Christian Lubitz Company: D
Birth Date: December 12, 1831 Place: Prussia (Germany)	Mustered In Date: September 1, 1864 Rank: Private Age: 32 Residence prior to military service: Waconia, Carver County, Minnesota Vocation prior to military service: Farmer
Death Date: October 3, 1916 Burial: Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Waconia, Carver County, Minnesota	Mustered Out Date: September 6, 1865 Rank: Private Age: 33 Residence following military service: Waconia, Carver County, Minnesota; Benton Township, Carver County, Minnesota Vocation following military service: Farmer

Christian Lubitz Biography and Civil War Narrative

Christian Lubitz was born December 12, 1831, in Prussia (Germany). In 1857 he came to America. Christian married Wilhelmine Schultz, born May 17, 1830, also in Prussia.

At the time of the 1860 U.S. Census, Christian and Wilhelmine lived and farmed in Waconia, Carver County, Minnesota. They had three children, all born in Minnesota: daughter Mary (born about 1858), and twins Gustaf and Wilhelmine (born about 1859). Additional children born to the Lubitzes before Christian left for war were daughters Amalie (born August 1861) and Bertha (born about 1863), and possibly son Christ (born about 1864-1865).

As the Civil War lingered on in 1864, veterans of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment recruited additional members while on home leave. Christian enlisted and was mustered in to Company D as a Private on September 1, 1864. Depending on when the new recruits actually joined the rest of the regiment, Christian may have participated in an arduous march throughout the state of Missouri in pursuit of raiding Confederate General Price during the month of October. The new recruits had definitely joined the 5th Minnesota Regiment by the end of November when they boarded riverboats in St. Louis which transported them to Nashville, Tennessee. There they entrenched with the Union Army under the command of General Thomas who was preparing his troops for a battle with the Confederates under the command of General Hood. Following a delay lengthened by icy weather, Thomas ordered his men to move out and attack the Confederate army entrenched to the south of Nashville on December 15. After two days of fighting which culminated in a costly charge across muddy fields at about 4:00 pm on December 16, Lubitz's 5th Minnesota Regiment and the Union Army broke the Confederate line and pushed them back. In the following days, Thomas's men chased the Confederates for 10 days until they crossed the Tennessee River on December 26th.

After their campaign against Hood's army, Christian Lubitz and his regiment headed west. Following duty at Eastport, Mississippi, they moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. From March 7 to April 12, 1865, they participated in a campaign against Mobile, Alabama, and its various defenses, including a siege and capture of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely.

Following the surrender of General Lee on April 9, the 5th Minnesota served garrison duty at Montgomery, Selma, and Demopolis, Alabama. Private Lubitz was discharged with the regiment on September 6, 1865.

Christian returned to his family in Waconia, Minnesota, and resumed farming. Son Frank was then born about 1867. The 1870 U.S. Census shows the Lubitz household consisting of Christian and his wife, Wilhelmine, daughter Mary (age 12), twins Wilhelmine and Gustaf (age 11), daughter Amalie (age 8), daughter Bertha (age 7), son Christ (age 5), and son Frank (age 3).

An 1880 plat map of Waconia Township, Carver County, Minnesota, shows a 40-acre parcel in the northwest corner of Section 33 and an 80 acre parcel in the northwest quarter of section 34 as being owned by "F. Lubitz." The 1880 census shows all of the children except Mary still at home on the farm.

Wilhelmine (Schultz) Lubitz died on May 21, 1890, and was buried in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Waconia, Minnesota. By 1900, Christian had moved to live with his daughter Emily ("Amalie") in Benton Township, Carver County. Emily had married farmer August Manteuffel. Also in the household in 1900 were Christian's grandchildren, Louisa (age 15), Dora (age 12), Harry (age 7), and Otto (age 4), as well as August's mother, Louisa Manteuffel.

Christian died October 3, 1916, and was also buried in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery.

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