George Luther

Name: George Luther Company: D Died July 10, 1863, at Chickasaw Springs.
Birth Date: January 22, 1838 Place: Salzungen, Thuringia, Germany	Mustered In Date: January 27, 1862 Rank: Private Age: 24 Residence prior to military service: Salzungen, Thuringia (Germany); Taycheedah, Wisconsin; Black Earth, Wisconsin Vocation prior to military service: Farmer
Death Date: July 10, 1863 Place: Chickasaw Springs, Mississippi

George Luther Biography and Civil War Narrative

Johann Georg "George" Luther was born to Zacharias (1806-1841) and Anna Margaretha Krell (1810-1875) Luther on January 22, 1838, in Salzungen, Thuringia, Germany. He was a direct descendant of Hans Luder (1460-1553), the uncle of German reformer, Martin Luther. The town of Salzungen is located in the present-day district of Wartburgkreis, about 20 kilometers southwest of Eisenach.

In 1858 George left Bremen, Germany, for America on the steamship Bremen, stopping at Southampton, England, along the way. He arrived in New York and traveled through Chicago on his way to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In nearby Taycheedah, Wisconsin, George looked up his mother's cousin, Martin Seifert. George worked in Wisconsin a couple of years, living with Martin in the Fond du Lac area and also with Adam Klinzing, another relative who lived in Black Earth, west of Madison, Wisconsin.

By early 1861, George bought a 200 acre farm in the area of Cold Spring, Minnesota, west of St. Cloud. That summer he rented out his farm while he enlisted for a three-month term in the Missouri Volunteer Infantry. In a letter to his mother in Germany dated April 6, 1862, George wrote:

Ich habe letzten Sommer meine Farm verbacht, und bin zu den Soltaten um für die Freiheitsfahne zu kämpfen, mir mußten uns auf 3. Monat verbindlich machen, mußten aber 5. Monat stehn unter dem Deutschen General Siegel ich stand bei den schwarzen Jägern, u hab in 2. Schlachten u 3. kl. Gefechten tapfer mitgestritten, ich hatte 15. Dollar per Monat u 30 D. exstra.

Translated into English, this portion of his letter reads:

I rented out my farm last summer and went to the military to fight for the banner of freedom. We had to enlist for 3 months but had to stand 5 months under the German general Siegel. I was with the Black Rifles and fought bravely in 2 battles and 3 small encounters. I had 15 dollars per month and $30 extra.

Franz Sigel had been a colonel in Germany before coming to America. He led the Third Missouri Infantry under Nathaniel Lyon in 1861 and was promoted to Brigadier General on August 7, 1861. The Third Missouri Infantry was organized April 22, 1861, at St. Louis, Missouri, and participated in the capture of Camp Jackson, St. Louis, on May 10. It saw action at Carthage on July 5, and fought in the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10. The short-term regiment was mustered out on September 4, 1861, the term having lasted five months rather than just three.

Following his discharge from the Third Missouri, George Luther returned to Minnesota. He then enlisted as a Private in Company D of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment and was mustered in on January 27, 1862. In the same letter to his mother, Luther described his military uniform and equipment:

We have short rifles and hunting knives and black pointed hats with an eagles feather, black coats, black-green jackets and trousers of Canton flannel, 4 woolen shirts, 2 pants and 2 underpants, 2 pairs of socks, half-boots. We get $45 per person per year for clothing, if you need more you have to pay out of your own pocket, if you need less the difference is yours.

He goes on to describe the conditions involved in volunteer enlistment in the Union army:

Our pay is $15 per month, after the end of war in addition 160 acres and $100 per man, and one can keep the uniform. You can‘t imagine what’s going on here: Boys of 16 and men of 60 take arms, the men leave their family and enlist. We had to enlist for the duration of war. If the war ends in two months, we are free; if it lasts 10 years we also have to be content. But we all believe there will be peace till next August, if the British and French do not join in the war. The Southerners now get beating after beating, if not there still will be some merry dances. On our side, i.e. the Northerners, are 800,000 men on the battlefield, all guys that do not fear the devil in hell. In my company there are 92 Germans, the rest are French. If a man gets wounded he receives $8 per month, if he is shot dead and leaves a familiy, the widow gets the $8 as long as she remains a widow. Her children are cared for until they are able to earn their living. I am now in a hurry, we have to train on Sunday as well as during the week from morning till late in the night. Otherwise I would tell you quite a few tales of the military life. Sometimes we have a very good time, sometimes worse than a dog.

From their home base of Fort Snelling, Luther and Company D were detached to Fort Abercrombie on the Minnesota and North Dakota border. With Captain John Vander Horck as their commander, they arrived at Fort Abercrombie on March 29, 1862. His letter to his mother (quoted above) was written during his first week at Fort Abercrombie. He went on to describe the present circumstances:

Now while I am writing this letter it is midnight, around me my comrades are lying and snoring that the drums beside them are beginning to buzz, outsides the pickets are walking, from the woods you here the blood-chilling howling of wolves, the wind is driving snow against the windows as if it were Christmas and yet today it is already April 3. The snow is still 1½ foot high.

After several months of dull outpost duty at the fort, Company D received news of Indian warfare in Minnesota. About 80 residents of the area gathered and joined the men of Company D at the fort. Soldiers and citizens worked together to reinforce the fort defenses.

On August 23rd, Vander Horck requested reinforcements and ammunition. (Upon arriving at Abercrombie in March, the company had discovered that the stock of cartridges was the wrong size ammunition for their .69 caliber muskets. Repeated requests for the correct ammunition had resulted in promises, but not ammunition.)

On August 30th, a small band of Dakota Indians raided, driving off the cattle from around the fort. About fifty of the cattle were recovered the next day.

At daybreak on September 3rd, while the post physician was bandaging a wound inflicted upon Captain Vander Horck, about 400 Indians attacked the post [this number has been questioned by some, estimating up to 125 attackers]. The fight lasted until about 3:00 pm when the Indians were finally run off.

After scattered fire on September 4th and 5th, the Indians attacked fiercely on September 6th. This time two men from the fort were killed and one was wounded. A relief expedition was sent to the fort by Governor Alexander Ramsey on September 6th. The reinforcements finally arrived on September 23rd. Luther's perception of the number of Indians attacking the fort was somewhat inflated in another letter he sent to his mother on December 8, 1862, from St. Paul, Minnesota:

In Minnesota, too, war with the Indians has now started and we had 5 fierce encounters with them at Fort Abercrombie. They counted between 800 and 900 men and we had 1 company of soldiers, 83 men, and 17 farmers. That meant fight as a matter of life and death, for the person who falls into the hands of these beasts is lost. They besieged us for 7 weeks and had in mind to take the fort by force. Now 4 companies of soldiers are there and we had just one. . . . In Minnesota the Indians have murdered more than 900 people, stolen about 1200 horses and more than 13,000 head of cattle, devastated the best farms. But now we are after them, there now are already about 3000 prisoners at Fort Snelling. They all will find their death.

More detailed information about Fort Abercrombie may be found at The Siege of Fort Abercrombie.

Company D of the Fifth Minnesota was sent south in October to join the rest of the 5th Minnesota Regiment, meeting up with them at Germantown, Tennessee, on February 14, 1863. From mid-May to early July 1863, the 5th Minnesota participated in the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, serving in Mower's 2nd Brigade in the 3rd Division (Tuttle) of the 15th Army Corps (Sherman), Army of the Tennessee (Grant). On May 22nd they were involved in a large assault on Vicksburg. Also during the siege they participated in expeditions to Sartaria and Mechanicsburg, Mississippi, and to Richmond, Louisiana. They also toiled in a failed attempt to divert the Mississippi River through a canal.

After the Siege of Vicksburg ended on July 4, 1863, the 5th Minnesota was assigned to guard duty at Black River Bridge east of Vicksburg. At some point--perhaps before the siege had ended--Private Luther was sent to the Union hospital at Chickasaw Springs, most likely due to illness rather than battle casualty.

In an article entitled "Down to Vicksburg: The Nurses' Experience" [published in the Winter 2004 Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society], Kathleen S. Hanson describes the conditions the soldiers faced around Vicksburg and at the hospital:

The field hospitals of Vicksburg were inundated with men suffering from illnesses associated with the climate and prolonged camps in the same location. Soldiers found the Vicksburg campaign to be an unrelenting misery. . . . In the spring, gnats, mosquitoes, and cockroaches joined the rats, mice, and snakes that invaded the soldiers' tents. In summer, the moist heat sapped the energy of soldiers, doctors, and nurses. Moisture and mud were everywhere. The field hospital for Sherman's 15th Corp was located not far from the Chickasaw Swamps. The ground was damp. Heavy mists greeted the morning, were burnt away by the midday sun, and returned full force in the evenings; in [Nurse Louisa] Maertz's words, "encircling us in what seems a deadly embrace." The moisture filtered through the canvass tent, soaking all fabric. Soldiers and nurses were miserable. . . . The decaying vegetation gave offense to the nose. . . .

Malaria and other agues and fevers raged among the soldiers and patients. Boredom was a never-ending problem.

Private George Luther died at Chickasaw Springs, Mississippi, on July 10, 1863.

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This page is maintained by Tim Bode (timbode@juno.com ). Page created on 3/29/09. Last modified on 5/9/09.