Brig. Gen. Albin Schoepf

[jkBluesman]

Brig. Gen. Albin Francisco Schoepf (b. 1822, d. 1886). Born in Hungary, Schoepf graduated from the Vienna military academy before joining the Prussian Army. In the Revolution of 1848 he sided with the revolutionaries and fought under Lajos Kossuth for an independent Hungary. When the attempt failed, Schoepf fled to the Ottoman Empire where he worked as military advisor. During the 1850s he emigrated to the United States and worked for the US Patent Office. At the outbreak of the Civil War he offered his service to the Union army and was commissioned brigadier general of volunteers in September 1861. His first assignment was in Kentucky where he fought against Gen. Felix Zollicoffer in a skirmish near Camp Wildcat. At Mill Springs, only part of Schoepf’s brigade managed to cross the swollen Fishing Creek and join the battle. In September 1862 Schoepf was entrusted a division in the III corps of the Army of the Ohio which he led at Perryville on October 8. Due to the “acoustic shadow” in the battle, the army commander Gen. Don Carlos Buell needed a long time to realise that the fight was on and thus did not order the III corps forward. In November, Schoepf asked to be relieved from field service, probably for personal reasons. From April 1863 till the end of the war he was in charge of the prison camp of Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island, where the Confederate prisoners called him “General Terror”. However the records show that his administration of the camp was well and the death rate lower than in other Union prison camps. In January 1866, when the last prisoner (Burton S. Harrison, Jefferson Davis' personal secretary) was released, Schopef was mustered out and resumed his work for the Patent Office. He died at Hyattsville, Maryland in 1886 and was buried in Congressional Cemetery, Washington D.C.

Ldr: 3
Tact: 3
Init: 3
Cmd: 2
Cav: 0

Teaches: Polar Bears, Dreaded (only by prisoners)

[Gil R.]

Thanks.

[Gil R.]

It's probably too late for this one to be in the next patch, but here it is. I added a few explanatory comments, but otherwise there was no need for any changes to speak of.


Brig. Gen. Albin Francisco Schoepf (b. 1822, d. 1886). Born in Hungary, Schoepf graduated from the Vienna military academy before joining the Prussian Army. In the Revolution of 1848 he sided with the revolutionaries and fought under Lajos Kossuth for an independent Hungary. When the attempt failed, Schoepf fled to the Ottoman Empire where he worked as military advisor. During the 1850’s he emigrated to the United States and worked for the U.S. Patent Office. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he offered his services to the Union army and was commissioned a brigadier general of volunteers in September 1861. His first assignment was in Kentucky, where he fought against Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer in a skirmish near Camp Wildcat on October 21, the first engagement of regular troops in Kentucky. At the Battle of Mill Springs on January 19, 1862, only part of Schoepf’s brigade managed to cross the swollen Fishing Creek and join the battle; despite this, the Union achieved its first significant victory of the war, providing a major boost to morale until the taking of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson a month later overshadowed the achievement. That September, Schoepf was entrusted a division in the III Corps of the Army of the Ohio, which he led at Perryville, the bloodiest battle fought in Kentucky, on October 8. Due to an “acoustic shadow” (i.e., a phenomenon linked to topographical obstructions or wind currents that deadened sound waves and thus could make even the sounds of battle inaudible), the army commander, Gen. Don Carlos Buell, needed a long time to realize that the fight was on and thus did not order the III Corps forward. In November, Schoepf asked to be relieved from field service, probably for personal reasons. From April 1863 until the end of the war he was in charge of the prison camp of Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island, where the Confederate prisoners called him “General Terror.” Despite his and the camp’s reputation, the records show that his administration of the camp was proper and the death rate in fact lower than in other Union prison camps. In January 1866, when the last prisoner (Burton S. Harrison, Jefferson Davis’ personal secretary) was released, Schoepf was mustered out and resumed his work for the Patent Office. He died at Hyattsville, Maryland in 1886 and was buried in Congressional Cemetery, Washington D.C. (Bio by Joern Kaesebier)

Ldr: 3
Tact: 3
Init: 3
Cmd: 2
Cav: 0

Teaches: Polar Bears, Dreaded (only by prisoners) Very funny...

Start date: 17
“Death” date: 55