Maj. Gen. Julius Stahel

[jkBluesman]

Maj. Gen. Julius Stahel-Szamvald (b. 1825, d. 1912). Born in Szeged, Hungary, Stahel first learned something about military life when he enlisted in the Austrian Army as a private. His able service brought him promotion to officer rank, but in the conflict of 1848 he chose o fight against his former comrades. When the Hungarian army fighting for the country’s independence was beaten by the Russians, Stahel went into exile to Berlin and London before immigrating to the United States. Before the Civil War he worked as newspaper editor. After the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 he helped the German-American Ludwig Blenker to recruit the 8th New York Infantry, composed of immigrants, mostly Germans. Stahel was elected lieutenant colonel and led his regiment at First Bull Run and impressed Pres. Abraham Lincoln with his performance (Stahel would serve in the honor guard during Lincoln’s Gettysburg Adress). In November 1861, Stahel received promotion to brigadier general when Blenker was given a division. Stahel fought under Gen. John C. Fremont in the Shenandoah Valley and was commended for bravery in the Battle of Cross Keys, which was otherwise a disaster for the Union. When the Army of Virginia was created the next year, Stahel got a brigade in the corps of Gen. Franz Sigel which fought a successful rear-guard action at Second Bull Run on August 30, Stahel at the head of the first division after Gen. Robert Schenck had been wounded. From fall 1862 to spring 1863 Stahel proofed that he was not only an able infantry leader but also a dashing cavalry commander. On September 29, 1862 he captured Warrenton together with more than a thousand prisoners. A month later he raided Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s supply depot near Ashby Gap taking more prisoners and capturing cattle, horses and rations. Promoted to major general on March 14, 1863, Stahel is said to have been offered command of the XI corps but declined in favour of Gen. Carl Schurz. This move should block the advancement of Blenker, who would be discharged in May. However in the end Gen. Oliver Howard would get corps-command. Stahel was assigned to the cavalry of Gen. John Reynolds and later to that of Gen. Darius Couch. His performance did not match the one during the first two years of the war. Even his supporter Sigel blamed Stahel for the lost Battle of New Market in 1864. During Sigel’s successor in the Shenandoah Valley, Gen. David Hunter, Stahel regained his dash. For his charge at Piedmont that sent the Southerns into a rout on June 5, 1864 he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1893. As he had received a wound in his arm at Piedmont, Stahel spent the rest of the war on recruiting duty at Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg. He resigned from the army in February 1865. After the war he served in the American consulates in Osaka, Japan and Shanghai, China for over ten years. In 1885 he returned to New York City and founded an insurance business. "At the age of 85, the old hero still looked like a man in his 60s", described Wilhelm Kaufmann in his book "The Germans in the American Civil War" (1911). Stahel died however at the age of 87 in New York City. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Ldr: 5
Init: 4
Tact: 4
Cmd: 3
Cav: 6

Teaches: Chargers, Steady

[Gil R.]

Thanks.

[jkBluesman]

New info added.

[Gil R.]

Thanks for the edits.