| Birth: | Sep. 23, 1820
Alsace, France | | Death: | Mar. 21, 1899
Buffalo
Erie County
New York, USA | 
Union Army Civil War Officer. Alsatian-born German, he served during the Civil War as Captain of Battery I, 1st New York Light Artillery, "Wiedrich's Battery"; and as Lieutenant Colonel of the 15th New York Heavy Artillery. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1837, settling in the German community in Buffalo, New York. In 1841 he joined the state militia and was promoted Second Lieutenant in 1848, serving with a battery attached to the 65th New York State Militia. He married in 1846 and worked as a clerk at Buffalo's Pratt & Letchworth saddlery company. By the late 1850's he held the rank of Major and entered politics. In 1860 he became co-publisher of the "Buffalo Freie Presse", a daily German language newspaper. He left the firm that November when he was elected tax-collector of Buffalo. At the outbreak of the Civil War the battery was organized as the First New York Light Artillery, Battery I and Michael Wiedrich was mustered in as Captain on August 30, 1861. He led the battery at the battles of Cross Keys, Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Transferred west Wiedrich and Battery I participated in the Chattanooga Campaign in October and November, 1863. On February 6, 1864 he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the Fifteenth New York Heavy Artillery. By June he was commanding the regiment outside Petersburg, serving as infantry with the Fifth Army Corps. Flesh wound (back) at the Battle of Globe Tavern on August 18, 1864. At the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865 he was more seriously wounded, suffering a gun shot wound to his right arm and was discharged for disability on June 2 due to his wound. On March 13, 1865 he was brevetted Colonel, US Volunteers for "gallant and meritorious service in the battles on the Weldon Railroad, Va." Following the war he entered the insurance business and was re-elected Buffalo receiver of taxes for two terms (1866-67). He worked for the Germania Fire Insurance Company of New York's Buffalo firm beginning in 1866 and later co-managed the branch. In 1869 he was elected assessor for the Internal Revenue (1869-73). He was a leading member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Stuttgart Encampment No. 70 (German), and Harmonie Lodge No. 699, F. & A. M.; as well as a prominent member of the Republican Party in Erie County. A member of G.A.R. Bidwell Post No. 9 he was active in veterans affairs; a monument was erected on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg in 1889 and later at Lookout Mountain near Smith's Hill, both dedicated to Battery I. Wiedrich died in Buffalo a decade later at the age of 78.
Family links:
Spouse:
Maria B. Roth Wiedrich (1824 - 1879)*
Children:
Charles Lewis Wiedrich (1854 - 1914)*
Amelia B. Wiedrich (1859 - 1894)*
*Calculated relationship
| | | Burial:
Forest Lawn Cemetery
Buffalo
Erie County
New York, USA
Plot: Section DD, Lot 17 |
Created by: Ronald Mansfield
Record added: Mar 09, 2010
Find A Grave Memorial# 49469124 |
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