"Nicholas Burger came to homestead in Delton Township from Chicago in 1874 because his health had been ruined in the Civil War. The change must have been beneficial as he lived to the ripe old age of 90, dying in Comfrey on June 6, 1932. He was the last living Civil War Veteran from the Northeast part of the county and as he grew older much attention was given to him especially around Memorial Day. We are fortunate that his daughter, Bertha Potter, wrote a biography of Nick while he still remembered the details of his war years. It first appeared in the "Comfrey Times" on October 27, 1927 and was also part of his obituary in 1932. It was reprinted in the "Comfrey Times" on June 30, 1983.
Nick Burger was born in Baden, Germany, on September 10, 1841. He was educated through two years of college but disliked academic life, dropped out and was drafted into the German Army. Although he had an uncle who was an Army General, he also disliked the Army, deserted and sailed to America.
He started out as a butcher in New York, later took a train to Leavenworth, Kansas, and joined a wagon train headed for the Colorado gold fields. He was captured by friendly Indians who persuaded him to go back east to New York. It was there on June 24, 1862, the Nick joined the Regular US Army Artillery. Nick differed from most Civil War veterans because he was a member of the Regular U. S. Army. Most veterans had been members of regiments that were furnished by the individual states.
Nick was captured by the Confederates on June 15, 1863, and was taken to Belle Isle Prison where he lost 26 pounds in about two months. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Nick was exchanged for captured Confederate soldiers and he went back to his Artillery unit. Nick fought in many more battles in Northern Virginia and Maryland and once got to see President Lincoln while he was visiting the troops. In one instance, Nick was kicked by a horse and fractured his leg. He was sent to a hospital in York, Pennsylvania where he was confined for some time.
After the war, Nick moved west to Chicago where he held various jobs and married Mathilda Schwieger on December 14, 1868. He had his own butcher shop in a town south of Chicago, worked in a packing plant in Chicago where his asthma forced him to seek the open air and he ended up in Minnesota.
Nick Burger had an active interest in public matters and served as Delton township treasurer, chairman of the board of supervisors and school treasurer. He was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R) and attended its district, state and national conventions. Note the marker at his gravestone.
Nick and his wife lived on their Delton homestead until 1911 when he retired and moved to Comfrey. They are both buried in the Delton Township Cemetery which was located on their farm."
This biography was composed by Lowell Tjentland, local military historian and was published in the Cottonwood County Historical Society Newsletter.