Ferdinand Frederick Fahrenthold was born in Pritzwalk in the province of Brandenburg in Prussia, which is now Germany, on April 7, 1834.
In 1850 at the age of sixteen he immigrated to America with his three brothers and sister sailing from Hamburg to Galveston, Texas. They traveled a hundred or so miles to Lavaca County Texas where they set up as farmers in a German community already established in the general area of Lavaca, Fayette, and Austin Counties.
When the Civil war came to Texas Ferdinand "Fred" was twenty seven years old and unmarried. He volunteered for service and was recruited into Creuzbaur’s Battery of the 5th Texas Artillery.
The battery was one of the most untypical Confederate units to serve in the War. Almost to a man the officers and enlisted men who served in the battery were natives of Germany. Most were residents of Fayette County in central Texas. The first commander of the battery, Captain Edmund Creuzbaur, was born in Germany on Sept. 22, 1826 and served in the Prussian Army as an artillery officer before immigrating to Texas. No doubt this helps account for this unit’s extraordinary combat efficiency. The second and last commander of the unit was Captain Charles Welhausen, Creuzbaur’s brother-in-law. He was born Sept. 2, 1835 at Hildesheim, Hanover, Germany and immigrated to Cat Spring, Austin County in 1843. The unit spent most of its early career in Brownsville, Texas on the Mexican border as heavy artillery. After being reclassified as light artillery, it was equipped with two six-pounders and two 12-pounder smooth bore cannons.
On March 5, 1864, the battery was transferred to Sabine Pass. Up to that time it had seen no combat. In its one and only battle, the Battle of Calcasieu Pass, the unit suffered heavy casualties. The battle was a minor skirmish fought on May 6, 1864, at the mouth of the Calcasieu River in Louisiana. It resulted in a Confederate victory through the use of effective artillery fire towards Union gunboats and supply ships, but with high casualties. Unfortunately return fire from the gunboats mortally wounded Cpl. Ferdinand Fahrenthold and two others.
The Southwest Louisiana Genealogical Society wrote this account of the battle and its aftermath in Vol. 25 No. 2, 2001:
"The LeBoeuf farm house on Monkey Island was used as the command post for the Confederate position, and after the battle, was used for a hospital. The graveyard was somewhere in the backyard of the house, on the northwest part of the island. The Monkey Island battlesite is one of the few battlefields where the federal government did not come after the war and move the Union dead to a National Cemetery. Apparently, after the battle, the graves were marked with white boards from a picket fence around the LeBoeuf farmhouse; but over the years they were knocked down. Now there are no markers of any kind at the site.
Recently a map of the Battle of Calcasieu Pass has been discovered. This battle, which took place on what is now called Monkey Island, was the only battle fought in southwest Louisiana during the War Between the States. On May 6, 1864, 25 Confederates blocked two Union gunboats, the Wave and the Granite City, from entering the Calcaslieu River to destroy the supply lines to north Louisiana.
The battle began as the boats arrived at the Pass to buy stolen livestock from Jayhawkers and to recruit local men for the Union Navy. While they were there local Union sympathizers aided the Yankees in arresting southern sympathizers. About 50 men were killed or wounded in the battle, which lasted about an hour and a half. Wounded from both sides were treated at the LeBoeuf farm on the island and were later taken by water to the home of Daniel Goos just north of Lake Charles. About 25 Confedarate and Union soldiers were laid to rest on Monkey Island. Sadly, their graves are unmarked and neglected."
Fred Fahrenthold was one of those buried in an unmarked grave.
In 1850 at the age of sixteen he immigrated to America with his three brothers and sister sailing from Hamburg to Galveston, Texas. They traveled a hundred or so miles to Lavaca County Texas where they set up as farmers in a German community already established in the general area of Lavaca, Fayette, and Austin Counties.
When the Civil war came to Texas Ferdinand "Fred" was twenty seven years old and unmarried. He volunteered for service and was recruited into Creuzbaur’s Battery of the 5th Texas Artillery.
The battery was one of the most untypical Confederate units to serve in the War. Almost to a man the officers and enlisted men who served in the battery were natives of Germany. Most were residents of Fayette County in central Texas. The first commander of the battery, Captain Edmund Creuzbaur, was born in Germany on Sept. 22, 1826 and served in the Prussian Army as an artillery officer before immigrating to Texas. No doubt this helps account for this unit’s extraordinary combat efficiency. The second and last commander of the unit was Captain Charles Welhausen, Creuzbaur’s brother-in-law. He was born Sept. 2, 1835 at Hildesheim, Hanover, Germany and immigrated to Cat Spring, Austin County in 1843. The unit spent most of its early career in Brownsville, Texas on the Mexican border as heavy artillery. After being reclassified as light artillery, it was equipped with two six-pounders and two 12-pounder smooth bore cannons.
On March 5, 1864, the battery was transferred to Sabine Pass. Up to that time it had seen no combat. In its one and only battle, the Battle of Calcasieu Pass, the unit suffered heavy casualties. The battle was a minor skirmish fought on May 6, 1864, at the mouth of the Calcasieu River in Louisiana. It resulted in a Confederate victory through the use of effective artillery fire towards Union gunboats and supply ships, but with high casualties. Unfortunately return fire from the gunboats mortally wounded Cpl. Ferdinand Fahrenthold and two others.
The Southwest Louisiana Genealogical Society wrote this account of the battle and its aftermath in Vol. 25 No. 2, 2001:
"The LeBoeuf farm house on Monkey Island was used as the command post for the Confederate position, and after the battle, was used for a hospital. The graveyard was somewhere in the backyard of the house, on the northwest part of the island. The Monkey Island battlesite is one of the few battlefields where the federal government did not come after the war and move the Union dead to a National Cemetery. Apparently, after the battle, the graves were marked with white boards from a picket fence around the LeBoeuf farmhouse; but over the years they were knocked down. Now there are no markers of any kind at the site.
Recently a map of the Battle of Calcasieu Pass has been discovered. This battle, which took place on what is now called Monkey Island, was the only battle fought in southwest Louisiana during the War Between the States. On May 6, 1864, 25 Confederates blocked two Union gunboats, the Wave and the Granite City, from entering the Calcaslieu River to destroy the supply lines to north Louisiana.
The battle began as the boats arrived at the Pass to buy stolen livestock from Jayhawkers and to recruit local men for the Union Navy. While they were there local Union sympathizers aided the Yankees in arresting southern sympathizers. About 50 men were killed or wounded in the battle, which lasted about an hour and a half. Wounded from both sides were treated at the LeBoeuf farm on the island and were later taken by water to the home of Daniel Goos just north of Lake Charles. About 25 Confedarate and Union soldiers were laid to rest on Monkey Island. Sadly, their graves are unmarked and neglected."
Fred Fahrenthold was one of those buried in an unmarked grave.
Ferdinand Frederick Fahrenthold was born in Pritzwalk in the province of Brandenburg in Prussia, which is now Germany, on April 7, 1834.
In 1850 at the age of sixteen he immigrated to America with his three brothers and sister sailing from Hamburg to Galveston, Texas. They traveled a hundred or so miles to Lavaca County Texas where they set up as farmers in a German community already established in the general area of Lavaca, Fayette, and Austin Counties.
When the Civil war came to Texas Ferdinand "Fred" was twenty seven years old and unmarried. He volunteered for service and was recruited into Creuzbaur’s Battery of the 5th Texas Artillery.
The battery was one of the most untypical Confederate units to serve in the War. Almost to a man the officers and enlisted men who served in the battery were natives of Germany. Most were residents of Fayette County in central Texas. The first commander of the battery, Captain Edmund Creuzbaur, was born in Germany on Sept. 22, 1826 and served in the Prussian Army as an artillery officer before immigrating to Texas. No doubt this helps account for this unit’s extraordinary combat efficiency. The second and last commander of the unit was Captain Charles Welhausen, Creuzbaur’s brother-in-law. He was born Sept. 2, 1835 at Hildesheim, Hanover, Germany and immigrated to Cat Spring, Austin County in 1843. The unit spent most of its early career in Brownsville, Texas on the Mexican border as heavy artillery. After being reclassified as light artillery, it was equipped with two six-pounders and two 12-pounder smooth bore cannons.
On March 5, 1864, the battery was transferred to Sabine Pass. Up to that time it had seen no combat. In its one and only battle, the Battle of Calcasieu Pass, the unit suffered heavy casualties. The battle was a minor skirmish fought on May 6, 1864, at the mouth of the Calcasieu River in Louisiana. It resulted in a Confederate victory through the use of effective artillery fire towards Union gunboats and supply ships, but with high casualties. Unfortunately return fire from the gunboats mortally wounded Cpl. Ferdinand Fahrenthold and two others.
The Southwest Louisiana Genealogical Society wrote this account of the battle and its aftermath in Vol. 25 No. 2, 2001:
"The LeBoeuf farm house on Monkey Island was used as the command post for the Confederate position, and after the battle, was used for a hospital. The graveyard was somewhere in the backyard of the house, on the northwest part of the island. The Monkey Island battlesite is one of the few battlefields where the federal government did not come after the war and move the Union dead to a National Cemetery. Apparently, after the battle, the graves were marked with white boards from a picket fence around the LeBoeuf farmhouse; but over the years they were knocked down. Now there are no markers of any kind at the site.
Recently a map of the Battle of Calcasieu Pass has been discovered. This battle, which took place on what is now called Monkey Island, was the only battle fought in southwest Louisiana during the War Between the States. On May 6, 1864, 25 Confederates blocked two Union gunboats, the Wave and the Granite City, from entering the Calcaslieu River to destroy the supply lines to north Louisiana.
The battle began as the boats arrived at the Pass to buy stolen livestock from Jayhawkers and to recruit local men for the Union Navy. While they were there local Union sympathizers aided the Yankees in arresting southern sympathizers. About 50 men were killed or wounded in the battle, which lasted about an hour and a half. Wounded from both sides were treated at the LeBoeuf farm on the island and were later taken by water to the home of Daniel Goos just north of Lake Charles. About 25 Confedarate and Union soldiers were laid to rest on Monkey Island. Sadly, their graves are unmarked and neglected."
Fred Fahrenthold was one of those buried in an unmarked grave.
In 1850 at the age of sixteen he immigrated to America with his three brothers and sister sailing from Hamburg to Galveston, Texas. They traveled a hundred or so miles to Lavaca County Texas where they set up as farmers in a German community already established in the general area of Lavaca, Fayette, and Austin Counties.
When the Civil war came to Texas Ferdinand "Fred" was twenty seven years old and unmarried. He volunteered for service and was recruited into Creuzbaur’s Battery of the 5th Texas Artillery.
The battery was one of the most untypical Confederate units to serve in the War. Almost to a man the officers and enlisted men who served in the battery were natives of Germany. Most were residents of Fayette County in central Texas. The first commander of the battery, Captain Edmund Creuzbaur, was born in Germany on Sept. 22, 1826 and served in the Prussian Army as an artillery officer before immigrating to Texas. No doubt this helps account for this unit’s extraordinary combat efficiency. The second and last commander of the unit was Captain Charles Welhausen, Creuzbaur’s brother-in-law. He was born Sept. 2, 1835 at Hildesheim, Hanover, Germany and immigrated to Cat Spring, Austin County in 1843. The unit spent most of its early career in Brownsville, Texas on the Mexican border as heavy artillery. After being reclassified as light artillery, it was equipped with two six-pounders and two 12-pounder smooth bore cannons.
On March 5, 1864, the battery was transferred to Sabine Pass. Up to that time it had seen no combat. In its one and only battle, the Battle of Calcasieu Pass, the unit suffered heavy casualties. The battle was a minor skirmish fought on May 6, 1864, at the mouth of the Calcasieu River in Louisiana. It resulted in a Confederate victory through the use of effective artillery fire towards Union gunboats and supply ships, but with high casualties. Unfortunately return fire from the gunboats mortally wounded Cpl. Ferdinand Fahrenthold and two others.
The Southwest Louisiana Genealogical Society wrote this account of the battle and its aftermath in Vol. 25 No. 2, 2001:
"The LeBoeuf farm house on Monkey Island was used as the command post for the Confederate position, and after the battle, was used for a hospital. The graveyard was somewhere in the backyard of the house, on the northwest part of the island. The Monkey Island battlesite is one of the few battlefields where the federal government did not come after the war and move the Union dead to a National Cemetery. Apparently, after the battle, the graves were marked with white boards from a picket fence around the LeBoeuf farmhouse; but over the years they were knocked down. Now there are no markers of any kind at the site.
Recently a map of the Battle of Calcasieu Pass has been discovered. This battle, which took place on what is now called Monkey Island, was the only battle fought in southwest Louisiana during the War Between the States. On May 6, 1864, 25 Confederates blocked two Union gunboats, the Wave and the Granite City, from entering the Calcaslieu River to destroy the supply lines to north Louisiana.
The battle began as the boats arrived at the Pass to buy stolen livestock from Jayhawkers and to recruit local men for the Union Navy. While they were there local Union sympathizers aided the Yankees in arresting southern sympathizers. About 50 men were killed or wounded in the battle, which lasted about an hour and a half. Wounded from both sides were treated at the LeBoeuf farm on the island and were later taken by water to the home of Daniel Goos just north of Lake Charles. About 25 Confedarate and Union soldiers were laid to rest on Monkey Island. Sadly, their graves are unmarked and neglected."
Fred Fahrenthold was one of those buried in an unmarked grave.
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