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Civil War Soldiers - Blenker

Blenker, Louis, brigadier-general, U.S. Army, was born in Worms, Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, July 31, 1812. While in the service of the Bavarian legion, which accompanied King Otho to Greece, he attained the rank of lieutenant, in 1837. He was a leading member of the revolutionary government at Worms, in 1849, and upon the overthrow of the revolutionist cause, was forced to retire to Switzerland. Being ordered to leave that country also, he emigrated in Sept., 1849, to the United States, where he at first undertook to cultivate a farm in Rockland county, N. Y., and later engaged in business in New York city. Being commissioned on May 31, 1861, colonel of the 8th N. Y. volunteers, which he had organized, he first distinguished himself at the battle of Bull Run, where his regiment, which acted as a reserve, covered the retreat with great steadiness and recovered two Union colors which the retreating soldiers had left on the field. For gallantry at this time he was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers, and, in the early part of the peninsular campaign, was ordered to West Virginia, where he took an active part in the battle of Cross Keys, June 8, 1862, until, on the arrival of Gen. Fremont, he was superseded by Gen. Sigel. He was then ordered to Washington, mustered out of the service in March, 1863, and on Oct. 31, died on his farm in Rockland county, N. Y., as the result of internal injuries, received from a fall of his horse during the Virginia campaign.

Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908
 


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