Peter Joseph Osterhaus | |
|---|---|
 Peter J. Osterhaus | |
| Born | January 4, 1823 |
| Died | January 2, 1917(1917-01-02) (aged 93) |
| Place of burial | Koblenz Jewish Cemetery, Koblenz,Germany |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Prussia United StatesUnion |
| Branch |  Prussian Army United States ArmyUnion Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1866 |
| Rank |  Major General |
| Commands | 12th Missouri Infantry Regiment XV Corps |
| Battles / wars | German Revolution American Civil War |
Peter Joseph Osterhaus (January 4, 1823 – January 2, 1917) was aGerman-AmericanUnion Army general in theAmerican Civil War and later served as a diplomat.[1]
Osterhaus was born inKoblenz,Rhenish Prussia, the son of Eleanora (Kraemer) and Josef Adolf Oisterhusz.[2] He attended the Berlin Military Academy and after serving for some time as aPrussian Army officer and finding himself on the losing side in theRevolutions of 1848, he immigrated to theUnited States in 1858 and settled inSt. Louis,Missouri.
At the outbreak of the Civil War Osterhaus was appointed amajor of the2nd Missouri Infantry Regiment and during the first year of the war was employed inMissouri andArkansas, where he took a conspicuous part in theBattle of Wilson's Creek andBattle of Pea Ridge. At Pea Ridge he commanded the troops that first made contact withConfederate forces advancing on the Union left. He was promoted tobrigadier general on June 9, 1862. In 1863 he commanded a division in theBattle of Port Gibson, where he displayed tactical ability in prying Confederate defenders out of a favorable position.
Osterhaus continued in division command during theVicksburg Campaign, fighting in theBattle of Champion Hill and at theBattle of Big Black River Bridge, where he was slightly wounded. Osterhaus's division made an unsuccessful first attack on the defenses of Vicksburg, the first act of theSiege of Vicksburg. His division helped cover the siege against intervention by the Confederate forces of Gen.Joseph E. Johnston, and he took part in Maj. Gen.William T. Sherman's advance onJackson, Mississippi, that was designed to protect the rear of theArmy of the Tennessee in its siege operations.
After the fall of Vicksburg, Osterhaus's division was transferred toTennessee. In theChattanooga campaign he aided Maj. Gen.Joseph Hooker in the capture ofLookout Mountain. Osterhaus then participated in theAtlanta campaign but a month-long sick leave caused him to miss the crucialBattle of Atlanta. However, he returned to command and played a significant role in theBattle of Jonesborough. After the capture ofAtlanta, he received command of theXV Corps, one of the four corps into which the army was consolidated, in theSherman's March to the Sea. In March 1865 Osterhaus was appointedchief of staff in theMilitary Division of West Mississippi under the command of Maj. Gen.Edward Canby, a commander with little combat experience in high command. Osterhaus served Canby through the battles ofSpanish Fort andFort Blakeley. WhenEdmund Kirby Smith surrendered the Confederate forces in theTrans-Mississippi Theater, Osterhaus was sent as Canby's representative and therefore personally signed the documents on behalf of the Union army.[3]
He was mustered out of the service on January 15, 1866, and the same year was appointed United States Consul atLyon, France, but subsequently made his home in Germany, atDuisburg. He retired in 1905, and was in 1915 the oldest pensioner on the Army list.
Osterhaus died in Duisburg and was buried in Koblenz, Germany. Some thought he was buried at the Koblenz Jewish Cemetery, perhaps as a Carmen Osterhaus, born in the 1850s, had been listed as a Holocaust victim. However, the family vault was instead located at "Der Hauptfriedhof Koblenz" (the main cemetery, or city cemetery, of Koblenz). The crypt no longer exists. Ruined by terrain shifts in 1969, it was then abandoned. In 2012, a marker was erected at the old site, jointly funded by the city of Koblenz and Osterhaus descendants, including biographer Mary Bobbitt Townsend.[4]
Osterhaus is mentioned as losing a battle withConfederate cavalry led byJoseph Wheeler on theTurkey Town Monument nearGadsden, Alabama.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Colby, F.; Williams, T., eds. (1916)."Osterhaus, Peter James".New International Encyclopedia. Vol. 17 (2nd ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. p. 619.
Accompanying Document No. 10 andAccompanying Document No. 42 to “Report of Carl Schurz on the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana,” 1865.| International | |
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