Alternate Spellings of Surname: Fischer, Fisher

 

One of the millions of German immigrants who dedicated themselves to making the United States of America a strong, thriving nation throughout history, Ferdinand H. J. Fischer worked to beautify homes across Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley as a wallpaper hanger during the nineteenth century. His children and grandchildren would go on to better their own respective communities as prospectors and public servants, as well as tradesmen and transit workers in Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, South Dakota, and the State of Washington during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Formative Years

Born on 26 July 1820 in the Village of Frankenstein in the Kingdom of Prussia in the German Confederation, Ferdinand H. J. Fischer grew up in a country transitioning from a relatively tranquil time to one of the most turbulent periods in European history. According to the Independence Hall Association of Philadelphia:

In the decade from 1845 to 1855, more than a million Germans fled to the United States to escape economic hardship. They also sought to escape the political unrest caused by riots, rebellion and eventually a revolution in 1848. The Germans had little choice — few other places besides the United States allowed German immigration.

After emigrating from Frankenstein and crossing the ocean in 1849, Ferdinand Fischer settled in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, where he found work as a day laborer and then paper hanger. It was during this phase of his life, that he met and began courting his future wife — Sarah L. Fried (1830-1921). A decade younger than Ferdinand, she had been born in Allentown on 6 April 1830, and was a daughter of Bucks County native Daniel Fried (1802-1858) and Pennsylvania native Susanna (Kramer) Fried (1803-1873).

Following a suitable period of dating, he wed Sarah Fried in his adopted hometown of Allentown on 22 January 1855. They then welcomed the Allentown births of: John Fischer, who was born circa 1853; Henry J. Fischer (1857-1925), who made his first appearance on 7 January 1857 (alternate birth date: 11 January 1857); John Bruno Fischer (1859-1924), who was born on 2 April 1859; and Ferdinand J. Fischer, Jr. (1859-1936), who arrived on 16 August 1859.

By 1860, Ferdinand Fischer, Sr. was employed as a day laborer who resided in Allentown with his wife and children, John, Henry, Bruno, and Ferdinand Fischer, Jr. Another son, Paul Fisher (circa 1861-1896), was then born sometime around 1861.

It was becoming all too clear to the elder Ferdinand Fischer, however, that he had left the upheaval of Europe only to be drawn into a nation that was also likely headed for disunion and civil war.

American Civil War

Having witnessed, firsthand, the damaging impact of civil unrest on his Prussian hometown during his formative years, Ferdinand H. J. Fischer knew that he could not sit on the sidelines as his adopted homeland was being torn apart by the greed-driven anger of pro-slavery politicians who had fomented the secession crisis of 1860 that had quickly escalated into a full-blown civil war.

So, he enrolled for military service in Allentown, Lehigh County on 11 September 1861, and then officially mustered in for duty at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, Dauphin County as a private with Company G of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.

Company G was initially led by Charles Mickley, a miller and merchant who was a native of Mickleys near Whitehall Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. After recruiting the men who would form the 47th Pennsylvania’s G Company, Charles Mickley had personally mustered in for duty as a corporal with the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on 18 September 1861, and was then promptly commissioned as a captain and given command of Company G that same day. Also on that day, Charles A. Henry was made Company G’s second lieutenant, and John J. Goebel was commissioned as G Company’s first lieutenant. The remainder of Company G — ninety-five men — also enrolled and mustered in that same day; by the next month, the roster numbered ninety-eight (a figure that would hold until 1862).

Following a brief light infantry training period at Camp Curtin, Private Ferdinand Fischer and his company were sent by train with the 47th Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., where they were stationed at “Camp Kalorama” on the Kalorama Heights near Georgetown, about two miles from the White House, beginning 21 September. Henry Wharton, a field musician (drummer) with the regiment’s C Company, penned an update the next day to his hometown newspaper, the Sunbury American:

After a tedious ride we have, at last, safely arrived at the City of ‘magnificent distances.’ We left Harrisburg on Friday last at 1 o’clock A.M. and reached this camp yesterday (Saturday) at 4 P.M., as tired and worn out a sett [sic] of mortals as can possibly exist. On arriving at Washington we were marched to the ‘Soldiers Retreat,’ a building purposely erected for the benefit of the soldier, where every comfort is extended to him and the wants of the ‘inner man’ supplied.

After partaking of refreshments we were ordered into line and marched, about three miles, to this camp. So tired were the men, that on marching out, some gave out, and had to leave the ranks, but J. Boulton Young, our ‘little Zouave,’ stood it bravely, and acted like a veteran. So small a drummer is scarcely seen in the army, and on the march through Washington he was twice the recipient of three cheers.

We were reviewed by Gen. McClellan yesterday [21 September 1861] without our knowing it. All along the march we noticed a considerable number of officers, both mounted and on foot; the horse of one of the officers was so beautiful that he was noticed by the whole regiment, in fact, so wrapt [sic] up were they in the horse, the rider wasn’t noticed, and the boys were considerably mortified this morning on dis-covering they had missed the sight of, and the neglect of not saluting the soldier next in command to Gen. Scott.

Col. Good, who has command of our regiment, is an excellent man and a splendid soldier. He is a man of very few words, and is continually attending to his duties and the wants of the Regiment.

…. Our Regiment will now be put to hard work; such as drilling and the usual business of camp life, and the boys expect and hope for an occasional ‘pop’ at the enemy.

On 24 September 1861, the members of Company G and their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers officially mustered in with the U.S. Army. Three days later, on 27 September, a rainy, drill-free day which permitted many of the men to read or write letters home, the 47th Pennsylvanians were assigned to the 3rd Brigade of Brigadier-General Isaac Ingalls Stevens. By that afternoon, they were on the move again, headed for the Potomac River’s eastern side where, upon arriving at Camp Lyon in Maryland, they were ordered to march double-quick over a chain bridge and off toward Falls Church, Virginia.

Arriving at Camp Advance at dusk, the men pitched their tents in a deep ravine about two miles from the bridge they had just crossed, near a new federal military facility under construction (Fort Ethan Allen), which was also located near the headquarters of Brigadier-General William Farrar Smith (nicknamed “Baldy”), the commander of the Union’s massive Army of the Potomac (“Mr. Lincoln’s Army”). Armed with Mississippi rifles supplied by the Keystone State, their job was to help defend the nation’s capital.

Once again, Company C Musician Henry Wharton recapped the regiment’s activities, noting, via his 29 September letter home to the Sunbury American, that the 47th had changed camps three times in three days:

On Friday last we left Camp Kalorama, and the same night encamped about one mile from the Chain Bridge on the opposite side of the Potomac from Washington. The next morning, Saturday, we were ordered to this Camp [Camp Advance near Fort Ethan Allen, Virginia], one and a half miles from the one we occupied the night previous. I should have mentioned that we halted on a high hill (on our march here) at the Chain Bridge, called Camp Lyon, but were immediately ordered on this side of the river. On the route from Kalorama we were for two hours exposed to the hardest rain I ever experienced. Whew, it was a whopper; but the fellows stood it well – not a murmur – and they waited in their wet clothes until nine o’clock at night for their supper. Our Camp adjoins that of the N.Y. 79th (Highlanders.)….

We had not been in this Camp more than six hours before our boys were supplied with twenty rounds of ball and cartridge, and ordered to march and meet the enemy; they were out all night and got back to Camp at nine o’clock this morning, without having a fight. They are now in their tents taking a snooze preparatory to another march this morning…. I don’t know how long the boys will be gone, but the orders are to cook two days’ rations and take it with them in their haversacks….

There was a nice little affair came off at Lavensville [sic, Lewinsville], a few miles from here on Wednesday last; our troops surprised a party of rebels (much larger than our own.) killing ten, took a Major prisoner, and captured a large number of horses, sheep and cattle, besides a large quantity of corn and potatoes, and about ninety six [sic] tons of hay. A very nice day’s work. The boys are well, in fact, there is no sickness of any consequence at all in our Regiment….

Sometime during this phase of duty, as part of the 3rd Brigade, the 47th Pennsylvanians were moved to a site they initially christened “Camp Big Chestnut” in reference to a large chestnut tree located nearby. The site would eventually become known to the Keystone Staters as “Camp Griffin,” and was located roughly ten miles from Washington, D.C. While en route, according to historian Lewis Schmidt, “Pvt. Reuben Wetzel, a forty-six-year-old cook in Capt. Mickley’s Company G,” climbed up on a horse that was pulling his company’s wagon while his regiment was engaged in a march from Fort Ethan Allen to Camp Griffin (both in Virginia). When the regiment arrived at a deep ditch, “the horses lost their footing and the wagon overturned and plunged into the ditch, with ‘the old man, wagon, and horses, under everything.’”

Based on his review of military records, Schmidt believed that Pvt. Jacob H. Bowman (aged thirty-five), a former Allentown miller who was Company G’s designated wagon master, was likely the driver at the time of Private Wetzel’s accident. Although alive when pulled from the wreckage, Pvt. Wetzel had fractured a tibia, a serious injury even today. He succumbed to complications just five weeks later (on 17 November 1861) while being treated for the fracture and resulting amputation of his leg at the Union Hotel General Hospital in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. He was interred at Military Asylum Cemetery (now known as the U.S. Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery).

Pageantry and Hard Work

Meanwhile, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were engaged in the Grand Review at Bailey’s Cross Roads on 11 October 1861. In a letter that was sent to family back home around this same time, Captain John Peter Shindel Gobin reported that companies D, A, C, F and I (the 47th Pennsylvania’s right wing) were ordered to picket duty after the left-wing companies (B, G, K, E, and H) had been forced to return to camp by Confederate troops. In his letter of 13 October, Henry Wharton described their duties, as well as their new home:

The location of our camp is fine and the scenery would be splendid if the view was not obstructed by heavy thickets of pine and innumerable chesnut [sic] trees. The country around us is excellent for the Rebel scouts to display their bravery; that is, to lurk in the dense woods and pick off one of our unsuspecting pickets. Last night, however, they (the Rebels) calculated wide of their mark; some of the New York 33d boys were out on picket; some fourteen or fifteen shots were exchanged, when our side succeeded in bringing to the dust, (or rather mud,) an officer and two privates of the enemy’s mounted pickets. The officer was shot by a Lieutenant in Company H [?], of the 33d.

Our own boys have seen hard service since we have been on the ‘sacred soil.’ One day and night on picket, next day working on entrenchments at the Fort, (Ethan Allen.) another on guard, next on march and so on continually, but the hardest was on picket from last Thursday morning ‘till Saturday morning – all the time four miles from camp, and both of the nights the rain poured in torrents, so much so that their clothes were completely saturated with the rain. They stood it nobly – not one complaining; but from the size of their haversacks on their return, it is no wonder that they were satisfied and are so eager to go again tomorrow. I heard one of them say ‘there was such nice cabbage, sweet and Irish potatoes, turnips, &c., out where their duty called them, and then there was a likelihood of a Rebel sheep or young porker advancing over our lines and then he could take them as ‘contraband’ and have them for his own use.’ When they were out they saw about a dozen of the Rebel cavalry and would have had a bout with them, had it not been for…unlucky circumstance – one of the men caught the hammer of his rifle in the strap of his knapsack and caused his gun to fire; the Rebels heard the report and scampered in quick time….

On Friday morning, 22 October 1861, the 47th engaged in a divisional review, described by historian Lewis Schmidt as massing “about 10,000 infantry, 1000 cavalry, and twenty pieces of artillery all in one big open field.” In late October, according to Schmidt, the men from Companies B, G and H woke at 3 a.m., assembled a day’s worth of rations, marched four miles from camp, and took over picket duties from the 49th New York:

Company B was stationed in the vicinity of a Mrs. Jackson’s house, with Capt. Kacy’s Company H on guard around the house. The men of Company B had erected a hut made of fence rails gathered around an oak tree, in front of which was the house and property, including a persimmon tree whose fruit supplied them with a snack. Behind the house was the woods were the Rebels had been fired on last Wednesday morning while they were chopping wood there.

In his letter of 17 November, Henry Wharton revealed still more details about life at Camp Griffin:

This morning our brigade was out for inspection; arms, accoutrements [sic], clothing, knapsacks, etc, all were out through a thorough examination, and if I must say it myself, our company stood best, A No. 1, for cleanliness. We have a new commander to our Brigade, Brigadier General Brannen [sic], of the U.S. Army, and if looks are any criterion, I think he is a strict disciplinarian and one who will be as able to get his men out of danger as he is willing to lead them to battle….

The boys have plenty of work to do, such as piquet [sic] duty, standing guard, wood-chopping, police duty and day drill; but then they have the most substantial food; our rations consist of fresh beef (three times a week) pickled pork, pickled beef, smoked pork, fresh bread, daily, which is baked by our own bakers, the Quartermaster having procured portable ovens for that purpose, potatoes, split peas, beans, occasionally molasses and plenty of good coffee, so you see Uncle Sam supplies us plentifully….

A few nights ago our Company was out on piquet [sic]; it was a terrible night, raining very hard the whole night, and what made it worse, the boys had to stand well to their work and dare not leave to look for shelter. Some of them consider they are well paid for their exposure, as they captured two ancient muskets belonging to Secessia. One of them is of English manufacture, and the other has the Virginia militia mark on it. They are both in a dilapidated condition, but the boys hold them in high estimation as they are trophies from the enemy, and besides they were taken from the house of Mrs. Stewart, sister to the rebel Jackson who assassinated the lamented Ellsworth at Alexandria. The honorable lady, Mrs. Stewart, is now a prisoner at Washington and her house is the headquarters of the command of the piquets [sic]….

Since the success of the secret expedition, we have all kinds of rumors in camp. One is that our Brigade will be sent to the relief of Gen. Sherman, in South Carolina. The boys all desire it and the news in the ‘Press’ is correct, that a large force is to be sent there, I think their wish will be gratified….

On 21 November, the 47th participated in a morning divisional headquarters review that was overseen by Colonel Tilghman Good, followed by brigade and division drills all afternoon. According to Schmidt, “each man was supplied with ten blank cartridges.” Afterward, “Gen. Smith requested Gen. Brannan to inform Col. Good that the 47th was the best regiment in the whole division.”

As a reward — and in preparation for bigger things to come, Brigadier-General John Milton Brannan obtained brand new Springfield rifles for every member of the 47th Pennsylvania.

1862

Next ordered to move from their Virginia encampment back to Maryland, Private Ferdinand Fischer and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers left Camp Griffin at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 22 January 1862. Marching through deep mud with their equipment for three miles in order to reach the railroad station at Falls Church, they were then moved by rail to Alexandria, Virginia, where they boarded the steamship City of Richmond. Transported via the Potomac River to the Washington Arsenal, they were reequipped before they were marched off for dinner and rest at the Soldiers’ Retreat in Washington, D.C.

The next afternoon, they hopped aboard cars on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and headed for Annapolis, Maryland. Arriving around 10 p.m., they were assigned quarters in barracks at the United States Naval Academy. They then spent that Friday through Monday (24-27 January 1862) loading their equipment and other supplies onto the steamship Oriental.

Ferried to the Oriental by smaller steamers during the afternoon of 27 January 1862, the enlisted members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry commenced boarding the big steamship, followed by their officers. Then, per the directive of Brigadier-General Brannan, the Oriental steamed away for the Deep South at 4 p.m. and headed for Florida which, despite its secession from the Union, remained strategically important to the Union due to the presence of Forts Taylor and Jefferson in Key West and the Dry Tortugas.

In early February 1862, they arrived in Key West, Florida, where they were assigned to garrison Fort Taylor. During the weekend of Friday, 14 February, the regiment introduced itself to Key West residents as it paraded through the streets of the city. That Sunday, a number of the men from the regiment mingled with local residents at area church services.

Drilling daily in heavy artillery tactics and other military strategies, they felled trees, built new roads and helped to strengthen the facility’s fortifications. But there were lighter moments as well.

According to a letter penned by Henry Wharton on 27 February 1862, the regiment commemorated the birthday of former U.S. President George Washington with a parade, a special ceremony involving the reading of Washington’s farewell address to the nation (first delivered in 1796), the firing of cannon at the fort, and a sack race and other games on 22 February. The festivities resumed two days later when the 47th Pennsylvania’s Regimental Band hosted an officers’ ball at which “all parties enjoyed themselves, for three o’clock of the morning sounded on their ears before any motion was made to move homewards.” This was then followed by a concert by the Regimental Band on Wednesday evening, 26 February.

As the 47th Pennsylvanians soldiered on, many were realizing that they were operating in an environment that was far more challenging than what they had experienced to date — and in an area where the water quality was frequently poor. That meant that disease would now be their constant companion — an unseen foe that would continue to claim the lives of multiple members of the regiment during this phase of duty — if they weren’t careful.

Next ordered to Hilton Head, South Carolina from mid-June through July, the 47th Pennsylvanians camped near Fort Walker before relocating to the Beaufort District, Department of the South, roughly thirty-five miles away. Frequently assigned to hazardous picket detail north of their main camp, which put them at increased risk from enemy sniper fire, the members of the 47th Pennsylvania became known for their “attention to duty, discipline and soldierly bearing,” and “received the highest commendation from Generals Hunter and Brannan,” according to historian Samuel P. Bates.

Detachments from the regiment were also assigned to the Expedition to Fenwick Island (9 July) and the Demonstration against Pocotaligo (10 July), while men from Companies B and H “crossed the Coosaw River at the Port Royal Ferry and drove off the Rebel pickets before returning ‘home’ without a loss,” according to Schmidt. The actions were the Union’s response to the burning by Confederate troops of the ferry house at Port Royal.

Saint John’s Bluff and the Capture of a Confederate Steamer

During a return expedition to Florida beginning 30 September, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers joined with the 1st Connecticut Battery, 7th Connecticut Infantry, and part of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry in assaulting Confederate forces at their heavily protected camp at Saint John’s Bluff, overlooking the Saint John’s River area. Trekking and skirmishing through roughly twenty-five miles of dense swampland and forests after disembarking from ships at Mayport Mills on 1 October, they subsequently captured artillery and ammunition stores (on 3 October) that had been abandoned by Confederate forces during a bombardment of the bluff by Union gunboats.

According to Henry Wharton, “On the day following our occupation of these works the guns were dismounted and removed on board the steamer Neptune, together with the shot and shell, and removed to Hilton Head. The powder was all used in destroying the batteries.”

Meanwhile that same weekend (Friday and Saturday, 3-4 October 1862), Brigadier-General Brannan, who was quartered on board the Ben Deford as the Union expedition’s commanding officer, was busy penning reports to his superiors while also planning the next move of his expeditionary force. That Saturday, Brannan chose several officers to direct their subordinates to prepare rations and ammunition for a new foray that would take them roughly twenty miles upriver to Jacksonville. (A sophisticated hub of cultural and commercial activities with a racially diverse population of more than two thousand residents, the city had repeatedly changed hands between the Union and Confederacy until its occupation by Union forces on 12 March 1862.) Among the Union soldiers selected for this mission were 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers from Company C, Company E and Company K.

Boarding the Union gunboat Darlington (formerly a Confederate steamer), they moved upriver, along the Saint John’s, with protection from the Union gunboat Hale, ultimately traveling a distance of two hundred miles. Charged with locating and capturing Confederate ships that had been engaged in furnishing troops, ammunition and other supplies to Confederate Army units scattered throughout the region, including the batteries at Saint John’s Bluff and Yellow Bluff, they played a key role in capturing the Governor Milton, a Confederate steamer that was docked near Hawkinsville.

Integration of the Regiment

The 47th Pennsylvania also made history during the month of October 1862 as it became an integrated regiment, adding to its muster rolls several Black men who had escaped chattel enslavement from plantations near Beaufort, South Carolina. Among the formerly enslaved men who enlisted at this time were Bristor Gethers, Abraham Jassum and Edward Jassum.

Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina

From 21-23 October 1862, under the brigade and regimental commands of Colonel Tilghman Good and Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers joined with other Union troops in engaging heavily protected Confederate forces in and around Pocotaligo, South Carolina, including at the Frampton Plantation and the Pocotaligo Bridge, a key piece of railroad infrastructure that senior Union military leaders felt should be eliminated.

Harried by snipers while en route to destroy the bridge, they also met resistance from Confederate artillerymen who opened fire as they entered an open cotton field.

Those headed toward higher ground at the Frampton Plantation fared no better as they encountered rifle and cannon fire from the surrounding forests. But the Union soldiers would not give in. Grappling with Rebel troops wherever they found them, they pursued them for four miles as the Confederate Army retreated to the bridge. Once there, the 47th Pennsylvania relieved the 7th Connecticut.

The engagement proved to be a costly one for the 47th Pennsylvania, however, with multiple members of the regiment killed instantly or so grievously wounded that they died the next day or within weeks of the battle. Among those killed in action was Captain Charles Mickley of Company G; one of the mortally wounded was K Company Captain George Junker.

Following the 47th Pennsylvania’s return to Hilton Head on 23 October, members of the regiment mourned their lost friends and attempted to heal from the physical and mental trauma they had sustained. A week later, several 47th Pennsylvanians were called upon to serve as the funeral honor guard for Major-General Ormsby M. Mitchel, commander of the U.S. Army’s Tenth Corps (X Corps) and Department of the South, who died from yellow fever on 30 October.

Having been ordered back to Key West on 15 November 1862, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers would spend the coming year guarding federal installations in Florida. Companies A, B, C, E, G, and I would once again garrison Fort Taylor in Key West, while the men from Companies D, F, H, and K would garrison Fort Jefferson, the Union’s remote outpost in the Dry Tortugas off the southern coast of Florida.

After packing their belongings at their Beaufort, South Carolina encampment and loading their equipment onto the U.S. Steamer Cosmopolitan, the officers and enlisted members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry sailed toward the mouth of the Broad River on 15 December 1862, and anchored briefly at Port Royal Harbor in order to allow the regiment’s medical director, Elisha W. Baily, M.D., and members of the regiment who had recuperated enough from their Pocotaligo-related battle injuries at the Union’s general hospital at Hilton Head, to rejoin the regiment.

At 5 p.m. that same evening, the regiment sailed for Florida, during what was described by several members of the 47th as a treacherous and nerve-wracking voyage. According to historian Lewis Schmidt, the ship’s captain “steered a course along the coast of Florida for most of the voyage,” which made the voyage more precarious “because of all the reefs.” On 16 December, “the second night, the ship was jarred as it ran aground on one during a storm, but broke free, and finally steered a course further from shore, out in the Gulf Stream.”

In a letter penned to the Sunbury American on 21 December, Company C soldier Henry Wharton provided the following details about the regiment’s trip:

On the passage down, we ran along almost the whole coast of Florida. Rather all dangerous ground, and the reefs are no playthings. We were jarred considerably by running on one, and not liking the sensation our course was altered for the Gulf Stream. We had heavy sea all the time. I had often heard of ‘waves as big as a house,’ and thought it was a sailors yarn, but I have seen ’em and am perfectly satisfied; so now, not having a nautical turn of mind, I prefer our movements being done on terra firma, and leave old neptune to those who have more desire for his better acquaintance. A nearer chance of a shipwreck never took place than ours, and it was only through Providence that we were saved. The Cosmopolitan is a good riverboat, but to send her to sea, loadened [sic, loaded] with U.S. troops is a shame, and looks as though those in authority wish to get clear of soldiers in another way than that of battle. There was some sea sickness on our passage; several of the boys ‘casting up their accounts’ on the wrong side of the ledger.

According to Corporal George Nichols of Company E, “When we got to Key West the Steamer had Six foot of water in her hole [sic, hold]. Waves Mountain High and nothing but an old river Steamer. With Eleven hundred Men on I looked for her to go to the Bottom Every Minute.” Although the Cosmopolitan arrived at Key West Harbor on Thursday, 18 December, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers did not set foot on Florida soil until noon the next day. The men from Companies C and I were immediately marched to Fort Taylor, while the men from Companies B and E were assigned to older barracks that had previously been erected by the U.S. Army. Members of Companies A and G were marched to the newer “Lighthouse Barracks” located on “Lighthouse Key.”

On Saturday, 21 December, Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, the regiment’s second-in-command, sailed away aboard the Cosmopolitan with the men from Companies D, F, H, and K, and headed south to Fort Jefferson, roughly seventy miles off the coast of Florida (in the Gulf of Mexico) to assume garrison duties there. According to Musician Henry Wharton:

We landed here [Fort Taylor] on last Thursday at noon, and immediately marched to quarters. Company I. and C., in Fort Taylor, Company E. and B. in the old Barracks, and A. and G. in the new Barracks. Lieut. Col. Alexander, with the other four companies proceeded to Tortugas, Col. Good having command of all the forces in and around Key West. Our regiment relieved the 90th Regiment N. Y. Vols. Col. Joseph Morgan, who will proceed to Hilton Head to report to the General commanding. His actions have been severely criticized by the people, but, as it is in bad taste to say anything against ones superiors, I merely mention, judging from the expression of the citizens, they were very glad of the return of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers….

1863

Stationed in Florida during most of 1863, Private Ferdinand Fischer and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were literally ordered to “hold the fort.” Their primary duty was to prevent foreign powers from assisting the Confederate Army and Navy in gaining control over federal installations and other territories across the Deep South. Periodically, entire companies or small detachments were moved from Fort Taylor in Key West to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas and back.

In addition to the artillery training they received and the guard duties they performed, members of the regiment were also called upon to play an ongoing role in weakening Florida’s ability to supply and transport food and troops throughout areas held by the Confederate States of America.

Prior to intervention by the Union Army and Navy, the owners of plantations, livestock ranches and fisheries, as well as the operators of smaller family farms across Florida, had been able to consistently furnish beef and pork, fish, fruits, and vegetables to Confederate troops stationed throughout the Deep South during the first year of the American Civil War. Large herds of cattle were raised near Fort Myers, for example, while orchard owners in the Saint John’s River area were actively engaged in cultivating sizeable orange groves. (Other types of citrus trees were found growing throughout more rural areas of the state.)

Florida was also a major producer of salt, which was used as a preservative for food. Consequently, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers and other Union troops across Florida were ordered to capture or destroy salt manufacturing plants in order to further curtail the enemy’s access to food.

But once again, they were performing their duties in often dangerous conditions. The weather was frequently hot and humid as spring turned to summer, mosquitos and other insects were an ever-present annoyance (and a serious threat when they were carrying tropical diseases), and there were also scorpions and snakes that put the health of the 47th Pennsylvanians at further risk. In addition, there was a serious shortage of clean water for drinking and bathing at both of the regiment’s duty stations in Key West and the Dry Tortugas.

One of those felled by Mother Nature that year was Private Ferdinand Fischer, who suffered an episode of sunstroke while on duty during the summer at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. Given medical treatment, he was then returned to duty — but never fully recovered from that episode, according to his obituary.

1864

In early January 1864, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers experienced yet another significant change when members of the regiment were ordered to expand the Union’s reach by sending part of the regiment north to retake Fort Myers, a federal installation that had been abandoned in 1858, following the federal government’s third war with the Seminole Indians. In response, Company A Captain Richard Graeffe and a detachment of his subordinates traveled north, captured the fort and began conducting cattle raids to provide food for the growing Union troop presence across the region. They subsequently turned their fort not only into their base of operations, but into a shelter for pro-Union supporters, escaped slaves, Confederate deserters, and others fleeing Rebel troops.

Red River Campaign

Meanwhile, all of the other companies of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry had begun preparing for the regiment’s history-making journey to Louisiana. Boarding yet another steamer, the Charles Thomas, the men from Companies B, C, D, I, and K headed for Algiers, Louisiana (across the river from New Orleans), followed on 1 March by the men from Companies E, F, G, and H.

Upon the second group’s arrival, the now almost-fully-reunited-regiment moved by train to Brashear City (now Morgan City), before heading to Franklin by steamer through the Bayou Teche. There, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry joined the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division of the 19th Corps (XIX) of the United States’ Army of the Gulf, and became the only regiment from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to serve in the Red River Campaign commanded by Union Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks. (Unable to reach Louisiana until 23 March, the soldiers from Company A were assigned to detached duty while awaiting transport that enabled them to reconnect with their regiment at Alexandria, Louisiana on 9 April.)

The early days on the ground quickly woke Private Ferdinand Fischer and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers up to just how grueling their new phase of duty would be. From 14-26 March, most members of the 47th marched for Alexandria and Natchitoches, near the top of the L-shaped state. Among the towns that the 47th Pennsylvanians passed through were New Iberia, Vermilionville (now part of Lafayette), Opelousas, and Washington.

From 4-5 April 1864, the regiment added to its roster of young Black soldiers when Aaron Bullard (later known as Aaron French), James Bullard, John Bullard, Samuel Jones, and Hamilton Blanchard (also known as John Hamilton) enrolled for military service with the 47th Pennsylvania at Natchitoches. According to their respective entries in the Civil War Veterans’ Card File at the Pennsylvania State Archives and on regimental muster rolls, the men were officially mustered into the regiment on 22 June at Morganza, Louisiana. Several of their entries noted that they were assigned the rank of “Colored Cook” while others were given the rank of “Under-Cook.”

Often short on food and water throughout their long, harsh-climate trek, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers encamped briefly at Pleasant Hill (now the Village of Pleasant Hill) the night of 7 April, before continuing on the next day.

Rushed into battle ahead of other regiments in the second division, sixty members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry were cut down on 8 April 1864 during the intense volley of fire in the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads (also known as the Battle of Mansfield due to its proximity to the town of Mansfield). The fighting waned only when darkness fell. The exhausted, but uninjured collapsed beside the gravely wounded and dead. After midnight, the surviving Union troops withdrew to Pleasant Hill.

The next day, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were ordered into a critically important defensive position at the far right of the Union lines, their right flank spreading up unto a high bluff. By 3 p.m., after enduring a midday charge by the troops of Confederate Major-General Richard Taylor (a plantation owner who was the son of Zachary Taylor, a former president of the United States), the brutal fighting still showed no signs of ending. Suddenly, just as the 47th was shifting to the left side of the Union force, the men of the 47th were forced to bolster the 165th New York’s buckling lines by blocking another Confederate assault.

During that engagement (now known as the Battle of Pleasant Hill), the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers succeeded in recapturing a Massachusetts artillery battery that had been lost during the earlier Confederate assault. Unfortunately, the regiment’s second-in-command, Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, and its two color-bearers, Sergeants Benjamin Walls and William Pyers, were wounded. Alexander sustained wounds to both of his legs, and Walls was shot in the left shoulder as he attempted to mount the 47th Pennsylvania’s colors on caissons that had been recaptured, while Pyers was wounded as he grabbed the flag from Walls to prevent it from falling into Confederate hands.

All three survived the day, however, and continued to serve with the regiment, but many others, like K Company Sergeant Alfred Swoyer, were killed in action during those two days of chaotic fighting, or were wounded so severely that they were unable to continue the fight. (Swoyer’s final words were, “They’re coming nine deep!” Shot in the right temple shortly afterward, his body was never recovered).

Still others were captured by Confederate troops, marched roughly one hundred and twenty-five miles to Camp Ford, a Confederate Army prison camp near Tyler, Texas, and held there as prisoners of war until they were released during a series of prisoner exchanges that began on 22 July and continued through November. At least two members of the regiment never made it out of that prison camp alive; another died at a Confederate hospital in Shreveport.

Meanwhile, as the captured 47th Pennsylvanians were being spirited away to Camp Ford, the bulk of the regiment was carrying out orders from senior Union Army leaders to head for Grand Ecore, Louisiana. Encamped there from 11-22 April, the Union soldiers engaged in the hard labor of strengthening regimental and brigade fortifications.

They then moved back to Natchitoches Parish on 22 April. While they were in route, they were attacked again, this time, at the rear of their retreating brigade, but they were able to end the encounter quickly and move on to reach Cloutierville at 10 p.m. that same night (after a forty-five-mile march).

The next morning (23 April), episodic skirmishing quickly roared into the flames of a robust fight. As part of the advance party led by Union Brigadier-General William Emory, the 47th Pennsylvanians took on the Confederate Cavalry of Brigadier-General Hamilton Bee in the Battle of Cane River (also known as “the affair at Monett’s Ferry” or the “Cane River Crossing”).

Responding to a barrage from the Confederate Artillery’s twenty-pound Parrott guns and from enemy troops positioned atop a bluff and near a bayou, Brigadier-General Emory directed one of his brigades to keep Bee’s Confederate troops busy while sending two other brigades to find a safe spot for the Union’s forces to cross the Cane River. As part of “the beekeepers,” the 47th Pennsylvania supported Smith’s artillery.

Meanwhile, additional troops under Smith’s command attacked Bee’s flank to force a Rebel retreat, and then erected a series of pontoon bridges that enabled the 47th Pennsylvania and other Union regiments to make the Cane River Crossing by the next day. As the Confederates retreated, they torched their own food stores, as well as the cotton supplies of their fellow southerners. In a letter penned from Morganza, C Company Musician Henry Wharton described what had happened:

Our sojourn at Grand Score was for eleven days, during which time our position was well fortified by entrenchments for a length of five miles, made of heavy logs, five feet high and six feet wide, filled in with dirt. In front of this, trees were felled for a distance of two hundred yards, so that if the enemy attacked we had an open space before us which would enable our forces to repel them and follow if necessary. But our labor seemed to the men as useless, for on the morning of 22d April, the army abandoned these works and started for Alexandria. From our scouts it was ascertained that the enemy had passed some miles to our left with the intention of making a stand against our right at Bayou Cane, where there is a high bluff and dense woods, and at the same attack Smith’s forces who were bringing up the rear. This first day was a hard one for the boys, for at 10 o’clock at night they made Cloutierville, a distance of forty drive miles. On that day our rear was attacked which caused our forces to reverse their front and form in line of battle, expecting too, to go back to the relief of Smith, but he needed no assistance, sending word to the front that he had ‘whipped them, and could do it again.’ It was well that Banks made so long a march on that day, for on the next we found the enemy prepared to carry out their design of attacking us front and rear. Skirmishing commenced early in the morning and as our columns advanced he fell back towards the bayou, when we soon discovered the position of their batteries on the bluff. There was then an artillery duel by the smaller pieces, and some sharp fighting by the cavalry, when the ‘mule battery,’ twenty pound Parrott guns opened a heavy fire, which soon dislodged them, forcing the chivalry to flee in a manner not at all suitable to their boasted courage. Before this one cavalry, the 3d Brigade of the 1st Div., and Birges’ brigade of the second, had crossed the bayou and were doing good service, which, with the other work, made the enemy show their heels. The 3d brigade done some daring deeds in this fight, as also did the cavalry. In one instance the 3d charged up a hill almost perpendicular, driving the enemy back by the bayonet without firing a gun. The woods on this bluff was so thick that the cavalry had to dismount and fight on foot. During the whole of the day, our brigade, the 2d, was supporting artillery, under fire all the time, and could not give Mr. Reb a return shot.

While we were fighting in front, Smith was engaged some miles in the rear, but he done his part well and drove them back. The rebel commanders thought by attacking us in the rear, and having a large face on the bluffs, they would be able to capture our train and take us all prisoners, but in this they were mistaken, for our march was so rapid that we were on them before they had thrown up the necessary earthworks. Besides they underrated the amount of our artillery, calculating from the number engaged at Pleasant Hill. The rebels say it ‘seems as though the Yankees manufacture, on short notice, artillery to order, and the men are furnished with wings when they wish to make a certain point.’

The damage done to the Confederate cause by the burning of cotton was immense. On the night of the 22d our route was lighted up for miles and millions of dollars worth if this production was destroyed. This loss will be felt more by Davis & Co., than several defeats in this region, for the basis of the loan in England was on the cotton in Louisiana.

After the rebels had fled from the bluff the negro troops put down the pontoons, and by ten that night we were six miles beyond the bayou safely encamped. The next morning we moved forward and in two days were in Alexandria. Johnnys followed Smith’s forces, keeping out of range of his guns, except when he had gained the eminence across the bayou, when he punished them (the rebs) severely. 

Having finally reached Alexandria on 26 April, they learned that they would remain at their latest new camp for at least two weeks. Placed temporarily under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, they were assigned yet again to the hard labor of construction work, helping to erect “Bailey’s Dam,” a timber structure that was designed to enable Union gun boats to safely navigate the fluctuating water levels of the Red River. According to Musician Henry Wharton:

We were at Alexandria seventeen days, during which time the men were kept busy at throwing up earthworks, foraging and three times went out some distance to meet the enemy, but they did not make their appearance in numbers large enough for an engagement. The water in the Red river had fallen so much that it prevented the gun boats from operating with us, and kept our transports from supplying the troops with rations, (and you know soldiers, like other people will eat), so Banks was compelled to relinquish his designs on Shreveport and fall back to the Mississippi. To do this a large dam had to be built on the falls at Alexandria to get the iron clads down the river. After a great deal of labor this was accomplished and by the morning of May 13th the last one was through the shute [sic, chute], when we bade adieu to Alexandria, marching through the town with banners flying and keeping step to the music of ‘Rally around the flag,’ and ‘When this cruel war is over.’ The next morning, at our camping place, the fleet of boats passed us, when we were informed that Alexandria had been destroyed by fire – the act of a dissatisfied citizen and several negroes. Incendiary acts were strictly forbidden in a general order before we left the place, and a cavalry guard was left in the rear to see the order enforced. After marching a few miles skirmishing commenced in front between the cavalry and the enemy in riflepits on the bank of the river, but they were easily driven away. When we came up we discovered their pits and places where there had been batteries planted. At this point the John Warren, an unarmed transport, on which were sick soldiers and women, was fired into and sunk, killing many and those that were not drowned taken prisoners. A tin-clad gunboat was destroyed at the same place, by which we lost a large mail. Many letters and directed envelopes were found on the bank – thrown there after the contents had been read by the unprincipled scoundrels. The inhumanity of Guerrilla bands in this department is beyond belief, and if one did not know the truth of it or saw some of their barbarities, he would write it down as the story of a ‘reliable gentleman’ or as told by an ‘intelligent contraband.’ Not satisfied with his murderous intent on unarmed transports he fires into the Hospital steamer Laurel Hill, with four hundred sick on board. This boat had the usual hospital signal floating fore and aft, yet, notwithstanding all this, and the customs of war, they fired on them, proving by this act that they are more hardened than the Indians on the frontier.

Continuing their march, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers headed toward Avoyelles Parish. According to Wharton:

On Sunday, May 15th, we left the river road and took a short route through the woods, saving considerable distance. The windings of the Red river are so numerous that it resembles the tape-worm railroad where with the politicians frightened the dear people during the administration of Ritner and Stevens. — We stopped several hours in the woods to leave cavalry pass, when we moved forward and by four o’clock emerged into a large open plain where we formed into line of battle, expecting a regular engagement. The enemy, however, retired, and we advanced ’till dark, when the forces halted for the night with orders to rest on their arms. ‘Twas here that Banks rode through our regiment, amidst the cheers of the boys, and gave the pleasant news that Grant had defeated Lee.

“Resting on their arms” (half-dozing, without pitching their tents, and with their rifles right beside them), they were now positioned just outside of Marksville, on the eve of the 16 May 1864 Battle of Mansura, which unfolded as follows, according to Wharton:

Early next morning we marched through Marksville into a prairie nine miles long and six wide where every preparation was made for a fight. The whole of our force was formed in line, in support of artillery in front, who commenced operations on the enemy driving him gradually from the prairie into the woods. As the enemy retreated before the heavy fire of our artillery, they reached Missoula [sic, Mansura], where they formed in column, taking the whole field in an attempt to flank the enemy, but their running qualities were so good that we were foiled. The maneuvring [sic, maneuvering] of the troops was handsomely done, and the movements was [sic, were] one of the finest things of the war. The fight of artillery was a steady one of five miles. The enemy merely stood that they might cover the retreat of their infantry and train under cover of their artillery. Our loss was slight. Of the rebels we could not ascertain directly, but learned from citizens who had secreted themselves during the fight, that they had many killed and wounded, who threw them into wagons, promiscuously, and drove them off so that we could not learn their casualties. The next day we moved to Simmsport [sic, Simmesport] on the Achafalaya [sic, Atchafalaya] river, where a bridge was made by putting the transports side by side, which enabled the troops and train to pass safely over.– The day before we crossed the rebels attacked Smith, thinking it was but the rear guard, in which they, the graybacks, were awfully cut up, and four hundred prisoners fell into our hands. Our loss in killed and wounded was ninety. This fight was the last one of the expedition. The whole of the force is safe on the Mississippi, gunboats, transports and trains. The 16th and 17th have gone to their old commands.

It is amusing to read the statements of correspondents to papers North, concerning our movements and the losses of the army. I have it from the best source that the Federal loss from Franklin to Mansfield, and from their [sic, there] to this point does not exceed thirty-five hundred in killed, wounded and missing, while that of the rebels is over eight thousand.

Continuing on, the healthy members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry marched for Simmesport and then Morganza, where they made camp again. While encamped there, the nine formerly enslaved Black men who had enlisted with the regiment in Beaufort, South Carolina (1862) and Natchitoches, Louisiana (1864) were officially mustered into the regiment between 22-24 June.

The regiment then moved on and arrived in New Orleans in late June. On the Fourth of July, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers received orders to return to the East Coast. Three days later, they began loading the regiment and its men onto ships, a process that unfolded in two stages. Companies A, C, D, E, F, H, and I boarded the U.S. Steamer McClellan on 7 July and departed that day, while the members of Companies B, G and K, including Private Ferdinand Fischer, remained behind, awaiting transport. They subsequently departed aboard the Blackstone, weighing anchor and sailing forth at the end of that month. Arriving in Virginia, on 28 July, the second group reconnected with the first group at Monocacy, having missed an encounter with President Abraham Lincoln and the Battle of Cool Spring at Snicker’s Gap in mid-July (a battle in which the first group of 47th Pennsylvanians had participated).

Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign 

Attached to the Middle Military Division, U.S. Army of the Shenandoah, beginning in early August of 1864, and placed under the command of Union Major-General Philip H. Sheridan, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was assigned to defensive duties in and around Halltown, and also engaged over the next several weeks in a series of back-and-forth movements between Halltown, Berryville, Middletown, Charlestown, and Winchester as part of a “mimic war” being waged by Sheridan’s Union forces with those commanded by Confederate Lieutenant-General Jubal Early.

The 47th Pennsylvania then engaged with Confederate forces in the Battle of Berryville from 3-4 September — the last battle in which Private Ferdinand H. J. Fischer would be involved. On 18 September 1864, he was honorably mustered out from the 47th Pennsylvania at Berryville, Virginia, upon expiration of his original term of enlistment.

Return to Civilian Life

Following his honorable discharge from the Army of the United States, Ferdinand H. J. Fischer returned to his wife and children in his adopted hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he resumed work as a wallpaper hanger. More children soon followed: Anna Fischer, who was born circa 1865; Amelia Fischer (1866-1949), who was born on 23 January 1866 and later wed Edwin L. Frantz (1868-1940) in 1883 and settled with him in Philadelphia; and Joseph Fischer, who was born in May 1870.

Still employed as a paper hanger in 1870 and 1880, Ferdinand Fischer’s 1870 household in Allentown included his wife and children Henry, Bruno, Ferdinand Jr., Paul, Anna, Amelia, and Joseph, while his 1880 household had dwindled to include just his wife and namesake, Ferdinand J. Fischer, Jr. According to historian Robert M. Kelly, “Wallpaper was used by the elite in Northeastern cities before 1750.”

As the Revolution approached, there were already two classes of installers. Professionals settled largely in seaports and consisted of immigrant upholders, stationers, painters-stainers and others who were either trained to install paper-hangings, or familiar with their use. Away from the cities, hanging was done by amateurs, or those we may call “catch as one can” installers [day laborers]. These were largely native American handymen and small-volume tradesmen such as glaziers and carpenters….

The first steps were to trim the unprinted selvedge from one side and cut the sheets to length. The selvedges measured 1 to 2 inches. Invariably, it seems, this work was done with scissors or shears…. As each strip was pasted and hung, the trimmed edge overlapped the preceding untrimmed edge.

Still weak more than a decade after suffering sunstroke during his military service, Ferdinand Fischer, Sr. finally reached the point where he needed more help than his local physician could provide. On 8 May 1878, he was admitted to the U.S. National Soldiers’ Home in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, with the support of his U.S. Civil War Pension of six dollars per month, and remained there until 14 September 1882, when he was discharged by General Orders, No. 22 and sent back home to his family in Allentown, where he resumed work as a paper hanger.

* Note: An admissions ledger entry for the National Soldiers’ Home in Dayton, Ohio stated that Ferdinand Fischer had also been employed as a bookbinder at some point during his work life.

Readmitted to the National Soldiers’ Home in Dayton on 26 March 1884, with the support of his U.S. Civil War Pension, which had been increased to eight dollars per month, he remained there until 13 August 1894, when “sickness compelled his removal to the asylum at Norristown,” according to The Allentown Leader, which subsequently ran a correction stating that “Ferdinand Fisher, the veteran who died on Saturday, was not at the Norristown Asylum, as stated, but the Soldier’s Asylum, Washington, D.C.” — a statement which also appears to have been incorrect. The admissions records of the National Soldiers’ Home in Dayton noted that he was transferred to the “Government Hospital for the Insane” in Washington, D.C. later known as “St. Elizabeths”).

Discharged from the Washington, D.C. mental health facility in August 1895, he subsequently moved into the home of his youngest son, Ferdinand Jr., which was located at 129 North Twelfth Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Final Illness, Death and Interment

Increasingly frail, Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr. suffered an episode of apoplexy sometime in November or early December 1895, which left him paralyzed. Following his death at the age of seventy-five, at his son’s home in Allentown, on 7 December 1895, he was laid to rest at the Union-West End Cemetery in Allentown.

He had been a longtime member of the Grand Army of the Republic’s E. B. Young Post (No. 87).

What Happened to His Wife and Children?

Following the death of her husband, Sarah (Fried) Fischer filed for, and subsequently was awarded a U.S. Civil War Widow’s Pension. By 1900, she was residing at the home of her son, Ferdinand J. Fischer, Jr. She continued to do so for the remainder of her life. Ailing with acute bronchitis, she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on 15 February 1921, and died in Allentown on 24 February. Following funeral services, she was laid to rest beside her husband at the Union-West End Cemetery in Allentown.

Ferdinand Fischer, Sr.’s son, Henry J. Fischer, grew up to become a bricklayer and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unmarried at the time of his death in Philadelphia at the age of sixty-eight, on 30 May 1925, his remains were returned to Allentown for burial at the Union-West End Cemetery.

Sometime during the 1880s, Ferdinand Fischer, Sr.’s son, John Bruno Fischer/Fisher, who was referred to as “John” or “Bruno,” migrated west to Kansas City, Kansas. It was there that he met his future wife, Mary LaVezzi (1868-1956), a native of Washington, D.C. who had migrated west with her parents “as a young girl,” according to her obituary. Following their marriage in Kansas City on 30 January 1889, they went on to welcome the births of: Joseph Fisher, who was born in Missouri in October 1889; Lily Honora Fisher (1891-1965; alternate spelling: “Lillie”), who was born in Kansas in July 1892 (alternate birth year: 1891) and later wed William J. Brown (1879-1929); Frank Fisher (1893-1944), who was born in Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas on 13 May 1893; Paul Emmet Fisher (1895-1931), who was born in Kansas City, Kansas on 8 March 1895 and later served with the U.S. Army’s 163rd Infantry during World War I before becoming a prospector near Wicks in Butte County, Montana during the 1930s; and Louis H. Fisher (1898-1914), who was born in Kansas in January 1898 but died in his early teen years in Butte County, South Dakota after migrating north with his parents.

Bruno Fisher subsequently moved his family north — to the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1899. By 1900, he was mining for gold there, and residing in Lead, Lawrence County, South Dakota with his wife, Mary, and their children: Joseph, Lily, Frank, Paul, and Louis. More births soon followed: Marie Fisher (1902-1918), who was born in Lead, Lawrence County, South Dakota on 14 April 1902 but would later die in Butte County at the age of sixteen; Elsie Agnes Fisher (1904-1988), who was born in South Dakota on 27 January 1904 and would later marry Hubert Alonzo Powers (1899-1964) and settle with him in Vancouver, Washington in 1943, where she would work for the Bonneville Power Administration; and Donald G. Fisher (1909-1910), who was born on 14 June 1909, on the family’s ranch located four miles west of Belle Fourche in Butte County, but would later die there at the age of fifteen months, in mid-September 1910. Between 1910 and 1920, Bruno Fisher and his family were residents of the town of Belle Fourche, where he worked as a steam fitter for a smelting company and his son, Joseph, was employed by a mining company. Sometime in 1920, Bruno and wife then migrated to Los Angeles County, California, where he succumbed to complications from pulmonary tuberculosis in the city of Los Angeles on 25 March 1924. Following funeral services, he was laid to rest at the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, Los Angeles, California.

Ferdinand J. Fischer, Sr.’s namesake, Ferdinand J. Fischer, Jr. (1859-1936), who had wed Agnes Binder, settled with his wife in Allentown, where he built a long career as a bricklayer and welcomed the births with her of: Joseph L. Fischer, who was born in October 1887 and later wed Florence Buchman; Annie Elizabeth Fischer (1890-1980), who was born on 1 March 1890 and later wed Harrison Albert Kromer (1889-1964); Paul Ferdinand Fischer (1901-1988), who was born on 15 August 1901 and later became an electrician who married Beatrice A. A. Rice. By 1900, his widowed mother had moved into his home in Allentown’s Eleventh Ward. By 1920, he had moved his mother, wife and son, Paul, to the Borough of Emmaus. By 1930, his Emmaus household had grown to include the wife and three children of his son, Paul. Retired at the time of his tragic end, Ferdinand J. Fischer, Jr. became clinically depressed after suffering a series of strokes that severely weakened him, and committed suicide by hanging himself in the garage at the home of his son, Paul, in Emmaus on 3 May 1936. He was subsequently buried at Allentown’s Greenwood Cemetery on 7 May.

Ferdinand Fischer, Sr.’s son, Paul Fischer (circa 1861-1896), grew up to become a first baseman with the Pomeroy baseball club during the 1880s and was then employed by the Union Pacific Railroad to manage its Denver and Gulf yards in Pueblo, Colorado. In late June 1896, he was killed during a work-related accident in which he “caught his foot in a frog while making a coupling” at the railyard in Pueblo, according to The Atchison Daily Globe.

Following her marriage to Edwin L. Frantz in 1883, Ferdinand Fischer, Sr.’s daughter, Amelia Fischer, initially settled with him in Allentown, where her husband worked as a cigarmaker and then as and employee of the American Steel and Wire Company, and where they welcomed the birth of son Robert J. Frantz (1884-1960) on 18 July 1884. By 1900, the trio resided in Philadelphia, where Edwin Frantz was employed as a patrolman with the city’s police force. Also living with them were two lodgers. In 1910, Edwin and Amelia were still living in Philadelphia — but as “empty nesters” living on Edwin’s wages as a police officer. By 1920, Edwin and Amelia were “empty nesters” in North Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, where Edwin worked as a farm laborer. They remained there through at least 1940. After a long life, Amelia (Fischer) Frantz died in Lehigh County at the age of 83, on 25 June 1949, and was also interred at the Union West End Cemetery in Allentown.

* Note: The 1895 obituary of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr. reported that his sons, “James” and Bruno, were residents of “Kansas City” at the time of his death; however, no son by the name of “James” was ever listed on any of the federal census records for Ferdinand Fischer, Sr., the subject of this biography. Researchers have not yet located data regarding two other sons of Ferdinand Fischer (John Fischer, who was born circa 1853, according to the 1860 federal census, and Joseph Fischer, who was born circa 1870, according to the 1870 federal census), and theorize that one of those two sons may have been the “James” of “Kansas City” who was mentioned in the 1895 obituary of Ferdinand Fischer, Sr.

 

Sources:

1. “A War Veteran Dying” (reported of Ferdinand Fischer’s stroke and paralysis). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 7 December 1895.
2. “An Old Soldier’s Death: He Was a Member of the 47th Regiment and Fought a Good Fight.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 9 December 1895.
3. Arrowsmith, James. The Paper-Hanger’s Companion: A Treatise on Paper-Hanging. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: H. C. Baird, 1852.
4. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
5. “Elsie A. Powers (a granddaughter of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer and a daughter of John Bruno Fischer/Fisher), in “Obituaries.” Vancouver, Washington: The Columbian, 12 April 1888.
6. “Edwin L. Frantz” (obituary of a son-in-law of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr. and the husband of Amelia (Fischer) Frantz). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 3 February 1950.
7. “Emaus Man Ends Life by Hanging: Ferdinand J. Fisher, 76, Was Retired Bricklayer.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 4 May 1936.
8. Ferdinand Fischer, in Admissions Ledgers, U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (Central Branch, Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, 1878-1882 and 1882-1894). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
9. “Ferdinand Fisher” [sic, “Fischer”], in “Here, There and Elsewhere.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 9 December 1895.
10. Ferdinand H. J. Fischer and Sarah Fried, in “Verheiratet” (“Married”). Allentown, Pennsylvania: Der Lecha Caunty Patriot, 24 January 1855.
11. Ferdinand J. Fischer (son and namesake of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.), in Death Certificates (file no.: 51923, registered no.: 30, date of death: 3 May 1936). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
12. “Former Lead Resident Dies in Kansas City” (obituary of Frank Fisher, a grandson of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer and a son of John Bruno Fischer/Fisher). Lead, South Dakota: Lead Daily Call, 7 October 1944.
13. “Fischer” (obituary of Henry J. Fischer, a son of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.”), in “Deaths.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 2 June 1925.
14. Fischer, Ferdinand and Sarah L. in U.S. Civil War Pension General Index Cards (veteran’s application no.: 320739, certificate no.: 316531, filed by the veteran, 8 November 1879; widow’s application no.: 625139, widow’s certificate no.: 422674, filed by the widow from Pennsylvania, 17 December 1895). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
15. Fischer, Ferdinand J. (son and namesake of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.), Agnes and Paul; and Fischer, Sarah L. (widow of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr. and mother of Ferdinand J. Fischer/Fisher), in U.S. Census (Emmaus, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1920). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
16. Fischer, Ferdinand J. (son and namesake of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.) and Agnes; Fischer, Paul F. (a grandson of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr., and a son of Ferdinand J. Fischer, Jr.), Beatrice A. (Paul’s wife), and Willard P., Norma J. and Sarah M. (Paul’s children), in U.S. Census (Emmaus, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1930). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
17. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], Ferdinand, in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company G, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
18. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], Ferdinand, Sarah, John, Henry, Bruno, and Ferdinand Jr., in U.S. Census (Allentown, Fifth Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
19. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], Ferdinand, Sarah, Henry, Bruno, Ferdinand Jr., Paul, Anna, Amelia, and Joseph, in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
20. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], Ferdinand, Sarah and Ferdinand Jr., in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
21. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], Ferdinand, in U.S. Census (“Special Schedule. — Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Widows, Etc.”: Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, 1890). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
22. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], Ferdinand J. (son and namesake of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.), Agnes, Joseph L., and Annie E.; and Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], Sarah L. (widow of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr. and mother of Ferdinand J. Fischer/Fisher), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Eleventh Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
23. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], Ferdinand J. (son and namesake of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.), Agnes, Anna, and Paul; and Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], Sarah L. (widow of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr. and mother of Ferdinand J. Fischer/Fisher), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Eleventh Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
24. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], John B., Mary, Joseph, Lillie, Frank, Paul, and Louis, in U.S. Census (City of Lead, Lawrence County, South Dakota, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
25. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], John, Mary, Joseph, Lillie, Francis, Paul, Louis, Marie, Elsie, and Donald; Fisher, Andrew and Lydia N. (brother and sister-in-law in U.S. Census (Hay Creek, Butte County, South Dakota, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
26. Fisher [sic, “Fischer”], John B., Mary S. and Elsie; and Salisbury, Lloyd (roomer), in U.S. Census (Belle Fourche, Butte County, South Dakota, 1920). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
27. “Florida’s Role in the Civil War,” in Florida Memory. Tallahassee, Florida: State Archives of Florida.
28. “Frantz — Amelia S. (Fischer)” (death notice of a daughter of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.) Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 27 June 1949.
29. Frantz, Edwin L., Amelia (a daughter of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.) and Robert H.; Brown, George and Murray, John (lodgers), in U.S. Census (Philadelphia, Twentieth Ward, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
30. Frantz, Edwin L. and Amelia (a daughter of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.), in U.S. Census (Philadelphia, Twentieth Ward, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
31. Frantz, Edwin L. and Amelia (a daughter of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.), in U.S. Census (North Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1920, 1930, 1940). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
32. Grodzins, Dean and David Moss. “The U.S. Secession Crisis as a Breakdown of Democracy,” in When Democracy Breaks: Studies in Democratic Erosion and Collapse, from Ancient Athens to the Present Day (chapter 3). New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2024.
33. Henry Fisher [sic, “Fischer”] (a son of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.), in Death Certificates (file no.: 46863, registered no.: 12661, date of death: 30 May 1925). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
34. J. B. Fischer (mention of John Bruno Fischer, a son of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer), in “Pressed Into a Column.” Kansas City, Kansas: The Weekly Press, 8 March 1895.
35. J. B. Fischer (mention of John Bruno Fischer, a son of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer). Lead, South Dakota: Lead Daily Call, 14 April 1902.
36. John B. Fisher (notice regarding the death of his fifteen-month-old son, Donald G. Fisher, who was a grandson of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer). Leed, South Dakota: Black Hills Daily Register, 15 September 1910.
37. John B. Fisher (also known as “Bruno Fischer” or “Bruno Fisher”; a son of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer), in Death Certificates (Local Registered No.: 3053, date of death: 25 March 1924). Sacramento, California: State of California, Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
38. Kelly, Robert M. “Historic Paperhanging Techniques: A Bibliographic Essay.” Lancaster, Pennsylvania: International Preservation Trades Workshop, 2-6 August 2011.
39. “Mrs. Mary Fisher Dies Friday — Funeral Monday” (obituary of the widow of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer’s son, John Bruno Fischer/Fisher). Rapid City, South Dakota: Rapid City Daily Journal, 31 March 1956.
40. “Mrs. Sarah L. Fischer” (obituary of the widow of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 25 February 1921.
41. Paul Fischer (a son of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.; notice of Paul’s accidental death and confirmation of his baseball career and career with the Union Pacific Railroad), in “Personal.” Atchison Kansas: The Atchison Daily Globe, 2 July 1896.
42. Paul Fischer and Ferdinand Fischer (sons of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.; notice of Paul’s accidental death and confirmation of Ferdinand’s Allentown street address), in “Chat About Your Friends.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 3 July 1896.
43. Paul Fisher [sic, “Fischer”] (a son of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer, Sr.; mention of Paul’s baseball career), in “Street Gossip.” Atchison, Kansas: Atchison Champion, 28 April 1885.
44. Paul E. Fisher (a grandson of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer and a son of John Bruno Fischer/Fisher), in “Boulder,” in “Montana.” Great Falls, Montana: The Great Falls Leader, 6 March 1931.
45. Robert H. Frantz (a grandson of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer and a son of Amelia (Fischer) Frantz), in Death Certificates (file no.: 27738, date of death: 17 March 1960). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
46. “Roster of the 47th P. V. Inf.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 26 October 1930.
47. Sarah L. Fischer (widow of Ferdinand H. J. Fischer), in Death Certificates (file no.: 14883, registered no.: 734, date of death: 24 February 1921). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
48. Schmidt, Lewis. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
49. “The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, 20 July 1870.