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Godfrey (Gottfried) Weitzel (November 1, 1835 – March 19, 1884) was a German-American major general in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was the acting Mayor of New Orleans during the Union occupation of the city, as well as captured and occupied the Confederate capitol, Richmond, Virginia. Weitzel also is known for his post-war accomplishments with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in designing and constructing internal improvements, particularly along the Ohio River and the Great Lakes region. ==Early and Family Life== Gottfreid Weitzel was born in Winzeln, near Pirmasens in the Palatinate, once part of Lorraine but which had returned to German control in 1806, and was then part of the Kingdom of Bavaria.〔://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=400〕 His father Ludwig, had served in the German military, and wanted to emigrate to America like his brother Wilhelm, in search of a better life. When his wife, the former Susanna Krummel, became pregnant with what turned out to be a second son, the family immigrated to the United States. They settled in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1837, where Ludwig changed his name to Lewis and his two-year old son's to Godfrey, perhaps to avoid prejudice against German immigrants, or to Americanize the family. Lewis Weitzel operated a grocery store in the Tenth Ward, which included the "Over the Rhine" neighborhood with many Germanic immigrants, and also became involved in Democratic party politics. In 1853, Lewis Weitzel became a city commissioner (serving for three years) and also served on the local school board, whose chairman was lawyer and former U.S. Congressman Bellamy Storer. Educated with his younger brother (Lewis Jr.) in the city schools (including the new "central" high school in the basement of the German Lutheran Church on Walnut below Ninth), Godfrey finished at the top of his class. Storer offered to pay for the boy's college tuition, but then with the help of publisher Heinrich Roedter contacted congressman David Tiernan Disney and managed to secure an appointment to the United States Military Academy, although the process started when Godfrey was just 14 (the minimum entrance age was 16) and the tall youth arrived months after his 15th birthday.〔Quatman, A Young General and the Fall of Richmond (Ohio University Press, 2015)pp. xv, 2-5〕 There, Godfrey was nicknamed "Dutch" and continued to excel academically, demonstrating proficiency in mathematics and engineering. His roommates included Cyrus Comstock (who became a lifelong friend), and Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, where later Weitzel would become hated. When Weitzel was a sophomore, Captain Henry Brewerton was replaced as superintendent by Colonel Robert E. Lee, who took an interest in the top student, but was reassigned himself in March 1855, shortly before Weitzel's class graduated. Nonetheless, Weitzel graduated 2nd out of 34 cadets in the Class of 1855 (Comstock was first).〔Quatman,pp. 15-29.〕 Second Lieutenant Weitzel's first assignment was helping improve the defenses of New Orleans under Major P.G.T. Beauregard, who had also graduated second in his class (as had Robert E. Lee in his). His work on Fort Jackson, Fort St. Philip and the Customs house earned the respect of Major Beauregard and Secretary of War Jefferson Davis and Weitzel was promoted to First Lieutenant. Knowledge of those defenses would prove crucial later in his career.〔Quatman,pp. 31-33.〕 In 1859, Weitzel returned to West Point as Assistant Professor of Civil and Military Engineering, working under professor Dennis Mahan. During home leave in 1858, he had become engaged to Louisa C. Moor of Cincinnati, and they married at the German Lutheran Church of Cincinnati on November 3, 1859. However, three weeks later her skirts caught fire as she prepared Thanksgiving dinner, and despite Godfrey's efforts to douse them, she suffered severe burns and died within hours. Weitzel accompanied her body to Cincinnati and the grief-stricken widower was granted eight months leave, including permission to travel to Germany.〔Quatman,pp. 33, 36-38.〕 While remaining close to the Moor family (who had no other children and virtually adopted him), eventually, Weitzel would become engaged on another furlough home. On January 6, 1865, he married Louise Bogen, daughter of Peter Bogen, a prominent pork-packer and grower of Catawba grapes for winemaking. They would have three children, only one of whom survived infancy. Their first child was a stillborn son named Godfrey Weitzel, delivered on September 26, 1865. Their second child, Blanche Celeste Weitzel, was born on February 16, 1868, but contracted measles and died on April 5. Their third child, Irene Weitzel, born on April 11, 1876, lived until 1936 and left descendants. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Godfrey Weitzel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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