Pvt. Frederick C. Schmidt, Co. H

Rev.Frederick Carl Schmidt was born July 07, 1843 in Fuerstenfelde, Kreis Koenigsberg, Brandenburg, Prussia, and died January 31, 1906 in Blue Earth, Faribault County, Minnesota. While with his family in Lomira,Wisconsin, FC Schmidt traveled to Woodstock, Illinois and enlisted with the 36th Illinois Co. H on August 14, 1861.

FC Schmidt served for the entire duration of the Civil War. At the end of initial enlistment period he re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer at Blanes Cross Roads, Tennessee. During battle FC was shot three different times. He was taken prisoner once but escaped. During the Battle of Nashville on December 16, 1864 FC was shot in the neck during the advance on Overton Hill. The surgeon did not remove the bullet because of its location close to the cervical spine.

After the war, Frederick Carl became a preacher with the German Evangelical Church in Minnesota. During the preaching of the services he would have "spells". The congregation knew these "spells" were caused from the "old war injury", the bullet in the neck. Pastor Schmidt would sit down and the congregation would sing hymns until he stepped back up to the pulpit. These "spells", whatever they were, bothered him for all the years after the war. When Frederick Carl died in 1906 the family physician, knowing of the "old war injury" and its cause, thought the family would like the bullet. So before burial the good doctor removed the lead slug and passed it on to his wife, my great grandmother.

That piece of lead and the scarf Frederick Carl tied around his neck to stop the bleeding December 16th, 1864 during the Battle of Nashville.

G.A.R. ribbons	Pvt. Frederick Carl Schmidt, Co. H	The bullet that wounded Carl and the scarf he used to stop the bleeding.