Luther Kaltenbach

Last updated
Luther Kaltenbach
Born(1843-08-16)August 16, 1843
Grand Duchy of Baden
DiedSeptember 1, 1922(1922-09-01) (aged 79)
Los Angeles, California
Buried
AllegianceFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Service / branchFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States Army
Years of service1861–1866
Rank Sergeant
Unit 12th Iowa Infantry Regiment
Battles / wars American Civil War
Awards Medal of Honor ribbon.svg Medal of Honor
Spouse(s)
May A. Wardlow
(m. 1907)
[1]

Luther Kaltenbach was a veteran of the American Civil War and a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Contents

Biography

Kaltenbach was born in the Grand Duchy of Baden but immigrated to the United States at the age of one or two. Most of his childhood was taken up by helping work on his family's farm. He joined the 12th Iowa Infantry near the start of the Civil War in 1861. [1]

On April 6, 1862, during the Battle of Shiloh, Kaltenbach was shot in the right hand. The injury gave him two crooked fingers that would continue to pain him throughout his life. [1] Kaltenbach was captured by Confederate forces the same day he was injured. However, he returned to active service with his unit after being paroled by his Confederate captors. [2]

Battle of Nashville

During the Battle of Nashville Kaltenbach and the 12th Iowa Infantry attacked entrenched Confederate positions. On December 16, 1864, Kaltenbach participated in a final charge against several Confederate regiments. During the attack, the color bearer of the 44th Mississippi Infantry was incapacitated. [1] Kaltenbach advanced ahead of his unit over Confederate barricades and captured the regiment's flag. [3] [4]

Two days after the battle, a special field order was given to allow Kaltenbach and sixteen other soldiers who had captured enemy flags during the Battle of Nashville and the Battle of Franklin to journey to Washington, D.C. [5] While there, they presented flags they had captured from Confederate forces to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. All of the soldiers were granted furlough for a month, pay, and the Medal of Honor for their actions. [1]

Official citation

Capture of flag, of 44th Mississippi Infantry (C.S.A.). [6]

Later life

In 1868, Kaltenbach attempted to find a warmer climate to lessen the pain caused by the hand wound he received during the Battle of Shiloh. He moved to Colorado, then Utah, then California and lastly into Mexico. He moved to the state of Washington in 1878 following a stroke so he could be cared for by his brother. Several years later, he moved to Arizona where he worked as a Justice of the Peace. In 1892, Kaltenbach started to receive a disability pension of two dollars a month, and would later receive an extra ten dollars month for receiving the Medal of Honor. In 1903, he moved to California again. [1] In 1905, Kaltenbach was granted a pension of twenty-four dollars a month by an Act of Congress. [7] He married May Wardlow in 1907, but they divorced several years later. Kaltenbach died in 1922 after being hit by a car. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Iowa Infantry Regiment</span> Infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War

The 2nd Iowa Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

The 2nd Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">41st Ohio Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 41st Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">104th Ohio Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 104th Ohio Infantry Regiment, sometimes 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. It played a conspicuous role at the Battle of Franklin during the 1864 Franklin–Nashville campaign, where six members later received the Medal of Honor, most for capturing enemy flags.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12th Iowa Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 12th Iowa Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment</span> Confederate Army infantry regiment of the American Civil War

The 1st Arkansas Infantry (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment was raised in April 1861 by Colonel Thompson B. Flournoy. It moved first to Virginia, but transferred back to Tennessee and served the rest of the war in the western theater, seeing action in the Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. Following its depletion in numbers, the regiment was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment. There were three regiments known as "1st Arkansas" during the war. The second unit with the designation of "1st Arkansas" was the 1st Infantry, Arkansas State Troops, which was mustered into Confederate service at Pitman's Ferry, Arkansas, on 23 July 1861, under the command of Colonel Patrick Cleburne; this unit was eventually redesignated as the 15th Arkansas Volunteer Infantry. The third unit bearing the title "1st Arkansas" was the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, which served with the Union Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment</span> Infantry regiment of the Confederate States Army

The 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the "Sixth Arkansas", was a line infantry formation of the Confederate States Army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George V. Kelley</span>

George VanStavoren Kelley was a line officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Franklin during the 1864 Franklin-Nashville Campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newton H. Hall</span>

Newton H. Hall was an infantryman in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Franklin during the 1864 Franklin-Nashville Campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6th Alabama Cavalry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 6th Alabama Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry unit of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard H. Cosgriff</span>

Richard H. Cosgriff, Sr., was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. An Irish immigrant, his family eventually settled in Wisconsin, where he would spend most of the rest of his life. Enlisting in an Iowa cavalry regiment, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for capturing a Confederate battle flag during an engagement in the last month of the war. After returning to Wisconsin, he worked as a businessman in the lumber and printing industries until his death at age 64.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">54th Ohio Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 54th Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. They wore Zouave uniforms that were identical to those of the 34th Ohio Infantry Regiment

The 58th Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

The 95th Ohio Infantry Regiment, was an infantry regiment that was a part of the Union Army consisting of civilians from the state of Ohio. It was formed in August 1862 as a response to the outbreak of the American Civil War, being mustered in for three years of service and to deter the Confederate Army and achieve the goals of the Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Arkansas Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 7th Arkansas Volunteer Infantry (1861−1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. Organized mainly from companies, including several prewar volunteer militia companies, raised in northeastern Arkansas, the regiment was among the first transferred to Confederate service, and spent virtually the entire war serving east of the Mississippi River. After the unit sustained heavy casualties in the Battle of Shiloh and the Kentucky Campaign, the unit spent most of the rest of the war field consolidated with the 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment to form the 6th/7th Arkansas Infantry Regiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac H. Carmin</span> American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient

Corporal Isaac Harrison Carman was an American soldier who fought in the American Civil War. Carman received the country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for his action during the Battle of Vicksburg in Mississippi on 22 May 1863. He was honored with the award on 25 February 1895. Poorly kept records by the United States Government incorrectly spell his name as Carmin / Carmen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voltaire P. Twombly</span> Medal of Honor recipient

Voltaire Paine Twombly was a Union veteran of the American Civil War and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Fort Donelson on February 15, 1862, when he picked up and carried his regiment's national colors after three other members of his regiment were killed or incapacitated by Confederate fire while attempting to secure the flag. Twombly also participated in a number of other engagements in the Civil War, including the Siege of Corinth and Sherman's March to the Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Reid (soldier)</span> American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient

Robert Alexander Reid was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Second Battle of Petersburg.

Andrew Jackson Sloan was an American soldier who fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for valor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles H. McCleary</span> Union Army Medal of Honor recipient

Charles H. McCleary was a Union Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor, his country's highest military award for valor, for his actions during the American Civil War.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Corp. Luther P. Kaltenbach". State Historical Society of Iowa. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  2. "SGT. LUTHER KALTENBACH MEDAL OF HONOR GRAVE STONE". The Memorial Day Foundation. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  3. "Medal of Honor Recipients Who Fought at the Battle of Nashville". Battle of Nashville Preservation Society. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  4. "Luther P. Kaltenbach". Military Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  5. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1897. p. 703.
  6. Sterner, C. "KALTENBACH, LUTHER". Home of Heroes. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  7. The Statutes at Large of the United States of America from November 1903 to March 1905. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1905. p. 1945.