Friedrich Salomon

Brigadier General Friedrich (Frederick) Salomon

Biographical Outline

  • Early Life
    • Born on April 7, 1826 in Ströbeck, Saxony (then part of Prussia)
    • Educated at the local gymnasium
    • Became a surveyor
    • Rose to the rank of lieutenant in army
    • Student of architecture in Berlin in 1848 at the outbreak of the revolution
    • Emigrated to America in 1848- the eldest of four brothers who came then (two were breveted brigadier generals in the Civil War; one was governor of Wisconsin, 1862-63)
  • Pre-war life in the US
    • Settled in Manitowoc, Wisconsin
    • Became a surveyor, register of deeds and engineer in the location of the Manitowoc & Wisconsin Railroad
  • Civil War Career
    • Entered the army as a captain of the 5th Missouri, a three month regiment with one of his brothers acting as its colonel
    • Fought at Wilson's Creek in Sigel's Brigade
    • Was made colonel of the 9th Wisconsin on November 26, 1861
    • Commanded in Missouri and Arkansas
    • Was made brigadier general on July 18, 1862, to rank from July 16
    • Commanded a brigade in Kansas, and served throughout the rest of the war in this area
    • Commanded a division of the XIII Corps
    • Fought off an attack by Confederate Gen. T.H. Holmes on Fort Helena (which he had built) in Arkansas, on July 4, 1863. All of the officers involved in the battle claimed that Salomon actully acted indepently here, and that General Benjamin Prentiss, who was nominally in command and claimed the victory, was absent during the actual fighting. Salomon thus was the de facto victor of the battle that day, losing 150 men to the Confederate's 1200.
    • Commanded the third division at the Battle of Jenkin's Ferry, but also was said to have actually commanded independently, in the absence of the commander
    • Breveted major general on March 13, 1865 for metiorious service
    • Honorably mustered out, August 25, 1865
  • Post-war career
    • Appointed surveyor general of Missouri
    • Was made surveyor general of the Territory of Utah by President Rutherford B. Hayes, and held the post during the administrations of Garfield and Arthur
    • Died on March 8, 1897 in Salt Lake City