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Amand
(Albert) J. Gritzner
Amand J. Gritzner,
resident at Watertown, Wis., was born
In 1856 he went to Watertown and
learned the business of a druggist. In 1858 be went to Chicago and entered upon
the business of a barber in which he was occupied until his enlistment as a
soldier.
Five tribes of hostile Indians
infested that region and the musicians were assigned to infantry companies and
drilled, in order to be qualified to assist when attacked by the redskins. No
one was permitted to go more than a mile from camp, where five companies of the
3d U. S. Infantry were stationed. Two companies of U. S. dragoons were
stationed at Fort Inge
about 50 miles distant. (Known now as “Old Fort Inge.")
About the first of 1861 a massacre
of settlers occurred with the loss of their cattle. February 18th, General Twiggs surrendered the U. S. property in Texas to the
rebels and soon after the Texas Rangers raised the confederate flag above Fort
Clark. The troops were marched to Indianola, shipped on the “Star of the
West," went to Havana, Cuba, and thence to be incorporated with the army
of the North in defense of the flag.
The roster of battles of Mr. Gritzner includes the deathless names of Bull Run, Siege of Yorktown, Gaines' Mills,
Malvern Hill, 2d Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and
the Siege of Petersburg from February, to the close of the war April
9th, 1865.
This list will tell to all
generations the character of the, service in which he was a participant, and he
needs no other meed of honor.
At the first Bull Run, where he
fought under General Sykes, his canteen and clothing were riddled with balls
and he narrowly escaped capture by the "Black Horse Cavalry." He ran
the same chances at Chancellorsville, Mine Run and Aquia
Creek. He endured all the vicissitudes of war on every field and skirmished
countless times from Bull Run to Appomattox, veteranizing
in 1864 after four years of service, enlisting in the regular service for three
years more.
He was assigned to frontier and post
duty, after the close of the war, and received final discharge at Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, June 3d, 1867. During his period of service on the Potomac
and the Peninsula, he was detailed commonly to the "Stretcher Corps"
and performed the duty of bearing the wounded, dead and dying from the battle
fields, exposed to all the dangers of active warfare, without the satisfaction
of returning compliments in lead. He was also detailed to dress wounds and
became so expert that he was in frequent demand as assistant at the amputating
tables. He suffered severe sickness from typhoid fever at Fort Hamilton in 1864
and nearly lost his life.
After leaving the army he went to
Watertown and opened his business as a barber in which he has since continued,
assisted by his only son, Max William. He was married Feb. 20, 1868, to Mrs. Bernardina (Baurichter) Seeburg, widow of Peter Seeburg.
He is a member of O. D. Pease Post No. 94, at Watertown.
Soldiers’ and Citizens’ Album of
Biographical Record,
Chicago, Grand Army Publishing Co, 1890, pp 353-4.
Barber shop
at 1 E. Main (1889 Watertown City Dir)
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AMAND GRITZNER, proprietor of barber shop; came to
America from Silesia, Prussia, in 1854, where he had been a musician, but learned
the barber trade, after he came to the United States and has since followed
it. He married Miss Berdener
Seaberg, of West Farland,
Germany, in 1868, by whom he has one child, whose name
is Max, now 9 years of age. He, his wife
and son, are members of the Catholic Church.
Mr. Gritzner has been a member of the Temple
of Honor since 1877; was in the 3d United States Regulars for seven years, from
1861 to 1867; was mustered out of the service at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., in
1867, when he returned to Watertown and continued his trade.
The History of Jefferson County,
Wisconsin, Chicago:
Western Historical Company. 1879.
__________________________________________
Watertown Gazette, 08 03 1916
Albert Gritzner
Albert Gritzner,
aged 75 years, died on Thursday of this week at his home on
Saturday morning his funeral took
place from St. Henry’s Church.
The interment was in St. Henry’s Cemetery.