Record 250/278 |
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Description
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| Disfigured lead Minie ball or round ball, deformed by striking an object. Bullet that wounded Captain Sebastian Ostertag during the Battle of Gettysburg. Captain Sebastian Ostertag was the last survivor of Company E, 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry of the famous Iron Brigade. See NC-871, cast of 6487-69. Johann Sebastian Ostertag was born April 21, 1839 in Wurtenburg, Germany. His parents, Valentine and Mary Ruedinger Ostertag immigrated to America in 1847; entered at the port of New York; farmed near the town of Nekimi; came to Oshkosh in 1861. He enlisted in Company E, 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry April 21, 1861 and participated in the Battles of 1st Bull Run (wounded); Gainsville (wounded and captured); and Gettysburg (severely wounded). On medical leave in Oshkosh he married Sophia Kuebler on January 20, 1862. They had 8 children. On July 1, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg, a bullet entered his left cheek, passed through the sinus cavity, and lodged behind his right eye. He was sent to a hospital in West Philadelphia on July 9 and had the bullet removed on July 11 (the bullet is in the collection of the OPM Object ID #6487-69). In April 1864 he was transferred to the Invalid Corps and was mustered out June 16, 1864. He returned to Oshkosh and began working for the Chicago & Northwestern RR and in November 1865 began a grocery store . On April 8, 1884 he was elected captain of the Oshkosh Rifles (National Guard); 1884 he entered the hardware business; Alderman Third Ward; operated a 83 acre farm 2 miles from Oshkosh and was a member of the Phil H. Sheridan Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. He died in 1930. |
Bullet
-THE CIVIL WAR
-Copyright Oshkosh Public Museum
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ~ For access to this image, contact scross@ci.oshkosh.wi.us
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ~ For access to this image, contact scross@ci.oshkosh.wi.us