Ancestor Jakob Friedrich GAMER died in Russia fighting for Napoleon War
of 1812
Old German Artillery Record
My Grandmother was Mary (Zimmerman) Roesch. Her mother was Margaretha Magdelina Suess who married Christoph Frederick Zimmermann in 1861. They are both buried at St. Peters Lutheran Church Cemetery, Richardson County, Nebraska, USA. She went by Magdelina and he went by Frederick. Look at the obituary. Jacob Frederick Suess and Magdalena Wilhelmina Gamer are the parents of Magdelina. Jakob Friedrich GAMER is the grandfather of Magdelina. Magdelina and her husband came to America because her oldest son was drafted into the German Army and she did not want any of her other sons to be drafted into the German Army. She had to leave behind her oldest daughter which made it very difficult to leave. The fact that Jakob Friedrich GAMER (her Grandfather) was killed fighting in Russia in the Napoleon War of 1812 must have been a cause for her to have concern for her family.
Jakob Friedrich GAMER is listed as an Artillery Corporal in above document and church records show him dying in Russia.
Jakob Friedrich GAMER is the Great Grandfather of my Grandmother Mary (Zimmermann) Roesch
Soldiers from Baden fight for Napoleon in his 1812 Russian invasion?
******************************************************(more)****
In February 1812 Napoleon ordered Baden and Württemberg to mobilize their troops for his
war against Russia. About 7,000 soldiers from Baden were sent to take part in the War
(three infantry regiments, a rifle batallion and an artillery company with ten guns). The
19-year-old [!] Count Wilhelm von Hochberg was appointed commander-in-chief of the Baden
forces, who was to become Margrave Wilhelm von Baden later.
Exempt from service were the sons of princes and servants of the Court. As there were not
enough church ministers students of theology were exempt, too. Unlike men from Württemberg
liable for military service, those from Baden were allowed to provide replacements for
themselves, which made it possible for the rich and the educated to unload the military
service onto the poor and the uneducated.
The Baden contingent was assigned to the 9th Army Corps of Marshal Victor and were reserve
troops of the Grand Army and followed it at the end of August 1812. After Napoleon's
retreat from Moscow the Baden troops were given the task of a rearguard. Only about 900 of
the once 7,000 men survived the War.
It should be noted that the Baden soldiers fought particularly bravely, and surprisingly
none of their six colours, which they had fastened round their waists, got lost. Many of
the above mentioned 900 returned home from Russian captivity after the end of the War. One
Baden emigrant from Bretten, the tailor Franz Egetmeier, who lived in the Middle Volga
area, had come to the rescue of many Baden prisoners, in particular of Baden commissioned
officers.
It is suggested reading the big Russian novel by Lev Tolstoy: *War and Peace* (1868/69),
which most critics consider to be the greatest novel ever written. This novel does deal
with the Napoleonic War. There are the two films - one directed by King Vidor of 1956
(starring Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer) and the Russian one by Sergej
Bondartschuk of 1965-67. By Lothar Schmid in Baden-Württemberg
-----------------------------------------------------------
I sent a letter to Generallandesarchiv in Karlsruhe, Germany, they have an internet
address as:
www.lad-bw.de/gla.htm
Translation of reply using the computer:
File copies for:
Dear Mr. Picton from our files you received copies of a soldier named Gamer born 04.12.1783
in Graben in the artillery for the campaign against Russia. No name index exists for those
from Baden who took part in the revolution wars and it is very time-consuming to research
individual persons. An examination of all relevant documents on individual persons is
unfortunately not possible for us. This research must be by the user or an assigned person
in our reading hall.
Yours sincerely,
Hennhoefer
Office supervisor
They also sent me a file which is attached and very hard to read. It shows Friedrich Gamer
listed on line number 8 from Graben. Our records show he was born Dec 4, 1782, this list shows Dec 4,
1783. I think Jakob Friedrich Gamer went by his middle name Friedrich Gamer because both
his son-in-law and grand son-in-law went by there middle names. I am sorry it is so hard
to read.
This site designed and maintained by Owen Picton. |
|