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Revision as of 17:06, 10 October 2011 by Karanacs (talk | contribs) (begin expansion)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Herman Ehrenberg (1816 or 1818 - October 9, 1866) is the namesake of Ehrenberg, Arizona. A native of Germany, Ehrenberg joined the military volunteer unit the New Orleans Greys and fought against Mexico in the Texas Revolution. He was one of few survivors of the Goliad Massacre. His memoirs were published.
Early life
Ehrenberg's birthdate and parentage is the subject of some discussion. His biographer Natalie Ornish suggests that he is the Hermann Vollrath Ehrenberg whose birth on October 17, 1816 in Steuden, Prussia was recorded in a local Lutheran Church. According to Ornish, other historians have suggested the Ehrenberg was Jewish, but the Lutheran birth registration calls that theory into question. Ornish gives two possibilities for Ehrenberg's parents: local couple Johann and Sophie Ehrenberg or William von Ehrenberg, an official at the royal court of Frederick William III. The latter theory is supported by historian H.W. Brands.
In the early 1830s, Ehrenberg attended the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, where he became involved in protests against the government. According to Brands, "Ehrenberg seems to have been comparatively unimportant or particularly clever, for he eluded the Prussian police" who were actively searching for protest leaders. Ehrenberg left Prussia in 1834 to move to the United States. He spent a year in New York City and then travelled to New Orleans.
Texas Revolution
Ehrenberg arrived in New Orleans in October 1835. The city was abuzz with news of the newly declared Texas Revolution. All of the local papers and many of the residents supported the actions of the American settlers in Texas against the government of Mexico. On October 11, Adolphus Sterne organized a rally in support of the Texians. Ehrenberg attended the rally, which collected over $10,000 for the volunteer troops. The next day, he enlisted in the volunteer militia company that Sterne was organizing. The group became known as the New Orleans Greys for the color of the uniformat that they wore.
The Greys were divided into two companies. Ehrenberg was assigned to one led by Captain Thomas H. Breece. His group took a steamboat up the river to Natchitoches, Louisiana, where they prepared to enter Mexican Texas. The United States was officially neutral in the conflict, and President Andrew Jackson had publicly ordered that no armed men be allowed to cross the border. The Greys were cautious and crossed without incident.
Siege of Bexar
The Greys joined the Texian Army outside San Antonio de Bexar (now San Antonio, Texas). The Texians had laid siege to the city, trapping Mexican General Martin de Cos and his troops. On December 5, the Texians attacked. Ehrenberg's company followed the San Antonio River into town and made their way to the central square. As they neared the square, Mexican soldiers opened fire. Ehrenberg and several others entered a stone guardhouse which soon bore the brunt of fire from Mexican artillery.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
Unwilling to return to the streets, where there was no cover, Texians began fighting from house to house. Ehrenberg's small group exchanged fire with forces on the other side of the street. One of Ehrenberg's companions, was seriously wounded one before they realized that neither group contained Mexican soldiers. Determined to join forces again, the men dug a trench to allow for safe passage from house to the other. Fighting continued for three days as the Texians consolidated their positions and worked their way towards the center of town. Cos surrendered on December 11 and led his troops back to the Mexican interior.
Matamoros Expedition
Ehrenberg was assigned to the Texian garrison at the Alamo Mission.
Battle of Coleto
Few months later, Ehrenberg transferred to the Mobile Greys and served under Colonel James Fannin, who was in commander in Battle of Coleto. Ehrenberg and his company of Fannin surrendered to Mexican General Jose de Urrea following the March 19-20, 1836. Ehrenberg and his forces were taken prisoners and send them to confinement in Presidio La Bahia. Few days later, General Jose de Urrea had to ask Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna to clemency for the prisoners but Santa Anna rejected Urrea's recommendation. Mexican Colonel Jose Nicolas de la Portilla, who replaced Urrea's position, had received word from Santa Anna to execute prisoners.
Goliad Survivor and Written account
One survivor of the massacre, a young German named H. von Ehrenberg, wrote an account of the murders on December 3, 1853. He said the Texian prisoners and American volunteers numbered about 400, while the Mexican captors totalled 700, in addition to cavalry and smaller groups of Mexican soldiers he saw gathered on the prairie. He described the slaughter:
"Kneel down!" Now burst in harsh accents from the lips of the Mexican commander. No one stirred. Few of us understood the order, and those who did would not obey. The Mexican soldiers who stood at about three paces from us, leveled their muskets at our breasts. Even then we could hardly believe that they meant to shoot us, for if we had we should assuredly have rushed forward in our desperation, and weaponless though we were, some of our murderers would have met their death at our hands.
The sound of a second volley, from a different direction than the first just then reached our ears, and was followed by a confused cry, as if those at whom it had been aimed, had not all immediately been killed. A thick cloud of smoke was wreathing toward the San Antonio River. The blood of my lieutenant was on my clothes, and around me lay my friends convulsed in their last agony. I saw nothing more. Unhurt myself, I sprang up and, concealed by the thick smoke, fled along the hedge in the direction of the river, the noise of the water for my guide.
On I went, the river rolled at my feet, the shouting and yelling behind. "Texas forever!" And without a moment's hesitation, I plunged into the water. The bullets whistled round me as I swam slowly and wearily to the other side, but none wounded me. Whilst these horrible scenes were occurring on the prairies, Col. Fannin and his wounded companions were shot and bayoneted at Goliad, only Dr. Shackleford and a few hospital aids having their lives spared, in order that they might attend the wounded Mexicans.
Another written account can be found in Early Times in Texas (serial form, 1868–71; book, 1892) by John Crittenden Duval.
Freedom, Education and Adventures
After Santa Anna's surrender at San Jacinto, Ehrenberg reached freedom and the Texas army discharged him in 1836. He returned to Saxony and studied mining at Freiburg University. He taught English at the University of Halle briefly. In 1844, He returned to the United States and traveled from St. Louis to Oregon with a fur-trapping party and then in May 1845 sailed to Hawaii, where he did a survey of the streets and drew a map of Honolulu. He also visited a number of Polynesian islands, including Tahiti. Ehrenberg then came to California in 1846 and participated in the campaign for its conquest by the Americans. He then helped rescue Americans held captive in Baja California during the Mexican American War. He then took part in the California Gold Rush.
Pioneering Arizona
Herman Ehrenberg traveled to the Gadsden Purchase in 1854 and made the first map of the purchase. In 1855 he surveyed and helped incorporate the town of Colorado City, New Mexico Territory. In 1856, Ehrenberg with Charles Debrille Poston, established the headquarters of the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company at Tubac, and was appointed its surveyor and mining engineer. Few years later, he moved to La Paz, Arizona Territory. In 1863, his friend Poston, now Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Arizona Territory made him the Indian agent for the Mojaves on the Colorado River Indian Reservation from 1863 to 1866. On October 9, 1866, while traveling on the Bradshaw Trail, Ehrenberg was murdered by robbers, at the Dos Palmas Springs.
Town
Ehrenberg, Arizona, formerly Mineral City, is named for Ehrenberg.
References
- ^ Ornish, Handbook of Texas
- Brands, p. 290.
- Brands, pp. 290–1.
- ^ Brands, p. 291.
- Brands, p. 292.
- Brands, p. 293.
- Brands, p. 297.
- Brands, p. 298.
- Cite error: The named reference
brands299was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - Brands, p. 303.
- Natalie Ornish, "EHRENBERG, HERMAN," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed July 25, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
Sources
- Brands, H.W. (2005), Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence, Random House, ISBN 9781400030705
- Cady, John Henry (1916), Woon, Basil (ed.), Arizona's yesterday, being the narrative of John H. Cady, pioneer, Western Americana, frontier history of the trans-Mississippi West, 1550-1900; Issue 641 of Travels in the West and Southwest, Times-Minor Printing and Binding House
- Ornish, Natalie, "Ehrenberg, Herman", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association