Julius H. Stahel-Számwald | |
---|---|
Born |
Szeged, Hungary |
November 5, 1825
Died | December 4, 1912 New York City, New York |
(aged 87)
Place of burial | Arlington National Cemetery |
Allegiance |
Austrian Empire Hungary United States of America Union |
Service/branch | Austrian Army Hungarian Revolutionary Army United States Army Union Army |
Years of service |
Hungarian Revolutionary Army 1848-1849 United States Army 1861–1865 |
Rank |
First Lieutenant (Austria) First Lieutenant (Hungary) Major General (USV) |
Commands held |
8th New York Infantry Regiment 1st Bde, 1st Div, I Corps 1st Div, XI Corps Stahel's Cavalry Division |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Medal of Honor |
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
American Civil War
Julius H. Stahel-Számwald (November 5, 1825 – December 4, 1912) was a Hungarian soldier who emigrated to the United States and became a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a U.S. diplomat, a mining engineer, and a life insurance company executive. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action at the Battle of Piedmont in 1864.
Stahel was born in Szeged, Hungary, 200 km southeast of Budapest. After schooling in Szeged and Budapest, he entered the Austrian Army, rising to the rank of lieutenant. Stahel joined the movement for Hungarian independence led by Lajos Kossuth during the Revolution of 1848. He served on the staffs of Gen. Artúr Görgey and Gen. Richard Debaufre Guyon. When the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburg dynasty was put down in 1849, he fled to Prussia and then to England before migrating to the United States in 1859. Until the outbreak of the American Civil War, he worked for Deutsche illustrirte Familienblätter, a German-language newspaper in New York City.