Gottfried Luther was the principal musician and Drum Major of the 26th Wisconsin Regiment in 1862. He is mentioned several times in the Milwaukee Sentinel, before the war as being a local constable and after the war for having been sentenced for vagrancy. His pension records indicate that he was with the 26th throughout its existence except May-Aug, 1863 (he was wounded at Chancellorsville) and June, ’64-April ’65 (he was in hospitals in Bridgeport, Al and Louisville, Ky. He was with the unit for the final muster in Washington, DC.
On 3 Nov, 1886 his wife, Caroline, age 44, applied for a widow’s pension when no child under sisteen years of age survives. He “was wounded by the explosion of a bomb shell in the back of his head and left shoulder at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Va on the 1st day of May 1863, said wounds causing his death on the 17th day of November, 1876. Her maiden name was Caroline Klein. They were married in Milwaukee on 11 Oct 1850 by Clinton Walworth.
Source: National Archives
