Uncle Charles fought at Gettysburg

 

On February 26, 1832 Charles Baldus was born to Peter J. Baldus and Mary Catherine Meyers in Nassau, Prussia.

 

At age 27, on October 25, 1859, Charles Baldus became a citizen of the United States.

 

At age 30, on July 13, 1862, Charles was enrolled in the United States Army.

 

At age 32, on January 31, 1865. Charles was discharged from the United States Army at Haddington General Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

Charles served in the United States Army for 2 years, 6 months and 19 days.  Charles Baldus, Corporal, Company K, 134th Regiment of the New York Infantry Volunteers was discharged by reason of Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability.  His discharge papers describe him as five feet six inches tall, fair complexion, blue eyes and light hair.

 

His disability resulted from gunshot wounds to his right forearm, left leg and loss of left eye with impairment of vision of his right eye.  These wounds were received at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1863.  The battle of Gettysburg lasted 3 days. ( July 1st, 2nd and 3rd of 1863 )

 

At age 38, Charles Baldus appears in the 1870 Census of Polkton Township, Ottawa County, Michigan.  At that time he and his wife Fanny had four children, Charley, Nicholas, Laura and Kate.  In 1870 Charley was 13 years old, Nicholas was 11 years old, Laura was 9 years old and Kate was 5 years old.  That means Charley was 5, Nicholas was 3 and Laura was 1 year old when Charles was enrolled in the Army.

 

The above is from the 1870 Census of Polkton Township, Ottawa County, Michigan.

This is a portion of Charles’ Citizenship Papers.

These are Charles’ Discharge Papers.

Front view of the Haddington General Hospital.

Photo published between 1861 and 1865

Another view of the Haddington General Hospital.

Photo published between 1861 and 1865

The above photos are from the U.S. National Library of Medicine Digital Collection.

Charles Baldus was discharged from Haddington General Hospital