- Gustav Tafel
Gustav Tafel (
October 13 ,1830 – 1908) was a German-born colonel in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War , and the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1897 to 1900.Tafel was born in
Munich, Germany (München). He was one of theForty-Eighters , meaning he fledGermany after the Revolution of 1848. He resided in the house at the northeastern corner of 14th and Walnut streets from 1848-1870. He started in Cincinnati as a printer, and later became a newspaper editor. [ [http://www.artsci.uc.edu/german/about/germanamerican/map.html University of Cincinnati website] ] At the time, Cincinnati had a large German population and a number of German language newspapers, and Tafel quickly became a leader in that community.When war erupted and Governor William Dennison called for volunteers to join the army, Tafel enlisted with the Cincinnati "
Turnverein " and served as alieutenant in Co. A of the9th Ohio Infantry , a mostly German regiment. In June 1862 he was assigned to command the 106th Ohio Infantry (aka, "The 4th German Regiment"), one of the last German regiments raised in the state. However, because the organization was forced to take the field in September with only eight of its companies filled, Tafel's commission was modified to that of lieutenant colonel onNovember 11 ,1862 . After the Perryville Campaign, Tafel's battalion was merged into the hard-luck Thirty-ninth Brigade, which was captured intact by Confederate GeneralJohn Hunt Morgan at theBattle of Hartsville onDecember 7 ,1862 .The 106th was thereafter paroled and sent to
Columbus, Ohio , being formally exchanged onJanuary 12 ,1863 . Tafel superintended the unit's re-organization atCamp Dennison . OnMarch 24 the unit left forLexington, Kentucky , to relieve the 103rd Ohio in suppressing guerrilla activity in Owen County. Tafel effectively brought an end to the depredations, earning "praise from the citizens and State authorities, for the good conduct and soldierly bearing of both officers and men."The regiment arrived in Nashville on
May 4 , and four weeks later took up guard duty along theLouisville & Nashville Railroad , from Nashville north to the Kentucky border, operating out ofGallatin, Tennessee . At this time the unit had been formally assigned to the Third Brigade, Second Division, Reserve Corps,Army of the Cumberland . Theguerrilla s of the area suffered so consistently from the ambuscade tactics of the 106th that their leader, Captain Ellis Harper, offered a reward for Tafel's head. Harper's band was badly mauled onDecember 4 ,1863 , at Dry Fork inSumner County, Tennessee , Harper himself escaping.The growing skill and hardened reputation of the 106th Ohio under Tafel's leadership caused it to be reassigned to the garrison of
Bridgeport, Alabama , onMay 4 ,1864 , where it quickly displayed its refined "scouting" abilities in hounding the local guerrilla band of Rebel Captain Caperton throughout the Racoon Mountains. Caperton was killed by mounted scouts of the 106th onJune 10 . In October 1864, the 106th was finally recruited up to its full strength, officially attaining the status of a full, volunteerregiment .Tafel and the 106th Ohio became cut off from all communication for a four weeks with Thomas's main army at Nashville when Confederate Lt. Gen.
John B. Hood brought what was left of theArmy of Tennessee back into Tennessee that same winter. In January 1865 the 106th fought one of its last actions of the war at Mud Creek, Tennessee, encountering a portion of the Rebel cavalry forces under Brig. Gen.Hylan B. Lyon . In June, the regiment was ordered back to Nashville for muster out, which occurred onJune 29 ,1865 . Tafel's commission was never upgraded to that of a full colonel.Tafel was a Democrat in his political views, and served three years as mayor of Cincinnati at the turn of the century. He died in Cincinnati and is buried in
Spring Grove Cemetery .References
*findagrave|6869977 Retrieved on
2008-02-15
* Reid, Whitelaw. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Generals and Soldiers, 2V, Cincinnati, The Robert Clarke Company, 1895, Vol. 2, pp. 572-575.Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.