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My great grandfather (Carl Fredrich August Schoenberg) fought in the Franco-Prussian War and this is an image of him in the military before he came to America in 1872. I don’t know much about this image and need to do some homework THREAD BELOW
He lived and served in the military for the Province of Brandenburg (center coat of arms). There is a Coat of arms of Saxony (right) on the image but I don’t know the other on the left.
From his dress uniform it appears he was in the 4th Foot Guard Regiment of the Royal Prussian Army.
The 4th Foot Guards were an infantry regiment formed in 1860. It served with the Guards Corps in the Second Schleswig War, the Austro-Prussian war, the Franco-Prussian war, and World War I. The regiment was disbanded in June 1919.
He served under Wilhelm I in the Franco-Prussian War. It was a short war — July 19, 1870 to 28 January 1871. Wilhelm I was King of Prussia from January 2, 1861 and the first German Emperor.
Following the Franco-Prussian war Prussia unified to become the German Empire in 1871. My great grandfather left a year after the unification and came to America (Michigan).
Ironically, my uncle fought in WWII as part of the 97th Infantry (nickname: Trident division) and was brought in on the final assault of Nazi Germany. He landed at Le Havre, France on March 2, 1945, then moved to Camp Lucky Strike.
His division liberated the Flossenbürg concentration camp near Floß in Bavaria. Members of the 97th Division treated sick and dying prisoners and buried the several hundred corpses discovered in the camp. He never talked about the war — ever — and with good reason.
That’s my brief history lesson. Twitter always seems to be full of surprises, so maybe there are some Prussian historical experts who can help or relatives of the 97th Infantry here.
