Augustus Ludwig Dietrich Vogelsang was born in Minden, Germany on May 26, 1826. He immigrated to America and settled in Detroit, Michigan. On November 18, 1849, he married Sophia Carolina Henrietta Fuss. He was 23. She was 22. For some reason he was in St Paul, when the war began. The 31 year old rallied to the cause and enlisted there in St Paul.

On April 29, 1861, he was mustered into Company A of the First Minnesota Infantry. On Sept 17, 1862, he was seriously wounded in the left knee at the battle at Antietam, MD. It was so severe it required that his leg be amputated above the knee. He was discharged for medical disability, on November 30, 1862.

After his discharge he was very sick. His amputation hadn't healed well. Gangrene had set in at his stump. He returned to Detroit, which he considered to be his home and the place where he wanted to die. The pain from an improperly healed leg became great and he grew to need morphine to control the discomfort. On January 24, 1863, another amputation further up the leg was required. His mind had become weak from all the morphine. The amputation saved his life but he suffered for years and became dependent on morphine as a pain relieving remedy.

In 1864, Dietrich and Sophie's address in Detroit was 84 S Laurence St. On March 10, 1866, Dietrich filed a pension application and gave their address as Brighton, Illinois.

For some reason Sophie and Dietrich were not together when he died. On July 21, 1885, he was in Louisville, Kentucky, and on his way to the depot at 7:00 am when he fell. He was taken to the City Hospital, where he died that day. Some said it was from sunstroke. Others thought an overdose of morphine. She disagreed, saying that it was a result of the gangrene and festering of his stump, for which she treated him daily but which the hospital attendants failed to do. He was 58 years old.

Sources:

National Archives pension records, Dietrich Vogelsang.

Diedrich Vogelsang