Rudolph H.F. Roessel Diary

Corporal Rudolph H.F. Roessel (1839–1889) was a German-born immigrant who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born on February 24, 1839, in Lower Oppburg near Neustadt on the Oder (modern-day Germany), Roessel immigrated to the United States at the age of twelve.. He later married Clarissa R. Frey (1840–1929), the daughter of Charles G. Frey and Saloma Dech/Derr, and together they had at least seven children.

Roessel enlisted in the Union Army on October 7, 1862, joining Company B of the 153rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment, a unit recruited from Northampton County, Pennsylvania. The regiment was formed in Easton, Pennsylvania, and was placed under the command of Captain Joseph A. Frey, possibly a relative of Roessel’s wife. The regiment was attached to the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 11th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. Initially stationed for the defense of Washington, D.C., the regiment participated in reconnaissance missions and key battles, including the Chancellorsville Campaign (April-May 1863), where it suffered significant losses during Stonewall Jackson’s flank attack.

During the Gettysburg Campaign (June 11–July 24, 1863), Roessel and his regiment fought in the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863). On July 1, his unit engaged in combat north of the town at Barlow’s Knoll, where they were eventually outflanked and forced to retreat. The regiment then took up defensive positions at East Cemetery Hill, playing a crucial role in repelling Confederate assaults. Roessel was wounded during the intense fighting at Barlow’s Knoll and subsequently taken prisoner by Confederate forces. However, when the Confederates withdrew from Gettysburg following their defeat, he was left behind and later recovered by Union forces.

The 153rd Pennsylvania suffered heavy casualties at Gettysburg, with 211 of its 569 men killed, wounded, or missing. Roessel mustered out with his regiment on July 24, 1863, and later applied for a veteran’s invalid pension on March 6, 1878.

In his later years, Roessel suffered from a debilitating spinal disease and neurological decline. He spent the last four years of his life in a county hospital in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where he died on July 6, 1889, at the age of 50. He was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. His widow, Clarissa, applied for a pension following his death and was later buried alongside him after her passing on September 24, 1929.