Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Kautz, August Valentine

KAUTZ, August Valentine, soldier, b. in Ispringen, Baden, Germany, 5 Jan., 1828. His parents emigrated to this country in 1828, and settled in Brown county, Ohio, in 1832. The son served as a private in the 1st regiment of Ohio volunteers in the Mexican war, and on his discharge was appointed to the United States military academy, where he was graduated in 1852 and assigned to the 4th infantry. He served in Oregon and Washington territory till the civil war, and in the Rogue river wars of 1853-'5, and was wounded in the latter, and in the Indian war on Puget sound in 1856, in which he was also wounded. In 1855 he was promoted 1st lieutenant, and in 1857 commended for gallantry by Gen. Scott. In 1859-'60 he travelled in Europe. He was appointed captain in the 6th U. S. cavalry in 1861, and served with the regiment from its organization through the peninsular campaign of 1862, commanding it during the seven days until just before South Mountain, when he was appointed colonel of the 2d Ohio cavalry. His regiment was ordered to Camp Chase, Ohio, to re-mount and re-fit, and he commanded that post from December, 1862, till April, 1863, when he led a cavalry brigade in Kentucky, forming a part of Gen. Carter's division of the Army of the Ohio. He took part in the capture of Monticello, Ky., 1 May, 1863, and on 9 June was brevetted major for commanding in an action near there. He was engaged in the pursuit and capture of John Morgan in July, 1863, preventing him from crossing the Ohio, and afterward served as chief of cavalry of the 23d corps. On 7 May, 1864, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers and assigned to the command of the cavalry division of the Army of the James. He entered Petersburg with his small cavalry command on 9 June, 1864, for which attack he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, and he led the advance of the Wilson raid, which cut the roads leading into Richmond from the south, for more than forty days. On 28 Oct., 1864, he was brevetted major-general of volunteers, and in March, 1865, was assigned to the command of a division of colored troops, which he marched into Richmond on 3 April. He was brevetted colonel in the regular service for gallant and meritorious service in action on the Darbytown road, Virginia, 7 Oct., 1864. Also brigadier and major-general for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the war, 13 March, 1865. Gen. Kautz was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 34th infantry in 1866, transferred to the 15th in 1869, and commanded the regiment on the New Mexican frontier till 1874. He organized several successful expeditions against the Mescalero Apaches, who had fled from their reservation in 1864, and in 1870-'1 succeeded in establishing the tribe on their reservation, where they have since remained. In June, 1874, he was promoted colonel of the 8th infantry, and in 1875 was placed in command of the department of Arizona. He served in California from 1878 till 1886, and is now (1887) in Nebraska. Gen. Kautz is the author of “The Company Clerk” (Philadelphia, 1863); “Customs of Service for Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers” (1864); and “Customs of Service for Officers” (1866). — His brother, Albert, naval officer, b. in Georgetown, Ohio, 29 June, 1839, was graduated at the U. S. naval academy in 1861. He was appointed lieutenant, 21 April, 1861; lieutenant-commander, 31 May, 1865; commander, 3 Sept., 1872; and captain in 1885. In June, 1861, he was placed in command of the prize brig “Hannah Balch,” off Charleston. S. C., ordered to Philadelphia, and was captured near Cape Hatteras by privateer “Winslow.” For two months he was on parole in North Carolina, and then was imprisoned in Richmond as a retaliatory measure consequent on the imprisonment of privateers in New York city. In October, 1861, he was released on parole and went to Washington to negotiate an exchange, by means of which Admiral John L. Worden, Lieut. George L. Selden, and himself were released from prison and restored to duty, on condition that Lieutenants Stevens, Loyal, and Butt should be sent south under a flag of truce. There were also 350 prisoners, captured at Hatteras Inlet in August, 1861, sent south under the same negotiation, for which they received 350 Union prisoners, who were captured at Hatteras Inlet in July, 1861. This was the first exchange authorized by President Lincoln. He served in the flagship “Hartford” at the passage of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Phillip, at the capture of New Orleans, 24 April, 1862, and in the various engagements with the Vicksburg batteries in June and July, 1862, being highly commended in the official despatches for “gallantry and ability.” He is now (1887) stationed at the Boston navy-yard.