Charles Schroeter (July 4, 1837 – January 27, 1921) was a United States Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the American Indian Wars, while serving with Company G, 8th Regiment of the United States Cavalry. A German immigrant, his military career spanned thirty-one years, from 1863 to 1894, during which he also saw action in the American Civil War. He also served a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps. After retirement from the military, he became a merchant.
Biography While listed repeatedly as being born in Lindberg (which is in Bavaria) and also Hanover both in present-day Germany, it is more likely he was born in Lüneburg in the Kingdom of Hanover in 1837. "Lüneburg" is pronounced "Lümborg" in Low German and influenced by the Germanic umlaut or linguistic mark. English speakers may have heard and written it as "Lindberg" or "Lindbergh". Later records cite July 4, 1837, as his birthday. His parents' names are unknown.
Charles Schroeter came to America in 1860 on the German passenger ship Bremen. The ship had picked up passengers at Hanover and Bremen, in Germany, before arriving in New York City on November 12, 1860. He was listed as a merchant. The ship then proceeded to New Orleans.Source Citation: Year: 1860; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820–1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 206; Line: 3; List Number: 1086 Source Information: Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820–1957 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, US: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820–1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.
He found work in New Orleans then moved upriver to St. Louis before hostilities broke out. After his service in the Civil War and his career in the military, he opened "a retail confectionery and cigar store" with "E.L. Hoopes" after moving to Buffalo, New York, in 1894. He was cited in an 1898 Erie County biography as "a successful and prominent citizen, with a long and honorable career, his worth has been duly recognized." Page 141-142.
He was noted about 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 135 lb, with light brown eyes, black hair, and a fair complexion. His military records vary from 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet inches in height. His eye color varies from hazel, to light brown in those same records. His complexion was always listed as fair or ruddy. The variations in the records are not uncommon in the 1800s since each individual officer processing the enlistment had no standard manner, place, light or equipment to make accurate measurement.Collection Citation: "United States, Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914." Database with Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org accessed 2015. Citing NARA microfilm publication M233. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
Charles G. Schroeter reportedly never married or had any children. In 1918, he moved to San Diego, California. He died there on January 27, 1921, at age 83.NOTE: Source Information: Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1905–1939 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, US: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: California Department of Health and Welfare. California Vital Records-Vitalsearch (www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com). The Vitalsearch Company Worldwide, Inc., Pleasanton, California. Page 9726 – State file 3148.Source: Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1905–1939 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, US: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: California Department of Health and Welfare. California Vital Records-Vitalsearch (www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com). The Vitalsearch Company Worldwide, Inc., Pleasanton, California. 9726 – State file 3148
Military service
Civil War On March 15, 1863, Charles Schroeter was mustered into the 1st Volunteer Missouri Cavalry Regiment, 1st Battalion, Company A under Captain Stierlin as a private. His enlistment papers were signed on February 27, 1863. He was mustered out as a private in Company C at Little Rock, Arkansas, on September 1, 1865.NOTE: A Schroeter is listed three times but only two are the same person. The exception is Charles A. F. Schroeter, he is a possible relative. These records also refer to the National Archives and Records Administration; Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, compiled 1890–1912, documenting the period 1861–1866; Catalog ID: 300398; Record Group #: 94; Roll #: 724.
Schroeter and his fellow cavalry soldiers in the 1st Battalion served, conducted operations and fought (with the exceptions to Companies A and C cited below) in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War in the following specific areas as cited in "A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, V. III" by Frederick H. Dyer, 1908, pages 1301–1302.
Regiment at Rolla, Missouri until June 1863. Regiment moved to Pilot Knob, Missouri and joins General John Davidson's Cavalry Division. Expedition against Little Rock, Arkansas, July 1 September 1 to 10, 1863. Engagement at Pocahontas, Missouri August 24. Engagement at Shallow Ford and Bayou Meto, Arkansas County, Arkansas on August 30. Action near Shallow Ford on September 2.
Engagement at Bayou Fourche and capture of Little Rock, Arkansas September 10. Expedition from Benton to Mt. Ida Arkansas November 10–18 Engagement at Caddo Gap, Arkansas November 11. Action near Benton December 1. Reconnaissance from Little Rock December 5–13. (1863) Regiment at Little Rock until March 1864. Regiment at Carter's Creek Polk County, Arkansas in January 1864. Regiment with General Frederick Steele's Expedition to Camden, Arkansas March 23 to May 3, 1864. Engagement at Rockport, Arkansas March 25. Action at Arkadelphia, Arkansas March 29. Action at Spoonville, Clark County, Arkansas April 2. Action at Little Missouri River on April 6. Engagement at Prairie D'Ann April 9–12. Action at Camden on April 15. Action at Jenkins' Ferry, Saline River on April 30. Operations against Confederate General Shelby north of Arkansas River May 18–31, 1864. Action at Osceola, Arkansas on August 2. Action at Benton, Arkansas on August 18. Action near Pine Bluff, Arkansas August 18. Scout to Benton September 6–7. Reconnaissance to Princeton, Arkansas October 19 to 23. Expedition to Saline River November 17 to 18. Expedition to Mt. Elba in Cleveland County, Arkansas from January 22 February 22 to 4, 1865. Regiment at Little Rock, Arkansas until mustering out on September 1, 1865.
1866–1871
Following the Civil War, Schroeter worked briefly as a clerk, until August 9, 1866, when he reenlisted in the United States Army at St. Louis, Missouri. Being sworn in by Captain Bates as a private,Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798–1914 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, US: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798–1914; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M233, 81 rolls); Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C. he was assigned to the 8th Cavalry Regiment and Company (later Troop) G. He fought Cochise and the Chiricahua Apaches during a battle at Rocky Mesa in the Chiricahua Mountains on October 20, 1869, earning the Medal of Honor for Gallantry in Action. This engagement was caused by an earlier attack (October 5) on a stagecoach that killed two civilians and four soldiers traveling as passengers to Tucson, Arizona and an attack on a group of cowboys in the Sulphur Springs Valley by Apache Indians.McChristian, Douglas C. Fort Bowie, Arizona: Combat Post of the Southwest, 1858–1894. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006. Manning, Robert, ed. Above and Beyond: A History of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War to Vietnam. Boston: Boston Publishing Company, 1985. (pg. 325)
A detachment of 66 men of the 1st Cavalry Regiment and 61 men of Company G under Lieutenant John Lafferty of the 8th Cavalry had tracked the Apaches into the Chiricahua Mountains and eventually to an engagement what some called the "Campaign of the Rocky Mesa." The combined troops were led by Captain Reuben F. Bernard of the 1st Cavalry. The cool overcast day became "a miserable day, cold with rain and hail, when the cavalrymen attacked." The Apaches were well entrenched and defending behind rocks and boulders near the top of a ridge. The soldiers had to climb a defile or a steep-sided and narrow passage of loose slick rocks to go over and around as they moved up toward the top of the mesa. More than one fell due to the weather conditions. Under these deplorable conditions Schroeter and his fellow soldiers advanced upwards toward the hostile Indians.
Captain Bernard noted in his report: "These men are they who advanced with me up the steep and rocky mesa under as heavy a fire as I ever saw delivered from the number of men, Indians, say from one hundred to two hundred. These men advanced under this fire until within thirty steps from the Indians when they came to a ledge of rocks where every man who showed his head was shot at by several Indians at once. Here the men remained and did good shooting through the crevices of the rocks until ordered to fall back which was done by running from rock to rock where they would halt and return the fire of the Indians."O'Neal, Bill. Fighting Men of the Indian Wars: A Biographical Encyclopedia of the Mountain Men, Soldiers, Cowboys, and Pioneers Who Took Up Arms During America's Westward Expansion. Stillwater, Oklahoma: Barbed Wire Press, 1991. (pg. 26) Yenne, Bill. Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West. Yardley, Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, 2006. (pg. 141)
As darkness fell, Schroeter with other cavalrymen were ordered to withdraw. They did so in good order individually and in small groups taking their wounded with them down the dangerous slick slopes under enemy fire. Some would provide covering fire while others retreated a short distance, then the process would repeat. Schroeter's commanding officer, Lt. Lafferty, in trying to recover dead soldiers was shot in the mouth destroying his lower left jaw. The entire action cost a likely overestimated 15 to 18 Apache lives and two confirmed soldiers dead with about 4 or 5 (accounts differ) wounded troopers. Schroeter completed his first tour of duty as a private with F Company, 8th Cavalry Regiment on August 9, 1871, while at Fort Selden in New Mexico.
1871–1876 He was reenlisted by Captain Brown on October 7, 1871, at St. Louis, Missouri as a soldier. He is listed as being born at Hanover, Germany, now age 34. He description was noted as Hazel eyes, black hair and fair complexion with his height as 5 feet inches. The 1st Infantry Regiment campaigned against the Sioux in the 1870s while Schroeter was with them. He completed his second enlistment as a sergeant with C Company, 1st Infantry Regiment, while stationed at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory on October 7, 1876. His character was listed as "excellent."Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798–1914 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, US: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2007. Original data: Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798–1914; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M233, 81 rolls); Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
1877–1881
Schroeter traveled to Washington, D.C., and on November 2, 1877, he was sworn into the United States Marine Corps.