Arno Voss (April 16, 1821 – March 23, 1888) was a

German American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

military commander, lawyer, and politician. After studying law in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, Voss came to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to edit a newspaper. He later established a law practice there. In 1862, he was named colonel of the 12th Illinois Cavalry, leading the brigade until 1864. After the war, Voss re-opened his practice and served one term in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

Early life and education

Voss was born in

Rahden Rahden is a town in the far north of North Rhine-Westphalia between Bielefeld and Bremen and between Hanover and Osnabrück. Rahden is part of the Minden-Lübbecke District in East Westphalia-Lippe. Rahden was first mentioned in 1033, and from 1 ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

on April 16, 1821. Voss married in Germany but he and his wife had no children. Early in his adulthood, he immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He settled in

Lancaster, Ohio Lancaster ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, and its county seat. The population was 40,552 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Ohio, Ohio's 30th largest city, having surpassed Warren, Ohio, Warren and Fin ...

, where he was admitted to the bar.

Career

Voss moved to

in 1848 to take a position as the editor of the '' Illinois Staats-Zeitung'', a German-language newspaper. The next year, Hermann Kriege assumed the editorship and Voss opened a law practice. He became involved with the Chicago German Off Battalion, a citizen soldier group that was attached to the 60th Regiment, Illinois State Militia. Voss was elected Chicago City Attorney in 1852 and was re-elected the next year. In 1854, Voss was named an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the newly formed Washington Independent Regiment. Voss was still serving in this role upon the outbreak of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. On September 4, 1861, Voss was named major of the 6th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. On February 1, 1862, he assisted in the creation of the 12th Illinois Cavalry, closing his law firm so that he could focus on the regiment. It was then deployed to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

as part of the

Peninsula Campaign The Peninsula campaign (also known as the Peninsular campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March to July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The oper ...

. The regiment was attached to

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Arm ...

and was present for the disastrous

Battle of Harpers Ferry The Battle of Harpers Ferry was fought September 12–15, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. As Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee's Confederate States Army, Confederate army invaded Maryland, a portion of his ...

. Voss took two thousand cavalry to the enemy lines, creating an opening to let the regiment retreat. They regrouped in

Greencastle, Pennsylvania Greencastle is a borough in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,251 at the 2020 census. Greencastle lies within the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania. History Indigenous People The region known to ...

and were attached to

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...

in time for the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam ( ), also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, took place during the American Civil War on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virgi ...

. The regiment also witnessed the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

and Stoneman's 1863 Raid. In early 1864, Colonel Voss was forced to resign due to poor health.

Later life and death

Voss recuperated over the next couple of years on his farm in

Will County, Illinois Will County is a county in the northeastern part of the state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 696,355, an increase of 2.8% from 677,560 in 2010, making it Illinois's fourth-most populous county. The county sea ...

. In 1869, he returned to Chicago to re-establish his law practice. In 1876, he was elected to the

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, where he served one two-year term. On December 1, 1880, he was named a master of chancery of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Voss died at his home following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

he suffered in his office earlier in the day on March 23, 1888. He was buried in Waldheim Cemetery (now part of Forest Home Cemetery). President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

signed a bill appropriating a grant to Voss' widow over the loss of a trunk during the war.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voss, Amos 1821 births 1888 deaths Prussian emigrants to the United States Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives People from Rahden Politicians from Chicago People of Illinois in the American Civil War Union army colonels 19th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly