Lieutenant Colonel Charles Kochersperger (18261867) was a Union Army officer with the 71st Pennsylvania Infantry Volunteers Regiment. He was the unit's second-in-command at the 1863

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 its commander at the 1864

Battle of the Wilderness The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant general (United States), Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General (C ...

. Kochersperger was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, on February 8, 1826, the eldest son of Charles Kochersperger by his wife Jane, McDonnell. He was married there on July 4, 1849, to Sarah Ann Bozorth of the same place. In 1855, he purchased a private mail delivery company, Blood's Penny Post, which issued its own postage stamps and competed directly with the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

. It would eventually be shut down by a

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

decision. In 1861, he enlisted with the 71st Pennsylvania Volunteers Regiment. He rose to second-in-command by Gettysburg and full command for the Wilderness, where he was severely wounded. Kochersperger died from the long-term effects of his war wounds in Philadelphia on December 27, 1867, and was buried on Dec. 29 at the city's Odd Fellows Cemetery, now defunct. His widow survived him by 45 years, dying in

Darby, Pennsylvania Darby is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is located along Darby Creek southwest of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. The borough of Darby is distinct from the ne ...

, on April 14, 1912.

References

*National Archives and Records Administration

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Washington DC, Civil War Pension records, file No. 160962, 141514 *Pickett's Charge. The Last attack at Gettysburg, by Earl J. Hess, 2001 University of North Carolina Press *Philadelphia History, volume 2, by S. P. Wetherill

rs. Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Afri ...

Philadelphia 1916, page 233 *Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, by John Fanning Watson, Willis Pope Hazard, Philadelphia 1891, page 477 *The Museum, by Edwin Atlee Berber, Philadelphia 1885, page 10 *http://www.kochersperger-genealogie.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Kochersperger, Charles 1826 births 1867 deaths Military personnel from Philadelphia People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Union army officers