Frederick George D'Utassy

(1827 - 1892)
Home State: New York
Command Billet: Brigade Commander
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 1st Brigade, HF Garrison

Before the Antietam Campaign:
A veteran of the Austrian Army and refugee after the unsuccessful Hungarian Revolution of 1848, he'd been a cavalry instructor and private secretary in Europe before crossing to Nova Scotia about 1855. He came to New York in October 1860, and organized the 39th New York Infantry in New York City, mustering as Colonel on 29 May 1861. They were at Washington in June, saw action at First Bull Run in July, and in the Shenandoah Valley in Spring 1862.

In the Antietam Campaign:
He was placed in command of the Brigade in the defense of Harpers Ferry, and surrendered with his command on 15 September.

The remainder of the War:
Not long after being exchanged with his Regiment - from Camp Douglas, Chicago - he was charged with several counts of fraud, financial mismanagement, misappropriating government property, and other offenses, and tried by Court Martial in April and May 1863. The New York Times of 13 June 1863 announced the result:

COL. D'UTASSY's CASE.
The following was the format sentence of Col. D'UTASSY and its approval:
And the Court, after further consideration, did sentence Col. F.G. D'UTASSY, the prisoner, "To forfeit all pay and allowances now due, and that may become due to him: To be cashiered: To be confined at hard labor for the period of one year, at such place as the Secretary of War shall direct: To be disqualified from holding any office of trust, honor, or employment in the service of the United States; and the crime, name and punishment of the delinquent to be published in at least three of the public papers of the State of New-York."

II. The whole proceedings of the General Court-martial in the foregoing case having been laid before the Secretary of War, the following are his orders thereon:
WAR DEPARTMENT, May 25, 1863.
The proceedings, finding and sentence of the Court-martial in the foregoing case are approved, and the State Prison at Sing Sing, N.Y., is designated as the place of confinement of the prisoner. The Adjutant-General will issue the proper orders to carry the sentence into effect.
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
Approved: A. LINCOLN.

After the War:
After serving a year in prison, he lived in New York City and ran a portrait studio (-1867), then was an importer. He may have moved to Baltimore sometime before his death: being "found unconscious in his room at the Hotel Willis, [Wilmington, Delaware] last Saturday morning from the effects of inhaling gas, died at the Delaware hospital ...".

References, Sources, and other notes:
Service dates from Phisterer 1, with further biographical info from The Thorny Rose (Ch. 10) - Catherine Catalfamo's 1989 PhD Thesis - hosted online by the NY State Military Museum. Cause of death quote from The Columbus (Georgia) Daily Enquirer of 6 May 1892, transcribed online by Sue Greenhagen. The charges, specifications, pleas, and findings of the Court Martial are in War Department General Orders #159 of 29 May 1863 (online from GoogleBooks). The photograph above from one in the collection of the Library of Congress 2.

Birth Date: 11/26/1827 Place of Birth: Zala Nagy Kalirsa, Hungary
Death Date: 05/05/1892 Death Place: Wilmington, DE Burial Place: Loudon Park Cemetery, Baltimore, MD

Notes

1 Phisterer, Frederick, New York in the War of the Rebellion, 6 volumes, Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1909-12, Vol. 3, pp. 2188, 2200 [AotW citation 1185]

2 US Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, Published c 1998, first accessed 01 January 2000, <http://www.loc.gov/pictures/>, Source page: /pictures/resource/cwpb.04465/ [AotW citation 1186]

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