Henry Ernest Buermeyer

Age 21, a noted amateur boxer and all-around athlete, he enlisted in New York City to serve three years and mustered in as Corporal, Company F, 9th New York Militia (83rd Infantry) on 27 May 1861. He was promoted to Sergeant on 7 January 1862.

He was slightly wounded in the left foot in action on 17 September 1862 at Antietam.

He returned to duty about two weeks after the battle. He was commissioned First Lieutenant on 7 October 1863 and was wounded again, more seriously, in the left leg, at Laurel Hill, VA on 10 May 1864. He was treated at a hospital in Washington, DC then furloughed home. He was still recovering, walking with a cane, when he mustered out with his Company on 23 June 1864 in New York City.

He lived in New York City and became a nationally renowned competitive athlete in rowing, swimming, running, and particularly boxing. He was the first national amateur heavyweight boxing champion (1879) - noted for delivering the first knockout, in a fight at Madison Square Gardens in 1878 - and a founding member, in 1868, of the New York Athletic Club.

Basic information from State of New York1. Personal details from his autobiographical sketch posted by family genealogist Eric Buermeyer. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture here with the kind permission of Joseph Maghe, from a CDV in his collection.

08/19/1839; Manhattan, NY

10/10/1922; Brooklyn, NY; burial in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY