Battle of Waterloo - 1815
BATTLE OF WATERLOO, On June 18, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte received a crushing military
defeat on the fields near the Belgian village of Waterloo, about 9 miles (14
kilometers) south of
Brussels. Napoleon's defeat ended 23 years of recurrent warfare between France
and the other
powers of Europe. The battle betwee n Napoleon's forces, which included 72,000
troops, and a
combined Allied army of 113,000 British, Dutch, Belgian, and Prussian troops
was fought so
hard that either side might have won. A heavy rain the evening before the
battle forced
Napoleon to delay his attack. The delay cost him the battle.
Two Prussian Lieutenants: Lieutenant de Quistorff (1st) and Lieutenant de Quistorff (2nd)
were wounded on June 18, 1815. They are listed as members of the Field Battalion Bremen. This Infantry battalion was formed under the 1st Hanoveran Brigade,
under the 3rd Infantry Division, under I Corps, commanded by the Prince of Orange.
Austro-Prussian War - 1866
SEVEN WEEKS' WAR, also called the Austro-Prussian War, military conflict (1866) between Austria
and Prussia that left Prussia the dominant power in Germany.
The war was provoked by the Prussian foreign minister Otto von Bismarck. In the 39-state German
Confederation, established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Prussia and Austria were rivals for
leadership, and Bismarck was determined to tip the scales in Prussia's favor. Two years earlier
(1864), Austria and Prussia together had made war on Denmark and taken from it the duchies of
Schleswig and Holstein. By the Convention of Gastein (1865) Austria had received jurisdiction over
Holstein and Prussia over Schleswig and the duchy of Lauenburg. Neither Austria nor Prussia,
however, was satisfied with the settlement. Making use of this situation to further his goal,
Bismarck interfered in the Austrian administration of Holstein, and when Austria protested to the
legislature of the confederation, he sent Prussian troops into Holstein. Hannover,
Hesse-Kassel, Saxony, Bavaria, Württemberg, and some other German states, fearing Prussian
expansion, supported Austria. Prussia had secured the neutrality of most non-German powers and
concluded an alliance with Italy.
In the actual war, declared by Austria on June 14, the Prussians soon gained the advantage,
thanks to their strategist, Count Helmuth von Moltke. They quickly captured Hannover and
Hesse-Kassel, then invaded Saxony and Bohemia, and finally inflicted a crushing defeat on the
Austrians at Königgrätz in Austria (now Hradec Králové, Czech Republic) on July 3.
By the Treaty of Prague (Aug. 23, 1866) and related agreements, the German Confederation was
dissolved; Prussia annexed Hannover and Hesse-Kassel; Austria ceded Holstein to Prussia, paid
a small indemnity, and ceded Venetia to Italy. The following year Prussia organized the North
German Confederation, from which Austria was excluded, while Austria gathered its remaining
territories in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
August H. Quistorf served in the German Army during this war.
He emigrated to the U.S. two years later, in 1868, and settled in Mishicot, Wisconsin.
U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) Battle of Spanish Fort
Battle of Spanish Fort. Mobile (Alabama) Campaign (1865)
Dates: March 27-April 8, 1865
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby [US]; Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson [CS] Forces Engaged: XVI and XIII Corps [US]; Spanish Fort Garrison [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 1,401 (Union States: 657; Confederate States: 744)
Description: Maj. Gen. Canby’s XIII and XVI corps moved along the eastern
shore of Mobile Bay forcing the Confederates back into their defenses. Union forces
then concentrated on Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. On March 27, 1865, Canby’s
forces rendezvoused at Danley’s Ferry and immediately undertook a siege of Spanish
Fort. The Union had enveloped the fort by April 1, and on April 8 captured it. Most of
the Confederate forces, under the command of Brig. Gen. Gibson, escaped
and fled to Mobile, but Spanish Fort was no longer a threat.
Result: Union victory.
Johann "John" H. Quistorff, is listed in the "Wisconsin Volunteers". He
was a private in Company E, 27th Infantry Regiment. Originally from Oldenburg, Germany, he was a resident
of Two Rivers, Wisconsin when he enlisted on 28 Sep 1864, served as a private,
was wounded 28 Mar 1865 at Spanish Fort, and was mustered out 14 Jul
1865.
Additionaly Edwin H. Quistorff enlisted in the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry and Roswill F. Quistof (spelling?) enlisted in Company A, 12th Iowa Infantry.
