He had previous military service as a Lieutenant in his native Germany from 1848-1851. In this case, we do not know if Brinkmann and Wimpfheimer knew each other, but at the time of their respective 1861 enlistments, they lived a mere five blocks apart in Philadelphia. In addition to confirming military service and locating proof that the soldiers and sailors in the Shapell Roster were Jewish, we also look to see if there are any connections between soldiers. Fortunately, both Brinkmann and Wimpfheimer are included in family trees on popular genealogical sites, identified as Jewish and as Civil War soldiers who died at Antietam. Thus, we are indebted to the families of the deceased soldiers - those who applied for a pension, or, generations later, those who included them in a family tree. But, even if they had, many were buried on the battlefields rather than in denominational cemeteries, and if young, as so many were, they never had a chance to leave much of a mark in the historical record. It’s particularly challenging to identify Civil War soldiers who were KIA as Jewish because the US Army didn’t record religious affiliation.
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