More on Paul von Koenig

A number of months ago, I posted about Capt. Paul von Koenig, who was killed at the Battle of White Sulphur Springs, and who obviously plays a major role in the tale of that battle that I am beginning to write. I had a really difficult time finding anything substantive about him for a long time, and almost nothing about his life in Germany. The bulk of what I found deals strictly with his short 2.5 years here in the United States.

Captain von Koenig was actually Baron von Koenig, and he was a member of an ancient ennobled family from Lower Saxony that dates back to at least the 17th Century. One of Paul von Koenig’s brothers was a lieutenant general of cavalry in the Kaiser’s army during World War I. That brother, Lt. Gen. Gotz von Koenig, had a son who became a famous painter. Leo von Koenig, the painter, had a son named Dominik, who is now 66 years old.

This past week, Freiherr (Baron) Dr. Dominik von Koenig contacted me after his son found my postings about Paul von Koenig on this blog. Baron von Koenig has been unfailingly generous with me, and has agreed to provide me with some family reminiscences of Paul von Koenig written by one of the captain’s brothers. I’ve asked him to help me to locate some family history on the von Koenig family so that I can elaborate a bit on just who this man and his family were. He’s agreed to talk to one of his cousins, who still owns the family estate in Lower Saxony, to see whether there might be an image of Paul von Koenig somewhere in the family so that I can use it in the book if one exists.

In return, I will be able to solve some family myths/mysteries for him and to elaborate on his great-uncle’s brave performance during the American Civil War. Captain von Koenig died while leading a flank attack on the Confederate infantry at White Sulphur Springs.

To make a long story short, Baron von Koenig’s coming forward and offering to help me will enable me to do something that I really wanted to do with my White Sulphur Springs project, which is to include an appendix on Paul von Koenig that really tells his fascinating story. It will flesh out the book and make an interesting story even more interesting.

I am very grateful to Baron von Koenig for coming forward and offering to help me.