Charles Saalmann
Charles Daniel Saalmann (April 25, 1836 – February 21, 1909) was a captain of Union infantry during the American Civil War. He was wounded at Gettysburg and acted as a Commissary of Subsistence during General William T. Sherman's famed March to the Sea. After the war, he established the Black Rose Vineyard near Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. As a vintner, he produced claret wines that received medals at international competitions. Early life Saalmann was born on April 25, 1836, in Breckerfeld, Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, Westphalia, Prussia. The small town of Breckerfeld straddles a plateau nine miles south of the Ruhr River. Saalmann's father, Daniel (1788–1865) was a surgeon in Breckerfeld. His mother, Charlotte Dorfmueller (1795–1878) came from nearby Hulscheid. Saalmann was the last of nine children. Marriage and family Saalmann married 18-year-old Emilie Schulte, on June 29, 1860, in the village of Wiblingwerde, eight miles to the northwest of Breckerfeld. Leaving Emilie behind temporarily, Saalmann emigrated to America. He had arrived in Philadelphia by the summer of 1861. Emilie came to the United States shortly thereafter, and lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey, during Saalmann's participation in the American Civil War. The couple would eventually have three children, all born after the