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54 and 19 years of age. My father was well-to-do, so when I was a boy I had a private tutor. Later I went to the Colege of Commerce and Industry for four years. I graduated from the engineering department. At that time it was the custom to pay for apprenticeships, so my father paid for an apprenticeship for me in a commercial house. The honor men in the schools and colleges were compelled to serve but one year instead of three in the Grman Army. As I was an honor man, I was only required to put in one year of service. I wanted to come to the United States, but on account of the requirements for military service, I could not leave unless I could pass the examination for reserve officer. I passed this examination successfully and secured a passport which entitled me to be absent for one year, after which I was required to come back and serve in the German Army. I had not been in the United States long till the Civil War broke out and I at once enlisted in Fremont's bodyguard. In the early days of the Civil War, the military service was honeycombed by political intrigue and favoritism. An intrigue was formed against Fremont, and General Hunter was sent to relieve him. This was just on the eve of an attack on the Confederate General Price. Price in the mix-up escaped, and Hunter was superseded. Fremont's bodyguard were discharged after our fight at Springfield, October 25, 1861, in which I was wounded, and I went to St. Louis and re-enlisted in the 5th Missouri Cavalry. Captain Nathaniel Lyon, a loyal and able officer was in command of the St. Louis Arsenal. St. Louis was full of Southern sympathizers. The Confederates were seizing arms, ordnance and supplies wherever they were located in the South, and as the governor of Missouri favored the secessionists had it not been for the energetic action of Captain Lyon, the arsenal at St. Louis would have fallen into the hands of southern sympathizers. Governor Jackson ordered the militia into camp in the vicinity of the arsenal. These men were armed with