Frederick Knefler Frederick Knefler ( April 12 , 1824 – June 14 , 1901 ) served in the Union Army in the U . S . Civil War , joining as a first lieutenant in May 1861 and mustering out as a Brevet Brigadier General on June 11 , 1865 . Early life . Frederick Knefler ( Knoepfler Frigyes ) was born in Arad , Hungary , son of Nathan Knoepfler , a Hungarian Jew and a physician . He enlisted with his father in the revolutionary forces during the 1848 - 49 Hungarian War of Liberation . After the revolutionary forces were defeated , the entire Knoepfler family fled to the United States , first to New York , then to Indianapolis , Indiana . As one of the earliest Jewish families settling in Indianapolis , Dr . Knoepfler was one of the original founders of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation . Knefler trained as a carpenter in New York , a trade he continued in Indianapolis as he studied law . He became assistant to the clerk of Marion County , Indiana , in which position he became acquainted with Lew Wallace . Civil War service . 11th Indiana Infantry . Upon President Lincoln ’ s proclamation calling for the raising of 75 , 000 troops after the firing on Fort Sumter , Governor Oliver Morton appointed Lew Wallace Adjutant - General with the task of raising Indiana ’ s quota . Wallace , in turn , appointed Knefler as his principal assistant . After raising five regiments , Wallace requested and received command of the 11th Indiana Infantry , commissioning Knefler as a first lieutenant in it ; he was promoted to captain on June 5 , 1861 . The 11th Indiana Infantry was sent to the Washington , D . C . area , participated in several skirmishes , but missed the first battle of Bull Run . Their 3 - month term of enlistment expired , the regiment was shipped back to Indianapolis and mustered out . When Wallace then formed a new 11th Indiana Infantry in August 1861 , Knefler was commissioned a captain in it . Soon after , however , Wallace became a brigadier general and Knefler went with him as his assistant adjutant general . Aide to General Lew Wallace . Wallace ’ s brigade was part of Grant ’ s force in the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson , playing a key part in preventing the Confederate forces from forcing an escape from Fort Donelson through the Union lines . Wallace ' s report of the battle stated that Knefler ’ s “ prompt and efficient service in the field ” and his “ courage and fidelity have earned my lasting gratitude . ” Knefler was also with Wallace in the Battle of Shiloh , and his loss of the messenger ' s written transcription of Grant ’ s oral order during the battle probably prevented resolution of the dispute between the two generals over whether the ambiguity of the order or Wallace ’ s actions caused his failure to reach the battle on the first day . Colonel of 79th Indiana Infantry . After Wallace ’ s removal from active service , Indiana governor Oliver Morton appointed Knefler the commanding colonel of the newly formed 79th Indiana Infantry in August 1862 . Sent to join Buell ’ s Army of the Ohio , his regiment , as part of the brigade led by Brigadier General Samuel Beatty , became involved in the battles of Stones River , Chickamauga , and Missionary Ridge . At Stones River , Knefler reported his regiment lost one - third of its 341 men , including one - half of its commissioned officers . The 79th Indiana captured a key battery during the first day of Chickamauga , but was cut in half in the Confederate breakthrough on the second day , Knefler ’ s half attempting to regroup Beatty ’ s brigade until withdrawn , the other half helping hold Snodgrass Hill until the Confederate charge was finally repulsed . In the battle of Missionary Ridge , Knefler was in command of the combined 79th Indiana and 86th Indiana infantry regiments that led the unexpected charge up the center of the ridge . General Beatty ’ s report after the battle complimented Knefler for the charging of Missionary Ridge , and fellow colonel George Dick wrote that he “ richly merits a commission as brigadier - general for his gallantry displayed in the charging and taking of Missionary Ridge . ” According to the Jewish - American History Foundation in recognition of the services rendered by the regiment at Chickamauga , the state of Indiana erected a monument on the battlefield after the war . The tablet of the monument reads : INDIANA ' S TRIBUTE TO HER SEVENTY - NINTH REGIMENT INFANTRY Col . Frederick Knefler , Commanding First Brigade ( Samuel Beatty ) Third Division ( Van Cleve ) Twenty - first Corps ( Crittenden ) Atlanta Campaign . Following Missionary Ridge , the 79th Indiana moved toward Knoxville and participated in the east Tennessee winter campaign until transferred to join General Sherman ’ s Atlanta Campaign . During this campaign , because of General Beatty ’ s illness , Knefler was given command of the entire brigade , although remaining a colonel . Knefler ’ s brigade participated in the entire campaign , playing a major role in the battles of Pickett ’ s Mill , Peach Tree Creek , Jonesboro , and Lovejoy ’ s Station , and marching into Atlanta . Promotion to brigadier general . When Confederate general Hood decided to cut Sherman ’ s supply line by invading Tennessee , Knefler ’ s brigade was one of those sent to join General Thomas to counter Hood . In the battle of Franklin , Knefler ’ s brigade guarded one flank as Hood put all his effort into a massive charge on the Union center , and thus suffered few casualties . In the battle of Nashville , Knefler ’ s brigade on December 16 , 1864 formed the reserve behind which the two charging brigades reformed after being repulsed . He then ordered his brigade to charge the confused enemy , forcing them into retreat and capturing much of their arms . On March 13 , 1865 Knefler was brevetted brigadier general . Knefler ’ s brigade was part of the army preparing to move from east Tennessee into Virginia when the war ended . Following the final review of Thomas ’ s army in Nashville on May 9 , 1865 , he returned with the 79th Indiana Infantry to Indianapolis where he was mustered out . Post - war activities . Following the war , Knefler became a lawyer in Indianapolis , joining in partnership with former U . S . Attorney John Hanna . After his partner was elected in Congress in 1876 , Knefler was appointed head of the pension office in Indianapolis by President Rutherford B . Hayes , where he served eight years . As president of the board of regents of Indiana ’ s Soldiers and Sailors Monument , he oversaw the laying of the cornerstone in the center of Indianapolis on August 22 , 1889 , but died before its completion in 1902 . He died June 14 , 1901 in Indianapolis , Indiana and is buried Crown Hill Cemetery ; his grave can be found in Section 8 , Lot 22 .