Albin Francisco Schoepf Albin Francisco Schoepf ( March 1 , 1822 – May 10 , 1886 ) was an European - born military officer who became a Union brigadier general during the American Civil War , best known as the commanding officer of Fort Delaware , a wartime camp for Confederate prisoners of war . Early life . Schoepf was born in Podgórze , Poland . He entered the Vienna Military Academy in 1837 , became a lieutenant of artillery in 1841 , and served in Hungary as a captain in the Austrian Army . At the beginning of the Hungarian Revolution in 1848 , he resigned his commission and enlisted as a private in the Hungarian Revolutionary Army under Lajos Kossuth . He was soon promoted to major . When Kossuth abdicated in 1849 , Schoepf was exiled to Turkey , where he served served under Gen . Jozef Bem against the insurgents at Aleppo , and afterward became instructor of artillery in the Ottoman Empire ' s army with the rank of major . Washington , D . C . . He emigrated to the United States in 1851 . Befriended by Joseph Holt , Schoepf served as a clerk first in the U . S . Coastal Survey and later in the U . S . Patent Office and the War Department ( working under Holt ) . While working in Washington , D . C . Schoepf married Julie Bates Kesley in 1855 ; they had 9 children together . Civil War . Appointed a brigadier general of volunteers on September 30 , 1861 , Schoepf ' s brigade fought well at the Battle of Camp Wildcat , repulsing Confederates under Brig . Gen . Felix Zollicoffer . This was followed a few weeks later by Schoepf ' s precipitate retreat , by order of his superior officer , from London , Kentucky to Crab Orchard , which the Confederates called the “ Wild - Cat stampede . ” Schoepf and his troops later fought Zollicoffer at the Battle of Mill Springs . Proving himself an aggressive and able field commander , Schoepf was promoted to division command in August 1862 , but often found himself at odds with Army of the Ohio commander Maj . Gen . Don Carlos Buell , especially after being denied orders to attack until late in the Battle of Perryville . Appointed to a military board of inquiry investigating Buell ' s conduct during the campaign , Schoepf made no secret of his disapproval of his commander ' s actions — so much so that Buell raised Schoepf ' s hostility as an issue . Not wanting his involvement to affect the Buell investigation ' s outcome , Schoepf asked Army general - in - chief Henry W . Halleck to transfer him to another assignment . On April 13 , 1863 , Schoepf was ordered to report to Fort Delaware as commanding office and served the balance of the war in that command . He was mustered out of service on January 15 , 1866 . Fort Delaware , located on Pea Patch Island , served as a prisoner - of - war camp for captured Confederate soldiers and sailors . According to Laura M . Lee , historian at Fort Delaware State Park , " . . . it was not a pleasant place by any standards , historical records and the death rate testify to the fact that it was one of the more survivable prison camps , North or South . " The prisoner complex held up to 11 , 500 at its peak ( July 1863 ) , with a cumulative population of 33 , 000 by war ' s end . According to " They Died at Fort Delaware 1861 - 1865 " by historian Jocelyn P . Jamison and compiled from NARA records , about 2 , 460 prisoners died , 109 guards and 39 civilians . Postbellum career . After the war , Schoepf returned to the U . S . Patent Office and died after a long illness , likely stomach cancer . He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington , D . C .