Joseph Kargé

Joseph Kargé (born Poznan, Grand Duchy of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, July 4, 1823 - December 27, 1892, New York City) was a military officer and educator. He was involved in the unsuccessful 1848 revolutions in Poland and was sentenced to death. He fled to France, then England, and arrived in New York City in 1851 as a political refugee. He taught classes in classical literature and foreign languages until the Civil War. He was commissioned the military as lieutenant colonel in the 1st New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and promoted to colonel. He was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run, did not heal fully, and was rendered inactive for most of the War. A later Congressional Record from 1894 noted he suffered a gunshot wound that effectively ended his career in the military. He returned to lead the 2nd New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry Regiment in November 1863 and took part in raids of Tennessee and Alabama. His victory over General Nathan Bedford Forrest at Bolivar, Tennessee, is the only cavalry loss record for Forrest, who developed a reputation as a superb cavalry leader. Kargé was brevetted brigadier general by Lincoln on March 13, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious services during the war" at the recommendation of Benjamin Grierson.

In the latter part of his life, he taught literature at Princeton University for the next twenty years of his life.