Nix, Christian

Tin type photo of Christian Nix.

NPS

Quick Facts

Significance:

24th Regiment of the Wisconsin Volunteers

Place of Birth:

Ederbach, Baden, Germany

Date of Birth:

August 2, 1836

Place of Death:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Date of Death:

January 5 or 6, 1863

Place of Burial:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Cemetery Name:

Stones River National Battlefield

Christian Nix was born on August 2, 1836, in Ederbach, Baden, Germany. He spent his early years in Germany before immigrating to the United States at age 14 with his parents, Catherina and Johann Georg Nix. The family sailed aboard the Hendrik Hudson, arriving in the United States in either 1850 or 1851. Nix became a naturalized U.S. citizen on November 3, 1857, in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.

On June 4, 1861, Nix married Maria Kasper, who had been born in Crenznach, Prussia, on March 13, 1840. The couple made their home in Milwaukee County, where Nix worked as a clerk prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Shortly after the war began, Nix enlisted on June 6, 1861. He was mustered into service on July 16, 1861, as a Third Sergeant in Company F, 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, serving under Captain Lindmann. After approximately one year of service, he was discharged on August 16, 1862, due to promotion. Just three days later, on August 19, 1862, Nix was mustered again—this time as a Second Lieutenant in the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

The 24th Wisconsin departed for Louisville, Kentucky, on September 5, 1862, and by late December had moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. There, Nix took part in the Battle of Stones River, one of the bloodiest engagements of the Civil War. On December 31, 1862, he was shot during the fighting and taken to a hospital that was soon overrun and held by Confederate forces until their withdrawal from the city.

Christian Nix died from his wounds on January 5 or 6, 1863.

In a letter to his wife during the war, Nix expressed both hope and foreboding:

“The dear Lord, I will thank God if I can come home even in three years but we don’t want to think that. Therefore I feel obliged for your benefit and advantage to take trouble to get your support from the city like from the State of Wisconsin because one does not know dear Mari how things will be with me then you will thank me probably for it when I am no longer alive.”

Nix also wrote a poem titled The Soldier’s Dream of Home, believed to have been written for Maria. Following his death, she received a widow’s pension of $15 per month, with an additional $2 per month for each child under the age of 16.

Christian Nix is buried at Stones River National Cemetery, Plot N-5390, where his story continues to represent the sacrifice of immigrant soldiers who fought and died far from home.