Tag: Henningsen (Charles F.)

Wikipedia says: Charles Frederick Henningsen (1815 – 14 June 1877) was a writer, mercenary, filibuster, and munitions expert. He participated in civil wars and independence movements in Spain, Nicaragua, Hungary, and the United States. He was born in Brussels His father was John Henningsen (1775-1859), a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, and his mother was Louisa Burke (1789-1842), an Irish heiress. However, being adventurous in his youth, he revered Lord Byron in both literature and adventure, and so idealized British nobility in his actions. The family lived in Brussels from at least the time of his birth until the onset of the Belgian Revolution, fleeing due to their pro-Dutch sympathies. The family fled first to Paris, then to London. One of his sisters was Josephine Amelie de Henningsen (1822-1904), a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Assumption, who established the order in South Africa in 1849…

He became a citizen of the United States and was married to a niece of John M. Berrien, U.S. Senator from Georgia. Henningsen continued to pursue filibuster schemes and fought in the American Civil War for the Confederacy for a year, being made colonel (while still addressed as “General”), and frequently had command of the defenses of Richmond. He was involved in the Battle of Elizabeth City. However, disputes with the Confederate War Department and criticisms of President Davis effectively ended his military contributions. His wife, Wilhelmina “Willy” Henningsen (1820-1880) opened and operated a hospital (the Henningsen Hospital) in RIchmond until 1863, when its operations were consolidated with the Louisiana Hospital. She was noted for the kindness and tenderness to the wounded and afflicted soldiers. After the war he took up his residence in Washington, D.C., and was involved in the movement to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule. During his declining years, he lived in straitened circumstances, but was supported by friends such as Colonel Albert Pike.