Death of Prince Salm-Salm--A Ro-
mantic Life.
Among the killed at the battle of Grave-
lotte, on the 18th, was Prince Felix Salm-
Salm, Major in the Prussian Grenadier
Guard.
Becoming involved in debts in Berlin
and Vienna, the Prince came to this coun-
try on a desperate military adventure at
he outset of the Rebellion. Here he made
himself better known than esteemed in the
too famous camps of Blenker and about
the hotels of Washington, till, fortunately
for himself, he fell in with, found favor in
the sight of, and married a handsome, dash-
ing, and spirited girl of Creole origin, Miss
LeClerc. The new princess made up her
mind to be a princess indeed. Through
her indefatigable exertions of all kinds, her
husband was made a brigadier in the
United States army. He served in Alab-
ma and Georgia with no particular dis-
tinction, but not without credit. After the
war was over, he hesitated for some time
between accepting a position in our regu-
lar army or going back to Europe, and
finally decided on trying his fortunes in
Mexico. He was not at first well received
by Maximillian, then nearing the close of
his hopeless imperial experiment. But
the calamities of 1867 threw him into close
relations with the unfortunate Emperor
who finally mad him his first aide-de-
camp. He went with Maximillian to Que-
retaru; behaved most faithfully and gal-
lantly in that dark hour of treachery and
despair; was captured with his master, and
would doubtlessly have been shot with him
had not his wife displayed, in the service
both of her luckless husband and of his
more luckless emperor, a fertility of re-
sources, a daring, a perserverance, and a
skill worthy of any heroine of romance.
The Princess finally succeeded in saving her
husband's life. He suffered an imprison-
ment of nearly a year at Vera Cruz, from
which also by her influence and energy he
was released in 1863. She then went with
him to Europe, where she fought and won
a still more arduous battle for him by se-
curing not only his re-admission to the so-
ial privileges of his order, but his appoint-
ment to the highest rank which he held at
the time of his death in the Prussian army.
The Princess survives her husband and re-
sides with the family of her brother, at
Anbalt.
Maintained by
Sue Greenhagen.
E-mail:
greenhsh@morrisville.edu