Fr. Emmeran Bliemel, O.S.B.
Elizabeth Cousins, Saint Vincent Archabbey Public Relations
In 1860 Father Bliemel was assigned to a
German Catholic parish in Nashville, Tennessee. Six months after his arrival
most of the adult men of his parish joined the Tenth Tennessee regiment to
fight for the Confederacy. After Nashville was occupied by Union forces early
in 1862,Father Bliemel dedicated
himself to giving aid to wounded soldiers in Nashville, whether they were
Confederate or Union. Smuggling medicine to Confederate forces,
Father Bliemel was arrested twice by
the Union occupation forces. Eventually Father Bliemel decided that he had to
take a more active role. The Tenth Tennessee had elected him in absentia their
chaplain. Seeking permission from his bishop, which was reluctantly given,
Chaplain Bliemel joined the Tenth Tennessee. On August 31, 1864,
now a veteran of many battles, Chaplain Bliemel stood with the men of the Tenth
Tennessee as they launched an assault on a Union position during the battle of
Jonesboro, Georgia. In the course of the attack Father ”Emery”, as the men
fondly called him, performed his customary duty of rendering assistance to the
wounded and the Last Rites to the dying. Colonel Grace, the commanding officer
of the Tenth Tennessee (an Irish-Catholic
Brigade), fell to the ground mortally wounded. Immediately Father Bliemel
was at his side administering the Last Rites. In the midst of the sacrament,
Father Bliemel was decapitated by a cannonball. Father Bliemel was the first American
Catholic Chaplain to die on the battlefield.
Holy Cross Cemetery
Tuscumbia, Alabama
Holy Cross Cemetery
Tuscumbia, Alabama
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