Max Frauenthal
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Max Frauenthal | |
|---|---|
 Max Frauenthal in later life | |
| Born | November 11, 1836 |
| Died | March 8, 1914 (aged 77) McGehee, Arkansas, United States |
| Occupation | Merchant |
| Spouse | Sallie Jacobs |
| Children | 7 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Confederate States |
| Branch | Confederate States Army |
| Rank | Drummer |
| Unit | 16th Mississippi Infantry |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
Max Frauenthal (also Frankenthal, or Fronthall) (November 11, 1836 – March 8, 1914) was a leading merchant in post-bellum Arkansas, and was a founding father of Conway, Arkansas; Heber Springs, Arkansas; and Cleburne County, Arkansas. He is known for the courage he showed during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in the American Civil War.[1]
The name "Frauenthal" was derived from the German city the Frauenthals lived in. Max Frauenthal's grandfather, who was called simply Meyer, adopted the name Frauenthal in early nineteenth century, when the Napoleonic Code required European Jews to take surnames.[2]
Early life
Max Frauenthal was born on November 11, 1836, in Marienthal, Rhenish Bavaria. His family moved to the United States when he was 15 years old, eventually settling in Brookhaven, Mississippi, after short stints in New York City, Texas and Louisiana.[2]
The Civil War
Frauenthal enlisted in the Confederate States Army as a private in Company A of the 16th Mississippi Infantry Regiment at Summit, Mississippi; one of 1500 Jewish volunteers in the Confederate Army. Although he was officially an army drummer, he often used his musket in battle. Some of the most "terrific and long-sustained fighting" (as described by a private A. T. Watts) was fought at Bloody Acute Angle at Spotsylvania, Virginia, on May 12, 1864. For several hours, surrounded by the soldiers from Union Army, Frauenthal fought between the "most terrific hail of lead, and coolly and deliberately loaded and fired without cringing."[3]
Frauenthal's bravery made a lasting impression on Watts. Almost 30 years after the battle, in an 1893 letter, Watts (by then a judge in Dallas) wrote:
I cannot forego the mention of one individual. Fronthall, a little Jew, though insignificant in appearance, had the heart of a lion ... I now understand how it was that a handful of Jews could drive before them the hundred kings; they were all Fronthalls![4]
The phrase "a regular Fronthall" was used to refer to the bravest soldiers in 16th Regiment. Brought home by the veterans from Texas, it is still in use in the area around Galveston.[3][4][5]