Heros von Borcke (23 July 1835-10 May 1895) was a Prussian Army captain and Confederate States Army Lieutenant-Colonel during the American Civil War and the Austro-Prussian War.
Biography[]
Johann August Heinrich Heros von Borcke was born in Koblenz, Prussia on 23 July 1835 to a military family, and he served in the Brandenburg dragoons of the Prussian Army before the American Civil War broke out, upon which Von Borcke - seeking adventure and escape from his creditors - emigrated to the United States and made his way to Richmond, Virginia. There, he was made a Captain in the Confederate States Army, and he became a close confidant and aide to the Confederate cavalry general J.E.B. Stuart; he was nicknamed the "Giant in Grey". He served as Stuart's Chief of Staff and Adjutant General during the 1862 Maryland campaign, and he was significantly wounded during the 1863 Gettysburg campaign. He recovered in time to serve alongside Stuart during the 1864 Overland Campaign, and he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel after his superior was killed in action at the Battle of Yellow Tavern. With the Confederacy's defeat in 1865, he returned to Europe and resumed his Prussian military career, serving in the Austro-Prussian War and being awarded the Order of the Red Eagle while serving on the staff of Prince Friedrich Karl. He retired from the army in 1867 due to lingering Civil War wounds, and he moved to Sichts, West Prussia (present-day Zychce, Poland). He published his memoirs in England, and he proudly flew the Confederate flag from his castle in Poland. He died of sepsis in Berlin in 1895 at the age of 59.