Torn families – the Flussers

 

   Often we hear that the Civil War was a war fought brother against brother. And that’s true, but really oversimplified. It was brother against brother, and father against son, and mothers and sisters against fathers and sons, and uncles, and cousins. One of those families were the Flusser family.

   Charles T. Flusser was born in Prague in 1798. He immigrated to the United States, settling in Maryland and marrying Juliana S. Waters. They had several children, including Ottokar (1830); Charles (1832); and Guy (1833). It is thought that the family moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and then later Louisville, Kentucky. Thomas died in 1858 and is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

Flusser stone at Cave Hill Cemetery

   The war found the family on different sides. Charles W. Flusser graduated from The United States Naval Academy in 1854. He stayed with the Union, arising to the rank of lieutenant commander. He spent much of the war along the coastal waters of North Carolina, and in April 1864, he was commanding the USS Miami, when the CSS Albemarle sailed down the Roanoke River. The Albemarle engaged the USS Southfield, sinking the gunboat. Flusser fired a shell at the Albemarle, but the Albemarle and the Miami were so close that a piece of shrapnel rebounded back and killed Flusser. He is buried at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Maryland. (Three different US destroyers have been named in his honor.)

   Oldest brother Ottokar Flusser joined the Fourth Texas Infantry on July 11, 1861, at Camp Clark, Texas. He apparently was mustered in as a second sergeant in Company B. In March 1862, he was nominated to be a captain in the regular Confederate army. However, when Flusser was killed in the battle of Sharpsburg, Maryland, in September 1862, his rank was listed as private. Ottokar Flusser is buried in the Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.

   Younger brother Guy Flusser also served. On June 1, 1863, in Abington, Kentucky, Guy Flusser enlisted in Company K, 4^th Kentucky Cavalry (CS). He was mustered in as a private. The 4^th Kentucky Cavalry was a part of John Hunt Morgan’s command. At some point, it appears he was promoted to Lieutenant. Flusser was killed in a skirmish at Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, September 14, 1864. Guy Flusser is also buried at the Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.

   It appears that none of the three brothers was married at the time of death. On a marker in the family plot in Cave Hill Cemetery is a stone that reads “TO MY SONS.” The marker has both a cavalry sword and a ship’s anchor.