1st Lieutenant John Paul Kuntze, 25th Illinois Infantry
By Michael A. Peake

John Kuntze, a resident of Chebanse, in Kankakee County, Illinois, enlisted as a recruit and mustered into Company “G,” 25th Infantry Illinois Volunteers as a private on August 30, 1861. In August 1863, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant of Company “F,” and shortly thereafter received an assignment as topographical engineer, 2nd Division, XIVth Army Corps. Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis commended Kuntze for his conduct during the battle of Chickamauga. Once the Union army was forced back into Chattanooga following Chickamauga, the 25th Illinois was assigned to August Willich’s brigade upon the reorganization of the army. With the beginning of the Atlanta Campaign, Kuntze once again served on the staff of Jefferson C. Davis as topographical engineer. Davis spoke highly of his staff, including Kuntze, saying, “I am again under obligations for their zealous assistance throughout the campaign. Their duties were often exceedingly arduous, and were always performed by them with skill and alacrity, whether on the field of battle or elsewhere.” Kuntze mustered out with the 25th Illinois at Camp Butler, near Springfield, Illinois, on September 5, 1864.

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Library of Congress: LC-USZ62-129699