Frank Braun served with the 1st Wisconsin Infantry, Company D from September 1861 until he was mustered out on 15 December 1864. Frank emigrated from Rheinsfall, Germany and in 1860, when he was just 16, he ran away from his parents farm to Milwaukee where he joined the Union army. During his term of service, Braun was reported missing at the Battle of Chickamauga, GA where he was wounded and taken prisoner. He was admitted to Hospital 21 Libby Prison in Richmond, VA and at some point was transferred to Andersonville Prison, GA where he spent 14 months. It is said that he borrowed on his farm experience and got a job as camp butcher. In November of1864 he was able to escape on a wagon hauling corpses from the disease ridden camp. Frank Braun died on 4 September 1933 and was known as the last surviving Civil War veteran in Manitowoc County. At the time of his death, he was so well known in the area that schools were dismissed for the day of his funeral and with horses pulling a caisson bearing his coffin through the streets of Manitowoc, Braun was buried in Evergreen Cemetery. The family still flies his 48-star coffin flag every Memorial Day in honor of his service.
