Captain Frederick C. Dilg

Jon Stacy
Past Secretary/Historian
Col. F.K. Hecker Camp #443

Frederick C. Dilg was born in Kirchheim-Bolanden, Germany on Feb. 3, 1841. His parents moved to the United States and immediately settled on a farm a mile and half east of Mascoutah, Illinois; in 1844. He was educated in the public schools of Mascoutah. His parents then moved to Mascoutah in 1853, however between 1857 and 1859, Dilg was employed at Steward’s drug store, in Belleville. By 1860, he gained employment with the Mascoutah Newsletter, which was soon incorporated into the Belleville Weekly Advocate.

When President Lincoln issued his first call for troops, Dilg was in line on 19 April 1861, when he was recruited by Captain Alex G. Hawes for Company “D” of the 9th Illinois Infantry (3 months) in Belleville. Dilg was described as five foot eight inches tall, with light hair, blue eyes and with a fair complexion. He was mustered into service on 25 April, in Springfield, Illinois. He was sent to Cairo, Illinois; for protection of the strategically important river city. Re-enlisting for a three year term on 26 July 1861, Private Dilg would go on to fight in some of the earliest and hard fought engagements, for a total of one hundred-ten engagements. He was present for duty at Fort Donalson, Shiloh, Corinth, Atlanta and the March to the Sea.

Dilg re-enlisted on 25 March 1864 and was appointed Corporal soon after of Company “E”, of the 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry (Consolidated). Shooting up in rank, he quickly found himself as a Sergeant of Company “B” and was promoted to First Lieutenant of that company on 18 October 1864. Sometime afterwards he was brevetted the rank of Captain, but was never mustered into service as such. After marching in the “Grand Review” in Washington DC after the surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia; Dilg was mustered out as a First Lieutenant on 9 July 1865 in Louisville, Kentucky.

After the war, he returned to Mascoutah and opened a stationary store, which he would later add a job printing office to the store. Mr. Dilg was appointed the Postmaster of Mascoutah by President Grant in 1869, which he held until 1885. After President Cleveland was beaten in the 1888 election, President Harrison re-appointed Dilg as Postmaster in 1889, which he held until being removed by Cleveland in 1893. Re-appointed by President McKinley in 1897, he served as Postmaster until he stepped down in 1905.

In 1868, Dilg was married to Miss Sophia Hauser, to which they had eight children, seven of which survived him. On 1 January 1876 he published the Mascoutah Anzeiger a German language weekly newspaper that went head to head with the Mascoutah Herald. He published the paper until 1889. Dilg knew every man, woman and child in the town.

Beginning in 1868; Mr. Dilg was responsible for the creation of the first Mascoutah Grand Army Post and when General John A. Logan, Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic; issued General Order #11, which established “Decoration Day”, Captain Dilg orated every Decoration/Memorial Day service in Mascoutah from 1868 to 1910. In September 1889; Dilg was a key component in the establishment of the Mascoutah Post #682, of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Dilg served as the Commanding Officer of the Post for twenty years, and during those years, the Post was probably the most active G.A.R. Post in the County. He led the Post in annual Independence Day Celebrations, Thanksgiving Day Services, as well as the Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony in town. Captain Dilg was also in the larger veterans community of St. Clair County, joining the Monument Association in 1894; and helping to create a monument at Walnut Hill Cemetery to General August C. Mersy, in 1905. He donated his sword to the Hecker Post #443 of the Grand Army in Belleville, to be permanently displayed in the Hecker War Museum. In 1909, he was elected as the Illinois Department G.A.R. Patriotic Instructor, for a period of one year. He was also extremely active in the 9th Illinois Veterans Association.

Dilg was also very outspoken when it came to patriotism, as was the case when the Post was denied entrance to the Evangelical Lutheran Church on March 9, 1902; by the Reverend J.C. Armbacher, because they carried an American flag at the head of their column. Dilg considered the denial an “Act of Treason” and marched the Post back to their hall. The incident eventually carried out in the local newspapers, with Dilg having the last word.

In 1910, Dilg and his wife retired to Los Angeles, California; to join most of his children who had moved out there. There he remained in the Grand Army of the Republic (as well as remained in contact with his old friends in Illinois, doing what he could in their causes), and would survive the passing of his wife in 1915. Captain Frederick Dilg would join his comrades in the bivouac of the dead, on March 5, 1922, at the age of 81. He was laid to rest in the Pomona Cemetery, in Pomona, California; on March 7, 1922.

Information From:

Mascoutah Herald- March 8, 1922 (Obituary) “Capt. Fred Dilg Passed Away”

Belleville Daily Advocate – June 12, 1905 “Capt. Fred Dilg – Former Mascoutah Postmaster holds at least two remarkable records- What they are – Was Postmaster for nearly 30 years – is also a Noted Orator-Once Printer’s Devil”

Belleville Daily Advocate, 16 March, 1902 – “Barred the Flag”

Illinois Secretary of State – Civil War Descriptive and Muster Rolls http://www.ilsos.gov/

isaveterans/civilmustersrch.jsp

Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?

page=gr&GSln=Dilg&GSfn=Fred&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=6&GScnty=201&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=10424714&df=all&

Revision: 0

9 March 2013

Jon Stacy

Secretary/Historian

Col. F.K. Hecker Camp #443