Emil Frey

Emil Johann Rudolf Frey (24 October 1838 – 24 December 1922) was a Swiss politician, Union Army soldier in the American Civil War and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1890–1897). He served as President of the Swiss Confederation in 1894.

Early life Frey was born in Arlesheim, in the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, to Emil Remigius Frey and Emma Kloss. His father was a liberal separatist politician.

Frey's family provided refuge for Friedrich Hecker when he fled the repression following the revolution in Germany in 1848. After attending gymnasium in Basel, Frey went to study in an agronomical institute in Jena.

Military career

American Civil War

Frey enlisted in the Union Army's 24th Illinois Infantry Regiment as a private. He wrote in his essay "My American Experiences" that "on 17th of June I enlisted in the 24th at Chicago. On that same day I was appointed by Colonel Hecker to be the colorbearer of the regiment, and in the evening we left Chicago for Alton, Ill." Hecker was his commander, and they became friends again, with Frey sharing a tent with Hecker's son. Frey was later promoted to first lieutenant but resigned on 17 June 1862.

Frey raised the 82nd Illinois Infantry Regiment (known as "Second Hecker Regiment") and was the regiment's acting colonel at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. He was taken prisoner on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, and following held in Libby Prison for eighteen months before being exchanged for Captain Gordon, a Confederate prisoner who had been sentenced to death. Frey held the rank of major at the end of the war .

After leaving ITU in August 1921, Frey died, two months after his eighty-fifth birthday, on Christmas Eve 1922.

Personal life In 1870, he married Emma Kloss (born 1848) from Liestal, with whom he had five children: Hans (1871–1913), Emil (1872–1913), Carl (1873–1934), Anna (1874–1893) and Helene (1876–1944). In 1877 Emma died from pulmonary tuberculosis, aged just 28 years.

Literary works Aus den Erlebnissen eines Schweizers im Sezessionskriege, Bern 1893, (translated: "From the experiences of a Swiss in the War of Secession") Die Kriegstaten der Schweizer, dem Volk erzählt, Neuchâtel 1905, (translated: "The Swiss Acts of War, told to the People")