Transcription Request - 1870 Death Record - Pempersin/Sittnow

Robt_Nielsen

This caught my eye because it references my 2nd great grandfather August Witzke, who was a teacher (Ger. Lehrer) in the village of Sittnow, Kreis Flatow, West Prussia. The German Cross in the 1st column and the apparent reference to "Tours" (France) makes me wonder whether it references a battlefield death of his son during the Franco-Prussia War in 1870-1871, but I cannot transcribe enough of the words to tell for sure. Because the record occupies so much of the page, I broke it into 5 screenshots. I apologize up front for the multiple screen shots.

Bitte helfen Sie.

(a) About all I can make out is "August Witzke, sohn des Lehrer Witzke", [died in] Sittnow 20 December 1870, [aged] 23 Jahr

(b) "fiel in [?] bei Tours"... "Todten [?] 24tn December 1870 [?] [?]" This date conflicts with that in the first screenshot. Does this reference Tours, France?

(c) - (e) I cannot transcribe much of the lengthy margin note at all.

Ulrich Neitzel

@Robt_Nielsen

Transcription:

Namen und Stand des Verstorbenen: Der Gefreite des 9ten Pommerschen Ulanen Regiments Bäckergesell August Witzke, Sohn des Lehrers Witzke

Wohnort des Verstorbenen: Sittnow

Tag und Stunde des Todes: 20 Dezember 1870

Alter: 23 Jahre

[across the following columns:] fiel im Kampf bei Tours / Todtenschein vom 24 December 1870 Feldwebel Droste

Bemerkungen: August Witzke hatte einen Schuß an den Kopf erhalten. Seine Kameraden sahen ihn fallen. Zurückgedrängt mußten sie seine Leiche dem Feinde überlassen. Witzke, der unter seinem Pferde gelegen, Spuren von Leben noch gezeigt hatte, wurde von den Franzosen aufgelesen, nach Tours, später nach verschiedenen Orten an den Pyrenäen gebracht, und erholte sich trotz der gräßlichsten Behandlung. "Das Ungeziefer habe das wenige Stroh weggetragen auf dem sie gelegen." - Am 20ten März erhielten die Eltern den ersten Brief von dem Sohne, den sie beweint, aus Culln(?). Er schreibt: "Ich war in der Hölle, jetzt bin ich im Himmel".

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Translation:

Name and rank of the deceased: Private of the 9th Pomeranian Uhlan Regiment, journeyman baker August Witzke, son of the teacher Witzke

Place of residence of the deceased: Sittnow

Day and hour of death: December 20, 1870

Age: 23 years

[across the following columns:] fell in battle near Tours / death certificate dated December 24, 1870 Sergeant Droste

Remarks: August Witzke had been shot in the head. His comrades saw him fall. Pushed back, they had to leave his body to the enemy. Witzke, who had been lying under his horse, still showing traces of life, was picked up by the French, taken to Tours, later to various places in the Pyrenees, and recovered despite the most atrocious treatment. "The vermin had carried away the little straw they were lying on." - On March 20, the parents received the first letter from the son they were mourning from Culln(?). He wrote: "I was in hell, now I'm in heaven".

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Comment: It seems that August was initially mistakenly declared dead, but later reported back as a French POW. The entry in the Remarks column is apparently by a different hand at a later point in time.

Ulrich Neitzel

@Robt_Nielsen

I read the entry as:

Gefr[eiter] Jac[ob] Jos[ef] Aug[ust] Wietzke aus Littnow, Kr[eis] Flatow. T[od] S[chuss] d[urch] d[ie] Brust.

The last words are just my guess; but it seems quite reasonable. This list of losses was apparently published before it became clear that August was still alive as a POW. It also mentions a shot in the chest instead of a shot in the head as in the church register.

The battle was near Chateau de Maslay. https://chateaudemeslay.com/

I can't find Littnow in Meyers; do you think it is a misspelled Sittnow?

Robt_Nielsen

@Ulrich Neitzel Wow! I cannot thank you enough for that response.

That entry helps add some perspective to the life/times of my ancestors in West Prussia that one often never finds.

One question for clarification or opinion... Are you saying the death date recorded (Dec 1870) was premature and the fact that the parents received a letter from the son on March 20 indicates he died sometime after that?

Ulrich Neitzel

@Robt_Nielsen

Yes, that's my understanding. In fact, the original death certificate was obviously wrong (and based on hearsay, so to speak); in fact, August Witzke was missing in action. He may have lived for many years after that, this record doesn't say anything about it.

Robt_Nielsen

@Ulrich Neitzel Wow again!

I just came across an Ancestry.com digitized record of German losses in the Franco-Prussian War that lists a "Jac. Jos. August Wietzke [sic], of Sittnow, Kreis Flatow lost in a small battle near Chateau Meslan on 20 Dec 1870. The Ancestry URL is https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/114314:1292 and he is listed near the bottom of the screenshot below. Can you shed any light on the several abbreviations in that listing?

I have that son of August already in my family tree, baptized March 1844 at Pempersin/Vandsburg AND two parish records indicating he died 27 Dec 1873 at Sittnow. One record indicates he was an invalid, which would corroborate with his being near death in France in 1870.

Robt_Nielsen

@Ulrich Neitzel

Yes, "Littnow" is a misspelled "Sittnow". Family church records for that line of my family abound in Sittnow, Vandsburg, and Pempersin parishes in West Prussia.

I find it amazing that Prussia mobilized troops from as far away as today's Polish regions to fight the French so deep inside France. From what I've read, the Tours region of France was about as far west as the Prussians reached.

Thanks again for the time and effort you spent on helping me with these questions.