Charles C. Wertenbaker

Charles C. Wertenbaker

Charles C. Wertenbaker (1834-1919), a Civil War veteran, he served in the 19th Virginia Regiment and was in Pickett's Charge during the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg (1863), and one of the most famous infantry attacks of the American Civil War (1861–1865).

Charles Christian Wertenbaker was born in July 1834 to Louisiana Timberlake (1806-1893) and William Joseph Wertenbaker (1797-1882), second librarian appointed by Thomas Jefferson at the University of Virginia (1825).

In 1859, when John Brown, "the emancipator," had been condemned to death for leading the Harper's Ferry raid, the Monticello Guard was ordered to Charleston and was there until after his execution. Capt. Wertenbaker  had charge of that part of the cordon of sentries around the town immediately in front of the gallows.

On December 2, 1859 John Brown is hanged in Charles Town, Virginia, for leading a raid on the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry and attempting to incite a slave rebellion. The Monticello Guard and a cordon of sentries, under the command of Capt. Wertenbaker, had charge around the town immediately in front of the gallows.

McKee Row

In the south-west corner, the Wayt house was for a while occupied by the academy of Col. John Bowie Strange before the school's removal to Ridge Street. The site became a tobacco factory of Wertenbaker.

Family and death

Charles Christian Wertenbaker married Fanny (the former Frances Thomas Leftwich). He passed away in 1918 in Charlottesville and was buried in the family section of Maplewood Cemetery.

His son, Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker (February 6, 1879 – April 22, 1966) was a leading American historian and the second Edwards Professor of American History at Princeton University.