..Sometime before the outbreak of the Civil War, John, like his younger brother Peter, left home to explore Michigan. Unlike Peter (who traveled south and west, and was in Kalamazoo at the beginning of the war), John traveled north. On 16 August 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company “C” of the 27th Michigan Infantry in Houghton, Michigan. At the time he may have been visiting the German settlement at Eagle Harbor….

During his three-year enlistment, John served in General Grant’s Army during the siege of Vicksburg and later in the Petersburg, Virginia campaign. It was during this siege at the battle of Poplar Grove Church on 30 September 1864, that John was wounded in his left forearm and wrist. Ultimately these wounds would cause the loss of his thumb.

After the war, John returned to the homestead and lived in the Westphalia area until the death of his father on 22 April 1872. Shortly after, John left the Westphalia area and traveled to Central Missouri. Apparently he must have told his brothers and sisters where he was traveling to since Carl Pohl remembers his father Barney telling that there was one more brother in addition to Nicholaus and Peter, but neither had ever heard from John again….