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Engelbert Krauskoph (1820-1881)
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Paintings
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Biography
Engelbert Krauskoph (1820-1881) Fredericksburg Texas Cabinet Maker / Gunsmith
KRAUSKOPF, ENGELBERT (1820–1881).
Krauskopf'sWith his discoveries and inventions, Engelbert Krauskopf made his mark in Texas. His gun cap factory was a godsend to the people of the Hill Country.Engelbert Krauskopf, a gun-cap manufacturer who supplied Gillespie County with ammunition during the Civil War, was born in Bendorf, Germany, on August 21, 1820. He was originally trained as a cabinetmaker, but gave up that trade and a promised inheritance to become a gunsmith. Krauskopf left Antwerp in November 1845 and arrived in Texas early the following year; he became a hunter for John O. Meusebach and accompanied him to Fredericksburg and to Comanche Springs. Krauskopf settled in Fredericksburg, where he worked as a cabinetmaker and married Rosa Herbst, with whom he had six children. The Comanche chief Santa Anna was a frequent visitor to Krauskopf's workshop and once gave him a peace pipe. Krauskopf also operated one of Fredericksburg's first sawmills and owned the second cotton gin in Gillespie County.Gun Cap FactoryBy Michael BarrA scarcity of supplies was a big problem on the Texas frontier, especially during the Civil War when Union gunboats blockaded the gulf coast keeping goods from coming in through normal channels. A shortage of gun caps was a major predicament until Engelbert Krauskopf and his partner Adolf Lungkwitz perfected a process for making gun caps at Krauskopf's workshop in Fredericksburg.Engelbert Krauskopf was born on August 21, 1820 in Bendorf on the Rhine River near Koblenz. An uncle who was a cabinet maker took him in, taught him the trade and promised that in time he would inherit the business. It was an extraordinary opportunity for a young man.But Krauskopf wasn't happy in the cabinet shop. He spent every spare minute with another uncle tending the locks and guns at the royal palace.As he got older, Krauskopf grew disenchanted with the social, religious and economic restrictions of his homeland. Like so many talented Germans in the mid-19th century, Engelbert Krauskopf came to Texas.One the ship he met Rosa Herbst. Engelbert and Rosa married in Leon Springs; then moved to Gillespie County.In Fredericksburg, Krauskopf was a hunter for Meusebach. He ran a saw mill. He made cabinets and furniture. He made and repaired guns.A gun was the most important tool on the Texas frontier. Settlers needed guns to kill game and for protection against outlaws and hostile Comanches. A settler's place on the frontier was unsustainable without guns.As soon as Fredericksburg grew large enough to support a gunsmith, Krauskopf devoted himself entirely to making and repairing guns.He made hundreds of guns. He ordered barrels from a factory in the east, but made the gun stocks, metal triggers, hammers and sights himself.When Col. Robert E. Lee came to Fort Martin Scott, he sometimes stopped at Krauskopf's gun shop on Main Street just east of what is now Hondo's Restaurant. Lee was impressed with the guns Krauskopf made and ordered one for himself.At the time most guns were of the cap and ball variety. They needed a copper cap to ignite the gunpowder in the barrel.But gun caps were hard to come by in the 1860s. The blockade stopped most caps from coming in. As far as anyone knew there wasn't a single gun cap factory in Texas.Engelbert Krauskopf solved the problem with the help of his friend Adolf Lungkwitz. They invented a machine that made gun caps.The two men had complimentary talents. Krauskopf had the vison and the technical skill. Lungkwitz, a coppersmith, had experience working with copper.First they made a device for rolling copper into thin sheets. Then they fed the flattened sheets of copper into their new machine. At each turn of the crank the machine stamped out a copper gun cap.After the caps had been formed, Krauskopf's daughters, Amelia and Minna, loaded the caps with black powder. Krauskopf made the powder from saltpeter mixed with mercury. He gathered saltpeter from bat caves. He bought mercury in Galveston.Another process made the loaded caps waterproof and pressed a Texas star on each one. The star identified the caps as made by Engelbert Krauskopf of Fredericksburg.The Krauskopf gun cap factory may have been the only one of its kind in Texas at the time. Customers came from all over to buy caps.Later Krauskopf was the area agent for Winchester Rifles. He made improvements on the rifles including a dust proof loader and an automatic cartridge and hull extractor. Winchester patented the improvements but Krauskopf got no credit.Not only was Krauskopf a gunsmith and an inventor, he was an amateur naturalist. Once while hunting in West Texas he noticed a plant with red flowers. He brought some of the plants back to Fredericksburg.When no one could identify the plant, he sent one to Washington. Botanists declared it a new discovery and named it Hesperaloe var. Engelmanni (Krauskof) Trel. "Red Flowered Yucca."
Photograph, Grave of Engelbert Krauskopf in Fredericksburg. Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
Eventually he became a gunsmith again and once made a gun especially for Robert E. Lee. Krauskopf ordered gunbarrels from the East and made the triggers, hammers, sights, and stocks himself. He was also the Gillespie County agent for the Winchester company and made several improvements to the company's rifles. Winchester eventually patented his improvements, but Krauskopf never received credit for his changes. During the Civil War, when the federal blockade of southern ports made ammunition a precious commodity, Krauskopf and silversmith Adolph Lungkwitz perfected a process for the manufacture of gun-caps in Fredericksburg. Krauskopf was also captain of a home guard company during the war. As an amateur botanist, he discovered a variety of red-flowered yucca on a trip to West Texas; the plant, of the family Liliaceae, bears his name. Krauskopf died on July 11, 1881, and was buried in Fredericksburg.