Central House/Henry Nero Hotel

One thing to note here, is that there is not much detail on Henry Nero and his life. Maybe he was an immigrant or an American moving to Cedarburg from a different state or town. But if we learn about his son, William Nero, we can learn about the personal issues that Henry was dealing with when his son came home from war.

Despite the Washington House Inn is one of the most iconic hotels in Cedarburg. However, another hotel is much older than that structure; this former hotel dates back to 1853, when Henry Nero was its owner. This hotel was also one of the earliest ever built in Cedarburg. The hotel itself would accommodate any need here in the town, from providing the best wines to the best smoking cigars and very well-maintained stables for the guest's horses. This hotel had the various amenities available to them once they came into Cedarburg to rest. But just like before, there is more to Henry Nero than just being a hotel owner. His son, William Nero, also fought in the Civil War. We have to know this because these are human beings that got caught up in a maelstrom of the most critical chapter in United States history.

As explained before, William would also enlist in the 26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment with Henry Roth in August of 1862, when the regiment was being formed. William enlisted while living in Mequon, Wisconsin, at the time of the war starting. But unlike Roth, who experienced some of the regiment's battles. William managed to be at every major battle in the war. Another notable story in the regiment's history is the Battle of Gettysburg, fought on July 1st-July 3rd, 1863. On July 1st, the first day of the battle; William and the 26th were part of the Army Of The Potomac's 11th Army Corps, mostly called the German corp due to its heavy influence of German immigrants and German-Americans in its ranks; even though there was a heavy contingent of Native-born American Yankees as well. The Corps and the regiment would be noted by their visual symbol; a crescent moon was stitched onto officers and soldiers, and the regiment's symbol was a white background with a Navy Blue crescent moon.

The regiment and the corp would be ordered to Gettysburg due to Calvary commander John Buford, who was holding ongoing Confederate attacks so two Union army corps could get there to support them and hold their ground until the rest of the Army Of The Potomac could get to the heights south of the town that they could gain great defensive terrain and positions. After marching for thirteen miles in the hot July heat, the regiment and the rest of the corp would reach the town early afternoon. At this point, the army's 1st Corps has been holding its positions to the west. This included the famous Iron Brigade that consisted of the 2nd Wisconsin, 6th Wisconsin, and 7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiments fiercely holding their ground and taking heavy casualties. Despite this, the 11th Corps would be ordered to the North to hold positions there. The 26th, after marching, decided to rest for a while. After resting, they were sounded to form into ranks due to another division of the 11th Corps holding its ground fiercely, but sometimes we're losing ground.

The 26th and their division would be sent as reinforcements to the division holding its position on a knoll North of Gettysburg. Once the regiment reached its position, they started seeing Confederate regiments advancing on their position. As a result, they formed ranks and opened fire immediately. The 26th would, with intense tenacity, drive back the Confederates. The Confederates would reform and drive them back, and the 26th and their division would reform and drive them back. Casualties started to mount up, especially in the 26th Wisconsin. However, this fighting would persist throughout the rest of the afternoon; the division at the knoll collapsed and started retreating. The 26th was still holding until the Confederates used their overwhelming numbers to surround the 26th and hit them on their flank. This forced the 26th and their division to retreat, despite the heavy resistance they gave to the Confederates. The 26th and the rest of the 11th Corps would commence a fighting retreat through Gettysburg, using the alleyways of the towns as ambush sites as well as using windows to snip at the Confederates as they entered the town. Finally, after fighting all afternoon, the 26th would retreat to a new position south of town on a hill called Cemetery Hill.

The cost of holding their positions, however, wholly bloodied the regiment. Out of 516 men fighting in the regiment that day, 216-260 soldiers and officers were killed, wounded, captured, or missing; they suffered 42%-50% casualties on July 1st, the first day of the battle. William survived all this chaos and would go on with the regiment to hold back and repel a Confederate assualt on Cemetery Hill on the night of July 2nd, the second day of the battle. As mentioned before, the 26th would go on to fight in the Western Theatre and would participate in the March To The Sea in 1864. William would be discharged from the regiment on June 18th, 1865, and eventually would move to Cedarburg to be with his father, Henry, possibly to find a job in either his hotel or other ventures. But just like Henry Roth, William could have suffered from trauma due to his service, possibly PTSD and other war-related wounds, readjusting to civilian life, and sometimes not letting the war go. Learning from Henry's son, we can learn about the humanity behind the hotel ownership. 

Held, Jaeger. John Held And Joseph Seitz: Soldiers Of The 26th Wisconsin Infantry, The Gettysburg Compiler: On The Front Lines Of History. December 17th 2020. Accessed May 21st 2022. https://gettysburgcompiler.org/tag/26th-wisconsin/.

26th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, The Battle Of Gettysburg. Accessed May 21st 2022. https://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/union-monuments/wisconsin/26th-wisconsin/.

Paula, James S.. The Siegel Regiment: A History Of The 26th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, 1862-1865. El Dorado Hills, California. Savas Publishing, 2014.

Paula, James S.. Under The Crescent Moon: With The XI Corps In The Civil War/From Gettysburg To Victory, 1863-1865. Volume 2nd. El Dorado Hills, California. Savas Beatie LLC, 2018.

A Walk Through Yesterday: In Cedarburg Wisconsin. 2005.

Zimmermann, H. Russell. The Heritage Guidebook: Landmarks And Historical Sites In Southeastern Wisconsin. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Heritage Banks, 1976. 192.

Zimmermann, H. Russell. The Heritage Guidebook: Landmarks And Historical Sites In Southeastern Wisconsin/ Highlights Of Historic Cedarburg. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Heritage Banks, 1976.

Quiner, E.B.. Military History Of Wisconsin. Chicago, Illinois. Clarke & Company, 1866. Ch. 34: 26th Infantry. 746-759. https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/quiner/id/16583

https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/tp/id/36246. Roster Of Wisconsin Volunteers, War Of The Rebellion, 1861-1865. Volume II. 315.