Gustav Tafel

Gustav Tafel (October 13, 1830 – November 12, 1908) was a German-born colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1897 to 1900.

When war erupted and Governor William Dennison called for volunteers to join the army, Tafel enlisted with the Cincinnati "Turnverein" and served as a lieutenant in Company A, 9th Ohio Infantry, a mostly German regiment.

After the Perryville Campaign, Tafel's battalion was merged into the hard-luck Thirty-ninth Brigade, which was captured intact by Confederate General John Hunt Morgan at the Battle of Hartsville on December 7, 1862.

Tafel effectively brought an end to the depredations, earning "praise from the citizens and State authorities, for the good conduct and soldierly bearing of both officers and men."

The growing skill and hardened reputation of the 106th Ohio under Tafel's leadership caused it to be reassigned to the garrison of Bridgeport, Alabama, on May 4, 1864, where it quickly displayed its refined "scouting" abilities in hounding the local guerrilla band of Rebel Captain Caperton throughout the Racoon Mountains.