He rose to command a brigade in the trans-Mississippi and western theaters of the war, and received an honorary brevet to the rank of brigadier general.
Bertram was born Emil Gustav Victor Beeger in the Province of Pomerania in the Kingdom of Prussia.
He joined the United States Army under the Americanized named "Henry Beeger" in 1846 and served in the Mexican–American War.
Artillery he rose to the rank of sergeant on August 21, 1846, but deserted the army four and a half years later on January 20, 1851.
In early December 1862, Bertram found himself as the senior ranking officer in his brigade, though only a lieutenant colonel.
[4] Rather than running for re-election to the Assembly in 1870, Bertram was elected Sheriff of Dodge County, and relocated to Juneau, Wisconsin, for that duty.