Conrad F. Nutzell was born around 1838 in Bavaria (modern-day Germany). He immigrated to America around 1846 and eventually settled in Memphis, Tennessee. He earned a living as a wagonmaker.

 

He enlisted in the Confederate army on June 7, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in the 15^th Tennessee Infantry. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 9 ½ inches tall, with light hair and blue eyes. The regiment took part in the Battle of Shiloh and the Battle of Chickamauga. He was promoted to 2^nd lieutenant in May 1862, and he eventually earned a promotion to 1^st lieutenant. Union forces captured him at Egypt Station, Mississippi, on December 28, 1864, and imprisoned him near Sandusky, Ohio. He swore an oath of amnesty on May 13, 1865.

 

He returned to Memphis after the war, and he earned a living as a wheelwright. He married a woman named Rosa, and they had at least three children: Anna, born around 1871; Fred, born around 1874; and William, born around 1876. His wife died in the late 1800s. By 1900, he was living in his daughter Anna’s household in Memphis. He died there in October 1903.

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