Felix Agnus

{{short description|French/American sculptor, newspaper publisher and soldier}}

{{Infobox military person

| image = Felix Agnus (1914) (cropped).png

| caption = Agnus in 1914 publication

| birth_date = {{birth date|1839|07|04|df=y}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1925|10|31|1839|07|04|df=y}}

| birth_place = Lyon, France

| placeofburial = Druid Ridge Cemetery, Pikesville, Maryland

| allegiance = {{ubl|France|United States|Union}}

| branch = French Army
Union Army

| serviceyears = 1859 (France)
1861–1865 (US)

| rank = 35px Major
35px Brevet Brigadier General

| awards = Ordre du Nichan El-Anouar

| battles =

| children = 2

| laterwork = Publisher of the Baltimore American

| signature = Signature of Felix Agnus (1839–1925).png

}}

Felix Agnus (4 May 1839 – 31 October 1925) (born Antoine-Felix{{cite web|url=https://www.fondsenligne.archives-lyon.fr/v2/ac69/visualiseur/etatcivil.html?id=690011656|title=Archives municipales de Lyon|work=Registre des naissances 01/01/1839-02/07/1839, pp.301-302|publisher=Ville de Lyon|access-date=8 February 2024}}) was a French-born sculptor, newspaper publisher and soldier who served in the Franco-Austrian War and the American Civil War. Agnus studied sculpture before enlisting to fight in the Franco-Austrian War. Upon the conclusion of the war, he travelled to the United States and again briefly worked as a sculptor. In 1861, upon the outbreak of the American Civil War, Agnus enlisted in the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, and served with merit, rising to brevet brigadier-general before being mustered out of service. Agnus was then inspector general of the Department of the South and supervised the dismantling of Confederate forts.

After the war, Agnus settled in Baltimore and worked for the Baltimore American, eventually becoming publisher of the paper. Charles Fulton, the previous publisher, was his father-in-law, Agnus having married Fulton's daughter Annie on 13 December 1864. As the publisher, Agnus was an original member of the Associated Press, and a prominent citizen in Baltimore. He was offered political positions, including as a United States Senator and a United States Consul, both of which he declined. He served on several local and national commissions. Agnus died in 1925. A funerary statue formerly placed on his grave, known as Black Aggie, is the subject of urban legends.

Early years

Felix Agnus was born in Lyon, France, on 4 July 1839, to Felix-Etienne Agnus and Anne née Bernerra Agnus. He was educated at College Jolie Clair, near Paris, and, in 1852, set out on a voyage around the world for four years. Upon returning, Agnus studied sculpting. He abandoned school to fight in the Franco-Austrian War. He served in the 3rd Regiment, and fought in the Battle of Montebello. When the war ended in 1859, he emigrated from France first to Newport, Rhode Island, and later New York City, where he worked for Tiffany and Company.{{cite web|url=https://digital.lib.umd.edu/archivesum/actions.DisplayEADDoc.do?source=MdU.ead.histms.0012.xml|title=University of Maryland University Libraries Digital Collections|work=Felix Agnus papers, collection number 90-265|publisher=University of Maryland|access-date=5 April 2018}}

Civil War service

On 25 April 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, Agnus enlisted in Duryée's Zouaves.{{Cite web|url=https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/5thInf/5thInfPersonAgnus.htm|title=Maj. Felix Agnus, 5th NY Infantry Regiment during the Civil War – NY Military Museum and Veterans Research Center|website=dmna.ny.gov|language=en|access-date=6 June 2018}} At the Battle of Big Bethel, he saved the life of Captain Judson Kilpatrick, and was soon promoted to sergeant, 2nd lieutenant, and 1st lieutenant. In the Peninsula Campaign, Agnus led the charge at Ashland Bridge, and was severely wounded in the shoulder at the Battle of Gaines's Mill.{{Cite web|url=http://localhistory.morrisville.edu/sites/gar_post/agnus-165.html|title=Felix Agnus|website=The New York Times|access-date=6 June 2018}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPoUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA45|title=Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States|last=Brown|first=John Howard|date=1900|publisher=James H. Lamb Company|language=en}} Duryée's Zouaves were next stationed in Baltimore, Maryland, on Federal Hill, where the wounded Agnus was billeted on Charles C. Fulton, publisher of the Baltimore American. It is surmised that it was during this time that he met his future wife, Fulton's daughter Annie. He helped raise four companies of the 165th New York Infantry Regiment, in which he was given the captaincy of the color company.

In late 1862 his regiment was sent to Louisiana, and garrisoned at New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Captain Agnus was wounded on 27 May 1863, during the siege of Port Hudson, he was promoted to major on 2 September, and for a time had command of his regiment. He served in Texas, and, after attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel, was ordered eastwards to join the 19th Corps. He served under General Philip Sheridan, taking part in the battles of Opequon, Fisher's Hill, Winchester, and Cedar Creek. His last service was in the Department of the South, as inspector general of the Department, where he was commissioned to dismantle old Confederate forts in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and turn all the property over to the U.S. government. He received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers on 13 March 1865, making him the youngest brigadier-general in the army at the time. Agnus was mustered out of service on 22 August 1865.{{cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Appletons%27_Cyclop%C3%A6dia_of_American_Biography_(1900,_volume_7).djvu/21|title=Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography|date=1900|editor-last=Wilson|editor-first=James Grant|work=Volume 7|publisher=D Appleton and Company|pages=3|access-date=5 April 2018}}

Later life and death

On resuming civil life he was appointed to assistant assessor in the Internal Revenue Service office in Baltimore.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TAdGAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Felix+Agnus%22+U.S%2C+Consul+to+Londonderry%2C+Ireland&pg=RA19-PA9|title=Fourth Estate: A Weekly Newspaper for Publishers, Advertisers, Advertising Agents and Allied Interests|date=1904|publisher=Fourth Estate Publishing Company|language=en}} He worked for, and was eventually given charge of the business department of the Baltimore American on 4 July 1869, and later became its publisher. Agnus helped to greatly expand the newspaper. In 1897 the politician George L. Wellington sued Agnus for libel.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1897/12/01/archives/wellington-charges-libel-gen-felix-agnus-prosecuted-by-the-maryland.html|title=WELLINGTON CHARGES LIBEL.; Gen. Felix Agnus Prosecuted by the Maryland Senator.|date=1897-12-01|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-03-30|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} In 1904, a fire burnt down the headquarters of the American. Agnus found printing facilities in Washington, D.C., and soon began construction on a new, 16 story building. Agnus also founded the Baltimore Star. He sold both newspapers on 1 December 1924, to Frank Munsey.{{cite news |author1=Associated Press Leased Wire |author-link1=Associated Press |title=MUNSEY BUYS STAR, AMERICAN IN BALTIMORE |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MP19201120.2.5 |access-date=6 September 2018 |work=The Morning Press |issue=68 |date=20 November 1920 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |page=1 |language=en}}

He was twice asked to be the Republican nominee for a seat in the United States Senate, but declined. Agnus was appointed US Consul to Derry, Ireland, and confirmed by the Senate, but declined to accept the position.{{CN|date=February 2022}} He served as the chairman of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Commission, a member of the Board of Visitors of West Point and of the commission that built the Baltimore Courthouse.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOQDAAAAYAAJ&q=Felix+Agnus&pg=PA17|title=130 Pen Pictures of Live Men|last=Stealey|first=Orlando Oscar|date=1910|publisher=Publishers printing Company, New York|language=en}} He also was one of the original members of the Associated Press, a delegate to multiple Republican national conventions and a charter member of the Army and Navy Club. Agnus received the Ordre du Nichan El-Anouar. Agnus died on 31 October 1925. A march was written in 1882 by W. Paris Chambers entitled the "General Felix Agnus March".{{Cite web|url=http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/039/041|title=039.041 – General Felix Agnus March. {{!}} Levy Music Collection|website=levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu|language=en|access-date=6 June 2018}}

Black Aggie is the folkloric name given to a statue formerly placed on the grave of Agnus in Druid Ridge Cemetery in Pikesville, Maryland. The statue is of a somber seated figure in a cowl or shroud, and was the subject of many urban legends.{{cite journal|last=Mills|first=Cynthia J.|date=Summer 2000|title=Casting Shadows: The Adams Memorial and Its Doubles|journal=American Art|publisher=Smithsonian American Art Museum|volume=14|issue=2|pages=2–25|doi=10.1086/424354|s2cid=192155944}}