German-Americans in the Civil War
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During the American Civil War, nearly 200,000 native Germans served in the Union Army. Second only to Irish-Americans, German-Americans in the American Civil War were the largest contingent to fight under the Union with New York and Ohio both providing 10 divisions dominated largely by native-born Germans.
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[edit] German-American army units
Approximately 516,000 (23.4% of all Union soldiers) were German-Americans; about 176,817 of these were born in Germany, although some sources suggest over 200,000. New York provided the majority of these native-born Germans with 36,000. Behind the Empire State came Missouri with 30,000 and Ohio with 20,000. [1]
Individual regiments such as the 9th Ohio Infantry and the 9th Wisconsin Infantry entirely consisted of German-Americans, as did many other regiments from states such as Pennsylvania and Illinois. Major recruiting efforts aimed at German-Americans were conducted in Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Milwaukee, among many other cities.
Commonly referred to as "Dutchmen" among other Union soldiers, German-American units in general earned a reputation for discipline; however, most often due to poor leadership, many German-American units had a record of retreating under heavy fighting. The Union XI Corps particularly suffered from prejudice and scorn after its debacles at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, earning them the sobriquet of the "Flying Dutchmen," a play on the name of the legendary ship The Flying Dutchman.
[edit] German-American commanders of note
A popular Union commander among German-Americans, Major General Franz Sigel was the highest ranking German-American officer in the Union Army with many Germans claiming to enlist to "fight mit Sigel." Sigel was a political appointment of President Lincoln, who hoped that Sigel's immense popularity would help deliver the votes of the increasingly important German segment of the population. He was a member of the Forty-Eighters, a political movement that led to thousands of refugees fleeing to the United States, including several future Civil War officers such as Carl Schurz, August Willich, Louis Blenker, Max Weber, and Alexander Schimmelfennig.
Schurz was a part of a politico-social movement in America known as the Turners, which were supportive in getting Lincoln elected as President. The Turners provided the bodyguard at Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, 1861, and also at Lincoln's funeral in April 1865.
Other prominent German-born generals included Godfrey Weitzel, Adolph von Steinwehr, Edward S. Salomon, Frederick C. Salomon, and August Kautz. Hundreds of German-born officers both led and served in regiments during the war, including Col. Gustav Tafel, Col. Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker, Maj. Jurgen Wilson, and Lt. Theodore Schwan. Among the very best Union artillerists was German-born Capt. Hubert Dilger, who had been trained at the Karlsruhe Military Academy.
[edit] Noted incidents
- St. Louis massacre – In neutral Missouri on May 10, 1861, Union Capt. Nathaniel Lyon, a Radical Republican known for his brazenness, marched a large contingent of pro-Southern Missouri militia prisoners of war through the streets of St. Louis, guarded by two lines of German-American Union soldiers. The Germans were unpopular with many native-born Missourians, who deeply resented their anti-slavery and anti-secessionist political views. Tensions quickly mounted on the streets as civilians hurled fruit, rocks, paving stones, and insults at Lyon's Germans, and some of the soldiers returned the favor. Shots soon rang out, killing three militiamen. The soldiers fired into the nearby crowd of bystanders, injuring or killing a large number of men, women, and children. Angry mobs rioted throughout the city for the next two days, burning a number of buildings and at least seven more civilians were shot by Federal troops patrolling the streets. The final death toll was 28.
- Nueces massacre – In the spring of 1862, German Texans from Central Texas and the Texas Hill Country, mostly Unionist or neutral in their political views, were drafted in the Confederate army over their strong objections. Confederate authorities took this refusal to serve as a sign of rebellion, and sent in troops. A violent confrontation between Confederate soldiers and civilians on August 10, 1862, in Kinney County, Texas, led to the deaths of 34 German Texans who were fleeing to Mexico.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Faust, Albert Bernhardt, The German Element in the United States. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1909.
- Linedecker, Clifford L., ed. Civil War, A-Z: The Complete Handbook of America's Bloodiest Conflict. New York: Ballentine Books, 2002. ISBN 0-89141-878-4
- Massacre on the Nueces River; story of a Civil War tragedy
[edit] Notes
- ^ Faust, page 523. Quoting from an 1869 ethnicity study by B. A. Gould of the United States Sanitary Commission.
[edit] Further reading
- Valuska, David and Keller, Christian, Damn Dutch: Pennsylvania Germans at Gettysburg. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2004. ISBN 0-8117-0074-7.
- Rosengarten, Joseph George, The German Soldier in the Wars of the United States. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1890.
