Germans in the Civil War
Germans made up the largest group of foreign soldiers in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Around 1860 there were around 1.3 million German- born immigrants living in the USA , of which only about 72,000 were in the southern states .
Northern states
Between 1850 and 1860 more than one million German emigrants came to North America, of which only about 70,000 went to the southern states. As a result, the circulation of German-language newspapers increased. Numerous gymnastics clubs were founded, which developed into centers of republican idealism. Germans joined the Republican Party many times . In the 1860 presidential election in the south , Abraham Lincoln only won two constituencies, as these were dominated by German immigrants ( St. Louis and Gasconada, now Gasconade County ). Forty-eight in particular saw their commitment to the Republicans as a continuation of the struggle for freedom (of the slaves ) and unity (of the US) that they had lost in Europe.
During the Civil War, Republican immigrants were more likely to volunteer for military service than Democratic ones . B. A. Could quotas established by the US Sanitary Commission for each national group based on their percentage of the population. These showed that German immigrants were the most willing group with about 50 percent. The clearest conditions were in Missouri. There the Republican Party had the largest following among the German population. At the same time, the highest proportion of Germans in the Union Army was recorded here. Missouri was sixth for German settlers and second for troop positions. Only in Wisconsin did the Germans demonstrate against the draft.
Around 1860 there were around 1.3 million German-born immigrants living in the north. Almost every tenth soldier in the Northern Army was a German immigrant (around 200,000). The majority served voluntarily, out of conviction or obeying the circumstances, only a sixth was drafted. Three quarters served in regiments in which Germans made up a maximum of 15 percent, and these were often set up in German companies . About 30 regiments consisted half of Germans (about 15,000 men). Just as many were almost all-German regiments (30,000 men) with German officers . Occasionally, conscripts of German origin deserted in order to subsequently join German units. Later in the war regiments were replenished regardless of ethnic origin. Many German units came from a certain region, often they were "images" of the local gymnastics clubs. Until 1862, German was the official language of command and colloquial use in these units, when English became the norm. German units often had their own uniforms and drill rules based on German traditions. The reasons for having their own German units were often a lack of language skills and cultural differences from other parts of the population. In addition, the commanders hoped for powerful and militarily experienced troop units consisting of Europeans. Trust in officers of one's own nationality should lead to more volunteer registrations.
At the same time, German soldiers and officers were praised and highlighted in German-language newspapers. Hints of a bad reputation in articles and contemporary letters are seldom found. It is often attested that "German officers command better, German regiments fight better, German field camps are cleaner and German troops are healthier". Nevertheless, there was an anti-German sentiment in American newspapers and within the military. This may also have led to the establishment of German units, since German soldiers in other units tended to isolate and desert themselves. Especially after the Battle of Chancellorsville , German soldiers were the target of nativist hostility.
Important officers and generals of German descent included Carl Schurz , Ludwig Blenker , Peter Joseph Osterhaus , Alexander Schimmelfennig , Franz Sigel , August Willich and Gustav von Deutsch . William Nikolaus Reed had a very unusual migrant story .
The second Baden revolution: Missouri 1861
At the beginning of the civil war, the state of Missouri was at a crossroads: Remain as a slave-holding state in the Union or convert to the southern states . The conflict took place primarily between the heavily agricultural parts of the country and the population of St. Louis , which consisted of artisans and business people. They saw their future in the industrial north. In 1861, of the 170,000 residents of St. Louis, about 60,000 were Germans.
In the 1860 presidential election, only two constituencies went to Abraham Lincoln, one of them in St. Louis, where about a quarter of the vote for Lincoln came from German voters. After the secession of the southern states began, Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson sympathized with the Confederation . The federal arsenal in particular, with its large stocks of weapons and ammunition, was of great importance for both sides.
In the spring of 1861, Adam Hammer , a former Baden military doctor and revolutionary from 1848, and Gustav Körner organized arms deliveries in order to defend the federal arsenal themselves if necessary. In the gymnastics clubs there was already military drills under the direction of Franz Sigel and others. German-American officers of the predominantly secessionist state militia surrendered their patents. The local leader of the Republican Party, Francis Preston Blair , was working very closely with the German revolutionaries at the time to keep the arsenal and the city in the Union.
In two German-language newspapers, the Anzeiger des Westens and the Westliche Post , the following advertisement was published on January 11, 1861:
“Call of the Black Hunter Corps.
'Today we have decided to form an independent hunter company under the name of' Independent Black Hunter Corps'. Every German who is loyal to the Union and who is willing to join this company is asked to come to the meeting room this evening. "
On February 6, 1861 gymnastics clubs set up a battalion with three companies and 280 men. However, after the Civil War began in April 1861, Governor Jackson refused to provide Missouri's quota of volunteers called for the war. Thereupon Blair, the captain Nathaniel Lyon appointed from Kansas and the German revolutionaries began to set up their own voluntary associations for the federal service. Initially only four field regiments were planned, later another and five regiments of Heimwehr followed. Of the four field regiments, three were commanded by Germans ( Heinrich Börnstein , Franz Sigel and Nikolaus Schüttner). The third regiment under Sigel was attached to an artillery battery that was not actually intended in Lincoln's call. This was commanded by Franz Backhoff, a former Baden artillery sergeant and revolutionary. 75 percent of the troops in all ten regiments were immigrants from German-speaking countries and German-Americans and were structured as follows:
- 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment ( Col. Francis P. Blair )
- 2nd Missouri Infantry Regiment (Colonel Heinrich Börnstein)
- 3rd Missouri Infantry Regiment (Colonel Franz Sigel)
- 4th Missouri Infantry Regiment - "Black Hunters" (Colonel Nikolaus Schüttner)
- 5th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Colonel Karl Eberhard Salomon)
- an additional five regiments of Heimwehr
With the mainly German units, Blair and Lyon dared a coup against the Jackson government. First, in mid-April, before the troops were deployed, the federal arsenal was brought to Illinois and Indiana . On May 10, 1861, the Union troops under Lyon and Sigel began an attack on Camp Jackson west of St. Louis, where the state militia gathered. This was disarmed and arrested. Some soldiers and around 20 civilians died in the street battles that followed. In June, the secessionists were defeated in a battle near Boonville , and the state government then had to flee their residence in Jefferson City .
The result of the “second Baden revolution” was that Missouri remained in the Union.
Southern states
The proportion of Germans in the southern states was very low compared to the northern states. Around 1860, only about 72,000 Germans lived there. Middle-class people who did not emigrate in large groups were more likely to adapt to the southern lifestyle. At the same time, there were strong differences between the German communities in Charleston , Richmond and New Orleans . Charleston was the oldest and at the same time richest, most homogeneous community. At the same time, no German community owned more slaves and supported the CSA more than Charleston. Germans in the service of the CSA were usually also slave owners. In Richmond, however, there were many newcomers. They were suspected of being disloyal. The largest and most heterogeneous community was New Orleans. There leading German-language newspapers supported the Northern Democratic candidate, Stephen A. Douglas . New Orleans provided five companies of the 20th Louisiana Infantry, the only German regiment in the Confederation, but many soldiers defected to the Union when the city fell. This led to great distrust of the Germans. Between 1862 and 1864 a total of 384 Germans were imprisoned in Richmond for no further reason. Another reason was the high participation of German soldiers on the part of the Union.
The German soldiers in the service of the southern states were supported by the Prussian consul in New Orleans, Augustus Reichard . This financed and commanded its own troops. In addition, Christopher Gustavus Memminger , who was born in Württemberg, was finance minister of the CSA . Well-known officers of the Confederate were the royal Prussian Rittmeister Johann August Heinrich Heros von Borcke , who rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (lieutenant colonel) of the Confederate during the Civil War, and Augustus Carl Büchel , regimental commander of the 1st Texan Cavalry.
The Texas Germans
Around 20,000 German emigrants lived in Texas around 1860. In the west of the country in particular, many German communities were able to survive, while the Germans in the east of the country were generally much more integrated. In a referendum on February 23, 1861, the population voted in favor of secession, less than 25 percent of the voters voted for the Union. Constituencies where the majority of Germans lived were the most opposed to secession. For example, Colorado County voted 64 percent to leave the Union, but 86 percent voted against in three German constituencies. In two border counties predominantly inhabited by Germans, the rejection was 96 percent even greater. Only in Comal County was there a German majority for the southern states.
During the war, many Germans joined the Union troops. Many Germans served in the 1st and 2nd Texas Cavalry, even though the recruiting center was in the Brownsville area at the mouth of the Rio Grandes, a long way from the German settlement areas. Overall, Germans made up 13 percent of the Texan Union troops (with a population of seven percent). After the beginning of the war, it was made more difficult to flee to the north, and conscientious objectors faced the death penalty . An escape therefore also presupposed an ideological conviction. Germans now served in the troops of the southern states such as the Long Prairie German Company , but often reluctantly. In January 1863, the 6th Texas Infantry was captured at the Arkansas Post, and shortly thereafter 152 soldiers, mostly Germans and Poles, took the oath of loyalty to the United States. The German company had practically disappeared.
See also
literature
- Charlotte L. Brancaforte: The German Forty-Eighters in the United States. Lang, New York et al. a. 1989, ISBN 0-8204-1010-1 .
- History of North America in an Atlantic perspective from the beginning to the present. Volume 5: Norbert Finzsch : Consolidation and Dissent - North America from 1800 to 1865. Lit, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-8258-4441-2 .
- Wolfgang Helbich (ed.): Germans in the American Civil War: Letters from Front and Farm 1861 - 1862. Schöningh, Paderborn a. a. 2002, ISBN 3-506-73916-6 .
- Wolfgang Hochbruck: Forty-eighters / Forty-Eighters - The German Revolution of 1848/49, the United States and the American Civil War. Münster 2000, ISBN 3-89691-491-X .
- Rüdiger Wersich (ed.): Carl Schurz. Lever, Rastatt 1999, ISBN 3-87310-010-X .
- Tim Engelhart: To arms! German emigrants in New York Union regiments during the American Civil War 1861-65 Heinrich-Jung, Zella-Mehlis 2000, ISBN 3-930588-56-0 .
- Rüdiger B. Richter: Corps Students in the American Civil War . Einst und Jetzt , Vol. 49 (2004), pp. 165 - 196.
- Rüdiger B. Richter: "Colonels in blue" - Corps students as commanders of colored Union regiments in the American Civil War (1861–1865) . Then and now. Vol. 51 (2006), pp. 115-128.
- "Wilhelm Christian Haagen", in: Liane von Droste: In between the ocean. Biographies, memories and letters from Germans in America after 1848 ; Glienicke 2013, ISBN 978-3-9815658-0-5 .