Franz Sigel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Franz Sigel in 1861 as a general in the United States Army in the Civil War signature

Franz Sigel (born November 18, 1824 in Sinsheim , † August 21, 1902 in Bronx , New York City ) was an officer in the Baden Army , Minister of War of the Baden revolutionaries in the March Revolution of 1848/1849, as an important representative of the Forty-Eighters teachers and Lecturer in the United States, an important supporter of Abraham Lincoln , major general of the Union Army , politician and newspaper publisher.

Beginnings

Franz Peter Sigel was born as the fourth of seven children to the chief bailiff Franz Moritz Sigel and Maria Anna Paulina Lichtenauer, who came from Bruchsal and worked in Sinsheim . He attended high school from 1838 to 1840 in Bruchsal, the cadet school in Karlsruhe , where he in the fall of 1843 graduated . He was then transferred to Mannheim as a lieutenant in the 4th Baden Infantry Regiment . For political reasons and after a duel with the battalion adjutant, Sigel left the regiment in autumn 1847. Sigel planned to study law in Heidelberg , but the revolutionary events intervened.

Baden Revolution

At the beginning of March 1848, after the February Revolution in France, the bourgeois-liberal March Revolution began in the states of the German Confederation, first in the Grand Duchy of Baden . Its aim was the national unification of the German principalities and the establishment of liberal, democratic constitutions . Franz Sigel, captured by the Baden revolution , first set up a free corps with 500 men in 1848 , took part in the Offenburg meeting, went to Constance and from there took part in the Hecker campaign, which was ultimately unsuccessful . After the battle near Günterstal and the subsequent storm on Freiburg , his troops largely disbanded. During the battle near Dossenbach he was still in the upper Wiesental near Todtnau . After his brief exile in Switzerland , he was recalled by the Baden revolutionaries in 1849 when the revolution flared up again. After Grand Duke Leopold von Baden fled , Sigel became Minister of War in the provisional revolutionary government under Lorenz Brentano . As commander-in-chief of the revolutionary troops, Sigel was wounded in the battle near Waghäusel and had to be replaced by the French-Polish revolutionary general Ludwik Mieroslawski , whose deputy and adjutant general Sigel became. With the hopeless situation of the revolutionaries in mind, he evaded to Switzerland in July 1849 with the units remaining under his leadership.

End of the uprising in Klettgau

The remnants of the revolutionary army moved up the Upper Rhine to Waldshut and Grießen, from there to Lottstetten. They moved into camp near Baltersweil and deployed the artillery near Bühl against the Prussians who were rapidly advancing. On July 11, 1849, Sigel, together with Joseph Weißhaar and the rest of the troops, crossed the Rhine near Eglisau on the advice of Colonel Rudolf Benz von Pfungen , commissioner of the Zurich cantonal government . They were disarmed and interned. The Prussians remained as an occupation until 1850.

America

After his expulsion from Switzerland in 1851, Sigel first stayed in London , like many other exiled revolutionaries from the states of the German Confederation before him, to travel by ship from Southampton to America on May 1, 1852 . On May 24, he arrived in New York on the Washington ship , where he became a private school teacher and served in the state militia. In 1856 Sigel accepted the position of a history and mathematics teacher at the German-American Institute in St. Louis , Missouri . In 1860 he became director of the public schools in St. Louis.

American Civil War

After the start of the American Civil War , Sigel took command of the 3rd Missouri Infantry Regiment, one of five regiments consisting almost entirely of Germans that had been and was formed on the Union side in St Louis , Missouri , in April 1861 promoted to colonel on May 4, 1861 . The state of Missouri was divided over sympathy for the Union or Confederate and in May 1861 pro-Confederate militias gathered at Camp Jackson in St. Louis, which were immediately disarmed by the German Union Volunteer Associations under Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon . Because protesting Confederate supporters were also shot in a crowd, anti-German riots broke out in the city. German shops were devastated, members of the regiments were insulted as "Hessian hirelings" in memory of the War of Independence . But St. Louis could be secured for the Union.

On July 5, 1861, Sigel suffered a defeat against the pro-Confederate militias in the battle near Carthage , which, however, encouraged the recruitment of volunteers of German origin. Because of his popularity, Lincoln named him on August 7th as Brigadier General of the United States Army in the Civil War.

After the lost battle at Wilsons Creek on August 10, 1861, in which he took command after the death of General Nathaniel Lyon, Sigel had a reputation in the leadership of the US Army, although he had extensive military theoretical training, but had major tactical weaknesses of practical implementation. In addition, he was not always able to maintain the discipline of his subordinate troops, and his logistical measures were considered inadequate. Sigel earned a great deal of service to the Union because, thanks to his reputation as a revolutionary general, he was able to recruit a large number of German immigrants (especially exiled revolutionaries like himself) as volunteers for the army. Their battle song I'm going to fight with Sigel , written in German-American English , became one of the most popular hymns of the civil war.

For Lincoln he was also in demand as a campaign assistant. For this reason, despite severe criticism from many Union generals, he was repeatedly given a command.

Sigel's strength was his strategic thinking. In fact, after losing the Battle of Wilsons Creek, the State of Missouri could be held for the Union with an initial numerical deficit of the Union forces of 2 to 1. It was an advantage here that Sigel avoided the fight. His greatest success was winning the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862, in which he commanded two of the four divisions of the US troops. In this way Missouri could finally be secured for the Union.

After a dispute with the Army Commander-in-Chief Henry Wager Halleck , who made no secret of his poor opinion of Sigel's military abilities, he submitted his resignation, which he withdrew. For his services in the Battle of Pea Ridge, he was promoted to Major General of the Volunteers with effect from March 21, 1862, and was transferred to the eastern theater of war at his own request. There he was given command of a division in Harpers Ferry , then Virginia.

Sigel Memorial on Riverside Drive in Manhattan

He commanded the 1st  Corps of the Virginia Army from June 30, 1862, as the successor to John C. Frémont , with Carl Schurz being one of his division commanders. Sigel took part under General John Pope in his Northern Virginia campaign and fought in the second battle at Bull Run , in which he was wounded in the hand. From September 12, 1862, his corps was named XI. Corps integrated into the Potomac Army . The corps had its first mission under his successor Oliver Otis Howard , who had no connection to Germany and therefore had a difficult position in the corps. It suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 against Stonewall Jackson . The corps had missed a mission at the previous battle of Fredericksburg , as it was under its then commanding General Sigel - he even commanded the "Grand Reserve Division" from the XI. and XII. Corps under General Burnside  - came too late. Sigel suffered from the intrigues of other Union generals and submitted a resignation three times, which was finally accepted in February 1863.

Halleck deported him on command in eastern Pennsylvania. In 1864, on the orders of Lincoln, who needed assistance in his re-election, he was appointed commander in the West Virginia military area and received a new field command from Ulysses S. Grant in May: he was to secure the Shenandoah Valley, but was defeated in the Battle of New Market on May 15. Defeated by General Breckinridge on May 25th, 1864 . Sigel was then replaced at the insistence of Halleck and Grant and replaced by General David Hunter . During General Early's raid in July 1864, he commanded the garrison at Harpers Ferry. Sigel and his subordinate General Max Weber vacated the city when Earlys approached and erected a paved line on the northeastern Maryland Heights that blocked Early's direct route to the roads to Baltimore and Washington. Grant had lost confidence in Sigel and replaced him with General Albion P. Howe .

Post war civilian career

On May 4, 1865, Sigel resigned his service in the army to publish a newspaper for Germans as a private citizen in Baltimore , the Baltimore Wecker . In 1866 he finally moved to New York to work again as a successful newspaper publisher. Sigel founded an important publishing house, edited the New York Deutsches Volksblatt and was editor of the New York Monthly until his death . He ran for the Democrats for the office of Secretary of State of New York in 1869, but was defeated in the elections. In 1871 he was elected registrar for the Republicans of New York. In 1880 he fought for the Democratic presidential candidate General Hancock . From 1885 to 1887, President Grover Cleveland appointed him pension agent for New York City.

Sigel is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

Posthumous honors

  • In addition to various "Franz Sigel Streets" in his old home, remember in the USA:
  • the equestrian statue in St. Louis (Forest Park) and a
  • Equestrian Memorial on Riverside Drive at the corner of 106th Street West in Manhattan, New York

to Franz Sigel.

Various cities, towns and places in the USA bear his name:

  • Sigel, Pennsylvania
  • Sigel, Illinois
  • Sigel, Chippewa County, Wisconsin
  • Sigel, Wood County, Wisconsin
  • Sigel Township, Shelby County, Illinois
  • Sigel Township, Michigan
  • Sigel Township, Minnesota

Participation in battles

  • June 21, 1849 Battle near Waghäusel , Baden (as Revolutionary General)
  • Battle of Carthage, Missouri, July 5, 1861
  • August 10, 1861 Battle of Wilsons Creek, Missouri (as Colonel, in command of 2nd Missouri Volunteers Brigade)
  • March 7 and 8, 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge (as brigadier general, commander of two divisions)
  • August 28-30, 1862 Second Battle of Bull Run , commanding the Army of Virginia 1st Corps
  • May 15, 1864 Battle of New Market, Virginia (as major general)

Under his command

  • 3rd Missouri Infantry Regiment, May to July 1861
  • 2nd Brigade, Army of the West, July-August 1861
  • 4th Brigade, Army of the West, August 1861
  • 3rd Division, Western Defense Area, September to October 1861
  • 4th Brigade, Western Defense Area, October to November 1861
  • 4th Brigade, Missouri Defense Area, November-December 1861
  • 4th Brigade, Army of the Southwest, December 1861 to February 1862
  • 1st and 2nd Divisions, Army of the Southwest, February-May 1862
  • Sigel's Division , Shenandoah Defense Area , June 1862
  • I. Corps, Army of Virginia, June to September 1862
  • XI. Korps ( German Corps ), Army of the Potomac, September 1862 to February 1863
  • Lehigh Defense District, Susquehanna Defense Area, August 1863 - February 1864
  • West Virginia Defense Area, February to May 1864
  • Harpers Ferry Defense District, West Virginia Weir Area, May-July 1864

family

Sigel was married to Elise Dulon (* 1834), the daughter of Rudolph Dulon , who died on January 17, 1910 in the Bronx . The marriage had five children:

  • Robert
  • Paul
  • Rudolph
  • Lelia (also Leila or Lelle)
  • Franz

Franz Sigel's brother Albert Sigel (born November 13, 1827 Sinsheim † August 15, 1884 St. Louis ) was also a Forty-Eighter , adjutant general of Missouri and colonel of the 5th Missouri Cavalry Regiment (State Militia), journalist and poet .

Literary processing

Stefan Heym had Lenz or the freedom Sigel appear as a minor character in his novel , the fate of the fictional title hero Lenz also contains some elements from Sigel's life. When Südwestfunk filmed the material at great expense in 1986, Sigels Christoph Waltz took over the role .

Naming

A Bark and three savers have been named GENERAL SIGEL
The schooner General Franz Sigel was in July 1903 loaded with coal in Lake Erie at Stoney Point declined.

literature

  • Thomas Adam: Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History (Transatlantic Relations), ABC-Clio Inc., 2005, ISBN 1-8510-9628-0 (Sigel, Franz p. 971 ff.)
  • John H. Eicher, David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands , Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3 .
  • Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders , Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7 .
  • Stephen D. Engle: Yankee Dutchman: The Life of Franz Sigel , Louisiana State University Press, 1850, ISBN 0-8071-2446-X , (new edition 1999, ISBN 978-0-8071-2446-8 )
  • Engle: Franz Sigel at Pea Ridge , Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. 50, 1991, pp. 249-270.
  • Memories of General Franz Sigel from 1848 and 1849 . Edited by Wilhelm Blos . Bensheimer, Mannheim 1902. Digitized
  • James Pula: The Sigel Regiment: A History of the 26th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, 1862-1865 , Da Capo Press 1998
  • Franz Sigel: The Pea Ridge Campaign , Century Corporation 1887
  • Herbert Hartkopf: Trappers, Scouts & Pioneers from the Electoral Palatinate , Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher , 2009, ISBN 978-3-89735-601-6 (page 87 ff.)

Web links

Commons : Franz Sigel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: The German Forty-Eight In America  - Sources and Full Texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Permanent exhibition - Franz Sigel - A life for freedom. (No longer available online.) City of Sinsheim, 2016, archived from the original on March 19, 2018 ; Retrieved on March 18, 2018 (origin Sigels). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sinsheim.de
  2. ^ Franz Sigel (1824-1902). The State Historical Society of Missouri, accessed on March 18, 2018 (English, origin Sigels).
  3. ↑ Karl Friedrich Hoggenmüller, From the history of the municipality of Lottstetten , 1981, Municipality of Lottstetten (Ed.), Pp. 302 ff
  4. ↑ Tabular curriculum vitae ( memento of the original dated June 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at the University of Düsseldorf @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lisa.mmz.uni-duesseldorf.de
  5. ^ Passenger list with Sigel's arrival in NY
  6. ↑ Lyrics "I'm going to fight with Sigel" at library.duke.edu
  7. ↑ The War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 34, Part 3, p. 333: "It almost borders on murder to give men like Banks, Butler, McClernand, Sigel and Lew Wallace important commands ..."
  8. ↑ Official Records, Series 1, Volume 37, Part 1, p. 492
  9. ^ Benjamin Franklin Cooling: Jubal Early's Raid on Washington , paperback edition, University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa 2007, p. 37f.
  10. ↑ Official Records, Series 1, Volume 37, Part 2, p.104
  11. ↑ In 1865 the city was named that way
  12. ^ John H. and David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press, 2001, accessed on March 18, 2018 (English, Lebensdaten Sigels p. 489).
  13. ↑ italiangen.org  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.italiangen.org  
  14. ^ Census 1870 Westchester Co., NY, Morrisana
  15. ^ Census 1880 NY City, New York (Manhattan) Co., NY, ED 664
  16. ^ Son Franz died at the age of 49 on February 19, 1922
  17. ↑ Michael Rehs: Roots in Foreign Earth: On the History of Southwest German Emigration to America. DRW-Verlag, 1984, ISBN 3-8718-1231-5
    Burial of Col. Albert Sigel March 21, 1884 (PDF)
    Revolutzer 1848 NEW JERSEY VOLUNTEERS Civil War record ( Memento of the original from December 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. May 28, 1861 captain @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.njstatelib.org
  18. ^ Bark and schooner named General Sigel
  19. ↑ Google Books: Report of the Chief of Engineers US Army "Schooner General Franz Sigel "
personal data
SURNAME Sigel, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Officer in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Minister of War of the Baden Revolutionaries, General in the American Civil War
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1824
PLACE OF BIRTH Sinsheim
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1902
Place of death New York City