| German-americans In The Civil War |
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GERMAN-AMERICAN ARMY UNITS Approximately 516,000 (23.4% of all Union soldiers) were German-Americans ; about 216,000 were born in Germany. 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. Faust, page 523. Quoting from an 1869 ethnicity study by B. A. Gould of the United States Sanitary Commission . Individual Regiment s 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 . 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. Paul A. Frank , Col. Friedrich 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. NOTED INCIDENTS
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