The Washington herald., 1914-03-13

pose of the Presidents An election was
approaching and the German vote was
important
From the beginning of the war Gen.
Sisel who had not always proven a sue
cessful commander. was believed to exert
political influence among the German
voters, particularly in the Middle West
He was well known in St Louis. where.
as an expatriated German officer. who
had taken part In the revolutions Of 1s4s
and 1s4s in his native land, he had writ
ten much on military topics and had
taken part In local politics His occupa-
ton at that .ime was that Of a teacher
in a German institute.
Gen. Sigel's advance from the position
Of colonel OF a volunteer regiment at the
beginning OF the war to a major general
ship in the volunteer service had been
rapid. He had commanded q division un-
der Gen. John C. Fremont in Missouri
and two corps in succession in the Army
of the Potomac IN 1862. His relief from
command had followed the downfall of
Gen. John Pope. the Western general.
who had come East to end the war in
that year.
Germans Lead Irish.
Although Gen. sigel was not always
tactful in dealing with his superiors and
seemed to suffer from more than an aver
age share of MISUNDERSTANDING and mis-
adventures his zeal and devotion were
never questioned.
The influence of his kinship with his
men had been counted in the earlier days
Of the war as important. Il fights nit
Sigel' was a watchword among the Mis-
souri, Germans. Since that time the Ger
man soldiers had learned to look not
alone to leaders who were compatriots.
The war had made them first OF all
Americans. The German element in the
Federal armies had grown. The Germans
were now numerically the most important
of the foreign-born soldiers in the Fed
eral service.
In a compilation which was made in 1858
by Benjamin Apthorp Gould. an acknowl-
edged authority on civil war statistics,
a record is given OF the nativity of 2,ols.-
800 men who sery ed in the Federal armies. |
It shows 1,523, ,267 native Americans, 49, |
81 men of German birth. 14.21 Irish. |
s., 512 from the British provinces in North |
America 45,50S English, and 1855 from |
other foreign countries.
The Germans had been quick to take I
UP arms for the Union when the war be-
gan. The Missouri Germans justly |
claimed that they were largely instru-
in retaining their State in the |
Union through the decisive action OF
81. Louis in occupying the United States
Arsenal there or the morning Of April |
90 1ss1, thus keeping the building. with /
It's valuable contents. out of the hands of
the St Louis secessionists.
The action Of these patriotic Missouri |
Germans was quickly initiated by their
in all parts OF the North.
The Germans of New York. of Philadel-
phia. Of Chicago. Of Cincinnati, and other
arge centers Immediately rallied in de-
tense OF the flag of their adopted coun-
try. German companies, battalions, and
regiments were quickly raised.
Some German Regiments.
Missouri sent out whole regiments of
German soldiers. There were two Mis-
'ouri German regiments in the battle of
Greek on August 10, 1851. the
rhiSd, SigePs regiment, and the Fifth,
col. c. E Solomon. There was also Os-
erhaus' battalion.
Among the three years Missouri Ger