Franz Sigel Franz Sigel ( November 18 , 1824 – August 21 , 1902 ) was a German military officer , revolutionist and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher , newspaperman , politician , and served as a Union major general in the American Civil War . Early life . Sigel was born in Sinsheim , Baden ( Germany ) , and attended the gymnasium in Bruchsal . He graduated from Karlsruhe Military Academy in 1843 , and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Baden Army . He got to know the revolutionaries Friedrich Hecker and Gustav von Struve and became associated with the revolutionary movement . He was wounded in a duel in 1847 . The same year , he retired from the army to begin law school studies in Heidelberg . After organizing a revolutionary free corps in Mannheim and later in the Seekreis county , he soon became a leader of the Baden revolutionary forces ( with the rank of colonel ) in the 1848 Revolution , being one of the few revolutionaries with military command experience . In April 1848 , he led the " Sigel - Zug " , recruiting a militia of more than 4 , 000 volunteers to lead a siege against the city of Freiburg . His army was annihilated on April 23 , 1848 by the better - equipped and more experienced Prussia n and Württemberg troops . In 1849 , he became Secretary of War and commander - in - chief of the revolutionary republican government of Baden . Wounded in a skirmish , Sigel had to resign his command but continued to support the revolutionary war effort as adjutant general to his successor Ludwik Mieroslawski . In July , after the defeat of the revolutionaries by Prussia n troops and Mieroslawski ' s departure , Sigel led the retreat of the remaining troops in their flight to Switzerland . Sigel later went on to England . Sigel emigrated to the United States in 1852 , as did many other German " Forty - Eighters " . Sigel taught in the New York City public schools and served in the state militia . He married a daughter of Rudolf Dulon and taught in Dulon ' s school . In 1857 , he became a professor at the German - American Institute in St . Louis . He was elected director of the St . Louis public schools in 1860 . He was influential in the Missouri immigrant community . He attracted Germans to the Union and anti - slavery causes when he openly supported them in 1861 . Civil War . Shortly after the start of the war , Sigel was commissioned colonel of the 3rd Missouri Infantry , a commission dating from May 4 , 1861 . He recruited and organized an expedition to southwest Missouri , and subsequently fought the Battle of Carthage , where a force of pro - Confederate Missouri militia handed him a setback in a strategically insignificant fight . However , Sigel ' s defeat did help spark recruitment for the Missouri State Guard and local Confederate forces . Sigel later took part in a skirmish at Dug Springs . Throughout the summer , President Abraham Lincoln was actively seeking the support of anti - slavery , pro - Unionist immigrants . Sigel , always popular with the German immigrants , was a good candidate to advance this plan . He was promoted to brigadier general on August 7 , 1861 , to rank from May 17 , one of a number of early political general s endorsed by Lincoln . Sigel served under Brig . Gen . Nathaniel Lyon in the capture of the Confederate Camp Jackson in St . Louis and at the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek , where his command was routed after making a march around the Confederate camp and attacking from the rear . Sigel conducted the retreat of the army after the death of General Lyon . His finest performance came on March 8 , 1862 , at the Battle of Pea Ridge , where he commanded two divisions and personally directed the Union artillery in the defeat of Maj . Gen . Earl Van Dorn on the second day of the battle . Sigel was promoted to major general on March 21 , 1862 . He served as a division commander in the Shenandoah Valley and fought unsuccessfully against Maj . Gen . Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson , who managed to outwit and defeat the larger Union force in a number of small engagements . He commanded the I Corps in Maj . Gen . John Pope ' s Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run , another Union defeat , where he was wounded in the hand . Over the winter of 1862 – 63 , Sigel commanded the XI Corps , consisting primarily of German immigrant soldiers , in the Army of the Potomac . During this period , the corps saw no action ; it stayed in reserve during the Battle of Fredericksburg . Sigel had developed a reputation as an inept general , but his ability to recruit and motivate German immigrants kept him alive in a politically sensitive position . Many of these soldiers could speak little English beyond " I ' m going to fight mit Sigel " , which was their proud slogan and which became one of the favorite songs of the war . They were quite disgruntled when Sigel left the corps in February 1863 , and was replaced by Maj . Gen . Oliver O . Howard , who had no immigrant affinities . Fortunately for Sigel , the two black marks in the XI Corps ' reputation — Chancellorsville and Gettysburg — would occur after he was relieved . The reason for Sigel ' s relief is unclear . Some accounts cite failing health ; others that he expressed his displeasure at the small size of his corps and asked to be relieved . General - in - chief Henry W . Halleck detested Sigel , and managed to keep him relegated to light duty in eastern Pennsylvania until March 1864 . President Lincoln , for political reasons , directed Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton to place Sigel in command of the new Department of West Virginia . In his new command , Sigel opened the Valley Campaigns of 1864 , launching an invasion of the Shenandoah Valley . He was soundly defeated by Maj . Gen . John C . Breckenridge at the Battle of New Market , on May 15 , 1864 , which was particularly embarrassing due to the prominent role young cadets from the Virginia Military Institute played in his defeat . After the battle , Sigel was replaced by Maj . Gen . David Hunter . In July , Sigel fought Lt . Gen . Jubal A . Early at Harpers Ferry , but soon afterward was replaced by Albion P . Howe . Sigel spent the rest of the war without an active command . Postbellum career . Sigel resigned his commission on May 4 , 1865 . He worked as editor of the Baltimore " Wecker " for a short time , and then as a newspaper editor in New York City . He filled a variety of political positions there , both as a Democrat and a Republican . In 1869 , he ran on the Republican ticket for Secretary of State of New York but was defeated by the incumbent Democrat Homer Augustus Nelson . In May 1871 he was collector of internal revenue , and then in October 1871 register of the city . In 1887 , President Grover Cleveland appointed him pension agent for the city of New York . He also lectured , worked in advertising and published the " New York Monthly " , a German - American periodical , for some years . Franz Sigel died in New York in 1902 and is buried there in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx . Elsie Sigel was his granddaughter . Honors . Statues of him stand in Riverside Park in Manhattan and in Forest Park in St . Louis . There is also a park named for him in the Bronx , just south of the Courthouse near Yankee Stadium . Siegel Street in Williamsburg , Brooklyn was named after him , Sigel Street in Worcester , Massachusetts was also named after him , as well as the village of Sigel , Pennsylvania , founded in 1865 . Sigel Township , Minnesota , settled in 1856 and organized in April 1862 , was also named for Sigel . In about 1873 Sigel himself visited Sigel Township and New Ulm , Minnesota .