Friedrich Hecker Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker ( September 28 , 1811 – March 24 , 1881 ) was a German lawyer , politician and revolutionary . He was one of the most popular speakers and agitators of the 1848 Revolution . After moving to the United States , he served as a brigade commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War . Education and politics . Born at Eichtersheim ( now Angelbachtal in Baden - Württemberg ) , the son of a revenue official , he studied law at the University of Heidelberg with the intention of becoming an lawyer . In Heidelberg he became a member of the Corps Rhenania . In 1838 , he was an advocate before the Supreme Court in Mannheim . He abandoned the legal profession on being elected to the Second Chamber of Baden in 1842 , and at once began to take part in the opposition against the government , which assumed a more and more openly radical character . His talents as an agitator and his personal charm won him wide popularity and influence . His influence helped to oust the Blittersdorf ministry from office . In early 1845 the political issue of the incorporation of Schleswig and Holstein with Denmark arose in the public eye , with a particular interest to democratically minded politicians who favored unity of all the German states as a core of their programme . On February 6 he gave a speech opposing this annexation in the Baden Second Chamber , which gave him much notoriety outside Baden . On March 9 his friend and liberal compatriot died suddenly of a lung disease , marking the beginning an ever increasing tone of bitterness by Hecker toward the government . Later that year he and conducted a campaign of democracy , one result of which was his expulsion from Prussia on the occasion of a journey to Stettin , which had the effect of adding to his popularity . During this time , even before the outbreak of the revolution , he also began to lean towards Socialism . 1848 - 49 revolutions . In 1847 he was temporarily occupied with ideas of emigration , and with this object made a journey to Algiers , but returned to Baden and resumed his former position as the radical champion of popular rights , later becoming president of the , where he was destined to fall still further under the influence of the agitator Gustav von Struve . In conjunction with Struve he drew up the radical programme carried at the great Liberal meeting held at Offenburg on September 12 , 1847 ( entitled " Thirteen Claims put forward by the People of Baden " ) . In addition to the Offenburg programme , the Sturm petition of March 1 , 1848 , attempted to extort from the government the most far - reaching concessions . But it was in vain that on becoming a deputy Hecker endeavoured to carry out its impracticable provisions . He had to yield to the more moderate majority , but on this account was driven still further towards the Left . The proof lies in the new Offenburg demands of March 19 , and in the resolution moved by Hecker in the preliminary Frankfurt Parliament that Germany should be declared a republic . But neither in Baden nor Frankfurt did he at any time gain his point . This double failure , combined with various energetic measures of the government , which were indirectly aimed at him ( e . g . the arrest of the editor of the " Constanzer Seeblatt " , a friend of Hecker ' s , in Karlsruhe station on April 8 ) , inspired Hecker with the idea of an armed rising under pretext of the foundation of the German republic . The 9th to the 11th of April were secretly spent in preliminaries of what would be known as the Hecker Uprising . On April 12 , Hecker and Struve sent a proclamation to the inhabitants of the Seekreis and of the Black Forest to summon the people who could bear arms to Donaueschingen at mid - day on the 14th , with arms , ammunition and provisions for six days . They expected 70 , 000 men , but only a few thousand appeared . The grand - ducal government of the Seekreis was dissolved , and Hecker gradually gained reinforcements . But friendly advisers also joined him , pointing out the risks of his undertaking . Hecker , however , was not at all ready to listen to them . On the contrary , he added to violence an absurd defiance , and offered an amnesty to the German princes on condition of their retiring within fourteen days into private life . The troops of Baden and Hesse marched against him , under the command of General Friedrich von Gagern , and on April 20 they met near Kandern , where , although Gagern was killed , Hecker was completely defeated . He fled into the Canton of Basel , where he published a radical newspaper , and wrote his work " Die Volkserhebung in Baden " ( “ The popular uprising in Baden ” ) . Although he was again elected to the chamber of Baden , the government , no longer willing to respect his immunity as a deputy , refused its ratification . On being refused admission to the Frankfort Parliament , though twice elected to represent Thiengen , Hecker resolved in September 1848 to emigrate to North America like many other “ Forty - Eighters , ” and bought a farm near Belleville , Illinois . American experience and the Civil War . After moving to the United States , Hecker always maintained an acute interest in events in Germany . In the spring of 1849 , the Baden revolution re - ignited , and Hecker returned to Europe to participate . However , he only made it as far as Strassburg when word came that the insurrection had been defeated by Prussian troops and he returned to Illinois . In 1851 he wrote a foreword to the German translation of Thomas Paine ' s " The Rights of Man " which was published in Leipzig in 1851 . However , like most Forty - Eighters , his attention became increasingly focused on domestic political issues in the United States , and in particular the issue of abolishing slavery . When the Illinois Republican Party was organized at a convention in 1856 , German - American Forty - Eighters were everywhere conspicuous in the proceedings ; Hecker and Abraham Lincoln were selected to be the two electors - at - large if John Frémont were to win the state ( which he did not ) . The Republicans attracted a wide array of political perspectives , with often strongly divergent views except for their opposition to slavery , and the interests of the immigrant Forty - Eighters was in conflict with the nativist Know Nothing s . The influence of Hecker and the other German - American leaders was critical in keeping the party unified in regard to its most important principles . After the Battle of Fort Sumter , Lincoln called for 75 , 000 volunteers from among the state militia . The Illinois allotment of 6 , 000 volunteers was exceeded in five days . By June , ten regiments had been accepted , one of which was the 24th Illinois Infantry Regiment , commanded by now Colonel Hecker . The 24th Illinois was the first unit mobilized from Chicago , and was made up of German , Hungarian , Czech and Slovak immigrants , mostly Forty - Eighters . In the early days of the war , the 24th Illinois primarily was assigned to garrison and other rear echelon duties in the western theaters . Under the conditions of dreary guard duty , and not being professional soldiers , morale and discipline faltered , and Hecker resigned his command on December 23 , 1861 . The 24th continued on , still under the informal name of " Hecker ' s Old Regiment , " and saw action throughout the western theater , including at Chickamauga . In October 1862 , he became colonel of the 82nd Illinois Infantry Regiment . Approximately two - thirds of its members were German immigrants and most of the other third was composed of immigrants from various countries . Company C was entirely made up of European Jews , and Company I was all Scandinavians . The unit served in the eastern campaigns , and Hecker was badly wounded at Chancellorsville on May 2 , 1863 . After recovering from his wounds , he later served at the Battle of Missionary Ridge and in the capturing of Chattanooga and Knoxville . Hecker resigned this command on March 21 , 1864 , but like the 24th Illinois , " Hecker ' s Second Regiment " continued on active duty for the remainder of the war . When Hecker returned home , almost immediately he became involved in a political split in the Republican Party . Dissatisfaction among radical republicans with Lincoln ' s middle political road came to a head in May 1864 when Hecker led a faction of Frémont supporters to oppose Lincoln ' s renomination . The Lincoln faction won , and Hecker and others organized an independent convention in Cleveland to nominate Frémont ( Frémont ultimately withdrew ) . The effect , in the end , was to strengthen Lincoln ' s candidacy among mainstream Republicans . Post - war activities and reputation . After the war , Hecker returned to his farm in Illinois . It was with great joy that he heard of the union of Germany brought about by the victory over France in 1870 - 71 . It was then that he gave his famous address at St Louis , in which he gave animated expression to the enthusiasm of the German Americans for their newly - united fatherland . After the war , he became more and more involved in the German - language press and Republican Party activities . He received a less favourable impression when he visited Germany in 1873 for criticizing lack of individual rights and the size of government in the new German government organization . He died at his farm in Summerfield , Illinois on March 24 , 1881 . Hecker was always very much a favourite with all the German democrats . The song ( " Heckerlied " ) and the hat named after him ( a broad slouch hat with a feather ) became famous as the symbols of the middle - classes in revolt . In America he won great esteem , not only on political grounds but also for his personal qualities . Works . Some published works by Friedrich Hecker