Background
Franz Sigel, the son of Franz Moritz and Maria Anna (Lichtenauer) Sigel, was born on November 18, 1824 in Sinsheim, Baden, Germany. His father was chief magistrate of a district.
(Excerpt from Denkwürdigkeiten des Generals Franz Sigel au...)
Excerpt from Denkwürdigkeiten des Generals Franz Sigel aus den Jahren 1848 und 1849 Qior einigen 9jionaten gab mir ©iget, gu hem feit 8ahren in freunhfrhafttichen %egiehungen g11 ftehen ich hie (ehre hatte unh her fleißig mit mir torrefponhirte, auf meine 91nregung hin hen 2qtrag, feine fbentmurhig feiten in 2311chform herauégugeben. ®iefeiben waren in einem tteinen, gang wenig geiefenen Sßtatte gerftreut, mo fie her Qiergeffenheit arheimgefaflen unb berfchtnunhen marrn. 650 bieiben fie Ebenen erhalten, inetche hie 'ße bentung her großen %ottßbetoegung non 1848 unh 1849 gu murhigen miffen. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Franz Sigel, the son of Franz Moritz and Maria Anna (Lichtenauer) Sigel, was born on November 18, 1824 in Sinsheim, Baden, Germany. His father was chief magistrate of a district.
After completing his studies in the Gymnasium of Bruchsal, Franz entered the military academy of Karlsruhe from which he graduated in 1843 to become a lieutenant in the grand ducal service.
His liberal political views brought him into conflict with the existing régime, and in 1847, after severely wounding an opponent in a duel, he resigned from the service.
In the insurrection in Baden in 1848, as an associate of Friedrich Karl Franz Hecker, he led an army of 4, 000 revolutionists against the government but was defeated and compelled to flee to Switzerland. The next year, when a revolutionary government succeeded in establishing itself in the duchy, he was recalled and became minister of war.
He took the field against the Prussian army sent to restore the old order, but his inferior force was soon overpowered and he was again forced into exile in Switzerland. His reminiscences of these years were published in Germany in 1902 under the title, Denkwürdigkeiten aus den Jahren, 1848 und 1849.
He spent the year 1851-52 in England and then emigrated to America and settled in New York City, where he became an instructor in the private school of Dr. Rudolph Dulon. He maintained an interest in military affairs and became a major in the 5th Regiment of the New York militia.
He accepted a position as instructor in mathematics and history in the German-American institute of St. Louis, Missouri, in the fall of 1857 and subsequently became a director of schools in that city. When the Civil War broke out, Sigel organized the 3rd Missouri Infantry and, on May 4, 1861, became colonel.
He performed efficient service in saving St. Louis, with its important arsenal, for the Union, and was soon assigned to command the 2nd Missouri Brigade, being appointed brigadier-general of volunteers to date from May 17, 1861. During the remainder of the year he took part in a number of battles in the struggle for the possession of Missouri.
At the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, March 7-8, 1862, Sigel commanded two divisions in Frémont's army, and by his gallantry and skill contributed greatly to the decisive Union victory which settled the fate of Missouri. He was promoted to the rank of major-general of volunteers on March 21, 1862, and in June became commander of the I Corps in Pope's army of Virginia.
In this capacity he took a prominent part in the second battle of Bull Run. In September 1862 his corps was transferred to the Army of the Potomac as the XI Corps.
Later, when Burnside divided that army into grand divisions, Sigel was given the reserve grand division, consisting of the XI and XII Corps, but in February 1863, he reverted to the command of the XI Corps. Owing to bad health he gave up his command temporarily in the spring of 1863, and when he returned to duty in the summer he was given a subordinate command in the department of the Susquehanna.
He was assigned to command the department of West Virginia in March 1864, but a serious defeat at the hands of Breckinridge at New Market in the Shenandoah Valley, on May 15, 1864, cost him his command and he was removed to Harpers Ferry.
When Early's raid threatened Washington in July 1864, Sigel, by skilfully occupying a strong position on Maryland Heights, delayed Early's greatly superior force. The authorities, however, at no time had considered him sufficiently aggressive and now removed him from command. He resigned his commission in May 1865 and became for two years an editor of the Baltimore Wecker, a German newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland.
In 1867 he moved to New York City where he spent the remainder of his life. His great influence with the German element soon brought him into politics.
From 1866 to 1869 he was pension agent in New York, and two years later he was appointed collector of internal revenue for the city, later being elected register. He was a prominent lecturer and kept himself in the public eye as publisher and editor of the New Yorker Deutsches Volksblatt, and from 1897 to 1900 as editor of the New York Monthly.
He died in New York City.
(Excerpt from Denkwürdigkeiten des Generals Franz Sigel au...)
He had been married to Elise Dulon, the daughter of his first employer, in January 1854. She and their five children survived him.
Major General