Gallery: Wilson’s Creek Campaign
Franz Sigel
Franz Sigel moved to the United States from Baden in May 1852 and settled in New York City. In 1855, his father-in-law formed the German-American Institute, where he taught mathematics, history and languages. He also taught in the public schools and the German Turner Society, belonged to the 5th New York Militia, and wrote for the New York Times. In 1857 he moved to St. Louis to teach at the German-American Institute.
With the start of the Civil War, Sigel was instrumental in rallying the Germans to join the Union army, and was commissioned colonel of the 3rd Missouri Infantry. At the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861, his bold but ill-fated, flanking maneuver became synonymous with Union failure. During the winter of 1861, General Samuel Curtis, not Sigel, was given command of the Army of the Southwest, and Sigel resigned his commission, causing considerable unrest in the German-American community. In early 1862 he returned to the army and partially redeemed himself by playing a prominent role in the Union victory at Pea Ridge, Arkansas.
Transferred to the Eastern Theater, Sigel took command of a division of troops at Harpers Ferry and fought in the Shenandoah Valley against Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. He also participated in the Second Battle of Bull Run. In 1863, when the War Department disbanded his Army of Virginia, Sigel took an extended leave of absence and traveled to New York City, where he gave numerous political speeches in support of the Republican Party. Returning to the field in the spring of 1864, he was decisively defeated in the Battle of New Market, Virginia. Sigel was relieved of his command in July 1864, and resigned from the army for the final time in May 1865.
He returned to New York City after the war and worked in various positions in the public and private sector, including editing the New York Monthly from 1897 to 1900. Sigel died in New York City on August 22, 1902.
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31628