By E. Raymond Evans
and David Scott
2014 Chattanooga TN

Introduction 7
Pvt. Frederick Alber 9
Cpl. William J. Archinal 11
Pvt. Frederick Ballen 15
Sgt. Richard Binder 17
Sgt. Maj. Abraham Cohn 20
Copt. Hubert Dilger 22
Pvt. Frank Fesq 25
Sgt. Frederick Füger 29
Pvt. Phillip Goettel 31
Pvt. M. R. William Grebe 37
Cpl. Heinrich Hoffman 39
Pvt. Peter Kappesser 41
Sergeant John Kiggins. 46
Pvt. Henry Klein 50
Drummer John S. Kountz. 52
Pvt. J. C. Julius Langbein 60
Pvt. John Schiller 63
Pvt. Philipp Schlachter 65
Pvt. Andrew Schmauch 66
1st Sgt. Conrad Schmidt 67
Pvt. William Schmidt 69
Martin Schubert 72
1st Lt. Theodore Schwan 73
Martin Schwenk 78
Cpl. Charles Shambaugh 79
Sgt. George Uhrl 82

APPEDIX I: CIVIL WAR GERMAN MEDAL OF HONOR CITATIONS 85
Sources 92
Bibliography 98

Introduction

The majority of German personalities in the Civil War can be found wearing the uniform blue of the United States Army. Immigrants from Germany itself, as well as Austria and the Netherlands, came to the United States in the decades before the war; between 1850 and 1860 alone, the number of immigrants from what was then known as the German Empire more than doubled, from a little over half a million to well over a million just before the war broke out. Hardworking, organized people, the Germans settled, as did most newcomers to America, in places that reminded them of home; the Appalachians and the Blue Ridge were not as dramatic as the Alps, but they were mountains, and they had as near neighbors the rolling hills and meadows of the Piedmont and the coastal regions. Concentrated around Pennsylvania, Delaware, parts of Maryland and Virginia, and on up into New York, the Germans and their Dutch cousins settled and left their mark upon those regions, and came forth to serve their adopted land when hostilities erupted between North and South in 1861.

There are many worthy Germans in the annals of the war to whom one could point with pride. Among them was Carl Schurz, who lost a promising academic career at the University of Bonn after becoming involved in the German revolutionary movement of 1848. One of many young Germans who admired the democratic ideals of the United States, Schurz joined the revolutionary army and was one of the defenders of the key -Fortress of Rastatt in 1849. When the fortress fell, Schurz escaped almost certain execution and slipped across the Rhine River to freedom in Switzerland. He was later involved in a daring rescue of his teacher, Professor Gottfried Kinkel, who had led the revolution, only to be imprisoned and sentenced to life behind bars; the rescue is one of the best-known incidents of the revolution. After marriage and many more adventures, he ended up in America, where he became a confidante of Abraham Lincoln; he served his president as minister to Spain, and later as an officer of the line in the 11th Corps, which boasted a number of German regiments. The men he commanded served gallantly, though not un-controversially, at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Schurz was later promoted to major general and saw action at Chattanooga and Nashville; at the end of the war, he was chief of staff to General William Tecumseh Sherman. Schurz remained in public life until his death in 1906, serving the government in many capacities, including a term as secretary of the interior.

On the Southern side, surely one of the most interesting German figures was JEB Stuart's aide, Major Johann August Heinrich Heros Von Borcke. A tall, handsome blond young man in the German ideal, Von Borcke came from an old Prussian military family of the titled nobility. Serving in the Second Brandenburg Regiment of Dragoons at the time the Civil War began, either from boredom with garrison duty or due to an argument with his father, young Heros departed for the Confederacy, landing in Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1862. Introduced to JEB Stuart by Confederate Secretary of War George Randolph, Von Borcke quickly became a dear friend of the equally young Confederate cavalier, and from then on the Prussian was rarely far from Stuart's side. Despite a regrettable tendency to ascribe to himself a number of exploits which were actually the actions of others, Von Borcke's writings about his year on Stuart's staff and subsequent adventures in Virginia following his near-fatal wounding in June 1863 are entertaining and fill in a number of historical gaps. He was beloved and admired by his Confederate comrades. (1)

As is the case in any work of this nature, this study was simply a result of pulling together data from a variety of archival and other sources and attempting to present these historical facts in context of the local surroundings at the present time. This project was made possible through the assistance of numerous individuals, and I would like to take this time to acknowledge their help and express my thanks for all they did.

In all aspects of the study, transportation assistance was provided by David Scott who is also a superb photographer. From the time that the project was first conceived, I received strong support from Jim Ogden, Park Service Historian at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. .

The archival research was largely conducted in the archives and Chattanooga National Military Park archives, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Library and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library. My thanks to the personnel and staff at all these facilities. I also want to express my thanks to a number of other individuals who provided encouragement and helped with the project in various ways. These include Bruce Wilkey, Larry Wheeler, Mark Mendenhall, Freddie Parris, and Cristam Iedo. The combined efforts of all these people, as well as numerous others, who helped in small ways, made the study a success and the work a real pleasure. Any errors of fact or omission are, of course, my own. Hopefully they will be few. This work is not intended to be the final word on the subject. In broader terms, it has been my purpose to establish a database that can stimulate additional research and provide a framework for additional information as further work is done or new facts come to light.

A few comments regarding terminology are in order. When the word ÒblackÓ is used as an adjective it is shown in lower case, but when it is used as a noun [in reference to a person] it is upper case. During the American Civil War there were many slang terms used for the opposing armies Ð terms such as ÒYankees,Ó ÒRebels,Ó ÒUnionÓ or ÒSesh.Ó The proper terms, however, were Federal and Confederate. Usually, unless directly quoting from a period statement, I will use the proper term.