Franz Sigel (18 November 1824-21 August 1902) was a Major-General of the US Army during the American Civil War. Sigel was a German immigrant, and he was given high command due to his ability to recruit German-speaking immigrants into the Union army during the war. Sigel was seen as a poor commander by many generals, and he was fired twice.
Biography[]
Franz Sigel was born in Sinsheim, Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany on 18 November 1824, and he served in the Badener army as a lieutenant. Sigel later met the revolutionaries Friedrich Hecker and Gustav von Struve and joined the revolutionary movement, recruiting 4,000 volunteers to besiege Freiburg during the Spring of Nations in 1848. He served as the revolutionary government's Minister of War before being wounded and forced to flee to Switzerland, and he immigrated to the United States in 1852. Sigel became a teacher in New York City before becoming a professor in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attracted German immigrants to abolitionist causes.
At the start of the American Civil War in 1861, Sigel became the colonel of a Missouri regiment loyal to the Union, and his ability to recruit German-speaking immigrants earned the approval of President Abraham Lincoln, while he was despised by General-in-Chief Henry Halleck. On 7 August 1861, he was promoted to Brigadier-General in the US Army, and he had several setbacks while fighting in Missouri. However, he was one of the victors at the 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge, and he became a Major-General on 21 March 1862. He fought in Virginia, and he was wounded in the hand at Bull Run. From 1862 to 1863, he led XI Corps, consisting primarily of German immigrant soldiers, and it saw no action, staying in reserve in the Army of the Potomac. In February 1863, Oliver O. Howard replaced Sigel as corps commander, with either failing health or a request to be relieved from commanding the small corps leading to his removal. In 1864, he was given command of the Department of West Virginia for political reasons, and he launched an invasion of the Shenandoah Valley that same year. After being defeated at New Market, he was replaced by David Hunter, and he spent the rest of the war without an active command. He resigned his commission on 4 May 1865, and he ran for Secretary of State of New York in 1869 as a Republican Party member (he also served in political posts as a Democrat). In 1887, he became pension agent for New York City, and he also became a periodical publisher. He died in New York in 1902 at the age of 77.
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