Title: |
Franz Sigel Papers |
Repository: |
Western Reserve Historical Society
Phone: 216-721-5722 http://www.wrhs.org |
Creator: |
Sigel, Franz |
Dates: |
1858-1902 |
Quantity: |
5.60 linear feet (13 containers and 4 bound volumes) |
Abstract: |
Franz Sigel (1824-1902) was an Army officer and editor. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The collection consists of correspondence, orders, dispatches, reports, notes, memoranda, maps, and other papers dealing almost exclusively with Sigel's activities as a brigadier general and major general from April 1861 to July 1864. Includes unpublished narratives of Sigel's campaigns, a few personal letters, and others involving Sigel's enlistment of volunteers in St. Louis early in 1861. |
Identification: |
MS 3123 |
Location: |
closed stacks |
Language: |
The records are in English, German and French |
Franz Sigel was born on November 18, 1824 in Sinsheim, Baden, Germany. He graduated from the Karlsruhe Military Academy in 1843. From 1848-1849, he led revolutionary armies overthrowing the Grand Duke of Baden. He was defeated by the Prussians, and fled to Switzerland. In 1851 Sigel moved to England, and he moved to New York, New York, in 1852 where he taught school and served in the state militia. He married Elsie Dulon, daughter of Rudolph Dulon, founder of the earliest German-American school in the United States. In 1857 he became the Director of Schools in St. Louis, Missouri, and he also taught in the German-American Institution there.
In April 1861, at the outbreak of the American Civil War, Ligel organized the 3rd Missouri Volunteers and was elected Colonel. On May 17, 1861 he became Brigadier General of Volunteers, 2nd Missouri Brigade under General Lyon in the Missouri Campaign. Sigel saw battle on July 5, 1861 at the Battle of Carthage and on August 10, 1861 at the Battle of Wilson's Creek. On September 23, 1861, he was placed in command of the 3rd Division, Army of the West, under Union General Fremont.
On March 21, 1862, Franz Sigel was commissioned Major General of Volunteers, Army of the West. On March 8, 1862, Sigel personally led the Union artillery in the defeat of Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn at the Battle of Pea Ridge.
On May 31, 1862, he was in command of the Mountain Department, Harpers Ferry, under General Fremont. He was placed in command of the I Crops, Army of Virginia, under General Pope on June 29, 1862. He saw battle in August 1862 at the Battle of Cedar Mountain and the Manassas Campaign (Battles of Groveton, 2nd Bull Run, and Chantilly). He was placed in command of the XI Corps, Army of the Potomac, under General McClellan and General Hooker on September 20, 1862.
Sigel took a leave of absence due to illness in February 1863, and upon returning to duty on July 2 was placed in command of the Department of the Susquehanna at Harrisburg.
Sigel was placed in command of the Department of West Virginia on February 29, 1864 and saw battle in the Shenandoah Campaign at at the Battle of new Market on May 15, 1864. He was replaced by General Hunter on May 29 and assigned to Reserve Division at Harper's Ferry. He was involved in Early's Raid in July of 1864, and was granted another leave of absence in August. Sigel resigned his commission in May 1865.
From 1865-1867, Franz Sigel was the Editor of the Baltimore Wecker. He became the publisher of the New York Deutsches Volksblatt in 1867, and editor of the New York Monthly in 1897. Franz Sigel died in New York City on August 21, 1902.
The Franz Sigel Papers, 1858-1902 and undated, related almost entirely with Sigel's career as Brigadier and Major General in the Union Army between 1861-1864. They include originals and copies of letters, dispatches, reports, special and other orders, rosters, telegrams, and the like sent and received in the daily activity of an Army command. There are a few personal letters, maps drawn by Sigel, notes on tactics, and extensive memoranda covering the engagements in which he took part. There are also newspaper clippings. Much of the material is in German and a very little in French.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of the American Civil War and the activities of Franz Sigel from 1861-1864, particularly daily command decisions and operations. Those studying the battles in which Franz Sigel participated will find this collection useful. Those studying the history of German immigrant activities in the Civil War, and Sigel's involvement in the recruitment of German immigrants to the Union cause will find this collection useful. Sigel's command of the Mountain Department of West Virginia and the Department of the Susquehanna is well documented in the collection. The collection also documents the Battle of Cedar Mountain, the Manassa Campaign, the Shenandoah Campaign, and the Battle of New Market. The collection includes orders, dispatches, and notes pertaining to Nathaniel P. Banks, Ambrose E. Burnside, John C. Fremont, Ulysses S. Grant, Samuel P. Heintzelman, Philip Kearney, B. F. Kelley, George B. McClellan, Irvin McDowell, John Pope, Fitz-John Porter, and Earl Van Dorn.
None.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3123 Franz Sigel Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
The Franz Sigel Papers were purchased from Elsie Dulon Sigel, widow of Franz Sigel, by William Pendleton Palmer in 1922. Palmer donated the papers to the Western Reserve Historical Society that same year.
Processed by John J. Horton in 1960.