Civil War letters from soldiers serving in a German regiment Organized by Colonel August Willich; a former Prussian army officer who led troops during the German Revolution of 1848; Indiana's German 32nd Indiana regiment fought in the Western Theater of the Civil War. The 32nd Indiana forged an enviable combat record on the battlefields at Rowlett's Station in Kentucky; at Shiloh; Stones River; and Missionary Ridge in Tennessee; and at Chickamauga and Pickett's Mill in Georgia. The letters collected here originally appeared in German in wartime issues of German American newspapers. These rare documents connect the contemporary reader to the world of the patriotic immigrant soldier and his hard-fighting regiment; revealing personal motivations; wartime experiences; opinions; ethnic pride; and bravery; as this regiment engaged in some of the most bitter fighting in the West. These gripping letters also provide insight into the social; political; and cultural dimensions of the war and reveal the competing ethnic identities; nativism; and immigrant acculturation of late-nineteenth-century America. The Germans of the 32nd Indiana proved themselves to be "Gallant Dutchmen" in the fight to save the Union. Gallant Dutchmen is a valuable addition to Civil War studies and will also be welcomed by those interested in ethnic and immigration studies.
#3570953 in Books University of South Carolina Press 1991-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.75 x 6.50 x .75l; #File Name: 0872497828160 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. C'ant be with out it!By Doug MicknassI am bias since I am personally connected to a distant relative; but this is an awesome document over a 27 year period of the old South of the United States. It should be in every library; public or private. It gives a wonderful perspective a private person during the civil war and quite beyond.
