times during the day the batteries
were cunningly masked, and the enemy rushed up to the muzzle, to receive
the death-dealing discharge full in the faces of the compact mass.

142

This brings Gen. Sigel prominently before us. Of the many
highly-educated Germans who had migrated to this country in consequence
of their connection with the Revolution of 1848, Franz Sigel had, far
and away, the most brilliant reputation as a soldier. A slight, dark,
nervous man, with a rather saturnine countenance, he was born at
Zinsheim, Baden, Nov. 18, 1824, and was therefore in his 37th year. He
graduated from the Military School at Carlsruhe with high promise, which
he filled by becoming one of the Chief Adjutants in the Grand Duke's
army. He ardently shared the aspirations of the young Germans for German
Unity, and resigned his commission in 1847 to become one of the leaders
in the revolutionary forces. He was appointed to chief command of the
army sent from the Grand-Duchy to the assistance of the revolutionists
in Hesse-Darmstadt, but a disagreement arose, another was appointed to
the command, and Sigel assumed the position of Minister of War. Upon the
defeat of the expedition by the Prussian forces, he resumed the chief
command of the demoralized men, and conducted a brilliantly successful
retreat to a place of safety in the fortress of Rastadt. This
achievement at the age of 24 seemed to stamp the character of his
military career.

143

At the collapse of the revolution he escaped to Switzerland, which
expelled him, and he then came to New York, where he supported himself
as a teacher of mathematics, later engaging in the same occupation in
St. Louis, where he was living when the war broke out, and rendered
invaluable service in organizing and leading the Germans in support of
Blair and Lyon.

Unfortunately for his reputation, the war upon which he had now entered
was to be carried on by stern aggressiveness, to which he seemed
unsuited. He had a strong hold on the affections of the Germans, whose
support of the Union was exceedingly valuable, and in spite of repeated
failures to satisfy the expectations of his superior officers, he was
promoted and given high commands, in all of which his misfortune was
the same. After Rastadt he seemed bent only upon conducting brilliant
retreats, and that from Carthage greatly helped to confirm this
tendency. He was finally relegated to the shelf, which contained so many
men who had