German Americans were one of the largest immigrant groups in the Civil War era, and they comprised nearly 10 percent of all Union troops. Yet little attention has been paid to their daily lives--both on the battlefield and on the home front--during the war. This collection of letters, written by German immigrants to friends and family back home, provides a new angle to our understanding of the Civil War experience and challenges some long-held assumptions about the immigrant experience at this time. Originally published in Germany in 2002, this collection contains more than three hundred letters written by seventy-eight German immigrants--men and women, soldiers and civilians, from the North and South. Their missives tell of battles and boredom, privation and profiteering, motives for enlistment and desertion and for avoiding involvement altogether. Although written by people with a variety of backgrounds, these letters describe the conflict from a distinctly German standpoint, the editors argue, casting doubt on the claim that the Civil War was the great melting pot that eradicated ethnic antagonisms.

"Daeuble's detailed diary entries and Rentschler's lengthy letters are important additions to the still-incomplete mosaic of the Civil War, not only because of their engaging content but also because they help fill significant voids created by an almost complete lack of published sources from Kentucky's Union soldiers and by the shortage of primary source materials about German immigrants who fought in the war."--Jacket.

This singular account of an estimated 216,000 Germans, mostly newly-arrived immigrants and about 300,000 Americans of German descent, who served in the American Civil War is an unprecedented event in the publication of material on U.S. military history. Written by a successful German immigrant, publishing entrepreneur and journalist, Wilhelm Kaufmann, 1847-1920, this book was originally published in 1911 by Munich Publisher R. Oldenbourg in the German Language only. In their Civil War Centennial book, Civil War Books: A Critical Bibliography, published in 1967, the distinguished contributors, Allen Nevins, James I. Robertson, Jr., and Bell I. Wiley, wrote of Kaufmann's history: Finally, after two world wars and the consequent anti-German sentiment and the neglect that discouraged publication, a new Edition -- in English for the first time -- is now available. Scholars, general readers, genealogists and people who wish to explore their own German heritage will welcome this penetrating account -- now with enhanced features: readable type, larger maps (36 in all) designed for clarity; and now, most importantly, fully indexed for more effective reference use. Available in both a quality genuine clothbound as well as an economical paperback edition, this history deserves a place on your permanent library shelf. 392pp., 36 maps, bibliography, end notes, index.

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.

The award-winning history of 12 million German-speaking civilians in Europe who were driven from their homes after WWII: “a major achievement” (New Republic). Immediately after the Second World War, the victorious Allies authorized the forced relocation of ethnic Germans from their homes across central and southern Europe to Germany. The numbers were almost unimaginable: between 12 and 14 million civilians, most of them women and children. And the losses were horrifying: at least five hundred thousand people, and perhaps many more, died while detained in former concentration camps, locked in trains, or after arriving in Germany malnourished, and homeless. In this authoritative and objective account, historian R.M. Douglas examines an aspect of European history that few have wished to confront, exploring how the forced migrations were conceived, planned, and executed, and how their legacy reverberates throughout central Europe today. The first comprehensive history of this immense manmade catastrophe, Orderly and Humane is an important study of the largest recorded episode of what we now call "ethnic cleansing." It may also be the most significant untold story of the World War II.

This is the first work to highlight the contributions of regiments of the Pennsylvania Dutch and the post-1820 immigrant Germans at the Battle of Gettysburg. On the first day, the 1st Corps, in which many of the Pennsylvania Dutch groups served, and the half-German 11th Corps, which had five regiments of either variety in it, bought with their blood enough time for the Federals to adequately prepare the high ground, which proved critical in the end for the Union victory. On the second day, they participated in beating back Confederate attacks that threatened to crack the Union defenses on Cemetery Hill and in other strategic locations.

Offers fascinating perspectives on the war from two German immigrants. This title is suitable for those interested in ethnicity and immigration.