Franz Sigel and Related Topics

Clockwise from top: Battle of Gettysburg

Union Captain John Tidball's artillery

Confederate prisoners

ironclad USS Atlanta (1861)

Ruins of Richmond, Virginia

Battle of Franklin

American Civil War

Civil war in the United States between the Union (states that remained loyal to the federal union, or "the North") and the Confederacy (states that voted to secede, or "the South").

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, aroused public opinion about the evils of slavery. According to legend, when Lincoln was introduced to her at the White House, his first words were, "So this is the little lady who started this Great War."

Frederick Douglass, a former slave, was a leading abolitionist

Marais des Cygnes massacre of anti-slavery Kansans, May 19, 1858

Mathew Brady, Portrait of Abraham Lincoln, 1860

The first published imprint of secession, a broadside issued by the Charleston Mercury, December 20, 1860

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America (1861–1865)

Bombardment of the Fort by the Confederates

Rioters attacking a building during the New York anti-draft riots of 1863

Clashes on the rivers were melees of ironclads, cottonclads, gunboats and rams, complicated by naval mines and fire rafts.

Battle between the USS Monitor and USS Merrimack (1855)

General Scott's "Anaconda Plan" 1861. Tightening naval blockade, forcing rebels out of Missouri along the Mississippi River, Kentucky Unionists sit on the fence, idled cotton industry illustrated in Georgia.

Gunline of nine Union ironclads. South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Charleston. Continuous blockade of all major ports was sustained by North's overwhelming war production.

A December 1861 cartoon in Punch magazine in London ridicules American aggressiveness in the Trent Affair. John Bull, at right, warns Uncle Sam, "You do what's right, my son, or I'll blow you out of the water."

County map of Civil War battles by theater and year

"Stonewall" Jackson got his nickname at Bull Run.

The Battle of Antietam, the Civil War's deadliest one-day fight.

Confederate dead overrun at Marye's Heights, reoccupied next day May 4, 1863

By 1863, the Union controlled large portions of the Western Theater, especially areas surrounding the Mississippi River

The Battle of Chickamauga, the highest two-day losses

Nathaniel Lyon secured St. Louis docks and arsenal, led Union forces to expel Missouri Confederate forces and government.

These dead soldiers—from Ewell's May 1864 attack at Spotsylvania—delayed Grant's advance on Richmond in the Overland Campaign.

Map of Confederate territory losses year by year

Burying Union dead on the Antietam battlefield, 1862

Through the supervision of the Freedmen's Bureau, northern teachers traveled into the South to provide education and training for the newly freed population.

Beginning in 1961 the U.S. Post Office released commemorative stamps for five famous battles, each issued on the 100th anniversary of the respective battle.

The Battle of Fort Sumter, as depicted by Currier and Ives.

Generals George Meade and Benjamin Butler were ordered to move against Lee near Richmond, General Franz Sigel (and later Philip Sheridan) were to attack the Shenandoah Valley, General Sherman was to capture Atlanta and march to the sea (the Atlantic Ocean), Generals George Crook and William W. Averell were to operate against railroad supply lines in West Virginia, and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks was to capture Mobile, Alabama.

Jubal Early

Virginia lawyer and politician who became a Confederate general during the American Civil War.

Early's childhood home in northeastern Franklin County

General Early, disguised as a farmer, while escaping to Mexico, 1865

A plaque praising Early in Rocky Mount, Virginia

Early delayed his march for several days in a futile attempt to capture a small force under Franz Sigel at Maryland Heights near Harpers Ferry.

Battle of Chancellorsville

Major battle of the American Civil War , and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign.

Troops crossing the Rapidan at Germanna Ford

Battle of Chancellorsville, Situation Late 30 April 1863 and Movements since 27 April

Troops on Hooker's right cross the Rappahannock

Battle of Chancellorsville, 1 May 1863 (Situation at Dark)

Battle of Chancellorsville, 2 May 1863 (Situation at 1800)

The ruins of Catharine Furnace photographed in 2011

The site of "Keenan's Charge" [8th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment] 2 May 1863

Dowdall's Tavern was Union General Oliver O. Howard's headquarters until he was surprised and driven out by Stonewall Jackson's Confederate troops on May 2.

Wilderness Church at Chancellorsville was the center of a stand made by Union general Schurz's division during Stonewall Jackson's surprise flank attack.

Ruins of the Chancellor House which was the headquarters of Federal General Joseph Hooker of the Army of the Potomac during the battle, later burned, May 1863

The XI Corps routs before Jackson's evening dinner time surprise attack

XII Corps artillery halts Jackson's surprise attack

Lower right photograph of trees shattered by artillery shells near where Jackson was shot on the Orange Plank Road.

Chancellorsville, actions on May 3, dawn to 10 a.m.

Battle of Chancellorsville, 3 May 1863 (Situation Early)

Soldiers of the VI Corps, Army of the Potomac, in trenches before storming Marye's Heights at the Second Battle of Fredericksburg during the Chancellorsville campaign, Virginia, May 1863. This photograph (Library of Congress #B-157) is sometimes mistakenly labeled as taken at the 1864 Siege of Petersburg, Virginia.

Chancellorsville, actions on May 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., including the Second Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Salem Church

Chancellorsville Campaign, 3 May 1863 (Battle of Salem Church: Situation at 1600)

Confederate dead behind the stone wall of Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, Virginia, killed during the Chancellorsville campaign (the Second Battle of Fredericksburg), May 1863. Photograph by A.J. Russell.

Chancellorsville, actions on May 4, withdrawals on May 5 and 6

Battle of Chancellorsville, 4 May 1863 (Situation at 1800)

Battle of Chancellorsville, 6 May 1863 (Situation at 1700)

Fremont had refused to serve under Pope and was replaced by Maj. Gen Franz Sigel, an inept political general who, however, was much beloved by his German troops.

XI Corps (Union Army)

Corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War, best remembered for its involvement in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg in 1863.

Major General Franz Sigel thus assumed command of the corps on June 29.

Shenandoah Valley operations, May–July 1864

Valley campaigns of 1864

The Valley campaigns of 1864 began as operations initiated by Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and resulting battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the American Civil War from May to October 1864.

The ruins of the Virginia Military Institute after Hunter's Raid in 1864.

Shenandoah Valley operations, August–October 1864

Grant devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of the Confederacy from multiple directions: he would join with Meade and Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler to fight against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia near Richmond; Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel would invade the Shenandoah Valley and destroy Lee's supply lines; Maj. Gen. Sherman would attack Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, invade Georgia and capture Atlanta; and finally Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks was assigned to capture Mobile, Alabama, an important port on the Gulf Coast.

John C. Breckinridge

American lawyer, politician, and soldier.

Former Governor Robert P. Letcher was unable to unseat Breckinridge in 1853.

A campaign poster for Buchanan and Breckinridge

John C. Breckinridge, photograph by Mathew Brady

A marble bust of Breckinridge from the Senate's vice-presidential bust collection

Breckinridge in 1860 by Jules-Émile Saintin

States' electoral votes by candidate; Lincoln states are red, Breckinridge states are green, Bell states are orange, and Douglas states are blue

John C. Breckinridge by Eliphalet Frazer Andrews

Bust of Breckinridge by T.A.R. Kitson, Vicksburg National Military Park

Breckinridge's statue formerly located at Cheapside Park in downtown Lexington

Breckinridge's party hijacking a larger boat

On May 5, General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, ordered Breckinridge to take command of a reconnaissance mission to scout the federal forces under Franz Sigel near Winchester, Virginia as part of the Lynchburg Campaign.

Army of the Potomac

The principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.

The Army of the Potomac – Our Outlying Picket in the Woods, 1862

Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac, drawn by Thomas Nast, Harper's Weekly, October 10, 1863

Saint Patrick's Day celebration in the Army of the Potomac, depicting a steeplechase race among the Irish Brigade, March 17, 1863, by Edwin Forbes

Scouts and guides, Army of the Potomac, Mathew Brady

Headquarters of the 5th Corps, Army of the Potomac, at the home of Col. Avery near Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864. Photograph by Mathew Brady. From the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Those added to the Army of the Potomac were IX Corps, XI Corps (Sigel's I Corps in the former Army of Virginia), XII Corps (Banks's II Corps from the Army of Virginia), added in 1862; and the Cavalry Corps, created in 1863.

David Hunter

American officer.

Historical marker about General Orders No. 7, erected by the Georgia Historical Society in 2008. Read more on the Georgia Historical Society's website.

In the Valley Campaigns of 1864, Union Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel was ordered by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to move into the Shenandoah Valley, threaten railroads and the agricultural economy there, and distract Robert E. Lee while Grant fought him in eastern Virginia.

Battle of New Market

Fought on May 15, 1864, in Virginia during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War.

The Charge of the New Market Cadets, by Benjamin W. Clinedinst, 1914

"Field of Lost Shoes" on the New Market Battlefield

The grave of Joseph Christopher Wheelwright at the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park

Virginia Mourning Her Dead, sculpted by Moses Ezekiel, a New Market cadet

The Virginia Civil War Museum and New Market Battlefield State Historical Park where the recreation of the charge takes place

A makeshift Confederate army of 4,100 men defeated the larger Army of the Shenandoah under Major General Franz Sigel, delaying the capture of Staunton by several weeks.

Gen. Pope's headquarters during the battle of Cedar Mountain

Army of Virginia

Organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War.

I Corps, Army of Virginia; commanded by Franz Sigel (this corps had been the Mountain Department under John Frémont; it eventually became the XI Corps, Army of the Potomac)