germanjohnmoser-blog

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February 24th, 1864

            It was a dark winter morning, the sun barely shone through the clouds. We arrived in the harbor around seven in the morning. As I stepped out onto the deck I was placed under a sky of ship masts and the tremendous foreign noises of New York immediately surrounded me. When I stepped off the vessel, an older gentleman glared at me and told me to go home. I have not been able to think about a profession for myself. However, at the end of the dock, I saw a man holding a sign that read “Achtung Deutschen! Bürger, Euer Land ist in Gefahr! Zu den Waffen! Zu den Waffen!” (Attention Germans! Our Country is in danger! To arms! To arms!)  Several of the other German passengers I had traveled with were making their way to this man, so I followed them. The gentleman handed us papers, that read “Volunteer Enlistment.” I knew how chaos and division had affected Germany and I didn’t want the same terrible things to happen in America. The bounty, the money I would receive, was also very attractive. I immediately signed those papers, and I knew that this war would be my rite of passage.

           Explanation: Many immigrants came to America seeking refuge from the conflicts and famines they faced back home. The disunion they experienced and the ideas of a revolution of the common man gave them ideas about liberty and equality. This prompted many of them to be sympathetic to the causes of the Union and the abolitionists. Over 200,000 German immigrants served in the American Civil War.

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February 25th, 1864

            An hour later, the sun finally came out. The recruiters told me I was to make my way to Trenton, New Jersey, an American state to the west. I crossed the Hudson on a ferryboat and then was put on a troop train to Trenton. Upon my arrival, I met up with the 2nd New Jersey Infantry and began my training as a federal soldier. Shortly after I reached New Jersey, I met other Germans, many had fought a decade ago in the Prussian Army. These men came to America ten years ago, fleeing the economic and political conflicts of Europe. They talked to me about how they tried fighting for their own freedom back home, but were unsuccessful. At suppertime, an older gentleman lectured me, saying “America is the last refuge for Germany, the last hope for Germany. When we fight for America, we are also fighting for the interests of Germany.”

            Explanation: Moser could not yet speak English, so signing recruitment papers was most definitely a lengthy and confusing process for him. Many men who had served in the German conflicts of the 19th century served in the Union Army. The 2nd New Jersey Infantry contained many of these veterans. These men had led revolutions back at home and they experienced oppression and were sympathetic to the evils of slavery. They were called “Forty-Eighters,” and many of them trained the novice soldiers. 

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April 26th, 1864

      We have been marching for awhile now. On the fifth day our regiment retired. Every step I take away from New Jersey, becomes another kilometer farther from Baden. I often get homesick, but thinking about our purpose in this war brightens me up. Rations of whiskey were passed amongst the men. They hope to die drunk, then fear sobers them up again. I gave my portion to another soldier because in Germany we only drank ale. The soldiers from the Prussian Wars tell me, “It’s the same in Germany, the free and industrious people of the North are fighting against the lazy spirit of the South.” But what we are really fighting for is freedom for these African Slaves. I may not have seen these blacks before my arrival, but I can assume that their enslavement is similar to some of the conditions my family is still facing today back home. Our officer suddenly started shouting and everyone started to get ready to resume marching. I asked somebody where we were heading, they replied “Further into Virginia, some place called Spotsylvania.”

      Explanation: Moser’s company had just gotten off a train coming from Washington D.C.. They arrived in Virginia, and waited several days before the fighting started, prompting anxiety amongst the men. Moser is sympathetic towards blacks because he too had also experienced hardships and economic injustice due to the abusive German monarchies and the leftover feudal systems still present in Europe. He and many of his fellow immigrant soldiers held idealist and sympathetic views towards the Union.  I included a moment where Moser refuses a ration of whisky because many Germans didn’t drink spirits, they preferred beer.

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May 12th, 1864

       Alongside the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 10th and 15th New Jersey Regiments, we made up Browning’s Brigade, which was put on standby. We were the second wave of attackers, sent to breakthrough the Mule Shoe Salient. I had a couple near misses a few days ago, with bullets whizzing by me, but today I feel like I will truly die. It was windy, the darkness of the clouds meant that a storm was on its way. The Rebels were in deep entrenchments, so they took us by surprise when we got in range. As they fired into us, bodies upon bodies dropped dead to the ground. The Rebels fired a second volley, this time hitting more of us, yet we still advanced. When it started to rain, it became nothing but mud and blood. Now no gunshots were heard, as bayonets were now the main weapon; the shots were drowned out by the vast amounts of screaming. However, one gunshot was louder than any noise I ever heard that day. That’s the last thing I remember, before waking up in a hospital bed. I had an awful pain in my thigh.

           Explanation: The Battle of Spotsylvania was nick-named “The Bloody Angle,” because so many lives where lost in the matter of a day. 9,000 Union soldiers and 8,000 Confederate soldiers were killed, mostly due to the majority of the soldier having resorted to hand to hand combat.  Eyewitnesses stated that every blade of grass was covered in blood, and the corpses were piled four and five deep. John Moser was most likely knocked out when he received his wounds in combat. This is why he later wakes up in a hospital bed.

[germanjohnmoser-blog]

November 11th, 1864

       The war is over for me. They called it “The Bloody Angle” for a reason. 8,000 Confederates were killed, but 9,000 Union Soldiers also perished. I was sent by train to a proper hospital in Pennsylvania. I’m attempting to recover from a gunshot wound to the thigh. I was lucky to be carried back to our lines by stretcher bearers, lucky to survive, and lucky that my leg wasn’t amputated. I’ve only been in America for less than a year. I’m trying to learn the English language but haven’t had much time to study. Maybe one day, we can overcome this terrible struggle and the evils of slavery and aristocratic rule will be abolished. I hope that this will also let my brothers, who remain in Germany, know the same kind of freedom I am fighting for in this country.

       Explanation: Moser was a immigrant Union Soldier, who came into the war late but unfortunately witnessed some of the most intense combat and horrors of the conflict. By now, he is sitting out the rest of the war in a hospital bed, due to his wounds. He is fortunate that his leg was not amputated. Amputation was the treatment for many limb wounds during the Civil War. He knows the war will be over soon, which prompts him to think that maybe the conflicts in Germany will also be resolved.

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Franz Sigel

              This is General Franz Sigel. He was the highest ranking German-American officer in the American Army. He is from Baden, Germany, the same region where John Moser was born. He was politically appointed by Abraham Lincoln due to him being a member of the forty-eighters. The forty-eighters were a political group involved in revolutions in German states, which caused thousands of Germans to emigrate to the United States. Lincoln hoped that Sigel’s popularity would help deliver votes of the increasingly important German portion of the population.

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Carl Christian Schurz

            Carl Schurz was a german revolutionary and a Major General during the American Civil War. Schurz was part of the political movement in the U.S. called the Turners. The Turner’s were heavy supporters of Lincoln and they contributed to his election in 1861. They provided bodyguards during both of his inaugurations and also during his funeral at 1865.

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Heros von Borcke

    Borcke was a veteran Prussian military officer. He made his way to the U.S. by slipping through the Union Blockade into Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. He joined the Confederate army and quickly became one of General Jeb Stuart closest associates and eventually became his chief of staff.

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George W. McClean.

         Colonel George W. McClean was the commander of the 2nd New Jersey Infantry, the unit John Moser fought in. He was originally from Buffalo, New York. He also had a son named William who was killed in the Civil War. There isn’t a lot of information about him. It is safe to say that maybe Moser had a few interactions with his commanding officer.

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Hubert Dilger

       Dilger was a German immigrant to the United States who served as a lieutenant at military outposts in Baden, Germany. He immediately left for the U.S. when the Civil war broke out. He shortly became a Captain and later viewed as one of the best artillery in the Union Army due to his performance in significant battles such as Bull Run and Gettysburg. He also was an officer of the Army of the Potomac, the branch of the Union Army that Moser was a part of.

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Fredrich Hecker

          Hecker was born in 1811 and was raised by a rich family in Baden. Later in his life, he began to impose the incorporations of German speaking regions into Denmark, causing him to seek the elimination of the royal governments in Germany. He led an armed which failed, prompting him to flee to America. When the Civil War broke out, Hecker signed up as a soldier and later led a german regiment organized by General Franz Sigel. Hecker is an example of an oppressed individual who fled to America. He hoped that his involvement in the American Civil War would lead to a freer, more unified Germany.