ADOLPH VON STEINWEHR:
A NEGLECTED CIVIL WAR GENERAL
lmost 177,000 German-born men
served in the Union army during the
Civil War. Some entire regiments of
volunteers consisted of German-speaking
men only.¹ More than a dozen German-born
men attained the rank of general. Among
these Carl Schurz and Franz Sigel are well
known.² Adolph von Steinwehr, on the other
hand, has remained rather obscure. Primary
sources of information on him are difficult
to obtain, and references to him in the sec-
ondary literature are brief and sometimes
incorrect. Some reference works which
might be expected to have an article on him
do not.³ The present article aims to present
a picture of his life as a whole, rather than
focus on the details of his military service.
Baron Adolph Wilhelm August Fried-
rich von Steinwehr was born to Friedrich
Franz Ferdinand von Steinwehr and his wife
Ernestine, née von Glöden (1793-1873), on
25 September 1822, at Blankenburg/Harz.
4
(The town of Blankenburg was at that time
part of the Duchy of Braunschweig, but is
now part of the State of Sachsen-Anhalt.)
His father had been born on 25 June 1781,
at Berlin;
5
he was to die at Ferdinandsbrun-
nen, a spa near Helmstedt (the famous bor-
der crossing point 1945-1990), on 28 July
1841.
6
Friedrich von Steinwehr began his
military career in Prussian service, but later
entered the army of the small Duchy of
Braunschweig, from which he retired in
1831 in the rank of major. He had seen
action on the Iberian peninsula, where, in
1812, he was wounded at Simancas, and in
the campaign of 1815.
7
Four brothers of
Adolph's father served in the Prussian army:
Karl Friedrich Christian (1769-1826), a
colonel and director of the military academy
in Potsdam; Philipp Heinrich (1771-1846),
a major; Wilhelm Ludwig Bogislav (1774—
1854; pour le mérite 1807), a lieutenant
general, and Friedrich Wilhelm Franz
Ferdinand Leopold (1785-1860), a major.
Yet another brother, Ernst Christoph Lud-
wig (1786-1809) died while serving in the
"Freikorps" of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of
Braunschweig.
8
Adolph's grandfather, Friedrich Wil-
helm von Steinwehr (1733-1809), of the
Deetz line of the von Steinwehrs, had been
a lieutenant general in the Prussian army
and had been decorated in 1778 with the
order pour le mérite for his part in the War
of the Bavarian Succession. He had fathered
fifteen children (in two marriages), several
of whom died before reaching adulthood.
9
Ultimately the noble von Steinwehr family
can be traced back to one Johann von Stein-
wehr, who is mentioned in 1321. The fami-
ly owned estates primarily in Pomerania,
but spread also to other parts of Germany.
10
And Adolph von Steinwehr was not the only
member, of this farspread family to make
his way to America: Oscar Benno Carl von
Steinwehr, Adolph's third cousin, came to
America at about the same time and settled
in Roane County, Tennessee.
11
Whether the
two men knew each other or were in contact
with each other is not known. There are two
different escutcheons for the von Steinwehr
family. One features an armor-clad leg on a
blue field; the other, which was used by
Adolph von Steinwehr's branch of the fam-
ily, features two crossed stirrups on a silver
field.
12
Given the traditions of his family, it
will not surprise many that the young
A
ADOLPH VON STEINWEHR
_________
Adolph chose to follow the profession of
soldier. He received his military training in
the "Kadettenanstalt" (military academy) of
Braunschweig, entering on 1 May 1839, and
being promoted to the rank of "Porte-pee-
Fähnrich" (officer candidate) on 23 Novem-
ber 1840. He became a second lieutenant in
the sole infantry regiment of the ducal army
(the "Feldcorps") on 18 April 1841.
Probably seeing little chance for advance-
ment, he left the Duke's service on 11
October 1846.
13
Adolf von Steinwehr emigrated to the
United States, where already on 16 January-
1847, in the Common Pleas Court of Mus-
kingum County, Ohio, he declared his inten-
tion to become a United States citizen.
14
He
then, reportedly, joined a regiment of volun-
teers in Alabama, and participated in the
Mexican War. At one point, while he was in
Mexico, he was reportedly attacked by a
drunk, machete-swinging mestizo, suffered
an ugly wound on his right cheek, and was
left with a noticeable scar.
15
That von
Steinwehr had an ugly scar on the right side
of his face is confirmed by another source,
which, however, offers a different story of
its origin.
16
These reports explain why in
photographs we usually see his left profile.
The scar is, however, clearly visible in one
photograph in the files of the National
Archives.
17
Adolf was disappointed in his hopes of
receiving a commission in the regular forces
of the United States, but obtained an
appointment in the Coast and Geodetic
Survey. On 6 August 1851, in New Orleans
he married a Mary Florence Murrell. In
1852 he returned to Germany, together with
his wife and their first child, who was born
on 1 April 1852.
18
In 1854 von Steinwehr emigrated to
America for the second time. He arrived in
New York City on 8 June 1854, on the ship
"Bremen," having embarked at the port of
Bremen. He was accompanied by his wife
and two children.
19
He settled in
Wallingford, Connecticut, and became a
"Latin farmer."
20
From 1858 to 1860 he and
his family resided in Albany, New York. The
city directory and the 1860 census list him
as an architect and civil engineer, with
offices in the Exchange Building.
21
He
designed a state arsenal, later called
"armory," which was built in 1858 at the
corner of Eagle and Hudson Streets.
22
In the
same year, together with his partner William
Hodgins, he redesigned Albany's North
Dutch Church (today's First Church in
Albany).
23
When the Civil War erupted in 1861,
von Steinwehr raised a regiment of volun-
teers among German immigrants, mostly in
New York City. The regiment was the 29
s
New York Infantry, also called the "First
German Infantry" or the "Astor Rifles."
24
The regiment saw action at the First Battle
of Bull Run, the Second Battle of Bull Run,
and the Battle of Chancellorsville.
25
Adolph
von Steinwehr was commissioned as
Colonel on 23 May 1861 and commanded
the regiment until 12 October 1861, when
he took command of the Second Brigade of
the Third Division, a division commanded
by another German-American officer, Louis
Blenker.
26
He became acting Brigadier
General on 13 October 1861, but that rank
was made permanent only on 3 July 1862.
27
On 22 June 1862, he took command of the
Second Division of the corps which was
first designated the First Corps, Army of
Virginia, and then the Eleventh Corps,
Army of the Potomac, and was commanded
first by Major General Franz Sigel and later
by Major General Oliver O. Howard. The
First Division of this corps was commanded
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_______________________POHLSANDER
by Brigadier General (later Major General)
Julius Stahel and the Third Division by
Brigadier General (later Major General)
Carl Schurz. Adolph von Steinwehr ably
commanded the Second Division in the
Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of
Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg,
and the struggle for Chattanooga. He is best
remembered for his occupation of Cemetery
Hill at Gettysburg; today the road which
leads to that hill from the southwest is
named Steinwehr Avenue. He
never was
granted promotion to the rank of Major
General, although he was fully deserving of
it and although both Julius Stahel and Carl
Schurz had been promoted to that rank in
March 1863. When in April 1864 the Ele-
venth and Twelfth Corps were reorganized
he was offered but declined the command of
a brigade. He resigned his commission on 3
July 1865.
28
His service record indicates that on
several occasions he had been absent on
leave because of illness, but there is no
record of his having been wounded,
although such a claim is sometimes made in
the secondary literature. His failure to win
promotion to the rank of Major General still
rankled him many years later, as is apparent
from a passage in a letter which he wrote, in
German, to Franz Sigel on 12 December
1876.
29
In the early 1870's the former general
lived in New Haven, Connecticut.
30
From
1872 to 1873 he held an appointment at Yale
University as instructor in military science.
The university also awarded him an hon-
orary M.A. degree.
31
From 1870 until his
death he was occupied with producing and
publishing various maps, atlases, textbooks
in geography,
32
and a major work, impres-
sive by its size and thoroughness, the Cen-
tennial Gazetteer of the United States, "a
geographical and statistical encyclopaedia
of the states, territories, counties, townships,
villages, post-offices, mountains, rivers,
lakes, etc. in the American Union."
33
Many
years earlier, in 1861, he had already
demonstrated his competence in cartogra-
phy by producing a "Map Showing the Dis-
tribution of Slaves in the Southern States,"
which was based on the 1860 federal cen-
sus.
34
By 1876 he had moved his residence
to Cincinnati.
35
Death came to Adolf von Steinwehr on
25 February 1877, while he was on a busi-
ness trip in Buffalo; the cause of death is
given as lung congestion. The death was
reported in the New York Times the next
day; additional reports on the death and the
funeral services were published in Albany,
Buffalo and Cincinnati newspapers.
36
After
lying in state in the Buffalo Arsenal, where
members of the New York National Guard
provided an honor guard, the body was
taken by rail to Albany for burial There it
arrived on the morning of February 28 and
was received with full military honors. After
lying in state in the very arsenal which he
himself had designed von Steinwehr's body
was taken, later the same day, to the receiv-
ing vault of Albany Rural Cemetery for
interment in the spring. None of the news-
papers mention the attendance of family
members. Newspapers in Braunschweig
also reported on the death, claiming von
Steinwehr as one of Braunschweig's own,
but committing several errors in the biogra-
phical data.
37
On 25 February 1927, the
50th anniversary of von Steinwehr's death,
the Braunschweigische Landeszeitung fea-
tured another column on him and repeated
much of the wording as well as the errors.
38
Franz Sigel, upon learning of von
Steinwehr's death, placed one of the news-
paper obituaries in a notebook which he
—83—
ADOLPH VON STEINWEHR_________
kept for such purpose and then penned a
brief poem in honor of the deceased.
39
The burial lot in Albany Rural Ceme-
tery Lot 4, Section 4, was not in a choice
location. The grave lay neglected and
almost forgotten for many years, marked
only by a small stone. Finally, in 1897, the
German Veterans Association in Albany
decided that a more appropriate burial
should be provided. Accordingly, on April
18, 1898, according to the cemetery records,
the remains were transferred to a much bet-
ter location, Lot 13, Section 106. In the
meantime a Steinwehr Monument Commit-
tee under the auspices of the Grand Army of
the Republic (GA.R.), the most influential
of the groups devoted to the concerns of vet-
erans from the Union armies in the Civil
War, was formed. Bernhard Gloeckner, a
prominent Albany furniture dealer, served
as chairman; his name and the names of the
other four members of the committee are
inscribed on a small tablet mounted on the
back of the monument which now marks the
grave site.
This imposing monument, designed by
John Zeiser of Albany, takes the form of a
massive granite prism; it stands 17 1/2 feet
high, while its base measures seven feet
square. Its top is decorated on all four sides
with an American shield. The upper register
bears on its face, enclosed in a wreath
carved of stone, a bronze medallion with the
general's likeness, bareheaded, in a three-
quarters view facing left. This likeness is
taken from a photograph on file in the US
Army's Military History Institute. A larger
memorial bronze tablet in the lower register
bears the following inscription:
IN MEMORY
OF
ADOLPH W. A. F. VON STEINWEHR
BORN IN BRUNSWICK GERMANY 1822.
DIED IN BUFFALO, N.Y. 1877.
1861
COL. 29TH REGIMENT N.Y.S. VOL.
1862-1865
BRIGADIER GENERAL
AND COMMANDER OF 2ND DIV.
11th CORPS U.S. ARMY
ERECTED BY HIS
COMRADES AND FRIENDS
FROM ALBANY, PHILADELPHIA
AND CINCINNATI.
STEINWEHR POST NO. 19 G.A.R.
NEW YORK CITY.
GEN. VON STEINWEHR POST NO. 76 G.A.R.
NEW HAVEN, CONN.
MAY 30th 1898.
Plans for the construction and dedica-
tion of the monument had been announced
in the New York Times already on 13
February 1898. The announcement indicat-
ed that both Carl Schurz and Franz Sigel
were expected to give brief addresses. The
monument was dedicated on Memorial Day,
30 May 1898, while patriotic sentiments
were running strong because of the Spanish-
American War. The dedication ceremony,
held in the afternoon after the traditional
Memorial Day parade, was attended by an
estimated 3000 people; among these were
Civil War veterans not only from Albany but
also from New Haven, New York City,
Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. The guest of
honor was William von Steinwehr, the gen-
eral's son, who had come for the occasion
from his home in Cincinnati, where he was
a successful businessman. The program
began with an overture played by the boys'
band of the Catholic Protectory of New
York City. While the overture was being
played, twelve young ladies, all from
Albany's German families, strewed flowers
on the grave site. (Their names were care-
fully reported in the local newspapers.)
Then the monument was unveiled, follow-
ing which the Rev. E. A. Terry, appropriate-
ly also a Civil War veteran, offered a prayer.
This, in turn, was followed by the Eintracht
—84—
_______________________POHLSANDER
Singing Society singing Beethoven's "Die
Himmel rühmen des Ewigen Ehre" Presen-
tation of the monument was by Bernhard
Gloeckner, the chairman of the monument
committee. A brief address was given by
Francis J. Werneck, commander of the
Steinwehr Post No. 192 of the G.A.R. in
New York City. The major address was
given by Gen. James R. O'Beirne of New
York City. The program concluded with the
Eintracht Singing Society and the audience
singing the National Anthem. Gen. Franz
Sigel had been scheduled to give a brief
address but was prevented from attending.
40
One should also note the absence of Carl
Schurz.
In 1995 the monument received a
much-needed face lift through the efforts of
the Col. George L. Willard Camp No. 154 of
the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War,
Mr. William Halpin, camp commander. It
was then rededicated on Veterans Day,
November 11, 1995, with appropriate cere-
monies. The "Sons" continue to act as
guardians of the grave. They have been
unable thus far to recover a bronze eagle
which was added to the monument at some
time between 1898 and 1913 but was stolen
in 1993.
41
Nearby the visitor may inspect
the grave of President Chester A. Arthur and
a large monument to the Grand Army of the
Republic.
One would like to know more about
Adolph von Steinwehr's family relation-
ships. His parents were later divorced.
42
There was a sister, Ernestine Louise
Adolphine Augusta Henriette, born at
Blankenburg on 13 October 1824.
43
Her
engagement on 22 May 1848, to Carl W.
Leusmann, an "Amtmann" (magistrate), her
marriage on 27 August 1848, and the birth
of a daughter on 14 November 1849, were
all announced in the Braunschweiger
Anzeigen.
44
By a fortunate coincidence
Gen. Oliver O. Howard, Adolph von Stein-
wehr's former corps commander, reports in
his autobiography having met this sister in
1884 in Düsseldorf in the course of his
European travels.
45
We know little about
von Steinwehr's wife, other than that her
name was Mary Florence Murrell, and that
she was born on 10 May 1826.
46
She was
said to be "a New Orleans woman, fat and
homely, but good and warm-hearted."
47
By
1860 five children had been born into the
family. The 1860 federal census lists them
as follows: Ernestine, age 10 , born in Prus-
sia; Bogislaus, age 7, born in Prussia; Hilde-
gard, age 5, born in New York [state];
Fanny, age 3, born in New York [state]; and
Guido M[aximilian] H[amilton), age 9
months, born in New York [state].
48
These
data suggest that the family moved back
from Germany to America in 1854. Stein-
wehr apparently named the oldest daughter
after his mother, and the oldest son after one
of his father's brothers. But Bogislaus later
chose to call himself William. (His full
name was Wilhelm Bogislaw Adolph Kuno;
he was born on 17 March 1853, in Braun-
schweig.
49
) At times during the war the
family was able to accompany the general.
On 21/22 October 1862, a member of the
154th New York Infantry, writing home to
friends from Fairfax, Virginia, mentions in
passing that there were five children in the
general's family, the youngest being about
two years old.
50
This agrees neatly with the
1860 census. But Fanny, the youngest
daughter, died at Fairfax shortly before 25
November 1862, and reportedly was taken
to Albany for burial.
51
Adolph von
Steinwehr is listed in the Washington, D.C.,
City Directory of 1862 (where his name is
misspelled "Steinveer").
—85—
ADOLPH VON STEINWEHR________
At the time of the general's death his
wife and two surviving daughters were liv-
ing in a villa near Koblenz, Germany. His
wife was to survive him by many years; she
never returned to the country of her birth.
On 20 June 1899, and again on 18
December 1899, she applied to the U.S.
government for a widow's pension. The
application bogged down in a maze of
bureaucratic wrangling involving the
Pension Office, the U.S. Consulate General
in Frankfurt/Main, and two lawyers and was
initially rejected. At last a Special Act of
Congress on 27 June 1902, authorized a
monthly pension of $30.00. Affidavits in
support of the claim had been filed by four
of von Steinwehr's former fellow-officers,
Julius Stahel, Oliver O. Howard, Carl
Schurz, and Franz Sigel. Payments ceased
upon her death in Frankfurt/Main on 30 July
1905.
52
When Mary Florence filed her applica-
tion she was nearly blind, had little or no
income, and was supported by her two
daughters Ernestine von Werner and Hilde-
gard von Meysenberg. There is no mention
of her two sons, William and Guido. We
also learn that she had been previously mar-
ried and was divorced in 1850; a more spe-
cific date and the name of her former hus-
band are not given. She was married to
Adolph von Steinwehr in New Orleans, not
in Mobile, Alabama, as is claimed in some
of the secondary literature. The date of the
marriage is said to be 6 August 1851, in
three documents, but 7 June 1851, in anoth-
er. Mary Florence was unable to provide her
marriage certificate, claiming that it had
been lost in a fire during the Civil War. Her
oldest daughter, we shall see, was born on 1
April 1852, also in New Orleans. Her age in
1899 is said to have been 66, which, we
must assume, is in error.
53
Some uncertain-
ty thus remains both about Mary Florence's
date of birth and about her marriage.
Von Steinwehr left behind a loving but
unfinished letter, in English, to his daughter
Hildegard.
54
From this letter it can be
learned that this daughter was moving in
high society, was engaged to Baron
Hermann von Meysenberg, and that her
father was pleased.
55
We also learn that his
son Guido, who was then about 18 years of
age, was successful in his studies and that
his father hoped to get him an appointment
at West Point.
56
The oldest daughter,
Ernestine, married Maximilian von Werner
in Koblenz on 24 April 1878; she died on 8
June 1942, in Freiburg im Breisgau.
57
Fanny, as mentioned above, died in 1862 at
Fairfax.
58
William von Steinwehr was a suc-
cessful businessman in Cincinnati.
59
Fred-
(erick) C(harles) von Steinwehr, one of the
three children of William, a Cornell Univer-
sity graduate, and a retired Cincinnati busi-
nessman, was killed in a hunting accident
on 19 December 1931, according to the New
York Times of 20 December 1931. Fred C
von Steinwehr, in turn, had a son named
Fred(erick) (1916-1992). A daughter of the
latter, Ms. Randi von Steinwehr, lives in
Princeton, Massachusetts.
60
Unfortunately little of von Steinwehr's
personality emerges very clearly from the
scarce sources of information available. The
turnout for the dedication of his monument,
twenty-one years after his death, would
indicate a man well thought of by his former
comrades. Gen. Howard held him in high
regard.
61
He was "an old friend" of Harriet
Beecher Stowe, on whom he called in No-
vember 1862 and whose son Frederick
William (Fred) served under his com-
mand.
62
He made a most favorable impres-
sion on Isabella Beecher Hooker, Harriet
Beecher Stowe's sister, who called him "the
—86—
_________________________POHLSANDER
most charming Christian gentleman and sol-
dier that ever I have seen" and "the most
distinguished foreigner in our service." She
also writes: "The Great Frederic [sic] of
Prussia stood Godfather to his father. The
latter was commander in chief of the Prus-
sian army, as was his grandfather."
63
But
these claims are not borne out by the evi-
dence. H. A. Rattermann,
64
writing shortly
after von Steinwehr's death, has words of
praise for him: "He was a soldier in the true
sense of the word, and a nobleman, not only
by name and birth, but also in deed... . He
was a man of excellent education, of gentle-
manly deportment, and of keen spirit in
every kind of company." Rattermann knew
von Steinwehr personally. In fact, the two
men had met for the last time only three
days before von Steinwehr was overcome in
his hotel room. In this last meeting von
Steinwehr had asked Rattermann to sponsor
him for memberhip in Cincinnati's "Pionier-
Verein."
65
In a letter to the National Tribune
(the national organ of the Grand Army of
the Republic) of 11 October 1888, one
Adolphus F. Vogelbach has words of high
praise for von Steinwehr: "To Gen. A. von
Steinwehr, commanding the Second Divi-
sion, Eleventh Corps, belongs the credit and
honor of selecting and occupying Cemetery
Hill. ... Steinwehr was a fine officer,
accomplished and competent, and deserves
morecredit than he ever received. He is now
dead. Modesty on his part, no doubt, pre-
vented him from claiming the honor that
was justly due him." Vogelbach was a veter-
an (Captain, Co. B) of the 27th Pennsylvania
Volunteer Infantry.
66
J. G. Rosengarten
67
likewise pays him
a fine tribute: "His [Steinwehr's) character
was marked by many manly qualities, and
his name is an enduring example of German
patriotism, soldiership, and culture." Gustav
Phillip Körner
68
writes that "among all the
German generals von Steinwehr was recog-
nized as one of the most capable, because he
combined courage and determination with
excellent military knowledge." Wilhelm
Kaufmann
69
similarly says of him that he
"was without question the most thoroughly
trained of all the German officers in the
Union army."
Another very positive assessment of
Steinwehr's military abilities; was given
recently by Christian B. Keller:
70
"He was a
true soldier, whose greatest assets were his
European military training and background
coupled with an astute eye, which allowed
him to scan battlefields and instantly recog-
nize the strategic pressure points. His de-
tailed knowledge of military history, experi-
ence in the Mexican-American war, engi-
neering ability, and organizational skills
combined to make him one of the most gift-
ed ethnic commanders of the war." In the
judgment of Harry W. Pfanz, author of three
books on the Battle of Gettysburg, von
Steinwehr "deserves much more attention
than he has received."
71
The Official Records of the Depart-
ment of War
72
reveal a competent com-
mander and capable military engineer, as do
numerous references in other Civil War
records, such as the memoirs of Carl
Schurz.
73
But they say nothing about his
personal relationships. It was professional
jealousy, apparently, that prompted him to
write, on 26 January 1863, to Gen. Sigel,
asking for help in obtaining assignment to a
different command and remarking that it
was "a great humiliation" for him to be
obliged to serve under Schurz.
74
(Schurz
was briefly in command of the Eleventh
Corps, 19 January-6 February 1863.) The
same letter also suggests that there were
misunderstandings and a measure of tension
—87—
ADOLPH VON STEINWEHR
_________
in the relationship between von Steinwehr
and both Schurz and Sigel. Not having
received an immediate response, von
Steinwehr wrote to Sigel again only three
days later.
75
Disagreement between von
Steinwehr and Schurz on a matter of policy
becomes evident also in a letter written by
von Steinwehr to General Howard on 5
April 1863.
76
Von Steinwehr's work as a geographer
and cartographer has earned him words of
high praise. He was a man of many talents,
but his frequent change of residence and
profession suggests also a measure of rest-
lessness. He appears to have felt at ease in
American society, but maintained close
links to his native Germany. He left no col-
lection of papers, and many questions hence
remain unanswered: What was the nature of
his relationship to his wife and children?
Did he have strong religious beliefs? (The
von Steinwehr family was Lutheran; one of
his father's sisters, Wilhelmine Elisabeth
Henrietta [1770-1843] was the head of a
Lutheran "abbey" at Heiligengrabe in Bran-
denburg.
77
) How did he relate to Schurz,
Sigel, and the other Forty-Eighters in the
ranks of the Union army? He was not one of
them, and his background was different.
What was his position on the political ques-
tions of the day?
78
We may with a measure
of surety conclude only that he was opposed
to slavery. Did having a wife from the South
affect his attitude towards the Confederacy?
How did he reconcile the aristocratic tradi-
tions of his family with the democratic
ideals of America? But without question it
can be said that he served his adopted coun-
try with great distinction, both in peace and
in war, and deserves a place of honor among
German immigrants to America.
— Hans A. Pohlsander
Delmar, New York
—88—
1.
Ella Lonn, Foreigners in the Union Army and
Navy (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State
University Press, 1951), 90-115. Joseph
Wandel, The German Dimension of American
History (Chicago: Nelson-Hall Inc.,
Publishers, 1979), 173-82. An even higher
count, 187,858, is given by J. G. Rosengarten,
The German Soldier in the Wars of the United
States, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott
Co., 1890), 195. Most recently, Stephen D.
Engle gives an estimate of 180,000 to 216,000
Germans in the service of the Union and
3,500-7,000 in Confederate service: "German-
Americans, " in David S. Heidler and Jeanne T.
Heidler, eds., Encyclopedia of the American
Civil War: A Political, Social, Military History
(Santa Barbara, Denver, and Oxford: ABC-
CLIO, 2000), 2: 822-24. On the pro-Union
sentiment prevailing among German-
Americans see also Earl J. Hess, ed., A German
in the Yankee Fatherland. The Civil War
Letters of Henry A. Kircher (Kent, Ohio: Kent
State University Press, 1983), 1-3. Of broader
interest: William L. Burton, Melting Pot
Soldiers: The Union's Ethnic Regiments, 2nd
ed. (Bronx, NY: Fordham University Press,
1998). Further literature in Wolfgang
Hochbruck, compiler, Bibliography; Germans
in the American Civil War, www.uni-
stuttgart.de/ilwam/civil/bibliography.htm.
2.
Chester Verne Easum, The Americanization of
Carl Schurz (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1929). Joseph Schafer, Carl Schurz:
Militant Liberal (Evansville, WI: Center Press,
1930). Claude Moore Fuess, Carl Schurz:
Reformer, 1829-1906 (New York: Dodd,
Mead & Co., 1932). Hans L. Trefousse, Carl
Schurz: A Biography (Knoxville, TN: The
University of Tennessee Press, 1982). Stephen
D. Engle, Yankee Dutchman: The Life of Franz
Sigel (Fayetteville, AR: The University of
Arkansas Press, 1993). Adolf Eduard Zucker,
The Forty-Eighters: Political Refugees of the
German Revolution of 1848 (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1950).
3.
Pertinent articles in Mark Mayo Boatner III,
The Civil War Dictionary (1959 and 1991),
Patricia L. Faust, Historical Times Illustrated
Encyclopedia of the Civil War (1986), and
Stewart Sifakis, Who Was Who in the Union
(1988), to list only a few, all contain inaccura-
cies. There are no entries at all on von Stein-
wehr in the Deutsche Biographische
Enzyklopädie (1988) or in the American
National Biography (1999). An entry on him in
the Neue Deutsche Biographie is forthcoming.
4.
Verzeichniß der Gebornen und Getauften,
evangelisch-lutherische Kirchengerneinde
Blankenburg, pp. 286-89, no. 53. Courtesy of
Mr. Effler, Stadt Blankenburg. Another copy of
the same index in the Niedersächsisches
Staatsarchiv in Wolfenbüttel erroneously lists
the name of the father as Friedrich Carl von
Steinwehr.
Verzeichnisse der in den Jahren
1819-1875 in hiesiger Stadt geborenen Kinder.
Stadt Blankenburg/Harz, Museum Kleines
Schloß, P III 1779.
Braunschweigische Anzeigen 1822/2899;
Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv in Wolfen-
büttel. There is a cardfile index for the years
1814-1855.
Family History Library, Salt Lake City,
Utah, microfilm 1760828.
The parents were married on 22 March
1818, in Blankenburg. The marriage was later
dissolved by divorce, but the relationship
between the two former spouses continued to
be a friendly one. Adolph's mother eventually
married a Professor Adolf Schleiter of Braun-
schweig (1792-1863): Personnel file von
Steinwehr, Stadtarchiv Braunschweig, H VIII
A: 4819; Braunschweigische Anzeigen
1818/1355; Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv in
Wolfenbüttel; Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fort-
setzung der Nachrichten über die Familie von
Steinwehr, Deetzer Linie mit Berücksichtigung
der heutigen Hannover 'schen und Ameri-
kanischen Linie," (Cologne, Spring 1916), 36;
NW Staatsarchiv Münster, Sammlung von
Steinwehr (Dep.), Manuskripten-Band 1.
5.
Taufregister des Infanterie-Regiments von
Winning Nr. 23, Militärkirchenbuch VIII. HA
MKB, Nr. 392/3, Bl. 743; Geheimes
Staatsarchiv, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin-
Dahlem. Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung,"
35.
6.
Kirchenbuch Marienberg, p. 146, no. 31;
Evangelisch-lutherischer Kirchenverband,
Kirchenverbandsamt, Helmstedt. Kurt von
Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 35-36, erroneously
gives July 27.
Notes
ADOLPH VON STEINWEHR, NOTES_____
7.
Gustaf von Kortzfleisch, Geschichte des
Herzoglich Braunschweigischen Infanterie-
Regiments (Braunschweig 1896 1903),1: 242
and 354-55 and 2: 44 and 51. Kurt von
Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 35.
8.
Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 32-38.
Kurt von Priesdorff, Soldatisches Führertum
(Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, 1937),
2: 437-38, no. 914, and 4: 285-87, no. 1327.
Duke Friedrich Wilhelm, the "Black Duke,"
died in the Battle of Quatrebas in 1815: Kortz-
fleisch, Geschichte, 2: 70-7 1. His sarcopha-
gus stands in the crypt of the Cathedral of St.
Blaise (Blasius) in Braunschweig.
9.
Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 26-28.
Priesdorff, Soldatisches Führertum 2: 437-38,
no. 914. Gustav Lehmann, Die Ritter des
Ordens pour le mérite (Berlin: Ernst Siegfried
Mittler und Sohn, 1913), 1: 138, no. 781.
Christian Zweng, Die Ritter des Ordens pour
le mérite 1740-1918 (Osnabrück: Biblio
Verlag, 1998), 91, no. 781. Kurt von Stein-
wehr, "Fortsetzung," 33 and 35, erroneously
reports that, when Friedrich Wilhelm's son
Wilhelm Ludwig Bogislav was baptized on 28
February 1774, and again, when his son
Friedrich Franz Ferdinand was baptized on
June 30, 1781, King Frederick II and Prince
Heinrich of Prussia served as godfathers. If this
were correct it would show that Friedrich
Wilhelm was highly esteemed by the king. But
the record of the baptisms makes no mention
of the king or of the prince: Taufregister des
Infanterie-Regiments von Winning Nr. 23, BI.
610 and 743.
10.
Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch, Neues
preussisches Adels-Lexicon (Leipzig :
Gebrüder Reichenbach, 1836-1843), 4:
234-35. Ernst Heinrich Kneschke, Neues all-
gemeines deutsches Adels-Lexikon (Leipzig: F.
Voigt, 1859-1870; repr. Hildesheim: Georg
Olms, 1973), 9: 7-8.
1l.
He was born at Wesel on the Rhine on August
22, 1823. Like most of the von Steinwehrs, he,
too, embarked on a military career, but left the
service in 1846. Having emigrated to the U.S.,
he lived for many years in Kingston and then
in Rockwood, both in Roane County, Ten-
nessee. He became a United States citizen on
25 October 1852. On 17 October 1859, at
Wartburg, Morgan County, Tennessee, he mar-
ried Catherine Wilhelmina Henrietta Sien-
knecht. The couple had six children, ,one of
whom died on the day of birth. Oscar died on
1 December 1900. Data transcribed from the
"Steinwehr Bible," Roane County Heritage
Commission, Kingston, TN. www.roanetnher-
itage.com/research.
Roane County Circuit Minutes, vol. 8, p.
290. Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 41.
Family History Library, Salt Lake City,
Utah, microfilm 1553687.
The common great-great-grandfather was
Joachim Friedrich von Steinwehr; his son
Philipp Christoph (1686-1740) became the
father of Adolph's grandfather Friedrich
Wilhelm (see note 9). Joachim Friedrich had
another son, Franz Joachim (d. 1748); the lat-
ter's son, Gottfried Sigismund (1731-1797),
fathered Carl Heinrich Gottfried (1774-1835),
who in turn fathered Oscar Benno Carl..
Pedigree chart of the von Steinwehr fami-
ly, drawn by Kurt von Steinwehr, Staatsarchiv
Münster, Bibl. 3 S 48. Information kindly pro-
vided by Frau Gabriele Kießling.
Carl Heinrich Gottfried von Steinwehr was
a "Hauptmann" (captain) in the 17th Prussian
Infantry Regiment his wife was Charlotte
Friederike von Iwonsky. Garnison-Gemeinde
Wesel, Register of Baptisms 1820, no. 64, and
1823, no. 61; family History Library, Salt
Lake City, Utah, microfilm 0492492.
12.
J.T. Bagmihl, Pommersches Wappenbuch
(Stettin, 1843-1855), 1: 154-59 and pl. LVIII.
J. Siebmacher's Grosses und allgemeines
Wappenbuch, new ed., Einleitungsband,
Abtheilung B, bearbeitet von Maximilian
Gritzner (Nümberg: Bauer und Rappe, 1890),
141-42, s. v. "Steigbügel," and Sechster Band,
Sechste Abtheilung, bearbeitet von Georg
Adalbert von Mülvgrstedt, 162 and plate 105.
Kurt von Steinwehr, "Nachrichten über die
Familie von Steinwehr mit einem Vorwort über
die Urgeschichte und das Wappen derselben
unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Linie
Deetz--Wellen" (Cologne and Koblenz,
1914/1915), 10-11; NW Staatsarchiv Münster,
SammIung von Steinwehr (Dep.), Manu-
skripten-Band 1.
13.
Abschied für den Sekondelieutenant von
Steinwehr vom Infanterie-Regiment, October
5
and 6, 1846; Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv
is Wolfenbüttel, 12 Neu 5 Nr, 5398, B1. 171.
—90—
_______________________POHLSANDER
Dienst-Etats der Officiers [sic] des Feld-Corps,
1. Heft, October 11, 1846; Niedersächsisches
Staatsarchiv in Wolfenbüttel, 25B Neu 417, Nr.
34. Braunschweigische Anzeigen 1841/2105
and 1846/6305; Niedersächsisches Staats-
archiv in Wolfenbüttel. Günter Scheel,
"Steinwehr, Adolph Wilhelm August Friedrich
von,'" in Horst-Rüdiger Jarck and Günter
Scheel, eds., Braunschweigisches Biogra-
phisches Lexikon: 19, und 20. Jahrhundert
(Hannover: Verlag Hahnsche Buchhandlung,
1996), 592. Elke Niewöhner, "Friedrich
Adolph [sic], Baron von Steinwehr — ein Mann
mit vielen Talenten," in Brücken in eine neue
Welt, exhibition catalog, Herzog August
Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel 2000 (Wiesbaden:
Harassowitz Verlag, 2000), 221-26. He did
not, as is sometimes asserted, take a one year's
leave of absence.
14.
Muskingum County Footprints 1: An Index:
Declarations of Intention for Naturalization,
Muskingum County, Ohio, 1809-1899, by
Sylvia Smedley Hargrove and Hilda E. Yinger
(South Zanesville and Zanesville, OH, 1984),
48. Further information was kindly provided
by Mrs. Yinger. It is not clear why von Stein-
wehr went to Muskingum County. Interest-
ingly enough, his name is given as Schleiter
von Steinwehr (see note 4). I have not been
able to learn when and where he embarked for
America, when and where he arrived, and
when and where he became a citizen.
15.
H.A. Rattermann, "Adolph von Steinwehr,"
Der deutsche Pionier 9 (1877): 17-29 and
160-66 at 18. Rattermann claims to have been
told the story of the scar by von Steinwehr
himself. A synopsis of Rattermann's article in
English is found in Clifford Neal Smith, Early
Nineteeth-Century German Settlers in Ohio,
Kentucky, and Other States (German-
American Genealogical Research, Monograph
Number 20, 1991), Part 4, Fascicle C:
Appendices, 91-92.
Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 44,
remarks that von Steinwehr's life was full of
adventures and that he was a good story teller.
Was this story liberally embellished? I have
been unable to find an official record of von
Steinwehr's service in the Mexican War.
16.
Theodore Ayrault Dodge, On Campaign with
the Army of the Potomac: The Civil War
Journal of Theodore Ayrault Dodge, ed.
Stephen W. Sears (New York: Cooper Square
Press, 2001), 141: "The General ...is a fine
looking man, small build, but with a noble
head and a magnificent sword cut from the
forehead across the right eye and cheek. He
probably got this in the Revolution of 1848 in
Germany." On this supposition Dodge is, of
course, wrong, as von Steinwehr had left
Germany well before 1848.
17.
Tim Engelhart, Zu den Waffen! Deutsche Emi-
granten in New Yorker Unionsregimentern
während des Amerikanischen Bürgerkrieges
1861-1865 (Zella-Mehlis/Meiningen, Thurin-
gia: Heinrich-Jung Verlagsgesellschaft, 2000),
32. The author has kindly furnished me a good
copy.
18.
Rattermann, "Adolph von Steinwehr," 18-19.
Alfred Vagts, Deutsch-amerikanische Rück-
wanderung, Beihefte zum Jahrbuch für Ameri-
kastudien, 6. Heft (Heidelberg: Carl Winter
Universitätsverlag, 1960), 86. The evidence
suggests that during his stay in Germany he
lived in Braunschweig. At no time was he an
instructor at the military academy at Potsdam,
as is sometimes asserted. His marriage and
family will be further discussed below.
19.
Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby, Germans
to America (Wilmington, DE.: Scholarly Re-
sources, 1998 f.), 7: 265.
20.
Charles H.S. Davis, History of Wallingford,
Conn. (Meriden, CT: published by the author,
1870), 541-42. A "Latin farmer" is one more
knowledgeable in literature and the arts than in
practical agriculture.
21.
Albany City Directories for 1858, 1859, and
1860. Federal Census for the City of Albany,
January 2, 1860, p. 425.
22.
Albany newspapers: Albany Evening Journal,
February 28, 1877; Argus, May 29, 1898;
Albany Morning Express, May 30,1898; Times
Union, May 30, 1898. New York Monuments
Commission, Final Report on the Battlefield of
Gettysburg: New York at Gettysburg (Albany:
J. B. Lyon, 1902), 3: 1346. When the building
was no longer needed as an armory, due to the
construction of a new one in 1891, it became
the Catholic Union Building. It no longer
stands today. For the history of the building see
the following: Arthur James Weise, The
History of the City of Albany, New York
(Albany: E. H. Bender, 1884), 489-90; M. J.
—91—
ADOLPH VON STEINWEHR
, NOTES____
Louden, Catholic Albany (Albany: P. Don-
nelly, 1895), 61. Cuyler Reynolds, Albany
Chronicles: A History of the City Arranged
Chronologically to the Present Time (Albany
1906), 624. Morris Gerber, Old Albany
(Albany 1961), 1: 156-57. John Wolcott of
Albany kindly provided information and pho-
tographs.
23.
Joel Munsell, The Annals of Albany, 2nd. ed.
(Albany: J. Munsell, 1869), 10: 422-23. Wil-
liam Hodgins is listed as von Steinwehr's part-
ner in the Albany City Directory for 1858, but
separately for the years 1859-1863. On the his-
tory of this church see further Warren Roberts,
"First Reformed Church of Albany," in Anne
Roberts and Marcia Cockrell, eds.. Historic
Albany: Its Churches and Synagogues
(Albany: Library Communications Services,
1986), 73-74.
24.
The name "First German Infantry" or '"First
German Rifles" was also claimed by the 8th
New York Infantry: Lonn, Foreigners in the
Union Army, 95; Rosengarten, The German
Soldier, 218; Engelhart, Zu den Waffen!, 21.
25.
The regiment was mustered into the service of
the United States on 4 and 6 June 1861. It was
mustered out on 20 June 1863, then under the
command of Col. Louis Hartmann, in New
York City. Gen. von Steinwehr delivered a
brief farewell address. Frederick Phisterer,
New York in the War of the Rebellion,
1861-1865, 3rd ed. (Albany: Weed and
Parsons, 1912), 3: 2062-63 and 2076.
Homepage of the regiment: http://bowja01.
home.mindspring.com/29thNY_Main_Page.
htm. Engelhart, Zu den Waffen!, 30-33.
26.
Apparently having been absent from his com-
mand for a number of days, Steinwehr issued a
"Brigade Befehl" on 8 November 1861 which
reads: "Ins Hauptquartier heute zurückgekehrt,
übernehme ich das Commando der 2ten
Brigade." One should note the use of German
even for such an official document. Military
Service Record of Col. Adolph von Steinwehr,
29th N.Y. Inf., National Archives, Washington,
D.C.
27.
Gen. Blenker recommended von Steinwehr for
promotion on 3 December 3, 1861, and von
Steinwehr himself, on 5 January 1862, request-
ed Gen. George B. McClellan to convene a
board of officers for the purpose of examining
his qualifications for promotion. He writes, in
part, "I have won the approbation of General
Blenker and also of all those officers of this
division who have received a thorough military
education and have served in the regular
armies in Germany." Military Service Record
of Col. Adolph von Steinwehr; Military
Service Record of Brig. Gen. Adolph von
Steinwehr, 2nd Div., 11 th Army Corps,
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
28.
Department of War, The War of the Rebellion:
A Compilation of the Official Records of the
Union and Confederate Armies, 128 vols,.
(Washington, D.C., 1880 ff,), passim. The
Official Records can be searched on the
Internet at http//library5.1ibrary.cornell.edu/
moa.
Rattermann, "Adolph von Steinwehr,"
19-29 and 160-63. Rattermann is anxious to
defend the German element in the Union army
(the "flying Dutchmen") against nativist preju-
dice and against the charges of incompetence
and cowardice which were so often brought
against it, and also to give von Steinwehr the
credit which he deserves. Rattermann does not
seem entirely objective himself.
On anti-German prejudice in the Union
army see : David Delpech, "Le préjugé ger-
manophobe dans l'armé nordiste," Le Courrier
de la Guerre d'Amerique 36 (1995), 11-17;
New York Monuments Commission, Final
Report, 3: 1345-1346; Kurt von Steinwehr,
"Fortsetzung," 41-45 [This account seems to
depend heavily on that of Rattermann]; Ezra J.
Warner, Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union
Commanders (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana
State University Press, 1964), 530-31; Frank J.
Welcher, The Union Army 1861-1865:
Organization and Operations, 2 vols. (Bloom-
ington and Indianapolis: Indiana University
Press, 1989-1993), passim; and Harry W.
Pfanz, Gettysburg — Culp's Hill and Cemetery
Hill (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1993), 27 and 432, note 37.
There being an abundance of literature on
the Civil War, I do not deem it necessary to
describe military events in detail or practical to
provide a more complete bibliography.
29.
"Your own letter, which you say you sent to
Schurz, I have never seen, since you at that
time generally limited your confidential com-
munications to [Julius] Stahel and [Carl]
Schurz. Indeed both of these shortly after this
—92—
_______________________POHLSANDER
battle became major generals [in March,
1863], on your express recommendation (as
Mr. Lincoln himself told me). But I, although I
was the oldest of the three of us [the three divi-
sion commanders of the Eleventh Corps],
remained in my place as brigadier general.
Under quite similar circumstances you have
repeatedly submitted your resignation. I did
not do that then, because Mr. Lincoln gave me
his promise to correct the injustice; this, how-
ever, he forgot to do in the course of time and
under the pressure of events. And after
Chancellorsville there were. no more promo-
tions in the [Eleventh] Corps at all." The New-
York Historical Society, Franz Sigel Papers.
Quoted by permission [translation mine].
30.
He is listed in the New Haven City Directory
for 1871/72, 1872/73, and 1873/74, residing at
117 Elm Street. I do not know where he and his
family resided in 1865-1870.
31.
Historical Register of Yale University, 1701-
1937 (New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1939),
526. His son William attended the Scientific
School of Yale University in 1871-1873; cour-
tesy of Manuscripts and Archives, Yale Uni-
versity.
32.
A complete list of the atlases, gazetteers, and
texts on geography compiled or written by
Steinwehr is found in the National Union
Catalog, pre-1956, 567: 219-21.
33.
Philadelphia: J. C. McCurdy & Company,
1873, 1874, and 1876.
34.
Daniel Lord, The Effect of Secession upon the
Commercial Relations between the North and
South (New York: New York Times, 1861;
repr. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation,
1966), insert. Original in the Library of
Congress, Geography and Map Division.
G3861 .E9 186- .S7 Vault.
35.
He is listed in the Cincinnati City Directory for
1876.
36.
Albany Evening Journal, 27 and 28 February
1877. Argus, 1 March 1877. Evening Republic
(Buffalo), 26, 27, and 28 February 1877.
Cincinnati Gazette, 27 February 1877. The
death is not recorded in the Office of Vital
Statistics, City of Buffalo.
37.
The Stadtarchiv Braunschweig, H VIII A:
4819, has two undated newspaper clippings
reporting the death.
38.
Courtesy of Niedersachsisches Staatsarchiv in
Wolfenbüttel.
39.
The New- York Historical Society, Franz Sigel
Papers.
"Warum so schnell? Du liebtest doch so sehr
Zu schwelgen in des Lebens Freudenmeer;
Im Studio wie in Deinem Kriegeszelt
Warst Du stets wohlgemuth — ein Mann der Welt!
Und jetzt, nachdem Du Dich erprobt im
Geisteskampf,
Und Deinen Muth bewährt in Feld und
Pulverdampf,
Rafft Dich hinweg von uns ein zäher
Herzenskampf,"
[Why so quickly? You so loved/ to frolic in the
ocean of life's joy;/ in the studio and your bat-
tle tent/ you were always in good humor — a
man of the world!/ And now, having proven
yourself in intellectual battles/ and shown your
courage in amongst the powder smoke of the
battlefield,/ you are snatched from us by tena-
cious attack on the heart.]
Sigel seems not to have harbored at this
time any ill feelings against von Steinwehr
because of the latter's somewhat intemperate
letter of 12 December 1876, less than three
months previously.
40.
Times Union, 28 and 29 May 1898. Argus, 29
May 1898. Albany Morning Express, 30 and 31
May 1898. Albany Evening Journal, 28 znd 30
May 1898. It is not likely that Sigel was kept
away by serious illness, as he embarked on a
voyage to Europe on 16 June 1898: The New-
York Historical Society, Franz Sigel Papers.
41.
Times Union, 6 November 1995.
42.
See note 4 above.
43.
Personnel file von Steinwehr, Stadtarchiv
Braunschweig, H VIII A: 4819.
Braunschweigische Anzeigen 1824/3420;
Niedersachsisches Staatsarchiv in
Wolfenbüttel. Kurt von Steinwehr,
"Fortsetzung," 45, erroneously dates her birth
to 1823.
44.
1848/3175, 1848/5543, and 1849/7043;
Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv in Wolfen-
büttel.
45.
Autobiography of Oliver Otis Howard (New
York: The Baker & Taylor Company, 1907), 2:
—93—
ADOLPH VON STEINWEHR,
NOTES____
537-38. But Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fort-
setzung," reports that she died on 14 December
1873 at Stampen, Kreis Oels, Silesia, where
her late husband had owned an estate. Was the
lady whom Howard met perhaps not von
Steinwehr's sister but his daughter? Since
Howard does not indicate the age of the lady, it
is possible that he was mistaken.
46.
This date is provided by the record of the birth
of her son Wilhelm Bogislaw; parish records of
St. Andreas, Braunschweig, 1853, p. 393, no.
41; courtesy of Landeskirchliches Archiv Wol-
fenbüttel.
47.
Letter of Isabella Beecher Hooker, Harriet
Beecher Stowe's sister, to her husband John
Hooker, November 25, 1862. Isabella Hooker
Collection, Stowe-Day Library, Hartford,
Connecticut.
48.
Federal Census for the City of Albany, 1860, p.
425. Neither the ages of the children nor the
places of their birth are necessarily correct.
Thus Ernestine was born in New Orleans and
Bogislaus in Braunschweig (which is not part
of Prussia). Mary Florence von Steinwehr's
age is erroneously given as thirty-one years.
Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 47, lists a
sixth child, Arnold Bernhard, who was born in
1865 and died in 1867.
49.
Braunschweigische Anzeigen 1853/3547; Nie-
dersachsisches Staatsarchiv in Wolfenbüttel.
St. Andreas, Braunschweig; see note 46. He
was baptized May 22, 1853. Professor Adolph
Schleiter, who had married Adolph von
Steinwehr's mother after her divorce from her
husband (see notes 3 and 13), was one of the
witnesses.
50.
Letter of Corporal George A. Taylor.
Chatauqua County Historical Society,
Westfield, NY. Courtesy of Mr. Mark H.
Dunkelman. Two other letters, also provided
by Mr. Dunkelman, indicate that von
Steinwehr had his family with him in May
1863.
51.
See note 47; but there is no record of the
child's burial at the Albany Rural Cemetery.
52.
National Archives, Washington, D.C., applica-
tion no. 700658/ 537358. The file consists of
some thirty separate documents. Mary
Florence's maiden name is given as "Murrell,"
not "Murrill" (Rattermann) or "Mürelle" (Kurt
von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung"). Her address is
at first Lauenau, a small town near Hannover,
and then Frankfurt/Main, Feldbergstraße 42.
Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 44, dates
her death to July 30, 1905.
53.
See note 49. "Fortsetzung," 41, giving October
14, 1835, must also be wrong. The federal cen-
sus of 1860 (see note 47), given its general
inaccuracy, must likewise be assumed to be in
error.
54.
H.A. Rattermann, "Adolph von Steinwehr,"
165-66. I do not know if the original of the let-
ter is extant.
55.
Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 47, reports
that she married von Meysenberg in 1878, was
later divorced, and died in 1907.
56.
Guido was married and divorced twice; he died
in 1904, leaving no male offspring: Kurt von
Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 47. He is listed in
the Cincinnati city directories for 1880-
1882/83, as an attorney in 1880 and 1881.
Whether he ever applied for admission at West
Point is not known. He is not listed among the
Academy's graduates: George W. Cullum, Bio-
graphical Register of the Officers and
Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at
West Point, N.Y. (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin,
1891 ff.).
57.
Register of Marriages 1848-1887, Catholic
Church of St. Kastor, Koblenz, p. 337, no. 27;
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah,
microfilm 0566360.; Sammlung Maltitz, no.
4616, Steinwehr; Herold, Verein for Heraldik,
Genealogie und verwandte Wissenschaften,
Berlin. Death notice of Ernestine von Werner,
Freiburger Zeitung, 10 June 1942. Death
records of Maximilian von Werner (29
December 1938) and Ernestine von Werner,
Standesamt Freiburg im Breisgau; data kindly
provided by the Stadtarchiv Freiburg im
Breisgau; see alo Kurt von Steinwehr,
"Fortsetzung," 46.
58.
See note 47.
59.
He is listed in the Cincinnati City Directories
for 1895/96 1901/02. He had been born on 1
March 1853, in Braunschweig; his full name
was Wilhelm Bogislav Kuno Adolph: Braun-
schweigische Anzeigen 1853/3547;
Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv in Wolfen-
büttel. He married Mary Hofer, with whom he
had three children. He died in 1915.
—94—
________________________POHLSANDER
60.
Personnel file Fred C. von Steinwehr, Cornell
University Archives. Letter of Ms. Randi von
Steinwehr.
61.
Howard, Autobiography, 1: 372 and 2:
537-38; Pfanz, Gettysburg— Culp's Hill, 145.
62.
Forrest Wilson, Crusader in Crinoline: The
Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1941), 484, not giving von
Steinwehr's name and erroneously stating that
Fred was assigned to the staff of General
Siegel [sic]; and Joan D. Hedrick, Harriet
Beecher Stowe: A Life (New York/Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1994), 305, erro-
neously giving von Steinwehr's name as
"Steinwahr."
James Tackach, "Frederick Stowe in the
Shadow of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin," America's
Civil War, Feature, January, 1999; http:
articles/1999/0199_text.htm.
63.
See note 47.
64.
"Adolph von Steinwehr," 166. Quoted by H. F.
Ruetenik, Berühmte Deutsche Vorkämpfer für
Fortschritt, Freiheit und Friede in Nord-
Amerika (Cleveland: Forest City Bookbinding
Co., 1899), 392-93 [translation mine].
65.
Rattermann, "Adolph von Steinwehr," 18 and
164-65.
66.
This regiment, too, was an all-German unit.
Being part of: the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, it
fought under von Steinwehr's command both
at Chancellorsville and at Gettysburg. I owe
the reference to the kindness of Mark H.
Dunkelman and Harry W. Pfanz.
67.
The German Soldier, 228 [translation mine].
68.
Das deutsche Element in den Vereinigten
Staaten von Nordamerika 1818-1848
(Cincinnati: A. E. Wilde & Co., 1880;
repr.,with an English introduction by Patricia
A. Herminghouse, New York, Berne, and
Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1986), 153 [translation
mine].
69.
Die Deutschen im amerikanischen
Bürgerkriege (Sezessionskrieg 1861-1865)
(Munich and Berlin 1911), 470 [translation
mine]. A complete English translation by
Steven Rowan is now is print (Carlisle, PA:
John Kallmann, 1999).
70.
"Von Steinwehr, Baron Adolf [sic] Wilhelm
August Friedrich (1822-1877)," in
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, 4:
238-392.
71
Letter to the author, 20 June 2001.
72.
See note 28.
73.
The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz, 3 vols.
(New York: McClure, 1907-1908).
74.
Carl Wittke, Refugees of Revolution: The
German Forty -Eighters in America (Philadel-
phia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1952),
235; Trefousse, Carl Schurz, 131.
75.
For the text of these letters see Appendix I and
Appendix II. Whether Sigel responded to these
appeals is not known.
76.
The original letter is in the Library of
Congress, Robert Todd Lincoln Collection.
The text is given, in part, by Roy P. Basler, The
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, New
Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 6:
168, note 1.
77.
Kurt von Steinwehr, "Fortsetzung," 32-33;
Von Priesdorff, Soldatisches Führertum, 2:
437-38, no. 914, and 4-285 87, no. 1327.
78.
In his early years he was, like most German
immigrants, a Democrat; see Memoirs of
Gustave Koerner, 1809-1896: Life Sketches
Written at the Suggestion of His Children, ed.
Thomas J. McCormick (Cedar Rapids, IA: The
Torch Press, 1909), 2: 206.
—95—
from
H. F. Ruetenik
Berühmte Deutsche Vorkämpfer für Fortschritt, Freiheit und
Friede in Nordamerika
Cleveland 1899
Appendix I
Washington Jan. 26th 1863.
Major General Fr. Sigel,
Comdg Grand Reserve.
General,
Although my health is much improved, I would respectfully ask you to grant me a pro-
longation of my leave of absence of ten days. At the expiration of that time I shall be entire-
ly restored. As I do not employ a physician but have adopted a dietetic cure, I do not enclose
a surgeon's certificate. If you desire it however I shall forward one.
I am not quite sure yet, which course I ought to take under the present circumstances.
You will readily admit, that it is a great humiliation for me to be obliged to serve under
Schurz.—I hope to be able to obtain a transfer to another command, and I trust, General, you
will lend me your aid for that object. —
I wrote to you a few days ago , but have not yet received a reply.—Please write to me
by return of mail. —
When I recall the past I cannot but believe, that I have your confidence and good will.
—For none have been more sincerely attached to you, than myself, from our first meeting in
Winchester, and none have by a faithful performance of duty and an upright devotion to our
great cause, more earnestly striven to command your appreciation and esteem. —
Please answer this soon.
Your obdt Servant
A. von Steinwehr,
Brig. General.
Washington House,
Washington, D.C.
[Franz Sigel Papers, MS. 3123, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. Published by permission
of the Society.]
ADOLPH VON STEINWEHR'S SIGNATURE
IN AN OFFICIAL ARMY DOCUMENT
NOVEMBER 13,1863
Appendix II
Washington Jan. 29th 1863.
Major-General Fr. Sigel,
Comdg' Grand Reserve
General,
A few days ago I wrote to you and applied for an extension of my leave of absence for
ten days. I enclose herewith a Surgeon's certificate. —
I had yesterday an interview with the Secretary of War, who told me that I would not
have been superseded, if you had reported favorably in regard to myself, but that you had not
mentioned my name at all.—The order issued by the President that Gen'1 Schurz is to have
the Command of the Corps can of course not be rescinded, nor do I ask it. It is however
important to my interests, that some testimonial of yours should be in the hands of the
Secretary. —
I therefore beg of you General, to send me a paper expressive of your views as to my
capacity and the manner in which I performed my duties. —Please forward it through the
bearer of this Capt. Gittermann, who, will send one of my Aides de Camp with the same to
me. —I am certain, that with such paper from your hand I will be placed in a position less
painful than the one I am in at present.
I am General as ever
Very truly and respectfully Yours
A. von Steinwehr
Brig. General
[Franz Sigel Papers, MS. 3123, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. Published by permission
of the Society.]