The previous note started the list of German-Americans who were in the military group. First, I will give you the German name of another one, and let you give the American name. The birth name is Mary Ludwig Hays, the father of whom was Johann Georg Ludwig Haas/Heis. The father had come from the Palatinate in 1752.
A dramatic story connected with a German-American is told about John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, son of the very well known Lutheran minister. The son had followed in his father=s footsteps, and was a minister. When the war broke out, he closed a sermon (in Virginia) by removing his clerical robes and displaying a uniform underneath it. He gave as an explanation, "There is a time for peace and there is a time for war. Now is the time for war." He became a major general.
Otto Bodo, born in Germany, came to America in 1755, and was the Senior Surgeon in the Continental Army, serving six years. Several following generations of the Bodo family were physicians also.
Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben was a professional soldier, but perhaps not a Baron. His outstanding contribution was to train the motley crew he found at Valley Forge into a fighting force. His contributions were rated as second to none in the successful outcome of the war.
During the Civil War, German-Americans were found on both sides, sometimes pitting brother against brother. Five Union generals of German stock, who died or were wounded, include Louis Blenker, Henry Bohlen, William High Keim, Alexander von Schimmelphennig, and Samuel Zook. Four other German-America generals lost an arm or a leg. Several of these generals had been on the losing side in the Baden Revolt of 1848-49 and managed to escape to America. Over on the southern side, Major General James Lawson Kemper was a Germanna descendant (and future governor of Virginia).
A German-American woman of renown was the heroine depicted in John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, where she is described as a "Union flag waver".
The many Custers had a remarkable string of luck, until Little Bighorn. There, in 1876, George, his brothers, Thomas and Boston, a brother-in-law, and a nephew were killed.
In World War I, there are two names to be especially mentioned, John Joseph Pershing and Edward Vernon Rickenbacker. Eddie died in Switzerland, probably the country of his ancestry, as there are six localities named Rickenbacher there. In World War II, the Americans had Dwight David Eisenhower, a descendant of Johann Nicol Eisenhauer, who landed at Philadelphia in 1741. Chester William Nimitz's father was born in Germany, and came to America in 1884.
Finally, if you needed the names of the two women that were mentioned, they were Molly Pitcher and Barbara Hauer Frietschie, also known as Fritchie.
This concludes the review of "
Distinguished German-Americans
" by Charles R. Haller, Heritage Books.
(07 Aug 00)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.