I`m currently reading a book on the battle of
Chattanooga called "The Shipwreck of their
Hopes" and in it a confederate soldier who was
trying to flee after they were routed at Missionary
Ridge ran into a unit of union troops that only
spoke german and he thought "My God we`re
fighting the world" They come from germany and
they fight for the stars and stripes, Why?
I always wondered about that myself, what would
possess a man to come here and fight, especially
if some of these men were tired of the fighting in
germany! I realize there are no clear cut answers
as to why, but I`d be interested to know if anyone
has any thoughts on this?
Chattanooga called "The Shipwreck of their
Hopes" and in it a confederate soldier who was
trying to flee after they were routed at Missionary
Ridge ran into a unit of union troops that only
spoke german and he thought "My God we`re
fighting the world" They come from germany and
they fight for the stars and stripes, Why?
I always wondered about that myself, what would
possess a man to come here and fight, especially
if some of these men were tired of the fighting in
germany! I realize there are no clear cut answers
as to why, but I`d be interested to know if anyone
has any thoughts on this?
posted by:
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Ohio
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Re: Why Did They Fight?
Mon, May 30, 2005 - 3:49 AMImmigrants often join the Army because it's an easy way to find a job and a quick way to integrate into American society. In the case of the Germans, they had had an unsuccessful democratic revolution in 1848, and many of the democratic element fled to the United States after that, so it wasn't hard to convince them to support the United States and oppose slavery. Other German immigrants (not as many) fought on the Southern side. -
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Re: Why Did They Fight?
Sat, June 4, 2005 - 9:21 PMYou know I noticed that more germans fought
for the north while the numbers of germans who
fought for the south seem non existant! I always
suspected that slavery and southern aristocrocy
was the reason for this, would you say this was
true? -
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Re: Why Did They Fight?
Mon, June 6, 2005 - 5:07 AMWhich side you took in the Civil War also had a lot to do with where you happened to live. The great majority of German immigrants settled in the North, which resembled their homeland more closely than the South.
www-map.lib.umn.edu/bessie/u...rman.html -
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Re: Why Did They Fight?
Mon, June 6, 2005 - 3:56 PM"The great majority of German immigrants settled in the North, which resembled their homeland more closely than the South. "
That and we Krauts HATE bugs and the south is full of big nasty critters!! LOL
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