Peter Osterhaus: German Revolutionary on the Road to Chattanooga

What a sad story about his wife Matilda who died age 38. This made me curious what became of the children he had to leave behind while returning to the front and I found that Osterhaus must have remarried pretty soon and had four more children from that second marriage. After the war he and his second wife Amalie Osterhaus, nee Born, moved back to Europe, where Peter Osterhaus had been appointed US consul to France. Two of his children later relocated back to the United States. This source calls him "Joseph Osterhaus", but he is the same man. His full name was Peter Joseph Osterhaus.
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https://books.google.de/books?id=GBfJTNMkb4YC&lpg=PA201&ots=Vb9O5eopRm&dq=Peter osterhaus general children&hl=de&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5897385
 
What a sad story about his wife Matilda who died age 38. This made me curious what became of the children he had to leave behind while returning to the front and I found that Osterhaus must have remarried pretty soon and had four more children from that second marriage. After the war he and his second wife Amalie Osterhaus, nee Born, moved back to Europe, where Peter Osterhaus had been appointed US consul to France. Two of his children later relocated back to the United States. This source calls him "Joseph Osterhaus", but he is the same man. His full name was Peter Joseph Osterhaus.
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https://books.google.de/books?id=GBfJTNMkb4YC&lpg=PA201&ots=Vb9O5eopRm&dq=Peter osterhaus general children&hl=de&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5897385
Henry Villard also lived in Belleville when came to the U.S. from Germany. Here is what I wrote on his experience there:

https://longislandwins.com/news/nat...ss-german-immigrant-covering-abraham-lincoln/
 
Just another German guy, who would have had access to Carl von Clausewitz' writings.
Amazing that he made it back to Chattanooga before November 25, 1863.
Why do I have the feeling that these German Americans were an incredibly tight knit community?
The story of Osterhaus has an interesting ending when he dies in Europe.
 
Very nicely done, as usual.

Will his German revolutionary war experience be included in some future posts?
Thanks. Glad you liked it. I am not sure how much I will write about his 1848-1849 experiences. I wrote about Schurz in the revolution:
https://longislandwins.com/news/national/carl-schurz-from-german-radical-to-american-abolitionist-2/

I also did a long piece on Thomas Francis Meagher's revolutionary experience.

With each article, I try to tell a Civil War story and raise issues around immigration and identity. Here, the article is partly about the Chattanooga campaign and partly about being family-less in America. When I write about John Turchin, I like that I can draw from his wife's diary because we rarely hear from a woman at the front. I feel like I have already given the revolutionary background of two people, so I am not sure how many more my readers will tolerate.
 
Very interesting thread. Thanks for posting.

Below is a description of the aftermath of Champion Hill, written by a Cpl. in the 16th Ohio. In it he describes a German regiment's sacrifice in that battle. I thought you and others might be interested in the account.

The regiment being described served in the division commanded by Osterhaus:

A new German regiment of ours that fought on the right had been made the target of many a sportive remark by reason of their peculiar national ways. They wore Sibley hats and long dress coats, and the most of them smoked German pipes. They were a new organization, patriotic and well disciplined, but previous to this had not been tested in battle. To the witticisms of their comrades in other regiments they generally replied: "Shust you vait, ve shows you how to fight." And they kept their promise. On that dreaded day, at Champion Hill, the emulated the example of their ancient ancestors of the Teutoburg [sic] forest. The Germans for a time were so situated, by reason of the topography of the country, that they were out of sight of the troops to the right and left. The rebels detecting the peculiar new looking appearance of their uniforms quickly concluded that they were new troops and would be easy to break, attacked them with particular energy. Rolling volleys and clouds of smoke marked the alignment of the Germans until the repeated onsets of the enemy were repulsed with slaughter. Then from hundreds of deep Teuton chests went up a yell that proclaimed them veterans and silenced forever the satire of their neighbors. But the glory had been purchased at a ghastly price. Scores of the faithful regiment lay on the ground dead or wounded. After the battle a long trench was dug and the dead Germans with their dress coats neatly buttoned were laid side by side and buried with the honors of a war.
 
Below is a description of the aftermath of Champion Hill, written by a Cpl. in the 16th Ohio. In it he describes a German regiment's sacrifice in that battle. I thought you and others might be interested in the account.

The regiment being described served in the division commanded by Osterhaus:

A new German regiment of ours that fought on the right had been made the target of many a sportive remark by reason of their peculiar national ways. They wore Sibley hats and long dress coats, and the most of them smoked German pipes. They were a new organization, patriotic and well disciplined, but previous to this had not been tested in battle. To the witticisms of their comrades in other regiments they generally replied: "Shust you vait, ve shows you how to fight." And they kept their promise. On that dreaded day, at Champion Hill, the emulated the example of their ancient ancestors of the Teutoburg [sic] forest. The Germans for a time were so situated, by reason of the topography of the country, that they were out of sight of the troops to the right and left. The rebels detecting the peculiar new looking appearance of their uniforms quickly concluded that they were new troops and would be easy to break, attacked them with particular energy. Rolling volleys and clouds of smoke marked the alignment of the Germans until the repeated onsets of the enemy were repulsed with slaughter. Then from hundreds of deep Teuton chests went up a yell that proclaimed them veterans and silenced forever the satire of their neighbors. But the glory had been purchased at a ghastly price. Scores of the faithful regiment lay on the ground dead or wounded. After the battle a long trench was dug and the dead Germans with their dress coats neatly buttoned were laid side by side and buried with the honors of a war.

Thanks, I was unaware of that account. Any sense of which regiment that was?
 
Pat, I'm not exactly sure. The writer never specifies, but I suspect the regiment described was either the 49th Indiana or the 42 Ohio. These two regiments, far to the right of the 16th, were heavily engaged for a time and suffered the most casualties among the division. If I had to bet, I'd put my money on one of these.

Perhaps someone knows about the roster of these regiments. I'd like to know myself.
 
Pat, I'm not exactly sure. The writer never specifies, but I suspect the regiment described was either the 49th Indiana or the 42 Ohio. These two regiments, far to the right of the 16th, were heavily engaged for a time and suffered the most casualties among the division. If I had to bet, I'd put my money on one of these.

Perhaps someone knows about the roster of these regiments. I'd like to know myself.
thanks. Do you have a cite for the excerpt you quoted? I may try to look into it.
 
thanks. Do you have a cite for the excerpt you quott? I may try to look into it.

I had the qoute written down but not the cite. It is from a newspaper article. I can't recall exactly where I found my version, but I believe you can find it here too: (Champion Hill was fought May 16, 1863). (If you can't find it, I'll look again for it - let me know)

http://www.mkwe.com/ohio/pages/h015-00.htm
 
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