Schurz, Carl C.

Born: 1829-03-02 Liblar, North Rhine-Westphalia

Died: 1906-05-14 New York, New York

Carl C. Schurz received his early education at Marcellen Gymnasium in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, and in 1847 entered the University of Bonn. There he came under the influence of German poet and democrat Gottfried Kinkel. Schurz became embroiled in the German Revolution of 1848, fighting in battles against the Prussian Army at Übstadt and Bruchsal and barely escaping capture after the defeat at Rastatt. Schurz fled to Switzerland, but returned to Germany to successfully free Kinkel from prison. Fleeing Germany again, Schurz migrated first to France and then Great Britain, working as a teacher and journalist. In 1852, Schurz immigrated to the United States, settling in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1855, he moved to Watertown, Wisconsin, where he studied law and became involved in anti-slavery politics, joining the Republican Party. In 1857, Wisconsin Republicans nominated him for lieutenant governor, but he lost to Erasmus D. Campbell. In 1858, he earned admittance to the Wisconsin bar and opened a law practice in Milwaukee. A gifted speaker, Schurz canvassed for Abraham Lincoln in his senate campaign against Stephen A. Douglas. In 1859, Schurz failed to receive the Wisconsin Republican Party's nomination for governor, but continued to campaign for the party, particularly in the German-American community. He chaired the Wisconsin delegation at the 1860 Republican National Convention. At Chicago, Schurz first favored William H. Seward but shifted support to Lincoln. Elected to the Republican National Committee, Schurz wooed the ethnic vote, convincing many German-Americans to vote for Lincoln. In 1861, President Lincoln appointed Schurz minister to Spain. Schurz delayed his departure to raise German-American regiments to fight against the Confederacy. As minister to Spain, he dissuaded the Spanish government from recognizing the Confederacy. Schurz returned to the United States in 1862 and convinced Lincoln to commission him as a brigadier general in the Union Army. He fought at Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga. He finished the war as chief of staff for Henry W. Slocum in the North Carolina theater.

Hans L. Trefousse, "Schurz, Carl," American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 19:447-49; Hans L. Trefousse, Carl Schurz: A Biography (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1982).