August Willich

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August Willich
August Willich

August von Willich (November 19, 1810 – January 22, 1878) was a military officer in the Prussian army and a leading early proponent of Communism in Germany. He later emigrated to the United States and became a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

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[edit] Early life and career

Willich was born in Braunsberg, Prussia. His father was a captain in the hussars.[1] Initially an artillery officer in the Prussian military, he resigned from the army in 1846 as a convinced republican. A member of the Communist League, he took an active part in the revolution of 1848–49. After the suppression of the uprising he emigrated to London.

With Schapper, he was the leader of the Left fraction of the Communist League. In 1849, he was leader of a Free Corps in the Baden-Palatinate uprising. Revolutionary thinker Friedrich Engels served as his aide-de-camp. In 1850, when the League of Communists split, he (together with Schapper) was leader of the anti-Karl Marx grouping. A Forty-Eighter along with Franz Sigel and other prominent future Civil war generals, he moved to the state of Ohio in the United States and became a carpenter, working in this role from 1853, and then as a journalist from 1858. He also edited a German-language free labor newspaper.

Willich became known as one of the "Ohio Hegelians" (followers of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel), along with John Bernhard Stallo, Moncure Daniel Conway and Peter Kaufmann.

[edit] Civil War

With the outbreak of the Civil War, in early 1861 Willich actively recruited German immigrants in the southwestern Ohio region. He joined the 9th Ohio Infantry ("Die Neuner") as the regimental adjutant with the rank of first lieutenant, and was promoted to major in August of that year. He served in western Virginia, seeing action at the Battle of Rich Mountain, as well as at Carnifex Ferry. Willich then returned to the Ohio River valley over the winter and resumed his recruiting activities. Governor Oliver P. Morton commissioned Willich as Colonel of the 32nd Indiana (an all-German regiment), and he led it at the Battle of Shiloh in the spring of 1862. There, he led a decisive bayonet attack that helped secure victory on the second day of battle.

Rewarded by a promotion to brigadier general in July 1862, Willich fought at the Battle of Perryville under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell in Kentucky. He commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, XIV Corps in December at the Battle of Stones River. He was captured by the Confederates when his horse was shot out from under him. He was sent to Libby Prison for four months, but was paroled and exchanged in May 1863.[2] Returning to the Federal army later that year, he was assigned to command of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, XX Corps and served with distinction during the Tullahoma Campaign. He led a division at the Battle of Chickamauga and saw additional action during the Chattanooga Campaign.

In 1864, Willich led his brigade through Tennessee and Georgia during the Atlanta Campaign. He suffered a severe wound during the Battle of Resaca that forced him to leave the field. For the rest of the war, he served in various administrative roles, commanding Union posts in Cincinnati, Covington, Kentucky, and Newport, Kentucky. He received a brevet promotion to major general of U.S. Volunteers on October 21, 1865, then resigned from the army to return to civilian life.

[edit] Postbellum career

After the war, Willich returned to Cincinnati and went into government service. He held a series of responsible positions, including auditor of Hamilton County. His home at 1419 Main Street still stands in Cincinnati.[1]

In 1870, he returned to Germany for awhile, offering his services to the German army during the Franco-Prussian War. His age, health and communist views caused him to be refused, however. He stayed in Germany long enough to receive a college degree in philosophy, graduating from the University of Berlin at the age of sixty.[3] Returning to the United States, he died in St. Marys, Ohio, and was buried there in Elmwood Cemetery.

In his concluding note to the Revelations Concerning the Communist Trial in Cologne Marx writes: In the Civil War in North America, Willich showed that he is more than a visionary.

[edit] References

  • Encyclopedia of Marxism available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.[2]
  • Easton, Loyd David, Hegel's first American followers: The Ohio Hegelians: John B. Stallo, Peter Kaufmann, Moncure Conway, and August Willich, with key writings. Athens, Ohio: University Press, 1966.
  • Faust, Albert Bernhardt, The German Element in the United States. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1909.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Faust, page 555.
  2. ^ Faust, page 555.
  3. ^ Faust, page 556.

[edit] External links

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