Sigel, Franz

(1824–1902) was a German army officer, revolutionary and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician and a major general in the Army of the Potomac. He commanded a corps consisting primarily of German immigrant soldiers. Sigel had developed a reputation as an inept general, but his ability to recruit and motivate German immigrants kept him in a politically sensitive position. Many of these soldiers could speak little English beyond ‘I’m going to fight mit Sigel’, which was their proud slogan and which became one of the favourite songs of the war.