Final History paper

Prussian to American Militarism
Many events in a person's life may leave an indelible mark on a person's life, creating a rigorous structure for their lives and significantly affecting the eventual outcome of their lives. Joining the military, known in modernity to exact precise disciplinary rigor on a soldier's life, is one such significant life event, and the Prussian army of the mid-1800's was no different. Prussia's reputation of strict military discipline and precision stood out against a backdrop of other modern military powers which paled in comparison. The Prussian army made an incredible impact on those who joined- as seen in the case of John Henry Otto in particular- providing a structure and discipline that carried over into other aspects of the soldier's lives, never leaving them even after immigrating to other countries, as shown by Prussian soldiers who immigrated to America and became entangled in the American Civil War.
Overall there appear to be three general categories of former Prussian men who came to be involved in the American Civil War: those who ended up in the American military by chance; those who actively sought to join the American military, and those who were forced into the American military. Of these, the first group, and one which I will be evaluating most closely, can best be exemplified by Captain John Henry Otto, whose memoirs I have examined in particular. Otto originally volunteered for the Prussian army in 1848, where he took part in the “first prussian war against Danemark [sic]” (Gould, 3). He fought “again in the war against the South german revolution in 1849. Again in the War against Austria and Hesse 1850-1851 [sic]” (Gould, 3). Eventually he attended “Cadets College” and prepared to take the “Examination for Commissioned Officer.” Otto passed this exam, and was discharged with the rank of first Lieutenant (Otto, 65).
A year or two later, Otto was called to serve again, but was “unable to ascertain when [he] would be discharged” and thus decided to desert the Prussian army (Gould, 3). He fled Prussia, settling in Wisconsin, and was eventually asked to serve in the 21st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Co. D. He accepted the offer, and this act even “struck [him] as remarkable” (Gould, 3) because as Otto himself wrote, “I had no inclination for soldier life” (Otto, 65).
The Prussian military during the time John Henry Otto was involved in it was the result of “successive rulers who steadily expanded the standing army,” creating “a society where military drill reached down into the villages and officers enjoyed a high status” (Blackbourn, 17). Money was specifically designated for the military, almost as a priority, and soldiers were spoiled with the best technology of the time. Otto, during his time in the American military, “longed for the light handsome needlegun” that he used in Prussia, in which “we could hit a mark at 1000 yards distance and fire 5 shots in a minute” compared to the “clumsy, heavy percussion musket” issued to Americans, which “took almost five minutes to load...and then only good for a distance of 150 yards” (Gould, 10).
Additionally, all officials who were in the military were expected to devote themselves exclusively to their jobs. As Blackbourn says, and Otto corroborates with his experiences, officials were all trained and examined throughly, and “after 1770 all applicants underwent written and oral examinations” (Blackbourn, 17). Because of this specific training, the military life became ingrained in the men who participated. As a military observer, W.C. White, wrote to Otto upon watching a review of the Prussian troops, “a number of formations and evolutions where [sic] gone through with and all with the greatest precision, no errors, no crowding or stretching. It seemed to me this great mass of soldiers were so many marionettes, manipulated by a wire held by a single hand” (Otto, letter transcription, 630). Because of the prestige of being part of the Prussian military, most families sent their boys for a “good military education” as Otto called it. A prime example of this is a family friend of Otto's in which “the father had been a soldier under the first Napoleon,” and sons Edward, August, Colonel Theophile all served in the military (Otto, 54). Rounding out the family was Otto's friend Capt. August Steffens, who had served 16 years in the army back in the Fatherland.
As you can see, the Prussian military life appears to have affected John Henry Otto to the extent of which it was nearly impossible for him to turn down the offer of joining American military. He had lived five years under the highly structured and familiar Prussian military, and he had acquired an unerringly large knowledge of the military in the Prussian army and Cadet school. Directly after enlisting in the Wisconsin 21st, he bought a book about American tactics so as to become as familiar as possible with them (Otto, 5). Throughout his service, Otto consistently points out errors in the American military which can only be seen as another effect of the Prussian military – the blunders of the Americans were impossible for him to ignore, much less for him to deign mentioning in his memoirs. Otto's friend, W. C. White, made a note of mentioning in a letter to him that he could “not understand how you, as a former prussian Officer, and thousands others of the same Class, who fought with our army during the Rebellion could feel at home among our undiciplined [sic], selfwilling, easygoing volunteers” (Otto, letter transcription, 631). At times, Otto could not understand it, either. He once found that in the field where he was on duty, “there was a gap of at least a quarter of a mile absolutely unguarded” (Otto, 355). As he explained,
in the European armies, at least in the Prussian where I learned the soldiering business, it was the imperative duty of all the Officers in charge of any part of Outposts or picket line, to frequently visit their part of the line...remedy any defects in position...[and] allso had to prepare and sent to Div. or brigade headquarters...a topographical map, or diagram showing the situation of the picket line, the position of the pickets and note distances [along with other landmarks]. (Otto, 354-55)

The gap he found in the picket lines could have led to disaster but because of his Prussian training he was able to draw up a map as described and pass it onto the astonished Division Commander, General Baird, who commended him for his watchfulness by treating him to a special dinner (Otto, 355-56).
In fact, Otto was often called upon by superiors for his experiences in the Prussian military, and often used them to his advantage. When his company was first assembled, he noted wryly, that “None of the men had the least Idea of military discipline and obeying of orders” (Gould, 4). Otto became responsible for drilling the soldiers while still in Wisconsin soon after enlistment (Gould, 4) and once in the field was talked into drilling the officers daily because, “they all knew I had been a soldier in an European army [and] would listen to me sooner than to [the commanding officers]” (Otto, 84). Otto:
had no objection to drill the Sergeants and Corporals, but the Captains and Lieutenants, some of which had imbibed such an amount of pride and conceit, all on account of the little shoulderstraps, that they never would speak with a Sergeant, exept [sic] in a way of an order (Otto, 161).

Otto was once asked by an American Colonel about the discipline in the Prussian army, and whether its strictness caused any great discontent among the men (the latter of which had happened in the American army). His explanation was frank and matter-of-fact, showing his many years of experience in the army:
Recruits at first find it hard and feel inclined to grumble, but they soon come to see the necessity of the measure...An other powerfull [sic] factor in enforcing discipline is that there is no distinction of personality in the ranks. The rich and the poor, the student and the shepard are treated alike. And further; The ordre [sic] of a Corporal when on duty must be obeyed as promptly and fully as that of the Commanding General. As to the Officer being overbearing and proud, why Colonel, I have known lots of barons and Earls and Dukes and Counts in the prussian army who did not begin to show such foppish pride and authority as most of our young straplings from West Point, or many volunteer Lieut. who just stepped from behind the desk or counter. Such do not command respect or love...The great secret, allthough [sic] a very simple one, to win the respect, confidence and love of a soldier is: to do your full duty yourself and be just and impartial (Otto, 720-21).

The knowledge imbued in that statement would not have been possible without the experience Otto had gained serving with the Prussians. Harper's Magazine recounted a similar detail of the discipline needed in the military, explaining that “the [Prussian] officers are exhorted to observe strictly the laws of honor, and to be always courteous and dignified...They are not to live for luxury and material welfare, but for the glory and safety of the state” (Harper's Monthly, 135).
Otto's knowledge was further used when at one point he violated an order regarding the burning of fence rails for fuel in order to help the men of his company stay warm and dry during a storm. John was soon after arrested and interrogated by officers demanding to know why he had gone against orders. He explained that the commanding officers of the regiment did not know that they were responsible for the well-being of the troops. As soon as Otto explained that he had been in the Prussian army, the charges against him were dropped (Otto, 144-45).
John Henry Otto was not the only man who got pulled back into the service after leaving Prussia. In his memoirs, he often mentions a variety of other men whom he meets or was previously acquainted with and discovers their prior service in the Prussian military. He describes Ernest Pleschke, a professor at Lawrence University in Appleton who had served in Prussia and ended up giving his life for the Union cause (Otto, 54 & 63). Major Schumacher also contributed to the Union dead, but before doing so had served as an ally for Otto in the ranks. Schumacher used his prior experience as a Prussian soldier to help the new American recruits, much as Otto had done. In one instance Otto describes Schumacher's ruse of starting false rumors about how close to battle they were in order “to make the boys accoustumed [sic] to vague rumors and quick execution of orders” (Otto, 44). Brigadier General Willich (Otto, 384) and Major Schucter (Otto, 373) were also men who had been officers in the Prussian army and rose high in the American army's ranks. They all found themselves inexorably pulled back to the service, maybe as tribute to their new country, but most probably to relive the days of honor and glory first experienced in the Prussian army.
The second group of discussion, those who sought to join the American military, serves as probably the most clear example of the Prussian military's effect on the men's lives. This group actively sought out the military life in America when circumstances caused them to leave the fatherland. Our first example, Sergeant Leopold Struve shares the same story as Captain Otto, but with a different ending. He enlisted at the same time as Otto, and they became close friends. Struve fought in 1848 and 1849 alongside Otto against the various rebellious German states, and also took the Commissioned Officer examination in the same “Cadets College” as Capt. Otto (Otto, 65).
The difference between Otto and Struve, though, was that the latter “had concluded to follow military life as he had no special trade to follow or depend on” (Otto, 65). Struve continued his service with the Prussian military until he was involved in an incident in which a younger officer, “an Earls son, who imagined that his supposed blue blood was superior to that of a common mortal and that he...had a right to insult any Officer or soldier not of noble descent” (Otto, 66). At this time in Prussia, duels were still a common option- especially in the military- for resolution of disputes and the protection of honor. As Harper's Monthly described at the time, “by the royal rescript to the Prussian army it is permitted to officers...to fight duels” (Harper's Monthly, 136). Struve challenged the Earl to a duel and won. According to Harper's Monthly, Struve should have applied to what Otto calls the “Court of honor” or “Ehrengericht” before challenging the Earl to a duel (Harper's Monthly, 136), but because he didn't, the court investigated after the fact and sentenced Struve to “10 years stoppage in promotion” (Otto, 66). Struve wasn't willing to serve this punishment and instead came to America, “where he enlisted in a Indiana Regt. a week after his feet touched american soil” (Otto, 66).
For men like Struve, the military was all they knew, and they could not live without it. The strict code of honor and duty enforced in the Prussian military in particular made resisting further service almost impossible for these soldiers. They were highly motivated to further their combat skills and once they left Prussia, they felt a strong desire to continue their military careers once in the United States. One such case was General Turchin, who Otto described briefly: “'Old Tuchy' had been a Officer in the prussian army...He came to this country to fight for the cause of liberty. He hated the rebels like a poison and many a sorry trick has he played on them” (Otto, 68). He, too, could not resist the pull of the military life after leaving Prussia.
The continuing effect of the Prussian military can again be seen in Capt. Otto's friend, Captain August Steffens. Steffens had served 16 years in the Prussian army and ended up coming to America because his family encouraged him to move there. As Otto put it, “Steffens was...a born soldier” and intended to join the U.S. Military when the Civil War broke out. He was initially “prevented by his family,” but not for long: he ended up enlisting a few months later. There was nothing that could keep him away from the military life he had learned to love in Prussia. According to Otto, August “loved military pomp and glory” and once said that “when the war was over he would take service in the regular army and remain a soldier for life” (Gould, 205). These men could not, and did not want to, escape the life they had learned to love and respect back in Prussia.
The third and final group, then, falls into a new category altogether: these men served with distinction in the Prussian army, immigrated to America, and even though they were seemingly disinterested in fighting anymore, they were forced to join the military. Captain Otto himself had avoided such a situation, saying that he “would not wait for the draft,” and in fact, he did not have any desire to do so – he was firmly interested in joining the American army to “uphold and support our Nation” (Otto, 5). Hitherto this point, the experiences I have described to you through Otto have been of men who served in the Union army after immigrating from Prussia. During the course of his military career in the Civil War, Otto met a man identified only as Mr. Bertram, who had been born in, and received his military education from, the Grand Duchy of Baden, one of the many German states. Bertram was in active duty during the Revolution in 1848 but deserted the army shortly thereafter, arriving in America within the same year (Otto, 723).
Mr. Bertram provided a narrative for Capt. Otto, who included in in his journals alongside his own experience. Bertram told Otto that he had “no special knowledge of any business,” having spent his life in the army. He had sailed for Savannah, Georgia, because he “did not know then the difference between the south and the north” (Otto, 723), but soon learned that the South was not the place for him: he was a liberal German, and did not agree with the Southerner's position on slavery. When the war broke out, he was asked to enlist in the Confederate army, “but [he] stoutley refused” (Otto, 727). This was to no avail – he was conscripted and forced into the Confederate ranks in May of 1862 (Otto, 727).
Because Mr. Bertram had been drafted into the Confederate army, who opposed his views on liberty and justice, it is perhaps safe to say that he may have enlisted willingly had he arrived in a Northern port. He consistently described ways that he and other Union sympathizers in the Southern army had refused to do harm to the Union soldiers, at one point describing the manner in which they fought battles: “If your boys were 50 yards or more away from us my bullet would go in the ground long before it reached you; if you came nearer it would go high over your heads. And I was not alone who practized [sic] such poor marksmanship” (Otto, 757). While this seems the antithesis of combat, and indeed Mr. Bertram gave the overall impression that he was not interested in fighting anymore, there was still the experience of fighting in the German army which prevailed over his instincts as soon as he was in the fight. Despite his Union sentiments, Bertram rose in the Confederate ranks and reveled in being around the military once again. He and Otto exchanged hours worth of excited conversation, going into minute details of battles and tactics that would not be possible without the background knowledge they had both acquired at the hands of the Prussian military system. Overall the situation was one which Bertram opposed only on the grounds of his being in the Confederate army rather than the Union: he, too, could not escape the grandeur of the military life.
For John Henry Otto and the men he became acquainted with, the military became an ingrained, natural part of their life- a part of them that many could not live without. The Prussian military had left a seemingly magical impact on these men: there was something inescapable about the life these men had grown up with and had come to love back home in Prussia, something they thought they could build upon and share with their new comrades once they enlisted in the American army. These men, having been so affected by the army of the Fatherland, came to have a significant impact of their own on the military of America as well as the Civil War on the whole. Without vigilance and strong leadership such as was provided by Captain Otto, Major Schumacher, or General Tuchy, it can be certain that the green American recruits, with no prior military experience, may have found their great war– and the course of American history on the whole– to have an entirely different outcome than it did.