The Sigel Regiment

The 26th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry was quietly mustered into service in Milwaukee on September 17, 1862-the bloodiest day in American history. Composed primarily of German immigrants and Americans of German descent, the 26th fought and bled its way into the record books as one of Fox's "Fighting 300" regiments. James S. Pula's The Sigel Regiment: A History of the 26th Wisconsin Volunteers, 1862-1865, is the first book to examine this regiment's storied yet overlooked history.The 26th's service spanned three years and three theaters of war. The "Sigel Regiment," named after German General Franz Sigel, was initially absorbed into the Army of the Potomac, and attached to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Howard's 11th Army Corps. Its bloody battlefield debut took place at Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863, where the Wisconsin soldiers found themselves on the receiving end of one of the most successful surprise attacks in military history. Outnumbered, outflanked, and caught in a...