Carl Schurz

Who was Carl Schurz?

Carl Christian Schurz was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, U.S. Minister to Spain, Union Army General in the American Civil War, U. S. Senator, and Secretary of the Interior. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.

Schurz, a native of Liblar, Germany, attended a Gymnasium in Cologne and then enrolled in the University of Bonn in 1847. He was studying to obtain a doctorate degree and to become a professor of History when his studies were interrupted by the German Revolution. At age 19, Schurz became a leader of a student movement that encouraged democracy, influenced by Gottfried Kinkel. He joined the revolutionary army, fighting in several battles against the Prussian Army. When the revolutionary army was defeated at Rastatt in 1849, Schurz escaped to Switzerland, knowing that the Prussians intended to kill their prisoners. He returned to Germany, where he led a secret mission that freed Gottfried Kinkel from prison. Schurz then resided in Paris, until he was expelled by French authorities in 1851. He migrated to England, where he married Margarethe Meyer. In 1852, they emigrated to the United States, originally residing in Philadelphia. Schurz and his wife moved to Wisconsin, where he joined and campaigned for the Republican Party. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Schurz Minister to Spain. After returning from Spain in 1862, Schurz was appointed Union Brigadier General by Lincoln.