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"We Will See if a Southerner is Equal to 5 Dutchmen": The 32nd Indiana and German Immigrants at Shiloh

Presenter: Bjorn Skaptason

The Civil War occurred at a time when immigration from the German states of Europe was at a high point. Large numbers of "Dutch" immigrants arrived in the Midwest with ideas, accents and a language that was strange to native-born Americans. When the war came men cam forth from these communities to serve the cause of the Union. Some of them organized all-German regiments that maintained their German language and some of their social and cultural norms in the ranks.

This program follows one-such unit, the 32nd Indiana Infantry through their participation in the April 6-7, 1862 battle of Shiloh. Shiloh would demonstrate to these men, to their communities, to the Midwestern society they adopted and to their enemies just who they were and how effectively they could defend the freedom they traveled so far to find. We will see the regiment through the eyes of an officer who was also a talented artist, Captain Adolph Metzner. Metzner's paintings and drawings bring the character of the regiment and their experience at Shiloh to vivid life.