Vineyard Company (now sold to the Great Western Vineyards Company) had locations in both Fresno and Kern counties. In Fresno County Frederick Roeding established the Francher Creek Nurseries, continued by his son George C. Roeding, who has also contributed to the cultivation of the fig and other fruit trees. One of the finest plantations, growing the orange, lemon, and grape, near the Mission San Gabriel, belonged at one time to the German Rose.1

Los Angeles contains a large German population, as do the cities of San Bernardino, San Diego, and Santa Barbara. The town of Anaheim, twenty-eight miles from Los Angeles, was founded by Germans. Stockton, San Joachin County, the location of the Stockton Mining Company, was founded by Karl M. Weber.' San Francisco has always had a very large German population; in fact it owes a large part of its prosperity to such men as James Lick (born in Pennsylvania of German parents, whose family name was originally Lück), best known as the founder of the Lick Observatory; Adolph Sutro (born in Rhenish Prussia), the great mining engineer and philanthropist; and Claus Spreckels (born in Hannover), the sugar-king, founder of the Pacific steamship lines and of the trade with the Sandwich Islands. To the prominent San Francisco Germans belong also Henry Miller (born in Würtemberg), the cattle-king, and his partner, Charles Lux (born in Baden). In 1857 they started a slaughterhouse in San Francisco, and soon gained control of the fresh-meat supply of the city. They acquired eight hundred thousand acres of land in California, besides other 1 Cf. Eickhoff, In der neuen Heimat, p. 390.

2 Cf. Der deutsche Pionier, vol. xiii, pp. 73-75.

3

3 A more detailed account of the life-work of these men will be given in Volume II, Chapter III.

lands in Oregon and Nevada, and at one time owned eighty thousand head of cattle and one hundred thousand sheep. They were able to drive their herds from neighboring states to San Francisco practically on their own land, sheltering them overnight, or for convenient periods, in their own large ranch stations, and keeping up a perpetual chain of supply for the city and trade. When Charles Lux died, in 1887, a powerful syndicate was formed under the leadership of Henry Miller, who (though born in 1828) has ever kept up the keenest interest in the management of the details of his vast possessions. The Germans of San Francisco have always exhibited an inclination to keep up German traditions, as, for instance, in 1870, when they contributed two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the Red Cross Fund collected in the United States for the benefit of German soldiers in the Franco-Prussian War.

By the summing-up of these numerous instances, the present chapter intended to show that Germans were conspicuous in the early settlement and the development of the resources of the Northwest, the Southwest, and the Far West. They followed the frontier line until it disappeared from the map, but settled most thickly in the district included in the North Central Division, particularly the states of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri.

CHAPTER XVI

THE GERMAN ELEMENT IN THE WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Germans in the War of 1812: Walbach, Stricker, Armistead — Indian wars Heilman and Custer War with Mexico: Kemper, Kautz, and John A. Quitman (governor of Mississippi). The Civil War-Statistics of the numbers of German volunteers compared with those of other nationalities 200,000 volunteers - German regiments The influence of the Germans in St. Louis and Missouri; the Turners, the Arsenal, Camp Jackson, Sigel's campaign, etc. - The Eleventh Corps at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, etc., Missionary Ridge German officers: Sigel, Hecker, Blenker, Willich, Schurz, Steinwehr, Kautz, etc. Engineers and artillerymen West Point graduates- Germans on the Confederate side-Germany's friendly attitude during the Civil War. The Spanish War -German volunteers in army and navy - List of officers Distinguished service of Rear-Admirals Schley, Kautz, and Kempff.

German

IF in the wars of the eighteenth century the German element rendered conspicuous service, their share was more than doubled in the wars of the United States during the nineteenth century. Beginning with the War of 1812, and ending with the Spanish War, the German element was represented by large numbers in the rank and file of the American armies, and quite as abundantly and more gloriously in the lists of officers who excelled by superior training. In the Mexican and the numerous Indian wars throughout the century, there was no campaign without its quota of German participants. In the Civil War the large element of brave and sturdy German soldiers in the Northern army constituted an invaluable and indispensable instrument in turning the fortune of war in favor of the Union. Soldiers by tens and hundreds of

thousands who performed their duties faithfully, even to the point of laying down their lives for the country of their adoption, must be passed by unnoticed in the following brief narrative. Only the most striking figures and noblest achievements of the men of German blood can be taken into account.

2

In the War of 1812, when the land forces of the United States almost invariably met with defeat and disgrace, a few brilliant feats were contributed by soldiers of German blood. Thus General Walbach is credited with saving the artillery at Chrystler's Field' (St. Lawrence River), in 1813. Walbach had come to the United States after a distinguished career of service in the French, the Austrian, and the British (West Indian) service. He was born in Münster (Upper Rhine), Germany, in 1766. He came to America in 1798, and entered the American military service, being promoted after the battle of Chrystler's Field to the rank of colonel, and subsequently to that of brigadiergeneral, and commander of the Fourth Artillery, U. S. A.

When the British army, after their victory at Bladensburg and their burning of Washington, attempted to serve Baltimore in a similar way, they met with resistance. General John Stricker' was put in command of a brigade

1 General Wilkinson, with the main body of the American army, there fought with a slightly superior force of the British. The battle lasted five hours, victory alternately favoring one and then the other. Night ended the conflict, with the British in possession of the field. The American loss was especially severe; many of the bravest officers were killed or wounded. The total American loss was 339; the British, 187. Encyclopaedic Dictionary of American Reference, vol. i, p. 146.

? He was the third son of Count Joseph de Barth and Marie Therese de Rohmer. Cf. Rosengarten, The German Soldier in the Wars of the United States, pp. 160-165. General Walbach's son was a graduate of West Point and a captain of ordnance. Another son died of fever in the United States Navy. A grandson served as a surgeon in the United States Army.

3 General John Stricker was the son of Colonel George Stricker, of Revo

which was sent forward to check the enemy's advance, and the battle of North Point followed, September 12, 1814. Although the British right put the American left to flight and caused the retreat of the American army, still the British forces had received a check keenly felt. When General Ross, the British commander, was killed by sharpshooters on his advance toward Baltimore, the beginning was made for a British defeat. The repulse came before Fort McHenry, where Admiral Cochrane, with sixteen war-vessels, opened a bombardment of the fort. The guns of Fort McHenry failed to reach the fleet until some of the British vessels ran nearer. These were so fiercely received that they withdrew, suffering much damage. The American commander was Major Armistead, a GermanVirginian, who held the fort with a garrison of one thousand men, and also defeated a British force of about the same number who landed to surprise the fort in the rear. The bombardment continued until midnight,' and next day the British withdrew. Baltimore, which so early in her history had been settled by Germans, was thus saved from the British by German-American commanders. Major George Armistead (also spelled Armistaedt or Armstädt) was born April 10, 1780, at New Market, Virginia, where lutionary fame, and was born in Frederick, Maryland, in 1759. His mother's name was Springer (German). The son served as a cadet in Captain G. P. Keeport's company, in the German battalion, of which his father was lieutenant-colonel. The cadet was in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and others, and accompanied General Sullivan in his expedition against the Indians. In 1783 Captain Stricker came to Baltimore, associated himself in business with Commodore Barney, took a keen interest in the formation of the militia, and formed and trained one of the earliest commands in Baltimore. He was soon made brigadier-general and commander of the state troops. Cf. Sixth Annual Report of the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland, pp. 47-48.

It was during this night that Francis S. Key, while a prisoner on board a British ship, wrote the "Star Spangled Banner."