Damn Dutch: Pennsylvania Germans at Gettysburg

by Christian B. Keller, David L. Valuska, Scott Hartwig (Contributor)

This is the first work to highlight the contributions of regiments of the Pennsylvania Dutch and post-1820 immigrant Germans at the Battle of Gettysburg. On the first day, the 1st Corps, in which many of the Pennsylvania Dutch regiments served, and the half-German 11th Corps, which had five regiments of either variety in it, bought with their blood enough time for the federals to adequately prepare the high ground, which proved critical in the end for the Union victory. On the second day, they participated in beating back Confederate attacks that threatened to crack the Union defenses on Cemetery Hill and in other strategic locations.

Genres: Civil War, History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 31, 2004

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of essays describing the Pennsylvania Dutch and German American communities, their political, religious, and cultural tendencies. Anglo-American newspapers used the PA Dutch/German soldiers as scapegoats, especially after Chancellorsville, painting them as unwilling to fight and as cowardly comrades. The authors dispel this myth with excellent research, contemporary accounts, and casualty statistics, and by reminding the reader that the oft-ridiculed XI Corps wasn't even majority German.

[Benjamin Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of interesting information for any scholar of the Civil War, or someone looking to learn more about their Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. It was, however, fairly repetitive (as is common of books composed of essays or by several authors) and some of the authors were very academic in tone.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book intersects two interests of mine -- Pennsylvania German culture and Gettysburg.

This book discusses the differences between recent German immigrants who made up regiments from cities like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, and some of the politics and discrimination that went on during the Civil War. The best parts of the book had to do with either the anecdotes shared from some of the stories within the groups of Pennsylvania German soldiers or the background on some of the discrimination and politics.