Company C: New Bremen and the Civil War

In 1861, New Bremen, Ohio was a dot of a place a German-speaking hamlet settled by immigrants who came to America for cheap land, low taxes and to keep their sons out of the draft. Yet, when President Lincoln called for volunteers, forty-five sons of New Bremen enlisted to preserve a nation which many of them barely knew and whose language few of them spoke. Their experience was an odyssey. As Company C, 37th Ohio Volunteers, they fought in West Virginia, at Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Atlanta, and marched to the sea with Sherman. The book is based on extensive research at the National Archives, scores of letters home and other original sources. The American Civil War was fought and won by the young men of thousands of places like New Bremen. By telling how and why these few fought, Company C illuminates the larger conflict. With 35 illustrations; five excellent maps.