Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant Pays Tribute to, and Expresses Thanks to, Foreign-Born Soldiers Serving the Union Cause

A moving statement, and the only one of Grant extolling foreign troops in the Union Army we have seen

Foreign-born troops played a large part in the Union victory in the Civil War, with Germans and Irish contributing particularly large numbers of soldiers. M.R. William Grebe was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States. He was living in St. Louis when the Civil War broke out and enlisted in the 4th Missouri Cavalry. He would rise to Captain and then Major before being discharged. It seems he was called back to Germany, probably for personal reasons, in late 1863, but was back in the U.S. and in service in 1864. On August 31, 1864, at the Battle of Jonesboro in the Atlanta campaign, Grebe won the Congressional Medal of Honor. His citation states, “While acting as aide and carrying orders across a most dangerous part of the battlefield, being hindered by a Confederate advance, seized a rifle, took a place in the ranks and was conspicuous in repulsing the enemy.” Grebe died in Kansas in 1916.

As Grebe prepared to leave for Germany in 1863, he wrote Grant, who was then newly appointed Major General commanding the Division of the Mississippi. He told Grant he was leaving for Germany, and asked for his autograph. Grant responded by paying tribute to, and in fact movingly expressing gratitude to, foreign-born soldiers serving the Union. It is the only statement of Grant extolling foreign troops in the Union Army we have ever seen.

Autograph Letter Signed, two pages, Chattanooga, Tennessee; November 2, 1863 to Captain M.R. William Grebe. “Your letter of the 30th of Sept. asking for my autograph to add to the collection [of] your father now is only just rec’d. I give it to you freely and only regret that the delay in the mails may have already made it so late that this will not reach you before your departure for your foreign home. My best wishes will accompany you to the land of your fathers. I at the same time cannot forbear expressing my thanks, through you, for the patriotic loyalty of our adopted citizens, your country men, in this hour of trail. I believe also we have with us the Sympathy of your home Government.” Signed, “U. S. Grant / Maj. Gen. U.S.A. / Comdg.”

Grant had arrived in Chattanooga on October 23rd, soon after the Union loss in the Chickamauga Campaign, and wisely replaced Major General William Rosecrans with Major General George Henry Thomas. The “hour of trail” Grant refers to in this letter clearly refers to the war itself, but is made more compelling by the failure at Chickamauga, in a war that seemed to have no end.