Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Schurz, Carl

SCHURZ, CARL, an American statesman; born in Liblar, near Cologne, Prussia, March 2, 1829; he was a student at Bonn in 1847-1848. In the early part of 1848 he participated in the revolutionary movements in the Palatinate and at Baden, and on the defeat of the insurrection fled to Switzerland to escape arrest. About 1852 he came to the United States, and settled in Madison, Wis. He soon identified himself with the Republican party. He advocated the election of Frémont in 1856 by public speeches in the German language. He afterward made political speeches in English, and achieved a high reputation as an orator. In 1860 he addressed the people of various States advocating the election of Abraham Lincoln. In 1861 he was appointed minister to Spain, but when the Civil War broke out he resigned that he might return and join the Union army. He took part in the second battle of Bull Run, and commanded a division at Chancellorsville, May, 1863, and a corps at Gettysburg, July 1-3 of that year. He resigned from the army in 1865, and in 1866 became editor of the Detroit “Post.” In 1868 he went to St. Louis, and in 1869 was elected United States Senator from Missouri. He supported Mr. Greeley for President in 1872, and Mr. Hayes in 1876, and was Secretary of the Interior, under the latter, from 1877 to 1881. In 1881-1884 he was editor of the New York “Evening Post,” and was conspicuous in the “Mugwump” movement of 1884. In 1892 he became president of the National Civil Service Reform League. He afterward wrote several books, among them a “Life of Henry Clay.” He died May 14, 1906.

CARL SCHURZ