Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Pennsylvania Germans at Gettysburg


David L. Valuska and Christian B. Keller. Damn Dutch: Pennsylvania Germans at Gettysburg (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2004), 236 pp.

This book is a first-rate look at the contribution made by Pennsylvania-German regiments to the Union effort at Gettysburg. Keller writes a fascinating chapter dissecting the differences between the Pennsylvania Dutch (German immigrants who came to Pennsylvania in the 18th century and their descendants) and German-American immigrants who came to this country after 1820, and especially after the failed 1848 revolutions in Europe. Fully documented with several illustrations of Pennsylvania German soldiers, this is a good place to start to get an understanding of the Pennsylvania German contribution to Pennsylvania's war effort.

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