The battle of Carthage produced a great sensation over the country, the Confederates rejoicing that they had cut through the Union line and forced it to retreat, while Sigel received unstinted praise for his skillful retreat and the masterly handling of his artillery. While one battery would hold the enemy in check, another would be placed at the most advantageous position in the rear, where it would withdraw behind it to repeat the manuver. Several times during the day the batteries were cunningly masked, and the enemy rushed up to the muzzle, to receive the death-dealing discharge full in the faces of the compact mass. 142 This brings Gen. Sigel prominently before us. Of the many highly-educated Germans who had migrated to this country in consequence of their connection with the Revolution of 1848, Franz Sigel had, far and away, the most brilliant reputation as a soldier. A slight, dark, nervous man, with a rather saturnine countenance, he was born at Zinsheim, Baden, Nov. 18, 1824, and was therefore in his 37th year. He graduated from the Military School at Carlsruhe with high promise, which he filled by becoming one of the Chief Adjutants in the Grand Duke's army. He ardently shared the aspirations of the young Germans for German Unity, and resigned his commission in 1847 to become one of the leaders in the revolutionary forces. He was appointed to chief command of the army sent from the Grand-Duchy to the assistance of the revolutionists in Hesse-Darmstadt, but a disagreement arose, another was appointed to the command, and Sigel assumed the position of Minister of War. Upon the defeat of the expedition by the Prussian forces, he resumed the chief command of the demoralized men, and conducted a brilliantly successful retreat to a place of safety in the fortress of Rastadt. This achievement at the age of 24 seemed to stamp the character of his military career. 143 At the collapse of the revolution he escaped to Switzerland, which expelled him, and he then came to New York, where he supported himself as a teacher of mathematics, later engaging in the same occupation in St. Louis, where he was living when the war broke out, and rendered invaluable service in organizing and leading the Germans in support of Blair and Lyon.