A Name from Hesse

A Name from Hesse is a dual-language historical novel in English and German set during the American Civil War. Through interwoven lives on both sides of the conflict, the story explores what remains of German identity after immigration, assimilation, war, and moral crisis.

Will Hartmann of Philadelphia carries a German surname but little connection to the language or history behind it. His ancestor came to America as a Hessian soldier during the Revolution and stayed, leaving behind only a name, an old Bible, and questions Will has never thought to ask. When the Civil War draws him into a Union army filled with German-speaking soldiers, Will begins to understand that inheritance can be both burden and gift.

Fritz Adler, a Rhineland immigrant shaped by the failed revolutions of 1848, sees the Union cause as part of a larger struggle for liberty. His sister Anna teaches English to German immigrants in Cincinnati, helping newcomers cross the difficult bridge between old language and new country. Their convictions are tested when Anna encounters Emil Vogt, a wounded Confederate cavalryman from Kentucky who speaks German taught by his immigrant mother.

Across the South, Karl Bauer, a German brewer in Charleston, fights for the Confederacy because the city has become his home, even as he struggles with the moral weight of slavery. Henry Vogel, a failed Gold Rush immigrant turned Texas Confederate teamster, has survived too long by avoiding causes, until the road forces him to choose conscience over safety.

From St. Louis Turners to Charleston breweries, from Chancellorsville to Morgan's Raid into Ohio, the novel follows Germans, German-Americans, and descendants of Germans as they discover that a shared language does not guarantee a shared loyalty. In war, names, words, and memories become both bridges and battlegrounds.

Presented paragraph-by-paragraph in English and German, A Name from Hesse is written for readers of historical fiction, students of German, and anyone interested in the immigrant experience during America's defining conflict.