Sunday, December 5, 2010

One more from Antietam: 'Turner Rifles'

The cemetery at Antietam has a marker with a German inscription. I've since learned about the "Turner Rifles", a unit of German-American volunteers with the 20th New York. Turner societies were strongly anti-slavery and supported the new Republican Party. Turners also were involved in the very popular German-American schutzenverein -- shooting societies -- which fostered marksmanship along with reform.

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