Marcus M. Spiegel, a German-born Jew who migrated to Ohio in 1849, volunteered for the Civil War in 1861, inspired by his belief in the protection and freedom offered by America. Spiegel, who rose to the rank of colonel in the 120th Ohio Infantry, experienced the harsh realities of war in Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and frequently wrote to his wife about his experiences and observations.

Initially, Spiegel was not an abolitionist and was critical of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, reflecting his Democratic Party affiliations and the era’s prevalent racist attitudes. However, his views evolved significantly during the war, especially after witnessing the brutal realities of enslavement in the South. By January 1864, he expressed a firm opposition to enslavement in a letter to his wife, a stark change from his earlier stance.

Tragically, Spiegel was killed in a minor engagement in Louisiana in May 1864, becoming one of the many casualties of the Civil War. The authors use his personal transformation from a Union soldier to an opponent of enslavement to illustrate the broader shift in Northern sentiment, where the war’s purpose transitioned from merely preserving the Union to also abolishing enslavement.

The First Modern War