August Willich (1810 - 1878)

Mon Nov 19, 1810

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August Willich, born on this day in 1810, was a German noblemen turned communist and military officer. Willich renounced his title of nobility, joined the Communist League, and later served in the American Union Army.

Willich was born in Braunsberg, Province of East Prussia, and took part in the uprising of the German revolutions in 1848-1849. Converted to republican politics, Willich’s resignation from the military was written such that, instead of it being accepted, he was arrested and tried by a court-martial. Willich was eventually acquitted and was permitted to resign.

Willich joined the Communist League (other members included Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels), but resigned after his suggestion to join forces with petit bourgeois democrats Marx and Engels had thrown out was not implemented. A few days later, Willich challenged Marx to a duel, which was declined.

In the early 1850s, Willich came to the United States and later served as a military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Later in life, he became known as one of the “Ohio Hegelians”, along with John Bernhard Stallo, Moncure Daniel Conway, and Peter Kaufmann.

“[Willich] squandered the generous proceeds of his office in visionary business schemes and on his friends, and retired with very little. His intimate friends say of him that he would throw away a hundred thousand a year if he had it, and that he could live on a hundred a year if he had to.”

- Cincinnati Commercial Tribune