We’re taught in school that the Civil War divided not only the nation but also families, often pitting brothers against brothers and cousins against cousins. Genealogically speaking, I have come across instances of this happening within my family tree. For example, my 3rd great grand uncle, Milas Deason, and his 1st cousin Benjamin Turbeville – both sons of Tennessee – fought on opposing sides.

Sixty plus years after the Civil War, the U.S. found itself at war again – this time against Germany and its allies. Although the ocean-spanning divide was much wider this time, I wondered what impact the war might have had on my German-American ancestors whose not so distant relatives were on the opposing side. It is well-known that Americans of German descent – at least in the early years of the war – were supportive of the “Fatherland”. And, unfortunately, that support – whether real or imagined – was understandably not well-received. My German-born 2nd great grandfather, who was living in Missouri in 1910, was forced to register as an alien and enemy.

Despite this treatment, American soldiers whose parents or grandparents were German immigrants fought and sacrificed their lives for the United States. Among them was George Ernest Uthlaut, my 2nd cousin, 2x removed, who died of wounds received in France in 1918. It occurred to me that it is possible that these American-born soldiers might have unknowingly faced distant relatives on the battlefields of Europe – much like their Civil War counterparts.

So I turned to Ancestry.com’s extensive collection of databases and found an index of World War I German casualties. Searching by German surnames that appear in my family tree, I found the following German soldiers who lost their lives during the war:

• August Biesemeyer 
• Friedrich Biesemeyer 
• Karl Biesemeyer  
• Wilhelm Biesemeyer 
• August Düsenberg
• Bernhard Düsenberg
• Günter Düsenberg
• Josef Düsenberg
• Karl Düsenberg
• Wihelm Düsenberg
• Albert Düwel
• Anton Düwel
• August Düwel
• Bernhard Düwel
• Carl Düwel
• Ernst Düwel
• Ewald Düwel
• Franz Düwel
• Friedrich Düwel
• Hans Düwel
• Hermann Düwel
• Johann Düwel
• Josef Düwel
• Karl Düwel
• Ludwig Düwel
• Max Düwel
• Paul Düwel
• Richard Düwel
• Theodor Düwel
• Wilhelm Düwel
• Anton Springmeier
• Franz Springmeier
• Friedrich Springmeier
• Heinrich Springmeier
• Gustav Springmeier
• Heinrich Springmeier
• Rudolf Springmeier
• Wilhelm Springmeier
• Friedrich Uthlaut
• Adolf Wessel
• Albert Wessel
• Alfred Wessel
• Anton Wessel
• Artur Wessel
• August Wessel
• Bernhard Wessel
• Carl Wessel
• Christian Wessel
• Claus Wessel
• Diedrich Wessel
• Eduard Wessel
• Emil Wessel
• Eric Wessel
• Ernst Wessel
• Ewald Wessel
• Ferdinand Wessel
• Franz Wessel
• Friedrich Wessel
• Georg Wessel
• Gerhard Wessel
• Gottfried Wessel
• Gustav Wessel
• Hans Wessel
• Heinrich Wessel
• Hermann Wessel
• Johann Wessel
• Josef Wessel
• Karl Wessel
• Kaspar Wessel
• Klaus Wessel
• Konrad Wessel
• Kurt Wessel
• Ludwig Wessel
• Max Wessel
• Otto Wessel
• Paul Wessel
• Peter Wessel
• Reinhold Wessel
• Rudolf Wessel
• Stefan Wessel
• Theobald Wessel
• Theodor Wessel
• Walter Wessel
• Wilhelm Wessel

The list above reflects only SIX of the dozens of German surnames that appear in my family tree. As depressing as this exercise was, my curiosity is satisfied that it’s not only possible, it likely happened that German-American soldiers faced their 2nd or 3rd cousins on the battlefields of Europe. And, how exactly, is that any different than what occurred during the Civil War? It isn’t.

Someday, maybe I’ll examine a few of these fallen cousins a bit closer to figure out how we’re related. That’ll be a big project indeed!

Kenfolk: Both sides
Relations: Most likely
Common ancestors: Our Biesemeyer, Düsenberg, Düwel, Springmeier, Uthlaut and Wessel forefathers and foremothers