franz sigel (november 18, 1824 – august 21, 1902) was a german military officer, revolutionist and immigrant to the united states. in the us he was a teacher, newspaperman, politician, and served as a union major general in the american civil war. his ability to recruit german-speaking immigrants to the union armies got him the approval of president abraham lincoln. but he was strongly disliked by general-in-chief henry halleck and rated overall as a poor leader.