The Journey to Delphos

by Gregory Kopp

  The immigrant family reached Cincinnati after a journey of three days. Karolina’s cousin and his family quickly disembarked from the train after they arrived and began walking with their luggage to their home in the northern part of the city called “Over the Rhine”. It was called that because the Miami and Erie Canal separated it from the main part of the city and most of the German-speaking immigrants were settling in this area. It had a European flavor including many taverns and beer gardens within its boundaries. Karolina’s cousin Heinrich immigrated to America several years before and originally settled in Kentucky. As Cincinnati grew he moved his family to this neighborhood to make his fortune.

  Heinrich Sorg and his family had not known Stanislaus very well before Karolina met him. They only heard he was a stonemason and did not have much education. Karolina shocked the Sorg family when she moved in with Stanislaus and then quietly married him. Her family was hoping she would meet someone from the Grand Duke’s army or government instead of a stonemason. Theresia Sorg, Karolina’s mother had even left Sulz, and moved to the capital city of Karlsruhe, just for the express purpose to marry her daughter off to a wealthy aristocrat. After Karolina’s marriage to Stanislaus, her mother had not talked to her or even visited her before she died.

  Heinrich and his family reached their home with Stanislaus and Karolina and their two sons trailing behind them. They owned a small house with a spare bedroom currently used by their son. They moved their son onto a cot in the living room and told Karolina and Stanislaus that they could stay with them until they were able to afford a place of their own. Heinrich worked as a whitewasher and had arranged for a job for Stanislaus. He informed him that he would start working tomorrow on a nearby building. Stanislaus nodded, dead tired from traveling across the country to Cincinnati.

  Karolina assisted Heinrich’s wife with the cooking and cleaning while also taking care of her own two children. Stanislaus worked with Heinrich at his new job from sunrise to sundown, 6 days a week. The city of Cincinnati was growing rapidly and there was much demand for a stonemason to ply his craft. What little time they had together, Karolina and Stanislaus would take their children and explore the city. More and more German-speaking immigrants were moving in and the native population was growing restless. Petty crimes were becoming more rampant, and anyone walking alone in the city at night took a chance of being robbed or beaten.

  As the weeks and months passed, Stanislaus became restless with his new life. The Sorg family began to ask when the immigrants would be moving out of their small cramped home. Heinrich’s son and Stanislaus’ two sons began to fight more and more frequently on the playground. Charles (Karl) and his brother Albert had been quite ill during their journey from Baden and were now recovering their health thanks to “Doc” Rockefeller’s miracle medicine. The cramped quarters in the small house was becoming too confining for the two rambunctious boys and their equally active cousin. The boy’s cousin began to taunt the two immigrant boys because they could not speak English well unlike the other neighborhood children.

  One day, as Stanislaus was leaving work, he spotted an old friend from Baden who also lived in Cincinnati. The friend hurried over to meet him and mentioned that he received word of a new settlement being constructed on the Miami and Erie Canal in Delphos, Ohio. A German priest, Father Bredeick, had been to Cincinnati and talked to several groups of German-speaking immigrants about relocating to this new town. He spoke about the opportunities for strong men willing to work hard on the canal and the farmland surrounding Delphos was going to quadruple in price when the new railroad arrived in town. He promised small fortunes could be made for those willing to work hard and settle there.

  Stanislaus, already working hard for little money in Cincinnati wanted something better for his family and the opportunity to buy farmland was too tempting to resist. He told Karolina when he heard the news.

  At first, Karolina was concerned. She had become comfortable in Cincinnati with her family and new friends and a perilous journey into the Ohio wilderness frightened her. Stanislaus explained how the canal laborers were able to stay in the town of Delphos until they purchased their own land and his eyes twinkled at the prospect of having his own farm and home for his family. He even explained that the town was named for the god Delphi, son of Apollo, the god of healing. He thought this was a good omen for his family to start a new life in America.

  Karolina was unconvinced and confided her fears to her cousin’s wife on whether a move to Delphos would be wise. Her cousin assured her that the journey would not be as long as they feared. Delphos was located northwest of Cincinnati on the new Miami and Erie Canal and she also heard that new railroad lines to Toledo and Chicago were planning to go through the town. Lumber mills, freight stations, and other commercial establishments were sprouting up all over Ohio and railroad depots were planned to be built in the center of many of these small towns. She and her husband were anxious for Karolina, Stanislaus and her family to move out of their small home as her own family was growing with the expected birth of another child in the spring.

  Stanislaus was becoming increasingly impatient with Karolina and continued to insist on a move to Delphos. He doubted whether he would be able to maintain his sanity working on all of the small jobs in the booming city that Karolina’s cousin had secured for him.

  One day, as their conversation about moving to Delphos grew more and more heated, Karolina told him that she was pregnant. She explained that she wanted to spend the upcoming Christmas holidays in familiar surroundings with her family and didn’t relish the thought of establishing a new home in a strange place during the winter months while she was with child.

  Stanislaus suddenly stopped shouting and gave her a big hug, “All right, I agree with you. We’ll talk again in the spring when the baby comes”. He was still resolved to move to the Ohio wilderness and he determined to take the opportunity for the delay to earn more money in order to buy an even larger wagon to move his family to the new settlement.

  Chapter Six

  April 1853, On the outskirts of Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden

  Nightfall came and Johannes crawled out of his hole and tried to get his bearings. He knew there was a road at the edge of the clearing in the forest and he hoped to follow this road to France. Slowly, he began to walk cross country stealing any food he could from the small farms he encountered on the way. He knew he would have to cross the border to France during the dead of night to avoid any Prussian army patrols.

  As he traveled, he would sleep most of the day and rise at night whereupon he would find a small tree, climb up each day at dawn, and sleep until nightfall, dreaming of happier times in Baden.

  He remembered dancing with his friend Karolina at the wedding of Princess Marie when he was just a young soldier. He remembered her smile and touch. He always regretted his decision to walk away from her when he realized a soldier’s life had no room for a wife and family. He knew she was now happily married to his best friend Stanislaus with their own two small children but he still ached for her.

  A kindly farmer’s wife gave him a jacket to ward off the nighttime chill as he traveled. He found a small boat on the shore of the Rhine River and slowly pushed the skiff away from the shore, hiding in the bottom of the boat. Several Prussian sentries were walking along both banks of the river. To the untrained eye, it merely appeared the small boat had escaped its moorings and was floating down the river. As he floated past several of the Prussian army encampments he finally heard French voices and sat upright in the boat and rowed towards their side of the river.

  As he climbed out of the boat, a French sentry saw him and requested him to halt and asked him for his papers. Johannes shrugged and spoke to him in French and told him he was a Prussian deserter. The soldier pointed his rifle at him and marched him to the nearest guardhouse.

  When they arrived at the guardhouse, the soldier informed his superior officer that he captured a deserter from the Prussian army. The officer too
k one look at Johannes noticing his torn clothes and ill-fitting jacket. He ordered the soldier to get Johannes some food. He told Johannes that the new French Emperor was looking for soldiers loyal to his cause and asked him if he was interested in joining the French Army. Johannes nodded “Yes” and the officer dismissed him and went back to his bed. Johannes knew he would at least have clothing and food in the French Army until he figured out another way for him to escape and continue on his journey to America.

  Emperor Napoleon III had reorganized and enlarged the French Army doubling its size and established a new Imperial Guard which Johannes was fortunate to stumble upon. They were on a reconnaissance mission for the new Emperor ordered to report on any Prussian Army movements in the neighboring Grand Duchy of Baden. The French and Baden border had been quiet when they arrived with only a minor skirmish or two between the two sides and the Imperial Guard soldiers were bored and sleeping soundly through the night usually after heavy feasting and drinking.

  Johannes knew the French Army was superior to many of the other European armies at that time including the Prussian and British. They were experienced from fighting in Algeria and overcoming the revolutionary barricades in Paris during the collapse of the last French regime. The French Army was known as being made up of a special class of “self-made” French citizens compared to the British soldiers recruited in the taverns surrounding London. The French military laws applied to all ranks and the French had abolished flogging during the 1789 revolution when it established universal conscription. Johannes could rest easy as he lay in his bunk and appreciated his good fortune of being captured by the French.

  Chapter Seven

  Although Johannes was comfortable in the French Army, he knew he had to get to Paris. The city had become the largest in Europe at the time and he was wasting his time on guard duty at the French border when he could be trying to secure passage to America. The officer he had met on his first night in France still did not trust him and watched him carefully. The other soldiers in his company were also suspicious that he would let the Prussian soldiers into their camp for a surprise attack. He was assigned guard duty at night with another French soldier being punished for insubordination and ordered to walk a post with him all night while the other soldiers slept. While he was glad to have warm clothing and a hot meal every morning before he crawled back to his bunk, the other soldiers would mock him and steal some of his food while he slept.

  Johannes was relieved when the Emperor finally learned that a Prussian soldier had been captured on the French border and volunteered in the French army. The Emperor requested that the soldier is brought to him so Johannes was more than eager to be trundled off to Paris to meet with the Emperor and his generals. The Imperial Guard had been ordered to bring Johannes to the Tuileries Palace immediately, the Paris residence of the Emperor and the new Empress, for his interrogation.

  As Johannes entered through the gates of Paris, he saw a tattered notice attached to the gates with fading black letters that read in part: "In the name of the French people, the President of the Republic: "Decrees Article 1. The National Assembly is dissolved. Article 2. Universal suffrage is re-established...” and other barely visible edicts. The notice was signed “Done at the Palace of the Élysée, December 2, 1851. Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte." But plastered on top of this notice was a more recent one with big bright black letters dated December 2, 1852, “declaring himself Emperor of the French people and the establishment of the Second Empire”.

  As Johannes and the Imperial Guards made their way through the streets of Paris, Johannes saw firsthand the Emperor’s plans for the rebuild of the city. Previous revolutions had started in Paris when rioters would block the narrow streets between buildings. Napoleon III and his new Prefect of the Seine Haussmann planned to build wider boulevards like the Rue de Rivoli, begun by his uncle Napoleon I. This would allow the Emperor’s soldiers to cross the city more quickly and allow cannons to shoot cannon balls straight into the middle of any revolutionary groups. Johannes and the rest of the Imperial Guard had to go around thousands of workers toiling in the streets and the buildings under construction while also steering their horses away from large holes dug in the ground required for a new sewer system.

  When Johannes and his guards reached the Tuileries Palace, he proceeded to the Emperor’s Grand Salon at gunpoint. As he entered the ornate accommodations, he was ordered to stand at attention before a French general and his aide.

  The general began questioning him and suddenly to his surprise, the Emperor strode into the room. He had been informed about the arrival of the captured Prussian soldier and wanted to see him for himself. As he walked across the Grand Salon, he was surprised when he recognized Johannes. They had crossed paths in the Grand Duke’s palace in Karlsruhe many times during his exile while Johannes served on guard duty. Johannes stood at attention and saluted the Emperor as he approached him.

  Napoléon III nodded and pretended not to know the soldier. He asked curtly to the general, “What were the Prussian soldiers doing so close to the border with France?” The general stared at Johannes with glaring eyes and motioned for him to speak.

  Johannes stammered and explained that he had deserted and was making his way across France in order to join his friends in America. The French general looked startled and eyed him as a possible spy in a French uniform.

  Napoleon III laughed and seemed satisfied with his answer. He told his general to release him. The general began to argue with him “Your Majesty, this man is a spy!”, but Napoleon III held up his hand and gave him an angry stare and the general stopped. Instead, he turned to his aide and gave the command from the Emperor for the former Prussian soldier to be released from custody.

  Napoleon III told Johannes to follow him down the hallway outside of the Grand Salon much to the surprise of the French soldiers guarding him. He stopped, turned and barked an order to a servant to get him a piece of paper. The servant quickly ran to the nearest table and pulled out a quill pen, ink and paper from the top drawer and gave it to the Emperor.

  Napoleon III grabbed the quill pen and began scribbling an address. He finished writing and turned towards Johannes and gave him the parchment and another small piece of paper. “Here”, he said. “This is the address of my aunt and she will be able to assist you in finding your friends. And this is also a pass to travel through the city. Are you sure I cannot persuade you to stay in Paris and help me with my reconstruction of the city? I could use a good man like yourself, someone that I can trust.”

  Johannes, shook his head knowing full well that Napoleon III had arrested and exiled many of his former friends and enemies after he came to power. So instead he repeated his story of how he needed to help his friends. He bowed and requested the indulgence of the Emperor to achieve this goal. Napoleon III smiled and told him he understood, dismissing him as he strode down the hallway towards his private quarters followed by the cowering servant. As he walked, he turned to his servant and told him to send word quickly to his aunt about the impending visit of Johannes.

  Johannes carefully folded the papers given him by the Emperor, placed them in his jacket and left the palace. The papers included directions to the rooms occupied by Stéphanie de Beauharnais in the Hôtel de Ville.

  Chapter Eight

  Johannes was aware that the Dowager Duchess Stéphanie de Beauharnais had returned to Paris when her nephew Louis-Napoleon reclaimed the Emperor’s throne The Emperor had arranged for the Dowager Duchess to stay at the Hôtel de Ville close to the Tuileries Palace. Johannes knew she would be able to help him arrange passage to America.

  Stéphanie de Beauharnais had merely transferred her royal court from the Mannheim Palace where she had resided since the death of her husband to the Hôtel de Ville after the Emperor’s triumphant return to Paris. Her nephew consulted with her quite frequently in all matters of royal court business due to her experience in the royal court of his uncle Napoleon I and his consort Joséphine de Beauharnais.<
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  Johannes headed to the Hôtel de Ville directly after leaving the Tuileries Palace. He was stopped on the streets of Paris by a French soldier who demanded to see his papers. The soldier apologized after seeing his pass with the Emperor’s signature and urged him on his way.

  Stéphanie de Beauharnais’s salon at the Hôtel de Ville Hotel was considered one of the most popular salons in Paris and served as a meeting place for the Paris royalty to discuss politics, French culture, and other social matters. Due to the popularity of her salon, it was very difficult to secure an audience with the Dowager Duchess.

  Therefore, Johannes was surprised when he was ushered past her servants and directly into the salon when he arrived at the Hôtel de Ville. He bowed to the Dowager Duchess who recognized him instantly and greeted him warmly. She explained to her ladies in waiting at court that it had been quite a few years since she had last seen the handsome soldier, in fact, not since the reception for the marriage of her youngest daughter, Princess Marie Amelie. Johannes nodded and stood at attention while he asked the Dowager Duchess if he could have a word with her.

  Stéphanie excused herself and asked Johannes to join her next door in her private quarters. As they entered the rooms, and before Johannes could speak, Stéphanie explained that her good friend Theresia had died several years earlier and she was trying to help her daughter Karolina. She noted that Karolina and her family had traveled to Antwerp from Baden and then sailed for New York. Johannes listened intently and did not tell her of his complicity in the eviction of Karolina and her family or of their forced march to the Karlsruhe train station at the point of a bayonet.

  She continued telling him that her sources had informed her that Karolina and her family were now in Cincinnati, Ohio where many of the Baden émigré’s were settled. As she finished talking, she handed Johannes several envelopes including one containing a pass to leave the city of Paris, and another with permission to travel to Le Havre, both of them signed by the Emperor. She also gave him several hundred francs in order to pay for passage on the first ship sailing to America. She cautioned him that most of the ships in Le Havre were sailing to New Orleans and he would need to make his way across the American wilderness to meet up with Karolina and her family. Johannes simply nodded.