SCHIRRHEIN PERSONALITIES DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY TERROR
Extracted and translated by Vincent Falter from À La Lisière De La Forêt, Schirrhein-Schirrhoffen;1995"

The years of Terror were very difficult for the local population. The ceaseless requisitions, which
 resulted in conscription into the army, the many annoyances, plus the continual fear of being
 stopped by authorities, were the daily lot of the population. The economic situation became
 increasingly catastrophic. The continual drudgeries prevented many peasants from completing
 their work for weeks. And prices increased at the blink of an eye. All food products became
 increasingly scarce. The population was greatly destitute. One of the greatest tests for the
 population of Alsace of Bas-Rhin during the Revolution was the war of 1792 to 1794 and its
 disastrous consequences. In April 1792, France declared war on Austria. At the beginning,
 Alsace was not touched directly by this conflict, except by the raising of battalions of volunteers.
 The first raising of volunteers took place in July 1792, but they were very few persons volunteered.
 On 5 August, there were only 750 of them in all of Bas-Rhin. It was definitely insufficient. To
 escape the fate of defeat, it became necessary to impress all of the population capable of
 carrying weapons. On August 5, a first battalion of 800 men joined the Army of the Rhine. On
 December 17, five other battalions were formed. At the same time, one (battalion?) prepared the
 fortifications along the Rhine. One created supply depots to equip, nourish and dress these
 mobilized men. As always in the event of war, the population was asked to contribute. The work
 projects required by the army were numerous. Thus on December 31, 1792, Antoine Biam,
 George Halter and Laurent Dannenmüller of Schirrhein were required to provide to the army their
 horses and their wagons to convey fodder to the army at Wissembourg. They refused, under the
 pretext that their horses were sick and out of condition to fulfill this service. The director of 
 Haguenau, after having examined their case, ordered them to take part in the next convoy. On
 October 19, 1792, Michel Lehmann addressed a complaint to the Director of Haguenau. He and
 his servant could not ensure order in Schirrhein any longer because they were obliged to
 assemble the army guard being formed at the same time. The Director gave him orders that the
 guard be maintained so that there is always somebody securing the homes in Schirrhein. On
 February 29, 1793, with danger threatening more and more, the Convention ordered the raising of
 300,000 additional men. Bas-Rhin was to provide a quota of 5,254 men. Each commune had to
 raise a certain number of volunteers, according to its population. But the defections were
 numerous. Many young people fled and took refuge in the forests. Initially, there were not enough
 police forces to track these fugitives. Then the Republican authorities formed mobile columns to
 assist the gendarmes to conduct the searches. The Republican authorities found defenders of the
 fatherland only with difficulty. The Alsatian French were not very concerned by this war. …
… A document called the "state of the requisitions" drawn up the 25 frimaire year IV (16 Dec
 1795) mentions that Schirrhoffen had provided eight volunteers: Mosser Hetzel of the 10th
 Regiment of the Jaegers with horse of the Army of the West, George Heïsserer, Christian
 Baechtel, François Muller, François Kauffrnann, Keim Kahn, Andre Colmer and Nicolas Dorffer,
 engaged in the Battailon of the Army of the Rhine. (NOTE: THE DATES OF THE NARRATIVE
 ARE OUT OF SEQUENCE AND JUMP BETWEEN 1793 AND 1795). On March 18, 1793, it was
 announced to the director that two volunteers of Schirrhoffen had returned without passport, nor
 leave. The reaction of the director was brutal: all the citizens, being useful in the battalions of
 volunteers, returned without passport, nor leave, will be stopped everywhere where they will be
 taken to the prison of the district. The municipalities are charged to stop all the deserters on their
 territory. The statement, drawn up the 27 Prarial year IV, mentions eight volunteers of Schirrhein:
 Jean Halter, George Martin, George Berrwiller, George Halter, Antoine Lohr and Nicolas
 Steinmetz became members the Army of the Rhine, Sebastien Stâbler in the Army of the Alps
 and Ignace Schlosser in the Army of the Vendée.
 According to the records of the district of the 1"vendémiaire year VII, the young people were of
 relatively small size: Jacques Heisserer, 20 years, 1,66 meter; Louis Hochheim, 20 years, 1,62
 meter; Leib Solomon, 22 years, 1,60 meter; Nicolas Linck, 22 years, 1,71 meter; Nicolas
 Hochheim, 22 years, 1,69 meter and Leib Ruff, 22 years, 1,54 meter.
 The military jury released Leib Ruff, who was too small, like Louis Hochheim, a Private who had
 no use of the index finger of his right hand. At the beginning of the year 1793, France's military
 situation was very poor. The Austro-Prussians confronted Mainz. The Alsatian General Kléber
 resisted for a few months. But during the summer, the French Armies collapsed. With the
 approach of the autumn, the Alsatian General Wurmser forced the line at Wissem and invaded
 Alsace in the North, occupied Haguenau and pushed his victorious army to the doors of
 Strasbourg. Demoralized by these advances, the French Army was unable to reorganize itself. …