After the war ended, Degener served as a Republican congressman for the Texan 4th Congressional District and as a San Antonio city council member in the 1870s.

During the U.S. Civil War, civilian Degener was arrested by the Confederate army and charged with being "a dangerous and seditious person and an enemy to the government.

Degener's sons Hugo and Hilmar died during the Nueces massacre when they were murdered by the Confederates.

[4] To honor their memory, Degener along with Eduard Steves and William Heuermann, purchased land for the establishment of the German-language Treue der Union Monument, which became part of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Texas November 29, 1978.

Foster, George W. Smith, Erwin Wilson, John Morse and Stephen Curtis (the lone black man on the committee).