USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 19
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
farm wagons provided for the occasion, and started for McGregor, the near- est point to a public thoroughfare. The departure was made on Thursday morning, May 29, 1861, after attending religious services conducted by Rev- erends Williams and Ricker.
WAR MEETING AT WEST UNION.
On the 26th of April an enthusiastic meeting was held at the county seat and people poured into the town from every direction, to the beating of drums and flying banners. Representatives were present from every town in the county, including some localities already engaged in raising companies. This was in furtherance of the efforts commenced at Fayette two days previ- ously, and, among other things, resulted in completing the organization of Company F, Third Iowa Infantry, whose departure is announced in the pre- ceding paragraphs. But the meeting had also another purpose; and after the election of officers for the organized company, received reports from other localities, listened to patriotic speeches and music, proceeded to organize a County Relief Association, whose duties were to look after the financial needs of the dependents soon to be left by their natural protectors and providers.
This committee consisted of Doctor Hart, Clark Newcomb, P. L. Hink- ley, Mrs. James Bell, Mrs. W. W. Barnard and Mrs. W. R. Morley. C. A. Newcomb was elected treasurer of the committee. It may be added here, incidentally, that this Relief Committee, enlarged, and its work systematized, was continued throughout the war. As supplementary to this general com- mittee on the relief of soldiers' families and enlistments, a committee of one from each township in the county was constituted to co-operate with the central committee and was designated as follows: Auburn township, E. E. Edwards; Banks township, O. T. Fox; Center township, L. Templeton ; Clermont township, E. Button; Dover township, Thomas Kinkaid; Eden township, J. N. House; Fairfield township, M. C. Sperry; Fremont town- ship, H. W. Zimmerman; Harlan township, Harvey Sessions; Illyria town- ship, R. A. Richardson ; Jefferson township, Thomas C. Barclay; Oran town- ship, J. T. Babcock; Pleasant Valley township, Benjamin Dimond; Putnam township, William J. Rowland; Richfield (now Bethel township), E. Ober; Scott township, J. C. Crosby ; Smithfield township, Lyman E. Mitchell; Wind- sor township, William Holliday; West Union township, Charles Chadwick ; Westfield township, H. D. Gray.
Nearly all of the able-bodied men included in the foregoing list went into the army at later periods, and their places were supplied on this committee
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by other appointments. Additions were made to the central committee at this time, and the following names were added: L. C. Noble, Mrs. B. H. Hinkley, H. B. Budlong, Mrs. H. D. Gray, Hon. William Larrabee and Mrs. Edwin Stedman, and their duties were enlarged to cover solicitations in the entire county. It will thus be seen that early efforts were put forth to provide for the families of absent soldiers.
Before the adjournment of this meeting some rousing speeches were made, and Col. Aaron Brown passed up an enlistment roll containing the eighteen names of volunteers at the Fayette meeting of two days before. Joseph Hobson, L. L. Ainsworth, William Larrabee, Aaron Brown and J. P. Webster were constituted a committee to superintend the organization of a military company ; an enlistment roll was prepared, and nineteen names were enrolled by the next night.
Meeting followed meeting in quick succession, and even the smaller towns vied with each other in the enthusiasm displayed and in the enlistments recorded. Elgin was especially active, and soon organized a company, which was designated as the Elgin Home Guards. Clermont was equally zealous, and these two little towns of ante-bellum days-near neighbors, but with very modest pretensions-sent as many men into the army, and as valiant soldiers, as any other places of like population and circumstances.
It must be remembered that some of our prosperous towns of today did not have an existence forty-nine years ago, and that West Union was the nucleus around which seemed to center all public enterprises and was the radius from which emanated nearly every project of public interest. This was necessarily so because of its being the seat of county government and the largest town in the county. The people of that town were no more patri- otic, nor were they any more zealous in promoting the welfare of soldiers' families than those localities of lesser pretensions, but all worked together in harmony for the common good. And there were no more patriotic and self-sacrificing helpers than the women of that time, and the surviving sol- diers of today would, to a man, utter a fervent "Amen" to that sentiment. Not only did the ladies care for the loved ones left behind, but they organ- ized "working societies," whereat provisions were prepared with lavish hand and sent to the hospitals, and even to the regiments at the front, as quiet reminders that the boys in blue were remembered at home. Many of the women volunteered as nurses in hospitals, even without the thought of recompense, as appears more fully in the chapter on State History.
Every company that went into service as a Fayette county organiza-
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tion was presented by the ladies with a flag, and in one or two instances those companies that left prematurely were followed to McGregor by a com- mittee of ladies who presented the flags as the soldiers were about to em- bark on the boats.
SOLDIERS' BOUNTIES.
Provision was made for the payment of a bounty of sixty dollars to . each volunteer who should enlist under the call for six hundred thousand men, on or before the 23d of August, 1862. The discrimination shown in this action was not received with entire kindness by the earlier volunteers and became a subject of much discussion subsequent to the close of the war. Then it was charged that much "juggling" with bounty claims was resorted to by speculators at home, during the absence of the men at the front, and that the depreciation of county warrants, due to the failure to provide for them adequately, rendered it necessary for men in need of money to accept much less than par value for their claims against the county.
It is authoritatively stated that one member of the Relief Committee supplied with flour all soldiers' families applying to him as such, with the distinct understanding that it was not to be paid for until the soldier hus- band should return from the army. (This, of course, was at the option of the buyers. )
It is hardly to be expected that after the lapse of nearly half a century any are living who can give the minutiae of military movements, descrip- tions of battles, skirmishes, sieges, picket duties and the ordinary hardships of the march with the accuracy and completeness of detail which they once could have done. But the historian's troubles are multiplied when it is found that no two persons agree in all details pertaining to any particular event, and yet all seem sure as to the accuracy of occurrences described, and no doubt all are honest and truthful in their statements, or intend to be so. But memory is treacherous, and even the facts pertaining to a life and death struggle occurring forty-five years ago may become perverted in the hurly- burly of life's struggles. The writer of this article spent four years at the front, and participated in thirty-eight general engagements, and yet, though possessing a reasonably retentive memory, it would be an utter impossibility for him to describe one of these battles without "treading on another's toes" in doing so. The minutiae regarding individual heroism and special military honors, while interesting reading and gratifying to the friends of the ones so honored, has no place in a general history, but more properly be- longs in the field of biography. In the preparation of the following records
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
great pains have been taken to give the salient features with reference to Fayette county soldiers, with accuracy and completeness. The list of names, and histories of company and regimental organizations, are taken, largely, from the adjutant-general's reports, supplemented by additional matter when circumstances seemed to demand fuller mention. But this leaves out of the consideration the record of the thousands of soldiers who enlisted from ยท other states, and who became citizens of Iowa following the close of the war. For a record of these we must consult the reports of the various states rep- resented, though the grand total is given in our census report as three hun- dred and sixty-four surviving soldiers in Fayette county. Of these survivors, according to the same authority, but one hundred and forty-five enlisted from this county. Of the three hundred and sixty-four soldiers living in the county, two hundred and one own unincumbered homes, valued at five hundred and seventeen thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine dollars; and forty-five own homes incumbered to the amount of forty-four thousand five hundred and ninety dollars, or about one-fourth of the estimated value of the property.
There are but thirteen counties in the state having a greater number of unincumbered soldiers' homes than Fayette, while all of these, save one, have a greater number of incumbered homes. Comparatively few among our soldier population are on the list of indigents provided for at public expense; but, as shown in the chapter on State History, some of our sol- dier population receive aid through the Soldiers' Relief Commission, the number of such during the year ending January 1, 1910, being thirty-nine. Fully two-thirds of the beneficiaries under this benevolent provision are soldiers' widows and children.
We consider the foregoing a very complimentary showing for the vet- erans of the Civil war, since many of them returned with wounds and im- paired health, while the average age of all would not be far short of seventy years.
About ten per cent. of the population of Fayette county, according to the census of 1860, which was twelve thousand and seventy-three, entered resented, though the grand total is given in our census report as three hun- dred and ninety-six enlistments; and while some names may be duplicated by re-enlistments and transfers, it is probable that the enlistments in organ- izations in other counties, or outside of the state, will compensate for this discrepancy.
At the joyous home-coming of the boys in 1865, a royal banquet was served to them by the grateful citizens and the occasion was enlivened with
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music and stirring speeches. The exercises were held on the fair grounds at West Union, and the people of the entire county attended this occasion of general rejoicing. They came in wagons, some of which were drawn by oxen, for the day of carriages and automobiles had not reached the West -but all came! Many came with sorrow in their hearts for the loved ones who did not return, but felt that a reunited and prospectively happy country was a partial atonement for their great losses.
The Fayette County Reunion Association was organized in 1881, and an annual reunion has been held since, at first, for a few years, in different towns in the county, but latterly it has been a permanent fixture at West Union. Reunions have been held at Fayette, Maynard, Oelwein, Arlington and Hawkeye, and wherever the meetings of the veterans have been held the citizens have rendered every possible assistance in making them a success. For these courtesies the old "vets" are always grateful, though they fully realize that nobody gets more real enjoyment out of such occasions than they do themselves !
But the ranks are rapidly thinning, as every one will observe among their own soldier acquaintances, relatives and friends. And we are thank- ful, comrades, for the consideration given us in the various avenues of life, simply because we were soldiers. We hope we merit the generous impulses which have given us the preference in many ways, and in the liberality of the government and the state. In the generous distribution of pensions, few in- deed have any cause for complaint, and these are often induced by a morbid desire to "get something for nothing!" The purpose of the government is to mete out equal and exact justice to all, and the isolated cases where men do not receive this consideration are such as do not fall within the sphere of exist- ing laws. No government in the world has ever been more liberal with its defenders than the United States! As the "saviors of our country," com- rades, it is not within the sphere of reason and consistency for us to be fault- finding and critical, or to unduly extol our achievements, for we did no more than the past and present generations would have done, or would do, under similar circumstances.
With these introductory remarks, we herewith submit the names of all soldiers who enlisted in Fayette county, with a brief history of the various organizations in which they served, and results of such service. It is not claimed that this record is absolutely correct, for it is impossible to make it so at this late date; but the salient features are here, and we offer apologies to all those whose history is incomplete, and assure them that our best efforts have been put forth to produce an impartial and correct military history.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
THIRD REGIMENT INFANTRY.
The Third Regiment was raised, drilled and sent to the front about August 1, 1861. Its first engagement was at Blue Mills, Missouri, Septem- ber 18, 1861. It fought gallantly at Shiloh two days, the second day under command of Lieutenant Cusley, the regimental officers being off duty or wounded. At Metamora, October 5, 1862, the regiment suffered heavily. On its way to join General Grant, before Vicksburg, the Third was attacked by guerrillas and had fourteen men wounded. It participated in the opera- tions at Vicksburg. On July 12, 1863, it went into battle at Johnson, Mis- sissippi, with two hundred forty-one men, and lost one hundred fourteen killed, wounded and missing. It participated in the Meridian expedition, arriving there February 3, 1864, and next day tore up fifteen miles of rail- road. Near Atlanta, it did good service, July 28th. Greatly reduced in numbers, the survivors re-enlisted, forming three companies, and consolidated with the Second Infantry.
Company F was organized in Fayette county and was received into the state service May 20, 1861. It left West Union May 29th, numbering ninety- four men, and arrived at Keokuk June 6th. Was in Camp Kirkwood at Keokuk until the 29th, when it embarked with the regiment for Hannibal, Missouri, arriving the same evening; and during the remainder of 1861, and in 1862, did duty in Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi, participating in four engagements, two sieges and seven skirmishes, namely: Battle of Blue Mills, where the company lost one killed and seventeen wounded; battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1862, where it lost four killed, ten wounded and one taken prisoner ; battle of Metamora, Tennessee, October 5, 1862, where it had one man mortally, and six severely wounded; and the battle of Jackson, Missis- sippi, where it lost eight wounded and three missing; the siege of Corinth, Mississippi, during the month of May, 1862, and the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the months of May, June and July, 1863, where it lost one man; skirmish at Hagerwoods, Missouri, July 9, 1863; at Monroe, Mis- souri, July 10 and 11, 1861 ; Shelbina, Missouri, September 9, 1861 ; near La Grange, Tennessee, July 15, 1862; at Moscow, Tennessee, February, 1862, where it lost one man (taken prisoner) ; en route for Vicksburg on steamer "Crescent City," near Greenville, Mississippi, May 18, 1863, when it had one man mortally wounded and two others severely. The company marched in all five thousand three hundred miles, the longest day's march being from Lagrange to Somerville, Tennessee, and back-thirty-four miles. It accompanied the famous march of General Grant through central Missis-
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
sippi, and lost one man (taken prisoner) in Van Dorn's raid on Holly Springs, December 30, 1862. The company, after taking the field, had fifteen recruits, making a total of one hundred and fifteen men, rank and file.
It should be added that in Colonel Scott's report of the battle of Blue Mills Landing, Missouri, on th 17th of September, 1861, especial mention was made of Sergt. James H. Lakin, of Company F, "who bore the colors and carried them through the fight with all the coolness of a veteran." In this battle Colonel Scott's horse was hit several times, and several balls went through his clothes. Eight bullets went through the flag in the hands of Sergeant Lakin, and another struck the staff.
[NOTE .- The non-veterans of this regiment were mustered out at the expiration of their term of service, in June and July, 1864. The veterans and recruits were consolidated into the Third Veteran Infantry, which was consolidated with the Second Veteran Infantry. See Second Veteran Con- solidated Infantry, Second and Third.]
Col. Aaron Brown, commissioned second lieutenant Company F, May 2, 1861; wounded Blue Mills, September 17, 1861 ; promoted captain April 8, 1862; commissioned major October 15, 1862; promoted colonel November 27, 1862; wounded at Jackson, Mississippi, July 12, 1863; resigned July 13, 1864. Commissary Sergeant P. S. Hurlburt, enlisted as corporal May 21, 1861 : promoted commissary sergeant Company F. Fife Major John Ecker, enlisted May 20, 1861, transferred to Company K, Second and Third Veteran Infantry consolidated.
COMPANY A.
E. G. Staples, enlisted May 18, 1861 ; discharged November 22, 1861. disabled.
COMPANY C.
Musician George W. Ecker, enlisted May 22, 1861 ; transferred to Sec- ond and Third Veteran Infantry consolidated.
COMPANY F.
Capt. Carman A. Newcomb, commissioned May 2, 1861 ; resigned April 8, 1862.
Capt. Jacob Swank, enlisted as private May 20, 1861 ; wounded at Blue Mills September 17, 1861, and at Shiloh April 6, 1862 ; promoted first ser-
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
geant, then first lieutenant April 9, 1862 ; promoted captain September 1, 1862 ; mustered out June 18, 1864.
First Lieutenant Leroy Templeton, commissioned May 2, 1861 ; resigned April 8, 1862.
First Lieutenant James H. Lakin, enlisted as sergeant May 20, 1861 ; promoted second lieutenant April 9, 1862 ; promoted first lieutenant September I, 1862 ; mustered out June 17, 1864.
Second Lieutenant Jacob Abernathy, enlisted as first sergeant May 20, 1861; promoted second lieutenant September 1, 1862; wounded and captured July, 1863; promoted lieutenant-colonel Third Veteran Infantry; killed at Atlanta.
First Sergeant S. D. Thompson, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Sergt. David P. Campbell, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged 1862, dis- abled.
Sergt. Darius F. Crane, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Sergt. James P. Patrick, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded May 18, 1863; transferred November 29, 1863, for promotion to second lieutenant First Regiment Tennessee Heavy Artillery.
Sergt. Stephen E. Robinson, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged April 30, 1862.
Sergt. George S. Botsford, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded July 12, 1863, at Jackson, Mississippi ; transferred to Second Infantry consolidated.
Corp. James A. Downing, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Corp. Collins H. Foster, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Corp. Jos. Hawn, enlisted May 20, 1861. .
Corp. Irem A. Sawyer, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Corp. William F. Crawford, enlisted May 20, 1861; transferred to gunboat service, February 7, 1862.
Corp. A. Longacre, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Corp. Samuel J. Fenton, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; killed at battle of Shiloh April 6, 1862.
Corp. Daniel McCall, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged February 19, 1862, disability.
Corp. E. W. G. Follet, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded July 12, 1863, at Jackson, Mississippi ; died of wounds.
Corp. Leonidas Davis, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded September 17, 1861, at Blue Mills, and discharged April 1, 1862, disability.
Corp. E. H. Kenyon, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded July 12, 1863, at Jackson, Mississippi.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
Corp. George Botsford, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded at Jackson.
Corp. Isaiah Woods, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Corp. Allen Mulinix, Jr., promoted corporal December 7, 1862.
Fifer A. B. Ecker, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged May 17, 1863, dis- ability.
Wagoner John W. Hawn, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded September 17, 1861, at Blue Mills ; captured at Moscow.
Antwine, Joseph, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Arnold, M. V. B., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged for disability.
Arnold, James, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged for disability October 23, 186I.
Babcock, W. G., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged September 5, 1862, disability.
Betts, Samuel T., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged July 16, 1862, dis- ability.
Brooks, John, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged February 19, 1862.
Brown, David M., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; killed April 6, 1862, at battle of Shiloh.
Crowell, James M., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; transferred to gunboat service February 15, 1862.
Chapman, M. W., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged February 10, 1863.
Crow, C., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; died February 25, 1862, at Mexico, Missouri.
Cox, William M., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded April 6, 1862, at Shiloh.
Cruzan, John A., enlisted May 20, 1861.
Connor, James, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded and captured July 12, 1863, at Jackson, Mississippi.
Davis, James R., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged February 16, 1862, disability.
Davis, W., enlisted May 20, 1861; wounded April 6, 1862, at Shiloh; discharged December 17, 1862, disability.
Delano, John S., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; transferred to Second and Third Veteran Infantry consolidated.
Downs, F. S., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded April 6, 1862, at Shiloh, and July 12, 1863, at Jackson.
Davis, A. D., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded at Metamora October 5, 1862; discharged February 18, 1863.
Earle, Joseph J., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded April 6, 1862, at Shiloh.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
Finch, Duane, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; transferred to Second and Third Veteran Infantry consolidated.
Garrison, F. M., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; transferred to Second and Third Veteran Infantry consolidated.
German, Hiram, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Grant, Charles, enlisted May 20, 1861.
Grant, F. M., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded June 16, 1863, at Vicks- burg.
Hartsough, William D., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; transferred to Second and Third Veteran Infantry consolidated.
Hendrickson, A. J., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded April 6, 1862, at Shiloh.
Holliday, Thomas E., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged February 19, 1862, disability.
Ishman, David, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded at Blue Mills, Septem- ber 17, 1861 ; discharged July 3, 1862, disability.
Johnson, H. B., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; transferred to Madison's Artil- lery August 24, 1861.
Johnson, Joseph N., enlisted May 20, 1861; wounded at Blue Mills September 17, 1861.
Jones, Henry, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded April 6, 1862, at Shiloh ; discharged for disability July 30, 1862.
Lyon, Charles A., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded at Blue Mills, Sep- tember 17, 1861 ; discharged February 16, 1862, disability.
McClellan, Robert, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; died June 3, 1862, at Louis- ville, Kentucky.
Marsh, William, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; killed April 6, 1862, at battle of Shiloh.
Mills, R., enlisted May 20, 1861.
McCumber, E., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded April 6, 1862, at Shiloh.
Noble, Charles, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged November 23, 1861, disability.
Norton, H. D., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; killed at battle of Blue Mills September 17, 1861.
Orr, William, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded on steamer near Island No. 82, May 18, 1863.
Payne, Minor, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged December 1I, 1861, disability.
(13)
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
Perkins, George H., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; missing at Jackson, Missis- sippi July 12, 1863.
Pendelton, Thomas H., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; wounded October 5, 1862 ; died October 10, 1862, at Matamora.
Rogers, Newell C., enlisted May 20, 1861; died January 2, 1862, at St. Louis.
Romey, A., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; transferred to gunboat February 15, I862.
Smith, M., enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged for disability August 12, I862.
Staples, Stephen, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; discharged February 19, 1862, disability.
Staples, Robert, enlisted May 20, 1861 ; transferred to Second and Third Veteran Infantry consolidated.
Sawyer, James L., enlisted May 20, 1861; transferred to Second and Third Veteran Infantry consolidated.
Savage, Marcus, enlisted May 20, 1861; died at Corinth, Mississippi, June 26, 1862.
Stirk, Cornelius, enlisted May 20, 1861; transferred to Second and Third Veteran Infantry consolidated.
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