History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc, Part 38

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1424

USA > Illinois > Mercer County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 38
USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 38

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Company G had thirty men; all but five of these had been wounded. On the 9th the regiment started for Illinois, and arrived at Camp Butler, on the 12th. On the 16th it was paid off and disbanded.

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND REGIMENT ILLINOIS INFANTRY. .

""Tis midnight in the camp,

The tired soldiers sleep, and dream, perchance

Of home, perchance of conflicts past, and others Coming on the morrow. Braves, sleep on ! Let the cool night winds soothe your slumbers deep, That you may rise refreshed. Your country looks

To you, and such as you, to guard her honor

From traitors' foul contaminating touch.

Yet, one iş vigilant ;

With measured tread he paces on his beat - The midnight sentinel. The moonbeams play Upon his burnished bayonet, and its rays Fall gently on a calm, sweet, upturned face, That smiles upon the soldier from its frame."

E. H. N. PATTERSON, 1862.

The war of the rebellion had been in progress something over a year when recruiting for the 102d regiment began ; but as more men enlisted from Mercer county in that organization than in any other, we assign it the largest space.

Company C .- Frank Shedd commenced enlisting men on August 5, 1862, and on the 21st had eighty-nine enrolled. The company assembled at Berlin (Swedona) on the 26th, and taking wagons, went by the way of Oxford and Galesburg to Knoxville, and were assigned quarters in Camp McMurtry on the fair grounds. Ninety-six men went into camp, but ninety-two, including officers, were all that were mustered in. Shedd was elected captain, Almond Shaw, first lieu- tenant, and Watson C. Trego, second lieutenant. Alfred H. Trego was appointed first or orderly sergeant, Byron Jordan, second sergeant, George W. Gregg, third sergeant, George W. Allen, fourth sergeant, and Sampson M. Tenny, fifth sergeant. The corporals were Isaac N. Roberts, S. F. Fleharty, Rodney C. Manning, Henry Bridgford, Jacob Clause, Brainard Vance, Phoenix R. Briggs, and Jolin Lippincott.

Company E .- On August 7 a meeting was held at Brown's school- house in North Henderson township, at which Dan. W. Sedwick en- listed eighteen men. Thomas Likely, of the same township (now of Norwood), was present and stated that he had enrolled eight men, and proposed to unite with Sedwick, which was done. By the 14th they had eighty-four. On that day the men met at the same place and organized by electing Likely captain, Sedwick, first lieutenant, and T. G. Brown, second lieutenant. The following were the non-com- missioned officers appointed : Sample B. Moore, first or orderly ser- geant; John Allison, William J. Abdill, Jonathan E. Lafferty, and

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ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND REGIMENT.

Albert Bridger, sergeants ; Thomas Simpson, Henry M. Carmichael, John Tidball, Lyman Bryant, Allen Dunn, Henry W. Mauck, Robert Godfrey, and John T. Morford, corporals. Some time in the last week of August Lieut. Sedwick started from Bridger's corners (now Suez) with thirty-two men, and going through Scott's grove, met Capt. Likely one mile south of that place with about the same number, from whence they proceeded in wagons through Galesburg to Knoxville, arriving there in the evening, where the rest of the company joined them.

Company G .- This company was raised by Joseph P. Wycoff, assisted by Isaac McManus. David Lloyd had begun a company, but as he did not make it up his recruits, eight or ten in number, came into Wycoff's. Enlistments for this company were commenced in Keithsburg on the 6th of August; on the 15th over one hundred were enrolled, and runners were sent out to notify the men to meet on the 17th to organize. One hundred and twenty assembled at the opera house and Wycoff was elected captain. On the 19th the company embarked on a steamer for Burlington, where it arrived at midnight. The hotels were full and the men slept that night in a livery stable. Next day they took the cars and reached Knoxville, going into bar- racks on the north side of the fair ground. The organization of the company was next completed, the choice for first lieutenant falling on Isaac McManus, and that of second lieutenant on William II. Bridg- ford. The non-commissioned officers were also elected by the com- pany, Capt. Wycoff promising to appoint whomsoever the men should declare were their preference. They were Luke P. Blackburn, Aaron G. Henry, John C. Reynolds, John McHard, and Robert B. Seaton, sergeants ; and Wesley Hunt, Lemuel S. Gruffy, Elisha J. Grandstaff, Andrew J. Douglas, Richard H. Cabeen, John G. Poague; George W. Thomas, and Andrew J. Campbell, corporals. Company G went into camp with 120, rank and file; but 101 was the maximum number allowed, and the excess were distributed among other companies.

Company K .- James M. Mannon, Sanderson H. Rodgers, and William A. Wilson raised this company in the month of August, and it was composed of men from the north part of the county, and chiefly from those residing in Eliza and Millersburg townships. It was organized in Aledo by the election of Mannon, captain, Rodgers, first lieutenant, and Wilson, second lieutenant. Late in the month the company went across the country by private conveyances to Knoxville, where the regiment was assembled and about ready to be organized. The original non-commissioned officers were: James Y. Merritt, orderly sergeant; L. Volney Willits, second sergeant (names of the

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

other sergeants unknown); and the following corporals : Peter Griffith, B. F. H. Reynolds, William Winders, J. E. Huston, Leander Officer, Eli Cook, Walter Smethers, and Allen Wilson.

Other Companies .- The foregoing companies belonged exclusively to Mercer county, if we except a very few in company C from Rock Island county. Company A was enlisted in the corners of Knox, Mer- cer, and Warren, and was credited to Knox, although of the eighty- eight enlisted soldiers forty-three were from North Henderson and six from Rivoli townships in this county. Capt. Roderick R. Harding, of Galesburg, who had served in the 17th Ill. reg. from May, 1861, to May, 1862, associated Levi F. Gentry, of North Henderson, with himself, and the two together raised the company. Harding became captain on the organization of the company, Gentry, first lieutenant, and Charles M. Barnett, of North Henderson, second lieutenant. The non-commissioned officers were: Robert W. Callaghan, Theodore H. Andrews, John Morrison, William Brown, and Adam N. Tate, ser- geants ; and William H. Black, Hugh French, Daniel B. Randall, Fielding E. Scott, John R. Holmes, Albert Talbot, Nealy Daggett, and George W. Miller, corporals.

Company B was raised in Knox and Warren; two enlistments were from Mercer.

Company D was raised and organized in Knox county, to which one-half of the men belonged. Sixteen were from Fulton county, fourteen from Warren, seven from Henry, six from Mercer, and a few from other places.

Company F was made up of Knox county men, with two from Mercer. Companies H and I belonged to the same county, but the latter had eight men from Henry.

The Regiment .- The 102d regiment was raised by Col. William McMurtry, of Knox county, and the companies, as fast as they arrived at Knoxville, were rendezvoused on the fair grounds, where there were ample and convenient barracks. This camp of organization was named McMurtry in honor of the venerable and enthusiastic colonel. The several companies assembled between the 20th of August and the close of the month, and when the organization took place Franklin C. Smith, captain of company I, was elected lieutenant-colonel, and James M. Mannon, captain of company K, major. On the 2d of September the regiment was mustered into the service of the United States 931 strong. The men were uniformed, furnished with blankets, and regularly drilled ; and the transition to camp life had all the features of novelty until the rudiments of soldierly training were in course of easy mastery.

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ONE IIUNDRED AND SECOND REGIMENT.

On the 22d the right wing was transferred by rail to Peoria, and next day the left followed. The regiment remained one week en- camped on the beautiful plateau overlooking Peoria lake from the north, when orders came to move to the seat of war in Kentucky. Buell's army was intrenched around Louisville and Bragg was knock- ing at the gates of the city. Public apprehension was high, and the raw levies from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, were poured upon the "Kentucky shore" in immense numbers. The 30th of September dawned gloomily, but it found the regiment lively with hope and ardor, and before the morning was hardly passed it was in motion through the streets in a drizzling rain toward the depot of the Logansport, Peoria & Burlington railroad. Windows and balconies were crowded with old and young to get a view of the troops. Matronly women, total strangers, wiped their dimmed eyes as they watched the flower of the country's youth going to fields of blood and death. Next morning the regiment was in Logansport; in the course of the day it passed through Lafayette, and toward evening reached Indianapolis, where were seen the first warlike signs: artillery in park and paroled pris- oners in squads. A night ride brought the command to Jeffersonville, where it disembarked before the beams of morning streaked the east- ern sky. Arms for the men, French rifled muskets, which had been brought unboxed from Peoria, were distributed during the day, and inferior as they were it cannot be said the soldiers were not as proud of their guns as the traditional small boy of his new jacknife. Rumors of fighting across the river were soon afloat, and this was the first acquaintance with the "grapevine telegraph " -camp reports.

At one o'clock on the morning of the 3d, the long roll aroused the camp, and the men were ordered to prepare to march with three days' cooked rations. Very early the Ohio was crossed on an immense bridge constructed of flatboats, and the regiment marched into Louis- ville. Amidst the interested spectators on the street leading up from the river stood a tottering old man, whose thin white locks were the toys of the morning air. With uncovered head, and bony arms up- lifted to heaven, he appeared like a silent supernatural prophet of the union. Without a spoken word, but in the most solemn and patri- archal manner did this patriotic Elijah call down upon the men press- ing forward to the defense of the government God's blessing and pro- tection.

The regiment was brigaded with the 105th Illinois and the 79th Ohio, and placed under the command of Brig. Gen. William T. Ward, of Kentucky, and attached to Gen. Dumont's division. Not long afterward the 70th Indiana and the 129th Illinois were added.

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

At four o'clock in the afternoon this new command began the march to Frankfort, a march whose toils and pains will never fade from the memories of the jaded and exhausted men who performed it. Only for the conditions was the distance great or the marching excessive. The weather was hot, the soldiers were overloaded, the country was suffering from extreme drouth, water was scarce, and parts of the pike were covered with a fine limestone dust that enveloped the column in a thick cloud. Haversacks were crowded with rations, cartridge boxes carried forty rounds, knapsacks contained extra clothing and blankets and other dispensable effects. Add to these a heavy musket, and the weight borne was too much for the endurance of nine-tenths of the soldiers in the field, old or new. To keep in ranks and march at a brisk pace encumbered with an unusual, ill-fitting, fretful load, was no ordinary hardship to raw recruits; and long afterward when the men had become enured to war-like service, they reviewed the trials of this first march with a shudder. Inhalations of the finely-powdered dust excited and greatly aggravated thirst, and under the circumstances these sufferings of the men were the most painful of the whole service, and were the entering wedge to subsequent disabilities which sent many a poor fellow home a miserable wreck and many another to his long account.

About midnight a small remnant of the command filed off into a swarded field fifteen miles from Louisville, and were told to encamp. The brigade was disorganized, and the soldiers, prostrated with fatigue, were scattered along the line of march for a distance of ten miles. The road was strewn with blankets and clothing thrown away with indifference and relief. We believe it was never explained why our commanders forged ahead with such folly ; but the boys often jokingly charged it to that ever present factor, the double-barreled canteen. Probably orders had been given in Louisville for the brigade to march to a certain place that night. The 102d had not forgotten yet that Col. McMurtry declared at Knoxville his intention to " march us to glory or to death," and they could testify now that the promise was being relig- iously fulfilled, with the chances very much in favor of the alternative.

About all the men had straggled into camp by eleven o'clock next day, and then the march was renewed. Fifteen more tedious miles were drawn out and we encamped late at night in the neighborhood of Shelbyville, where we lay in a plowed field under the burning sun until the afternoon of the 6th. In rapid time we marched to a new camp, two miles east of Shelbyville. On the Sth we were again in ·motion, and the day was marked with the petty annoyances of starting and halting, and waiting in suspense, not knowing whether to sit or lie

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ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND REGIMENT.

down by the roadside or to stand and hold our heavy loads. Through it all the sun poured down his blistering rays. This was the worst day of any for dust ; fine as flour, in places it was two inches deep, and verily we had " a cloud by day," which veiled every object from view a few yards in front. To get drinking water the soldiers were glad to brush away the heavy, green scum with which stagnant pools were mantled, and thousands of canteens were supplied with filthier water, but a little pennyroyal introduced through the nozzle overcame the unfragrant odor; and doubtless others were moved to the same thank- fulness as the soldier who expressed his satisfaction with the water because it was wet ! At nine at night, being suffered to bivouac, we gave ourselves up to the welcome embrace of mother earth, and stretched our aching limbs upon the soft soil. The hour of midnight made its hasty round, and brought with it orders to resume the advance. A march of six miles, and then we were in Frankfort, at the bridge across the Kentucky river, where our cavalry had a skirmish and a few of the men were on guard. Toiling three-fourths of a mile, perhaps a mile, up the long, weary ascent east of the town, we at last reached the top and threw ourselves upon the naked sward for rest, just as the gleams of dayspring began to gild the eastern horizon. At nine o'clock orders came to prepare for a forced march of forty-eight hours without knapsacks, and two days' rations were issued. What more "forced " than the experience of the last few days was needed? Happily, the order that would have put us in motion never came.

With the end of this, our first march, we drop the mass of details lest our space should be taken up before we discover the spires of Atlanta, or the music of the ocean falls upon our ears at Savannah.

At Frankfort the regiment was furnished with bell tents, drilling was continued, and standing at arms an hour or two in the morning before daybreak was practiced. On the evening of the 18th prepara- tions were made for a forced march, and at midnight the brigade was called out and started for Lawrenceburg, sixteen miles distant. The object was to intercept the partisan John Morgan, who was retreating from Lexington before a federal force. The command halted by the way an hour and did not reach the destination till daylight, when it was found that the rebel chieftain had passed an hour and a half before. Marching back leisurely the troops reached their old quarters at seven in the evening, tired and foot-sore.

A painful incident of history followed. Dissatisfaction with Col. McMurtry was gaining rapidly, and the demand for his retirement was strong. We remember the hollow square, the stirring speech from

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

Gen. Ward counseling harmony and subordination, the demand of the colonel for a vote to ascertain the feeling of the regiment towards him, and we see the large majority step out of ranks, whereupon he announces his intention to resign. Whatever defects. he may have had they were those of old age. He had served in the Black Hawk war and was familiar with the obsolete tactics. He did not address himself with the alacrity of a young man to mastering the new, and this may have detracted from his popularity. Perhaps he was regarded as responsible for the hard marching that had been done; if so, it was unjust. He was honest and terribly in earnest. In his care for the men and his intercourse with them he was less remote and more alive to their welfare than any other who ever commanded them. His influ- ence went far in raising the regiment, and to this length, if no further, he served his country well. Sickness obliged him to go to the hospital, and from there he repaired to his home. The regiment saw no more of him except when he paid it a brief visit at Gallatin in February.

On the 26th of October the brigade broke eamp and began the march to Bowling Green. The distance of 150 miles was accomplished in ten days. Toward the last the dust was very troublesome again, scarcely less so than on the first march, and when the soldiers camped at night they were unrecognizable. At Bacon Creek numbers were sent back to Louisville sick, while others were left to come on by rail.

While at Bowling Green Lieut .- Col. Smith was elected by the officers to the colonelcy, and Major Mannon rose to the next grade.

Gen. Rosecrans reviewed our division there, and on the 11th of November the brigade left its camp at Lost river, and on the second day arrived at Scottsville, county seat of Allen county. Continuing southward on the 25th the division marched in the direction of Gallatin, Tennessee, and camped that night at the Rock House. Arriving tliere the next evening a camp was laid out for the 102d west of the town. On the 12th of December the regiment moved into winter quarters at Fort Thomas, which was situated close to the depot, and which the brigade, working in reliefs by regiments, had been throwing up since its arrival. On the 13th companies I, K and G were detailed for patrol and provost duty in the town, and the next day were cantoned in brick buildings on the public square. Company C was put on duty at Station creek, three miles below Gallatin, where they spent the winter guarding the railroad bridge. On the 11th of February com. panies D and F and a part of A were ordered into the town to increase the provost force. About New Year a mounted squad, composed of a detail of two men from each company, was organized, and placed under the command of Sergeant Edward Courtney, of company I,

CAPT. DAN, W. SEDWICK.

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ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND REGIMENT.

making twenty-one altogether. This was kept scouting until spring, and did much hard, efficient service. On the 14th of March the several companies were relieved by a detail from the 105th Illinois, and were reunited in the old camp to finish and garrison Fort Thomas. The rainy, gloomy winter was over, the darkest period of the war passed. With the fresh breath of spring came new life and gladness. Drilling was resumed with great energy, and most encouraging im- provements were made in the health, and spirits, and skill, and tactical knowledge of the men.

April 27 a detachment of 150 from the regiment was embarked on board the regular morning express train for Louisville, under the chief command of Col. B. J. Sweet, seconded by Col. Smith. Rebels were hovering near Franklin, twenty-seven miles above, and when that place was reached fifty soldiers were put off there in the belief that a skir- mish would ensue. The train proceeded three or four miles farther, when it was stopped by a breach in the track, and a volley was received from a lot of rebel horsemen. The fire was instantly returned with deadly effect, and then the men sprang from the cars in pursuit, but the assailants disappeared in hot haste. Their loss was five killed and six wounded. Five of the 102d were wounded, two mortally. A little drummer boy on the train was wounded in the leg, which had to be amputated. This was the first baptism of fire.

June 1 the brigade left its encampment at Gallatin and was trans- ported on the cars to Lavergne, fifteen miles south of Nashville; and next day the 102d marched to Stewart's creek, six miles farther south, and nine miles north of Murfreesboro. Companies E, K, and G were posted on the creek at the railroad crossing; company H was stationed at Overall's creek, adjacent to the Stone river battlefield ; and company B at Smyrna. The right wing was encamped at a small earthwork surmounting an eminence on Stewart's creek and overlook- ing the crossing of the Nashville and Murfreesboro turnpike. When Gen. Rosecrans organized the Tullahoma campaign the dispersed forces at Nashville and elsewhere in the rear were formed into the reserve corps, under the command of Gen. Gordon Granger, who, at an early day, entrusted the protection of the railroad between Naslı- ville and Murfresboro exclusively to the 102d. Col. Smith was ordered to Lavergne with four companies, and, on August 19, companies C. E, G, and I marched to that place, while the other six were stationed at stockades along the railroad. Thus disposed the regiment was required to do much hard duty, and it could not have been more satisfactorily performed. In addition to furnishing patrols, and men for a great variety of service besides, the companies at Lavergne began in October

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

to press horses from the disloyal for the purpose of mounting them- selves. Companies G and E were first mounted and equipped, next I, and then C; all of which was accomplished by the first week in November. A great deal of scouting was done in adjoining counties, and the service was fraught with just enough risk to make it fasei- nating. Exploits of these commands when hunting and chasing gue- rillas increased the zest and excitement, and furnished not a little material for anecdote, and not a few thrilling personal adventures. By Christmas company B was mounted ; and another was partly so, when removal of the regiment stopped. the impressment of horses. Skillful management on the part of Col. Smith procured 225 of the breech- loading Spencer repeating rifles for these companies, and each man. was provided besides with a Colt's navy revolver.

The inclement winter of 1863-4 was hardly passed when final orders came to march to the front. February 26 the 102d left its can- tonements and fell in with the rest of the brigade which had moved out from Nashville on the 24th. The weather was warm and balmy until the evening of the third day, when it began to rain ; through the fourth day it rained moderately, and was cold, and that night our camp was established on the naked creek bottom at Tullahoma. The tem- perature lowered, the stream rose and overspread a part of the ground ; blankets and equipments were submerged; and the men were driven out of their tents. About one o'clock in the morning the writer started a fire, using a cracker box, and by the light was enabled to pick up the tiniest parts of tree tops. Piling on these twigs the flames leaped up and danced a cheering and grateful invitation to the men who flocked from all parts of the brigade. It poured down the next forenoon, and 3,000 soldiers, wet, cold and hungry, stood shivering in the rainy camp. In the afternoon removal to high ground and timber was taken, and by night, with the aid of huge fires, reasonable comfort and good feeling were restored. Trees groaned beneath the weight of ice and the ground froze hard. Long will the first brigade remember its sojourn at Tullahoma. On the eighth day the column crossed the Raccoon mountains, a spur of the Cumberland range, from Cowan, over the rockiest and roughest road in America, and camped on the other side at a place on the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad called Tantelon. The wagon train lay on the mountain all night and did not finish the passage till noon the next day. Stevenson was passed and Bridgeport reached March 7; the 8th we rested; the 9th we moved again ; and the 10th, being the fourteenth day from Lavergne, the command reached the Wauhatchie valley, at the foot of the frowning western encampment of Lookout mountain.

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ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND. REGIMENT.

Here was made the most pleasant and beautiful camp the regiment ever had. Snugly concealed by an environment of towering eminences, and washed in rear by Lookout creek, it lacked nothing in natural scenery and surroundings to give it an air of the most quiet pictur- esqueness. Its elaborate and tasteful decoration was due mainly to the efforts of Lieut. A. H. Trego and Adjutant J. H. Snyder, gentlemen of the highest æsthetic endowment and culture. Space does not admit a description of the tall arches, elegant devices, military legends, the ornamented speaker's stand, and the chapel for religious worship. Camp life was not more agreeable anywhere than at this place ; but the stay of the regiment was one of hardening activity and preparation for the rigors of the approaching campaign : reviews, inspections, company and battalion drills, and evolutions by brigade and division.

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History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc, Part 38

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co. Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1424