History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 10

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 704

USA > Illinois > Clay County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 10
USA > Illinois > Wayne County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 10

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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

less than eight hours. Does not that record stand unequaled! The command returned to Fort Hamilton, and started up White River in pursuit of the enemy. How the enemy eluded them and fell into the hands of Gen. Henry is detailed above. Mr. Hall says that it took the command eleven days to return and join Gen. Henry's forces, and some idea may be drawn of the suffering and depriva- tion of the men in his account of how he nearly killed himself from cating a bacon skin that had been left hanging in a tree, which was the first thing he could get hold of when he looked about for something to eat. It had hung there for some time, and so hungry was he that upon sight he seized and eat it immediately. Of course it made him very sick, and the wonder is it did not kill him. and he was therefore in the hospital from that time on until able to return home. He did not get back home until the following September. It will be noticed that both companies were in the Bad Ax fight.

Just here we wish to correct an error and a gross injustice done in the war records to one of the worthiest citizens Wayne County has ever had. We refer to the omission of these records to even mention the name of Col. Samuel Leech, who was an active and efficient officer in the Black Hawk war, and his name is wholly omitted, except where it once or twice appears incidently in a note set opposite some private's name, with an en- try of "furlonghed by Col. Leech." We have been told that Col. Leech was not pop- ular with Gov. Reynolds, and as an evidence of this fact, he was urged to stand for a Gen- eral's commission, and this was the wish of nearly all the men, but Col. Leech was afraid to resign his Colonelcy lest he should be in some way euchered out any position at all, It is not justice to the memory of Gov. Rey. nolds to believe he would do anything of the

kind, and yet there can be no excuse for the treatment that was given Col. Leoch in this war. Reynolds and Leech are now both dead, and for years their bones have been peacefully moldering in their graves. They were compeers and each in his place was worthy of the rank of the great and good. Col. Leech died, so far as we can learn, in Wisconsin. He was the most prominent man that Wayne County has ever presented. He was the architect of the destiny of the county and bore the great responsibilities that were devolved upon him nobly and well, up to the time he left Wayne County to take a position, we believe, in the Government Land Office at Quincy. But of Col. Leech we refer more fully in the chapter, giving some account of the legal life of the county.

Mexican Har. -- This war demonstrated the fighting qualities of the Illinois soldiers. Prior to that time they had answered the severest demands the Government had ever made upon them, and were known as a brave and chivalrous people whose patriotism had nover been smirched with a single doubt. But bright as was this record, when they rushed upon the bloody battle fields of Mex- ico they surpassed themselves so far, and per- formed so many and heroic feats, that they stood ont upon every page of the modern his- tory of the country with a reputation not excelled by the memorable Old Guard that had so often bore aloft the eagles of France. and rescued victory from the very mouth of defent.

Ou the 11th day of May, 1846, Congress passed an act declaring that " By the act of the Republic of Mexico, a state of war exists between that Government and the United States." That body at the same time appro- priated $10,000,000 to carry on the war, and authorized the President to accept 50,000 volunteers. Thirty-five Illinois companies

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

responded to the call, and the place of ren- dezvous was Alton. There had been seventy- five companies organized and reported. These men were all furious to go. Four regiments were at once mustered in, to wit: First, Col. Hardin; Second, Col. W. H. Bis- sell; Third, Col. Ferris Foreman. These included the thirty companies that were accepted under the first muster. Afterward Col. Boten was accepted with the Fourth Regiment.

The Wayne County company was assigned to the Third Regiment, Col. Foreman com- manding, and were mustered into the service July 2, 1846. The First and Second Regi- ments were brigaded together and the Third and Fourth together. The last were in Gen. Patterson's division, and marched from Mat- amoras to Tampico, where they formed a part of Gen. Shields' force while he was in com- mand of that city. On the 9th of March, the Third and Fourth Regiments took part in the descent on Vera Cruz.

In the battle of Cerro Gordo, the Third Regiment, in which was the Wayne County company, was hotly engaged, and gained great credit for their bravery. It was here that Gen. Shields received his wound that is now celebrated all over the world as the most remarkable recovery on record. Six thou- sand prisoners were captured in the fort, to- gether with Gen. Santa Anna's carriage and wooden leg.

The Third and Fourth Regiments were re- turned by vessel to New Orleans, and on May 25, 1847, mustered out.

The company from Wayne County was Company F. Third Regiment in the Mexican war, and the roster of the company is as fol- lows: Captain, John A. Campbell; First Lieutenants, Jacob Love, Ephraim Merritt and Samuel Hooper; Second Lientenant, Sam- nel J. R. Wilson; Sergeants, Austin Organ,

William Merritt. James Turner and Warren E McMackin; Corporals, Daniel Simpson, John W. Wallace, William B. Wilson and Joseph J. R. Turney; Musician, Jefferson W. Barnhill; Privates, William R. Armstrong, Rigdon S. Barnhill, Nathan Crews, James E. Cox, Hiram H. Cook, Howlet H. Cock, Will- iam M. Cook, Benjamin W. Clevenger, John G. Dorris, David H. Day, Sterlin C. B. El- lis, John Y C. Edwards. John Ewing. Ben- jamin Funkhanser, Samuel Fitzgerald, William J. Frazier, William Gray, Ellis S. Gray. Sion Harris, William D. Ham, Will- iam E. Harlin, John Hulshcraft. Riley V. Johnson, Silas Johnson, William Kimmels, Bluford Lord, James Lacy, William T. Mathews, Willis Morris, Davis Murphy, James W. McCullough, David McCullum, Samuel McCullum, David Owen, Hosea C. Phelps, William C. Phelps, James Reid, William Reed (2d), Jeremiah Rusher, Henry C. Rusher, William C. Simpson, Andrew J. Simpson, William Simpson, Rowland H. Shannon, Jefferson Sloan, Ninian R. Taylor, James H. Taylor, John Tims, John White, Alfred West, Joseph Copeland, John R. Fra- zur, William J. Lockhart, William H. Ma- bry, Benjamin Merritt, Abraham Rister and William Reed (Ist).

Jacob Love died at Camargo October 5, 1846. Ephraim Merritt resigned November 28, 1846, at Matamoras. Samuel Hooper was elected Second Lieutenant from Sargeant, October 1, 1846, and promoted to First Lieutenant November 28, 1846. Lieut. Samuel J. R. Wilson resigned August 28, 1846, at Camp Patterson, Texas. William R. Armstrong, William J. Frazier, Silas John- son, William Kimmel and James Lacy were sick at Matamoras December 14, 1846. And Sterlin C. B. Ellis was wounded at Cerro Gordo. Joseph Copeland died December 9, 1846, in hospital at Matamoras. John R.

J.M. Bastaley

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

Frazur died December 7, same place. Will- iam J. Lockhart died August 14. 1847, at Brazos Island, Texas. William H. Mabry died August 10, 1846, on ship while crossing Gulf. Benjamin Merritt shot at Battle of Cerro Gordo, April 18, 1847. Abraham Rister died September 24, 1846, in hospital at Matamoras. William Reed (Ist), died October 2, 1846, at Camargo. Discharged for disability, Isaac S. Warmouth, James H. Farley, William Black, Benjamin Beech, David Cox, Moses MI. Campbell, Daniel H. Clevenger, Henry Fitch. James M. Harris, Thomas J. Harris, John B. Holmes, Abra- ham Linder, James McCrary. George W. Mathews, Jacob Palmer, Henry Reed, Tyra Robinson and Shirley Trotter.

The Civil War .- Here was one of Ameri- ca's fatalities. Our people had fought out all their wars of defense; had met the red man "on his path and slew him," and had gone on with such splendor and success that, perhaps, in God's economy, it was needed that we be chastened. And sure enough we were compelled to drink the bitter cup to the very dregs. But it is no purpose of this chap- ter to write the history of that war. It should not, it cannot be written now. The dates of those great and sad events may be chronicled, the statistics carefully gathered and the tremendous facts compiled and filed away for that man who will come, long after we are all inhabitants of the eternal silent city, and who will have no prejudices or passions to contend with, and who then only will be able to see the real effect and group these and the real causes together, and show the world a complete picture of what it all was, what it meant, and what permanent evils it inflicted, not only on the American people, but upon the civilization of our times. The reader will understand that we mean much more than is commonly understood by

the term History. We do not mean the sim- ple annals, and the mere order of events as they occured. The majority of people, in loose use of language, call such things his- tory, but they are not. This is mere chro- nology, that in its simplicity. and requires but very little higher order of talents to gather and write, than the rudest of nursery stories. To write the history of a people, the true history that gives events and demonstrates the connection of causes and effects, to show the farthest reaching of circumstances and their intimate connection one with another, and the effects that apparently widely dis- connected facts combined, and how and where they influenced for good or bad generations of men who were not born until long after they had transpired, is the province of the great historian, who it is to be hoped will some time come and write the world's his- tory. This would be the greatest book ever given to man, and if it is ever written, then, it is no extravagance to say, that you may make bonfires of all else that has so far come from the teeming printing-press. There is wisdom for the great mind in statis- tics, more here than anywhere else and the fault of the generations that have passed away, is that they never imagine in the re- motest degree, that the dry statistics of civil. ized man were but the mere husks for cranks and specialists to pour over and give even the slightest consideration.

We deem these hints appropriate to give the reader in advance of our short account of the part played by the people of Wayne County in the great and unfortunate war that so recently drenched this fair land in fraternal blood, and devastated so large a portion of our Union, in order to prepare his mind to not anticipate that we are here writ. ing any portion of the real history of the late war; for at least one hundred years must 5

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

yet pass away before all the far-reaching effects of that bloody issue will have worked out their mission and ceased to be an influ- ence upou men, and, at least, npon American civilization.

In April, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired on by rebels, and the lightning's flash carried the gun's reverations to nearly every hamlet in the land, and instantly a great nation was in arms, and the " long roll " that was beat- en from ocean to ocean filled all the streets and highways with excited men, weeping women and frightened children. By day and by night bands of music paraded the streets, and the clang of the church bells added to the universal din, and upon the surging people flared the bonfires upon the puplic squares, and then, indeed, did the white-robed angel of peace fold her out- stretched wings, and war. grim-visaged war, stalked abroad in all the land, and the era of strife and agony and death was inaugurated.

All over the land it was the same grim story; and yet how difficult it was for the sober-minded, reflecting citizen to realize that civil war was npon ns-how impossible for them to comprehend the magnitude of the evil hour. "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war," was answered by Seward's call for 75.000 volunteers, to put down the rebell- ion in ninety days, and is it a wonder that the unthinking people concluded that such a war wasjbut a holiday picnic?

We have said that we do not here propose to write the history of that war. but there is one phase of those times that are so extraor- dinary or curious that we cannot refrain from giving it to the reader, and it may start a train of reflection in his mind that he has not yet thought of. The rebels claimed that they stood upon the side of the fundamental law -the constitution-the supreme law of the land. Judge Taney, Judge of the Supreme

Court, and a jurist of great ability and in- tegrity, had decided that by the plain terms of the constitution, the South had a right to take their slaves into the Territories, and the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Law had never been questioned. The Republican party of the North, it seems, could only an- swer that there was a Higher Law than the constitution, and Republican Legislatures nullified the fugitive law.

Yet, after thus planting themselves upon the constitution. they fired upon the flag. levied war upon the Government, because the Republican party had, in accordance with the law, elected Mr. Lincoln President of the United States. And thus the scenes in the panorama shifted, and the Higher-Law men had the constitution upon their side, and the once fierce defenders of the strict letter of the law became rebels and outlaws, whom the constitution plainly said must be hunted to the death.

But to refer to what was done here upon the reception of the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter. Hon. W. H. Robinson, of Fairfield, tells us he was in Carmi attending upon the Circuit Court, and so intense and universal was the excitement that the court at once adjourned sine die, and he returned to his home in Fairfield, reaching there about midnight. He at that hour found the people upon the street, and the band was soon marching to inspiriting music, and bonfires threw a lurid light over the strange scene. The flag was soon run up on the court house, and the people wildly cheered it as the wind lifted its folds, and in its dumb language ap- pealed to the hearts of all patriots to protect it and avenge the insult that had been placed upon it. Soon a fifer and drummer had been secured. and when the band rested its shrill notes aud martial drum beat rang out upon the air. and contributed not a little to swell

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

the volume of latent patriotism in the breasts of those who were soon to kindle the camp fires that nothing could extinguish except a restored Union and the stamping-out of every vestige of treason in the land.

In a short time, a full company (Company G) of 107 men was recruited. the activo, or perhaps, rather, the most active, organizers, being Dr. W. M. Cooper, N. Crews, P. H. Gillison and W. H. Robinson. Dr. Cooper was elected Captain, Nathan Crews, First Lieutenant, and W. Robinson, Second Lieu- tenant. The company was ordered to Anna, and became a part of the Eighteenth Illinois, Col. Lawler's regiment. Mr. Robinson was detailed as Adjutant, and in this capacity, he says the first order he ever received was signed Capt. U. S. Grant, mustering officer, who had mustered the Eighteenth Regiment, and at once issued orders for an election of field officers. The regiment soon went to Bird's Point, Mo. James D. Lichtenberger, J. W. Hill, W. A. Reuben and S. Boseman joined the regiment in July, the two former as musicians.

July 15. another company was organized, called the Hicks Guards, Samuel Hooper was made Captain, and William Steward First and J. P. Rider Second Lieutenant. Among the privates in this company were Adam Files, James Hearn, H. A. Organ and Samuel Hooper, who were veterans in the Mexican war. Among the young men who joined here were James Ellsworth, A. Humes, Bates O. H. Owen, G. J. George, H. D. Pearce and James Jordan. On Monday, the 22d of July, the citizens gave the company a dinner in the grove, where speeches were made by J. H. Cooper, W. H. Robinson and R. P. Han- nah. This company was at once assigned to the Fortieth Regiment. About this time & company was also organized at Jeffersonville, Capt. U'lm. It was also in the Fortieth

Regiment. The two companies went to Springfield, where they went into training quarters. They were accompanied to Spring- field by a large number of citizens, among whom was the Fairfield Sax-horn Band. Capt. Hooper's company was transferred to Charleston, Mo., where ten of the men de- serted, when Lieut. Stewart immediately returned to this county and secured the new recruits to fill their places. From Charleston, a portion of the company were sent on a scouting expedition and captured a rebel Lieutenant. Sergeant and a private. The next day, twenty-six of the boys went on another scout, and instead of capturing any rebels they were suddenly fired upon by a hundred of the enemy, and in their hasty retreat lost two of their men as prisoners. In August,' H. H. Beecher was appointed Sutler of Iliek's regiment. August 24, R. S. Barnhill joined the company, and Col. Hicks made him Adjutant of the regiment. On Monday, August 26, a meeting was held at Mt. Erie for the purpose of organizing a cavalry company.

Capt. W. M. Cooper, of Company G, Eighteenth Illinois Regiment, died at Cairo September 11. He was aged twenty-five years and four months. His body was brought home for burial. Nathan Crews was then chosen Captain by acclamation. Capt. Crews addressed the men after his election, and referring to their great loss in the death of Dr. Cooper he began to cry, and it is said the longer he talked the londer he cried, until the entire company joined him in sincere sorrow. October 21, Lient. W. H. Robinson resigned and came home on account of sickness. November 1, the Eighteenth regiment was sent on an expedition to try and capture Jeff Thompson, who was sup- posed to be at Bloomfield, Mo.

On Sunday evening, September 20, Will-

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

iam Evans was found murdered in camp at Mound City. The officer of the guard, hear- ing the shot, ran to where the man lay and discovered Robert Dickinson, of the same company, with a gun in his hands, and, upon being asked, "Where is the man that com- mitted the murder?" the latter answered, " I am the man." He was taken to the guard house, and the next morning objection being made to having the prisoner tried by the authorities of Mound City, it was decided that he be tried by a jury of twelve men selected from his own company. Capt. Crews ordered the Orderly Sergeant to select twelve competent men to act as jurymen, with the following result: S. Stark, William Crews, Stephen B. Sibley, James Holmes, William R. Wood, B. T. Atherton, William R. ' Thompson, C. W. Gaston, George W. Powell, William Pendleton, V. L. Wilson and O. D. Schooley. Six witnesses were sworn and examined, after which Capt. Crews in- structed the jury to bring in a verdict in accord with the evidence. After a short de- liberation a verdict of guilty was rendered, and Capt. Crews proceeded to pass'sentence of death upon the prisoner. On Wednesday, October 2, the man was hung, Company G acting as a body comitatus.

All through October and November, recruit- ing went on in this county, Capts. Organ and Sebell each enlisting a respectable squad of men. Capt. Samnel Hooper also enlisted some men in the county at this time.

In December, Sergt. A. H. Baker, recruit- ing officer of the Fortieth Regiment, came to this county, and enlisted quite a number. Already a large number of the Wayne County boys, who had previously enlisted, were at this time in Company A of that regiment.

In the early part of 1862, the Fortieth Regiment, with which there were two Wayne County companies, were ordered to Paducalı,

Ky., where they spent most of the win ter. In December, 1861, the Eighteenth Reg- iment, with which Capt. Crews' Company was still stationed, was ordered into active service, and was in the Western Department all through the winter's campaign. On Feb- ruary, 1862, the regiment participated in the battle of Fort Donelson. In the fight, Com- pany G lost twenty-nine men killed and wounded. Among the killed were W. R. Thompson and O. D. Schooley, of Clay City, and John Gallent, Jefferson Powless, G. W. Powell, M. St. John, Thomas Green and William M. Young. Capt. Crews received two shots ; one broke his left arm, the other, a spent ball, only stunned him slightly. Among the others who were wounded at this battle was Sergt. Fitzgerel. Crews and Fitz- gerel both returned home on a short furlough, but returned to the conflict as soon as their wounds were mended.

In the spring of 1862, the Fortieth Regi- ment was ordered to Savannah, Tenn., and there the Eighteenth soon joined them. The Fortieth Regiment participated in the battle of Pittsburg Landing. also Island No. 10. Capt. Cooper, of Company D, was killed, and twenty-nine were killed and seventy wounded. Among the killed were Adam Files, William Newby, E. H. Willett, George Gray, John Reene and G. H. Baird.

Among the privates of Company E reported killed were C. W. Windland. W. W. Eckman, William Ward, B. F. Shior, T. M. Miller, James Mays and F. Stanley. Among those killed in Company G were C. C. Hopkins. Jr., William S. Harlan, G. W. Harlan, D. W. Proudfoot and J. M. Smith. Of Com- pany I, there were three reported killed- Lient. Holmes, Robert Hurley and T. B. Lee. Capt. Ulm, who was at first reported killed at this battle, was shot in the mouth.

Company G, of the Eighteenth Regiment,

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

did not suffer very much. Ten men were wounded, three of whom were severely- Lieut. E. George, William Crews and H. Mc- White. Lient. George was taken to Mount Vernon, Ind., where he afterward died. His body was brought home and buried here. Lient. H. H. Cook, formerly a resident of this county, but at that time with a company from Clay County, died afterward from his wounds. Capt. Crews acted as Major on the battle field. In June, 1862, in writing home to a friend, he said: " It is twelve months to- day since we were mustered into service for three years. Twelve months have brought a great change to the Eighteenth Regiment. Out of 1,030 men that started with us, 193 have gone to their long home, to rest from the toils of the war; 69 are disabled for life: 87 are on detached service, leaving but 317 all right for duty and a fight." From the pen of R. S. Barnhill we have the following report of the condition of the Fortieth Regi- ment at this time: "On entering upon the present campaign, the regiment had 874 men, rank and file. The battle of Shiloh reduced the aggregate to 794; since then we have lost 92 men by wounds and disease; four-fifths of these have died of wounds re- ceived at Shiloh, and nearly every day we hear of some of our boys being dead or wounded or in the military hospitals.

"Of our loss in commissioned officers, four were killed, six disabled, and seven have re- signed. Thus our aggregate up to date stands 702. We have now only one field of- fieer with us, although we are looking for some commissions in a day or two to fill some of the vacancies."

In August, 1862. Capt. Organ secured a company of men from this county, and about the last of the month Capt. Organ again re- turned here, and procured quite an enlist- ment to his company of cavalry.

In September, 1862, Maj. Crews received promotion to the rank of Colonel, but after- ward resigned and returned to Fairfield.

The Eighteenth Regiment was in the cam paign of 1863 in the West, and assisted in the battles of Vieksburg, Champion Hill, Raymond, and other fights of that hard cam- paign.

On January 15, 1864, Capt. Andrew George, of Company G, Twenty-first Illinois, died from a wound received in the battle of Chickamauga. In June, 1864, the time of enlistment having expired for a number of Wayne County men, three-fourths of the men in Company M, of the Fifth Illinois Cavalry, re-enlisted for another three years, under Capt. Jessup.

January, 1864, the Fortieth Regiment, camped at Scottsboro, Ala., also enlisted for another three years, and were granted a fur- lough by the Government.

About the 1st of February, 1864, Lient. Col. Howe, of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth, proceeded to this point, and enlisted quite a number of men in his com- pany. In February, Brig. Gen. Harrow, of the Fortieth, was assigned to the command of the Fourth Division, Fifteenth Corps. He was from this part of Illinois, and was known as"Old Bill Harrow" among the boys.

On January 4, 1864, while at the United States Marine General Hospital. New Orleans, William H. Haynes, of Company D, Eighty seventh Regiment, died. The de- ceased was born in this county, on March 9, 1844, and enlisted in the Eighty-seventh, on April 13, 1863. He was the only brother of Capt. Dan Haynes, of the Eighteenth Regi- ment, and was the youngest of the family.

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History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 10

Author: Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 704

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 704