USA > Illinois > Military history and reminiscences of the Thirteenth regiment of Illinois volunteer infantry in the civil war in the United States,1861-65, pt 2 > Part 7
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HOMEWARD BOUND.
Thursday, May 26th, at 9:45 p. m., the train started us homeward. We went by the way of Decatur, Alabama, and Pulaski, Tennessee, and arrived at Nashville at II a. m. on the 27th. As the train rolled up the great open valley from Franklin to Nashville, one of the men standing on the top of the cars said, " What a fine place for a great battle." It was here at Franklin that General Hood dashed his forces so fiercely against General Thomas' ranks, and following it up to Nashville was defeated ; and it was down this valley that his army went to pieces, never to gather again to do any great service.
On the 28th we went on board the steamer Imperial and
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started down the Cumberland river. The greatest object that met our gaze was Fort Donelson. It was here that our army on those terrible days and nights of February, 1862, fought and suffered and won. It was here that General Grant lifted himself up before the eyes of the public, and from this time his sun of glory never set, nay, was scarcely clouded. Donelson will be memorable in the records of the Civil War, as one of the favorable turning-points of our cause and one of the disastrous points of the Confederate army.
At 2 p. m. on the 29th we were out of the Cumberland and in the Ohio river, at 6:30 p. m. on the same day, and were safely landed at the wharf at Cairo, Illinois.
We spent the night on the streets without shelter, waiting for railroad transportation. At II a. m. of the 30th we were again moving on the Illinois Central Railroad, the same over which we had started out about three years before, now we were north-bound, then were going south. Then we were ready for glory and experience, and now we had much of experience and some of glory. Then we were mostly boys, now we were men, if severe experience and hard service could bring it about. But the boys were not all on the train this morning, and we did not hear the ringing voice of our gallant Colonel Wyman as on that other morning. It is hushed. We are all more sober. We have seen sad sights. But the flag we bore is still given to the breeze. It is dearer, it means more, it is not fine silk at so much a yard, it is the baptized emblem of liberty. But it did not even yet float over all our dominion, yet six hun- dred thousand brave men were in the field and on the rampart to say that it should. At this late date we can say it is war- ing, while stars and bars are only a weak relic.
At 4:30 a. m. on the 31st we were at Decatur, Illinois, and then soon transferred to another road, and on our way to Camp Butler, some six miles east of Springfield, where we were to be mustered out of service. We were now fairly on the prairies of Illinois and the eye had a full stretch. Many of us were on the top of the cars glad to have a good look again. One of the old darkies that had come along with the regiment,
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but had never been " out of the woods " before, stood on top of the car gazing most intensely. Some one asked him what he was looking at. He broke out "Gorry, I just begin to see where all dem Yankees come from." It had been a mystery where all the soldiers had come from, but as he caught sight of such stretches of country, he saw the possible solution.
We were soon at our camp, but the regiment was practi- cally broken up. Of course the men were expected to stay where they were assigned, and they could draw the rations until the rolls were signed. But in fact some ran home hav- ing made engagements to that effect on the supposition that we were to be mustered out on time. The officers mostly went to Springfield. Many of the privates who had money at their command also went to the city.
The Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Eighteenth Illinois were there, as we were, to be mustered out.
On the 7th of June the ladies of Springfield and the State officers sent an invitation to the men of these four regiments to join in a public reception and picnic to be given on the grounds where the new State House was being built. This was accepted and we left the camp at 8:30 and arrived at the grounds at about noon.
. Governor Yates, Adjutant-General Fuller and Major-Gen- eral Oglesby made speeches welcoming us back again. We thanked them and gave them three cheers.
On the 13th of June the men became impatient and waited on the Colonel, insisting that they wanted their discharge. Saturday, June 18th, all of the papers were completed, the rolls signed, back pay and bounty was paid to the men and the Thirteenth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as such, ceased to be. The men who had banded together as soldiers for the country's weal or woe, had now dissolved that bond. They were now citizens only. To the east and west, to the north and south, these men took their way, never all to meet again, unless as men loyal to God and truth, they respond to the great roll-call above.
AMOS H. MILLER.
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HISTORY OF THE FIELD AND STAFF.
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COLONEL JOHN B. WYMAN.
N O HISTORY of the Thirteenth Illinois In fantry would be complete without doing full justice to its first Colonel, the lamented John B. Wyman, whose memory is, and always will be, very dear to the hearts of the men he loved so well, and who now survive him.
While it was as a soldier, and as colonel of the regiment, that we knew him best, yet it is thought that a brief sketch of his life before the war may not be uninteresting to his surviv- ing comrades.
He was born in the State of Massachusetts, on July 12th, 1817, of Scotch ancestry, who, no doubt, did what they could to give their eldest son an education, but, like many another man whose name shines out brightly on the pages of history, his early opportunities in that regard were limited and few. Such education as he received was obtained at the public schools of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and at a select school in Bolton, in the same State. At the early age of fourteen years, however, he quitted the schools entirely, and thereafter his education was acquired in his intercourse with men, the reading of books, and his constant observation of the events and transactions of the busy world around him.
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His mind was appreciative and retentive. He exemplified in himself the possibility of a man in this free country of ours having but the rudiments of an education to start with, yet be- coming by his own efforts, fully equipped for all the practical business which could be reasonably demanded of a man in his sphere of life.
In all particulars John B. Wyman was a thoroughly self- made man.
After leaving school, he was for a time employed in a clothing store in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and as early as 1838, became a partner in a mercantile house, and is said to have opened the first ready-made clothing store in Cincinnati, Ohio. For two years only he remained in the latter place, and then returned to his native State, when he became a mem- ber of a firm engaged in the dry-goods business. About this time he was married to Miss Maria Bradley.
In1 1848, he was a general clerk in the Springfield Car. and Engine shops, and afterwards was Superintendent in the con- struction of cars. In 1850 he was a conductor on the New York & New Haven Railroad, and subequently Superintend- ent of the Connecticut River Railroad.
Entering the service of the Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany in 1852, he assisted in the survey and construction of that railroad under Colonel R. B. Mason, General Superin- tendent and Chief Engineer. For a time he was employed upon the Chicago branch of the road, but in 1853, was trans- ferred to the main line with headquarters at Amboy, and on the opening of the road for business he was appointed Super- intendent of the Northern Division.
Amboy became his permanent home, and he took a great interest in its growth and prosperity, being elected the first Mayor, and re-elected in 1860.
Colonel Wyman's business career was a varied and check- ered one, well calculated to give him a broad and comprehen- sive knowledge of men and things, and thus better fit him for the stern duty which he was afterwards called upon to perform.
At an early age, Colonel Wyman evinced a great fondness
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for military affairs, and for the drilling and handling of men. When a very young man he belonged to, and trained with, a rifle company in Shrewsbury, and was a member of the " City Guards," of Worcester, Massachusetts. At a later date, he commanded the " Chicago Light Guards," the crack military company of that city, and for some years was its popular cap- tain. A number of years before the war, when a military company was being organized in Dixon, the writer well remem- bers seeing the Colonel (then called " Captain " ) drilling the company, apparently with as much enthusiasm as if it had been actually going to war, instead of playing soldier. It will thus be seen, that by natural ability, as well as by practical education and military training, the Colonel, at the outset of the war, was well qualified, and abundantly equipped, in all that was necessary to enable him successfully to organize and command men when called out for the defense of their coun- try. But above and beyond all this, deep down in his heart he was a patriot, a true lover of his country, and when our flag was fired upon, and the Union was threatened with dis- solution and destruction, the deepest emotions of his nature were profoundly stirred, and like hundreds and thousands of the volunteers of that day, he swore by the God of our fathers to help save the country or die in the attempt.
It was the privilege of the writer to know Colonel Wyman well, and he will never forget a certain morning in April 1861, when the Colonel came into the office where the writer was then studying law, for the purpose of arranging some business preparatory to starting for Springfield to assist in the organi- zation of the first regiments enlisted under the call for 75,000 men. After expressing himself in his usual forcible language, as to the purposes of the leaders of the rebellion, he said, "John, we are going to have war and I am going to have a hand in it." I replied by saying, "Captain, if you go into the war I will go with you."
We were both as good as our word, but how little could either anticipate the tragic fate which met him at Chickasaw Bayou.
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The evening of the day upon which the above conversation was had, Colonel Wyman started for Springfield where he was immediately appointed Assistant Adjutant-General of Illinois, in which capacity, by his military knowledge and great exec- utive ability he rendered very valuable services to the State government.
In the organization of the Thirteenth, he was commis- sioned as its colonel, and it is believed, that he was the ranking Colonel of the Volunteer Army of the United States, at the time of his death.
His actual command of the regiment, may be said to have commenced on that memorable Sunday, when we left camp Dement for Caseyville, and thenceforward his career is a part of the history of the Thirteenth.
To the survivors of the regiment, little need be said as to the characteristics of the Colonel. Towards the shirk, sneak, or coward, he could be stern, rough, and sometimes even vio- lent, but to his " boys" generally, whom he believed to be patriots, trying to do their whole duty to their country, he could be as gentle as a father. He hated injustice and petty tyranny, and no one ever went to him with a just complaint, and failed to get a fair hearing. None of his men ever ap- pealed to him for a favor and was refused, unless the necessities of the service, or a stern sense of duty forbade its being granted. His heart went out to his men, and he had a keen sense of the responsibility placed upon him in assuming their com- mand. On one occasion in Camp Dement when the regiment, one thousand strong, was drawn up in line on the parade ground, he stood looking at them and remarked to Captain Dement : " I feel the necessity of being a Christian now, more than ever before. The responsibility of the lives and health of these men, is too much for one man, of himself." In daily intercourse with Colonel Wyman in the army, he would hardly have been suspected of entertaining sentiments such as this, but to those who knew him best it would be no surprise. Like the chest- nut-burr, he was the roughest on the outside. Beneath his brusk manner, and sometimes rough exterior, beat as warm
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and generous a heart as ever throbbed in a soldier's bosom. When Lyon was killed at Wilson's Creek, and the survivors of that desperate fight came back to Rolla, the writer was in a position to see and know somewhat of the efforts put forth by the Colonel, to provide for help and assist the wounded men who had been in the engagement. No man could have done more, nor could any one have shown greater kindness, or tenderer sympathy than he did at that time. It was in his heart to be kind to the soldier, unless his duty required him to appear otherwise. In common with his fellows, he had some faults, but many virtues. All will agree, that in himself, he exemplified the truth of the lines :
"The bravest are the tenderest, The loving, are the daring."
As an executive officer, Colonel Wyman had few equals. His ability in this regard, undoubtedly caused the long de- tention of the regiment at Rolla, Missouri, much to the dis- satisfaction of many of the men and officers of the command. But Rolla was an extremely important military post in the early part of the war, being the base of supplies for all the armies of the Southwest, and it was necessary that some officer should be in command there, about whose competency there could be no question. That he fully met all the de- mands made upon him while filling the responsible position of commandant of the post at Rolla has never been doubted. but his retention there so long was unquestionably a great dis- advantage to him personally. Other men of lesser rank, and certainly of no greater ability, went to the front with their regiments, and became brigadier and major-generals. Had the Thirteenth been at Pea Ridge with Colonel Wyman in command, he would have ranked with Jeff. C. Davis, G. M. Dodge. E. A. Carr, P. J. Osterhaus, Frank J. Herron, Colonel Vandever and others who became general officers after that fight and by reason of the record they there inade.
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That he was as brave as the bravest of them, was after- wards demonstrated.
At our reunion in Dixon in May, 1886, Captain Dement- gave an instance of Colonel Wyman's great executive ability, which it is believed is well worthy of being preserved here as illustrative of his readiness in emergencies. When General Steele's Division was about to embark for Chickasaw Bayou, the General said he could not get his command, with the artillery, wagon-train, etc., on the steamboats assigned to him ; and was very much embarrassed by the situation. Col- onel Wyman hearing the condition of affairs, informed the General that he could load the division in a single day by five o'clock. General Steele requested him to take charge of the embarkation. Colonel Wyman complied with the request and easily accomplished the task. He always saw, if a thing could be accomplished at all, not only the way to do it but the best way to do it. When other men deliberated and hesitated, he seemed to grasp the situation by intuition, and know instantly what ought to be done. Added to this, his influence over men was so great that he had the faculty of getting out of them their best efforts and endeavors. Colonel Wyman had three characteristics in a marked degree, which are eminently necessary to make a successful military commander, viz., first, undoubted personal bravery and courage ; second, ex- ecutive ability of a high order ; third, the ability to inspire his men with his own faith and confidence in the success of whatever they undertook to do. Had he lived, there is 110 doubt he would have attained high rank in the army, for he had all the essential qualifications for a successful commander. If he had a fault as a commander, it was in being too oblivious to any sense of personal danger. He utterly disregarded any idea of shielding himself from harm, and while having the utmost anxiety that his men should be protected as far as possible, he recklessly exposed himself to danger, and it may truthfully be said that he fell a victim to his own rashness. The story of " Chickasaw Bayou" will be told in other parts of this history, and it is not the purpose of this chapter to
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detail it here, except in so far as Colonel Wyman was con- cerried in it personally ; but it was then that he and his regi- ment first met a baptism of fire, and it was there also he met his tragic death. Those of the regiment who were there and participated in that bloody fight, will unhesitatingly bear wit- ness to the fact, that Colonel Wyman was the central and commanding figure in that portion of the field where his regi- ment was engaged. In the way they fought, they were, to a certain extent, sacrificed or whipped in detail. That the men of the Thirteenth, had no lack of individual bravery, goes without saying ; but lacking cohesion and concert of action which gives the
"ESPRIT DE CORPS,"
it was impossible it should have done its best work or accom- plished the results which otherwise might have been attained. During the short time he was in the engagement, he fully demonstrated his abilities as a commander when under fire and in the face of the enemy and but for the murderous bullet of the sharp-shooter which terminated his career, he must soon have been recognized as fully entitled to take higher rank and a larger command than he had thus far received.
Before his death he had been nominated as a brigadier- general by President Lincoln, and his name had been sent to the Senate for confirmation ; but he died before the good news could reach him of his long delayed promotion.
While we may mourn for him and for all the martyred hosts that shared his fate, we may yet thank God the sacrifice was not in vain, but that the cause for which they fell was successful, and that our glorious Union was and is preserved.
Colonel Wyman was killed at Chickasaw Bayou, December 28th, 1862. He had been surveying the field of operations on the rebel side, with a field-glass, and had already been fired at several times by rebel sharp-shooters, but disregarding the danger, he seemed to think, and in fact is said to have re- marked, that the bullet was not made that could hit him ; and so he was shot and received his death-wound.
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Captain Dement thus relates the incident : "Being the only officer near him when he was shot, I can testify that no soldier ever received his death-wound with more sublime courage. When I searched for the wound, I found the bullet had passed through his shirt in front of his shoulders, and remarked : This wound can not be dangerous Colonel, but with that pleasant smile so characteristic of him he said, ' Oh ! yes Harry, it is all over ; this side is nearly paralyzed already.' He never complained-the same pleasant smile spread over his features when any member of his regiment approached."
He was not permitted to live long enough to see our cause gloriously triumphant, and the union of these States estab- lished on a firmer basis than the founders of our government ever dreamed of, but he did all that man could do for the attainment of that end. His remains were brought back to his home in Amboy, where a vast concourse of people wit- nessed his burial in Prairie Repose Cemetery. Subsequently he was removed, and the remains interred in Rose Hill Ceme- tery in Chicago, where they still repose, and at his tomb, the enlisted men of his regiment have erected a handsome monu- ment in honor of his memory.
It was the privilege of the writer to meet Colonel Wyman in Dixon, only a few weeks before starting on the fated expe- dition to Chickasaw Bayou. After a few minutes friendly chat, we shook hands and parted. The last words he said were spoken in his usual jovial and jocular style, which every member of the regiment will remember. While holding my hand he said : "Well, good-bye, we'll meet again down below, somewhere this side of Heaven; if not, we'll meet at the gates and go in together." Are there some who would regard these words as flippant and irreverent ? They do not strike me so, nor do I think they were so intended. We were both soldiers, and knew not what a day might bring to either.
The words deeply impressed mne at the time, lightly as they were spoken, and, wlien a few days afterwards I learned of his tragic death, and knew that his cheery voice was stilled
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, in death, that his kindly heart had ceased to throb and pulsate with the purple current of life, and the hand that so recently and warmly grasped mine, had become lifeless as clay. I recalled his last words to me, and they sank deep down into my heart, never to be erased while memory holds a place in my being.
If he has not already "passed through the gates," may not all of the old " Thirteenth " hope to meet him there, wait- ing to welcome them, when they are called to their final reward.
J. D. CRABTREE.
THE DEATH OF COLONEL JOHN B. WYMAN.
Comrade Judge Crabtree's splendid tribute to the memory of Colonel John B. Wyman, as given above, is exhaustive and as complete as was possible under the circumstances ; but the last hours of our Colonel were not known to the Judge, and he will have no objection to seeing the picture completed by hands that helped to smooth the pillow of the dying soldier.
Some who were about Colonel Wyman when the fatal bul- let struck him down, remarked the great calmness and peace exhibited in his demeanor. This must have been the calm which precedes the storm. Following the directions of the sur- geon, the writer stood by the stretcher that was to prove the bier of Colonel Wyman, and while holding his hand, the cyclone of his soul burst forth, and the most fearful impreca- tions were hurled through the lips which, at the same moment were covered with the froth of near approaching death. His whole warrior's soul was aroused to combat both rebellion and death; to neither of which would he surrender. He defied first one and then the other ; and the violent transitions from the stormy emotions of rage toward his foes, to the tenderest pathos of fatherly endearments, lavished with the prodigality which might be expected from a loving woman's heart only, on his son Osgood, who stood by his side with his face bathed in tears, and his frame shaken with deep emotion, can never be
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forgotten. But the tempest spends its fury, and the tempest- tossed human soul must have rest.
THE DEAD WARRIOR, AT LAST, WAS AT REST.
Earthly ambitions were buried in the hero's grave. His country had, too late, considered his case for promotion. What need had he now, for stars ? except
"AS STARS IN HIS CROWN OF REJOICING " ?
for, unquestionably, Colonel Wyman long had cherished the Christian's hope.
The remains were carefully sealed up in a metallic casket and borne tenderly to the steamer on the Yazoo, for transpor- tation North ; but, as though turning his gaze backward twice, in his journey toward the land of eternal silence, and beckon- ing another, and another farewell to his old comrades of the Thirteenth, we hear of him twice again.
On January 3d, 1863, General Hurlbut, at Memphis, writes to General Grant that :
"I have received dispatches from Gorman. Sherman has had a bitter fight ; forced the first line of intrenchments, cap- tured and holds one nine-gun battery, captured their main fort on Walnut Hills at point of bayonet, but supports did not come up, and our men were driven out with great slaugh- ter. Morgan Smith is wounded ; Giles Smith, Colonel Eighth
* *- * Missouri, and Wyman, Thirteenth Illinois, killed.
January Ist, 1863, General Gorman, at Helena, to General Hurlbut at Memphis, says :
-X * " The dead body of Colonel Wyman, of the Thirteenth Illinois, is here on board a flag of truce boat." *
As though, when arrived at Helena, his mortal remains had reached the border-land beyond which mortal vision ceases.
This is the last glimpse that his old regiment, and the army has of the lamented John B. Wyman.
ASA B. MUNN.
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COL. ADAM B. GORGAS.
Col. Adam B. Gorgas was born at Myerstown, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, January 5th, 1829. At the age of about two years the family removed to Pine Grove, Schuyl- kill county, Pennsylvania, where young Gorgas resided until 1852, at which time he located in Dixon, Illinois.
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