USA > Indiana > History of the One hundred and sixty-first regiment, Indiana volunteer infantry > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21
Gc 973.894 In2b 1200028
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01085 7099
(
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012
http://archive.org/details/historyofonehund00bied
U.S.VI
COLONEL WINFIELD T. DURBIN.
HISTORY
OF THE
One Hundred and Sixty-first
REGIMENT
INDIANA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
By W. E. BIEDERWOLF
CHAPLAIN OF THE REGIMENT
1899 : WILSON, HUMPHREYS & CO. LOGANSPORT, IND.
UNION
LABEL
CAN
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1999, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at W shington, D. C., by W. E. Biederwolf.
.
15.00
1
Hoosier.
1200028
Dedication.
To the
'en who
arried the Auns
this Work is Sincerely Dedicated . by their friend,
The Chaplain.
PREFACE.
A preface is not an apology; a book that needs an apology ought never be written. Every man of a regi- ment is a part of its life, and to be a soldier is an experi- ence that comes to most men but once and makes an important chapter in the history of every man thus priv- ileged. Who, that was there, can ever forget the life we led together; our camps, our marches, our reviews, the life of a day and the evening till taps! These will be remem- bered without a written history, but there are offices which only a written record can fulfill; that of acquainting the regiment's friends with the history so familiar to its mem- bers and of furnishing exact historical and numerical data, the value of which increases with time, and the perusal of which, when memory is less distinct, will make it all hap- pen again as it did in '98 and '99. The preparation of such a work is no easy task, and all the more difficult when the author has kept no diary or chronicle of events. The information herein contained has been gathered from every available source, but every detail fully verified before giv- ing it place in these pages. For the hearty co-operation of his fellow officers the fullest appreciation is here expressed by him who has undertaken this work. Some have ren- dered a material aid without which the present value of the book would have been impossible. Special acknowledg- ment is due to Lieutenant Goodrich for his share in the preparation of the Savannah chapter, and to Dr. George B. Jones for like service in the section devoted to the med- ical department. Special thanks are also due to Captain
IO
PREFACE.
W. T. Stott and to Lieutenants Patton, Welch and Owens, and also to Private E. M. Blake of Company K.
In producing the company roster such as adhered to the form given them will show first the original roster in so far as promotions would allow, it being equally desir- able to present in due form the roll of officers as they appeared at the date of mustering out. Where cuts are missing, it is simply because parties failed to furnish them after repeated solicitation, or because they were not to be had, which was the case with several among the dead. A few photos were poor, but the best possible was done with them. With the hope that this volume will bring pleasant reminders to all it is sent to press.
W. E. BIEDERWOLF,
Chaplain 16Ist I. V. I.
Monticello, Indiana, June 1, 1899.
INDEX.
Chapter I-Organization. 17
Chapter II-Camp Mount ... 23
Chapter III-En Route to Jacksonville. 48 Chapter IV-Camp Cuba Libre, August 14, '98-September 30, '98. 60
Chapter V-Camp Cuba Libre, October 1-23, '98. 78 Chapter VI-Camp Onward 91
Chapter VII-Havana to Camp Columbia. 115
Chapter VIII-Camp Columbia, December 17, '98-January 31, '99. 125
Chapter IX-Camp Columbia, February 1, '99-March 31, '99. 151 Chapter X-The Departure, Voyage and Arrival. 182
Chapter XI-Mustering Out Month, Camp Homeward. 193 First Battalion-K, M, A, E. 231
Second Battalion-B, I, F, D. 287 Third Battalion-C, G, H, L .. 345
Medical Department. 405
History of the Medical Department. 410
Regimental Band
425
Roster of Regimental Band.
428
Organization of Regimental Band.
429
Bugle and Drum Corps.
431
Roster of Bugle and Drum Corps
431
Roll of Honor.
435
History of Company A.
263
Roster of Company A
267
294 History of Company B.
Roster of Company B 298
History of Company C. 353 Roster of Company C. 360 History of Company D 333 Roster of Company D 339 History of Company E 275
Roster of Company E 281 History of Company F 320
Roster of Company F 324 History of Company G 369
Roster of Company G 375
History of Company H. 383
Roster of Company H 385
12
INDEX.
History of Company I 306
Roster of Company I. 311
History of Company K 239
Roster of Company K 241
History of Company L. 396
Roster of Company L 398
History of Company M 250
Roster of Company M 255
PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Anderson, James L. 393
Anheire, Anthony A 304
Backus, Victor M. 232
Biederwolf, William E 225
Brown, Denver
444
Brunt, John R ..
222
Buchanan, Richard W.
331
Caldwell, George H.
383
Crooker, William W 273
Comstock, Paul.
317
Cosby, Charles E.
335
Dexter, Jacob W
447
Dority, Charles E.
395
Drapier, William H
319
Durbin, Winfield T.
216
Durbin, Fletcher M
262
Durbin, W. T., and Staff.
21
Espey, James E.
417
Everson, Charles.
447
Fitch, George W
249
Fortune, James W
272
Gerrish, Millard F
408
Goodrich, George E 350
450
Graham, Alonzo M 449
Guthrie, William 303
Gwinn, James M. 380
349
Hudgins, Thomas J
332
Jackson, Cyrus A.
Johnson, August H. W 261
Gould, Andrew.
13
INDEX.
Kepperling, George.
443
Kimmel, Elmer E. 318
Kuns, Clarence D
441
Lewis, John J.
440
Megrew, Harold C
288
Menzies, Winston
290
Meyers, James I.
368
Mount, James A
44
McCauley, Edward A
274
Ogborn, Albert D
366
Olds, Lee M.
346
Owens, Temple H
238
Parkhurst, Layton M.
333
Patton, Henry B
381
Peterson, Eli W
394
Pittman, Charles M
369
Puhlman, Ernest R
439
Reynolds, Ivy L
352
Saltzgaber, Baird G
19
Silverthorne, George M.
260
Smith, Charles C.
237
Smith, Will M
322
Smith, Wickliff
406
Starr, W. Thompson
19
Stille, Henry
443
Stivers, Wallace D
442
Stott, Wilfred T.
236
Tichenor, Oliver M.
220
Trimble, Charles.
448
Turner, Joseph F
446
Ward, John R.
305
Weaver, William G
445
Welch, Percy.
293
West, George A.
248
Williams, Asa E 292
426
Wilson, James
410
Company A.
264
Non-Commissioned Officers.
266
Company B. 295
Non-Commissioned Officers. 297
Company C.
355
Non-Commissioned Officers. 357
Williams, Ernest S.
14
INDEX.
Company D. 334
Sergeants 336
Corporals 338
Company E .. 276
Sergeants. 278
Corporals. 280
Company F. 321
Sergeants.
323
Corporals. 325
Company G. 370
Sergeants.
372
Corporals.
374
Company H. 384
Sergeants.
386
Corporals.
388
Company I.
Non-Commissioned Officers.
309
Company K ..
239
Sergeants.
242
Corporals.
244
Company L .. 397
Sergeants
399
Corporals 401
Company M.
251
Non-Commissioned Officers.
253
A Cuban Camp
122
A Mixed Race.
146
Backus Garbage Burner
73
Barb Wire Defense
123
Barn-Camp Cuba Libre
65
Bastile. Camp Cuba Libre.
229
Block House.
124
Bonaventure.
104
Bugle and Drum Corps.
432
Camp Airing.
172
Camp Columbia. 139
Company G Street by Moonlight 175
Company Street in Camp Cuba Libre
61
Commissary-Camp Cuba Libre 62
Cuban Plowman 147
307
15
INDEX.
Fatigue Duty-Camp Mount. 24
Fumigated Gloves .. 191
Going Aboard Transport " Mobile" 108
Going on Board the " Logan ". 185
Government Warehouse at Quemados. 169
Graves 437
Guard Mount-Camp Columbia.
39
Hangman's Tree. 178
Headquarters-Camp Onward. 92
Human Bone Yard. 160
Kangaroo Court. 198
Live Curios 184
" Logan ". 186
Medical Officers and Helpers. 420 170
Midway.
" Mobile "-Off for Cuba.
109
Monument .. 143
Morro Castle.
111
Next.
176
Off for the Mail
171 Packing Up-Camp Onward.
106
Passing in Review-New Year's Day.
135
Post Exchange at Camp Onward.
83
Prisoners Cleaning Camp.
138
Regimental Band.
427
Regimental Hospital at Camp Columbia.
141
Relieving the Guard-Camp Mount.
27
Ruined Estate.
148
San Jose Espigon (Wharf)
183
Sea-Sickness on the "Logan "
187
Second Battalion, Skirmish Drill-Camp Cuba Libre.
85
Sentinel on Duty-Camp Cuba Libre. 71
Soupee! Soupee! Soup! Soup !. 136
Storm Scene at Third Division Hospital. 79
The Maine Graves. 158
The Way Mother Used to Do. 137 Vento Springs 167
Wagon Train on its Way to Camp ..
113
Waiting for the Train-Camp-Breaking at Camp Cuba Libre. 89
Wreck of the " Maine ". 156
*
CHAPTER I.
ORGANIZATION.
The war with Spain was on in earnest; Manilla had fallen, several Spanish prizes had been taken at sea, and every preparation was being made for pushing a vigor- ous campaign into Cuba. Already two hundred thousand troops were in the service of the United States, when President Mckinley, on the 25th day of May, 1898, issued a second call for seventy-five thousand more volunteers. Indi- ana could have furnished them all, but after her other regi- ments, with companies averaging eighty-six men each, had been recruited to their full quota of one hundred and six men it was her further privilege to furnish one full regi- ment and an additional two companies of colored men. There was at once the greatest competition and the great- est diligence on the part of influential friends to secure one of the twelve coveted places in the new regiment which, in order, was to be the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry. Letters poured in upon the gov- ernor from every corner of the state telling of companies formed and ready to move at notice, but desiring to give the congressional districts a somewhat equal representation in this matter the twelve companies now composing the regiment were selected. Of this selection the companies were notified by the governor on the 24th day of June. The original intention of bringing them to the capital, a company at a time, for examination was abandoned as the urgency of the hour demanded that all should come as soon 2
18
HISTORY OF THE
as possible. Accordingly all companies were ordered to repair at once to the state fair-grounds at Indianapolis. The first company, " H," reported at 12:40 June 30. The others in quick order, Company "I" entering the grounds last at 4:30, July 5th.
The man whom Governor Mount had chosen to be colo- nel was Winfield T. Durbin, of Anderson. He was sitting in the factory of the Diamond Paper Company, of which he was at that time general manager, when he was 'phoned from Indianapolis by Colonel Charles E. Wilson, military secretary to Governor Mount, asking him to come at once to the capital. Upon his arrival he was informed by Sec- retary Wilson of the governor's desire. It was his first intimation of such a decision and the following day (Sunday) he called at the governor's home and there gave his prom- ise to lead the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana to its destiny in the conflict then on.
Doctor Wickliff Smith, of Delphi, was called to the position of surgeon, and Drs. Milliard F. Gerrish, of Sey- mour, and James Wilson, of Wabash, were chosen assistant surgeons. The surgeons were examined by the State Board of Medical Examinations, Friday, 24th, and were the first of the officers to be mustered into the service (June 25th) as it was essential to begin at once the physical ex- amination of the men. Every man had been required to pass one, and the majority two, similar examinations at the place of his enlistment, but the final and more severe test of acceptance was to be made by the regimental surgeons themselves. The examinations began Tuesday, July 5th, and lasted eleven days, the highest number of men exam- ined in any one day being two hundred and eighty-six. This examination resulted in a further rejection of fourteen per cent. of the men, and gave to the state as sound and as healthy a body of soldiers as ever volunteered their serv-
19
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA.
ice. The following statistics, taken toward the close of their period of service and read in their presence by the colonel at regimental review, will be of interest and may be appropriately inserted here as the regimental makeup was in general the same throughout its period of service.
The average age was twenty-six. The average height was five feet eight inches. The average weight was one hundred and forty-nine pounds. Two hundred and ninety- six were farmers, one hundred and eighteen were clerks, three hundred and sixty-two were common laborers, four hundred and thirteen were skilled laborers, forty-seven were professional men, twenty-five were merchants; twelve hundred and sixty-five were American born, fifty- four foreign; one hundred and twenty-eight were married and eleven hundred and ninety-one were single.
On June 28th Baird G. Saltzgaber, of Lebanon, Indi- ana, a recent graduate of Wabash College and former
W. THOMPSON STARR. BAIRD G. SALTZGABER.
graduate of Kenyon Military Academy, was mustered as quartermaster sergeant, and on July 5th W. Thompson Starr, of Richmond, Indiana, class of '98, Michigan Mili-
20
HISTORY OF THE
tary Academy, Orchard Lake, Michigan, was mustered as regimental sergeant major.
On July 11th, at 4:30 P. M., four companies, A, B, C, D, each member of whom had signed the muster-in roll, were mustered. On the same date Harold C. Megrew, of Indianapolis, was mustered as major and Oliver M. Tich- enor, of Princeton, as first lieutenant and regimental adju- tant. The following day, July 12th, four other companies, E, F, G, H, were mustered and the remaining companies, I, K, L, M, on the succeeding day, July 13th.
There was some unavoidable delay in the appointment of Matt R. Peterson as major. The position had been tendered Lieutenant Bundy, of the Third Infantry, who was at that time with his regiment at Santiago, Cuba. Being impossible to await his reply, owing to the destruction of the cables, it became necessary to make another appoint- ment, which was given to First Lieutenant M. R. Peterson, of the Sixth United States Infantry, who was at that time on duty in the quartermaster department at Indianapolis. Lieutenant Waterman, of the Eighth United States Cav- alry, who was the United States mustering officer, refused to muster the regiment as a whole until such appointment was made. Accordingly, on July 15th, in the evening about 6:30 o'clock, the whole regiment was massed to the east of the Administration Hall and in the presence of numerous friends and visitors who were there to witness the ceremony, Colonel Durbin and such of his staff as had not yet taken the oath were mustered into the service of the United States. Besides the colonel there was Victor M. Backus, of Indianapolis, who was mustered as lieuten- ant-colonel, and William E. Biederwolf, of Logansport, who was mustered as chaplain. This completed the roil of staff officers with the exception of John R. Brunt, of Anderson, who had been mustered as first lieutenant and
-
-
COLONEL DURBIN AND STAFF.
22
HISTORY OF THE
quartermaster on June 30th, in order that he might begin officially the administration of his required and urgent duties.
It will not be out of place to have here said by one who came in closest daily contact with the men and who learned to know their individual history and character, that the quality of the regiment was exceptionally fine. The men occupying the most responsible positions were men of experience and of the best caliber, and the official body as a whole may be safely characterized as one of exceptional character and capacity. Among the enlisted men were hundreds belonging to Indiana's best families; young men of learning, of profession, of wealth and of social standing, and while in any and every such body of twelve hundred men there is much and much-to-be-regret- ted immoral conduct, yet the record of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana during the time of it; service shows it to be a regiment of unusual high moral character for a military organization.
CHAPTER II.
CAMP MOUNT.
June 30, '98-August II, '98.
The State Fair ground was admirably adapted as a place for holding the regiment during the completion of its organization and preparation to report for duty wherever sent. Headquarters and the dispensary were established in the administration hall and here for many days was a rush of business of a character such as the place had never seen before. The fine art building was used as the commissary and quartermaster department and one of the pavilions near by as a shelter for the guard.
To each company as it reported was assigned one of the large stock buildings. The two colored companies, A and B, commanded by Captains Jacob M. Porter and John J. Buckner, who, by the way, were the first colored captains ever commissioned, were sheltered in the barns nearest the main entrance to the grounds.
The companies were, for convenience at the first, lettered according to the order of their arrival; they were met at the entrance by Lieutenant-Colonel Backus, who escorted them to their quarters, and at once, or as soon as possible there- after, they were in line at the quartermaster's department for some of the articles such as would be immediately necessary for the new mode of life into which they were then to be initiated.
They were given axes and spades and picks and rakes and wondered what it meant; then to each company were
24
HISTORY OF THE
also issued one hundred and six blankets, meat-cans, knives, forks, spoons, tin-cups, two Meyers cooking ranges with
FATIGUE DUTY.
utensils complete, one cord of wood, and one day's rations. Some of the companies had a little of camp experience at home, sleeping in barns taking a few meals picnic style, and more from the well loaded tables of their towns people, but when they opened those marvelous double- sided, self-sealing meat-cans to receive their first army cooked food and looked into the depths of those del- icate quart coffee cups, washed their own tin-dishes, made up their own beds of boards and straw, then they knew they were soldiers; and so for twenty-six days they lived together, twelve large families in twelve large barns. Here were formed the first impressions of something, but only something, of what army life really was. Here the rich and poor, the college graduate, the mechanic, the laborer and the fellow who was "doin' nothin " touched elbows at night and here were formed many of those friendships such as hallow the memory of every war. The
25
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA.
work of the hour was the examination of the men. Each company was sent to the creek for a bath and then in squads of twenty reported up stairs in the administration building for the ordeal. Every one knew pretty well his chances from the previous like experience, and many a one stood before the scrutiny of the merciless surgeons and for- got their nakedness for the fear and trembling that was in them. And the ordeal was severe. The surgeons looked right into them. A man must be all there: of course there are always exceptions; the fellow with one toe did get in; they said "you can't run, suppose we have to retreat what will become of you "? " Run, " he said, "you ought to see me; me and some more stirred a hornet's nest yesterday, and I beat the hull of them out of the woods." And the fellow who could'nt read got in: he said " -," and he forgot himself when he said it for he said it in an awful way, " I did'nt come here to teach school, I came here to fight." However the fellow in the regiment with a glass eye-but we promised not to mention it for you know science is very perfect these days, and a fellow can see through a glass eye about as well as he can through a good one. Most companies came with more than the re- quired number of men, and after one out of seven had been rejected the average strength of the companies was ninety- six. New recruits came in from time to time and the companies left Camp Mount with an average strength of one hundred and four.
As fast as the men were examined attention was turned to the preparation of the rolls for " muster in;" a hercu- lean task, to do it correctly and neatly, as the best and most careful penman from each company will most cer- tainly testify.
While such steps were being taken preparatory to the complete regimental organization, the men were not idle;
26
HISTORY OF THE
they spent one-half hour each morning and evening doing the setting-up exercise and marched out of their barns every day at 7:30 A. M., II A. M. and 4 P. M., and spent one hour in the evolutions of squad and company drill. The colonel, however, at once ordered all drills to be con- fined exclusively to squad drill; in those early executions one would hardly have recognized the crack steppers of the Seventh Army Corps. To their last day the boys will hear the "left, right; one, two; hepp, hepp; unc, anc," and al- though the drill leaders had not as yet learned to spell "March" with an initial " h," nor to put the Spanish on the last syllable of "Attention," they did their best in pure English and the men did their best and it was this doing their best and the excellent Esprit de corps of the entire body that brought them to the enviable position they later enjoyed in the Seventh Army Corps.
They were only " boys in blue " in name for the uni- forms were not yet issued and the single outfit they brought along soon had the appearance of a " Weary Willie " cos- tume, and on July 10 many of the boys had a most excel- lent excuse for not coming to church to hear the Chaplain preach his first sermon in the great grandstand by the race track. But this could scarcely be called their hardest trial; it was rather when she came down on the Sunday excur- sions to see him once more before he left. He hoped she would excuse his appearance and tried to explain to her something about the "channels" through which the new suits had to come. He never turned his back upon her then and when he said good-bye he backed away; anyhow those were happy Sundays with their home friends and their heavy baskets; the soldiers remember them; the sur- geons remember the Monday mornings sick call.
On the Ist day of July, when five companies only had arrived, the first guard was posted by Lieutenant Crooker.
.
27
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA.
There were five posts and three reliefs, and the men were armed with hickory clubs. Later the guard was increased and were armed with the old-time guns of the National Guard brought from the state house, and each company,
RELIEVING THE GUARD,
commencing with Company B, took its turn in doing guard duty, the chief service of which was to keep at bay the venders of sweetmeats and pies, the arrest of whisky smugglers and guard-line runners.
It's an old saying that whisky is easy to get. Well, it was. It was captured, quart after quart, and turned over to the surgeons for use in the medical department. One scoundrel was brought in -- yes, he did have a bottle for a friend who ordered it. Lieutenant-Colonel Backus found it difficult to locate that particular bottle, for, in searching the fellow, he found eight others -- nine bottles on one man. The Colonel was indignant; he would show the fellow some military discipline; forthwith he and his three pals were lodged in the guard-house for the night, where they stayed-until they took a notion to climb out.
28
HISTORY OF THE
Of course the guards had to be tested; they must learn never to surrender their gun, not even to the colonel; but it was just as one poor crestfallen darkey guard, who had surrendered his gun, said to the officer of the guard: "He done won my confidence, sah," and it was a rather underhanded and merciless way to do; but it isn't generally known that the colonel was held up one night till the next relief came on; the calls did not work that night; neither corporal, sergeant nor officer of the guard came, and the colonel-well, he waited. The men were there for a pur- pose and they knew it, although there were some things they all as yet could not be expected to know, for instance: Stranger approaching-" Are you a sentinel, sir?"
Company A man on guard -- "No, I am a Swede."
Such was life amid the busy scenes of those first days of Camp Mount until the regiment was ready for muster, July 15.
The following day, July 16, Colonel Durbin issued the first general order of the regiment, a copy of which is here inserted. An important document to the compliance with the admirable tone of which is greatly due the standard- afterward attained by the regiment under his command, and which contains regimental data of special interest for officers and men.
HEADQUARTERS 16IST REG. IND. VOL. INF. - CAMP MOUNT, INDIANAPOLIS, July 16, 1898. -
GENERAL ORDER NO. I.
Congratulating the officers and men of the One Hun- dred and Sixty-first Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry upon having passed and received the approval of the Examining Board and mustering officer, and imposing the fullest confidence in the officers and men, the following is
29
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA.
published for the information and guidance of all concerned:"
Obedience and proper respect to the superior officers are the first requirements of a soldier. An officer in any grade in command should and must receive the same obedience and respect as though he be of the highest grade. Fidelity to duty, with zeal and energy, is none the less a requisite.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.