USA > Indiana > Memorabilia of the marches and battles in which the One Hundredth Regiment of Indiana Infantry Volunteers took an active part : War of the Rebellion, 1861-5 > Part 1
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Gc 973.74 In2 s 1164969
M. Le
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
This book was given to the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County by Fred D. Miller in memory of his son, Richard R. Miller. Richard's grand- father's picture is on page 353.
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U ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01081 1641
·
· C
MEMORABILIA
OF THE
Marches and Battles
IN WHICH THE of the
One Hundredth Regiment
OF
Indiana Infantry Volunteers
TOOK AN ACTIVE PART.
WAR OF THE REBELLION, ,
1861-5.
... BY ...
CAPTAIN E. J. SHERLOCK.
1164969
TO THE READER.
I have in my possession at this date four books which I car- ried during the entire term of my service in the War of 1861-5.
In these books I made daily, in my own handwriting, in chronological order, memorabilia of such occurrences as came under my personal observation, and such as came to my knowledge from direct and authentic sources
The facts so recorded by me constitute the basis of this book. In many respects I have embellished my own account of particular events with extracts from the Records of the Union and Confederate armies, published by the Government, and have cited the volume and page in support of the truthfulness thereof. The book has been prepared in great haste and many difficulties had to be over- come. There may be some errors in it, but none are admitted unless shown to be such, by the Government records. No claim whatever is made for literary excellence. Doubtless the memory of many members of the Command will not coincide with some of the facts herein stated. If such should be the case, I only ask the reader to reserve his decision until he has examined the official records.
I have endeavored herein not to exalt one man above an- other, but to write the truth concerning each man's military record, as far as he has put me in possession of the facts relating thereto, and as far as I could learn the same from the Regimental Records. 1 feel grateful to my Comrades for the many expressions of kindness which I have received from them.
E. J. SHERLOCK.
Kansas City, Missouri, September, 1896.
PRESS OF GERARD - WOODY PRINTING CO , KANSAS CITY MO.
Of Sherlock,
Outbreak of the Rebellion.
For many years prior to the outbreak of the Rebellion the people of the North and South had been divided upon the question of human slav. erv. The latter favored its continuance in the slave states and its extension to the territories. To this the sentiment of the people of the North was not only opposed, but was in favor of the abolition of slavery within the slave states. Some of the leaders of the South for years had con- templated the withdrawal or secession of the slave states from the Union and the establish- ment of a separate government, whose corner stone was to be human slavery.
The agitation of these questions produced a state of sectional feeling and animosity between the people of the North and South, which event- ually culminated in secession and the Civil War of 1861-5.
Including December 3, 1859, more than a vear before hostilities actually began, there had been transferred, by order of President Buchanan's Secretary of War, one hundred and twenty-five thousand stand of arms from the armories and arsenals in the North to those of the South. The object was to disarm the former and arm the latter. This was so quietly done that but few persons knew of it at the time. The secretary had also sold about fifty thousand stand of arms to the Southern States and sundry individuals in the South, at $2. 50 each, without the consent of the Congress.
Governor Gist of South Carolina, on Octo- ber 5, 1860, addressed a confidential letter to the governors of the Southern States, in which he re- quested them severally to communicate to him their opinions in regard to the secession of their re- spective states from the Union, in case Abraham Lincoln was elected to the Presidency. In this letter, speaking for South Carolina, he said:
"If a single state secedes, South Carolina will follow." North Carolina answered, that the people of that state did not consider the election of Mr. Lincoln a sufficient justification for seces- sion. Alabama answered, that it would not go out of the Union alone, but would, with two or more other states. Mississippi answered, that if any state moved for secession, it would follow her. The Governor of Louisiana answered, that he would not advise the secession of his state. The Governor of Georgia said, that the people of that state would await some overt act of the Lincoln government. The Governor of Florida answered, that his state was "ready to wheel into line, with the gallant Palmetto State, or any other cotton state or states."
On the 5th of November, 1860, the Governor of South Carolina sent a message to the Legisla- ture of that State (then in session) recommending the purchase of arms and war material and the calling of a State convention; which, being called, convened at Columbia, December 17, 1860, from whence it adjourned to Charleston, and on the 20th of December, 1860, it passed an ordinance of secession in the following words:
"We, the people of the State of South Carolina in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained,
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that the ordinance adopted by us in convention, on the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord, 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying amendments of the said constitu- tion, are hereby repealed, and that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other States under the name of the United States of America is hereby dissolved." (Ser. I, p IIO.)
On the same day the Secretary of War or- dered one hundred and ten (110) Columbiads and eleven (II) thirty-two pounders to be shipped from the arsenal at Pittsburg to different points in the South, but this shipment was pre- vented by citizens of Pennsylvania. There were many forts and navy vards along the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts and on the rivers, and large arsenals were located in many of the cities of the South, which were all supplied with arms and munitions of war, by stripping those of the North, and the militia in the Southern States were organized into regiments and battalions, drilled, armed and equipped and were ready for the field in 1860, before any State had seceded.
On December 22d, the South Carolina con- vention made an order: "That three commis- sioners, to be elected by a ballot of the convention, be directed to proceed forthwith to Washington, authorized and empowered to treat with the gov- ernment of the United States for the delivery of the forts, magazines, light houses and other real estate, with their appurtenances, within the lim- its of South Carolina, and also for an apportion- ment of the public debt, and for a division of all other property held by the government of the
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United States, as agent of the Confederate States, of which South Carolina was recently a member, and generally to negotiate as to all other measures and arrangements proper to be made and adopted in the existing relations of the parties, and for the continuance of peace and am- ity between this commonwealth and the govern- ment at Washington." These Commissioners were elected and received their authority under the seal of the State of South Carolina and pro- ceeded to Washington. (Ser. I, p. III. )
On the 26th of December, 1850, the girri- son of Fort Moultrie, under command of Major Robert Anderson, moved into Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor. This did not please the Governor of South Carolina, and on the 27th he "courteously, but peremptorily, " demanded that Major Anderson should transfer the garrison from Fort Sumter back to Fort Moultrie. This was refused. The Governor replied, that there was an understanding with President Buchanan that "no reinforcements were to be sent to any of these forts, and particularly to this one," and that Major Anderson had violated this agreement by moving to Fort Sumter. The Governor was reminded by Major Anderson that he had moved his command from one fort to another in the same harbor, which he had a lawful right to do.
During the afternoon of the 27th two steam- ers "took possession by escalade of Castle Pinck- ney" and of Fort Moultrie at night, both by South Carolina State troops. This was the first seizure of government property by the Confed- erates. (Se. I, Vol., I. p. 3.)
On the 28th, after the seizure of these two
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forts, the three Commissioners presented an ad- dress to President James Buchanan, declaring their readiness to "negotiate," "with the earnest desire to avoid all unnecessary and hostile col- lision. " But which they then declared to be im- possible, in the light of the events of the last twenty-four hours, because they said to the Pres- ident :
That "since our arrival, an officer of the United States * * * not only without, but against your orders, has dismantled one fort and occupied another" (referring to Anderson's evac- uation of Fort Moultrie and occupation of Fort Sumter ). The Commissioners urged the Presi- dent to immediately withdraw the United States forces from Fort Sumter and Charleston Harbor, because, they said, "Under present circumstan- ces, they are a standing menace to South Caro- lina, which renders negotiations impossible and % * * threatens speedily to bring to a bloody issue questions which ought to be settled with temperance and judgment."
After three days President Buchanan an- swered the Commissioners, stating among other things, that his "position" as President of the United States "was clearly defined in his mes- sage to the congress on the 3d instant," a portion of which was:
That "apart from the execution of the laws, so far as this may be practical, the executive has no authority to decide what shall be the relations between the Federal Government and South Car- olina," and that it was his duty to submit the whole controversy to congress in all its bearings, and that if any attempt was made to expel the United States authorities from the properties
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which belong to the United States in Charleston Harbor, the officer in charge has orders to act on the defensive, and the President informed the Commissioners that he had information dated the 28th, that "the Palmetto flag floated out to the breeze at Castle Pinckney, and that a large mili- tary force went over last night ( the 27th ) to Fort Moultrie" and that the South Carolinians have cov- ered the Federal forts with their own flag, instead of that of the United States, and that he cannot conceive how a reinforcement of Sumter can be a menace to Charleston. (Ser. I, p. 115.)
December 31, General Scott ordered the sloop of war Brooklyn, lying at Fort Monroe, to reinforce Fort Sumter with men, arms and am- munition, "as secretly and confidentially as pos- sible," and on the same day Major Anderson re- ported great activity among the South Carolini- ans in Charleston harbor, and on the 28th a body surrounded the United States arsenal. On the 29th sentinels were placed around it, and on the 30th, before the President had made his answer to the Commissioners, the arsenal in Charleston, and all it contained was seized by the 17th Regi- ment Infantry S. C. M. "in the name of the State of South Carolina and by order of Governor Pickens," at 10:30 A. M. This was the second seizure of Government property. On the Ist day of January, 1861, the Commissioners replied at great length to the President's answer. The burden of their reply was to charge the President with acting in bad faith with South Carolina, and that his answer not only left them without any hope for the withdrawal of the troops from Fort Sumter, but that the garrison would be rein- forced, and they endeavored to torture the ac-
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tion of Major Anderson, in removing the garri- son from Moultrie to Sumter, into an act of war against the people of South Carolina. (Serial I, part 1, page 124.)
On the second, Fort Johnson, in Charleston Harbor, was seized by South Carolina State troops. This was the third seizure of Govern- ment property. General Scott ordered the A. A. G. to reinforce Sumter with 200 men and three months subsistence, and directed that if any vessel carrying the same should be fired upon in Charleston Harbor, that the vessel should use her guns to silence such fire. On the 4th the "Star of the West"' was engaged to carry the reinforcements to Fort Sumter, and on the 5th, two hundred men were ordered from Fort Columbus, under command of Lieutenant Charles R. Woods, to be shipped on board the "Star of the West" to reinforce Sumter.
On the 5th of January, 1861, a remarkable Council of Southern Senators was secretly con- vened at Washington, which at once assumed "the powers of a revolutionary Junta." It met in one of the rooms of the Capitol, on the night of the above date. It was composed of the senators from seven Southern States: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ar- kansas and Texas. Fourteen senators were present. It was decided at that meeting to re- commend the secession of their respective States, and the holding of a convention at Montgomery, Alabama, February 15, 1861. The proceedings were secret. Complete orders and instructions were promulgated as to the manner in which all the forts and arsenals in the South were to be seized.
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There is no doubt but that at this remarkable Council of Southern Senators it was determined that R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, was to be President of the new Confederacy and Jefferson Davis Secretary of War. The latter, by train- ing and education, was supposed to be well fitted for that position. (Secret Hist. Confederacy, by Pollard, pages 61-2.)
The "Star of the West" reached Charleston Harbor on the morning of the 9th of January, 1861. She was fired upon when she attempted to enter the harbor, by the batteries on Morris Island. Major Anderson sent an inquiry to the Governor of South Carolina, asking if the vessel had been fired upon by his orders, and stating that if it be not disclaimed, the act would be re- garded as an act of war. This was the first shot fired in the Rebellion.
Governor Pickens promptly answered at great length, reciting the new relations which he insisted South Carolina then sustained to the Federal Government from a Confederate stand- point, insisting that the attempt to reinforce Fort Sumter was an Act of War against South Caro- lina. The vessel on account of being fired upon did not reach Fort Sumter, and the fort was not reinforced or furnished with subsistence.
On the IIth a commission from Governor Pickens demanded the surrender of Ft. Sumter, which being refused, was modified, so as to have it understood that they desired to send a joint commission to Washington, which was also re- fused. The United States Government notified Major Anderson that the act of firing upon the "Star of the West" was an act of war, and that his forbearance to return the fire was approved
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Abraham Lincoln. ( From an old war times photograph.)
by the President and the Secretary of War. This was the first demand for the surrender of Fort Sumter. So the first seizures of forts and other Government property, and the first shots were fired and the war was actually begun before Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, and all through the month of January the South Carolinians were fortifyng the harbor at Charleston,
The Confederate Convention assembled at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 15th. Mr. Hunter was indiscreet enough to broach the sub- jeet that there might yet be a peaceable and amicable settlement of the differences between the North and the South. This act on his part lost him the respect of the convention, and he was at once dropped as the prospective President of the new Confederacy and Jefferson Davis was elevated at once to the position of its champion. (Pollard's Secret History of the Confederacy, page 65. )
On the 17th of February the Confederate Congress assumed control of all questions relat - ing to forts and arsenals. Major Anderson, in Fort Sumter, in obedience to orders, acted strictly on the defensive. All through the month of February work had been carried on night and day fortifying Charleston Harbor by the Con- federates, and a constant watch was kept on Fort Sumter to prevent reinforcements being landed by small boats in the night time. Every act of the Government at Washington was observed by spies and quickly made known to the Southern leaders. All through the month of March the Confederate War Department was extraordinarily active. General Beauregard was in command at Charleston .
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On the 4th of March, 1861, Abraham Lin- coln was inaugurated President of the United States, and at once proceeded to discharge the duties of that great office under the most trying circumstances.
On the Sth of April, 1861, President Lincoln determined that Fort Sumter should bereinforced, and so notified Governor Pickens by messenger. The Confederate Secretary of War dispatched to Beauregard from Montgomery, that "Under no circumstances are you to allow provisions to be sent to Fort Sumter." "Diplomacy has failed, the sword must now preserve our independence."
A demand for the evacuation of Fort Sum- ter was made at 2 P. M. on the rith, and the com- mandant was allowed until 6 p. M. to answer. Major Anderson refused to surrender the fort. At 4 P. M. on the 11th, the Confederate batteries Were reported ready to fire on Sumter. At 3:20 A. M. on the 12th, Major Anderson was notified that the bombardment of Fort Sumter would be- gin in one hour. Accordingly the bombardment began at 4:30 A. M. on April 12th, 1861. The first shot was fired from the mortar battery on James Island, after which the fire soon became general from all the batteries. The total num- ber of guns trained on Sumter was 30 and 17 mortars.
The total available guns in Fort Sum- ter was 48. The fort was set on fire by the red hot shot and the quarters burned. The garrison surrendered on the 13th. One man was killed and four wounded. The surrender took place at 1:15 P. M. (Ser. 1, page 15, Et. Seq. )
Two days after the surrender of Sumter, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers for three months. Under this
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call the States furnished 91, 816 men, or an excess of nearly 17,000 men. In the meantime the Con- federates were putting forth all their energy to supply men and means to carry on the war. On the 3d day of May the President called for an ad- ditional levy of 500,000. Under this call 700,000 men were furnished.
During the period from July 2Ist to Decem- ber 20th, 1851, both parties put forth every ef- fort in preparing for war. On the 21st of July the battle of Bull Run was fought. In that en- gagement the Union loss was 474 killed and 1, 071 wounded. Total killed and wounded on the Union side, 1, 545. The Confederates lost 387 killed and 1, 582 wounded. Total, 1, 969. The Confederate loss in killed and wounded ex- ceeded that of the Union Army by 424. The Union Army had 87 more killed, but the Con- federates had 511 more wounded. Although the Confederates suffered the greater loss in killed and wounded, vet the battle was a great disaster to the North. No military advantages resulted to either party, so far as position or territory was concerned. but the Union troops fell into disor- der and retreated. The effect of the battle upon the Union Army and the Union cause was very depressing, and a corresponding feeling of buoy- ancy pervaded the Confederates.
Beginning with the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12th and 1 3th by the Confederate batteries on that side, and the United States forces under Major An- derson on the other, and ending with the encoun- ter on December 28, 1861, at Mount Zion, Mis- souri, there were fought during that year (156) one hundred and fifty-six engagements, the more
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important of which, together with the losses on each side respectively, were as follows:
FED. CON.
LOSS. LOSS.
July 21, Ist Bull Run, Va., K. & W . . 1,545
1,969
Aug. 10, Wilson's Creek, Mo.
Oct. 3, Green Briar, W. Va 1,235 1,095
Oct. 21, Ball's Bluff, Va 43 52
921
155
Nov 7, Belmont, Mo. 501 641
Dec. 13, Camp Allegheny, W. Va. 137
144
Dec. 20, Dranesville, Va.
68
194
Total killed and wounded. . 4,450 4,250 In the Bull Run disaster the Confederates took 1,789 prisoners.
The comparative net results of the fighting done during the year 1861 cannot be accurately estimated. In some quarters unimportant mili- tary advantages were gained by the Confederates, while in others the Federals had succeeded in about a corresponding degree. TheConfederates lost more men in killed and wounded than the Federals, but the latter suffered the greater loss by capture; but both sides were assiduously em- ployed in fortifying strategic points and in in- creasing and disciplining their respective armies, so that at the end of the year 1861, the available forces of the contending parties were very nearly equal on the score of numbers, but the Confed- erates were the better armed and equipped.
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THE BATTLES OF 1862.
The Union Army in the Mississippi Valley did not go into winter quarters nor did it cease active offensive operations during the winter of 1861-2.
On the 2d day of July, 1862, President Lincoln issued a proclamation, calling upon the Governors of the several States for 300,000 men to serve three years or during the war. The number to be furnished by each state was based upon its military population. 421,465 men re- sponded to this call. Indiana's quota was 21, 250, but the State responded with an enlist- ment of 30, 359.
The 100th Regiment enlisted under this call of July 2, 1862. Company "A," Captain Marquis L. Rhodes, from DeKalb County; Co. "B," Captain Gillespie, from Stuben County; Co. "C," Captain H.Crocker, LaGrange County; Co. "D," Captain R. M. Johnson, Elkhart County; Co. "E," Captain William Barney Noble County; Co. "F," Captain Abram W. Myers, Whitley County; Co. "G," Captain G. O. Behm, Tippecanoe County; Co. "H," Captain John W. Headington, Jay County; Co. "I," Captain John N. Sims, Clinton County, and Co. "K," Captain Charles W. Brouse, Marion
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and Allen Counties; and there were men in the Regiment from other counties than those men- tioned. The companies from the northeastern counties went into camp on the left bank of the St. Mary's River, on ground which is now em- braced within the city of Fort Wayne.
After a short stay in camp at that place those companies were moved to Camp Morton at Indianapolis and thence to Madison, on the Ohio River, and for some time guarded the fords on that river to prevent the crossing of a body of Confederate cavalry, which rendezvoused in the vicinity of Carrollton, Kentucky. The 2nd Indiana Cavalry, Col. Isaac Gray, assisted the Tooth Indiana in the performance of this ser- vice, which ended on the 10th of November, 1862.
At that date those Companies, "A," "B," "C," "D" and "E" returned to Indianapolis, and having joined the other companies of the Regiment, on the day following (the 11th) left Camp Morton for Memphis, Tennessee, by way of Cairo, Illinois, and the Mississippi River. On the 16th the command disembarked from the transports and was stationed in Fort Pickering, on the east bank of the Mississippi River, on the precipitous bluffs, at the then southern limits of the city, and was assigned to "The Second Brigade District of Memphis," commanded by Brig. Genl. John W. Denver, the "District of Memphis" being commanded by Genl. W. T. Sherman (S-17-pt. 2-340).
Soon thereafter, Col. J. A. McDowell was assigned to the command of our brigade and Genl. Denver was assigned to command the division (S-17-pt. 2-344). . The brigade at that
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time was composed of the 100th Indiana, 40th Illinois, 46th Ohio, 6th Iowa and the 13th United States Infantry, Ist Batallion ( Ser. 17, p. 340).
A Confederate Army under Genl. Sterling Price was then located in the Northwestern por- tion of Mississippi, against which Genl. Grant proposed to move. The plan of the campaign embraced the defeat of this army and the ulti- mate investment of Vicksburg, at that time re- garded as the Gibraltar of the South by the Con- federate Government.
The weather was extremely unfavorable for military operations; snow had fallen thus early, and the cold rains had made the roads in many places almost impassable, the exposure and change of climate, water and mode of living, caused very much sickness among the men and a great many died during the late fall and early winter months.
Preparations for the campaign against Price's army to be made in winter's rain and mud were quickly completed, so that seven days after we entered Fort Pickering (the 23d) we received marching orders.
Our baggage was reduced under orders to what was then supposed to be the lowest point attainable, but we learned better before the war ended. All the troops at Memphis by this order were directed to prepare for active field service.
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