A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I, Part 121

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038

USA > Indiana > A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I > Part 121

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hood he had acquired those habits of patient applica- tion and prompt and self-reliant action which have dis- tinguished him in the many responsible situations of his life. Some years of his boyhood having been spent in mechanical pursuits, he became a druggist's clerk, and soon afterwards set up for himself in that business, In October, 1842, he removed to Indiana, of which state he has ever since been a citizen. In the early pe- riod of his residence here, he taught school at Craw- fordsville, and other places in Montgomery County. He now devoted himself to the study of medicine, and attended a course of lectures at the Ohio Medical Col- lege of Cincinnati, and a partial second course at New Orleans, Louisiana. He, however, did not engage ex- tensively in the practice of his profession, but continued as an apothecary at Crawfordsville. Upon the com- mencement of the War with Mexico, the latent military spirit of his ancestors asserted itself, and he promptly entered the service, as captain of Company I of the 5th Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, with which he participated in the campaign of General Scott, and marched from Vera Cruz to the capital, where for a time he was placed in command of the detached guards in the City of Mexico. Upon his return to Crawfordsville, at the close of the war, he resumed his business of druggist. In 1851 he was elected to repre- sent Montgomery County in the General Assembly, and served as a member of the House during the important session of 1851-52, in which the laws of the state were revised, and adapted to the new Constitution of 1850. He now became, and still continues to be, an influential adviser in the councils of the Democratic party. In 1856 he served as a delegate in the Democratic National Convention at Cincinnati, and assisted in the nomination of James Buchanan for President and John C. Breckinridge for Vice-president. In 1860 he was an ardent supporter of Stephen A. Douglas, believing that only his election to the presi- dency and the application of his political doctrines could avert the threatening storm of civil war. When, in April, 1861, that storm broke furiously upon the na- tion at Fort Sumter, and he saw the inauguration of the insane attempt to destroy the nation for whose in- dependent establishment and for whose honor his fore- fathers had nobly imperiled their lives and fortunes, his patriotic indignation was at once aroused, and, as might have been predicted from his antecedents, he quickly placed himself in the ranks of the defenders of the Union. He was at the time in the East, whither he had gone for the purchase of goods. Hastening home, he took an active part in sending forward to In- dianapolis the first company from Montgomery County, under General Lew. Wallace. Two days afterward, at the solicitation of some of his old soldiers of the Mexi- can War, he raised, in five hours, a company, with

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which he marched to Indianapolis. The first tents de- serving the name pitched in Camp Morton were brought thither by this company, having been' hastily made on Sunday. Of the men thus brought into camp two companies of the 10th Indiana Regiment were formed. Of one of these, Company G, Mr. Manson was made captain, his commission dating from the 17th of April, 1861. Upon the organization of the regiment, ten days later, he was commissioned major, and on the Ioth of May he was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, in place of Colonel J. J. Reynolds, commis- sioned brigadier-general of volunteers. The interval in camp having been industriously occupied in organizing, drilling, and equipping, Colonel Manson in June, upon the order of General Mcclellan, proceeded with his regiment to Parkersburg, Virginia. The 10th Indiana, having been assigned to the brigade of General Rose- crans, marched, by the way of Clarksburg and Buck- hannon, to the valley of Roaring Creek, at the foot of Rich Mountain. Early on the morning of the 11th of July, Colonel Manson, though the junior colonel, was placed with his regiment in the advance, and, with General Rosecrans, marched nine miles by a narrow bridle-path around the rebel fortifications, striking General Pegram's command in the rear. In the battle of Rich Mountain, which followed, the 10th Indiana formed the first line, and led the brigade in the charge upon the works of the enemy, which resulted in the total rout of the rebels and the capture of two pieces of artillery. General Manson still holds the receipt for one of the guns thus taken. July 24 they were or- dered to return to Indianapolis, their three months' term of enlistment having expired. By direction of Governor Morton, Colonel Manson, under the same commission, proceeded to reorganize the 10th Indiana for three years or during the war. The rendezvous was at Lafayette, where in a short time the required number of men were enlisted. It was ordered to Kentucky, and left Indian- apolis for Louisville September 22, being one of the first regiments that crossed the Ohio. Here they were assigned to General Anderson's command, and a few days later were ordered to Bardstown, Kentucky, where they established the first camp of Union soldiers at that place. At this encampment Colonel Manson applied himself assiduously for one month to the instruction of his men, when they were ordered to Lebanon, Ken- tucky, where they were assigned to Thomas's division of the Army of the Ohio, with Colonel Manson as brigade commander. They remained in the vicinity of Lebanon until the 25th of December, when they ad- vanced to meet the Confederates under Zollicoffer. On the 19th of January, 1862, Colonel Manson and his bri-

gade participated in the battle of Mill Spring. At daylight the Union forces were attacked in their camp. Colonel Manson's regiment was in the advance, and in

this, its first engagement after its reorganization, achieved an enviable reputation for gallantry, at one time saving the day by its firm resistance to a desperate charge. From the battle-field the Union forces returned to Louis- ville, where the patriotic ladies of that city presented a beautiful flag to the 10th Indiana, as a mark of their high appreciation of the service the regiment had ren- dered to Kentucky and the Union, which was received by Colonel Manson on behalf of the regiment. From Louisville the 10th Indiana marched to the Tennessee River, arriving on the battle-field of Shiloh two days after the battle. They next participated in the siege and investment of Corinth, and the march which fol- lowed its evacuation. On the 24th of March, 1862, Colonel Manson was appointed brigadier-general of United States volunteers by President Lincoln, without any solicitation whatever on his part. His appoint-

ment was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. He was assigned to the command of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division, of the Army of the Ohio, under Gen- eral William Nelson. With his brigade and division he entered Corinth on the 29th of May, and thence marched to Jacinto and Iuka, Mississippi, and Tuscum- bia, Alabama, and thence to Murfreesboro, Tennessee- a distance of one hundred and five miles-in five days. Thence they marched to McMinnville, Cany Fork of the Cumberland, Sparta, and back to McMinnville. Here, by order of General Buell, General Manson, with Generals Nelson, Craft, and Jackson, were detached, and proceeded to Kentucky to take charge of the new troops then pouring in from Indiana and Ohio. After considerable difficulty, and barely escaping capture by the enemy's cavalry, they reached Nashville the next morning. Thence, escorted by the Ioth Indiana, they proceeded to Franklin, Tennessee, and from there by rail to Louisville. By order of General Horatio Wright, they proceeded to Lexington, where they arrived August 24, six days previous to the battle of Richmond, Ken- tucky. For the purpose of correcting a false statement which appeared in the newspapers of Cincinnati soon after that engagement, to the effect that General Manson fought that battle contrary to the orders of General Nelson, and for the purpose of promoting the truth of history, a somewhat detailed statement of the circum- stances of the battle, condensed from a published letter of General Manson, dated March 28, 1878, and addressed to Hon. R. J. White, is here given: On the after- noon of the day following their arrival at Lexington, General Nelson and General Manson left Lexington for Richmond. Arriving at Clay's Ferry, on the Kentucky River, they overtook General Cassius M. Clay's brigade, and, at the request of Generals Nelson and Clay, General Manson took command of this brigade, to enable General Clay to go to his home, he not having visited his family since his recent return from Europe. On the morning of

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the 25th, General Manson moved forward from Clay's Ferry toward Richmond, and, arriving there late in the afternoon, reported to General Nelson, who had preceded him. General Nelson sent a staff officer with him to Colonel Rhodes's farm, about two miles south of town, where there were some troops already encamped. On the morning of the 27th, Nelson assigned Manson to the command of the First Brigade, consisting of the 55th, 69th, 7Ist, and 16th Indiana Regiments, and some artillery under Lieutenant Lamphier, of Michigan. General Manson proceeded at once to get his men out for drill, in which he found them very deficient, they being for the most part raw recruits. That afternoon he sent to General Nelson a written request for permis- sion to seek a new encampment, stating that water was scarce where they were, and the men had not had an opportunity to wash their clothing since they had left Indiana, and that the camp was commanded by the hills to the southward. To this General Nelson made no answer. About sunrise on the 28th, Nelson's orderly came to Manson with a verbal order for him to report at Nelson's headquarters at Richmond, which he did at once. On arriving he was informed that General Nelson, in company with Hon. Garrett Davis, had just departed for Lexington or Lancaster. He had not informed his adjutant to which of these places he was going. Gen- eral Manson then inquired of Captain Kendrick, Nel- son's adjutant-general, what orders General Nelson had left for him, and was answered that he had left none, only that Manson should not leave the position then occupied by him until Nelson's return. On the fore- noon of the 29th; General Manson received a communi- cation from Colonel Reuben Munday, and also one from Colonel Leonidas Metcalfe, informing him that the en- emy had appeared and was then crossing Big Hill in considerable force, supposed to be four or five thousand strong. He at once sent one copy of these communica- tions to Lexington, and another to Lancaster, to General Nelson, not knowing at which place he might be found, and at the same time directed Colonels Munday and Metcalfe to fall back and carefully observe the road, so that the enemy might not flank Richmond on either side ; and he also sent out Lieutenant colonel Wolf, of the 16th Indiana, with four companies, to strengthen the picket already in front. About two o'clock Colonel Metcalfe arrived with a portion of his command at Gen- eral Manson's camp, stating that he had been driven from every position he had occupied, and that the Con- federates were advancing in great force. General Man- son immediately caused the long-roll to be beaten, formed his troops, and with them moved out upon the high hills in front of his camp, and formed a line of battle near White's house. The enemy soon appeared in considerable force, but after a sharp skirmish retired, losing a few prisoners, some horses, and a few pieces of

artillery. While this skirmish was progressing, he sent Rev. Mr. McCray, of Bloomington, Indiana, to Lex- ington, to give General Nelson, if he should there be found, a personal account of what was taking place. After the skirmish, General Manson moved his forces forward a short distance, to Rogersville, and there biv- ouacked. The enemy bivouacked a short distance southward in the woods. Soon after sunrise, on the 30th, General Manson formed his line of battle in the woods, near a small brick church. The enemy soon afterwards advanced upon this line, and was met and checked in most gallant style by the brave Indianians, who maintained their line unbroken for nearly four hours, and until completely flanked on the east. At the same time their right gave way in great confusion. General Manson rode back a short distance, and, meet- ing the 18th Kentucky advancing, deployed them into line, and with them checked the advance of the enemy for about twenty minutes. He was thus enabled to form a second line on the high ground north of Roger's house; and from that point he moved to the ground he had occupied in the skirmish on the evening of the 29th. Here he awaited the advance of the enemy. While thus waiting a messenger arrived with a written com- munication from General Nelson, dated at Lexington, August 30, directing General Manson that, if the enemy should appear in force, he should retire by the Lancas- ter road. This was delivered to General Manson in the presence of some of his staff and Doctor Irwin, the medical director of General Nelson's staff, since surgeon in charge of West Point Academy. It was then 12.30 P. M., and the Lancaster road had been in possession of the enemy for more than five hours. This was the only order that General Manson received from General Nelson directing him to retire from the position to which he had heretofore assigned him. The following is an extract from General Manson's official report, dated at Indianapolis, September 10, 1862, and directed and delivered to General Nelson :

"The enemy now began advancing in great force through the open fields, in line of battle, and, while they were thus advancing, a courier rode upon the field and delivered to me your written order, dated at Lex- ington, August 30, directing me to retire by the Lan- caster road if the enemy should advance in force. It was then 12.30 o'clock P. M., and in less than five min- utes from the time I received your order the battle raged with great fierceness along the whole line."

General Manson held this position for more than an hour, when, his right giving way in great confusion, he was a second time driven back. He commenced to form his men in the woods, on Rhodes's farm, for the purpose of a general retreat, to recross the Kentucky River that night. While he was thus engaged, General Nelson rode upon the field and assumed command, and by his direction the troops were marched to a place

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near Richmond, and a line of battle was there formed, extending through the cemetery. Here they waited more than an hour and a half for the enemy. When at length the Confederates again appeared, their advance could not be checked, because of the demoralized state of the twice beaten raw troops opposed to them, who now retreated through Richmond in great confusion. General Manson organized a rear-guard for the protec- tion of the scattered army from the pursuing cavalry. By direction of General Nelson he assumed command of this rear-guard, and with it covered the retreat till they arrived near the toll-gate on the Lexington road, when the retreating columns in front halted. After waiting here more than an hour, he turned over the command of the rear-guard to Major Morrison, of the 66th Indiana, and went to the front to ascertain the cause of the halt. He there found a small number of the enemy's cavalry formed across the road, checking the retreat; and he here for the first time learned that General Nelson had left the field. . He endeavored to form an advance- guard, but did not succeed till the color-sergeant of the 18th Kentucky, an old man, who had the flag of his regiment under his arm, the staff having been shot away, gave the flag to him, saying, "I have fought all day with you, and if you will protect the flag of the 18th I'll still fight on." This gallant old soldier gave courage and enthusiasm to his comrades, and an advance- guard was soon organized, which drove the enemy's cavalry from the line of retreat. The column again moved forward, General Manson making a desperate effort to cross the Kentucky River with the remainder of the command. When they had arrived near to Fox- town, they found the enemy in great force, concealed in a corn-field, from which they fired upon Manson's ad- vance, killing seventeen and wounding twenty-five. Colonel Wolf, of the 16th Indiana, was killed here. General Manson ordered the remainder of the advance- guard to lie down, and make no further resistance. Soon afterwards he and his command were made pris- oners. Four days later he was paroled by General E. Kirby Smith, commander of the enemy's force, and started immediately for Cincinnati. Here he learned from Hon. Richard Smith, editor of the Gazette, that General Nelson had authorized the publication of the statement that the battle of Richmond had been fought contrary to his positive orders. At the request of Gen- eral Manson, a correction was published in the Gazette, Enquirer, and Commercial. General Manson also had an interview with General Nelson, who was then in Cincinnati, at the request of the latter, who, in expla- nation of the published statement, said that he had thought that his order, written at Lexington on the morning of the day of the battle, had been received by General Manson; but on being reminded that Lexing- ton is thirty-one miles from the battle-field, and that

the order was conveyed by a courier on horseback, he admitted his mistake in supposing that his order had reached General Manson in time to retreat. In addition to the efforts made by General Manson, already stated, to communicate to General Nelson before the battle the facts in regard to the situation, he also, on the day of the engagement, sent Colonel Goodloe as a special messenger toward Lexington, expecting that he would meet General Nelson with reinforcements, and instruct- ing him to inform Nelson of the situation, and request him to hasten to the field. The greater portion of the Union forces in this sanguinary engagement had been in service less than two weeks, and had had very little instruction or exercise in drill. The Confederates had the advantage of greatly superior numbers; but they were met with such valor and received such punishment that the hitherto uninterrupted progress of the invasion of Kirby Smith received such a check that sufficient time was gained to place Cincinnati in a condition of defense, and the principal object of Smith's cam- paign was thwarted. General Boyle, writing to Presi- dent Lincoln from Louisville, September 1, 1862, said, of the Indianians engaged at Richmond, that " they fought with the courage and gallantry of veterans." The loss in killed and wounded in the Indiana troops was nearly one thousand, General Manson being one of the wounded. Two thousand officers and men, includ- ing General Manson, were captured and paroled. He remained on parole but a few weeks, when, having been exchanged, he was assigned to the Fourteenth Army Corps, and placed in charge of the United States forces at Bowling Green and on the Barren and Green Rivers. This command he held at the time of the battle of Stone River, January 1, 1863. He was relieved by General Juday, and assigned to the post of Louisville for a few weeks, and then to the command of a division of the Twenty-third Army Corps, stationed at Lebanon, Kentucky, whence they marched to Glasgow, and thence to Tompkinsville, where they met a portion of Morgan's forces, between whom and General Manson's command there was a lively skirmish for several days on the banks of the Cumberland River. From this place they marched through to Mumfordsville, where they took railroad transportation to Louisville, Kentucky, and New Albany, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. Here he was prevented, by the orders of his superior officers, from intercepting General John Morgan, on his raid through Indiana, at Memphis and Vienna, on the In- dianapolis and Jeffersonville Railroad. From Jefferson- ville he proceeded with his command, by sixteen steam- boats, up the Ohio, to prevent Morgan's recrossing the river. At Grassy Plats he came up with a body of Morgan's men, of whom he captured a portion, with forty-six horses. He moved up the river, parallel with Morgan, to Madison, Vevay, Rising Sun, Lawrence-

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burg, and Cincinnati, and thence to Maysville, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio, where the water was found to be too low to proceed further with the steamboats. At Portsmouth, with a portion of his men, he went by rail about fifty miles into the interior of Ohio, to inter- cept Morgan's forces. He, however, had already crossed the railroad at the point at which he hoped to intercept them. He now returned to Cincinnati, where he remained some days, receiving the prisoners from Buffington Island, together with General Morgan. While here, by order of General Burnside, he made a descriptive list of General John H. Morgan and ninety- two of his subordinate officers, all of whom were sent to Johnson's Island, whence, by order of the Secretary of War, they were removed to the Ohio State Peni- tentiary, at Columbus. Preparations were now made for a campaign in Eastern Tennessee. General Manson, with his command, marched from Glasgow, Kentucky, by way of Montgomery, to Lee's Ferry, on Clinch River, and thence to London and Knoxville. Here he was placed in command of the Twenty-third Army Corps, with forty thousand men on its rolls, relieving General Hartsook, by order of General Burnside. He was engaged in most of the skirmishes here, during October, 1863, and was in the siege of Knoxville, which lasted twenty days; superintended the construc- tion of the fortifications on Mayberry and Temperance Hills, and built the pontoon bridge across the Holston, and all the fortifications on the south side of that river. When the siege was terminated, by the advance of Gen- eral Sherman's forces, December 5, 1863, General Man- son, with a portion of the Twenty-third Army Corps, followed Longstreet to Rutledge, when, the Confeder- ates having made a stand, he, by order of his superior officers, fell back to Blaine's Cross Roads, skirmishing with the enemy most of the way. Here he was rein- forced by General Gordon Granger, of the Fourth Army Corps, General Phil. Sheridan commanding a division of that corps, and others. A line of battle was formed and maintained several days, but no general engagement ensued. On the 25th of December he crossed the Holston, and took up a position at Straw- berry Plains, near the junction of the French Broad and Holston. In January, 1864, his troops were en- gaged by the enemy at Mossy Creek and other places in that vicinity. In February he was relieved of the com- mand of the Twenty-third Army Corps by General Jacob D. Cox, who outranked him in the army, and he was assigned a division in that corps. With this com- mand he marched to Bull Creek Gap, near Blaine's Cross Roads. On the 22d of April, by order of Gen- eral Sherman, he proceeded to destroy the bridge over the Wataugua River, Virginia, and the railway and Lick Creek trestle at Jonesville, whence by rail he joined General Sherman's army, May I, at Red Clay,

Georgia. Thence his command marched to Doctor Lee's house, Varnell's Station, and Buzzard's Roost, skirmishing every day. They now made a forced march, passing through Snake Creek Gap, skirmishing with the enemy in Hickory Flats, and on the 14th of May, moved toward the Confederate works at Resaca. A line of battle was formed, Generals Hascall and Juday being on the right, General Riley on the left, in the woods, and General Manson in the center, in the open field. The order to charge being given, his com- mand moved through the open ground for a mile, ex- posed to the enemy's artillery. The loss was very heavy. Generals Manson and Riley carried their por- tion of the works, and held them for more than three hours against greatly superior numbers. His ammuni- tion being almost exhausted, and his men famished for want of water, General Hascall, by order of General Sherman, moved in his forces to relieve General Man- son. To show General Hascall how he might best avoid the enemy's fire, General Manson sprang upon the works, when he was struck by a piece of shell upon the right shoulder, and his right arm was thereby for- ever disabled. He was carried off the field insensible. Yet in a few days he resumed command. He was pres- ent at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, but not actively engaged. He now found himself so greatly disabled by his wound that he was compelled to ask to be re- lieved of his command in the advancing army. He was assigned to take charge of the post at Knoxville, but the inflammation of his wound increased to such an extent that he was again forced to relinquish this posi- tion. He accompanied General Thomas on his retreat through Tennessee, and was in the hospital at Nashville at the time of the battle of Franklin. From this hos- pital he was removed to St. Joseph's Infirmary at Louis- ville, where he remained eighty-five days, lying a portion of the time at the point of death, suffering great torture from his wound. Here he had an operation performed upon his shoulder, and becoming satisfied that he would not again be fit for active duty, and being unwilling to stand in the way of the promotion of worthy men in the field, he, on the 21st of December, 1864, resigned his commission as a brigadier-general of volunteers. His resignation was accepted by the President, and with it the military career of General Manson ended. Dur- ing that career he was never known to complain of any position to which he was assigned, but, without any consideration of his own convenience or pleasure, and without regard to danger, toil, or exposure, executed with alacrity and to the satisfaction of his superiors every order ever given him. He was distinguished for clearness of discrimination, accuracy of judgment, and promptness of action. He was never surprised when it was his duty to be informed; no emergency found him unprepared, and no danger caused him to hesitate. He

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A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I, Part 121

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1038

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038