USA > Indiana > Kosciusko County > A standard history of Kosciusko County, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development. A chronicle of the people with family lineage and memoirs, Volume I > Part 19
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Hood. In the spring of 1865 the regiment was ordered to New Orleans and later to Texas, where it remained until September, when it was mustered out of service and returned to Indiana.
THE ELEVENTH INFANTRY (THREE YEARS)
The Eleventh Infantry also passed through all the grades of three months, three years and veteran organization, its three years' service dating from August 31, 1861. Its colonel was Lewis Wal- lace, who, when the regiment arrived at Paducah, Kentucky, in September, ready for the "front," was promoted brigadier general. Lieut. Col. George F. McGinnis succeeded him in the command. Fort Donelson, Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, and marching and cam- paigning in the swamps and bayous of the Southwest, were the main features of its record until it joined General Grant's army in the spring of 1863. Then came Port Gibson, Champion Hills and the siege of Vicksburg. The regiment veteranized in March, 1864, and after its furlough rejoined the service at New Orleans. Subse- quently it was placed under General Sheridan and participated in all the movements and battles of the famous Shenandoah Valley campaign. It was finally mustered out of the service at Baltimore, Maryland, in July, 1865.
THE TWELFTH (ONE YEAR AND THREE YEARS)
It soon became evident to the North that the Rebellion could not be quelled in three months, and many of the organizations which had been formed for the short term were consolidated into one-year regiments. In May, 1861, six regiments which had assembled at Indianapolis, under the presidential call for three months' service, were reorganized and the surplus of certain companies was formed into the Twelfth Regiment and accepted for state service for one year. In July, it was transferred to the United States service for the remainder of the year. It was in command of John M. Wallace. Assigned to General Banks' Army of the Shenandoah, under com- mand of Col. William H. Link, who had succeeded Colonel Wallace, the Twelfth was engaged during the fall of 1861 and the spring of 1862, in various operations against Johnston in Maryland and Vir- ginia. It was on its way to re-enforce Sheridan at Winchester when news reached it of the Union victory, and it was mustered out of the one-year service at Washington, in May, 1862.
The Twelfth at once reorganized for three years, at Indianap-
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olis, in August, 1862, with William H. Link, its old commander, as its colonel. He was killed less than two weeks afterward at Rich- mond, Kentucky, where the entire regiment lost quite heavily. The greater part of the command was captured and paroled. Soon afterward the men were exchanged with Confederate prisoners of war and joined General Grant's army, the regiment being placed in command of Reuben Williams, of Warsaw, who had been pro- moted from the lieutenant colonelcy. He retained the command of the regiment from November, 1862, until the fall of Atlanta, in July, 1864. That period included the investment of Vicksburg, as a portion of Logan's Fifteenth Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee ; the pursuit of Johnston's army, which had come to the relief of the besieged city; the march to Chattanooga' to relieve the Army of the Cumberland and the battle of Mission Ridge; the Atlanta campaign, with all its fierce battles and the subsequent pursuit of Hood through Northern Georgia and Alabama, and the still later marches and cam- paigns through the Carolinas up to the time of Johnston's surrender at Raleigh. The Twelfth was finally mustered out of the service at Washington, in June, 1865.
GENERAL REUBEN WILLIAMS 1
Upon the reorganization of the Twelfth as a three years' regi- ment, August 17, 1862, Captain Williams was promoted to be lieu- tenant colonel. On September 20th Col. William H. Link died of his wounds received at the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, three weeks before, and in the following November Lieutenant Colonel Williams was regularly commissioned as colonel of the regiment. This rank he held until near the close of the war, when he received the appointment of brevet brigadier general of volunteers. After succeeding to the command of his regiment he was frequently called upon to assume command of his brigade, this being the case during the Atlanta campaign.
Reuben Williams, of Warsaw, who commanded the Twelfth Regi- ment during the most active and important portion of its service, came to Warsaw from his native city of Tiffin, Ohio, in 1845. He was then twelve years of age. As a boy and youth he learned the printer's trade, and while a very young man published the Warsaw Democrat for a short time. For another short period he wandered through the West as a journeyman printer, and in 1856, with G. W. Fairbrother, commenced the publication of the Northern Indianian at Warsaw.
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On the 5th of April, 1857, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Miss Jemima Hubler, a daughter of Maj. Henry Hubler, who had already served in the Mexican war and was to be an officer in the Twelfth Regiment of the Civil war.
When Sumter fell, the editor of the Northern Indianian pub- lished a call for volunteers from Kosciusko County, and on the 19th of April, 1861, its first company was organized. That was Company E, of the Twelfth Regiment. His commission as second lieutenant of it is dated May 7th as is also that of its captain, Henry Hubler, his father-in-law. The latter was promoted to be major of the regiment in the following August, and Lieutenant Williams was at the same time advanced to the captaincy.
As noted, the regiment was at first mustered into the service as a one-year organization, and at the expiration of that period was formed a state organization for one year, but shortly afterward was transferred to the United States army. As a state regiment it was ordered to Evansville, where it assured security of travel and com- merce on the Ohio River and kept an eye on the Confederate sym- pathizers on the Kentucky side.
At the defeat of the Union troops in the first battle of Bull Run, the Twelfth was ordered to join the Banks command at Harper's Ferry, and soon after the arrival of the regiment in Virginia occurred the promotions of both Major Hubler and Lieutenant Williams. The Twelfth remained with General Banks until April, 1862, and com- posed the advance guard of the Union army when it occupied Win- chester.
On the 11th of December, 1861, Captain Williams was captured by a Confederate force under Stonewall Jackson while making a reconnaissance of the enemy's position, was taken to Richmond, Vir- ginia, and confined in the famous Libby Prison until exchanged in the following March.
, After the fall of Atlanta, Colonel Williams was selected as one of the court martial convened to try the Indiana conspirators against the Federal Government, known as the Knights of the Golden Circle. That treasonable organization existed in several of the states besides Indiana. As a member of the Indiana court martial, Colonel Wil- liams voted in favor of hanging Milligan and other conspirators.
At the conclusion of these trials, Colonel Williams rejoined his regiment at Savannah, Georgia, and commanded it on the march through the Carolinas to Petersburg and Richmond, and thence to Washington, where it had the honor of leading in the grand review down Pennsylvania Avenue and past President Lincoln and other
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great men and distinguished visitors. The commander of the Twelfth was brevetted brigadier general because of his masterly execution of a raid in South Carolina, in the face of a superior force of the enemy, by which the enemy's railroad communication between the northern and southern portions of the state was completely severed. He cut loose entirely from Sherman's army and his severing movement also involved the destruction of large quantities of Confederate stores and material necessary for any effective resistance to the Union forces.
Retiring from the service at the close of the war, General Williams again assumed editorial control of the Northern Indianian. This was the main business of his life for many years, temporarily interrupted in 1875 by his short editorship of the Fort Wayne Daily Gazette and his Government service in connection with the comptrollership of the United States treasury.
Besides "Reub" Williams and Henry Hubler, Andrew P. Gal- lagher served as an officer in Company E from Kosciusko County. He was also commissioned first lieutenant May 7, 1861, and Andrew S. Milice became second lieutenant in September of that year, soon after Lieutenant Williams had been promoted to the captaincy. The company, in fact, was virtually a Kosciusko County organization.
At the reorganization of the Twelfth as a three years' regiment, Companies F and I drew their strength from Kosciusko County. Samuel Boughter, who was a sergeant in old Company E, became the captain of F and was subsequently promoted to be major of the reorganized Twelfth.
Samuel G. Wells was the first captain of Company I, and was succeeded, during the war period, by Thomas J. Anderson and Lemuel Hazzard.
THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT (THREE YEARS)
The Thirteenth was also originally accepted for state service for one year, was subsequently transferred to the service of the United States, and in June, 1861, was mustered at Indianapolis for the three years' period, in June, 1861. Jere. C. Sullivan was its colonel. On the 10th of the following month it joined General Mcclellan's forces at Rich Mountain, West Virginia, and on the next day participated in the battle at that place. The first noted campaign of which it was a part was that of the Shenandoah, with the historic battle of Winchester as its historic feature. In May, 1862, Colonel Sullivan was commissioned a brigadier general and Lieutenant Colonel Robert S. Foster was advanced to the command of the regiment. It re- Vol. 1-14
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mained in Shenandoah Valley during the early part of the summer, and formed part of MeClennan's army in its operations in that region for some months. The next decisive move of the Thirteenth was to Charleston Harbor, South Carolina; in June, 1863, where it partici- pated in the famous assault on Fort ,Wagner. In the following December a portion of the regiment re-enlisted as veterans, enjoyed the regular furlough in Indiana, was dispatched to Florida in Feb- ruary, 1864, and in April was re-transferred to Virginia in time to engage in General Butler's operations south of Richmond. In this campaign, the regiment lost quite heavily at Foster's Farm in May of that year.
Soon afterward the Thirteenth joined the Army of the Potomac at Newcastle, and was engaged at Cold Harbor and in all the opera- tions along the Chickahominy and in the assaults upon Petersburg. In the meantime, the non-veterans of the regiment had been mustered out of the service at Indianapolis. The veterans of the Thirteenth continued to participate in the siege of Petersburg and Richmond. In November, 1864, it was sent to New York City to preserve order during the election riots, and at its return sailed with the first expe- dition to Fort Fisher. The veterans were then recruited, by order of General Butler, and reorganized into a battalion of five companies, which, with the addition of five companies of drafted men, was formed into a full regiment. During January and February, 1865, it engaged in the second attempt at the reduction of Fort Fisher, the capture of Fort Anderson and the occupation of Wilmington, North Carolina. Then it participated in the advance on Raleigh and in the other movements in that state which marked the close of the war. The regiment was mustered out of service in September, 1865.
During the last two years of the war, the Thirteenth was com- manded by Cyrus J. Dobbs, having succeeded Robert J. Foster as colonel in June, 1863.
THE SIXTEENTH INFANTRY (ONE YEAR)
There were several men from Kosciusko County in the Sixteenth Indiana Infantry, including John H. Rosseau, a descendant of the old- time French trader. It was originally organized for service within the state, but with the news of the Bull Run disaster it was incor- porated into the Federal forces. In July, 1861, it left for Richmond and the Army of the Potomac, and was the first regiment to pass . through Baltimore after the Confederates fired upon the Sixth Mas- sachusetts. Its first decisive military movement was as a unit of
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General Banks division, to cover the retreat of the disorganized Union forces after the battle of Ball's Bluff in October. The fol- lowing spring was passed in the Shenandoah Valley with General Banks command, and in May, 1862, the men of the regiment were discharged from the service. Their colonel, Pleasant A. Hackelman, had been commissioned brigadier general during the preceding month, and in the following September was killed at the battle of Iuka, Mis- sissippi.
THE SEVENTEENTH (THREE YEARS)
Kosciusko County also furnished a few men to the Seventeenth Regiment of Infantry, a three years' organization commanded during the first ten months of the war by Colonel Milo S. Hascall, who was then promoted to be a brigadier general. The regiment was mustered into the service in June, 1861, and until the fall remained in Mary- land and West Virginia engaged chiefly in the construction of Fort Pendleton. It then joined Buell's army in Kentucky and, after much marching and counter-marching, finally entered Nashville, Tennessee, in March, 1862. It was at that time that Colonel Hascall received his appointment as brigadier general.
The following two years constituted a period of almost ceaseless campaigning and fighting. The regiment fought at Shiloh, engaged in the siege of Corinth, followed Bragg through Tennessee and Ken- tucky, and in February, 1863, became a mounted organization, the better to prosecute the rapid-moving style of warfare. The men were armed with Spencer rifles, which proved unusually effective, espe- cially during the engagement at Hoover's Gap, where they were op- posed by a superior force, but captured prisoners and valuable arms and equipment. The month of August saw the Seventeenth doing its part at Chickamauga, and later the regiment proved a decided success in the pursuit of Wheeler's elusive cavalry and other horse- men of the enemy. During the battle of Mission Ridge the command performed valuable service in the destruction of trains and stores, and other demoralizing movements, and finally went into camp at Pulaski, Tennessee, where several hundred of the men veteranized. The Seventeenth arrived at Indianapolis, on furlough, in January, 1864.
The regiment was remounted and again left for the front in April, joining Sherman's army for Atlanta in May. From that time to the end of October it was engaged in all the movements and battles in- cident to the fall of that southern stronghold and the pursuit of
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Hood's army northward. It then returned to Louisville for remount- ing, was assigned to Wilson's cavalry division and took part in various engagements in Alabama and Georgia leading to the capture of Macon. There it remained until its muster-out in August, 1865.
There were few Indiana regiments which had a more varied service than the Seventeenth.
THE TWENTIETH (THREE YEARS) INFANTRY
Quite a number of men from the county joined the Twentieth Regiment as members of Companies C and H. The regiment was organized at LaFayette in July, 1861, and was mustered into the service during the same month at Indianapolis. It first saw service along the southern coasts, and in the spring of 1862 participated in the engagement between the Merrimac, Cumberland and Congress and in the capture of Norfolk. Soon after, it was absorbed into the Army of the Potomac, and subsequently took part in the battles of Fair Oaks and Manassas Plains. Colonel Brown, its commander, was killed in the latter engagement. Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville and the pursuit of Lee through Maryland into Pennsylvania preceded the second day's battle at Gettysburg in the record of the Twentieth. There its loss was very heavy and included the death on the battlefield of its commanding officer, Colonel John Wheeler. First Lieutenant Ezra B. Robbins, of this county, was also killed at Gettysburg.
The Twentieth was one of the regiments sent to New York City to restore order there as the result of election riots. In January, 1864, a portion of the regiment re-enlisted for veteran service, and in the spring was with Grant's army in the fearful campaigns of the Wilderness. At Cold Harbor, the veterans and recruits of the Four- teenth Regiment were consolidated with the Twentieth, and not long afterward was called to the siege of Petersburg. It also took a lead- ing part in the operations preceding the fall of Richmond, and was finally mustered out at Louisville, in July, 1865.
TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT (THREE YEARS)
During the first eighteen months of the war the Twenty-first was in the infantry service, but thereafter, until January, 1866, was in the heavy artillery branch. As a three years' organization, it was mustered into the service at Indianapolis, in July, 1861, with James W. McMillan as colonel. After it reached the front, it was held for
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HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
several months in Baltimore, engaged in General Lockwood's opera- tions against Confederate points in eastern Virginia. In the spring of 1862 it joined Butler's expedition to New Orleans, and was the first Union regiment to march into that city. For several months its main activities were directed against blockade runners in the Louisiana district. In November, 1862, Colonel MeMillan was pro- moted to be brigadier general and Lieutenant Colonel John L. Keith assumed command of the Twenty-first.
By command of General Banks, in February, 1863, the Twenty- first regiment was transferred to the heavy artillery branch of the service, designated as the First Heavy Artillery, and two companies were added to it. As thus reorganized, it participated in the siege of Port Hudson and the Red River expedition. In the winter of 1863-64 a large portion of the regiment veteranized, and returned to Indiana on furlough. At the conclusion of their leave of absence, the men rejoined the service as a command of the Department of the Gulf, and in April, 1865, six of its batteries were assigned to positions in the siege of Mobile and the reduction of its protecting forts. After these objects were accomplished, the different batteries were assigned to duty in the neighborhood, with headquarters at Mobile. As a whole, the regiment was mustered out at Port Hudson, in January, 1866, following a grand parade of its twelve batteries, but about 200 of the men, under command of Captain William Bough, preferred to be discharged in Indianapolis.
THE TWENTY-SECOND INFANTRY REGIMENT
Five companies in the Twenty-second Infantry were represented by Kosciusko County recruits, the largest quota (about forty) being in Company D. During almost four years of its service in the Civil war, this regiment marched, campaigned and fought with the armies of the Southwest, finally joining Sherman's army in its sweep to At- lanta, and northward through the Carolinas to the last decisive battlefields of the conflict.
The Twenty-second was organized at Madison, Indiana, in July, 1861, and mustered into the three years' service at Indianapolis, in the following month, with Jeff. C. Davis (then captain in the regular army) as its colonel. In December, Colonel Davis was commissioned brigadier general. In March, 1862, it lost heavily at the battle of Pea Ridge, among those killed being Lieutenant Colonel John A. Hendricks. Soon afterward it joined the Union army fronting Co- rinth, and after the evacuation of that place became a part of the
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forces engaged in the pursuit of Bragg. At Perryville it lost half of its effective strength, and among those killed in that battle was the lamented Colonel Keith. The force of the Twenty-second was also materially reduced at Stone River. From that time on, its history is identified with that of the Army of the Cumberland-Mission Ridge, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Savannah, Bentonville and all the rest. In December, 1864, enough of the Twenty-second had re-enlisted to retain the regimental organization and it was after its return from the Indiana furlough that it joined itself to Sher- man's army and the fortunes of the great commander, as the Union forces under him swept up from the south to join Grant and the armies of the North.
TWENTY-SIXTH INDIANA INFANTRY
In Companies A and C were the Kosciusko County men of the Twenty-sixth Indiana Infantry, which was mustered into the mili- tary service of the United States, at Indianapolis, in August, 1861. The colonel of the regiment was William M. Wheatley. It left for St. Louis and the front in the following month to participate in Gen- eral Fremont's Missouri campaign. The regiment remained in that state and in Arkansas until June, 1863, when it was ordered to join Grant's army before Vicksburg, which fell on the fourth of the suc- ceeding July.
Soon after the surrender of Port Hudson, the Twenty-sixth was transferred to that place, and subsequently to Carrollton, Louisiana. In September, the regiment was badly defeated at Morganza, and nearly half of the force was captured and confined for several months at Tyler, Texas. In February, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted as vet- erans and after their return from furlough were assigned to garrison duty at Fort Butler, where they remained until the spring of 1865. At that time the campaign opened against Mobile, and the last im- portant action in which the regiment engaged during the remainder of the war was the assault upon Spanish Fort. It was mustered out at Vicksburg, in January, 1866.
THE TWENTY-NINTH REGIMENT
A dozen or more Kosciusko County men were members of the Twenty-ninth Infantry, which, in August, 1861, was mustered into the service for three years, with John F. Miller as colonel. In Oc- tober, it joined General Rousseau's command at Camp Nevin, Ken-
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tucky. Its first battle was at Shiloh, where it lost heavily in men and officers, and it was in the front line at the siege of Corinth. Upon its battle flags were also inscribed Stone River, Chickamauga and other leading engagements. In January, 1864, the regiment veteran- ized, but thereafter its services were confined to garrison duty. It was mustered out of the service in December, 1865.
THIRTIETH REGIMENT (THREE YEARS)
The Thirtieth Infantry was largely composed of Kosciusko County men, Company B and Company I almost entirely consisting of "home boys." The regiment was organized at Fort Wayne and mus- tered into the service for three years, in July, 1861, under the com- mand of Colonel Simon S. Bass. In October it was ordered to Camp Nevin, Kentucky, and assigned to McCook's division, of Buell's army. It got into the fighting line at Shiloh, where it lost heavily of officers and men. Of the former fatalities, the most serious was the death on the battlefield of Colonel Bass.
The command of the regiment then devolved on Lieutenant Colonel Joseph B. Dodge, a resident of Kosciusko County. The Thirtieth participated in all the campaigns and critical battles of the Rosecrans campaigns in Tennessee and Mississippi-Shiloh, Stone River, Co- rinth, Chickamauga and the other historic engagements which so tested the mettle of both Northern and Southern troops. In Decem- ber, 1863, it joined the veteran organizations of the Union armies, and in the following January was called into the great and decisive campaigns and series of battles conducted by Sherman. After the reorganization, seven companies of the old regiment were formed into a battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Henry W. Lawton. At the fall of Atlanta, the Thirtieth was part of the force which intercepted Hood in his march on Nashville, and fought the battle in defense of that city in December, 1864. With the retreat of the Confederates and their pursuit into Alabama, the regiment proceeded with the Fourth Army Corps to East Tennessee, whence it was ordered to Texas. In that state it saw hard campaigns, but few actual engage- ments, and was finally mustered out at Victoria, Texas, in Novem- ber, 1865. It was still commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Lawton. It is said by old Civil war officers, and the statement is borne out by the records, that the Thirtieth saw as much hard service and lost as many men as probably any regiment that went from the state.
Lieutenant Colonel Nelson N. Boydston was a faithful and able officer in the Thirtieth from Kosciusko County. He entered the serv-
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ice as first sergeant of Company B, and advanced through the two lieutenancies to the head of that unit. At the veteranization of the Thirtieth, he was promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy.
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