Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical., Part 10

Author: Blanchard, Charles, 1830-1903, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : F.A. Battey & Co.
Number of Pages: 982

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USA > Indiana > Owen County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 10

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J. M. Boothe was then elected Orderly Sergeant. Shortly afterward, First Lieut. E. A. Thompson resigned, and T. M. Robertson was pro- moted to succeed him. Charles L. Rugg was elected to the office of Second Lieutenant to fill the vacancy caused by the promotion of T. M. Robertson. The following summer was spent in guarding provisions at Camp Morton. On the 4th of July, the regiment was ordered to Brandenburg, Ky., to meet John Morgan, who was raiding through the country. They did not encounter

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

him, only seeing him at a distance and firing some random shots, which were returned by the enemy without damage. After pursuing Morgan for some days, the regiment again returned to Indianapolis.

During these campaigns, the Seventy-first Regiment lost 215 officers and men killed and wounded, and 347 prisoners ; 225 of the regiment escaped capture.

On the 23d of February, 1863, an order was issued authorizing the Seventy-first Regiment to be mounted and changed into a cavalry organiza- tion. Two additional companies (L and M) were added. Company M was a Clay County company. E. A. Thompson was elected Captain, Francis M. Campbell, First Lieutenant, and James M. Mills, Second Lieutenant. The subsequent operations of the regiment were confined to East Tennessee and Kentucky, participating in the sieges of Knoxville, and doing duty about Cumberland Gap, Tazewell and Mulberry Gap. December 24, 1863, a detachment of Clay County boys was sent out to forage for feed for the horses. They were attacked by a rebel force, and a fight ensued, in which John Braswell and W. L. Carpenter were killed, and Henry Crouse, Henry E. Ellis, Peter Heath and George Coats were taken prisoners. Philip A. Elkin, of Bowling Green, made his escape and got back to camp. Those who were made prisoners all died in Southern prisons.

October, 1863, Capt. Conover was promoted to Major, and T. M. Robert- son was promoted to the Captaincy of the company. The regiment now spent some time in drilling their horses and preparing for the famous cam- paign of Sherman to the sea. The regiment was assigned to the calvary corps of the Army of the Ohio, commanded by Gen. Stoneman. They par- ticipated in the celebrated Stoneman raid. The Sixth Cavalry, during the Atlanta campaign, participated in all the cavalry operations, and was engaged in the battles of Resaca, Cassville, Kenesaw Mountain and other engagements. It aided in the capture of Altoona Pass, and was the first to take possession and raise the flag upon Lost Mountain.

In the Stoneman raid, the Sixth Cavalry lost 166 men and officers in killed, wounded and captured. It was on this raid that C. P. Eppert, together with five other members of the company, were captured, and endured all the unspeakable hardships of Southern prison life. Mr. Eppert had been a resident of this county since the war, until, some three years ago, he procured a position in the Pension Department, and is now in that branch of the Government service. While here, he delivered a number of interesting lectures on the hardships of prison life before Grand Army Posts in this State and Illinois.

On the 28th of August the regiment left Marietta, Ga., and returned to Nashville to be remounted and equipped. Early in September, a part of the regiment was sent in pursuit of Gen. Wheeler. On the 24th of September it left Nashville with Croxton's cavalry division, to assist in repelling the invasion of Middle Tennessee by Forrest. This expedition occupied twenty- one days, and resulted in the defeat of the rebels under Forrest at Pulaski,

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

Tenn., and his pursuit to Florence and Waterloo, Ala. In the engagement at Pulaski, the Sixth Cavalry lost twenty-three men in killed and wounded. İn this engagement, Maj. Carter had his horse shot under him. The regi- ment returned to Nashville in November. On the 15th and 16th of Decem- ber, it participated in the "famous" battle of Nashville, and after the repulse of Hood's army joined in the pursuit of the retreating enemy. Re- turning to Nashville, it remained there until April, 1865, when it moved to Pulaski with the Second Brigade, Sixth Division Cavalry Corps of the Mili- tary Division of the Mississippi. After some further service, the regiment was mustered out, October 1, 1865, at Pulaski, Tenn. It had seen much active duty, and had participated honorably in many engagements. On reaching Indianapolis, it was accorded a generous welcome. On the 21st of June, with other regiments, it was tendered a public reception, and addressed by Gov. Morton, Gen. Hovey and others.

Connected with the history of Company D, of the Seventy-first Regiment, is one of the most notable incidents of the war. It was the execution of Robert Gay, of Clay County, by order of court martial, on a charge of deser- tion. The following history of the affair relating the circumstances attend- ing the execution is taken from a pamphlet published and extensively circu- lated at the time. It is an interesting scrap of history, and may with pro- priety be inserted here :

THE FIRST EXECUTION OF A DESERTER IN THE WEST.

Friday afternoon, a little after 3 o'clock, Robert Gay, a member of Com- pany D, Seventy-first Indiana Volunteers, was shot by order of Court Mar- tial, near Camp Morton, in this city [Indianapolis], for desertion. We be- lieve this is the first execution for such an offense, or any military offense, in the West, and the near approach of the limit of leniency extended by the President to deserters, as well as the solemnity of the occasion itself, makes it peculiarly impressive and important. The order of execution sets forth the offense, and the action of the court and authorities, so fully, that we need do no more than reproduce it here.

GENERAL ORDERS NO. 23.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO, CINCINNATI, March 21, 1863.

At the General Court Martial, which convened at Indianapolis, Ind., on the 27th day of December, 1862, pursuant to Special Orders No. 147, of December 5, 1862, from these headquarters, and of which Brevet Brig. Gen. Henry Van Rens- selaer, Inspector General United States Army, is President, was arraigned and tried Private Robert Gay, of Company D, Seventy-first Regiment Indiana Volunteers.

Charge-Desertion.

Specification-In this: that Private Robert Gay, of Company D, (Capt. Daniel G. Conover), Seventy-first Regiment Indiana Volunteers, duly enlisted and mustered into the service of the United States, did, on or about the 5th day of September, 1862, desert his company, his regiment and the services of the United States, and did take the oath of allegiance to serve the enemy, to wit, the Confederate States, so- called, and to serve them faithfully against all their enemies or opposers whomso- ever. All this at or near Richmond, Ky., on or about the 5th day of September, 1862.

bry Truly

DENTIST, BRAZIL, IND.

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To which charge and specifications the prisoner pleaded "guilty."

Finding and Sentence-The Court finds the prisoner guilty as charged, and does therefore sentence him, Private Robert Gay, of Company D, Seventy-first Reg- iment Indiana Volunteers, to be shot to death at such time and place as shall be fixed upon by the Major General Commanding the Department of the Ohio, two- thirds of the members of the court concurring therein.

This case, which was referred for the action of the President of the United States having been returned for final action under the act of Congress passed at its recent session, authorizing the punishment awarded to those found guilty of being spies or deserters, etc., to be carried into effect upon the approval of the Command- ing General in the field, the finding and sentence are approved; and the sentence, that Private Robert Gay, of Company D, Seventy-first Regiment Indiana Volunteers, be shot to death, will be carried into execution on Friday, the 27th day of March, instant, under the directions of the officer in command of the Post at Indianapolis, Ind.

By command of Maj. Gen. Wright.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF INDIANA, INDIANAPOLIS, March 27, 1863. This order will be executed at 3 o'clock P. M., this day.

HENRY B. CARRINGTON, Brigadier General Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS 71st REG'T IND. VOL'S, BURNSIDE BARRACKS, } March 27, 1863.

The above order was duly executed at this camp, at 3 o'clock, P. M., this day, by shooting to death the above-named Robert Gay.

JAMES BIDDLE, Col. 71st Reg't Ind. Vol' s.

It may not be improper to add that Gay's confession of his guilt does not convey a full idea of its heinousness. He requested the privilege of tak- ing the oath of allegiance to the confederacy, and came back home with the written oath sewed into his clothes for perfect concealment, show- ing that he knew exactly the nature of his act and the importance of evading detection. When arrested, Gen. Carrington searched him and found the fatal document concealed in the leg of his pantaloons. There is, therefore, no room for sympathy or ground for doubt. He was fearfully guilty, and fearfully has he expiated his crime. He was an intelligent man, and of fair attainments. He was, consequently, entitled to less consideration than an ignorant or stupid man who might be supposed to know less of the real nature of his offense. In his last speech, he urged in extenuation of his con - duct that his health unfitted him for a soldier's duties, and he was at that moment, just on the brink of death, in better health than he had ever been in his life. He said he did not feel able to do his duty, and took the oath of allegiance to the confederacy in order that he might not, as a paroled prisoner, be exchanged and forced to return to the service, but get a chance to stay at home. His guilt he admitted, but said it was the result of thoughtlessness, and not a deliberate purpose to desert his country, and we may charitably allow that he told the truth, without in the least im- pairing the justice of his sentence and death.

We are informed that Gay came to this State from one of the river counties of Ohio, a few years before, and that previous to his enlistment he had been engaged in teaching school near Bowling Green, Clay County.

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

After taking the fatal oath, he returned home to Clay County, and was there arrested. He was about twenty-seven years of age, rather above the average height, slender, and looked, as he said, by no means in robust health. Of his life previous to his arrival in this State, we have been able to learn noth- ing. He has an uncle by the name of Palmer, in Pittsburgh, we believe, but we have heard of no other relative. He had no family.

Some days previous to his execution, Gay was sent from the Soldiers' Home, where he had been kept after his sentence, to the county jail. His conduct, both in the guard house and in the jail, so far as we have been able to learn, was unexceptionable. He was visited in the latter place at regular intervals by the Chaplain of his regiment, Rev. Mr. Griffith, and Friday, previous to his departure to the scene of the execution, he was attended by Rev. Mr. Day, of the Baptist Church. Their lessons, it would seem, produced a marked and good effect, as he frequently spoke with great feeling to his fellow-prisoners of their way of life, and the necessity of ref- ormation. Deputy Sheriff Cramer informs us that after dinner, Friday, he called them all, including several " street walkers " of the vilest class, around him, and spoke so fervently and forcibly that he moved them to tears. Even those abandoned, but we may hope not lost, women, gave way freely to feelings that must have long been strangers to their hearts. He conversed much about religion with all visitors, and with the officers of the jail, and expressed his trust in the mercy of the Almighty, and his hope of salvation. He was taken from jail about half past 2 o'clock, and con- veyed in a close carriage to the ground. On his way out, he retained his composure completely, conversed freely about his conduct and life, and seemed quite cheerful. Once he looked out of the coach window, and turn- ing, with a smile, said to Mr. Cramer, " Do you think if I should jump out of the door I could escape from you ? " "I rather think not," said the officer, and he went on with his conversation. This composure he retained to the last, and it formed a striking-we had almost said wonderful-feature of the terrible scene. When taken out of the carriage and walked to the place of execution, as he stood before the file of men who were to kill him he showed no mark of trepidation. Indeed, so perfectly steady were his attitude and step, and so unruffled his features, that several spectators never knew that he was the doomed man until the Sergeant Major began tying his hands. His dying speech was uttered without any tremulousness of tone, and without any of that incoherence which the most intelligent men often exhibit under such circumstances. His voice was clear and distinct, his words unusually well chosen, and his sentences well constructed. His ideas never became confused. If it was not wonderful self-control, it was insensibility to death equally wonderful in such a man. So perfect was his self-mastery, or in- difference, that it was not till he sat down on his coffin that we could re- alize that he was about to die. His calmness seemed to dissipate the sense of peril entirely, and it required an effort, after looking at his steady eye, pale, unmoved face, and unchanging attitute, to bring back the appalling

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fact which the loaded guns and solemn crowd so forcibly declared, that death was in the very act of snatching that man from earth. Even when he sat down on his coffin, and the Sergeant Major was blindfolding him, he calmly drew his knees up so as to set his feet against the side of his coffin, and steadied himself on his terrible seat, as if he was fixing an attitude for a photograph. He heard the clicking of the cocks of the guns of the firing party preparatory to their fearful duty, but even then, though not a second lay between him and eternity, his audible prayer was uttered without a groan or tremor, in voice or limb. We have heard of compousre and calm- ness in the face of death often, but we never saw such an exhibition of it before, and we doubt if the world can show a more remarkable one.

The preparations for the execution were admirably made, both by Gen. Carrington and Col. Biddle. To the latter was intrusted the duty of per- forming the execution. The former made all the preceding arrangements. In order to avoid the presence of a large crowd of spectators, who would, at the last, press upon and disturb the soldiers, and create a great deal of an- noyance, and to avoid the possibility of an attempt at rescue, of which a good many confident hints had been thrown out the day before by the K. G. C.'s, the General first gave out as a secret, which he knew would be revealed quite as extensively as if it had been published, that the execution would take place at 5 o'clock P. M. And to throw off their guard those who might watch his movements for an intimation of the time, he kept a squad of cav- alry at his headquarters, with his horse ready saddled, as if about to start, during the whole afternoon, sent off an escort for the prisoner quietly by a back street, and never went to the execution at all. By this precaution, he managed to keep away thousands who would have embarrassed the proceed- ings and impaired their solemnity. But still enough learned the truth to make a crowd of two or three hundred civilians. The arrangements at the ground were made by Col. Biddle of the Seventy-first, to which regiment Gay belonged, and it is not too much to say that they could not have been better or more complete. There was no disturbance, no disorder, no noise, and no failure to do what was needed at the time it was needed. Though it may appear hardly the proper place to speak of such a thing, no one who saw the orderly, quiet, and complete performance of a duty so new and ter- rible, will refuse Col. Biddle high praise for his judicious management. The place of execution was the open field lying between Burnside Barracks and Camp Morton. Here the Seventy-first was drawn up in a hollow square, with the open side to the east. Into this square a number of gentlemen invited to be present were admitted by Col. Biddle, and had a full view of the whole scene. In a few minutes after this arrangement was completed, the Sixty-third came up, with drums beating, and marching right past the carriage containing the prisoner, who leaned his head partially out of the window to watch them as they formed on the south side of the square. The cavalry were placed on the outside of the Sixty-third, and the artillery on the west and north sides. Thus a compact mass of soldiers of all arms was

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formed, leaving a little vacant space in the middle, with the fearfully sug- gestive opening at the eastern side. No time was lost after the preparations- were completed.

The coffin of plain black walnut, with a flat lid, was brought out and laid in the open end of the square some distance up toward the center. An offi- cer stepped off slowly a space of some twenty-five or thirty feet from the coffin to fix the line to be occupied by the firing party, and then the south- western angle of the square opened, and the firing party of twenty men, two from each company, marched in and formed in two ranks on this line. The spectators inside the square moved over to the left of the line. The soldiers, impassive as statues, changed no feature or muscle, but all seemed to draw a long breath as four men walked in at the open space, and stood in front of the coffin. The one on the right carried a small cord and a band of black cloth in his hands; this was the Sergeant Major of the regiment, whose duty it was to bind and blindfold the prisoner. Next to him was the pris- oner, so unmoved and calm, that everybody had to ask "Which is the prisoner ? " Next to the prisoner stood the Chaplain of the regiment, Mr. Griffith. On the left was a gentleman, a friend of the prisoner, we presume, whose name we did not learn. Thus stood the man who was to die, and the men who were to kill him ! Happily for the latter, the army regulations provide that the firing party shall not know whose gun holds the fatal bullet. The twenty guns are loaded, ten with ball, and ten with heavy blank cartridges. The soldiers who are to fire do not see the loading done, and draw their guns, as they come, out of a confused heap, so that no one can tell whether his gun contains a ball or not. Thus each man is furnished a reasonable probability that he has no part in the bloodshed.

The four men stood between the coffin and the line of soldiers a few mo- ments, the prisoner apparently the most unruffied of them all, and then Adjt. Brown, of the Seventy-first Regiment, stepped forward, and read clear- ly and distinctly the order of execution before quoted. The reading occupied two or three minutes. Then Col. Biddle stepped from the right of the firing party, and said, " Gay, if you have anything to say, you can say it now." The prisoner, without changing his attitude, with his soldier cap hanging in his right hand, as he had pulled it off when the reading of the order began, with his plain uniform coat buttoned over his breast, and his well-worn blue pantaloons tucked into his red-topped boots, without a quiver in his voice, or the wrenching of a muscle in his face, began :

" Fellow Soldiers : I am about to die for the crime of desertion. I have done wrong. I know I have done wrong, but I did it unthoughtedly. I can call God to witness, before whom I must appear in a few minutes, that I did not mean to commit a crime. If a man ever tells the truth, it is when he is. about to die, and I tell the truth when I say that I meant no wrong. When I took the oath of allegiance, I intended only to get home, so that I might stay, for I did not feel able for service. My health was bad. It has always been poor. I am in better health to-day than I have ever been in my life.

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I meant to stay at home, and not to join the enemy. I never intended to desert my country. But what I did was wrong, and I confess it. I never realized the fate that awaited me till my sentence was read to me. Then I felt that I had to die. I cannot tell you how I have striven with the spirit in the time since that sentence was read to me. I feel that I am about to die a sinner. Take warning by me, and prepare for death while there is yet time. Labor to obtain that religion which is more precious than any- thing on this earth. Try to reconcile yourselves to God, and live as your duty requires. I suppose my death is needed as an example. If it will serve my country and warn you, I will die cheerfully. I forgive all my ene- mies, and everybody on earth. I have no malice against any living being. I forgive those who are to fire at me. There are those who thirst for my blood, but I forgive them, too. To you who will fire at me, I would say, take your aim well. Fire at the breast (laying his hand with cap in it on his heart), that is the place. Hold on the spot firmly. I want to die quick- ly. Don't let me suffer. Hold steady on the spot, and shoot at my breast. Again I forgive everybody, and ask those whom I have injured to forgive me."

Throughout this speech, as we before observed, the prisoner's voice was steady, uniform, and devoid of every symptom of perturbation.

When he had closed, Mr. Griffith prayed fervently, and with far deeper feeling than the man himself had shown, for mercy upon him, and for strength to bear his fearful trial. At the close of the prayer, Mr. Griffith and the other gentleman shook him by the hand, and bade him farewell.

The Sergeant Major then stepped up and began tying his hands, which he placed behind his back voluntarily. He stood silent for a moment, and said something which we did not hear, but concluded : "If I could only be spared, I would enter the regiment again, and do my duty as well as any man in it, or (hesitating), as well as I am able." By this time his hands were tied, and he glanced round the ranks, and up at the sun, as if to take a last look at earth. The Sergeant Major led him to the coffin, and seated him upon it, facing the firing party, with his back to the east. He sat a sec- ond, drew his feet toward him, and settled himself back on the coffin, as if to brace himself against the shock that was to come so soon and so terribly. The Sergeant Major tied the band of black cloth round his eyes, and stepped rapidly off to the right and front, out of the range of the guns. Then the prisoner, being left alone for the first time, exclaimed, " O, that I could see my death," in a tone of deep sadness, which those who heard will never for- get. A whisper from Lieut. Sherfey to the firing party brought all the guns to a " ready." The clicking of the cocks was heard distinctly all around. The prisoner heard it, too, but he only showed his consciousness of it by the movement of his lips in prayer, which became audible, but not intelligi- ble, as the guns were lowered to take aim. "Lord God," in a low tone, as if part of his prayer was heard, and the crash of the guns followed instantly. At the explosion, he fell straight back over his coffin, without a sound or

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struggle. His feet, which rested on the coffin, were motionless. He had ob- tained his wish. His comrades had done their duty well and truly, and killed him instantly. The surgeon ran to him. "Is he dead ?" asked Col. Biddle. "He is dying ; he will be dead in a few moments," said the doctor. He gasped for half a minute spasmodically, not breathing, and was dead. He was lifted into the coffin, the bandage taken off his eyes, and his little blue cap put on his head. There were eight shot holes in his coat, seven of them in his breast, any one of which would have killed him almost instant- ly. One struck him right in the heart, but there was not a drop of blood visible. The bullet holes were as clean as if cut with a pair of scissors. Under his body upon the ground was a thick puddle of blood, for the balls had gone through him, and the blood ran out below. One shot struck him in the throat, and another grazed his shoulder. All ten of the balls struck him, an extraordinary proof of the coolness and steadiness of the men. The Sergeant, with his carbine in reserve, stood by the coffin, to shoot him in the head, and end his misery, if it had been necessary, but, much to his relief, the work had been surely done without him. The coffin was put into Undertaker Weaver's wagon, the troops were dismissed, and the most im- pressive and dreadful scene ever witnessed in Indianapolis, and the first military execution in the West, was over.

The following extract is taken from a letter written by Capt. T. M. Rob- ertson, of Company D, Sixth Indiana Cavalry (Seventy-first) Regiment, from Nashville, Tenn., under date of February, 1865, to the Aurora Borealis, a paper at that time published in Clay County :

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Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical., Part 10

Author: Blanchard, Charles, 1830-1903, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : F.A. Battey & Co. Number of Pages: 982

Author: Blanchard, Charles, 1830-1903, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : F.A. Battey & Co.
Number of Pages: 982