USA > Indiana > Clay County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 71
USA > Indiana > Owen County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 71
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During the month of August, 1862, the rebel army of Northern Vir- ginia, under command of Gen. Lee, began its great movement North, and on the 15th of August the Second Corps marched down the peninsula to Newport News. The Fourteenth Indiana embarked on the steamer "Illinois," and proceeded up the Potomac to Alexandria, where it landed on the 28th day of August. Gen. Lee was at that time concentrating his whole army against the Union forces commanded by Gen. Pope, and was threatening to overwhelm him. The Fourteenth Indiana, with the whole of the Second Corps, marched out to Centerville, where it remained to as- sist in covering the retreat of Pope's army, after the defeat at the second battle of Bull Run. The Second Corps then marched back to the Potomac River, above Alexandria, and marched up the river to the chain bridge, above Washington a short distance, and crossed the river on that bridge on the 2d day of September, 1862. From that point the route of the Second Corps was through Rockville, Urbana and Frederick City to South Mountain, where it arrived on the 12th day of September, 1862. The Second Corps was not up in time to take a part in the battle of South Mountain, but was held in reserve. From South Mountain the Second Corps marched to Sharpsburg, on Antietam Creek, where it arrived on the 16th day of September. Early on the morning of the 17th, the roar of
David & Been,
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cannon and the rattle of musketry announced the opening of the great battle of Antietam. The First Brigade, Third Division, Second Corps, was ordered into battle at 8 o'clock A. M. Every soldier of Company H, Fourteenth Indiana, who was then present and on duty, fell instantly into line; the regiment waded Antietam Creek and piled their knapsacks; then re-forming, moved in splendid line of battle across the open fields, while the roar of battle increased in their front every moment. The troops occupying the line in front of the Fourteenth Indiana had been engaged with the enemy for more than one hour, and were being hard pressed. When the Fourteenth arrived these troops retired, and for more than four hours this part of the line was held by the Fourteenth alone against repeated efforts of the rebels to break it. This portion of the line was in an open field and within sixty yards of the rebel line of battle. The rebels at this point, immediately in front of the Fourteenth, occupied an old road which ran down a long descent, and had worn out a gully some six feet deep. This formed an admirable defense for them, and as the Fourteenth was in an open field, with no protection whatever, the rebels had greatly the advantage. Here the Fourteenth held the ground from 8 o'clock A. M. until 12:30 o'clock P. M., the rebels in their front being re-enforced by two fresh columns of infantry.
Having exhausted sixty rounds of ammunition and emptied the cart- ridge boxes of all their comrades who had been killed and disabled by wounds, the remnant of the regiment was relieved by the Irish Brigade of New York, which held that part of the line until the close of the battle. The battle of Antietam was a bloody one for the Fourteenth and the First Brigade of French's division, of which the Fourteenth was a part. The stubborn stand made by the First Brigade in this great en- gagement won for it the title of the "Gibraltar Brigade" from Gen. French, who also complimented the Fourteenth Indiana for their un- usual bravery. The morning after the battle, a walk along the old road occupied by the rebel line in front of where the Fourteenth had fought four hours and a half disclosed a wonderful scene. The road was lit- erally piled with the slain of the enemy; and some of the historians of the war have denominated it the "bloody lane." But the loss on our side was also great. Antietam was a dark day for the old Fourteenth, in view of the heavy loss in killed and wounded. It entered the battle with 320 officers and men. Of these, thirty-one were killed and 150 wounded. Three officers were killed and seven wounded. The loss of Company H was fearful. The company went into the battle with two officers, Capt. David E. Beem and First Lieut. Porter B. Lundy, and thirty-five enlisted men. Porter B. Lundy was killed by a ball which pierced his forehead, causing instant death, after he had been in the fight more than three hours. The total loss in killed and wounded was twenty-one. Besides Lundy, the following men were killed and died on the field from wounds: George M. Richey, Benjamin F. Baker, Lewis Houston, Hugh Barns, John Peters. Among the wounded were First Sergt. Jesse S. Harrold, Harrison Woodsmall, Charles Bonfanti and others. Jesse S. Harrold was wounded in five different places, and was the next day recommended for promotion to Second Lieutenant.
After the battle of Antietam, the Second Corps marched down to Harper's Ferry, where the men waded the Potomac River at the rapids above the railroad bridge, and went into camp on Bolivar Heights, where it remained until October 29. From that point it proceeded to Fal-
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mouth, on the Rappahannock River, opposite the city of Fredericks- burg, where it arrived on the 18th day of November, 1862. There it remained in camp until the 13th day of December.
The rebel Army of Northern Virginia, under Gen. Lee, occupied the heights beyond Fredericksburg, on the south side of the river, and had a strongly fortified position on this semi-circular range of hills. Gen. Burnside, then in command of the Army of the Potomac, determined to assault the enemy in this stronghold. The Second Corps crossed the river on ponton bridges, laid under a galling fire by artillery on the heights and sharpshooters in the streets of Fredericksburg. The rebel works were about 1,000 yards beyond the city, the space between being open fields and commons. The attacking column had to move over this open space, exposed to a fierce artillery fire in front, on the right, and on the left. French's Division was selected to lead the assaulting column. The soldiers all knew that there was a mistake somewhere; that the odds were too great to give any reasonable hope of success. No doubt many a soldier, as did the writer, on that December day, while the column was being formed for the charge, with the rebel guns frowning on every side, thought of Tennyson's description of the " Charge of the Light Brigade " at Balaklava-
" Forward the light brigade, Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew Some one had blundered. Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die; Into the valley of death Rode the six hundred.
"Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well Into the jaws of death; Into the mouth of hell Rode the six hundred."
At 12 o'clock M. precisely, the storming column, led by the Gibral- ter Brigade, with the Fourteenth Indiana on the right, moved out of the streets of Fredericksburg by the right flank, and crossed a canal. or. mill race, which ran south of the city, on the stringers of a bridge, the rebels having torn up the plank. From the moment the column emerged from the streets, the rebels opened a galling artillery fire from the hills on ev- ery side. After crossing the canal, the brigade came to a front and charged in double quick time toward the rebel works. They were in a vortex of shot and shell, but the column moved on until it arrived within range of the infantry fire. By this time, those who had escaped death and wounds were too much exhausted to undertake to storm the rebel breastworks, which were discovered to be very strong. Taking advantage of a depression in the ground, which afforded a fair protection from the fire of the enemy's batteries, they remained in this position until dark, when they were withdrawn. Considering the great loss sustained by other commands in this engagement, Company H, of the Fourteenth, escaped remarkably well. Samuel Craig was mortally wounded and died in a few days. Among the wounded were, Capt. David E. Beem, slightly;
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James H. Brown, Henry B. Stoneman, Thomas Gibson and others. During this battle the color bearer of the Fourteenth was killed. Cor- poral Gibson, of Company H, took them up, but in a few moments re- ceived a severe flesh wound in the neck, and was directed by. an officer to lay down the colors. He refused to do so, saying "That is what we are fighting for," and continued to bear the colors until Maj. Cavins. then in command of the regiment, detailed a Corporal to relieve him. This circumstance is mentioned as a worthy instance of heroism in the hour that tries the soul. We shall find, further on in this history, that this brave boy was killed more than eighteen months afterward, in the bloody charge at Spottsylvania Court House.
In the month of January, 1863, Gen. French, commanding the Third Division, Second Corps, presented the color bearer of the Four- teenth Indiana with an elegantly finished rifle as a token of his ad- miration of the bravery and heroic endurance of the soldiers of the regiment on several battle fields. The writer knows of no similar com- plimeut to any other regiment in the Army of the Potomac.
After the battle of Fredericksburg, the Fourteenth Indiana, with the whole army, went into winter quarters on the north side of the Rappahannock, where it remained until the 28th day of April, 1863. In the meantime, an attempted movement against the enemy was foiled by reason of bad weather and roads, which terminated the effort without any battle.
On the 28th day of April, the Army of the Potomac was thrown across the Rappahannock, the Second Corps crossing at United States Ford, some twenty miles above Fredericksburg. The disastrous battle of Chancellorsville was fought on the 1st, 2d and 3d days of May, 1863. On the 1st and 2d, the Gibraltar Brigade was held in reserve. The right wing of our army, having been broken and hurled back in great con- fusion by the flank movement of Stonewall Jackson's corps, and the whole right wing being in peril, on the morning of the 3d day of May, the same being the third day of the fighting, the Gibraltar Brigade, with the Fourteenth Indiana on the right, was ordered forward to check the ad- vance of the rebels, and to gain time for the formation of a new line by the main army. The enemy was advancing through a dense forest of timber and undergrowth. Their presence was not discovered by our troops until they were within twenty or thirty yards of them. The whole brigade opened fire on the rebels, in one tremendous volley, which was returned by them in a spirited manner. Our troops dashed forward, however, and the rebels giving away were pursued three quarters of a mile. Here the Gibraltar Brigade came to the Plank road, beyond which, about six hun- dred yards, was a whole corps of the rebels in an open field. The enemy had planted a battery, which threw grape and canister shot down the Plank road, and thev started a large body of troops around the right of our brigade, to cut them off. Under these circumstances, the brigade, being fully three-quarters of a mile in advance of the main line, to avoid capture, slowly fell back. The charge had been made in a brave and dashing manner, and fully accomplished the object in view-that of delay- ing the rebels, while the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps re-established their shattered lines. The loss of the Fourteenth in this battle was seven killed and sixty wounded. The loss of Company H. was as follows: killed, Charles I. Knight, Harrison Anderson, Henry Thomas and George W. Hall; wound- ed, Lieut. Jesse S. Harrold, Charles Fignor, Leander Fairleigh and
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Thomas H. Sudbury. The Fourteenth Indiana captured eighty-five prisoners, in their charge through the woods. Gen. French, in his of- ficial report made honorable mention of the regiment for its noble con- duct.
The army retreated to the north side of the Rappahannock, and the Fourteenth Indiana returned to its old camp near Falmouth. They were not allowed to repose long, however, for Lee soon started on his last campaign of Northern invasion. Qn, the 14th day of June, 1863, the whole army broke camp, preparatory to meeting the enemy on other fields. On the night of that day, the Fourteenth Indiana, with the Sec- ond Corps, began their march. They proceeded by the way of Stafford Court House, Dumfries, Fairfax Station, on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, and Centreville to Edwards' Ferry, on the Potomac River. Crossing the river at that point, the line of march lay through Poolsville and Frederick City, in Maryland; thence by way of Uniontown to Taneytown, in Pennsylvania. On the morning of July 1, the First Army Corps, under the command of Gen. Reynolds, engaged the rebels north of Gettysburg, and with an inferior force bravely held the ground until he laid down his life. His corps was forced back through the town, taking position around Cemetery Hill, south of the town. News came to the Second Corps early in the morning that the First Corps was hotly engaged. A forced march of fourteen miles from Taneytown brought the Second Corps to Gettysburg late in the after- noon. Gen. Hancock, commanding the Second Corps, had pushed on to Gettysburg in advance, and assisted in selecting the battle ground and disposing of the troops as they arrived on the field. Deciding that Cemetery Ridge was the proper place to make the stand, the corps and divisions were rapidly placed in position. The Second Corps was placed just west and to the left of Cemetery Hill. There was heavy fighting on other parts of the line during the 2d day of July, but the Fourteenth was not engaged until late in the evening of that day. A few minutes before dark, the rebels made a heavy charge on the Eleventh Corps, with the hope of breaking the Union line in the center, and capturing the batteries on Cemetery Hill. The infantry support- ing the batteries were driven back, and left our artillery in a very criti- cal condition. The Gibraltar Brigade was detached from the Second Corps, and ordered to the rescue. They arrived just in time to save it from capture. Charging over the hill and down to the right of the cemetery, the Fourteenth Indiana met the rebel infantry among the guns of our battery, and drove them rapidly down the hill. The artillery- men, when they saw that their guns had been rescued, lustily cheered the soldiers of the Fourteenth as they rushed down upon their enemies. In this charge, the Fourteenth captured the battle flag of the Twenty- first North Carolina Regiment, and a number of prisoners. The loss of the regiment was six killed and thirty-five wounded. Company H lost two killed and several wounded. Sergt. John Troth and Corp. Isaac Norris were killed in the midst of the guns they had helped save from capture. Corp, Norris was carrying the flag of Company H, then used as the regimental battle flag. A ball struck the staff, breaking it in pieces, and killing him instantly. In many respects the battle of Gettysburg was the most eventful of all the battles in which the Army of the Potomac was engaged. To the Fourteenth Indiana it was not as bloody as that of Antietam and several others in which it bore a part.
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The fact of the Fourteenth being detached to repulse the rebel charge on the evening of July 2, placed them on the right of the cemetery, where they remained until the end of the engagement, and removed them where they did not hear the shock of the great charge of the rebels on the Second Corps the next day. The thrilling incidents and sublime scenes of Gettysburg. cannot be forgotten. The desperate fighting of the First Corps, and the heroic death of its commander on July 1; the charge made to capture the Union batteries on Cemetery Hill in the dusk of the evening on July 2; the artillery duel of 150 guns on each side, which volleyed and thundered for two long hours; the grand charge of Lee's assaulting column of 15,000 men against our line on the left of the cemetery, and the magnificent repulse by Hancock's Second Army Corps, on the 3d day of July; the long and vociferous cheering which passed along the line of battle by the Union soldiers when they saw that thousands of prisoners and scores of rebel battle flags had been captured-all these scenes and many more made it a notable day for all who witnessed them.
After the battle of Gettysburg, the Second Army Corps marched by the way of Taneytown, Frederick City and the old Antietam battle ground to Williamsport. Lee's army having returned across the Potomac, the Second Corps crossed the river below Harper's Ferry, and marched to Elk Run, about six miles south of Warrenton, on the Orange & Alexan- dria Railroad, arriving there July 26, 1863.
About the middle of August, the Fourteenth Indiana was ordered to New York City, to aid in quelling the draft riots, which had assumed formidable proportions there in consequence of the treasonable attitude and utterances of some prominent parties who opposed the prosecution of the war. The regiment proceeded by rail to Alexandria, where they embarked on a steamer and were conveyed by water to New York. Arriv- ing at that city on August 23, they were stationed on Governor's Island and in East New York until September 6. The regiment then received orders to report to Gen. Hancock, in command of the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac. Returning by water to Alexandria. the regiment proceeded to join the Second Corps, which it did at Wilson's Creek, Va., where it arrived on the 10th of September. A short time after, it partici- pated in a lively affair with the enemy at Bristow Station, and again at Mine Run on the 27th day of November. Company H sustained no loss in either of these engagements. The regiment then went into winter quarters near Stevensburg, on the 1st day of December, 1863, where it remained during the winter. On the 6th day of February, 1864, the Second Corps left camp for the purpose of making a strong reconnoissance of the enemy's position on the south side of the Rapidan. Wading the stream where it was waist deep, and while the ice was running, they found the rebels in full force a short distance south of the river, and a brisk engagement ensued, in which the Fourteenth Indiana was actively engaged. Sergt. Noah Johnson, of Company H, was shot and instantly killed. Capt. David E. Beem received a slight flesh wound in the side, and Henry B. Stoneman was seriously injured by a shell which struck his knapsack, and violently tore it from his shoulders.
On the 4th day of May, 1864, Gen. Grant having assumed command, the Army of the Potomac broke camp and commenced a southward move- ment, never to retreat another foot. It proceeded along that line on which Grant soon after said he "would fight it out if it took all summer."
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From this time until the close of its term of service, the Fourteenth had almost continuous hard fighting.
At Spottsylvania, on the 12th day of May, the Fourteenth, then in Carroll's brigade, of Gibbon's division, Hancock's (Second) corps, par- ticipated in the famous charge against the rebel breastworks. The in- trenchments were very strong, and in front of Carroll's brigade were in the form of a sharp angle or salient. The charge was .made at 4:35 A. M. The column rushed forward, and when about half way across the fallen timber in front of the rebel intrenchments, they burst into a cheer and swept onward in the face of a terrific fire, scaled the rebel intrench- ments at the angle, where they had a desperate hand-to-hand confiict be- fore the foe surrendered. The charge was a glorious success. The Sec- ond Corps captured 4,000 prisoners of Ewell's corps, and twenty pieces of artillery. The rebels made a desperate effort to regain their intrench- ments, and the fighting during the remainder of the day at this point was kept up with great loss of life on both sides. Gen. A. A. Hum- phreys, one of the historians of the Army of the Potomac, says, in speak- ing of the conflict at the angle: " The fighting was literally murderous." The commander of a Vermont brigade in the Sixth Corps says: "I was at the angle the next day. It was there that the somewhat celebrated tree was cut off by bullets; there that the brush and logs were cut to pieces and whipped into basket stuff; there that the rebel ditches and cross-sections were filled with dead men several deep. The sight was even more sickening than at the bloody lane of Antietam. There a great many dead men were lying in the road and across the torn-down fences; but they were not piled several deep, and their flesh was not so mangled, and torn."
Col. John Coons, then commanding the Fourteenth, was killed while scaling the rebel intrenchments with his men, and the loss in killed and wounded was great. In Company H, Sergt. Thomas Gibson was killed, and Richard S. Stoneman was missing, never to be again heard of by his friends.
The last battle in which the Fourteenth Indiana was engaged was at Cold Harbor. The term of service was to expire on the 6th day of June. On the 5th day of June, while the regiment was lying close up to the rebel lines, George E. Mull, of Company H, was killed by a rebel sharp- shooter. The death of this brave boy, occurring only a few hours be- fore his term of service was to expire, after he had passed unhurt through so many fierce battles, and while he was in the full enjoyment of health and youthful vigor, and filled with the pleasing anticipations of a speedy and joyful meeting with loved ones at home who were wait- ing his return, filled his surviving comrades with unusual sadness. The circumstance, however, is proof of the fact that Company H of the Four- teenth Indiana, the first company which was organized in Owen County to fight the rebellion, was found at the post of danger and duty up to the last hour of its term of service.
Late in the afternoon of June 6, 1864, the company was withdrawn from the front line, and ordered to Indianapolis, where it was mustered out on the 20th day of June, to date back to June 6.
Of the original 100 men who left Owen County in this company, on- ly twenty-five returned with the company, nineteen having fallen in bat- tle, five having died from disease, and all the remainder having been disabled by disease or wounds and discharged during the three years.
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HISTORY OF OWEN COUNTY.
Below is given the names of all the officers and men who served in Company H, Fourteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteers:
Captains-John H. Martin, promoted Major April 24, 1862; David E. Beem, commissioned May 13, 1862.
First,Lieutenants-Dudley Rogers, resigned September, 1861; David E. Beem, commissioned September 15, 1861; Porter B. Lundy, commis- sioned May 13, 1862; John S. Sullivan, commissioned September 18, 1862.
Second Lieutenants-Wiley E. Dittemore, resigned September, 1861; Porter B. Lundy, commissioned September 15, 1861; John S. Sullivan, May 13, 1862; Jesse S. Harrold, September 18, 1862.
First Sergeant-David E. Beem.
Sergeants-Samuel Davis, John J. Rose, David H. Allen, Harrison Woodsmall.
Corporals-James R. Fritts, John S. Sullivan, Wesley Coffey, Ander- son W. Rogers, James M. Dyar, James H. Richardson, Benjamin F. Horne, Charles Tignor.
Musicians-Samuel M. Archer, Charles I. Knight.
Wagoner-William D. Painter.
Privates-Harrison Anderson, Eli Anderson, James P. Asher, Ma- rion W. Brasier, William H. Brasier, Joseph M. Baldwin, Florentine H. Burnette, Phillip Boos, Hugh Barnes, Benjamin Balling, Benjamin F. Baker, Patrick Bryan, Felix Bender, Samuel Brown, Charles Bonfanti, Silas D. Coffey, Benjamin F. Cavins, Gideon S. Campbell, George W. Cooksey, Samuel S. Coleman, Harvey J. Dittemore, Benjamin F. Daniels, James M. Fletcher, Lander Fairleigh, Daniel Gallup, William H. Gal- lup, Isaac Green, Thomas Gibson, Levi A. Hale, John Hale, Jesse S. Harrold, Milton Harrold, Alonzo Harrold, Elijah Hogean, Lewis Hous- ton, William C. Hond, William E. Hall, George W. Hall, Andrew Jack- son, Theodore Jarrold, Noah Johnson, Daniel Johnson, Hiram D. John- son, John H. Kehling, Francis M. Law, Isaac Leas, George C. Massey, Andrew T. Massey, William H. Mason, George E. Mull, John T. Mull, James P. Mitchell, Benjamin Morrell, Thomas J. McIntosh, John L. Pool, Joseph Pruett, Mortimer R. Quackenbush, John H. Randleman, Joseph T. Ross, George M. Richey, Samuel Smith, Henry B. Stoneman, Thomas H. Sudbury. George W. Spainhomer, John W. Scott, Peter Schaffer, John Tratle, Edley Tooley, Henry Thomas, Wilson Thomas, William L. Thompson, Wesley Thompson, James M. Winans, Milton D. Wilson, William P. Whitson, John Wasson, George W. Willis, Jesse W. Wellborn.
Recruits-David Arnold, Daniel Beem, James H. Brown, John S. Craig, Abiathar Dodd, John B. Joslin, Isaac E. Johnson, James W. King, William H. Love, Alfred H. Pochin, John C. Reed, William Rice, George S. Stoneman, Richard S. Stoneman, Daniel Mills.
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