USA > Indiana > Vermillion County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 7
USA > Indiana > Parke County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 7
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men, then, coming in close quarters, clubbed his gun and disabled two more; again fired, with the stock of his gun almost off, and again brought down his man. Of the enemy, he certainly killed three and possibly two more. From accounts published by J. H. Beadle in 1880 and by Isaac R. Strouse in 1896, the following has been largely compiled :
COMPANY A, FOURTEENTH REGIMENT.
The first full company that left Rockville was on May 8, 1861. They went to Camp Vigo, Terre Haute. It was composed of the very best young men of the community. Its officers were: L. A. Foote, captain; Thomas Williams, first lieutenant; T. A. Howard, second lieutenant; Robert Catter- son, orderly sergeant. At the same time Captain Wheat enrolled forty men in Rockville, and the remainder of the company in Rosedale. Captain Foote's company became A of the Fourteenth Indiana, and voted to go into the service for three years, on May 25, 1861, three days before the order of the war department which organized the three-year regiments. On June 8th, the day after the company was mustered, the ladies in Rockville gave a din- ner at Camp Vigo, to Company A, and Captain Foote was then presented with a sword, the speech of presentation being made by T. N. Rice. Before these men left Terre Haute, G. W. McCune, of Rockville, was appointed assistant surgeon of the regiment and Nathan H. Kimball commissioned colonel. They left Camp Vigo, June 25, 1861, for Indianapolis, and were sent from there direct to the seat of war in Virginia. After serving some months, Captain Foote and Lieutenant Howard resigned; Lieutenant Bost- wick was killed at Antietam and at Fredericksburg Captain Kelley was killed. Lieutenant Baker's leg was shot off. The command of the company was then given to Joshua L. Hayes, who had enlisted as a private. From the start the regiment made an enviable record, and Company A was second to none in the army. In the fight, camp or march they were always true repre- sentatives of an ideal American soldier of the volunteer type, which Gen- eral Logan contended was the best soldier the country had. They partici- pated in the battles of Greenbrier, Winchester, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Wilderness, Cold Harbor. At the latter place they were ordered to Indianapolis and mustered out, having served three years. Those who veteranized were transferred to the Twen- tieth Regiment and remained until the end of the war.
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COMPANY H, TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
Capt. John T. Campbell, who was rejected from the Fourteenth on ac- count of the want of teeth, came home and immediately began raising a com- pany. The men at Annapolis, on June 30th, elected John T. Campbell, cap- tain; Thomas Bryant, first lieutenant ; James Connelly, second lieutenant ; and William P. Wimmer, adjutant. The company was composed of intelligent, fine looking men, under thirty years of age. They received orders to report at Indianapolis, and left Rockville, July 5th. They were assigned to Colonel McMillen's Twenty-first Regiment, and became Company H. From Indi- anapolis they went direct to Baltimore, where they remained during the winter and in the spring moved by water for Newport News, there embarking on the ship "Constitution" for Ship Island, and became a part of the Army of the Gulf, under General Butler, which had for its object the capture of New Orleans. Leaving Ship Island, they were sent to New Orleans, after the fall of Jackson and Phillipi. During their service as infantry their duty was of the most dangerous character, being employed to dislodge rebels from the swamps and bayous of Louisiana, and they were constantly fighting the enemy. The company took part in the battle of Baton Rouge, and signally distinguished itself, suffering severe losses. In this fight Captain Campbell was wounded and, to the regret of his men, had to leave the service. After the battle of Baton Rouge the regiment became the First Heavy Artillery and Company H became noted for the remarkable accuracy of its gunners, doing very effective service at the seige of Port Hudson. It has been said that Company H contained the best gunners in all that department of the army. In the disastrous expedition up Red river, this company bore an active part in repelling the repeated attacks of pursuing rebels. After their return, the most of the regiment having veteranized, they went to New Orleans and soon after took an active part in the Mobile campaign, which resulted in the cap- ture of Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, and finally in the surrender of the city itself, with an immense amount of ordnance and three hundred cannon. The company went to Baton Rouge and were there detained till January 13, 1866, when they received their final discharge.
THE WABASH RIFLEMEN.
This was the little company of men raised by Fred Arn and William H. Beadle. They rendezvoused at the Fair grounds in Montezuma, where, on August 6th, they elected Fred Arn, captain; W. H. Beadle, first lieutenant,
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1
and Dr. Richard Waterman, second lieutenant. They left Montezuma Aug- ust 19th, and before leaving were presented with a beautiful flag by the ladies of the place, Hon. T. N. Rice presenting it on behalf of the ladies. Arriving at Terre Haute, they were kept in Camp Vigo till September 2Ist, then ordered to Evansville, where they drew their rifles and went to Kentucky. During the long and dreary winter they suffered from sickness, being stationed at Calhoun, Kentucky. This winter was the hardest of their campaigning. In February they went to Fort Donelson and gallantly fought through that bloody battle. The next fight was Shiloh, in which the gallant Arn, then a major, was killed. His body was returned home and buried at Montezuma by the Masonic fraternity. This company stood unflinchingly while the battle raged hottest in front of Murfreesboro and went down to "the Valley of Death" at Chickamauga. They were made veterans January 1, 1864, and came home on a furlough, returning in time for the brilliant Atlanta campaign. They took part in the battles of Resaca and Kenesaw mountain and were in that awful slaughter at Jonesboro, below Atlanta, which ended that historic cam- . paign. When Hood made his desperate raid back upon Nashville, they were sent with the division to overtake him and engaged in the battle of Nashville. The company was mustered out December 8, 1865.
THE PENN GUARDS.
At the breaking out of the war a company was organized and called the "Penn Guards." George Harvey proposed that they go into the United States volunteer service, whereupon fifteen at once declared their wish to volunteer. Recruiting began at once and was aided by James Hollowell and William Geiger of Rockville. They organized and elected Harvey captain ; Geiger, first lieutenant, and Hollowell, second lieutenant, the latter later be- coming colonel of his regiment. This company was mustered into the Thirty- first Regiment and became Company I. At the battle of Pittsburg Landing, Captain Harvey was severely wounded and while being carried from the field was shot through the head and instantly killed. His remains were brought back to Rockville and escorted to his father's house, two miles north of town, by the Rockville Union Guards. The citizens of the place asked permission of his family to bury Captain Harvey in the cemetery at Rockville, which was granted. Over his grave was erected a befitting monument, telling how he fought and died that the country might live. The history of Company I, as to the engagements in which it took part, is the same as Company A. Both
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companies, after the battle of Nashville, were transferred to the Army of Occupancy in Texas, and mustered out on December 8, 1865.
COMPANY K, FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
John Callender raised this company, aided by William S. Magil, William Sweeney, V. P. Bonsell and Samuel Garrigus. The company collected at Terre Haute and it was decided not to hold an election of officers until it was completed. At the election held at Camp Vigo, Tuesday, October 29th, John Callender was chosen captain; W. S. Magil, first lieutenant; G. H. Hensel, second lieutenant. As soon as the citizens heard of the election, a fine sword was presented Lieutenant Magil, who acknowledged the compliment by a card published in the Parke County Republican. Company K was presented with a handsome flag by the patriotic ladies of Rockwell, which flag was sent to the town later, with appropriate ceremonies. July 4, 1865, General Steele was commissioned colonel of the regiment, which took its departure for Ken- tucky, November 17, 1861 and, were located for a while at Spottsville, but soon sent to Calhoun, where they remained until February, 1862. Company K engaged in the work of true soldiers and. suffered some, but fared better in health than other commands, owing to the extra time and expense used by Colonel Steele to take good care of his men and their surroundings. But later, while this company was on duty along the Mississippi river, it suffered much from sickness, as did other soldiers of that department. Colonel Steele resigned January 17, 1862, which act was deeply regretted by his men. The other officers of the regiment petitioned him and passed resolutions of regret and desired him to remain in the service, but his health would not permit. The company was transferred to the Department of the Mississippi and most of its service was along that stream. They were with the Forty-third Regi- ment, the first Union soldiers to enter Memphis, after the war began. From Memphis they were sent to Arkansas, participating in the battle of Helena, July 4th, doing some excellent fighting. This regiment captured a full rebel regiment of greater numbers than the Forty-third. At Little Rock they re- enlisted as veterans and were sent home on a furlough. They returned to Indianapolis and were never sent to the front, but guarded rebel prisoners until mustered out, July 14, 1865.
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THE NINTH BATTERY.
This command was raised by Captain Thompson, of Evansville, In- diana, who recruited about forty men in Parke county. The remainder of the battery was enrolled in Montgomery county. It was organized at In- dianapolis and left for Cairo, Illinois, the men being thoroughly drilled and then sent on to Tennessee in the vicinity of Pittsburg Landing, where they arrived Sunday, April 6th, at sundown. The battery was composed of young men and from their youthful appearance became known as the "Boy Battery." Their extreme youth and inexperience led many of the old soldiers to doubt their usefulness, and they were often told that they would never stand what they had just gone through that day, but would run at the first opportunity. The battery was finally planted on the extreme right of the Union lines, and was supported by Gen. Lew Wallace's brigade. Directly in front of the Ninth was a rebel battery which had done good service on Sunday. In the early morning the Ninth opened the great battle which was to end in defeat of the rebels and the death of one of their great generals-a battle never before equaled on this continent and almost without parallel in modern war- fare. The Ninth soon dismounted and silenced the rebel battery and was advanced about two miles, where they fired every charge of ammunition they had. During the fight they had fired one thousand three hundred rounds and experienced officers said they never saw guns served or aimed with greater effectiveness. The men who predicted the "boy battery" would run gave three rousing cheers, when they saw how manfully they worked at their guns and afterwards the Ninth was known as the best battery in the whole service. After the battle the battery was returned by General Wallace, until the evacuation of Corinth, where they went with the Thirteenth Army Corps (then under gallant McPherson). Among the principal actions in which they engaged were famous Shiloh, Corinth, those of the Meridian campaign and Red River expedition and from Vicksburg they were deployed on the expedition against the rebels. At Memphis they veteranized, and all save a detachment were sent home on furlough. The men left took part in the battle of Tupello, Mississippi, after which they chased Price through Missouri over into Kansas, marching seven hundred and twenty miles and returned in time to fight at the battle of Nashville. At this battle. A. P. Noel, wounded at Tupello, came out of the hospital and joined his battery on his crutches. He was seen by Gen. A. J. Smith, who ordered him back, but Pat wanted to stay and only went to the rear when taken in charge by a
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guard ! The Ninth was ordered to report at Indianapolis, after the battle of Nashville. From there they were to take boats for Evansville. When a few miles out from Paducah, Kentucky, the steamer "Eclipse" exploded; on the boat were sixty-eight of this battery, and all but ten of the brave boys were killed, scalded or wounded. The Ninth was reorganized at Indianapolis, but never reported for duty, as the surrender of Lee to Grant occurred soon after they were reorganized, when all the light artillery not in the field was mustered out. With the Ninth Battery ended the enlistment for the second grand uprising. The next call, in the summer of 1862, was made, when the Seventy-fifth, Seventy-eighth and Eighty-fifth Regiments were sent to the field from Indiana. The action of the Parke county men in these engage- ments will be traced out further in this chapter.
PARKE COUNTY AGAIN TO THE RESCUE.
In 1862, the demand for soldiers was greater than in 1861, when it was a matter of conjecture what the Confederates could and would accom- plish. But not so in 1862; it was then a dread reality what they were doing to our forces. McClellan had marched nearly "on to Richmond," but retreated, after the slaughter of Malvern Hills, Glendale, Gaines Mills, etc. The Army of North Virginia, with its veterans from Manassas and Seven Pines, were pressing forward to the music of "Maryland, My Maryland," and that under Kirby Smith, eager to avenge Zollicofer and Fort Donelson, had re-entered Kentucky, with evident intention of invading Indiana. The patriotic men of Parke county were called upon and responded nobly as before, enlisting by the hundreds in the armies of the Union.
On July 11, 1862, Wallace W. McCune, assisted by some patriotic young men, began raising a company, with headquarters at the fair grounds at Montezuma. At a war meeting held at Rockville, July 26th, addressed by ex-Governor J. A. Wright, Lieutenant McArthur, of Captain McCune's company, enrolled a number of men. After camping a few days at Monte- zuma, the company went into Camp Vigo, Terre Haute, after which it was sent to Indianapolis and mustered into the Seventy-first Infantry for three years and became Company G. The regiment was immediately sent to Ken- tucky and took part in the battle of Richmond when only twelve days from home. Most of the regiment were taken prisoners, after hard and desperate fighting. They were immediately paroled and sent to Terre Haute. Captain McCune resigned November 30, 1862, and Lieutenant McArthur became captain. The regiment was sent back to Kentucky after being exchanged, and in February, 1863, was changed to a cavalry organization and became
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the Sixth Indiana Cavalry, after which it was sent to eastern Tennessee and engaged in the siege of Knoxville. In the spring of 1864 they were sent to Georgia and assisted in the Atlanta campaign, as part of the Army of the Ohio, participating in all of the cavalry operations and taking part in the battles of Resaca, Cassville and Kenesaw Mountain. After the fall of Atlanta they were sent with Sherman on his raid against Macon, which resulted in the surrender of his staff and the greater part of his command. Of the captured, twenty of the company starved to death in prison-Andersonville and Libby. Those not captured were at the battle of Nashville and remained in that city till April, 1864, when they were sent to Mississippi and became part of the military division of that state. They were mustered out September IIth at Murphreesboro, Tennessee.
COMPANIES C AND D, SEVENTY-EIGHTH.
During the last week of July, 1862, one hundred and twenty men for sixty days' service were raised in Parke county, mostly from Rockville and Bellemore. The company went to Indianapolis, where some difficulty about the election of officers occurred and the company, being too large, was divided. Those who preferred T. A. Howard as captain stepped to one side, and those wanting J. W. Humphreys to the other. Captain. Howard was the favorite with most of the men, consequently the Rockville company was the largest. They elected Howard captain, J. M. Nichols, first lieutenant, and Madison Keeney, second lieutenant. The Bellemore company elected Humphries, captain; E. Cole, first lieutenant, and S. Crooks, second lieutenant. The two companies, with one from Clay and Putnam counties, became the Seventy-eighth Indiana, which regiment was never completed, and left In- dianapolis Friday evening, August Ist, for Evansville, where they drew arms and uniforms and Saturday evening went to Henderson, Kentucky, remained one day and Sunday night went by boat down the river to Union- town and marched to the country several miles to capture some guerrillas, but owing to the want of a competent guide the expedition was abandoned. During that march Private Loveless, of the Bellemore company, was mor- tally wounded, being shot by his own comrades, who, without orders, fired upon the skirmish line of their own men. On September Ist the battalion- one hundred and fifty men-were attacked by seven hundred and fifty Rebels and, after a severe fight, lasting an hour and a half, during which Captain Howard and many others were killed and others mortally wounded, they had to surrender. Though the Rebels were victors, their success was dearly
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bought, as about twenty of their number were killed and many more wounded. The men of the Seventy-eighth were paroled and sent to Indianapolis, where they were discharged.
COMPANY A, EIGHTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
This command was raised at Annapolis and sworn in at that place in August, 1862. Company A was presented with a beautiful silk flag by the ladies of Annapolis, Dr. J. S. Dare, on behalf of the ladies, making a neat speech. The company went to Terre Haute, where it elected Abner Floyd, captain ; C. Sherman, first lieutenant; H. Ingraham, second lieutenant, and A. McCune, first sergeant. The regiment was organized September 2d and the next day went to Camp Morton, from which they were ordered to Camp Wallace, at Covington, Kentucky, where they were thoroughly drilled and then sent to Tennessee. In their first fight, at Thompson's Station, they made a gallant record, being in battle with their brigade against five brigades of Rebels, under Forrest. In this fight Captain Floyd was killed. The Union men fought all day against an overwhelming number and every round of ammunition was fired before they would surrender. The prisoners were taken to Richmond, where they were confined twenty-six days and then re- turned to Indianapolis, exchanged and again sent to Franklin, Tennessee. When Sherman concentrated his matchless army for the Atlanta campaign, this regiment went to Chattanooga and was assigned to his command. Com- pany A was in the fierce charge upon the hills of Resaca, driving Rebels from works which seemed impregnable, and took part in the battles of Cassville, Dallas Wood, Golgotha Church, Culp's Farm, Peach Tree Creek and many more, and when Atlanta finally fell and was "fairly won" and Sherman again took the field, Company A went with him to the sea, marching through Georgia, to Savannah, and on through the two Carolinas to Richmond. From Richmond, they went to Washington, D. C., and back to Indianapolis and were discharged.
COMPANY B, EIGHTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
This organization was effected as a part of the Eighty-fifth Indiana Volunteers and was begun in July, 1862, and completed by electing Francis Brooks, captain; David Phillips, first lieutenant; Robert Clark, second lieu- tenant. The company left Camp Dick Thompson, at Terre Haute, with the regiment, September 3, 1862, and went via Indianapolis and Cincinnati, to
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Kentucky, where it struck the Kirby Smith raiders and lay in line of battle several days and nights without a single cartridge. It soldiered along through the "dark and bloody ground" and was then ordered to Tennessee. Its first engagement was at Thompson's Station, where it behaved well, but, with other portions of the regiment, was captured and taken to Libby prison. The prison life caused the death of nine members of the company. After its release and exchange, it again entered the field and participated in the Atlanta campaign, "down to the sea," through the two Carolinas and on to Washing- ton, D. C., where it took part in that greatest of all military pageantries, the Grand Review. It was then mustered out.
COMPANY F, ELEVENTH INDIANA CAVALRY.
This company was chiefly organized by Capt. Daniel A. Porter, in the autumn of 1863. First Lieutenant D. Phillips and a man named Taylor, with a party of Illinoisians, was sent to help form the required number. Taylor was elected second lieutenant, but never commanded, John E. Wood- ard being afterwards chosen by the men, received his commission as second lieutenant. The Eleventh, greatly to its disappointment and in violation of the promise made the soldiers at their enlistment, was not immediately mounted and placed in duty on the front. They were scattered by companies along the Memphis & Charleston railroad in the spring of 1864 in Alabama, where dis- ease killed more than the bullets would have. In the fall the regiment was driven in by Hood's advance, mounted at Nashville and sent to meet him at Columbia, Tennessee. The regiment, one of those forming Stewart's bri- gade, Hatch's division, made a complete circuit of the Rebel army and its many battalions, moving by different routes and often in close quarters with the enemy. Company F, with three others, was on one occasion almost entirely surrounded, charged by three columns and shelled at three hundred yards' distance. The greater part of the command escaped by cutting their way out to the Nashville pike. There about thirty men rallied and drove back the front of the Rebel advance, re-took the prisoners and retired in good order, as the heavy columns of the Texas cavalry came up. The battalion that evening lost nearly one hundred men in killed, wounded and missing. This was known by soldiers as "Spring Hill fight." At Franklin, the Eleventh was on the left flank of Schofield's army, but not in actual engage- ment, as there was no place for cavalry to operate. They made a good record at Nashville, the regiment fighting dismounted, taking eight out of sixteen Rebel cannon. It is said that Frank Howard was the first man to capture a
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gun. Of two hundred and fifty men in the last charge at dark, they lost thirty- seven men in less than three minutes. Bert Chapman, the orderly in com- mand (acting adjutant), showed soldierly qualities. He stayed through the thick of the fight, refusing to let a serious lameness from an old wound keep him out of the battle. John Lindley, a sergeant, rode a white horse through a corn field, where the Eleventh left most of its dead lying, at which point the field officers and Lindley dismounted and led the brigade to its last charge, just as the curtain of night fell, and took in four of the Rebel guns. From that point the company followed Hood, being all the time in front and almost daily engaged with his rear guard, until he crossed the Tennessee. Lindley was promoted to captain; Chapman to first lieutenant and Howard to sec- ond lieutenant. The regiment was sent west in May, 1865, riding from St. Louis to buffalo ranges in western Kansas. They were brought back and mustered out in the fall of that year.
THE HUNDRED-DAYS' MEN.
August 7, 1864, under the call for twenty thousand men from Indiana, to serve one hundred days, Company H, Indiana Legion-"Rockville Guards" -began to recruit, preparatory to offering the company organization to the volunteer service. The number was soon made up, a large number of Rock- ville men who would be accepted under the call, and many who could enlist for three years, volunteering. On Monday, May 9th, the company elected Milton Vance, captain; S. B. J. Bryant, first lieutenant ; James Phalon, sec- ond lieutenant, and L. A. Foote, orderly, who was later made major of his regiment. The company left Tuesday for Indianapolis, accompanied to the depot in a heavy rain storm by a large crowd of ladies and gentlemen. At Indianapolis, the company presented their captain with a handsome sword, Private J. M. McLaughlin making the presentation speech, which was replied to by Captain Vance. After being organized as Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-third Indiana Volunteers, they left Indianapolis for Nashville, May 21st, and after a few days there were sent to Bridgeport, Alabama. They were as well drilled as any single command in the army at that date, but were never sent to the front, remaining at Bridgeport, doing guard duty, until mustered out of service.
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