USA > Indiana > New history of the 99th Indiana Infantry : containing official reports, anecdotes, incidents, biographies and complete rolls > Part 12
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""'How the darkies shouted when they heard the joyful sound, How the turkeys gobbled that our commissary found, How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground, While we were marching through Georgia.'
"Every corps had its especial mark so that there was. no possibility of confusing trails. Three cuts on a tree was our mark, and the others had different marks so that a straggling soldier, regiment or brigade would know whose trail they were on, or whether they were ahead of
174 New History of the Ninety-Ninth Indiana Infantry.
the rest. Marching on different roads this was a good arrangement.
" 'So we made a thoroughfare for Freedom and her train, Sixty miles in latitude, three hundred to the main, While we were marching through Georgia.'
"As I grow older I think more and more of the old days, and if I live until the next reunion of the regiment I will be there. I hope you will publish the history for you have a grand story of patriotic service to put upon the record."
I need not say to the members of the old regiment that when the colonel took me in his buggy and drove me to the depot at Bronson, after a visit of two days, that it was a joy to live over the old life with him again who had so thoroughly linked the name and fame of Fowler with the 99th Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
CHAPTER XXIV.
SKETCHES OF COMRADES.
The sketches that follow are many of them imperfect, but they are the best I can make with the data at hand. I would have been glad to include many more but they have not sent me the means of doing so.
Ash, Daniel, captain of Company E. Born August 31, 1819, in Wayne county, Ohio. Married in 1842, in Marshall county, to Rachel Turner, and has three children living. He entered the service as captain of Company E, but his health failing April 24, 1863, he re- signed and returned to Morocco, Indiana, where he has resided ever since the war. He has now retired from active pursuits and is mak- ing his home at Morocco with his youngest son. He was a good man but could not endure the hardships of the service.
Allbaugh, David, Company I. Born March 12, 1841, in Miami county, Ohio; entered the service in August, 1862; was discharged February 10, 1865, on account of wounds received at Atlanta July 22,
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Sketches of Comrades.
1865. Was married April 19, 1866. Had one son, his wife dying in 1867. Married again May 7, 1872; his wife and one daughter are now living. Has lived for the last thirty years at Eaton, Ohio, which is his address. His occupation is that of a farmer.
Alley, George H., Company B. Born in Rush county, Indiana, November 17, 1841. Was a faithful soldier; was wounded May 28, 1864, at Dallas, but recovered. Since the war, has lived in Califor- nia, Oregon and Washington. Has a wife and five children. Pres- ent address, Goldendale, Washington.
Alley, John M., Company B. Was 1st sergeant to October 31, 1864, and 1st lieutenant April 27, 1865. Born in Rush county, Indi- ana, January 29, 1836. He served intelligently and faithfully through the service. Since the war he has lived in California and Oregon. He has a wife and two children and his present address is Nehalem, Tillamook county, Oregon.
Ashcraft, Salem C., Company B. Born January 27, 1836; mar- ried September 12, 1858; wife died August 16, 1877. Served through the war. Has six children living. Address, Philadelphia, Indiana. .
Ball, Lafayette, Company K. Born July 24, 1843, Washington county, Pennsylvania; brought to Cass county by his parents in 1844, where he has always resided, except while in the service; was married in 1870; has wife and three children; served through the war; has always been a farmer. Address, Logansport, Indiana.
Brunton, Cyrus, Company E. Born September 17, 1841, in Tip- pecanoe county, Indiana; served through the war. Married Novem- ber 8, 1866, at Morocco, Indiana, near which place he lives with his family on a farm, which is his occupation. Address, Morocco, Indiana.
Berry, Meshack, Company K. Born March 31, 1836, in Cass county, Indiana; married June 9, 1861. Served through the war; has lived in Cass county since the war. Address, Anoka, Cass county, Indiana.
Beeker, Manford A., Company F. Born January 15, 1843, Tip- pecanoe county, Indiana. Served through the war. Married Septem- ber 4, 1867; has lived ever since at his present home on Pretty Prairie, Tippecanoe county, Indiana. Has a wife and four children liv- ing. Occupation has always been that of farming and stock raising. Address, Battle Ground, Indiana.
Brewer, Jacob, captain Company C. Born September 4, 1817; came to Porter county, Indiana, in 1836, where he lived and labored at the blacksmith trade until he entered service at Valparaiso, In- diana. On the organization of Company C he was chosen captain, but he was too advanced in years to endure the hardships of a sol-
176 New History of the Ninety-Ninth Indiana Infantry ..
dier's life, and on account of ill health was compelled to resign May 7, 1863, and return to his home in Valparaiso. He suffered greatly for many years before his death with the rheumatism; being unable to walk he moved from place to place and about the house in a wheeled chair. He died at Valparaiso April 15, 1887. He had two boys who served their country faithfully during the war, one of them, Winfield, being a drummer in the 99th and serving through the entire war, being but a boy of fourteen when he entered the service.
Brownell, Ezra, corporal of Company A. Born in Schoharie, New York, December 25, 1838. Enlisted from Lake county, Indiana, and served through the war. Lived in Lake county after the war until 1875, when he moved to Madison county, Iowa, where he has since resided. Has been twice married; first in February, 1866, and has three children, Frank, Fred, and Otto. Comrade Brownell has always kept in touch with his comrades, attending reunions when he could. He has been a farmer but is retired at present. Ad- dress, Winterset, Iowa.
Breyfogle, Michael J., Company C. Born November 15, 1840, in Ohio; his parents came to Porter county, Indiana, in 1846, where: he enlisted in 1862, and served through the war. Married January 1, 1861, at Valparaiso, to Miss Lavina Fisher, and they have seven children living. Their first child, born January 8, 1862, died while the father was in camp at Scottsboro. He went back to Porter county after the war, but in 1866, moved to Grant county, Wisconsin; in 1871 from there to Lincoln county, Dakota; in 1875 from there to- Buchanan county, Jowa; in 1886 to Delaware county, where he now resides. A true soldier and comrade. Address, Masonville, Iowa.
Cook, Charles N., Company K. Born in Williamstown, Berk- shire county, Massachusetts, and enlisted August 18, 1862, and went through all the campaigns up to November 8, 1864, when being sick, it was decided he was unable to make the "march to the sea," so was sent to hospital to recover. He was sent from one to another and was finally discharged July 8, 1865, from hospital on Davis Island, in Long Island Sound. After discharge came back to Lo- gansport, Indiana, and settled about five miles north of that city, where he now owns and lives on a farm. He was married in Febru- ary, 1866, and now has a family of three children, and five grand- children. Comrade Cook is a good christian man, respected by all, and loves his old comrades Address, Logansport, Indiana.
Crane, Thomas J., sergeant Company H. Born in Brown county, Ohio; married October 2, 1861, in Perry township, Boone county, Indiana; has wife and six children living. Served through the war and has lived near Lebanon, Boone county, Indiana, his- present address, since the war; engaged in farming. Served three months in the 7th Indiana Regiment, Company A, in the three
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Sketches of Comrades.
months' service. Was captured near Wyatt, Mississippi, in April, 1863; was taken by way of Atlanta to Libby prison at Richmond; was exchanged and returned to the regiment at Black River, Missis- sippi, and was with the company to the end of the war.
Cathcart, James L., quartermaster. Born March 29, 1841, in LaPorte county, Indiana; entered the service in August, 1862, and appointed William N. Severance and Alva B. Parks, two very com- petent men as his sergeants. He served through the war, and this history will give sketches of him and his sergeants and wagonmas- ters at various periods of their service. H. H. Haskins, Frank Til- lotson, John Hale, and Edwin Michael were at different times con- nected with this department. While on leave of absence at home in September, 1863, he married Miss Emma Hixon, at Westville, Indi- ana. Both of them have passed away, Comrade Cathcart dying in 1888. They left some children I believe, who live at the old home near Westville, Indiana.
Clegg, Hiram B., Company F. Born October 8, 1831, in Sidney, Ohio. Served faithfully through the war in Company F, enlisting from Tippecanoe county, Indiana, which has been his home since the war. Married January 1, 1866. Occupation, teaming. Ad- dress, West Lafayette, Indiana.
Dickinson, Thomas, Company A. Born May 7, 1844, in Harri- son township, Carroll county, Ohio. Enlisted in Company A, and served through the war. Address, Lowell, Indiana.
Dutton, George C., sergeant Company A. Born January 28, 1828, at Middleburg, New York. Enlisted in Company A, and served faithfully for more than a year when his health failed and he was discharged at Camp Sherman, Mississippi, September 5, 1863. Lived in Lake county after the war until 1878, and since that time has lived in Dawson county, Nebraska. His wife is dead but he has four living children. A good, christian man, his influ- ence has alwas been on the right side. Address, Cozad, Nebraska.
Dodge, Paul, Company A. Born September 19, 1844, in Lake county, Indiana. Moved to Kankakee, Illinois, when ten years of age; enlisted in August, 1861, in Company D, 43d Illinois Infantry ; discharged in August, 1862; enlisted the same month in Company A, 99th Indiana; served during the war as musician of Company A; after the war went to Michigan, married March 18, 1866; has a wife and four children living. Comrade Dodge was one of the men bap- tized in Wolf river, Tennessee, in the spring of 1863. He is re- spected by all his comrades as a good, true man. Address, Hesperia, Michigan.
Dorman, Richard T., Company H. Born April 10, 1843, at Brighton, Sussex county, England. Came to America when young,
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New History of the Ninety-Ninth Indiana Infantry.
QUARTERMASTER-SERGEANT WM. N. SEVERANCE. 1900.
Born February 21, 1836, at Fort Ann, New York. Came to South Bend, Indiana, in 1852, where he was a law student when the war broke out. He was acting quartermaster at South Bend fair grounds, assisting the ladies of that city, Mrs. Dwight Deming Mrs. Farnham, Mrs. E. V. Clark, and others, in providing for the needs of the soldiers there, so that he became familiar with the work and was appointed by Lieutenant Cathcart as his quartermaster- sergeant, and served as such until the close of the Atlanta cam- paign, (see page 168). He rode a little black mare called "Kitty" that was well known to all the members of the regiment. He was a thorough business man and prompt and efficient in his place. Since the war he has resided in Minnesota most of the time, where he has taken a prominent part in political affairs as a republican politi- cian. He is at present in Washington, D. C. for a short time seeking a position there. He ought to have a good place. The author had a pleasant visit with him there last month. He helped me very much in my work in the army, and all his old comrades remember him as a good true man. Address, Appleton, Minnesota.
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Sketches of Comrades.
and enlisted August, 1862, near Pittsboro, Indiana, and served until close of war, being wounded May 28, 1864, at Dallas. Came home and settled at Pittsboro, where he is engaged in the business of a general merchant. He was married February 28, 1872, to Miss Se- rilda J. Dillon, and they have a fine family of seven boys and two girls. Comrade Dorman, like all the rest, takes pride in the record of the old regiment of which he was a part. Address, Pittsboro, Indiana.
Fishel, Jacob, Company K. Born in Johnson county, Indiana. Married in 1866, in Brown county, and has a family of ten children. Has been a farmer all his life. Address, Exchange, Morgan county, Indiana.
Gaskill, Adam J., Company H. Born August 28, 1843, near Waynesville, Ohio. Served through the war in Company H. After the war lived in Boone county, Indiana, until 1870, when he moved to Franklin county, Kansas, where he has lived ever since. Mar- ried July 30, 1867, to Harriet Loop, and they have seven children. One son, Frank M., served in Company K, of the 20th Kansas, in the Philippines, and is now 2d lieutenant in Troop A, of the 11th Cavalry. Comrade Gaskill is engaged in farming and contracting. Address, Ottawa, Kansas.
Hicks, John A., Company C. Born September 6, 1840; has wife and two children; occupation, that of a farmer, but has retired and is now living in Valparaiso, Indiana. Comrade Hicks was con- nected with the hospital department of the regiment during most of the war, and was a faithful assistant to Dr. Butterworth and Hospi- tal-Steward Whitman.
Hicks, William T., Company C. Born May 3, 1842, at Brook- lyn, New York; served through the war. Married November 12, 1865; has a family, a wife and four children. Since the war, has lived near Valparaiso, Indiana, which is his present address.
Harvey, John, 1st lieutenant Company D. Born in Scotland September 7, 1830; was living at Peru and entered the service as sergeant of Company D, and promoted to 1st sergeant, and May 21, 1865, was appointed and mustered as 1st lieutenant, and was mus- tered out with the regiment. He was very severely wounded in the hip July 22d, at Atlanta, and did not recover sufficiently to be able to join his company until at Raleigh, April 21, 1865. He was faith- ful as a soldier, but his present address is to me unknown.
Julian, George W., captain Company K. Born June 12, 1832, in Fayette county, Indiana; his father moved to Logansport, Cass county, when he was 1 year of age; his father died when Captain Julian was 13 years of age, and he became in a measure, the sup- port of his mother and the family of eight young children; he at-
180 New History of the Ninety-Ninth Indiana Infantry.
JESSE H. TRAUT, COMPANY A. 1900.
Born October, 6, 1832, at Girard, Erie county, Pennsylvania. Married November 12, 1854, at Mckean, Pennsylvania, to Lavina Scott. Has a family of two sons and two daughters, all married and have families of their own. He moved to Lake county, Indiana, in 1858, where he enlisted August 9, 1862, in Company A. Went with the regiment through all the campaigns and was severely wounded at Dallas, May 28, 1864. After the war he returned to Girard and has resided there ever since, engaged in lumber business, farming, and freighting for a wrench factory. Has been fairly successful, and says: "Have retired from business at present and am trying to take life easy." Has filled a number of local offices, being at present borough auditor, also trustee, steward and treasurer of the Metho- dist church. Although somewhat separated from his comrades, he has not forgotten them or the old days. Address, Girard, Erie county, Pennsylvania.
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Sketches of Comrades.
tended the seminary in Logansport, an institute in White county and the Indiana State University, and then studied law with Judge Stuart, of Logansport. In 1859 he spent a year at Pike's Peak; on a final organization of his company he was appointed captain in May, 1863, and was with all the campaigns of that regiment until after the fall at Atlanta, when he resigned and came home. He re- turned to Cass county and was a useful citizen and honorable man up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1897, near Logans- port. He leaves a family. The comrades who knew him will al- ways pay a tribute to his memory while they live.
Julius, Jacob H., Company B. Born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, September 1, 1840. Served faithfully through the war and since coming home has lived in Henry, Madison and Tipton coun- ties, Indiana, nearly all the time in Tipton county, where he owns a small farm about two miles north of Hobbs, which is his address. Comrade Julius has been three times married, and is living at present with his third wife.
Kendle, James H., Company K. Born January 25, 1844, at Logansport, Indiana; served through the war; was wounded by the explosion of a shell at Kenesaw Mountain; sent to the Marietta hospital where he recovered. Was married in 1858, his wife dying three years after; married again his present wife, who is still living. He is by occupation a painter and paper-hanger. Has pleasant home at No. 3712 Harmon street, Marion, Indiana.
Landis, Solomon A., Company I. Born April 20, 1848, in Mi- ami county, Indiana. He was known by every man in the 99th as "Dixie" or "Little Dixie, " and was one of the youngest soldiers, if not the youngest, who was regularly enlisted and served four years, or during the entire war. He enlisted in Company F, 16th Indiana, for one year, in May, 1861, being 13 years and 1 month old. Served his time out with that regiment being mustered out August 8, 1862, and two days afterward re-enlisted in Company I, and served with the regiment until the close of the war. In November, 1865, after his discharge, he entered the regular army in the 8th Cavalry, rising to 2d lieutenant of scouts in two years, by service in California and Idaho. He resigned in November, 1868, and has since been engaged in business and is now, and has been for years, the manager of the Oregon School Supply House, at Albany, Oregon. He has been twice married and has six children. He was one of the best for- agers in the regiment. He says: "I was always looking for some- thing to eat that was good, but I never missed a fight or march, or shirked a trick on picket duty."
Loux, Charles L., Company C. Born October 1, 1838, in Cass county, Michigan. Married December 7, 1865; has a family. Has lived since the war, part of the time in Indiana and part of the time
182 New History of the Ninety-Ninth Indiana Infantry.
CALVIN SPURGEON, COMPANY I. 1863.
Born December 19, 1838, in Henry county, Virginia. Came to Indiana when young. Enlisted in Company I and served through all the campaigns of the regiment. Married July 14, 1867, and has a family of two boys and three girls. Has lived since the war in Howard county, Indiana, on a farm. The above picture is one taken in 1863 in Tennessee, and he is not greatly changed from it now, only as age shows itself. Faithful in war, he is a true comrade in time of peace. Address, Sycamore, Howard county, Indiana.
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in Kansas, engaged in farming. Served through the war; was cor- poral, sergeant, first sergeant and on muster out commissioned 2d lieutenant. Address, Westmoreland, Kansas.
Linderman, Christopher H., Company K. Born February 2d, 1824, in Germany; served through the war. Has lived mostly in Kansas since the war. Died February 8, 1900, leaving a wife and eight children, all of whom are married. The address of the wife and family is St. John, Kansas.
Lambert, John T., Company G. Born May 31, 1840, in Hendricks county, Indiana; served with the regiment through the war. Mar- ried in 1861; has wife and six children living; occupation, a farmer. Address, Alaska, Morgan county, Indiana.
Long, Jeremiah F., Company I. Born in 1837 in Tennessee; married in 1869; has wife and family. Lived seven years in Indi- ana after the war and the rest of the time in Kansas. Occupation that of a laborer. Address, Louisburg, Miami county, Kansas.
Moore, Thomas C., Company E. Born February 17, 1833, near Greensboro, Indiana. Has been twice married but both wives are dead, the last one dying in 1898; he has three children and is mak- ing his home with a married daughter, Mrs. E. O. Herath, at Brook, Indiana. Kentland has been his home for many years, his occupa- tion being that of a carpenter. He served faithfully during the war.
Michael, Edwin, Company A. Born in Lake county, Indiana, September 17, 1840; family moved to Westville, Indiana, in 1856, where he lived four years attending school and teaching part of the time. The family moved back to the farm in West Creek, Lake county, and in the summer of 1862 he enlisted in Company A; was one of the sergeants and went with the regiment through all its ser- vice. He returned to the farm and was married January 1, 1866, to Miss Thirza H. Dyer, of Wheaton, I11. They have five children, four girls and one boy. He is still on the farm, and his address is Lowell, Indiana.
Myers, William, Company F. Born October 24, 1834, in Ger- many; enlisted August, 1862, and served through the war. Married January 13, 1867, at Michigan City, Indiana; has family of four boys and three girls; has lived in Carroll county, Indiana, since the war. Is by occupation a farmer. Address, Pittsburg, Indiana.
McGregor, John C., lieutenant Company K. Born April 21, 1845, near Zanesville, Ohio; came to Cass county with his parents in 1849; worked on the farm until the war began; enlisted in 1861 in a Missouri regiment and was in campaign with Generals Lyon and Fremont; was engaged in battle at Wilson Creek, August 10, 1861, where General Lyon was killed; was also in the engagement at Pea Ridge, March 8, 1862, after which he was discharged and returned
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New History of the Ninety- Ninth Indiana Infantry.
COLONEL ALEXANDER FOWLER.
At various places in the body of this history will be found inci- dents of Colonel Fowler's history, so I need only make a short sketch of his life since the war. At its close, in partnership with two other gentlemen, he went down on the Arkansas river and raised a crop of cotton, making a great strike in a financial way. The next year, just as they were ready to pick the cotton, the levee above them broke and their cotton went down the river and all was a total loss. His money gone, he returned to South Bend and sold his property there for $2,000, and with that as his capital, went into the lumber business at Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1868. He did well and made money until the grasshoppers came and ate Kansas up. Lumber sales stopped as well as collections, and although he owned fifteen houses in Fort Scott, he could not get enough out of them to pay the taxes. He traded them the next year for a farm about fifteen miles northwest of Fort Scott and went out there and engaged in farming.
He began gradually to increase his possessions year by year as corn began to grow again, and went into raising hogs until he began to feel his head above water again. When he had reached his highest point, and his own corn and all he could buy was in a fine drove of hogs about ready for the market, in steps the cholera and every hog had to be buried instead of sold. Nothing discouraged, he went into raising and feeding cattle for a number of years until he found himself with a good farm well stocked and three thousand dollars of surplus cash in the bank. This he decided to use in building him a pleasant house, which he proceeded to do, but a few days after it was finished and the family had moved into it, it
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Sketches of Comrades.
caught fire and was burned to the ground, a total loss without insurance, and he had to go back to the old house and begin anew. The next year he built him another house, and at this date, Decem- ber, 1899, has a very good house and about 1,000 acres of land with a very small indebtedness upon it.
Colonel Fowler has been four times married. (See page 48 for an account of his first and second marriages.) The daughter by the first wife, spoken of then, is dead, the other, the "war babe, " as she was called, is now Mrs. Julia Fowler Cover, who lives at River- side, California. Her picture will appear in this volume. He moved to Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1868, where his second wife died in 1873. . In 1874 he married Mrs. Lucinda Moody, of Kansas City, by whom he had four children that are yet living. Shedied in 1886, and in 1887 he married his present wife, by whom he has one child. He is a great man for home, and is happy in his domestic relations. His address is Bronson, Kansas.
JULIA FOWLER COVER. 1900.
Born in South Bend, Indiana, in June, 1861, the daughter of .Colonel Alexander and Julia Cummings Fowler. Her home is at Riverside, California, and has been since 1877. Her husband is a veteran soldier and she is a great friend of the soldiers, an active worker in the Womans' Relief Corps, and as she has taken so much interest in this history I thought all would like to see her picture, as it resembles the colonel as he was when we knew him in days of old.
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New History of the Ninety-Ninth Indiana Infantry.
Harras
1899.
Born September 25, 1826, in Jefferson county, New York. Came- to Indiana in 1846, having alway resided at Peru, Indiana, since 1852. Studied law in Rochester, New York, and has been in part- nership with his brother, Hon. John L. Farrar, at Peru for over forty years. He recruited Company D, and was chosen captain and was with the regiment from the beginning to the end of its service. Being of a quiet, conservative disposition, and not self-assertive, he is one of the men who perhaps never received the credit that was due him. He was in command of the regiment on the reconnoisance to Dalton and Rocky Face in February, 1864, and commanded the 99th in some difficult places. He was in command of the brigade skirm- ishers on July 22d at Atlanta, and was second in command on July 28th. He advanced the Fifteenth Corps' skirmish line August 3d, the day that Major Brown, 70th Ohio, was killed, and commanded.
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