USA > Indiana > Reunion of the 9th regiment Indiana vet. vol. infantry association, 1892-1904 > Part 19
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Respectfully submitted. ALEX. 1 .. WHITEHALL, Cor. Sec.
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RECEIPTS.
To dues collected since last meeting: Jno. Edwards, 50c; E. Wests, $1; J. M. Barron, 50C. $2.00 Wm Lewery, $1; J. K. Powers, $1. 2.00
To amount received from Lieut. Ambrose Bierce for II re- ports of previous reunions .. 3.00 To draft received from Treasurer Banta to apply on printing expenses, etc 60.00
Total receipts $67.00
CONTRA.
By amount paid Englewood Eye Printing Company for print- ing and binding 350 copies of annual reunion report. ... . . . $56.50 By amount for stamps and envelopes for mailing annual report 6.00
By amount for stamps used in correspondence with members and mailing extra reports. 1.50
By amount for stamps, mailing the invitations and programs for Plymouth reunion. 4.00
By amount paid R. F. Brink for printing 500 invitations and programs 3.00
Total expenditures $71.00
Balance due Whitehall on above 4.00
Balance due Whitehall last year. 25
$4.25
Respectfully submitted. ALEX L. WHITEHALL. Cor. Sec.
TREASURER'S REPORT.
Comrades of the Ninth :
I herewith submit an itemized report of the receipts and expenditures for the year ending Oct. 3. 1899.
RECEIPTS.
To amount on hand Oct. 6. '98. $46.00
Received at Lowell 44.00
Total receipts $90.00
DISBURSEMENTS.
To A. L. Whitehall $00.00
To draft. stamps, etc 20
Total $60.20
Balance in treasury $29.80
JOHN BANTA. Treas.
Oct. 4th, 1809.
On motion the reports of both officers were approved and ordered printed in the annual report of reunion pro- ceedings of the Association.
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Moved by Capt. Amasa Johnson that the President appoint two comrades to fill the places on the Executive Committee of Comrades A. S. McCormick and Ben R. Faris, who have not yet reported for duty at this meeting, and that such committee proceed to prepare a program for the campfire at the Opera House this evening and report same to the President before the opening of the campfire.
The motion prevailed, and the chair appointed Capt. Johnson and Major Braden to act with the members of the Executive Committee, said Committee as constituted being Gen. Suman, Capt. D. B. McConnell, Lieut. W. Kelly, Capt. A. Johnson and Major J. D. Braden.
On motion the following were appointed a committee on Resolutions : Capts. D. B. McConnell. Amasa Johnson and Hon. Wm. H. Rifenburg.
After some discussion the Association decided by vote to elect officers and place of meeting and transact all its general business as far as possible before the close of the afternoon session.
Gen. Suman said as chairman of the Executive Com- mittee his presence was desired by his associates in an ad- joining room, and Lieut. Helinick, the ranking Vice-Presi- dent present, being occupied as Recording Secretary, he would take the liberty of calling another comrade of Lieut. Helmick's company (E) to the chair, Hon. Wm. Rifenburg, to preside temporarily.
Comrade Rifenburg, who is a member of the General Assembly of Indiana from Lake.County, took the chair and said under the head of general business he was ready to entertain any motion proper under that head. It was then moved and carried that we do now proceed to select the place of holding our next annual reunion.
Comrade Rifenburg put in nomination Hobart in Lake County, and assured the comrades that the railroad facili- ties were excellent and that his town had an excellent repu- tation for royally entertaining old soldiers, and he had been earnestly besought by many of Hobart's best citizens to labor earnestly to secure the reunion at Hobart for 1900 and all who came would be given free entertainment during the reunion.
Lieut. Helmvick reminded the members that at a pre- vious meeting the question of holding a meeting for 1900 at Chickamauga National Park on the anniversary of the two days' battle Sept. 19 and 20, 1863, had been discussed and the matter referred to a special committee, and he for
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one felt that if the fast aging comrades desired to again revisit the fighting scenes and see what the government had done toward marking the positions of regiments on that his- toric field they should hold their reunion there in 1900, and in order to get a fair expression of the sentiments of the comrades he placed Chickamauga in nomination as our next place of reunion.
Comrade Whitehall stated that the special committee to consider the feasibility of holding a reunion at Chicka- mauga consisted of Capt. D. B. McConnell, Capt. Steve P. Hodsden and himself, and Capt. Hodsden having failed to attend our last and the present reunion the committee could only offer a majority report, to the effect that while such a reunion would be most enjoyable and a rare treat to the comrades the cost per capita would be at least $30, a sum but few comrades felt able to spare, and the committee felt it advisable to hold our reunions proper, in Indiana at points most accessible to all our comrades as far as possible, and to enable them to attend with as little expense as possible, by shifting the place of meeting to different points in the district from which the 9th Regiment was recruited, and that if at any future time it was deemed desirable or feasible for an excursion of members of the Ninth to Chickamauga that it be arranged as an excursion wholly, and not to con- fiict with the annual reunions of the Veteran Association.
Comrade A. R. Castle, of Hobart, urged the comrades to give his fellow townspeople an opportunity to show them how well they liked the comrades of the old Ninth. Com- rade John Matthews also assured the comrades that spring chickens would be just exactly ripe and juicy in time for the reunion and an extra good crop would be raised of the best variety for the special delectation and consumption of the old Ninth boys, when they camped for two days and nights in Hobart. Comrade Whitehall suggested that inas- much as the National Encampment of the G. A. R. was to be held in his little town-Chicago -- most likely early in September. 1900, that to secure excursion rates from all points and thereby enable our boys from the wild and woolly West to meet with us just once, that we hold the reunion at Hobart on the day before and the first day of the National Encampment and on the third day the regiment as far as possible attend the encampment in a body, as Hobart is only 34 miles from Chicago, and participate in the parade and in a brigade reunion and campfire in the afternoon and evening of the second day of encampment.
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A vote being called for. Hobart was unanimously selected as the next place of reunion, and on motion the Executive Committee were empowered to fix the date of reunion. The sense of the meeting being that it be held at such time as would enable the members to take advantage of the G. A. R. excursion rates and also attend the encamp- ment if so disposed.
On motion of Lieut. Kelly the meeting proceeded to an election of officers for the ensuing year, with the following result :
Gen. I. C. B. Suman. President, Valparaiso.
A. L. Whitehall, Corresponding Secretary, Chicago.
Lieut. J. M. Helmick, Recording Secretary, Wheatfield. Lieut. John Banta, Treasurer. Logansport.
Executive Committee -- Gen. I. C. B. Suman. Hon. W. H. Rifenburg, Capt. Amasa Johnson, Lieut. J. M. Helmick and Capt. D. B. McConnell.
Vice-Presidents-Capt. James M. Wharton, Co. A; John Vesper, Co. B; P. Able, Co. C: Charles L. Andrews, Co. D ; A. R. Castle, Co. E ; Lieut. Ed Ephlin, Co. F : Lieut. B. R. Faris, Co. G; Joseph W. Zea, Co. H ; Wm. Bonney, Co. I ; Alpheus Porter, Co. K.
At the call of the acting President short speeches were made by the following comrades.
Lieut. Thomas Prickett said the comrades were ac- quainted with the fact that he was no speechmaker and con- sequently would not be in the least disappointed at not hear- ing him talk at any length. Circumstances were such that he had been unable to be present at several of the later reunions of the regiment and he was well pleased at again being able to meet so many of his old comrades and he hoped in the future he might be able to attend more regu- larly.
Comrade A. R. Castle said that like his old lieutenant his ability to be present at this reunion was a source of great gratification, and he supposed the comrades called upon for a short talk were rather expected to narrate some incident of their army service, and his experience was that as a rule soldiers remembered the humorous side of life in camp. on the march and skirmish or battle line much more readily than some of thegraver and more serious happenings. "I was a young fellow like most of you and full of animal spirits and on the lookout for fun, and as I do not see the comrade here among us who did the neat trick which amused me. I will venture to remind some of you old-timers of the inci-
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dent. While we were lying at Cheat Mountain in West Vir- ginia the boys were a little wearied of army rations, and when a peddler in a wagon came into out lines with a stock of home made pies and cakes he soon had an interested audience hovering around his odd looking outfit. But the most of us were in no condition to do business with him on the specie basis, on account of the extreme scarcity of our supply of specie. Finally the peddler announced that as he needed pork to try out the grease for shortening for his pies that he would trade some of his pies for bacon or fat salt pork. One of our boys remembered he had a good- sized chunk of salt pork and he brought it from his tent, and the peddler weighed the chunk and gave him the agreed equivalent in pies and tossed the pork back into the hind end of his wagon, and went on selling his stuff to the boys and taking during the course of his dicker several chunks of pork, all about the same size, which as in the first instance he heaved back into the hind end of his wagon, and finally I guess he must have got onto the notion that the chunks of salt pork he was quite frequently taking in at the front end of his wagon bore a twin-like resemblance to chunks he had pitched into the hind end of the wagon. Our enter- prising comrade had quietly abstracted the chunk of pork from the rear end of the wagon and by having it again pre- sented at the front end by others had been able to do a rush- ing business in the pie purchase till the peddler 'tumbled' to his trick."
Comrade Castle told one other story of how some of Whittaker's hungry boys raided the huckster who was charging fifty cents a pound for poor cheese, and the boys, almost famished for food in their long march back to Louis- ville, felt that the sordid seller of cheese who wanted fifty cents a pound from almost starving men had no rights they were bound to respect, and in the presence of Col. Whitta- ker they proceeded to confiscate the cheeseman's outfit.
"As comrades well know, there was in the war many sad incidents, and you will remember how thickly strewn that 40-acre field was with dead in front of our position in the railroad cut at Stone River. Well. I was with a com- rade from another regiment when he went out to look for a missing brother and can not forget the scene when he found the dead body of his brother in that thickly strewn field. Comrades, you passed through it all, and I feel we have much to be thankful for in having come out of that long and bitter struggle alive I am always glad to meet
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a comrade and particularly one of my own regiment."
Capt. James M. Wharton, of Co. A, said in response to calls for a speech that it did his heart good to look once more into the faces of so many of his old comrades, and he felt to thank God that so many had been spared to meet in a happy reunion like this and talk over the experiences they passed through as fellow soldiers.
"Comrades, we are on the descending slope now, and in but a few more years we shall have to answer to the roll call in that Grand Army above, to which so many of our comrades have been called. I well remember the field in front of our regiment at Stone River to which my comrade from Co. E refers, and of the sad spectacle it presented thickly strewn with the bodies of some of our own blue- coated boys, but mostly with the bodies of brave Confed- erates who made such desperate attempts to dislodge the Ninth from its position. Our army on the right was forced back till it rested parallel to the pike, and it looked as if we were as an army overpowered by a superior force, and at one time it seemed as if our thin line must give way too, and especially when marching down upon us appeared three strong rebel lines; but Col. Blake, you remember, gave us the order to fix bayonets, and it certainly looked as if his intention was that we should 'die in the last ditch.' Then the colonel said, 'Steady, men : don't fire until they come within 150 yards,' and our fire was so merciless that we seemed to cut them down whenever they came within that range, and the brave fellows who did not fall shot to death or wounded laid down among the dead and wounded and fired at us lving down ; and we lay down in the railroad cut and fought the rest of the day. I had a talk after the battle with a Mississippi soldier, who said his regiment was in that charge on us, and that all the field officers of his regi- ment were killed by that first deadly volley from the Ninth Indiana."
Gen. Suman, having resumed the chair, stated that Capt. Johnson and Quartermaster Kelly desired that all com- rades who had not already been assigned to quarters report to them at once at the close of the afternoon session and be assigned to a stopping place.
The Corresponding Secretary read letters from Capt. Madden and Lient. Ambrose G. Bierce; also letters from comrades as follows: A. H. Dingman (Co. G), H. D. Nichols (Co. C), Joseph W. Fields (Co. F), 11. Fink (Co. D), Charles Kluck (Co. E), and a Mrs. Billings, sister of
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A. O. McCreary, of Co. G, who died several years ago in Kansas. She alluded to the fact that her brother wrote sev- eral poems while in the regiment, and inclosed a song set to music entitled "Wave, Old Glory," written by her son, a nephew of Comrade McCreary.
Comrade Whitehall stated that as requested by many comrades he had obtained figures on binding the 12 an- nual reports into one volume, and by furnishing enough for 25 voltunes he could get them substantially bound in cloth and leather back and corners for 50 cents, but for individual volumes the cost would be 60 cents and 25 cents additional for return postage on the book.
Capt. Johnson said he desired on the part of the local committee to announce that the people who had volunteered to open their homes to the Veterans and their wives, where. the soldier had brought his wife along, and he was pleased to see so many of the boys had brought their best girl with them, this time, had arranged with the committee to give supper, bed and breakfast to their guests, and that a dinner had been provided as a farewell spread to the regi- ment at noon tomorrow, and the quartermaster would pass out dinner tickets in due time tomorrow forenoon, and he felt that the Executive Committee had provided a good program for the campfire at the Opera House this evening. A good glee club had volunteered its services and well- known citizens of Plymouth had been invited to make short speeches, and a number of the comrades had been delegated to make short talks, and front seats for the soldiers and their wives had been reserved and it was expected all of the visit- ing soldiers and friends would be on hand promptly at the opening of the campfire, and in order to give ample time to the members of the Association to reach the homes they had been assigned to and have supper and a little visit with their entertainers and all get ready without too much hurrying to attend the campfire, he thought it well for the session to now close and take up any matters of business unfinished tomorrow.
Secretary Whitehall announced that himself and the Treasurer were still willing to swap dues receipts for cash. and on behalf of the Delinquent Dues Committee he desired to say to any comrade present no matter how badly he might be in arrears to please call and see if the committee and himself could not adjust the balance due in a satisfactory manner : that the committee were prepared to remit a good share of the arrears if the comrade felt he could not pay up
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in full and in extreme cases would remit all back dues and start comrade out free from arrears. Once the back dues are adjusted and the books squared 50 cents a year will not seem so burdensome to nearly all of us if we only pay it each year and do not let it run until it gets large enough to discourage us; so, comrades, come and see us and let us get straight on the books and make a fresh start.
On motion the meeting took a recess till 7:30 p. m., to reassemble at the Opera House and participate in the campfire.
CAMPFIRE.
The Opera House was comfortably filled by 7:30 p. m., and Gen. Suman promptly called the meeting to order and introduced Rev. W. E. Mckenzie, who earnestly and fer- vently invoked the divine blessing.
A glee club consisting of Emanuel Price, John W. Wiltfong, K. Frank Brook, J. G. Davis and J. Van Gilder, with Mrs. D. Frank Redd presiding at the piano, sang very effectively that dear old song, "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground."
Hon. D. B. McConnell, of Logansport, late Captain of Co. K of the Ninth, and chairman of the Indiana Chicka- mauga Park Commission, was presented to the audience and spoke in substance as follows:
"Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : I believe that it is expected of me tonight that I shall speak of the work of the Indiana Commission in the erection of monuments and markers to show the positions of Indiana military or- ganizations upon the battlefield of Chickamauga and the part taken by Indiana in that great struggle upon the ground which is now known as Chickamauga Park.
"You are many of you familiar with the facts leading up to the creation of this great national military park en- bracing the ground fought over by the armies of Rosencrans and Bragg Sept. 19 and 20, 1863. Certain Union and Con- federate soldiers induced Congress to purchase the land upon which the battle was fought for a national park and so mark the positions occupied by the contending forces as to make it possible for the present and future generations to visit this great military park and upon ground made holy by the blood of those who died there, imbibe anew the spirit of patriotism and devotion to the cause which actuated those who so freely gave up their lives.
"Gen. H. V. Boynton, who took a prominent part on
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the Union side in the battle, prepared the bill for the crea- tion of the park, its preparation for marking of the posi- tions of the troops, and for the improvement of the immense plat of ground so as to render it attractive.
"Gen. Boynton became practically the head of the com- mission. He was called the historian, but by his indefatiga- ble labors and earnest researches he soon came to be author- ity upon all questions, and what he said went.
"Several years ago my attention was called to an alleged historical sketch of an incident of the closing of the battle published in the Globe-Democrat of St. Louis, Mo., purporting to give an authentic account of the close of the battle upon Snodgrass Hill at dusk of September 20th.
"As our regiment had been a part of that event, had come in personal contact with Col. Boynton then and there; was nearest the enemy when the last volleys were fired which closed the battle, took effective part in that firing. and remained there until all active participants in that event were gone, and no mention of my regiment was made in that account, I felt that when that ground came to be marked the regiment might again be omitted. When, therefore, I saw that a state commission to mark the positions of Indiana military organizations which took part in the battle was about to be appointed I sought and obtained a position upon that commission, for the sole purpose of seeing that justice was done to my regiment and to Indiana in the record made of the closing scenes of that great battle. Of course the commission of Indiana had charge of the interests of all of the organizations from Indiana, and we tried to do our duty in regard to all of them. By the rules of the National Com- mission each regiment and battery was allowed a mark for cach place where fighting was done by the regiment or bat- tery, and were allowed .to mark one of the places with a monument which should bear upon it a tablet with a short history of what the organization did upon the battlefield, and at each other place at which it was entitled to a place a marker should be placed inscribed with the date and hour during which it was there. During our first visit to the field of battle I saw the shadow of the controversy which was coming about the position of the Ninth at Snodgrass Hill.
"We had no difficulty in having the place marked. The National Commission conceded us that position and four other places. Our first position in the Brock field, our sec- ond in the Brotherton field, our third in the Kelley field, our fourth in the Snodgrass field, and the fifth and last on Snod-
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grass Hill. As we understood the rules of the National Commission and the act of Congress creating the park, the State Commission were empowered to choose, of the places which the regiment was entitled to have marked, that at which the monument should be placed. The commission decided to advise with the respective regiments and bat- teries upon that point and upon the designs for the monu- ments, and to that end called a meeting of those interested at Indianapolis. At that meeting we located all of the monu- ments except that of the Ninth Indiana. I hesitated to locate the place for the monument of my regiment. Many of those to whom I had written wanted the Brotherton house, and a greater number wanted the position on Snod- grass Hill. I was sure that the National Commission would object. I wanted it there, however. I felt that justice to my regiment and to my state demanded that a monument should be placed there with an inscription which should tell the truth-that is, that an Indiana regiment, and that the Ninth, was among the last to fire on the enemy and the last to leave the spot where the battle closed. Our state has been more liberal than any other state in the provision it has made for soldiers. Witness our magnificent Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Home, our beautiful Soldiers' Home at Lafayette and our soldiers' monuments erected all over the state at public expense, among which is the monument at Indianapolis, the most beautiful and costly soldiers' monument in the world, but the state has never taken kindly to the expenditure of money, for display outside of the state, in large sums.
"For this reason, and may be others, we had some diffi- culty in securing an appropriation for the erection of monu- ments and markers in the National Park at Chickamauga to our soldiers. Ohio had appropriated $95.000 for her sol- diers, with 53 organizations. We had 40 organizations in the battle, but our Legislature restricted us to $40,000. This. too, after the Ohio monuments were in place, constructed of granite, magnificent in appearance.
"Imagine our mortification when we realized what we had to accomplish with our small appropriation. We felt that it was Indiana's battlefield. We had more troops there than upon any other battle field of the war, and than any other state except Ohio. Not a stain attached to a single organization from Indiana in that great battle. We were told upon the field, monuments to other state troops had been erected, and to the United States troops. At the Kelley
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field where we fought so long and weil on the forenoon of the second day until taken out to go to a point of greater peril at Snodgrass field, where Thomas was struggling against the persistent assaults of Longstreet, was literally crowded with monuments, and I felt that the modest struc- ture which we could erect with our small appropriation would appear insignificant in such company, and I declined to choose that position for our monument. After all other monuments were located. when the location of the monu- ment for the Ninth came up I declined to choose and cast the responsibility upon the commission. Without hesita- tion the commission decided to put it upon Snodgrass Hill. Many of you, comrades of the regiment, are familiar with what followed. The National Commission at first conceded us the position. but later reconsidered it, assuming that their Tule required that we should put the monument where we did the best fighting, they assuming to be the judges. Their ruie, however, read "Where the regiment deemed they did the best fighting," which you will notice is very different.
"Then, as you know, the matter was referred to you at the Delphi rennion in 1895, and you by unanimous vote instructed us to insist on the position on Snodgrass Hill. Then commenced a pen-and-ink war between the commis- sion and Gen. Boynton. I was instructed to manage the case for the commission. Both oral and documentary evi- dence was introduced on our side in support of our claim that we were there on Snodgrass Hill when the battle closed, lost nearly a score of men by capture, faced an overwhelm- ing force of the enemy there in the dark, fired upon him when summoned to surrender, which fire, with that of others which joined in it, drove him off the hill and liberated a large number of prisoners who had just been captured, and remained there faced toward the enemy until all of whom we had any knowledge had marched away.
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