USA > Indiana > Reunion of the 9th regiment Indiana vet. vol. infantry association, 1892-1904 > Part 39
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NATIONAL CEMETERY,
BROWNSVILLE, Texas, September 27, 1903. To My Comrades of " The Bloody Ninth Indiana:"
Another year has come and gone, you are meeting together. Some of you for the last time on earth.
The good Lord has prospered and blessed me during the past year with good health, and plenty to cat and wear.
The Congress of the United States, mindful of the sufferings and inconveniences of those who lost limbs in that great rebellion, 1861-65, on March 2nd, last, increased my pension to $55 per month.
The Quartermaster General of the Army in January last saw fit to issue his orders directing me to proceed to Brownsville and assume charge of the National Cemetery, vice John J. Smith, deceased. This gave me more pay with better surroundings, than at Spring- field, Mo. So you see with all the other good things of this life, I have had my salary increased twice this year. For all of which I am devoutly thankful. With best wishes to all comrades and especially those of the "Bloody Ninth."
I remain fraternally,
J. K. POWERS."
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Capt. Thos. Chance, Fostoria, Ohio: "I herewith send greetings to all-I well remember the day that the original Company C (3 months), gathered at Elk- hart under Captain Mann, how the people of Elkhart cheered us on our way to the train to take our sleeping car berths in the 'palace-hog coaches.' I was one of three boys in the Ninth that lived at Wakarusa, twelve miles south of Elkhart. When Mrs. sang. 'Twenty years ago,' we boys all shed tears. I well remember Gen. Milroy and his horse "Jasper," and our campaign in West Virginia. I served near three years in the Thirtieth Indiana and one year in 142d Indiana. I am admonished that we are all getting old and nearly done our campaigning and will soon be mustered out, and in the 'Sweet bye and bye' I hope to clasp glad hands with many of the boys with whom I marched for those four dreadful years.
THOS. H. CHANCE,
Late Capt. Co. D, 142d Indiana Volunteers."
WATSEKA, ILLS., March 6, 1903.
DEAR COMRADE: The pamphlet proceedings of the sixteenth annual reunion of the Ninth Ind. Vet. Vol. Infty Assn. is received, many, many thanks, you know how much I prize such favors; these little volumes are of intense interest to me, because they speak a language which touches every fiber of my being; they tell the story of the boys who carried the rifles on the firing line, the story of the boys who did the marching by night and the fighting by day, their pages have the flavor of the camp fire (where I see the boys writing letters to loved ones at home or telling the experiences of the day) the forced marches (on which we munched our hard- tack as we hurried along) and the fury of the battle (in which we knew nothing except to load and fire, advance on the enemy, and close up the gaps left by fallen comrades), and they tell me too of the comrades who through all this turmoil and confusion still sur- vive.
The story of the Ninth Indiana is especially interest- ing to me because I was brigaded with it in 1861,
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during the first three months service in West Virginia. I was with it at Phillippi, at Laurel Hills and Cheat Mountain, (Carrick's Ford). How well I remember the incidents of our night march from Grafton to Phillippi, and how in the early morning we surprised our friends, the enemy, who, with that courtesy so characteristic of southern chivalry left their break- fasts for us and after a brief, but fiery salutation gave us the freedom of the town.
At Phillippi we celebrated the 4th of July, 1861, and Col. R. H. Milroy of the Ninth Indiana was the orator of the day; how he did stir the boys with his patriotism and eloquence, and how the boys applauded his lofty sentiments. Some one, I don't know who it was, (some adjutant I suppose) read the Declaration of Independence. Never before did I seem to compre- hend the significance of that immortal document. It left an impression upon my mind that can never be erased, it was read with such fire, enthusiasm and depth of feeling and intelligence, that carried with it a new meaning and interpretation, forced conviction and roused us to the highest pitch of patriotism. Can I ever forget this seene, or divest myself from the in- spiring influence which it had upon my young receptive nature? Never, never while reason holds her throne and memory serves her blessed function. After these intellectual feasts, concluded with singing " My
Country, 'tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty" sung until the echoes rang "from every mountain side, sweet freedom's song." Then came the physical exercises in which the various regiments entered their champions, in wrestling, foot races and jumping. In these field sports the Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Indiana and the Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Ohio (who composed our brigade) each took part and excited great interest and good-natured rivalry. Who scored the victories I do not now recall excepting that Lieuten- ant W. H. Wade of Company "E" Sixteenth Ohio won the foot race. I remember this because Wade belonged to the company of which I was an humble private.
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(I may add, via parenthesis, that Wade rose to be Colonel in the army, and has since been in Congress two or three terms from Springfield, Missouri, district, and still resides there.)
We were not permitted to rest long at Phillippi; the Rebels had taken position at Laurel Hills and we followed in their footsteps. At Bealington at the foot of the hills, we halted, unslung knapsacks, piled them up in little heaps like haycocks, and then charged on on their works, we charged with vigor and determina- tion but the Johnnies had become obstinate and re- fused us admission, and so we retired as gracefully as the nature of the grounds would permit, and that night I stood on picket so near the rebel lines that I could hear (and almost see) them chopping down trees and piling the brush in winrows, the scraggy ends out to- ward us as if making preparation for a heroic defense against another assault. How frightened I was, and how I trembled as I stood there alone at my post, ex- pecting every moment to be shot down, for it seemed to me they must know exactly where I was posted; and I shivered all night only to be relieved in the morning to follow the miserable deceitful wretches who withdrew during the darkness while pretending to fortify their position. And then through mud and slush (for it was raining nearly all the time) we followed overtaking them again at Carrick's Ford on Cheat River where they thought to check our progress by taking position on a plateau (an oat field) on the opposite side. I don't know what other regiments of ours stood in their front. I know that a battalion of the Sixteenth Ohio to which I belonged, was there; but I well re- member how the Indiana boys made a flank move- ment, crossing the river above and below the rebel position while we tried to amuse the Johnnies in front and thus detain them while the Hoosier boys were getting into their rear. But in the meantime their commander, General Garnett, was killed (the first general killed in the war) and "our Southern cousins" became demoralized and fled the mountains. But we forded the river and pursued the flying remnants as far
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as St. George, in Tucker county, where for some reason or other we were recalled.
It is memories like those that link my life with the fortunes of the gallant old Ninth. But this is not all --- by a singular coincidence it was my lot to still belong to the same army after the Ninth went west-from Perry- ville and Stone River to Chickamauga and Chatta- nooga; from Chattanooga (through one hundred days of battle) to Atlanta. *
* * And here we parted. The Ninth returned to do battle with Hood at Franklin and at Nashville, where the over-confident Confeder- ate, the pride of southern chivalry, the acme of south- ern valor, flushed with its temporary success at Frank- lin, was entirely routed by that silent and stolid veteran of Old Virginia, whom we endearingly called "Pap Thomas." I went with Sherman (not to the sea, for I was wounded on the Atlanta campaign, but rejoined my regiment, the 74th Ohio, at Savannah), through the Carolinas; was at Bentonville and Averysboro, and at the final surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston at Greenville. But we both saw the beginning and end, the end of the struggle -- we saw slavery perish with its victims slain; we saw freedom rise from the graves of our dead, our country united, our flag un- sullied, our honor sustained.
Your little pamphlets always revive and refresh the memories of those trying days when the now wrinkled and grizzly old veterans of the Ninth were boys, yes, boys, but they were soldier boys, such soldiers as the world had never seen before. What a task was theirs, and how nobly and gloriously they did their work-fought the foe upon his chosen ground, won the victory, saved the Nation, freed the bond- man, brought their banner home with not a star erased nor one stripe dimmed. How easily is all this said, but how hard was the task, how great the im- port-what a tragic story it implies; what a grand subject for the historian it supplies. How our bosoms swell and our hearts throb as we recall our comrades fallen and how they fell. Tears fall unbidden when we think of the noble boys who stood at our side,
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doing their duty for country as devoutly as ever a Christian served his God, there to fall with the life blood streaming from their wounds, there to be left in their agony as we charged forward on the enemy leaving our dead and dying behind.
O, how futile are words to express the horror of it. Can the future ever know the story of the civil war as the soldier saw it -as the boys of the Ninth Indiana saw it. No, no, that is impossible-no tongue can tell it, no pen can write it, no colors can paint it. But you in your annual reunions, you who were living, moving factors in that sublime drama, a remnant of that glorious army, with hearts afire, though your tongues are feeble, tell the present generation each in his own simple way the story of the greatest war in the annals of time.
Your pamphlet of proceedings will become an in- valuable document to the future historian of the American people- it will teach him the story of the soldier who fought the battle, a story not to be found in official reports and publie documents, but lodged wholly and solely in the breast of the beardless boy that has now grown gray and wrinkled with the weight of years. I am the proud possessor of every number of your "Proceedings" from the first to the sixteenth and in my library no book stands more boldly and conspicuous (typical of the Ninth Indiana) than the thirteen numbers which I have had bound into a sub- stantial volume with leather back and gilt title.
Convey my continual and lasting regards to my old comrades of the Ninth, and for yourself accept my grateful thanks for your kindly remembrance. Pardon this long letter --- it might have been much longer, I could not make it shorter.
Fraternally Yours in F., C. & L., W. H. PETERS, Private; Co. "E," 16th O. V. M.
Note by the Secretary :
Comrade Peters came home from the war with two bad wounds, but as Major of the 74th O. V. I. In the
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seventies it was my pleasure to serve as his Adjutant while he commanded the Ninth Regiment Ill. National Guard.
THIRTIETH INDIANA REGIMENT VETERANS' ASSOCIA- TION.
CROMWELL, IND., October 2, 1903. Alex. L. Whitehall, Secretary Ninth Regiment Indiana Veterans' Association:
DEAR COMRADE: I thank you for remembering me and for the gracious reminder of war-time comrade- ship. I have received your 17th reunion order and a personal invitation to come to Elkhart, Ind. to-day to witness, and to mingle in the holy comradeship of veteran soldiers whom I have known in the most active and manhood trying times, upon the battlefield and campaigns, with the Army of the Ohio and Army of the Cumberland, during the war between states when the slaveholders rebellion and secession made war ab- solutely unavoidable. For more than four years the Ninth Indiana Regiment stood in the front lines, ever faithful to active service under the American flag. One country; one flag and a United States worthy the name is the result of that service. The people of Elkhart are honored when they are permitted to enter- tain the survivors of the Ninth Indiana Regiment Time has dealt mercifully and been kind with you Ninth Indiana Regiment Veterans. Gen. Isaac C. B. Suman yet lives to grace with his presence your annual meetings. He commanded as your Colonel, and to him is due a large part the fame and valor accredited to the regiment. The ability to command, resourceful; no condition too severe for him to sur- mount. It is my recollection during the two years ser- vice had with the Ninth in the same brigade, that the Ninth Indiana usually beat us of the 30th Indiana across streams unfordable when military exigencies put the skill of men in the ranks to the test of finding the ways and means, and I always believed Colonel Sumanp lanned to make such jobs of bridge building,
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and log breastwork, and rifle-pit trenching a specialty for the Ninth. I should love to say more, and better yet to be there to-day, but I cannot go.
J. N. OHLWINE, Secretary 30th Indiana.
A sturdy little grandson of Jackson Barnes of Com- pany F, rode about sixty miles with his grandparents across the country from Grandee, Michigan, to the reunion, to sing and recite to the old comrades of his grandfather.
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OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.
PRESIDENT
GEN. I. C. B. SUMAN, Valparaiso, Indiana.
VICE-PRESIDENTS
A. S. McCORMICK, Company A. Capt. JAS. R. MCCORMICK, Co. B,
ABRAHAM DILS, CO. C .:
CHAS. L. ANDREWS, Co. D."
J. P. BALDWIN, Co. E.
Capt. WM. H. MERRITT, Co. .. Lieut. B. R. FARIS, Co, G. JOHN MORROW, Co. H. JOHN N. HOLLIDAY, Co. I. SAMUEL LANDIS, Co. K.
JOHN W. JACKSON, Band.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Gen. I. C. B. SUMAN,
Capt. D. B. MCCONNELL,
Capt. GEO, K. MARSHALE)
ALPHEUS PORTER, Lieut, JOHN BANTA.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
ALEX, L. WHITEHALL, 549 West 61st Place, Chicago, Illinois,
RECORDING SECRETARY,
Lieutenant J. M. HELMICK, Wheatfield, Indiana.
TREASURER, Lieutenant JOHN BANTA, Logansport, Indiana,
Minth Inotana
Veteran Volunteer Infantry Association
Proceedings
.. of the ..
Eighteenth Annual Reunion
.. beld at ..
Logansport, Indiana
October 7 and 8, E. D. 1904
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL REUNION
OF THE
NINTH ... INDIANA VETERAN INFANTRY ASSOCIATION ...
Held October 7 and 8, A. D. 1904. AT LOGANSPORT, INDIANA.
FIRST.
For the third time in a score of years Logansport greeted the survivors of the Ninth Regiment Indiana Veteran Infantry with a gracious and cordial welcome. The day was an ideal one, bright and bracing. And the city since the last meeting of the Ninth within its pre- cincts had made wonderful and substantial progress. The marked change called forth many expressions of surprise and compliment from the old veterans over the city's up-to-date and metropolitan appearance.
The forenoon was given over to the reception of the comrades and their wives at G. A. R. Hall. As each
veteran was enrolled a nice souvenir badge, surmounted by a life-like picture of Major Sherman, the Regimental Surgeon of the Ninth, was pinned on the left lapel of the coat, and with the badge was also pinned a beautiful and fragrant button-hole bouquet. A committee of ladies of Logansport, composed largely of wives and daughters of veterans, performed in charming manner the enroll- ment and decoration of the members of the old Ninth.
Secretary Whitehall, assisted by other comrades, hung up in the order of regimental formation the Photo Col- lection of the Regiment, embracing upwards of two hun- dred photographs of the officers and men of the regi- ment. In many cases the war-time and the present time picture of the soldier was mounted on the same display card. These pictures of the soldiers, living and dead, were appropriately lined up according to companies on the rifles of the post standing in the gun racks on the east wall of the hall.
A most enjoyable forenoon was spent in the Post hall, in greeting and enrollment of the old comrades on their arrival. And as many of them were accompanied by their wives or other members of the family, the good ladies of the Reception Committee busied themselves in making all acquainted and in woman's tactful way wel- come, and "at home" so to speak.
Captains McConnell, Marshall, Lieut. Banta and the other resident comrades of the Ninth, heartily seconded by the Mayor and patriotic citizens of Logansport, had the matter of the reunion so well in hand that it was early evident to the visiting comrades that a tip-top time and enjoyable reunion was assured.
The local committee very successfully carried out the
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idea that a regimental reunion is akin to a "family reunion." And to that end it was happily planned to entertain very nearly all the regiment under one roof, by lodging and feeding all at "Dunn's Hotel." It was noticeable that under this arrangement old mess-mates formed groups at meal time and in a measure re-estab- lished old "messes" that prevailed in the camp life away back in the sixties. Except, in many cases, the "pardner" had his "best girl" seated by his side, for the love of whom and Old Glory the soldier tried to do his duty as a soldier of the Union from '61 to '65.
At a former reunion of the Ninth at Logansport most of the comrades were entertained at a hotel, as in this instance, and commenting upon the plan the members of the Ninth, while agreeing that as a rule they had been most royally entertained in the homes of citizens, and formed very many pleasant acquaintances among their entertainers, yet it seemed apparent that where it was practicable the hotel plan seemed the best, for both the entertainers and the entertained-in this, that the citizen's family were relieved of some embarrassment in the receiving of comparative strangers into their home- life for even a day and night. And sometimes the soldier felt he had been assigned to a home where he felt his coming caused actual inconvenience to the family. Some- times assignments of infirm or crippled soldiers to a home remote from the place of meeting made it wearisome to the veteran to attend the meetings, especially the camp- fire. And frequently the most willing and patriotic people were not the best able to extend home hospitali- ties, and often sickness or lack of domestic help pre- cluded quite willing families from taking an assignment.
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Whereas by the Logansport plan, the burden of enter- tainment could be more equitably adjusted, as the citizen, by contributing a sum sufficient for the board and lodg- ing of one or two veterans at reduced hotel rates, was generally at no greater cash outlay than in taking the soldier or soldiers into his home, and very often the lady of the house was relieved of no small embarrassment and care. In the smaller town or city, where hotel accom- modations are not adequate for all, the separation of the . regiment into "two wings" would often solve the prob- lem, and the comrades be enabled to enjoy the company of their old mates more fully. In short, the consensus of opinion seemed to be that as age and infirmity steals upon the old soldier the hotel plan will be preferable. The reunion ought to be held in a favorably located city easy of railway access, with the meetings either in the hotel or near it, and that it would be wise to cut out much of public demonstration, and devote the time to purely fraternal intercourse of the comrades. "We must rally once a year as long as a Corporal's Guard can be mustered" was the sentiment of the Ninth Comrades.
AFTERNOON.
The enforced absence on account of physical infirmity of General Suman, the President of the association, made it necessary for one of the vice presidents to assume the chair. Comrade A. S. McCormick of Company A -upon consultation with the other vice presidents pres- ent-suggested that Captain D. B. McConnell of the Executive Committee be named by the vice presidents as President pro tem. for the entire reunion.
The suggestion was unanimously approved, and Capt. McConnell chosen.
The Secretary called the meeting to order and intro- duced Capt. McConnell as President pro tem.
Briefly thanking the comrades for the honor of presid- ing over them during the reunion, Judge McConnell stated that the first order of business would be hearing officers' reports.
Reports were submitted as follows :
REPORT OF CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
COMRADES : I compiled and published our Annual Reunion Report for the past year, and mailed a copy of same to each comrade in good standing as a member of this association; and also conducted a considerable corre- spondence on behalf of the Ninth, and prepared and sent out invitations to this reunion, and did the usual duty assigned me as your Secretary.
Pursuant to your direction at last meeting, I had printed and sent out five hundred invitations to comrades asking them to furnish photos for our regimental collec- tion of the war-time and present time pictures of our members of the Ninth .. The response was not so gen- eral as I had hoped for, but was fairly good, and our collection was considerably enlarged as a result.
Schedules "A" and "B," hereto attached, show the money received by me and expended and still on hand.
Respectfully submitted.
ALEX. L. WHITEHALL, Corresponding Sec.
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SCHEDULE "A."
Total dues of members collected and receipts
mailed . .$21.50
Received from sale of extra reports. 1.00
Total $22.50
DISBURSED.
For stamps during the year used in mailing re-
ports, invitations and correspondence with mem- bers, etc. 10.00
Clasp envelopes for reports. 1.75
Small envelopes for correspondence and invitations 1.00 Printing 500 reunion invitations and program. . . 2.00
$14.75
Balance in Whitehall's hands. $ 7.75
SCHEDULE "B."
Amount received as donation to Photo Collection
fund at Elkhart Reunion $13.15
Paid for printing call for the photographs of mem- bers of the regiment for the collection 4.00
For display cards, ribbon, fasteners, etc. 1.00
$ 5.00
Balance on hand $ 8.15
Cost of printing and binding annual report $52 00 paid by Treasurer's draft.
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TREASURER'S REPORT.
LOGANSPORT, Ind., Oct. 7, 1904.
COMRADES OF THE NINTH : Your Treasurer makes the following report of receipts and disbursements for the year ending Oct. 7, 1904:
Amount in treasury last report . $ 7.90
Received at Elkhart Oct. 3, 1903. 64.00
Dec. 3, received of D. B. McConnell. .50
Feb. 13, '04, received of H. Chilcott .50
Total . $72.90
DISBURSEMENTS.
Draft and expenses to A. L. Whitehall $52.13
Balance in treasury . $20.77
JOHN BANTA,
Treasurer.
Lieut. Helmick being absent, the Corresponding Sec- retary stated that the Recording Secretary had furnished him quite full minutes of the proceedings of the 1903 reunion, which very materially aided in compiling the published report of 1903.
Moved by Capt. Thos. Madden that the reports of the officers be and are hereby approved and ordered pub- lished in our 1904 report. Motion carried. Also moved by the same that this association, by a rising vote, thank these officers for the faithful discharge of their duty. Motion adopted by unanimous vote.
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On motion, the chair appointed a Committee on Reso- lutions, consisting of Comrades Madden, Marshall, Kes- ler, Kelley and Holliday.
Secretary Whitehall said that he would like to have the Executive Committee instruct him what disposition to make of the surplus reports which had accumulated on his hands, stating that he had on hand, with the ex- ception of the first reunion at Elkhart, surplus copies of the several reunions, ranging from fifty to one hundred copies, and that within the past three years he had been obliged to pay out fifteen dollars on these reports for moving expenses, and storage in the city was quite an item.
After some discussion, it was unanimously voted by the association that Secretary Whitehall, at his earliest convenience, have ten copies of the surplus reports bound, to be sent to the War Department Library and Adjutant- General of Indiana, and a copy each to the Carnegie Libraries, or other libraries suitable in the district in which the Ninth was organized, and that all the remain- ing copies be donated to him as his own property, to sell for his own benefit.
Comrade Whitehall thanked the association, stating he would in a little time furnish the bound volumes as directed, and fix a price on the surplus copies that would justify members of the regiment in taking them off his hands to lay away as keepsakes.
As an evidence of the desirability of these reports in preserving war history the Secretary submitted the fol- lowing from the Librarian at Washington, D. C .:
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FEBRUARY 13, 1904. Mr. Alex. L. Whitehall, Cor. Sec'y Ninth Ind. Vet. Vols., 549 West Sixty-first Place, Chicago, Ill .:
DEAR SIR: After a little unavoidable delay, I write to acknowledge, with many thanks, the receipt of the six- teen reunion reports of your regiment, which will be bound and carefully preserved in this library for perma- nent reference. Please find enclosed a few franks for further issues (and all similar literature) which will be represented in our next edition of Subject Catalogue No. 6, covering a very extensive range of regimental records, as you will see in the copy sent you under separate cover. Your letter will also be filed with the pamphlets, because of the authoritative information therein contained con- cerning the missing meetings.
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