USA > Michigan > Branch County > History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 22
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James D. Studley, Co. I ; must. out July 21, 1865. Jesse Taft, Co. 1; must out July 21, 1865. Hazel Tyrrell, Co. K ; must. out .Inly 21, 1865.
George W. Thayer, Co. H ; died of disease at Knoxville, Tenn., July 6, 1864. George W. Thayer, Co. B; must. out July 21, 1865.
John U'll, Co. 1; must ont July 21, 1865.
F. Vanderhoof, Co. G; died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., April, 1864. John H. Wells, Co. F; disch. for disability, June 14, 1805.
Benjamin Wilkins, Co. K; must. out July 21, 1865. Benj. F. Wilder, Co. I ; must. ont Jan. 23, 1865.
Aug. Wentworth, Co. I; must, out July 21, 1865.
ELEVENTH CAVALRY.
This regiment contained about thirty men from Branch County, all of whom, with the exception of two or three, were members of Company M. The regiment was or- ganized at Kalamazoo, and left that rendezvous in Decem- ber,. 1863, for the scene of war in the Southwest.
After scouting in Kentucky about six months, the 11th came in collision with the noted rebel cavalry leader, John HI. Morgan, at Mount Sterling, and after a sharp action utterly routed his command. On the 12th of June it came up with the remainder of his force at Cynthiana, and again the sons of chivalry were compelled to fly before the men of Michigan. In the latter part of September, 1864, the regiment moved with its division on a long and tedious raid over the mountains to Saltville, Virginia. The place was found to be fortified and well defended by a large force under General Breckinridge. The attack failed, and the command returned to Kentucky.
In the latter part of November the 11th was ordered to East Tennessee, where it was engaged in the usual fighting with guerillas and rebel cavalry until the middle of Jann- ary, 1865, when it marched with General Stoneman on an important raid into Virginia. On the 16th of January it fought with Vaughn's Brigade all day near Abington, Va., completely ronting it and capturing all its artillery and two hundred and fifty men. After defeating Breekin- ridge's infantry, destroying the salt-works at Saltville, burn- ing an arsenal, and capturing a large quantity of supplies and artillery, the command passed over the mountains into Kentucky, three-fourths of the horses being worn out and the men dismounted.
In the early part of March the regiment, with new horses, again went to East Tennessee, and joined another expedition of General Stoneman into North Carolina. At Salisbury, in that State, on the 12th of April, the command defeated a large force of the enemy, capturing eighteen hundred prisoners and twenty-two pieces of artillery. It then passed on through South Carolina into Georgia, and on the 11th of May captured the cavalry escort of Jeffer- son Davis near Washington, Georgia. It then went back through South Carolina to East Tennessee.
On the 20th of July, the 11th was consolidated with the Sth Michigan Cavalry, taking the name of the latter regi- ment. The consolidated regiment was mustered out in September, as already narrated.
MEMBERS OF THE ELEVENTH CAVALRY FROM BRANCH COUNTY. Abram E. Stowell, Coldwater, Ist lieut .; enl. Ang. I, 1863 ; res. Nov. 14, 1865. Martin S. Perkins, Coldwater, 2d lient. ; enl. Aug. 1, 1863; res. June 18, 1865. Edwin R. Bovee, Co. M.
William E. Burtless, Co. M.
Edward Bates, Co. M ; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. David Blass, Co. M ; trans. to 8th Mich. C'av. Charles S. Dunn, ('o. 1; disch. by order, July 12, 1865.
William J. Foster, Co. M ; trans. to 8th Mich. Cav. Thomas B. Fulcher, Co. M ; disch, by order, Aug. 10, 1865.
Otto Gould, Co. MI ; disch, by order, July 12, 1865. George Garboll, Co. M ; trans. to Sth Mich. Cav. John W. Hulburt, Co. M ; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. Thomas Ilowe, Co. M; disch, by order, Aug. 10, 1865. Julius Heury, Co. M; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. James Kubeck, Co. MI ; trans. to Sth Mich. Cav. George II. Kimball, Co. M ; disch. by order, July 12, 1865. James Loomis, Co. M ; must. out Sept. 11, 1865. Erastus J. Lewis, Co. M ; trans. to Sth Mich. C'av. John M. Landon, Co. M ; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. James C. Mosher, Co. L ; disch. for promotion. Mortimer J. Nash, Co. M ; trans, to 8th Mich, Cuv. William Newman, Co. M ; trans, to Sth Mich. Cav. William Powers, Co. M; traus, tu $th Mich. Cav. Wesley Preston, Cu. M ; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. Charles Sutherland, Co. M ; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. David Sidler, Co. M ; trans, to sth Mich, C'av. 11. C. Thompson, Co. M ; must. out June 12, 1865. Lewis C. Wheeler, Co. MI ; trans. to Sth Mich. Cav. Oliver M. Wentworth, Co. M; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. William J. Young, Co. M; trans, tu 8th Mich. Cav. Charles Zimmerman, Co. A; trans, to 8th Mich, Cav.
CHAPTER XX.
BATTERY A, FIRST LIGHT ARTILLERY .*
Its Common Name-Its Formation - Called the Coldwater Light Ar- tillery-Guns received at Detroit-Two-Thirds Volunteer for Three Years-Ranks Filled-Muster-in - First Officers-Goes to the
Its first official designation was that of " Ist Michigan Battery." Six batteries were raised in Michigan in 1861 62, being numbered respectively from one to six. In the latter part of 1863 six more
86
HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Front-Scene in Cincinnati-" Stick to Coldwater"-Sent to West Virginia-Rich Mountain-Receives Ten-Pound Parrotts-Battles of Elkwater and Greenbrier-Useless Preparations-Selected for Important Duty-The Advance under Gen. Mitchell-The First Shot at Bowling Green-A Forced March-Advance to Huntsville, Ala .- Important Capture-Success at Bridgeport-Back to Louis- ville-Good service at Perryville-In the battle of Stone River -- Victory at Hoover's Gap-Defeat at Chickamauga-Five Guns Lost-At Chattanooga till end of War-List of Members.
THIS battery was almost universally known and men- tioned by the name of its first captain, " Loomis' Battery." Its formation was commenced very soon after the issuance of the President's first call for troops, on the 15th of April, 1861. It was composed very largely of Branch County men, its nucleus being an artillery company (so called) which had been in existence in Coldwater for some time before the commencement of the war, under command of Capt. John W. Culp. The recruiting of this company up to the required number was an easy task at that time, and was accomplished in a few days. Immediately afterwards, the men and officers of the " Coldwater Light Artillery" as they had named themselves, left Coldwater for their de- signated rendezvous at Detroit, there to be organized and drilled for a term of service of (as they then believed) three months' duration, like that of the 1st Michigan In- fantry.
Ou reaching Detroit the meu of the battery made their first halt at the fair grounds, and in the same evening were most hospitably entertained at the Michigan Exchange Hotel. Soon after, they were marched to the fort (Wayne) near the city, for drill, military instruction, and practice under Lieut. Smith, a West Point officer, who had been assigned to that special duty. They here received their equipment of guns,-six indifferent brass six-pounders, in- cluding the one which they had previously used while re- cruiting at Coldwater,-all being the property of the State, and a part of its artillery armament, which then consisted, all told, of eighteen guns; the other twelve of which, ac- cording to the report of Quartermaster-Gen. Fountain for 1862, were supposed to be distributed among various towns and cities of the State. He says : "Our twelve remaining brass cannon might be collected together and rifled at an expense of about sixty dollars each." Certain it was, that without such alteration they were well-nigh worthless, and even with it they could by no means be made good and serviceable pieces. The harnesses furnished to the battery were also incomplete and inferior in nearly every essential particular, but there was a full complement of excellent horses, purchased expressly for the use of the battery in Branch County.
Early in May it was announced that the United States would accept the battery only on condition that the enlist- ments were made for a period of three years, and that such as declined to accept these conditions would be discharged, and left at liberty to return to their homes. Under these
were raised ; the whole being officially considered as the 1st Regiment of Michigan Light Artillery ; the batteries being designated by letters from A to M inclusive (omitting J).
In fact, however, the batteries still operated separately, the field- officers being assigned to staff duty. It is, therefore, impossible to give a connected history of the regiment, but separate sketches are furnished of those batteries which were largely from Branch County.
circumstances about one-third of the men and some of the prospective officers withdrew. The ranks were very soon recruited to their full strength, and the battery was mus- tered into the United States service by Lieut .- Col. E. Backus, U. S. A., for three years from May 25-28, 1861.
The wishes of the men were consulted in the selection of officers, and the following, recommended to the Governor, were duly commissioned :
Cyrus O. Loomis, captain ; Charles A. Edmunds, Otis II. Gillam, first lieutenants; Roland Root, Robert G. Chandler, second lieutenants.
The " Coldwater Light Artillery" (afterwards designated as the " First Michigan Battery," and later as " Battery A, First Michigan Artillery") left Detroit, one hundred and twenty-three strong, on the 1st of June, and proceeded by rail for Cincinnati, where they arrived in the forenoon of Sunday, while the good people of that city were pre- paring for church services. Infantry troops, on their way to the seat of war, had already passed through the city, but no artillery had been seen there; and- as the command, with its grim guns and other imposing paraphernalia, moved through the streets, it was an object of great curi- osity. In the patriotic excitement of the occasion the people neglected the call of the church-bells, and congre- gated by thousands along the thoroughfares to gaze upon the novel and warlike spectacle. Especially was the ad- miration of hundreds of total-abstinence men and women manifested at sight of the magic word " Cold water," painted on the caissons and limber-chests, for they believed it to be an exponent of the strict temperance principles of the mem- bers of the battery. A benevolent-looking gentleman, evidently a clergyman, addressed one of the officers, and, with pride and pleasure written all over his features, as he pointed to the inscription, said, " That's right, boys; keep clear of whisky and stick to cold water! That and pa- triotism will take you through." The advice was excellent, but perhaps the battery boys temporarily forgot it after- wards in the smoke and dust of Perryville and Chicka- manga.
From Cincinnati the battery was moved by rail to Camp Dennison, being the first artillery command which arrived at that famous rendezvous. Several days later, it was moved by railroad to Marietta, Ohio, being greeted with great enthusiasm along the entire route, but particularly at Chillicothe and Marietta. From the latter place it was moved by steamboat down the Ohio to Parkersburg, W. Va., and thence (after an encampment of a few days) pro- ceeded by rail to Clarksburg, W. Va., where, with two or three Indiana infantry regiments, it was posted on the heights commanding the town and its approaches. After a short stay at this place, the command moved to Buck- hannon, where a large body of Union troops were found concentrated, and where the men of the battery first saw Maj .- Gen. George B. MeClellan. Here also, during their stay of one or two weeks, they received their first inspec- tion, July 4, 1861, the inspecting officer being Brig .- Gen. Sill, who was afterwards killed at Stone River.
On or about the 8th the battery moved with other troops towards Rich Mountain, a part of the Laurel Hill range, which is there cut by a defile through which passes
HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the Staunton and Western turnpike. On the west slope of this mountain a force of the enemy, about three thou- sand strong, was intrenched in heavy earthworks, and it was against this foree that the army of Gen. MeClellan was moving. As they drew near the mountain in the afternoon of the 10th of July, the pickets of the enemy were encoun- tered, and in a skirmish with them a man of the 9th Ohio Regiment was killed. This was the first bloodshed seen by the soldiers of the battery. Early the next morning the battle of Rich Mountain was commenced and fought by Gen. Rosecrans, with a detachment of the army con- sisting of the 8th, 10th, and 13th Indiana, and 19th Ohio. The remainder of his forces, including the Coldwater bat- tery, were held by Gen. MeClellan in readiness to partici- pate, but their services were not required, for the Indiana regiments which were engaged went in with a fury which was almost ferocity, and carried all before them. They recollected the stigma which had been east upon troops of their State for disereditable behavior in the Mexican war, and one, at least, of their regiments had inscribed on its colors the words " No Buena Vista." They had resolved on this occasion to wipe out the old stain, and they did so most completely.
From Rich Mountain the battery moved with its com- panion troops to Beverly, where it gave material assistance in the capture of a large quantity of forage and other sup- plies which were greatly needed. From that point it was moved to the defense of Cheat Mountain Pass, in which position it remained for some weeks, and while there was newly equipped with ten-pounder rifled Parrott guns from the Pittsburgh arsenal ; the old armament being given to a battery, then recently formed, of Virginia Unionists.
Though the battery had been in an exposed position, and for some hours under fire at the battle of Rich Moun- tain, its first actnal engagement was that at the mouth of the Elkwater, W. Va., in the latter part of July, where it did good service. It was again engaged at Greenbrier, W. Va., October 3, where, with Howe's (regular) battery, it disabled all but one of the fifteen cannou which the enemy had upon the field, and also succeeded in exploding their magazine. It was under a hot fire for more than four hours, and ceased firing only when the last round of ammu- nition was expended. In this action a loss of about six hundred was inflicted on the enemy, while the Union loss was very small in comparison. In the night after this engagement, the battery bivouacked on the Greenbrier Mountain, from which place it moved back to the camping- ground at Elkwater.
Soon after, it was moved to IIuttonville, and here the men, thinking this would probably be the place of their winter quarters, commeneed the construction of a suitable camp for that purpose. They were, however, not long after removed to Philippi, where they again commenced the construction of winter quarters for men and horses, but once more their labor proved to have been expended in vain ; for in a few days after their arrival, orders were received from the War Department directing the battery to be transferred to Louis- ville, Ky., and its commander to report in that city to Gen. D. C. Buell.
The cause of this transfer was a projected movement of
Gen Buell southward from Louisville through the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, to the Tennessee River. When this movement had been definitely decided on, Gen. Buell wrote to the War Department asking that one of the best regular batteries, one in which he could place confidence (for it was a characteristic of that morose martinet that he had little confidence in any volunteer troops, infantry, cavalry, or artillery ) to occupy such positions, and to per- form such duties as could only be entrusted to skilled and tried artillerists in the contemplated campaign. To this application of Gen. Buell, Gen. Halleck replied, in effect, as follows: " I cannot send you such a regular battery as you desire ; but I send you, instead, Capt. Loomis' First Michigan Battery, which you will not find inferior in any respect to the best among the regular artillery." The order for the battery to report to Gen. Buell in Louisville was the result of this correspondence.
The command thereupon broke camp and marched to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, at Webster, from which point the men, horses, armament, ete., were shipped by rail to Parkersburg, and thence by steamer on the Ohio River to Louisville. There Capt. Loomis received orders to join the division of Gen. O. M. Mitchell, at his camp of instruction and organization at Bacon Creek. Here the command re- mained until February, 1862, when it advanced with the division towards Bowling Green, where the enemy was re- ported as being in heavy force. Upon approaching the town, it was found that the Big Barren River (on the south side of which the town is situated ) was enormously swollen and impassable. This movement on Bowling Green had been a complete surprise to the enemy. Abbott, in his " Civil War in America" says of it,-" Gen. Mitchell, with his heroic, devoted, and thoroughly-disciplined band, had succeeded in cutting off all intelligence of his movements, simply by their rapidity. He had sent out his seouts so adroitly in advance, that they seized every solitary one of the enemy's piekets, and no man succeeded in crossing the river to carry the news of his advance to Bowling Green. A cannon planted upon an eminence sent the first emphatic warning to the enemy, in the form of a shell. . .. The very first intelligence the enemy had of his approach was from the bursting of a shell in the midst of a railroad depot, where several regiments of the rebels were congregated. They were, however, preparing to evacuate, alarmed by the movement of the army and gunboats up the Cumberland. They had destroyed all the bridges aeross Green River, and with trains of cars loaded with supplies, were preparing to escape through Nashville. The sudden fire from Gen. Mitchell's batteries scattered the foe in such consternation that they had not even time to fire the trains; and the engines, the cars, and their abundant freight were thus saved. That very night a rope ferry was constructed across the river, which by the early dawn had conveyed over enough of the cavalry and infantry to take possession of the town, the enemy flying before them." That first eannon-shot, sent screaming across the Big Barren as above narrated by Abbott, was fired by Lieut. Roland Root, of the First Michigan Battery, and that battery it was, too, whose guns and horses were first crossed upon the frail scows of the rope ferry which he mentions. Abbott, how-
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ever, is incorrect in stating that " the engines, the ears, and their abundant freight were thus saved," for all escaped, except the one train attached to the locomotive which was disabled by the shot from Loomis' battery.
The damages to the engine were repaired with but little delay, and with it Gen. Mitchell made a personal reconnois- sance along the railroad towards Nashville, being accom- panied by Capt. Loomis and other officers, and having with them a small force, including one gun of this battery, under the immediate command of Lieut. Hale. A few days after, the battery was rapidly moved forward to " Murrell's Cave," and after a short stay it was advanced with the greatest possible speed to Edgefield, on the Cumberland River, opposite Nashville. So great was the haste in which this march was performed that in one day Lieut. Root, commanding the battery, had occasion to order eleven horses to be "cut out" and left by the way, lamed, ex- hausted, or otherwise disabled by the extreme severity of the work which they were forced to perform. The reason why this unusual speed was required was to gain control of the Cumberland River at Nashville at the earliest pos- sible moment, to prevent the destruction of boats on the river, and to afford assistance, if necessary, to the fleet of Com. Foote and the troops of Gen. Grant, which had a few days before accomplished the reduction of Fort Donelson.
The Ist Michigan, the foremost of the five batteries ac- companying Mitchell's force, entered Edgefield at headlong speed, and without a moment's delay took possession on a knoll upon the river-bank fronting Nashville, being the first Union battery which turned its guns upon that rebel city. The orders received by its commanding lientenant, from Gen. Mitchell, were to double-shot with canister and promptly open fire npon the least indication of a movement along the river-banks. But no movement was made, and it proved that the enemy's forces had evacuated the city, which was occupied by the troops of Gen. Mitchell on the 25th of February. The battery encamped on the Mur- freesboro' turnpike, where it remained for two or three weeks, and then moved on to the town of Murfreesboro', making a stay there of about the same duration.
On the 3d of April it moved with the infantry troops successively through Wartrace, Shelbyville, and Fayette- ville, on the Elk River, to Huntsville, Ala., the vicinity of which place was reached in the evening of April 10. In the early morning of the 11th the advance entered Ilunts- ville, having previously torn up the railroad track above and below the town, thus preventing the trains concen- trated there from escaping. Twenty-four locomotives, one hundred cars, and very large quantities of forage and mil- itary stores were captured, and, better than all, a principal object of the expedition, the severing of communication be- tween Chattanooga and Corinth, by the line of the Mem- phis and Charleston Railroad, was accomplished.
Soon after the occupation of the town (April 28) a see- tion of the 1st Battery, under charge of Lieut. Root, ac- companied Gen. Mitchell on an expedition to Bridgeport, Ala., to destroy the railroad bridge across the Tennessee River at that point. They were transported by railroad to a place a short distance above Stevenson, Ala., where the guns were taken from the cars, and for the remainder of
the distance were hauled by the men, with incredible labor and difficulty, over roads and through morasses of the worst description to Bridgeport. Here they opened upon the enemy on the opposite side of the river with so much vigor as to compel him to evacuate his position,-the second shot fired, striking and completely dismantling a locomotive at- tached to a train loaded with military stores. The rebel commander, Gen. Leadbetter, eaused the southern end of the magnificent railroad bridge to be set on fire, and then retreated with great precipitation. A considerable amount of forage and other stores, which had been collected on the Bridgeport side by the enemy, fell into the hands of the Union forces, who, after burning the north end of the bridge (leaving the central spans unharmed ), retired to Ste- venson, and thence to Huntsville,-the guns of the battery being hauled back to Stevenson by the aid of farmers' oxen and mules which had been impressed into that service. Two guns captured at Bridgeport were also brought back in the same manner.
On the 2d of July, Gen. Mitchell was superseded by Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau, under whose command the battery lay at Huntsville and immediate vicinity until the incursion of the rebel general Bragg into Tennessee, and his rapid mareb towards Louisville, Ky., compelled the evacuation of Huntsville, the union of Gen. Rousseau's troops with the main body under Gen. Buell, and the march of the whole army to the Ohio River. In this movement the 1st Michigan Battery took part, and, passing northward through Tennessee and Kentucky, over nearly the same route by which it had advanced under Gen. Mitchell (except a dé- tour by way of Elizabethtown and Salt River, Ky.), reached Louisville with the army of Gen. Buell about the middle of September, 1862.
After a short season of rest and reorganization, the army again faced southward on the 1st of October, still bent on the pursuit of Bragg, who had in the mean time started on the retreat towards Tennessee. Overtaking him at Chaplin Hills, near Perryville, Ky., on the 8th, the left wing of the Union army gave him battle, and a fierce engagement ensued. In that engagement Loomis' battery took so prom- inent a part that Adj .- Gen. Robertson, in his official report for 1862, said of it that " it saved the right wing of the Union army from being flanked in the important action at Perryville, Ky." After this action the battery moved with the army to Tyree Springs and Nashville; and thence, in the campaign of Murfreesboro', to the field of Stone River. There, in the great battles of Dec. 31, 1862, and Jan. 1 and 2, 1863, it again distinguished itself as at Perryville, and was complimented in high terms by its corps commander, the brave and steadfast Gen. Thomas.
Eneamping at Murfreesboro', after the Stone River battle, the battery remained at that place until the advance of Rosecrans' army on Tullahoma, June 24, 1863, when it moved with the column, and on the following day was hotly engaged at Hoover's Gap, Tenn., where it silenced the enemy's batteries and added a new page to its already bright record. Thenee, moving on through Manchester, Decherd, and Cowan, Tenn., to Stevenson and Bridgeport, Ala., it crossed the Tennessce River at the latter place about the 4th of September, passed over Raccoon, Sand, and
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