History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 46

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co.
Number of Pages: 952

USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 46

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

My comrades will not soon forget the grand ovation that welcomed us to Detroit. The martial pride of our men was gratified by a parade through the streets of that eity, and on those streets were throngs of people, who everywhere cheered and greeted us with kind enthusiasm. Our embarkation that night on the steamer . Morning Star,' for the trip across Lake Erie, was the last act performed in the presence of our friends, and we were soon receding from the last link that bound us to them and to home. The gleaming lights of the eity were soon fading away over the dark waters of the river, beyond whose *widening tide' stood mothers and sisters and friends, to whose hearts-like perhaps to onrs-was rushing a new and quickening sense of the separation, and who were wafting adiens to us in the same breath that uttered a mother's, a sister's or a father's prayer.

I pass hurriedly over the unimportant incidents of our arrival at Cleveland on that beautiful September morning, after the quiet trip across the lake; the dusty ride by rail to Cincinnati, the midnight arrival there, and the banquet spread for our reception at the market-house. The same night of our arrival at Cincinnati saw us across the broad Ohio, to Covington, and, under the light of a brilliant moon, which beautified the scene beyond my power to describe, we marched into Covington and found ourselves upon the 'dark and bloody ground of Kentucky.' Albeit the ground was anything but dark and bloody, and our slumbers that night were conducted upon the stone pavements of an inhospitable city. Prompt to the necessities of that stirring and dangerous time, the very next morn- ing, breakfastless, haggard and weary indeed, our place having been assigned to us in the long line defending Covington, we marched out to our position and became a part of that irregular, ill-organized army which saved Ohio from invasion, Cincinnati from plunder and destruction and the whole North from panie and disgrace. The incidents of that remark- able time are yet fresh in our recollection. It was a time wherein the country witnessed, perhaps, the grandest effort of patriotism which the war evolved. Martial law prevailed in Cincinnati, and we saw the business of that great eity suspended and its vast ware. houses and palatial mercantile establishments closed and deserted, that its leading citi- zens, its wealthy merchants might march to the rifle-pits with mattock and spade to build intrenchments, while the actual soldier and the squirrel hunter watched grimly for that hostile advance which seemed each hour ready to be precipitated upon our lines.

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

Through the intolerable heat and dust of those days, we saw gradually arise those frowning earthworks which stayed invasion, and from behind which we kept at bay an ex- ultant enemy, out of which at last we marched and hurled the invader back to the Cum- berland Mountains. The limits of the hour forbid my enlarging upon the story of our labors and adventures on that line, but I will not pass unnoticed the famous battle of the 'Cabbage Patch,' a faithful and minnte description of which, under hands accustomed to such tasks, might be made to rival, if it did not pale the day of Hohenlinden or Water- loo. Neither must I omit to mention, as we pass along, the day's excitement in our camp engendered by the reported capture of Company A, while out on a scout under he leader ship of its redoubtable commanding officer. Prolonging its stay beyond the time limited by orders for the march, a rumor spread that the company had been surrounded by a large body of the enemy and compelled to surrender. Of course, the greatest regret ruled the bosoms of all of us at this unfortunate affair, until Col. Wisner, on hearing the report, allayed all our anxieties by that well-remembered remark: 'No fear, gentlemen; Capt. Hatten cannot be surrounded by any body of rebels out of which he will not talk himself with the great- est ease and in the shortest possible time.'

And sure enough Company A did appear in time and marched gallantly back to quarters, without the loss of a man.

Days of heat and dust on those dry, sandy hills; of marching and counter-marching; of short rations and anxiety, followed until the grand march through the heart of Kentucky to 'Snow's Pond.' that delightful 'Siloam' upon whose margin we halted for a few days to slake our thirst, and the waters of which we shall all remember to our dying day, and finally, the arrival at Lexington. How many sad and how many cheerful memories com- mingle in our minds at the mention of Lexington. It was here we arrived, the 224 of October. 1862, and here we remained until the 22d of March, 1563. Our delightful camp, with its fondly remembered name, .Camp Ella Bishop.' where that close friend ship of ours was formed with the sturdy One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois, command- ed by that Chevalier Bayard, Col. Thomas J. Henderson, and the versatile Eighteenth Michigan, commanded by the Christian soldier, Charles C. Doolittle. The last-named regiment, our subsequent companions, and always close but jealous friends in marches and campaigns, that lasted just a year and a day.

Our first sad bereavement met us here, at Lexington. On the 5th of January, 1863, after a brief illness, death struck from our muster rolls the gallant, self-sacrificing and noble-hearted Moses Wisner, our leader and our friend. What feeble words of ours can do his memory justice to day. A man of iron will. yet tender as a child; of sturdy and ripe intellect, of undoubted patriotism and unmatched abilities, he led his command to the front of the war with as pure a devotion to the cause of liis imperiled country as animated the heart of any patriot who ever died in the cause of liberty. His ungraceful form at the head of his command always recalled the mental picture of Oliver Cromwell, leading his . Ironsides' regiment to victory. Like Hampden and Cromwell of an earlier time; like Lincoln and Hamilton of Revolutionary fame; like Alfred H. Terry and other notable

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examples in our own great war. Moses Wisner, bred in the arts of peace and perfect in the walk of a statesman, had, at the outset, but erude notions of the military art, but, when his country needed him on the field of war, he was there with a cool head, a stout heart and a will to do all that presented itself to be done. He died, at his post of duty, sin- cerely lamented by every one in his command, who appreciated the man and his motives, and the pageant of his funeral day attested the sincere respect of all the troops on duty at the post. Not less lamented by his circle of personal acquaintances. we lost there, too, a less conspicuous, but not less noble, officer, Lieut. John Sackett, of Company C, who died after a long sickness, regretted by those who knew him best. It was at Lexington that the men in the ranks of the Twenty-second displayed the most unconquerable fortitude in confronting the 'silent terrors' of the hospital and the sickness ineident to a winter of exposure with insufficient shelter from rains and cold. We sadly remember how many brave men yielded up their lives there, victims of disease. No less heroes in dying thus than those who fall amidst the roar of battle pierced by the bullet of an enemy. The sad and silent procession was startlingly frequent during this winter, and we paid the last sad rites to many a comrade whose memory is cherished by every one of us who survive to gather here to-day.

" While lying here at Lexington, the spring of 1863 opened gloomily for the Union cause in Kentucky. A mounted foree of rebels, under Gen. Pegram, emerged from East Tennessee, crossed the Cumberland Mountains and River, and gave themselves up to the plunder of Southern Kentucky. Ingenious devices were resorted to by this foxy com- mander to exaggerate his armament and numbers in the minds of the helpless people, and the greatest alarm spread over that State. We all remember the confusion that seemed to exist on our own side, and the marching and counter-marching. the movements hither and thither which ensued. At last a plan of a campaign seemed determined. and we marched away from Lexington on the 22d of March, 1863, and traveled that wild road to- ward Cumberland Gap, through Crab Orchard, and then baek to Danville. It was at Danville we were flanked by a elever enemy and had the lively skirmish in which Jen- nings, of Company B, and Hodgson, of Company A, were wounded. It was at this skir- mish at Danville that our 'Contrabands' preferred to 'seent the battle from afar off,' and so incontinently fled the seene. It was during this bloody fray that the charger was shot beneath the Captain of Company A, and following these movements that we erossed the Dix River and the Kentucky River on that most singular retreat, which subsequent history demonstrated to have been the result of weakness in the General who commanded us in the campaign. But we marched with a cheerful tread to the front of the war and on the wild mountains. amidst the snow and sleet of winter's parting compliments, so nearly took part in the tinal overthrow of that host of rebel rough riders.

The exigencies of the service soon ealled us from these stirring seenes, and, under orders to repair to Tennessee, we passed through and across Southern Kentucky, visiting Lancaster, Stamford, Danville. Camp Dick Robinson, we headed for the South. . Brigaded with the Eighteenth Michigan, we marched them a race for Lebanon. And it was amidst

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adventures like these that we reached, at last, the city of Lebanon, where we waged war for a day with high officials on the " nigger " question, and where Kentucky chivalry failed to drive us from the position we had taken on that subject.

In course of time, we reached Nashville (early in April), and there we remained doing garrison duty until the following September. I might repeat here the remark which we made of Lexington. . How many sad, how many cheerful recollections start up at the mention of Nashville. It was here we lost Capt. Carleton, of Company E, whose sudden and tragic death cast a gloom over the whole command, while here Capt. Beards- lee, of Company D, died, not to name the many brave men who fell victims to the diseases of camp in the hospitals of that city. The story we might tell of each humble soldier's death, would but be the same recital of devotion and patience and heroic submission.

The summer we spent at Nashville is not remembered by any startling military ad- venture in which we took part, but its recollection is not embittered by a consciousness of any duty not well performed by the regiment, nor by any act of vandalism or want of military discipline.

It was through the summer of 1863, that the crisis of the war was reached and passed. The glorious but valueless victories which had been gained heretofore, had but served to develop the strength and perversity of the South, but, with the 'Battle Summer ' of 1863, came the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the great victory of Gettysburg, and finally, in September, the movement from Murfreesboro southward by the Army of the Cumberland, under the leadership of Gen. Rosecrans. Speedily was all the country con- quered that lay between Nashville and Chattanooga, and that band of veterans led by the master spirit of Stone River prepared to close in dubious struggle with the hosts of Bragg in front of Chattanooga. The Twenty-second received orders to repair to the front. Willingly relinquishing the light duties and pleasant quarters at Nashville, the regiment embarked for the field of active work, and, on the 20th of September, took part in the memorable battle of Chickamauga, one of the most gigantic and momentous conflicts of the war. A battle in which the total losses on the Union side were upward of 20,000 men, and in which the rebels admit they lost 18,000 men, of whom 16,000 were killed and wounded, a battle in which the rebels reaped a questionable victory, for all its fruits were gathered on the battle-field; a battle where the victor won the actual field, but when van- quished, had secured the great strategic object of the campaign -- Chattanooga-and was abundantly able to retain and defend it; and, with the prize of Chattanooga, we possessed all East Tennessee, the Switzerland of America.

I shall not attempt to describe the part taken by the Twenty-second in that battle. It has been the just task of historians to hand down on the page of history the deeds of that great day, and for steady courage and reckless heroism, our regiment was not ont- done on all that bloody field. Your deeds that day, soldiers of the Twenty-second Michi- gan, made the name of Chickamauga resplendent with the glory of your arms.

But oh! the price at which victory and fame had been purchased. After the battle, nothing remained of the Twenty-second but a shattered fragment of its once glorious

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line. Where these noble men had gone was a question that needed not to be asked. Killed on the field of battle. many lay like Capt. Snell, of Company D -wounded to the death; many more, like noble-hearted Smith, the leader of Company H, and others, wounded sorely and erippled for life like Sanborn, while the dark prisons and noisome pens closed around other brave hearts at Andersonville and Libby.

We pause to pay a tribute to those brave comrades, whose lives paid the forfeit of their patriotism on the field of Chickamauga, and we would liken the task to that of the white-haired Covenanter, busied in removing the gathering moss from the gray stones which marked the resting-place of his fallen comrades of half a century gone. We would stand uncovered in the presence of their precious memories and renew with our chisel the defaeed inscriptions and repair the emblems of death with which their monuments are adorned.

" Why seek we with unwearied toil Through death's dim walks to urge our way. Reclaim his long asserted spoil And lead oblivion into day."

It is beeanse we owe it as a debt of justice to pay this honor to those who have de- voted their lives to their country, and because we love to dwell upon the virtues and patriot- ism of these, our fallen comrades. Of them, how just to say:

"Types of a race who shall the invader scorn, As rocks resist the billows round their shore; Types of a race who shall to time unborn, Their country leave unconquered as of yore."

We turn from the contemplation of their deaths, our sadness assnaged by the thought that in the great hereafter much will be carried to the credit of men who have laid down their lives in defense of liberty and their fellow-man.

The campaign against Atlanta which now followed, saw the Twenty-second in active and heroic service, till . Sherman's march to the sea ' practically elosed the war. The struggle lasted a few months after that great march, and the spring of 1865 saw the fall of the great strongholds of the enemy, the eapture and dispersion of his armies and the inglorious and final collapse of the great rebellion. With the fall of Richmond and the capture of Lee's army, the war was over and we realized the words of the old song. . For Johnny came marehing home again.' At Detroit, on the 29th of June, 1865, the regi- ment was mustered out of the service and disbanded. As a military organization, it ceased to exist. Its searred and saered colors were folded away among the proudest ban- ners of the State, where they yet remain, the silent but eloquent witnesses of patriot- ism, with the record emblazoned on their folds that tells the story of Chickamauga, of Rossville and Atlanta.

SOLDIERS' RECORD.

George L. Bacon, died at Lexington, Ky .. December 4, 1862. Michael Woolven, died at Lexington. Ky., November 28, 1862. William H. Crandall, died at Lexington. Ky., December 12. 1862.

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IHISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

Louis Pulcher. died at Lexington, Ky., December 24, 1862. William A. Senter, killed at Chattanooga October 14, 1863. Joseph Swork, killed at Chattanooga October 14, 1863. George H. Canfield, killed at Chickamauga September 20, 1863. Ellery S. Eggleston, died at Lexington Ky., January 9, 1863. William Ogden, died at Lexington, Ky., March 3, 1863. Addison B. Rice, died at Lexington, Ky., March 10, 1863. George R. Adams, died at Lexington, Ky., March 14. 1863. Robert K. Huisarts, died at Lexington, Ky., April 23. 1863. Frank R. Smith, died at Nashville May 25, 1863. Watson Norton, died at Nashville June 20, 1863. Wilbur H. Fairchild, died at Lexington January 5, 1863. Paul Rattell, died at Lexington January 23, 1863. George S. Harris, died at Lexington Jannary 16, 1863. John Hartz, died at Lexington March 4, 1863. C. W. Ballard, died at Lexington March 24, 1863. William H. Waldron, died at Nashville May 9, 1863. George N. Saddler, killed at Nashville February 7, 1864. Timothy German. killed September 24, 1863. James Meyers, killed at Chattanooga November 19, 1863. Charles W. H. Voss, killed at Chattanooga October 4, 1863. Fred Hintz, killed at Chattanooga October 29. 1863. Zara Parker, killed at Chattanooga September 20, 1863. George Thompson, killed at Chickamauga September 20, 1863. Henry Butzler, killed at Chickamauga September 20, 1863. Hugh MeIlvaine. died July 20, 1564.

Lewis M. Yerkes, died at Nashville August 31, 1863. Milan M. Drake, died at Chattanooga April 21, 1864. George B. Drake, died on the cars Angust 21. 1864. A. B. Abernathy, died near Atlanta September 24, 1864. Charles Mosher, died at Bridgeport November 22. 1865. James H. Pool, died at Danville, Va., January 6, 1864. Josiah German, died at Danville, Va., January 3, 1864. Elisha Chamberlain, died at Danville, Va., February 14, 1864. Clarkston Harvey, died at Danville. Va., January 18; 1864. Robert Sudden, died at Chattanooga April 28, 1864. Rufus A. Snook, died at Chattanooga May 11, 1864. Charles Wrightman, died at Chattanooga June 16, 1864. Lonis Alband, died at Chattanooga. Francis Dedire. died at Danville, Va., June 16, 1864. W. Shaper, died at Andersonville June 14. 1864.

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

Calvin Metz, killed at Chickamauga September 20, 1863. Theo F. Van Vliet, died in rebel prison September 19, 1864. Thomas Moreland, died at Chattanooga September 17, 1864. Joseph C. Norton, died at Chattanooga May 28, 1865. David C. Barr, died at Chattanooga April 24, 1864. Ernest Arndt, died at Chattanooga April 24, 1865. Edward E. Ewolt, died in Jackson, Mich., March 4, 1864. Lyman Gillett, died in Andersonville September 28, 1864. James G. Jackson, died in Andersonville July 29, 1864. Francis Robinson, died in Andersonville September 2, 1864. Charles W. Scribner, died in Indianapolis February 28, 1865. Fred Schimer, died in Andersonville Angust 30, 1864. William Fritscho, died in Andersonville September 15, 1864. Charles Burkhart, died in Andersonville August 15, 1864. Theodore Fisher, died in Andersonville July 20, 1564. Francis Mueller, died in Andersonville September 1, 1864. Gotlob Schauffer, died in Andersonville June 20, 1864. George Walker, died in Andersonville September 5, 1864. Charles S. Jonas, died in Chattanooga April 1, 1865. James Strong.

Discharged or Transferred -Herman Birch, Peter Rumph, Antoine Peltier, James H. Stanley, Nathan Soper, W. H. Williams, Alfred B. Adams, Joshna Deal, George W. Wid- rig, Benjamin Albund, Anthony Bodie, Henry Chapaton, William Grebe, William Rott- man, William Morrison, Charles Hartgan, Julius Mandell, Fred Stienback, C. More, John Hazely, Peter Monier, W. H. Harwood, B. Mack Miller, Lyman H. Tewsbury, Edward E. Ewalt. Leander A. Cotton, William H. Sutphin, Oren Vanderwort, Lewis Kuhne, Angus- tus Mandell, Lorin G. Norton, William M. Smith, Maj. D. Gorton, David B. Leroy, Oliver Yax, Thomas P. Blasdell, Charles Lang, Charles Forton, Silas E. Halsey, Theodore Van Fliet, John A. Fisher, Nelson B. Miller, Norbert Generous, Mortimer Hunter. James Myers, Timothy German, Elisha P. Chamberlain, William Caldwell, Josiah German, Ly- man Gillett, Austin Gaines, Florence Hunter, Clarkson Harvey, James Jackson. Calvin Metty, James Pool, Francis Robinson, Zara Parker, Ernest Stiger, Dositee Chortier, Will- iam Fritche, Charles Burkheart, Henry Butzler, Francis Dictere, William Dubay, Theodore Fisher, Fred Hintz, Aug Necker. Gottlob Peter, Gottlob Shaffer, Fred Schriner, Chris- tian Spawn, Silas Teats, George Thompson, George Walker, William H, Voss, Fortescue Wail, John B. Waltz, Francis Miller, Henry M. Smith, Marens L. King, J. D. Merchant, Edward Thompson. Henry Parish, John H. McLeod, Salmo Lesperance, James Moore, Patrick Spellman. L. J. Compton, William Newberry. George W. Guiles, Albert Weso- lowski, Roswell Peteher, George Hart, Socrates Addis, James R. Briggs, John W. Reat, Hugh Smith, Guy M. Young, William R. Lockwood, Peter Thire, Vivius S. Wood, Jona- than Widrig. Edward D. Bliss, George W. Griffith, Joseph C. Stark, R. L. Mott, D. S.

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

Mott, Francis O. Crocker, John C. Reaves, John Walker, James McBride, Edwin L. Howe, Thomas F. King, Edwin Tharratt, Royal A. Young, Antoine Ducklow, Louis Guy- ette. John Guyette, Moses Martell, Joseph Peltier, Petre Peltier, Napoleon Papen, Lorenzo E. Sergeant, George W. Wixon. Martin Allor, Charles Hogle. I. Smith, Leander A. Cot- ton, Oren Vanderwort, Gilbert P. Noble, William F. Hollister, Daniel W. Lewis, Oliver Ruby, Joshua Conklin, Isaac M. Whitney, William S. Church, Stephen B. Warren, Jesse Grover, Joseph Inman, James M. Widrig. John Norton, Windsor Norton, Andrew Harri- son, David B. Leroy, Henry Bates, Frank Betwice, John D. Church, Levi M. Withey, Isaac Smith, John H. MeCracken, William S. McCracken, Samuel M. Leggett. Reuben Mitchell, George Youngblood, George W. Widrig, William Sheperd, Edward Payne, Charles R. Clements, Augustus Firmest, William Rose, Vincent Layland, John Moore, Leander Rose, Cyrus Harris, C. F. Wattensperger, Jacob Schrambling, Alanson A. Aus- tin, William Smith. Byron Rosecrans, Reuben A. Howe. Ira P. Jersey, Robert Kirk- ham, George Jersey, John Stone, John J. Snook, Stewart Gorton, Ellery C. Cannon, Louis Bonchard, Alexander Stevens, Henry M. Smith. Clarence Dixon, Isaac T. Newton. William F. Drake, Isaac C. Cross, John Cyrus Cannon, Levi H. Can- non. John H. Delisle, N. Washer Hartley, Alonzo Horey, George A. Wright, Crawford Austin, Ed. M. Andrus, Dwight R. Andrus, David B. Andrews, Alanson Beardsley, John Bird. George G. Burd, Isaiah Briggs, John M. Burgett, Gurdon P. Baird, Thomas R. Crawford. Henry D. Coykendall, Harmon L. Curtiss, George H. Cannon, James S. Covell, George W. Davidson, George D. Frost, W. H. Fitzpatrick, James B. Fry, Orlan W. Green, William Hall, Sylvester P. Harvey, William H. Johnson, William L. Lee, George W. Lockwood, William McIntyre, Henry O. Morrison, B. Mack Miller, Robert D. Owen, Frank Phillips, Roys S. Pearsol, Frederick A. Roth, Nathan Rowley, John Storey, R. C. Schreeves, Reuben T. St. John, Myron St. John, Erastus H. Lipperly, George W. Torrey, William J. Wellstead, Reuben Warrener, George Arnold, George Babcock, Amander Ruby. I. K. W. Windt, Orrin Green. Henry Huderbray. John Dusser, Adolph Eckhart. Emanuel Mandell, Andrew Ross, Norbert Generous, Nelson B. Miller, Orlando Devereaux, Lyman H. Tewkesbusy, W. W. Collins, S. H. Ballard, Ang E. Bacon. Jerome Foote, My- ron Bates, Anthony Beach, Anable Beson. Samuel Beacham, Aden Card. William Cald- well. W. A. Fraligh, Eugene Geddings, John M. Gilbert, John Henry, George Butzler. William Dubay, Horace Miers, Ed M. Monroe. George E. Newberry, William H. Sutphin, John M. Thompson. Daniel Sutherland, Ira Kniffin. Elijah Howard, William H. Morris, Austin M. Rowley, Sanford A. Rowley, James E. Monroe. Joseph Inman, Ernst Steiger. Chariter Dositer. Louis Kuehne, James Walker. Ernest Alband, Philip Ballard, Thomas Ballard. Joseph Barnie. John Buetel, Charles Hintz. Joseph La Graff. Louis Letourneau. Francis Letourneau, Aug Mandell, William Marquardt, Augustus Necker, Peter Gotloh. Charles A. Rider, Silas R. Teats, Fortescue Wail, John B. Waltz, John Merrifield, Dan- iel Tucker, John Strong, James Strong, Roselle Widrig. Burton H. Toncray. Lafayette Carter, Charles Purschel, Louis Brockway, George C. Whitney, John B. Thomas, John MI. Dubay, William Petzold. Charles Marguardt.

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

TWENTY-THIRD MICHIGAN INFANTRY.

The Twenty-third Michigan infantry was organized at Saginaw, under David H. Jerome, then commandant of camp, and left the rendezvous September IS, 1862, under Col. M. W. Chapin, for Kentucky, with a force of 953 officers and private soldiers. The com- mand was engaged on garrison duty until the summer of 1863, when it participated in the affair at Paris, Ky., July 29. Subsequently, it took a prominent part in twenty-three en- gagements, the last at Goldsboro, March 22, 1865, and, returning to the State, was mus- tered out at Detroit, July 20, 1865. The soldiers of the command from Macomb were:

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History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 46

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co. Number of Pages: 952

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co.
Number of Pages: 952