USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph county, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories > Part 21
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In Sherman's advance upon Atlanta, the 19th was in the 1st brigade, 4th division, 20th corps, and at Resaca, May 15, 1864, became conspicuously and desperately engaged, when, with the brigade, it gallantly charged a four- gun battery, captured the artillery, and held the position. In this charge Colonel Gilbert, commanding the regiment, was mortally wounded, while leading and urging on his men, and died at Chattanooga on the 24th of that month.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
At Peach Tree creek the regiment, under command of Major John J. Baker, participated in the repulse of the fierce attack of the enemy on the Union lines July 20, in which Major Baker was wounded and thirty-five of his men, four being killed.
The 19th " marched down to the sea" with Sherman, participating in the numerous engagements of its corps with credit and distinction. At Averys- boro, North Carolina, on March 16, 1865, it bore a brilliant part in the as- sault on the enemy's works, which were captured, with the artillery therein. The 19th lost in the assault two brave officers, Captain Leonard Gibbon and Lieutenant Charles G. Purcell, and four men killed and fifteen wounded, several severely.
Lieutenant Baldwin, of Company D, was the hero of a brave defense, though short and hopeless; with fifty men of the company, he was stationed at a stockade on the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad at Stone river, and was attacked, October 5, by a large force of rebel cavalry and artillery under Major General Wheeler, who, after sending forward one hundred and fifty men in the Federal uniform as a decoy, quietly surrounded the company and demanded its surrender. Lieutenant Baldwin returned answer that " he must fight before he got him," on the receipt of which a battery immediately opened on the stockade, and was responded to by a fire of musketry ; the firing was continued for an hour and a half, throwing nearly forty charges of grape, canister, solid shot, and shell ; the shot passing through the stock- ade, knocking the logs to pieces, and causing more damage from the splin- ters than from shot. Lieutenant Baldwin, deeming it useless to attempt to hold his position any longer against such odds, and expecting no assistance, surrendered his command,-having six wounded, while the attacking force lost two killed and eight wounded.
The enemy's force consisted of two divisions of cavalry and twelve pieces of artillery. Lieutenant Baldwin's men were disarmed, and plundered of their overcoats, money, and all articles of value, and unconditionally re- leased, and under a pass from General Wheeler returned to its encampment at the stockade, and next morning marched from Murfreesboro.
The loss of the regiment during its term of service, was seven officers and ninety-one men killed or died of wounds, and one hundred and thirty-five men died of disease.
THE TWENTY-FIFTH INFANTRY.
The 25th was recruited and organized at Kalamazoo, under the superin- tendence of Hon. H. G. Wells, commandant of camp, and was commanded by Colonel O. H. Moore, and was a splendid and well-disciplined regiment. Two companies went out under its colors from St. Joseph county : D, Cap- tain Julius C. Cross, of Three Rivers, afterwards succeeded by Lieutenant Henry Mccrary, of Leonidas ; and Company G, Captain William Fulkerson, of Lockport, who was succeeded by Lieutenant John B. Handy, of Three Rivers. The 25th first tested the realities of war December 27, 1862, three months after leaving Kalamazoo, at Mumfordsville, Kentucky, where they engaged the rebels under General Pegram. On July 4, 1863, the regiment was especially distinguished at Tebbs', near Green River bridge, Kentucky, where it most gallantly repulsed an overwhelming rebel force with heavy Joss.
" About July 1, Colonel Moore was stationed with five companies of his regiment on the north side of Green river, ten miles north of Columbia, on the main road running from Columbia to Lebanon, Kentucky, and on the 2d of July was advised of the fact that the rebel general, John H. Morgan, was about crossing the Cumberland river to invade the State with a cavalry force of from three to four thousand men. Being left to exercise his own discretion, and there being no Union troops nearer than at a post thirty miles distant, Colonel Moore felt it to be his duty to retard the progress of the great raider, if but for a few hours, as they might prove precious hours to the country. He might have retreated with entire success, but from patriotic motives chose to fight when he could scarcely entertain the hope that he and many others would ever live to tell the story of that ter- rible battle. After surveying the surrounding country, he selected a strong position for a battle-ground, on the south side of Green river, about two miles from the encampment, in a horse-shoe bend of the river, through which the road ran on which the rebel forces were advancing. This chosen battle- ground, which was at the narrows entering the bend of the river, afforded high bluff-banks, which protected the flanks of the command and also com- pelled the enemy to fight him upon his own front. * * * On the evening of July 3, General Morgan encamped with his entire command about five miles south of Green river, and Colonel Moore after dark advanced with his command of five companies, numbering less than three hundred men, about two miles toward the enemy, leaving the river in his rear, and occupied the
ground which he had previously selected, and prepared for the battle. The defense which had been completed that night consisted of some felled trees on the battle-line, which was in the rear of an open field, and was intended more particularly as an obstruction to the advance of cavalry, while to the front, about one hundred yards in the open field, was thrown up a tem- porary earth-work, which was intended to check the advance of the enemy, and more especially to command a position where he would evidently plant a battery. This work was not intended to be held against charges of a superior force, on account of the flanks not being strong, and was occupied by only about seventy-five men, who were instructed that when it became necessary to abandon the work, it should be done by flanking to the right and left from the centre, so as to unmask the reserve force on the battle-line and expose the enemy to their fire. This work was located, in anticipation of its capture by the rebels, a little down the slope of the field, so that when it was in possession of the enemy it would be useless, and leave him exposed to a deadly fire. At the gray of the morning the fire of the enemy upon the pickets resounded through the woods, and the entire rebel division, under Morgan, was pressing upon the front. The fire was returned with spirit as the pickets retired to the breastwork, where they joined about seventy-five of their comrades already in the advance work, and there, with their united fire as sharp-shooters, held the enemy in check, without exhibiting their numbers and the real object of the work. The rebel artillery of four pieces had gained the anticipated position, and at once opened fire with some effect, when Morgan suspended firing, and, under a flag of truce, demanded an immediate and unconditional surrender of the entire force and stockade. Colonel Moore replied to the demand : 'Present my, compliments to General Morgan, and say to him that this being the Fourth of July, I cannot entertain the proposition to surrender.' Colonel Allston, Morgan's chief of staff, said, 'I hope you will not consider me as dictatorial on this occasion. I will be frank : you see the breach we have made upon your work with our battery ; you cannot expect to repulse General Morgan's whole division with your little command ; you have resisted us gallantly and deserve credit for it, and now I hope you will save useless bloodshed by reconsidering your reply to General Morgan."
"To this Colonel Moore replied : 'Sir, when you assume to know my strength you assume too much. I have a duty to perform to my country, and therefore cannot reconsider my reply to General Morgan.' The rebel officer, seemingly moved by these remarks, extended his hand, and said, "Good-bye, Colonel Moore; God only knows which of us may fall first.' They turned their horses and galloped in opposite directions, and at once re- newed the conflict. No sooner, had the rebel battery re-opened fire than Colonel Moore commanded the force to ' rise up and pick off those gunners at the battery.' At the word, a deliberate and deadly fire by rank was deliv- ered, which silenced the battery. Colonel Johnson's brigade then charged the work, and the little command abandoned it as previously instructed ; and when the rebels reached it they found that it availed them nothing against the deadly fire which was poured into them from the main force on the battle-line in the timber. The foe, with hideous yells, charged across the open field a number of times in the face of a terrific fire, which repulsed them on each occasion with severe loss. The conflict was almost a hand-to- hand struggle, with nothing but a line of felled trees separating the com- batants. At the same time the rebels were engaged in cutting out a gorge leading through the precipitous bluff into the river bottom, which had been obstructed with felled timber. The entrance was finally effected, and a regi- ment commanded by Colonel Chevault opened fire on the right flank of the line of Union troops. This was a most critical and trying moment : the enemy had gained an important point ; to defeat it was of the utmost impor- tance ; a company had been held in reserve for any emergency which might arise during the battle, and it was now brought forward; deployed as skir- mishers across the river bottom, with the right flank extending beyond the rebel line, and presented the appearance of being the advance line of rein- forcements.
" The strength of Colonel Moore's command was a matter of doubt with the enemy, rendered more so by his instructions to his men to keep quiet and pour in as rapid and deadly a fire as possible. As cheering was sup- pressed, nothing but the efficacy of the firing afforded ground for estimating their strength ; and when Colonel Moore brought forward and manœuvered the reserve company with the shrill notes of his bugle, it had the desired effect of impressing the rebels with the idea that reinforcements of cavalry or artillery were advancing ; and by the bold front and deliberate firing of the line of skirmishers the rebel command in the river bottom was routed, its colonel killed, and it driven back through the gorge through which they entered, disheartened and defeated. 'New courage inspired the heroic little
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
band, who had sustained eight determined charges upon their front when the attack upon their right flank was defeated:
"The enemy, having met with a heavy loss after a battle of four hours' du- ration, retreated, leaving a number of killed and wounded upon the field greater than the entire number of the patriotic little band that opposed them. Among the number of killed and wounded were twenty-two commis- sioned officers.
"It was the intention of Morgan, as he declared, to capture the city of Louisville; but this unexpected and terrible repulse cost him more than twelve hours' delay, and caused him-which fact he stated-to change his plans and abandon his attack on Louisville. By this brilliantly fought battle the city was saved from sack and pillage, and the government from the loss of an immense amount of property, consisting of munitions of war, and army supplies amounting to the value of many millions of dollars. Major-General Hartsuff acknowledged the victory in a general order recount- ing the heroic deed. The legislature of Kentucky also acknowledged the services of Colonel Moore and his command on that occasion in complimen- tary resolutions. Morgan himself admired Colonel Moore's generalship so much in the conduct of the battle that he too sent him complimentary mes- sages, and announced that he promoted him to the rank of brigadier-general.
"Colonel Allston, who was captured a few days after the battle, and with him his private journal, which was published, in a memorandum of the battle of the Fourth of July quotes Morgan's demand for the surrender of the Union command, and Colonel Moore's reply, and adds : 'The colonel is a gallant man, and the entire arrangement of his defense entitles him to the highest credit for military skill. We would mark such a man in our army for pro- motion.' "
The regiment in 1864, in the Georgia campaign, was identified with the movements of the army of the Ohio, and participated in the various engage- ments at Rocky Face Ridge, May 19; Resaca, May 14; Altoona, May 26, 29; Pine Mountain, June 15; Culp's Farm, June 22; and Nickajack Creek, July 1. On the 22d it was before Atlanta, and was actively engaged in the siege of that place.
At Resaca the 25th was most conspicuously distinguished, where, in com- mand of Lieutenant-Colonel B. F. Orcutt, it participated in the desperate charge made by Judah's division, of the 23d corps, and Newton's, of the 4th corps, driving the enemy from a strong and well-fortified position, and although not held, enabled General Sherman to advance his lines and get his artillery in such a position as to render it impossible for the enemy to again occupy the place. This charge was made under a most murderous fire of musketry and artillery, first across an open field and then over a stream with the water nearly waist-deep, and bordered with thick bushes and vines, cut and lopped in such a manner as to entangle the troops. In the charge the regiment lost about fifty men in a very few minutes, among the killed being Adjutant E. M. Prutzman, of Three Rivers. At Nickajack creek, near Kenesaw, on July 1, the 25th again most signally maintained its fighting qualities while making a flank movement with its division (Hascall's) to the extreme right of General Sherman's army,-the regiment advancing seven miles during an intensely hot day, continually under fire of musketry and artillery from early in the forenoon until dark, and being engaged in two brilliant and successful charges during the day, driving the enemy from every position, and securing the desired point, known as the cross-roads, near Nickajack creek. The result of the movement was the evacuation by General Johnson of his strong position on Kenesaw moun- tain, and the abandonment of all his works between that point and the Chattahoochee. The regiment was also at the defense of Nashville under General Thomas, and was in the pursuit organized by that grim old warrior after Hood. From this campaign it was transferred to Schofield's command, and participated in his movements in North Carolina. The losses of the regiment during the war foot up thirty-five men and one officer killed or died of wounds, and one hundred and twenty-three men and two officers died of disease.
BATTERY D (BIDWELL's), FIRST LIGHT ARTILLERY.
The 1st regiment of Michigan light artillery was composed of twelve six- gun batteries, but it was never brought together as a regiment. Battery D was largely filled up with St. Joseph men, though officered by Branch county men. It left the State in 1861, proceeded to Kentucky, and first en- countered the enemy, damaging them much, at Hoover's Gap, Tennessee, June 26, 1862, when Rosecrans was advancing on Tullahoma and Chatta- nooga. Its most prominent fight, as appears from its record, was at the great battle of Chickamauga,-September 19 and 20, 1863,-where, in com- mand of Captain J. W. Church, it became closely and hotly engaged,
behaving in splendid style, but losing heavily, having nine wounded and three missing, among the wounded its commander. It was also in the assault on Mission Ridge, November 25 following, and on the preceding day aided in covering Hooker's advance up Lookout mountain. On both occasions it proved a serviceable battery, and its splendid firing and valuable services attracted much attention.
BATTERY F.
Captain John S. Andrews raised and organized Battery F, and Norman S. Andrews, of White Pigeon, took some thirty or more men into it from St. Joseph county, and went into service with the organization as junior first lieutenant. Its first engagement with the enemy was at Henderson, Ky., in 1862. In 1864 it was with General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, and passed through numerous engagements, maintaining a high reputation for promptness and efficiency. Among its principal encounters with the enemy may be classed its severe fight at Utoy Creek, Georgia, August 4, where, in command of Lieutenant Miller, it vigorously engaged the enemy with some loss, and had the equipments and wheels of two guns literally shot to pieces, but bravely held its position, and finally silenced two rebel batteries. On this occasion the battery attracted much attention and favor- able comment on account of its stubborn and effective fighting. The battery was transferred to General Schofield's command on the North Carolina coast early in 1865. In the engagement at Wise Forks, March 10, the bat- tery maintained its previous high reputation for gallant service and daring courage.
BATTERY G
was raised by Captain C. H. Lamphere in 1862, in connection with the 13th regiment of infantry, and was stationed at West Point, Ky., in February, 1863. It first engaged the enemy at Tazewell in May following. In No- vember of the same year it was ordered to Memphis, and from thence to the Yazoo river, Miss., and, in command of Captain Lamphere, was actively engaged in the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, December 28 and 29, losing ten wounded (two mortally), with eight horses killed or disabled. The loss of the battery at this point indicates its gallant and valuable service. It par- ticipated in the Vicksburg campaign, and was engaged in the fight near Port Gibson on May 1, 1863, where it acquired much distinction, and was men- tioned in the report of General McClernand, as follows: "The splendid practice of Lamphere's and Foster's batteries disabled two of the enemy's guns, and contributed largely to our success." Corporal Jonathan G. Wal- tham, of Constantine, and thirty-four others from St. Joseph county, were members of Battery G.
In gathering the names of the men who went from St. Joseph county into the war for the Union, we have taken them from the records of the ad; jutant-general's office, and have been unable to locate some, who have made honorable records of suffering and death, in any township in the county ; and in order that these men may have at least an honorable mention at our hands, and a place in our work, the history of the county,-whose quotas, under the imperative calls of the government for help they contributed to fill,-we give their names and record here :
SECOND REGIMENT INFANTRY.
Private Charles Atwood, Company I; died of wounds received in Wil- derness.
FOURTH INFANTRY.
Corporal James Pierson, Company C; discharged for disability. .
Corporal Constantine Pease, Company C; died of wounds received at Get- tysburg.
Private Samuel Clay, Company C; discharged for disability.
Private George M. Lee, Company C; discharged for disability.
Private L. A. Shaeffer, Company C; died in brigade hospital, November 20,1861.
Private Wilson Becker, Company C; killed at Fredericksburg, December 14, 1862.
Private John Thomas, Company C; discharged for disability.
Private William Havens, Company E; died at Victoria, Tenn., of disease. Private Philo O. Parker, Company C; killed at Gaines' Mills, June 27, 1862.
FIFTH INFANTRY.
Private James Roots, Company F; died at Chancellorsville.
SIXTH INFANTRY.
Musician Freeland W. Brice, Company C; died at Carrollton, Louisiana, May 11, 1863.
Private Joseph E. Howe, Company C; died at New Orleans, August 15, 1862.
Private John McAllen, Company C; died at New Orleans, May 30, 1862.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Private William A. Porter, re-enlisted, and killed on cars en route to Louisiana.
Private J. C. Stone, died at Port Hudson, Louisiana, September 30, 1863. SEVENTH INFANTRY.
Private John A. Howe, Company I; killed at Antietam.
Private Tillman Dammand, Company I; killed at Spottsylvania. Private Wesley Fenton, Company K; died at Washington.
Private Alfred Turk, Company A ; killed at Antietam.
Private Albert M. Ferrill, Company K ; wounded at Fair Oaks, and dis- charged.
Private John Griffin, Company K; lost a leg at Antietam, and discharged. Private Charles L. Hill, Company K ; died October 14, 1862, of wounds received at Antietam.
Private John Malone, Company K; died at Harrison's Landing, Virginia, July 22, 1864.
Private James E. Ward, Company K; wounded at Bristoe Station, Vir- ginia, and discharged.
Private William H. White, Company K; died of measles, at Camp Benton, Maryland.
Private James D. Barnhisel, Company K ; wounded at Spottsylvania, and mustered out.
Private Lemuel Leak, Company K; wounded at Wilderness, and not seen since.
ELEVENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY.
Musician Foreman Burke, died July 11, 1862.
Private George F. Grather, Company A; died at White Pigeon, October 19, 1861.
Private Wilson Hinds, Company A; died at Bardstown, Kentucky. Private Edward Perrett, Company A ; died at Nashville, September, 1863.
Private Thomas Naughton, Company A; died at Belmont, Kentucky, April 17, 1862.
Private Jerome Allen, Company C; died April 18, 1862.
Private John Goodle, Company C; died at Nashville.
Private Daniel C. Leonard, Company C; killed at Stone River, Decem- ber 31, 1862.
Private George H. Norton, Company C; died of small-pox, June 3, 1862. Private Thomas Rapp, Company C; died January 29, 1862.
Private William Schochenbarger, Company C; killed at Marietta, Geor- gia, July 4, 1864.
Private Arthur W. Miller, Company D; died February 10, 1862.
Private Henry Burleson, Company D; killed at Stone River, December 31, 1862.
Corporal Washington I. Snyder, Company E; promoted and died at Chat- tanooga.
Private Thomas Manning, Company E; killed at Stone River, December 21, 1862.
Private Joseph Spranger, Company E; died at Stevenson, Alabama, August 29, 1863.
Private William M. Sherman, Company E; died at Nashville, March 2, 1863.
Private Silas Burleson, Company F; died March 26, 1862.
Private John Vale, Company F; died June 22, 1864.
Private Oscar E. Fuller, Company F; died at Chattanooga.
Private Cosmore E. Mannigold, Company G; killed at Chattanooga.
Private Francis E. Stanton, Company G ; died March, 1862.
TWELFTH INFANTRY.
Private Augustus Miller, Company F; died at Duvall's Bluff, Arkansas. Private Richard Armitage, Company H; died at Washington, Arkansas. Private Albert Evans, Company I; died at Washington, Arkansas.
Private Silas S. Ford, Company I; died at Duvall's Bluff, Arkansas. THIRTEENTH INFANTRY.
Private Wellington Cook, Company B; died October 17, 1862.
Private Jacob E. Reis, Company E; died at Savannah, Georgia. Private James M. Howard, Company G; died at Tullahoma, May 17, 1864. Private Joseph L. Bogardus, Company G; killed at Bentonville, North Carolina.
Private Hiram W. Eldred, Company G; died at Newark.
Private Cortes F. Foote, Company H; killed at Bentonville, North Carolina. Private George F. Miller, Company K; killed at Lookout Mountain. FOURTEENTH INFANTRY.
Private Charles Hero, Company C; died at Kingston, Georgia. Private Frank Murray, Company C; killed at Bentonville, North Carolina.
FIFTEENTH INFANTRY.
Private Benjamin Booth, Company A; died at Keokuk, Iowa.
Private Dwight Duncan, Company A; re-enlisted, and killed before At- lanta.
Private David Fowler, Company A; killed at Shiloh, April 6, 1862. Private John R. Martin, Company A; died at Monterey, Tennessee, June 10, 1862.
Private Walter O'Brien, Company A; died April 18, 1862, of wounds received at Shiloh.
Private William Denater, Company A; died May 8, 1862. SIXTEENTH INFANTRY.
Private George Hall, Company D; killed at Gaines' Mills, Virginia.
Private William D. D. Gilson, Company G; died on transport, August, 1862. NINETEENTH INFANTRY.
Private Henry R. Sharp, Company E; killed at Cassville, Georgia, May 19, 1864.
TWENTY-FIFTH INFANTRY.
Private William H. Baughner, Company D; died of wounds received at Chattanooga.
Private William Robins, Company D; died at Mumfordsville, Kentucky, January 16, 1863.
Private William Young, Company D; killed at Resaca, Georgia.
Private Jerry Hopeman, Company D; killed at Resaca, Georgia.
Private Roswell Beebe, Company D; killed at Tebbs' Bend, Kentucky, July 4, 1863.
Private Edward O'Herran, Company G ; died September 7, 1863.
TWENTY-SIXTH INFANTRY.
Private Charles H. Bryant, Company A; died at Detroit.
Private Warren V. Easton, Company I; killed at Deep Bottom, Virginia.
TWENTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY.
Benjamin F. Ward, 2d Independent company sharp-shooters; killed at Petersburg.
Lafayette Young, 2d Independent company sharp-shooters ; killed at Litch- field, Virginia. TWENTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY.
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