USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > History of the Twenty-fourth Michigan of the Iron brigade, known as the Detroit and Wayne county regiment > Part 36
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The following appointments were made by the Twenty-fourth Michigan for the Gettysburg excursion :
Commander -Captain William R. Dodsley. Assistants - Lieutenants E. B. Welton and Chas. H. Chope. Quartermaster - Thomas A. Wadsworth. To Carry Regimental Flag - Charles D. Durfee. To Carry Iron Brigade Flag - Alexander H. Morrison.
These flags had been carried, respectively, by these veterans, for a time during the war. The Iron Brigade Flag, the presentation of which to the Brigade is given in Chapter X, had been brought from Madison, Wis., and attracted much attention.
Hurrying along the streets of Detroit, on Monday, June 10, 1889, with G. A. R. badges and blue suits, were several hundred survivors of the different Michigan regiments that had taken part in the Gettysburg battle, who had gathered for their departure to the dedication ceremonies.
About six o'clock in the evening Arthur S. Congdon of Chelsea, the old bugler of the Twenty-fourth Michigan, blew a familiar call from his battered instrument, on the old Antisdel House steps on Michigan avenue, at which several score of veterans dressed on the flags in the street, under the command of Captain Wm. R. Dodsley. Detroit G. A. R. Post No. 384 was present, besides the six Detroit companies of State troops, headed by their regimental band, as escorting organizations to the cars. The column was joined by the cavalry contingent which sedately marched to the depot. It was the supper hour, and the tens of thousands were not present who lined the streets upon the departure of the Twenty-fourth for the war twenty-seven years before.
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HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN
The train consisted of six day coaches, five sleepers, one private sleeper and a baggage car, in which were a number of large packing boxes filled with Michigan flowers. Slowly the train moved around the city, taking on a ton of flowers at West Detroit, brought by the trains from the interior towns of the State. The trip, occupying two nights and one day, via Toledo and Wheeling, over the Baltimore and Ohio route, was of the usual interesting excursion kind. Badges were distributed - blue to the infantry, yellow to the cavalry and red to the artillery. The hills of West Virginia appeared like old acquaintances and reminded the men of many a hard march in, as well as on, the "sacred soil."
By daybreak of June 12, the Michigan veterans and people had all arrived, about 1,000. An old war time rain storm had centered over the town and continued until midday, which destroyed the procession feature of the dedication. A large rink was secured, in which gathered about 2,000 people to listen to the following program of exercises :
I. Music by the Band. 2. Prayer by Chaplain Wm. C. Way. 3. Loyal Song by Glee Club. 4. Address on " Michigan Troops in the Battle of Gettysburg," by General L. S. Trowbridge. 5. Song, " Michigan, my Michigan," by Glee Club. 6. Address and Presentation of Monuments to the Governor of Michigan, by Colonel George G. Briggs. 7. Response and Presentation of Monuments to the Battlefield Association, by Governor Cyrus G. Luce. 8. Response by Hon. Edward McPherson of Gettysburg. 9. "The Soldier's Dream," by the Band. 10. Song, "Blest be the Ground," by Glee Club. II. Memorial Address, by Michigan's War Governor, Hon. Austin Blair. 12. Hymn, America. 13. Benediction, by Rev. J. H. Potts.
The speeches were able and full of patriotic expressions. General Trowbridge had creditable words for each of the Michigan regiments there engaged, and referred to the Twenty-fourth Michigan in the following terms :
" When the First Corps came on the field on the morning of the Ist, among the first to be thrust into the baptism of fire was the Twenty-fourth Michigan. Comparisons upon such an occasion as this are out of place, and yet it will not be improper to say that on no battlefield of the war was there greater heroism shown than by that regiment on that day. Confronted by vastly superior numbers, with most stubborn courage it maintained its ground until more than half its numbers lay dead or wounded on the bloody field. The loss was very great, but the emergency was great. Hours were most precious, and the check thus given to the enemy permitted the concentration of the Army of the Potomac and rendered possible the great victory of the third day."
Announcements of reunions were made at the close, usually that the survivors would meet at their separate monuments in the afternoon, " rain or shine," where each was dedicated with appropriate exercises.
VANL-CO.
O. B CURTIS. (Chairman Committee on Decoration.)
HON. ROBERT E. BOLGER. (Chairman Committee on Legislation.)
SERGEANT S. D. GREEN, (N. C. S.) (War Correspondent of Detroit Free Press.)
SERGEANT ROBERT GIBBONS. (Of History Committee.)
415
MICHIGAN DAY AT GETTYSBURG.
For a full account of all the proceedings, general and regimental, on this day, we refer our readers to the book of the events compiled by General Trowbridge called " Michigan at Gettysburg."
The survivors of the Twenty-fourth Michigan assembled at four o'clock in front of the Eagle Hotel on the public square, about the same in number as rallied around their flag on Culp's Hill the night of the first day's fight. They were formed under the command of Captain Wm. R. Dodsley and marched through the mud and rain to the rink. Captain Warren G. Vinton presided and Lieutenant C. C. Yemans offered a brief prayer in the absence of the Chaplain. Major Edwin B. Wight of Cleveland, Ohio, then delivered the Address of Dedication, at the close of which all united in singing the "Sweet Bye-and-Bye," in memory of our fallen comrades. The occasion was one of sorrow and meditation. The men were carried back to a terrible day in July, twenty-six years before, when the very ground where they were shook from artillery firing in the greatest battle of the age.
The idea of decorating the graves with Michigan flowers originated with the writer of these pages, whom Governor Luce appointed Chairman of the Floral Committee. An appeal was made to the Michigan schools and a responsive chord was touched which brought flowers from every county except the far north woods where vegetation was not yet sufficiently advanced in the growth of nature's jewels. The flowers were conveyed free to the battlefield, where they arrived in good condition. For five hours the committee worked in the rain, arranging the flowers on the 173 Michigan graves, each of which was marked with a Union flag. The rain brought out beautifully the national colors and nature's tints on the green sward above the heroic sleepers, which was carpeted with brilliant Michigan flowers.
The tender messages tied to the flowers proved that the bullet which destroyed a soldier's life sped on to some loving heart in the far away North. "Place this upon my grandpa's grave. I never saw him." "Put this upon my dear son's grave"-and so read the requests which were all carried out amid the prevailing rain storm, except one whose grave could not be found. The tribute was tossed over upon the "unknown" lot in hopes it might by chance fall upon the right grave. And so this sad duty was performed.
Citizens from the village desired to see the Michigan flowers. "There they are," said the keeper of the cemetery, "and they are the finest lot of flowers ever brought here."
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HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN.
The grave of old John Burns was also suitably decorated by comrades of the Twenty-fourth Michigan, as it was in the Iron Brigade that he did his fighting. At the evening camp fire at the rink, Rev. J. H. Potts delivered a most eloquent address in memory of the Gettysburg dead.
VISITING COMRADES.
The following survivors of the Twenty-fourth Michigan attended the Dedication of the Monuments at Gettysburg, June 12, 1889:
Col. A. M. EDWARDS,
Major E. B. WIGHT,
Capt. W. G. VINTON,
William Smith,
John Renton,
Capt. CHARLES A. HOYT,
Capt. J. M. FARLAND,
Jeston R. Warner.
Henry W. Randall.
Capt. GEO. W. BURCHELL,
Capt. WM. R. DODSLEY,
Chaplain WM. C. WAY,
Lieut. E. B. WELTON,
Lieut. ALBERT WILFORD,
Lieut. CHAS. C. YEMANS,
Lieut. CHAS. H. CHOPE,
Lieut. AUGUSTUS POMEROY,
(N. C. S.) A. S. CONGDON, (N. C. S.) S. D. GREEN.
Company A.
Solomon S. Benster,
Willard Roe,
Levi S. Freeman,
Roderick Broughton,
Roswell L. Root,
Francis M. Rose,
William C. Bates,
Charles W. Root,
Frank T. Shier,
John S. Coy,
Ralph G. Terry,
William R. Shier,
Alexis Declaire,
Robert Towers,
Mordaunt Williams.
George W. Dingman,
Orson Westfall,
Minot S. Weed.
Company G.
Michael Brabeau,
John Cole,
Sidney B. Dixon,
Lewis W. James,
Augustus R. Sink,
Robert C. Bird,
Charles F. Langs,
Herman Stehfest,
O. B. Curtis,
William H. Southworth,
Draugott Haberstrite,
Joseph G. Thompson,
Almon J. Houston,
David Valrance,
Company B.
James H. Johnson,
William Young.
Andrew J. Arnold,
William H. Jackson,
Company H.
Henry R. Bird,
Jacob Kaiser,
Samuel R. Kingsley, Jr,
Robert E. Bolger,
Christopher Gero,
Henry H. Ladd,
Edward L. Farrell,
William Ford,
George H. Graves, James Hanmer,
Peter F. Lantz,
Fernando W. Moon,
George E. Moore, Robert Polk,
Company E.
D. Leroy Adams,
John W. Babbitt,
Harvey Allen,
Cornelius Crimmins,
Norman Collins,
Chas. H. Cogswell,
Watson W. Eldridge,
James Gillespie,
Charles H. Holbrook,
John W. Proctor,
Garrett Rourke.
Aiken Holloway,
Asa Joy, Ambrose Roe,
Company F. Shelden E. Crittenden,
Ignace Haltar, Charles Latour,
Company D.
George A. Moores,
Amos Abbott,
Barnard Parish, Alfred Rentz,
James V. Bartlett,
Thomas A. Wadsworth.
James McIlhenny,
Charles D. Minckler,
Morris Troutt,
James Renton,
Company C.
Moses Amo,
Charles D. Durfee,
Isaac L. Greusel,
James Laird,
Richard Connors,
William H. Hoffman,
CAPTAIN WARREN G. VINTON.
MAJOR EDWIN B. WIGHT.
VAN LEYEN-CODETROIT
CHAPLAIN WILLIAM C. WAY.
LIEUTENANT CHARLES C. YEMANS.
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MICHIGAN DAY AT GETTYSBURG.
Charles M. Knapp,
Albert E. Bigelow,
Patrick Gaffney,
John Langdon,
Patrick Cleary,
Henry Hoisington,
Alexander W. Morrison,
Charles A. Kinney,
William M. Johnson,
Robert Morris, Jr.,
James Magooghan,
William Laura,
Joseph Schunk,
Henry S. Stoddard.
Henry B. Millard,
Frederick Uebelhoer.
Company K.
Samuel F. Smith,
Company I.
John R. Brown,
Thomas Saunders,
Ralph Archibald,
B. Ross Finlayson,
Jacob M. Van Riper.
John Bryant,
Total, 126; of whom 112 were present at the battle of Gettysburg. Of the latter, 46 were wounded there and 13 captured.
Morning brought fine weather, and the forenoon was happily spent in visiting points of interest on the battlefield. About 60 of the Twenty-fourth assembled at their monument, and were successfully photographed, in an 18 by 22 inch picture. The features of the comrades are plainly shown, as well as the monument, with the regimental and Iron Brigade flags ; also, a few of the identical trees on the first line of battle. It is a beautiful memento, as it shows faces that were there 26 years before, in the whirlwind of death.
Many went to Culp's Hill and viewed the line of breastworks built by the small remnant with the flag, the first night of the battle. There was a melancholy sadness as the men pointed out the places where they or their comrades fell and many of the latter died. None but the veterans themselves could appreciate the interest taken by them in their re-visit to this field of sorrow, an occasion they had never expected, but one which will soften the evening of their days as they pass, one by one, to the final camp of eternal rest.
At 2:30 P. M., on June 13th, the veterans started on the homeward journey, though not in cattle cars as when they went to the front in war days. The return trip was by way of Harper's Ferry, where the train halted for two hours, affording a fine view of Maryland and Loudon Heights, and the scene of John Brown's raid 30 years before. The engine house in which he sought refuge and was captured by Robert E. Lee, has been mostly carried away by relic hunters. When night came the train was winding over the mountains, while incidents of the battlefield visit were topics for conversation among the veterans who arrived safely home at midnight of June 14th, each to carry through life a happy remembrance of his trip to Gettysburg.
(30)
John A. Pattee,
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HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN.
ADDRESS OF MAJOR EDWIN B. WIGHT,
At Gettysburg, June 12, 1889.
COMRADES AND COUNTRYMEN :- It is one of the cardinal features of the Moslem faith that its devotees shall prayerfully face daily toward Mecca; but this further injunction is laid upon them that, "health and wealth permitting," every member of that great religious family shall, once at least during their lives, make a pilgrimage thither. No conveniences of travel mitigate the discomforts of the journey but, in the fashion of their ancestors, they plod on in the beaten caravan route, spending weeks or possibly months in their faithful efforts to reach the spot which they deem the holiest on earth.
We are inclined to sneer at these pilgrims and to write them down fanatics ; but, surely it would not harm us sometimes to imitate the zeal with which this reverence of locality has inspired them. With something of their spirit, to-day we stand upon hallowed ground and now we see before us and around us the Mecca towards which our pilgrim feet have turned.
Since the hour, more than twenty-five years ago, when our "tramp-tramp- tramp" was first heard among these hills, many of us have been virtually pilgrims and our way up and down the earth has been a winding one and strange.
Some of us could not, if we would, have revisited these scenes during all these years-while other some, fanciful as it may seem, would not, if we could ; and so it has happened that not many of the five hundred whom we represent to-day have gazed upon these vales and ridges since the days when they gleamed in the July sun of 1863.
And as we now fall in and, seeking to live over again our soldier experiences, begin to call the roll-how slowly and how sadly come back the responses and what long waits there are between the answering voices. Many, alas-how many, almost within eye-shot of where we now stand, passed over to the silent majority. For them can only come the softly spoken words and yet most glorious ones with which, for many years, answer was made when the name of the First Grenadier of France was called-"Dead on the field of honor."
For others, we know that their final discharge came in the still watches of the night and that they were silently borne away from some hospital ward where they had long contended in their steadily losing fight with wounds or disease or both. Still others long time starved and then passed away from earth mid the confines of crowded and horrible Southern prisons while other some, bearing within them the seeds of disease contracted through long and exhaustive service or with the insidious poison of never healing wounds sapping the life current, have, in the more peaceful surroundings of their own firesides, shifted their camp across the river and are tenting on the higher plains beyond.
The many are gone-the few, the small minority remain to answer "Present" as their names are read. Each passing year makes deeper inroads among the ranks of the survivors and soon-ah-too soon the last of the Old Guard will have "folded his tent and silently stolen away," leaving but a memory behind. What think you? Can it ever be such a memory that the "world will willingly let it die?" This Monument, so long as it shall stand, will give prompt answer to your query.
Michigan, in a larger way, has had her day of dedication and has fittingly emphasized the fact that thirteen independent organizations of her own did valorous service for the country on this field. Her tablet inscription evidences to all how
421
MICHIGAN DAY AT GETTYSBURG.
lovingly and how reverently she has performed the act of erecting these memorials "to her martyrs and heroes who fought in defence of Liberty and Union."
And while we come to join in this general demonstration of affectionate remembrance of all the Michigan heroes, and martyrs, it is most natural that we should feel more closely drawn to the Comrades of the dear Old Twenty-fourth with whom we tented and marched and fought and with whom our lives were wondrously united for so many long months. And, in attempting to hold our own special services to-day, we do insist that we shall not be charged with the design of unduly seeking to parade our own deeds.
We simply hold to-day, as we oft have held in the past, our Regimental Reunion. It matters not that we have changed our place of meeting. For the Old Flag is here. The "boys" are here Not perhaps the lively, singing, quick-stepping boys of '63-but still the boys, with much of the old time spirit and all of the old time patriotic blood pulsing rapidly through their veins.
We come, not as at first, from the single County of Wayne but from various parts of the State and even from other States-but, from wheresoever we come, we bring with us the deepest devotion to the Old Regiment, the One Flag and the One Country. And we should be less than human if there did not come to us, as we stand upon this spot and group ourselves about this Monument, a true feeling of pride that, as representatives of this most loyal State, we were permitted to fight this battle through from start to finish. Surely none dare blame us for this feeling. We only sought to do our duty and modestly we now claim our meed of praise.
With rare compliment, you have asked me to speak to you at this Reunion and I confess that I am awkwardly embarassed for a theme.
At former meetings, the Regimental History has been most fully rehearsed and personal incidents most delightfully told. It would seem that these topics were worn so threadbare that he would be rash indeed who ventured to make use of them here and now. And yet after all, the "nothing new under the sun" helps us to conclude that the old things may lose something of their staleness, if a little different posing of subject is given or some change of color is dashed in.
When General Lee had put his army in motion for an extended invasion of the North, the Washington City Guard or rather the Army of the Potomac was started upon a similar mission. Without serious mishap, though there were many sharp collisions between the Cavalry forces of the two armies, the Potomac River was crossed and the "sacred soil of Virginia" was soon exchanged for the less trodden one of " Maryland, My Maryland."
General Hooker had brought the Union Army from its old camping-ground along the Rappahannock, moving it with consummate skill even into Pennsylvania until it seemed as if, at any hour, the two great rival forces would meet in deadly combat and then-just then, the old drama must be re-enacted and the Potomac Army must have a new Commander.
What a patient, long-suffering, hard-marching and harder fighting Army that was. Composed of some of the very best combative material in the whole country, it often saw its sturdiest efforts to win victory completely balked by the inscrutable jealousies of its higher officers, by the indecision of its then commander or by the machinations of meddling politicians. There was no lack of proper stuff from which to make Division, Corps and Army Commanders-that was shown over and over again-but, in the early years of the war, no officer dared to be too successful.
What a wearying burden the martyred Lincoln carried upon his brain and heart. View the picture of his surroundings as you read the story of that life, so full
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HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTHI MICHIGAN.
of devotion to the single thought of preserving the Union of the States, and wonder not at the careworn brow and at the aching heart. Think of his days of toil and suffering and suspense-think of his restless, sleepless nights and all this intensified by the harassing thought that those who should have been staunch supporters and hearty co-operators in his patriotic labor were often proven to be spies in the camp and thwarters of his every move.
Thank God-all were not such. Many were of a nobler mould and gave him their best thought and word and deed-yea, life itself, if that were needed. Foremost among these noble ones, we are proud to place our old Corps Commander, John F. Reynolds.
Perhaps few knew him intimately, for he was a strangely reticent man and it may be that the fate of other officers, his equals in rank, taught him more and more the wisdom of guarded speech. But the quiet demeanor could not wholly mask the ardent spirit. His opponents recognized his ability and his soldiers knew that he held in reserve a latent force of clear and cool-headedness that could always be relied upon. They trusted him implicitly. And when the news reached the Ist Corps that General Hooker had been relieved, it was not strange that many of us jumped to the conclusion that our Reynolds would be selected to lead the whole army in the contest that so soon was to occur upon the soil of his native State.
We should have considered that his promotion was only a fitting tribute to his worth and that his military success was certain, if the opposition to his plans came only from Lee and his Lieutenants. And yet all the while we felt that we wanted him with us and as our special leader rather than have him gain the higher office, for which he was so pre-eminently qualified. If thus we wished, our wish was granted.
General Meade was placed in command of the Union Army but three days before the contending forces met. Brief space indeed to familiarize himself with the task imposed upon him; a task, from which a less cautious and a more brilliant soldier might well have shrunk. But he found worthy coadjutors. Reynolds was continued in charge of the Left Wing of the Army (consisting of the Ist, 3rd and 11th Corps) and much, very much was left to his discretion.
No one seemed to know just where or when the blow would fall. Only this was definitely known that Lee had checked his Northward advance and was either at a standstill or else, holding his forces well in hand, was concentrating towards Gettysburg or towards some point in that vicinity. The Union troops were feeling their way along at a snail's pace, covering much ground of necessity with their trains and artillery and yet all within reasonable supporting distance, when all the circumstances of the case are considered.
General Meade had conceived the idea of taking up a defensive position on Pipe Creek. He had examined the locality, had recognized its natural advantages and had hoped and perhaps planned that the expected battle should there occur. This might have been well enough, if he could have been positive that Lee would surely attack him there.
This Lee might possibly have done, for he is reported to have said that "he was weary of all this marching, campaigning and bloodshed and was strongly desirous of settling the whole matter at once." Besides, the Army of Virginia was in the best possible condition. Officers and men were elated with their triumph at Chancellorsville : they had carried the war into the enemy's country ; they had easily brushed the Militia from their path ; they had enjoyed rare foraging and feasting in Pennsylvania and, evidently, were ready and anxious for a fight anywhere and. everywhere.
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MICHIGAN DAY AT GETTYSBURG.
As opposed to any defensive warfare, read what General Doubleday, in his book on Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, says on page 122.
"Reynolds had the true spirit of a soldier. He was a Pennsylvanian and, inflamed at seeing the devastation of his native State, was most desirous of getting at the enemy as soon as possible. He told me at Poolesville that it was necessary to attack the enemy at once to prevent his plundering the whole State. As he had great confidence in his men, it was not difficult to divine what his decision would be. He determined to advance and hold Gettysburg. He directed the Eleventh Corps to come up as a support to the First and he recommended, but did not order, the Third Corps to do the same."
Providence seemed to have inspired the plan of Reynolds.
The light of the first July sun of 1863 is just penciling a tinge of brightness amid the leafy shadows of Marsh Creek and, as here and there, its rays penetrate deeper and deeper and light up the misty forest gloom, stalwart forms are seen to spring lightly from their sylvan couches and to step quickly out into the warm sunlight and to drink in the tonic air of the wooded hillside. Out upon the vibrant air sound the bugle notes of Reveille and soon all the peaceful quiet of the scene is changed.
The early day routine goes on and then brief space of anxious waiting ; for all are expectant, restless. Marching orders come, and ere half the distance to Gettysburg is compassed, fighting orders are inferred as the boom of the cannon and the crack of the carbine announce that Buford has engaged the eneniy and our Division, as the nearest at hand, is needed at the front.
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