USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches > Part 11
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THIRD MICHIGAN CAVALRY
Among the many regiments organized in the summer and autumn of 1861 was the Third Michigan Cavalry, which was mus- ' tered into the United States service at Grand Rapids, on the 1st of November of that year. Its total strength was eleven hundred and sixty-three officers and enlisted men. In seven of its companies were men from Shia- wassee county.
The regiment left its rendezvous November 28, 1861, and proceeded to Benton Barracks, Missouri, remaining at St. Louis until early in the spring of 1862, where it joined Gen-
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eral Pope's Army of the Mississippi. With the army it proceeded to Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee river, where it arrived soon after the battle of Shiloh, and took an active part in the advance of General Halleck's army upon Corinth. Through the summer it was actively engaged in the usual cavalry duty of picketing and scouting in Mississippi and Alabama. On the approach of Price's rebel cavalry it returned to the vicinity of Corinth.
At Iuka, September 19th, the regiment was actively engaged and was specially men- tioned in General Rosecrans' report of that battle. When Price and his defeated rebel army retired from the field the Third hung on his flanks and rear for many miles, caus- ing him repeatedly to form line of battle to check the Union advance. Advancing with General Grant's army into Mississippi, in November and December of 1862, it shared in the victories and defeats. of that campaign. The remainder of the winter it was employed in almost continuous marching, driving out the numerous bands of guerrillas which in- fested that region, its camp being most of the time at Corinth.
From January 1 to November 1, 1863, the regiment marched a distance of ten thous- and eight hundred miles, exclusive of marches by separate companies and detach- ments; and from the beginning of its term of service to the latter date had captured two thousand one hundred prisoners, of whom about fifty were officers. In. January, 1864, nearly six hundred of its members re-enlisted as veterans and received the usual furlough, to rendezvous at Kalamazoo. From that place they moved to St. Louis and later pro- ceeded to Arkansas, there joining the army
of General Steele, and during the rest of the year the regiment was engaged in scout- ing and outpost duty in that state.
In March, 1865, the regiment was trans- ferred to the Military Division of West Mississippi, under General Canby, to move with the forces designed to operate against Mobile. After the fall of that ctiy, it was employed on outpost duty until after the surrender of Lee. and Johnston, and was then detailed as the escort of General Canby, on the occasion of his receiving the surrender of the Confederate General Taylor and his army.
On Sheridan's assuming command of the Division of the Southwest the Third was ordered to join troops designed for Texas, and eventually moved across that state to San Antonio, where it remained employed in garrison duty and scouting expeditions for the protection of the frontier until Febru- ary 15, 1866, when it was dismounted and mustered out of service.
Members of Third Cavalry from Shiawas- see county : Company B,-Corporal Wilson Wright (Vernon), Corporal John C. Wood- man (Corunna), John Blair, William H. Cole, Thomas E. Carey, Roswell R. Hickey, Loren Harrington, Robert Lawrence, George C. McCoy, Ivar Roberts, Charles P. Tillson, Hiram T. Youngs .; Company D,-William M. Case; Company E,-Second Lieutenant James H. Lyman (Shiawassee), Frank Payne; Company F,-Orange Storey ; Com- pany G,-Silas H. Alliton, J. G. Bentley, David R. Carrier, Harrison H. Carson, Silas W. Currier, Peter Dumond, Frederick De- lano, Oliver C. Gaylord, John J. Gurnee, George W. Hanford, Harvey J. Hopkins, Jo- seph B. Miller, Austin Miller, Ellis Ott,
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Russell Ryness, Thomas J. Smedley, Valen- tine Shaeppala, Seymour Shipman, Roswell Shipman, Asa D. Whitney; Company H,- Adolphus Campbell; Company I,-Charles Campbell, John E. Herrick.
FOURTH MICHIGAN CAVALRY
The renowned Fourth Regiment of Michi- gan Cavalry was recruited and organized in the summer of 1862, Detroit being its place of rendezvous. Shiawassee county was rep- resented in ten of the twelve companies. The regiment was mustered into the United States service August 29, 1862, with eleven hundred and eighty-six enlisted men and the usual complement of officers. The com- manding officer was Colonel Robert H. G. Minty, previously lieutenant colonel of the Third Cavalry.
The regiment left Detroit for the seat of war in Kentucky on the 26th of September, being hurried forward without preliminary drill to join General Buell's army in its oper- ations against the army of the Confederate General Bragg. Crossing the Ohio river on the 10th of October, it pressed on with all speed to join the army of Buell and was soon engaged in the pursuit of the guerilla, John H. Morgan. Overtaking him at Stan- ford, Kentucky, the regiment led the column which attacked his forces at that place, Octo- ber 14th, defeating and pursuing them to Crab Orchard Springs. It also led in the attack on Lebanon, November 9th, five hun- dred and forty-three of its men pushing in Morgan's pickets at a gallop and driving out the guerrilla leader and his force of seven hundred and sixty men.
During the latter part of the year the Fourth was with the Army of the Cumber-
land, taking part in the advance on Mur- freesboro and in the great battle of Stone River, and participated in an important cav- alry expedition which drove Forrest's, Wheeler's and Wharton's cavalry beyond the Harpeth river. In all of its many fights and skirmishes the regiment was always bril- liantly successful until it reached the vicin- ity of Chattanooga, where it was several times repulsed. September 19th it fired the first shots in the disastrous battle of Chicka- mauga and subsequently protected the left and rear of Rosecran's army and the trains moving to Chattanooga.
By the 1st of November, 1863, the service of the regiment had been so severe that only three hundred of the men were mounted. This battalion was actively engaged on picket and scout duty throughout the win- ter, the number of mounted men being re- duced by the latter part of March, 1864, to one hundred and twenty-eight. In that month the men received new horses and equipments, and in April the command joined the Second Cavalry Division at Col- umbia, Tennessee. Thence it advanced with eight hundred and seventy-eight men into Georgia, where the cavalry began its arduous and dangerous service in co-operation with General Sherman's army, then advancing on Atlanta. In this campaign its hardest con- flict was at Lattimore's Mill, where it took part in one of the most brilliant achievements of the war. Of the two hundred and eighty- three officers and men engaged, thirty-seven were killed and wounded and three reported missing.
In the spring of 1865 the regiment took part in a long and eventful raid through Ala- bama, and on the 20th of April the command
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reached Macon, Georgia, where the news of the surrender of Lee was the signal to cease fighting. The Fourth had won an enviable reputation for gallantry and steadfastness on the field of battle, but it was destined to gain still another title to renown by the capture of Jefferson Davis, the president of the now dead Confederacy-the figurehead of the "Lost Cause."
While the regiment lay at Macon it be- came known that Davis and his suite were fleeing through central Georgia in the hope of escaping from the country. On the 7th of May the Fourth, under Lieutenant Colonel Pritchard, left Macon for the purpose of capturing the rebel chief and his party. Having struck the trail of the fugitives at Abbeville, on the 9th, Colonel Pritchard se- lected one hundred and fifty-three of his best mounted officers and men and moved rap- idly by a circuitous route to intercept them. At Irwinsville, at one o'clock in the morning of the 10th of May, the colonel learned that a train which probably belonged to Davis was encamped a mile and a half distant. Moving out into the vicinity of the camp, he sent Lieutenant Purinton with twenty-five men to wait on the other side of it.
At daybreak Colonel Pritchard and his men advanced silently and without being ob- served, to within a few rods of the camp, then dashed forward and secured the whole camp before the astonished inmates could grasp their weapons or even fairly arouse themselves from their slumbers. The result was that this detachment of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry captured Davis, dressed partially in female attire, and that Colonel Pritchard, with twenty-five officers and men of the regiment detailed as a special escort,
took their prisoner to Washington, whence he was transferred to the casements at Fort- ress Monroe.
Soon after this event, the regiment marched to Nashville, Tennessee, where it was mustered out of service on the 1st of July, and nine days afterward was disbanded, at Detroit. Ninety-four battles and skir- mishes are inscribed on the record of the Fourth Cavalry, and everyone in the list is an addition to its fame.
Members of Fourth Cavalry from Shia- wassee county : Company A,-Timothy Hill, Edward Ryno; Company B,-First Lieuten- ant Chauncey F. Shepard (Owosso), Wil- liam Armidon, Erastus W. Blair, Baxter B. Bennett, Abel A. Bradley, Albert Babcock, Albert R. Bradley, Daniel F. Blair, Henry J. Pearce, George A. Chase, Charles Dean, Cyrus Dean, Benjamin Dutcher, Welton D. Fox, C. S. Fox, L. W. Harrington, Ira John- son, George Jacobs, Charles F. Parker, Will- iam P. Stedman, Theodore Sanford, John D. Smith, Darias Watkins, William Weswell; Company C,-Ebenezer Brewer, Thomas Brewer, Thaddeus M. Carr, Edwin L. Howe, Patrick Sweeney, H. H. Stewart, Emery T. Warle ; Company E,-First Lieutenant Joshua W. Mann (Owosso), Homer A. Bris- tol, Edgar P. Byerly, George A. Bullard, Silas Bullard, Dewitt C. Carr, Stephen G. Fuller, David B. Green, L. R. McUmber, John Nelson, George M. Rose, Anson L. Simons, Thomas L. Spafford, William C. Stiff, George A. Underhill; Company F,- Gilbert M. Hemingway, James St. John; Company H,-Albert Spinks.
FIFTH MICHIGAN CAVALRY
The Fifth Cavalry Regiment of Michigan was mustered into the United States service
PAST AND PRESENT OF
August 30, 1862, under command of Colonel Joseph T. Copeland. Men from Shiawassee enlisted in seven of its companies. One of the original field officers of the regiment was Major Ebenezer Gould, of Owosso, who was afterward promoted through the intermediate grade to that of colonel.
From Detroit the Fifth moved to Wash- ington in December and remained in camp on East Capitol Hill in that city, through the winter. In the spring of 1863 it was at- tached to the Second Brigade of the Third Division of the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. This brigade became widely famed as the Michigan Cavalry Brigade. It. was commanded successively by Generals Kilpatrick and Custer, and is said to have gained the highest reputation of all cavalry brigades in the service.
In February, 1863, the regiment crossed the Potomac and was encamped for more than two months at Fairfax Court House. Its duties were arduous and it was several times engaged in skirmishing, but without much loss until the opening of the cam- paign of Gettysburg. At this time the Fifth was under command of Colonel Russell A. Alger,-afterward General Alger, later gov- ernor of Michigan' and now a member of the United States senate.' It moved northward on that campaign on the 27th of June, and from July 2d to July 14th, was in twelve hotly fought engagements. It is impractica- ble to give a detailed account of the almost innumerable marches and constantly chang- ing movements which succeeded during that eventful year.
During the winter of 1863-4 the regiment had its headquarters at Stevensburg, Virginia, and was empolyed mostly on picket duty,
along the Rapidan. In February it took part in the raid made by the cavalry under Kil- patrick to the outer defenses of Richmond. In May the brigade, commanded by the fiery Custer, crossed the Rapidan and soon be- came engaged in the great battle of the Wilderness,-fighting mounted the first three days against the forces led by the renowned rebel cavalry leader, General Stuart. On the 9th of May the cavalry corps set out under General Sheridan on his great raid towards Richmond. From that time until the close of the war the Fifth was almost constantly en- gaged in the Virginia campaigns and at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, April 9, 1865, was in the advance, the flag of truce to negotiate the surrender being sent through its line.
The regiment participated in the review of the Army of the Potomac, May 23, 1865, and immediately afterward, with the Michi- gan Cavalry Brigade, was ordered to the western frontier. At Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the regiment was mustered out of the service, and returned to Detroit, where it arrived July 1, 1865.
Members of Fifth Cavalry from Shiawas- see county : Field and staff,-Colonel Eben- ezer Gould (Owosso) ; Non-commissioned staff,-Sergeant Major Charles Y. Osborn (Owosso); Company D,-Thomas G. In- gersoll; Company F,-John Bemis, Sanford Bemis; Company G,-Second Lieutenant Emery L. Brewer (Owosso), A. H. Clark, Thomas Johnson, Patrick Mitchell; Com- pany H,-Oliver C. Hollister, Robert Purdy ; Company I,-Second Lieutenant William D. Ingersoll (Owosso); Company K,-Andrew J. Bemis, Adam Dell, Charles Edwards, William Edwards, Anson Howe, Milton
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Hodge, George B. Lynds, Juliel W. Mon- roe, George . W. Morse, Orville Ogden, Rowell P. Root, Milan S. Warren, Orlando F. Wilkinson, Allen I. Williams; Company M,-Jones H. McGowan.
SIXTH MICHIGAN CAVALRY
The Sixth Cavalry was one of the regi- ments composing the famed Michigan Bri- gade, which won imperishable laurels under the gallant Custer. Shiawassee soldiers were in seven of its companies, though principally found in Companies D and G. The first named of these companies entered the ser- vice under command of Captain David G. Royce, of Burns, and the other had for its first lieutenant Harrison N. Throop, of Owosso. The regiment was mustered into the service October 13, 1862, having on its rolls twelve hundred and twenty-nine officers and enlisted men.
In the following December it proceeded to the seat of war in Virginia, and was en- camped for a considerable time at Fairfax Court House. It saw some service in the early part of 1863, but was not engaged in any notable actions until the time when the rebel army of General Lee moved northward after the battle of Chancellorsville. In that campaign it fought gallantly in many engage- ments, the last being at Falling Waters, Maryland, July 14, in which the two com- panies principally made up of Shiawassee men distinguished themselves for bravery. Captain Royce, commanding Company D, died bravely there in the thunder and smoke of the charge.
From that time the history of the regiment was practically the same as that of the Fifth
Cavalry, recounted in the preceding pages, both regiments remaining in the same fa- mous brigade. The Sixth, however, had a somewhat longer term of service on the western frontier, not being mustered out until November 24, 1865.
Members of Sixth Cavalry from Shiawas- see county : Field and staff,-Assistant Surgeon James Sleeth (Byron) ; Company A,-Freeling Potter; Company D,-Captain David G. Royce (Burns), Commissary Ser- geant Henry M. Billings (Burns), Sergeant Samuel C. Smith (Caledonia), Sergeant Alonzo Ferguson (New Haven), Corporal Charles Simpson (Burns), Corporal William H. Dailey (Burns), Musician William H. Rust (Burns), Musician Andrew J. Williams (Burns), Wagoner James W. Rathbone (Caledonia), Orin B. Arnold George W. Aldrich, Jacob H. Alliton, David C. Austin, Peter Boughton, Ezra D. Barnes, George W. Botsford, Augustus M. Barnes, Alexander Crawford, Henry Cole, David Campbell, Henry W. Cramer, Gilbert Dutcher, Edwin J. Emery, Ferdinand Euler, Alva F. Ewing, John H. Green, Philander Gleason, George R. Harris, Hartford Harding, George Hop- kins, Jacob Haist, Horace Hart, Ira C. Hard- ing, James M. Hath, John Judd, L. F. James, Edwin Judd, W. K. Kendall, Albert Lyon, D. S. Munger, Thomas Murray, Al- bert Otis, Truman Osgood, Samuel E. Pitts, Abraham Polly, William E. Parker, Allen W. Rhodes, Samuel Sherbourne, Ananias Stafford, Jacob Sciler, Martin Simpson, Wil- liam H. Shaft, Joseph Shaffer, John Van- Dyke, Tiffany S. Wright, Dennis C. Welch; Company E,-George Bennett ; Company F, -George Dutcher; Company G,-Quarter- master Sergeant Norton Gregory (Owosso),
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Commissary Sergeant George B. W. Inger- soll (Owosso), Sergeant Isaac F. Parkhurst (New Haven), Sergeant Daniel I. Wyker (Owosso), Sergeant John B. Kay (Wood- hull), Corporal William M. Linsey (New Haven), Corporal James N. Smith (Owosso), Corporal George H. Wyman (Owosso), Teamster Jacob Pettit (Owosso), Farrier Andrew P. Culp (Sciota), Farrier L. I. Eck- ler (Bennington), Joshua Austin, John Allen, Artemus W. Angel, James Bull, John Covel,
Arthur Colyer, George Dutcher, Seth Dutcher, Isaac Duniston, John Duniston, George Edwards, Avery D. French, Henry H. Frain, Albert N. Frain, Samuel Graham, Lewis E. Galusha, John E. Graham, Henry Herst, George W. Judd, John H. Moon, Jesse Monroe, Abraham Ott, Peter I. Put- nam, John E. Potter, John P. Ream, Oliver H. Rathbone, John P. Ray, Almond N. Stephen, George Stickler, Samuel J. South- worth, James Vanderhoof, Christian Wolen- burgh, William F. Williams, Orange Wil- liams; Company H,-Captain Henry L. Wise (Caledonia) ; Company K,-Captain H. N. Throop (Owosso).
TENTH MICHIGAN CAVALRY
Company H of the Tenth Michigan Cav- alry was raised in Shiawassee county, by Captain Peter N. Cook, of Antrim, who was its original commanding officer. Company F was largely made up of Shiawassee men, recruited in the county by Captain Chauncey F. Shepard, of Owosso, who had previously served in both the First and Fourth Cavalry regiments.
The Tenth was mustered into the service at Grand Rapids, with Colonel Thaddeus
Foote as its commanding officer. Leaving its rendezvous on the 1st of December, 1863, it was transported to Lexington, Kentucky. After spending some time in different camps in that state it was moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, about the 1st of March, 1864. During the remainder of the year the regi- ment. was stationed at different points in Tennessee, and took part in a number of serious engagements in that vicinity, one- at Carter's Station-resulting in a loss of seventeen in killed and wounded. On the 4th of September the Tenth attacked the forces of General John A. Morgan at Green- ville, routed them, took a large number of prisoners and killed the guerrilla chief. The remainder of that month its men were con- tinually in the saddle, in pursuit of Wheel- er's and other rebel cavalry, frequently over- taking and fighting them, though not taking part in any general battle.
In December the regiment marched to Salt- ville, Virginia, where it assisted in destroy- ing the Confederate salt works at that place. After the accomplishment of the purpose for which the force was sent out, it returned to Knoxville, being engaged in several skir- mishes during the movement. Remaining at Knoxville until the latter part of March, 1865, the Tenth, with its brigade, joined an expedition to North Carolina, under General Stoneman. Its next movement was north- ward into Virginia, where, in April, it took part in the destruction of nearly one hundred miles of the Virginia & Tennessee Railway line. At Henry Court House, on the 8th of April, it was attacked by a heavy rebel force of cavalry and infantry, but successfully held its ground, with only a slight loss.
A few more skirmishes in that month fin-
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ished the fighting of the Tenth Cavalry. When news of the surrender of Johnston's army was received, the regiment was sent on an expedition having for its object the capture of Jefferson Davis, but in this it was forestalled by the Fourth Michigan Cavalry. It was then ordered westward through Ala- bama into Tennessee and remained on duty in that state until November 11th, when it was mustered out of service, at Memphis, and proceeded directly to Michigan.
Members of Tenth Cavalry from Shia- wassee county : Field and staff,-Major P. N. Cook (Antrim), Chaplain Henry Cherry (Owosso) ; Non-commissioned staff,-Ser- geant Major L. T. Rounswell (Caledonia), Chief Musician John L. Wild (Caledonia) ; Company A,-Captain Myron A. Converse (Corunna), First Lieutenant John R. Ben- nett (Shiawassee) ; Company D,-A. F. Carl- ton; Company F,-Captain Chauncey F. Shepherd (Owosso), First Lieutenant John L. Wild (Corunna), Commissary Sergeant Wilson M. Burk (Owosso), Sergeant James R. Conklin (Owosso), Sergeant Eber D. Jackson (Caledonia), Sergeant Albert K. McBride (Caledonia), Sergeant Perry Swain (Vernon), Sergeant Joel M. Jackson (Cale- donia), Corporal John Parsons (Perry), Corporal Edward S. Treadway (Perry), Cor- poral Lewis T. Putnam (Vernon), Corporal Daniel Morehouse (Middlebury), Farrier David W. Palmer (Caledonia), Musician Elisha P. Tew (Caledonia), Saddler Abner Sears (Burns), Wagoner Albert A. Barnes (Caledonia), Henry E. Angus, Alon Beckley, Robert H. Barton, Charles M. Calkins, Daniel Conklin, Oscar F. Card, Edward F. Clifford, Hiram Clark, Charles Conklin, Levi Eldridge, Charles D. Foster, William E. 6
Forney, Elisha Gleason, William Gleason, George Howe, George W. Harris, Reuben J. Holmes, Andrew J. Hovey, Willard S. Haw- thorn, Hiram Halleck, Peter Namlin, An- drew Hart, Albert E. Huntley, 'Samuel Hol- comb, Henry Howe, Friend D. Jackson, Car- penter Jacobs, Lambert Johnson, David Kin- yon, Charles Kinney, Daniel Kief, Otis Lamunyon, James Mole, Henry C. Mc- Carty, Jerry M. Mallery, Alvin Owen, Daniel Owen, Edward Putnam, Frank Putnam, John Pratt, George F. Prior, George R. Simms, John Snow, Wil- liam Thomas, John D. Thomas, William R. Wolcott, John Woodruff; Company G,- Second Lieutenant Lucien A. Chase (Owosso), Levi Hall, James H. Morgan ; Company H,-Captain Edgar P. Byerly (Owosso), Second Lieutenant J. Q. A. Cook (Antrim), Sergeant John L. Banks (Shia- wassee), Sergeant Lewis Decker (Antrim), Sergeant Aaron Herrick (Shiawassee), Ser- geant David F. Tyler (Perry), Sergeant Jacob N. Decker (Antrim), Sergeant Sam- uel B. Revenaugh (Shiawassee), Sergeant Robert D. Adam (Antrim), Corporal Samuel H. Graham (Woodhull), Corporal William H. Bachelder (Antrim), Corporal John N. Baker (Antrim), Corporal Stephen D. Sted- man (Perry), Corporal Platt S. Pelton ( Shi- awassee), Corporal Andrew Bliss (Burns), Corporal Charles F. Coles (Shiawassee), Musician Gideon Whitman, Musician Sam- uel H. Bennett, Saddler George Hart, George Bentley, Francis M. Baker, William Bat- tishill, William R. Bugbee, E. E. Barnes, Walter Brown, Hector E. Bentley, John S. Babcock, Edgar Cole, George W. Colf, An- drew Crowell, Samuel W. Carr, L. A. Decker, Peter Dumond, Benjamin Dufreze,
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George P. Dean, Samuel H. Graham, Hale P. Goodwin, Daniel B. Herrington, Truman W. Hemingway, Reuben C. Hutchings, Hiram Johnson, Sylvester Ketchum, Alfred Lamunyon, John R. Lucas, John C. Levy, Robert Lyons, Arthur Mead, George F. Mer- rill, William F. McDivit, Loren D. Peck, Martin Pierce, Thomas Ratigan, Samuel Robinson, William A. Richardson, John W. Simpson, William H. Shaw, Hiram W. Stev- ens, Almon M. Sandford, William O. Sher- burne, Allen Scott, Allen Terberry, William Vaughn, Frederick Wolf; Company I,- Captain William E. Cummings (Corunna), Melvin Haughtland; Company M,-Wil- liam M. Decker, George W. Hickox, William Roberts, Charles Thomas.
COMPANY H, MICHIGAN NATIONAL GUARD
The history of Shiawassee county's one military organization-Company H, of the Third Regiment, Michigan National Guard -has been one of hard work and self-sacri- fice; of conscientious effort well repaid, how- ever, by the important position which Com- pany H occupies in National Guard circles.
The first military organization since the days of the civil war was a body of young men who perfected a company on May 12, 1891, with the idea of applying for the first vacancy which should appear in the roster of the state troops. It was called the "Owosso Light Infantry," and its officers were : Paul M. Roth, captain; Fred H. Gould, first lieutenant ; and M. Roy Osburn, second lieutenant. The company met in Grow's hall, and though entirely ignorant of even the first principles of drill, except theo- retically, went to work with a will to learn
the duties and bearing of soldiers. The present captain of the company, W. M. Case, was right guide, as he seemed to be the only man who could keep the correct cadence while marching. How he obtained this pro- ficiency was plain to anyone who saw him going to his work in the morning or return- ing at night, for he wore a sort of "pacing- harness" of cord which allowed him to take a step of the regulation military. length and no longer. With such a spirit actuating every man in the company, it was not long before the drilling was sufficiently good to secure the Owosso Light Infantry its cov- eted place in the National Guard.
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