USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri, vol. 1 > Part 2
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Wells D). Blodgett
field, six of whom belonged to Company D. The number of wounded in the regiment exceeded one hundred.
In April, 1862, Lieutenant Blodgett was detailed to support Major James M. Hubbard of the First Missouri Cavalry, in the expedition from Cassville, Mis- souri, into the Indian Nation. Standwaite, then Chief of the Cherokees, was an officer in the Confederate Army and had fought with his regiment under Priee and Van Dorn at Pea Ridge. The force under Hubbard consisted of about three hundred eavalry armed with carbines; sixty seleeted men from the Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry, armed with Colt's revolving rifles and two six-pound guns from Davidson's Peoria Battery. Hubbard's command was furnished with ten army wagons, each of which was hauled by six army mules. The wagons served a double purpose: they not only transported the needed commissary supplies, but also enabled the infantry to ride and rest when the marching was too fast or too far for them to walk. Armed and equipped as above, the command moved out from its camp at Cassville and headed for the Indian country. The first day out they met with no opposition, but on the second day, whenever the route lay through brush or timber, small bodies of armed horsemen would form aeross the narrow roads, and thereupon one of the cannon would be brought into position and upon its discharge a platoon of Hubbard's men would charge down the road and the enemy would disappear. Before reaching the place then known as Seneca Mills, Hubbard had captured more than thirty prisoners, but at that point the number was largely inereased. At Sencea Mills Hubbard was informed that a Confederate camp, composed of both whites and Indians, was located over in the nation, on what was then known as Cow Skin Prairie, and at daylight the next morning he started with the eavalry and one piece of artillery to find and capture that camp. He found the eamp, but its defenders had fled, and Hubbard returned to Seneea Mills, and from there he marched his eommand to Neosho, the county seat of Newton county. On reaching Neosho he first took possession of the public square and placed his prisoners in the courthouse, but he soon concluded that in order to hold the courthouse he would be compelled to divide his forces, and thereupon he moved his men to a ridge that overlooked the town, and was then covered with scattering timber. On the point nearest the town he stationed the artillery and supported it with the sixty men from the Thirty- seventh Illinois, eommanded by Lieutenant Blodgett. Before reaching Neosho Hubbard had learned that a Confederate force, outnumbering his own, and composed largely of Indians, had been following him, and just at dawn the next morning the white men and Indians composing that force eame charging into Hubbard's camp and for a few moments there was a din of shooting and shouting that was most bewildering. The fighting did not last long, however, and when it was over the enemy was seen to be in full retreat. In that brief engagement Hubbard lost two men killed and five were wounded, and inside of Hubbard's eamp two Indians were killed and three white men were taken prisoners. In that engagement a bullet fired from what is known as a squirrel rifle struck Lieutenant Blodgett in his left foot and caused a serious but not a permanent injury. The exeitement of that attack being over, Hubbard informed his offieers that he intended to move, and that his destination would be the Stone barn, then owned by Judge Richie, on the Newtonia prairie. The prisoners and the men of the Thirty-seventh Illinois were then quietly loaded into the wagons.
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Wells 1). Blodgett
and, at the sound of the bugle, the movement began. The first two or three miles were in a valley and the road was rough, but the Stone barn on the prairie was reached that afternoon. Soon afterwards, however, squads of mounted men armed with shotguns and rifles began to appear just outside the range of their guns, and it soon became apparent that Hubbard's force was greatly outnum- bered. It so happened, however, that Hubbard had with him a young man employed as a civilian seout and guide, who, while at Neosho, had volunteered to pass through the lines of the enemy at night, and go on to Cassville and advise Colonel Black of the situation. The young man succeeded, and at daylight the morning after his arrival at Cassville, Colonel Black left for Neosho with four companies of the Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry, two companies of cavalry, a section of Davidson's Peoria Battery, and some wagons in which to rest the infantry. Arriving at Neosho, Black learned that Hubbard had gone to the Newtonia prairie, and, after giving his men a short rest, he moved in that direc- tion, and before daylight the next morning the men of Hubbard's command welcomed the sound of the big bass drum of the Thirty-seventh Illinois as it announced the approach of Black and the men of that regiment. Soon after daylight the next morning the squads of Confederate horsemen that had been on guard began to move further away from the Stone barn, and by ten o'clock of that morning they had entirely disappeared, and Black, after resting one day with his men, took command of the entire force and returned to Cassville. As showing the manner in which the prisoners captured by Hubbard on that expedi- tion were treated, the following quotation from a letter written many years afterwards by one of them may be of interest:
"Muskogee, April 15, 1898.
Lieutenant Blodgett,
St. Louis, Missouri.
Dear Sir:
I address you as 'Lieutenant' because that was your rank when I was your boy prisoner, thirty-six years ago.
Last week I saw your name mentioned in a Washington dispatch as being one to whom the President would offer a command, as brigadier general, in ease we go to war with Spain.
If we are to have another war I think old Confederates ought to be given the first chance.
*
*
Treat me as good as you did when I was your prisoner thirty-six years ago. If you enter the service and do not take me with you I shall be greatly dis- appointed.
Very respectfully yours, ",
In September, 1862, General Shelby of the Confederate Army was in camp on Newtonia prairie, and it was reported that he had a force of ten thousand cavalry and several field batteries. On receipt of that report General Schofield, in command of the Federal Army in the southwest, took the field. In making an attack on Shelby it was ordered by General Schofield that a brigade of cavalry
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Wells D. Blodgett
commanded by Colonel George H. Hall of Missouri should make a night march and at daylight attack the Confederate camp from the east, and that he (General Schofield) with his infantry and artillery, woukd, at daylight, approach the Confederate eamp from the west. Such was the plan, but when General Schofield reached a point from which he could with his glass see the head of the cavalry column under Hall, a staff officer appeared and reported to General Schofield that Shelby and his army were retreating south on the road leading to Pineville. On receipt of that report General Schofield ordered General E. B. Brown to send a member of his staff to Colonel Hall and direct him to move forward with his eommand, and bring on an engagement and that he (Schofield), would support him with his infantry and artillery. What happened to Blodgett in his effort to execute that order has since been printed and told on many occasions. We copy from a statement, made at the time, by General E. B. Brown, and published in 1865 in a volume entitled "The Civil War in Song and Story, 1860-1865." The events deseribed in that volume were selected and arranged by Frank Moore, who edited for the United States government the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies. In 1882 that volume was reissued and on page 71 thereof the following statement appears exactly as it did in the edition of 1865:
"One of the coolest and most extraordinary exploits of the war is thus de- seribed in a letter written by Brig. Gen. E. B. Brown, dated at Springfield, Missouri, 1862. After a preliminary description of an engagement of the enemy eighteen miles from Newtonia, Gen. Brown proceeds:
".Then General (Schofield) sent Lt. Blodgett with a single orderly with orders to Col. Hall of the 4th Missouri Cavalry, to move to the left and attack in that direction. The route of the lieutenant was across a piece of woods, in which he suddenly found himself facing a squad of the enemy drawn up in irreg- ular line. Without a moment's hesitation he and the orderly drew their revolvers and charged. The cool impudence of the act nonplussed the foe, and, probably thinking there was a large foree in the rear, eight of them threw down their arms and surrendered.
'It is difficult for me to say which I admired most in the Lieutenant, his bravery in making the charge against such odds when to have hesitated a mo- ment was certain death, or his presence of mind and coolness in offering to accept them as prisoners.
'The orderly, too, deserves more than a passing notice. His name is Peter Basnett, and he was at one time Sheriff of Brown county, Wis.
'The Lieutenant and orderly were well matched-both are quiet and deter- mined men. Iam glad to bear witness to the bravery and soldierly conduet of Lt. Wells H. Blodgett, and I hope he will be rewarded as he deserves.' "
The substance of the foregoing statement was contained in the official report of General Brown, and several years afterwards, at the request of General John C. Blaek of Illinois, the War Department examined the record and the following eitation was then issued:
"Wells H. Blodgett was mustered into the service on the 18th day of Sep- tember, 1861, to serve three years. He held the grade of Captain of Company 'D,' 37th Regiment, Ilinois Volunteers, and a Medal of Honor is awarded to him for most distinguished gallantry in action, near Newtonia, Missouri, Sep-
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Wells D). Blodgett
tember 30th. 1\62. where this officer. with a single orderly, captured an armed picket of eight men and marched them in as prisoners."
On the Madal the following words are engraved:
"The Congress ; Colonel Wells H. Blodgett. 4Sth Regiment. Missouri Volunteers. for most distinguished gallantry near Newtonia, Missouri. Septem- her 30. 1\62."
On December 7. 1862. the battle of Prairie Grove. Arkansas, was fought be- tween the Federal and Confederate Armies in the southwest. In that cam- paign Lieutenant Blodgett was on duty as a staff officer, and, accompaned by a single orderly and a citizen guide. he conveyed messages and orders between General Frank J. Herron commanding the Army of the Frontier) and General James G. Blunt. who was then approaching the battle field with his division. For that service he Blodgett received the personal thanks of both the generals. In that battle his company, in the Thirty-seventh Illinois Volunteers, was com- manded by Lieutenant William Johnson, who was killed in the action. On January 5. 1563. General Marmaduke. with a cavalry force, reported to be three thousand strong, and a battery of six guns. attacked the military post at Springfield. Missouri. In the battle fought on that day General E. B. Brown commanding the Federal forces) was severely wounded in the right shoulder, and Blodgett received a severe wound in his right leg above the knee. In March, 1563. Lieutenant Blodgett was commissioned by Governor Yates as Captain of Company D. Thirty-seventh Regiment. Illinois Volunteers, and on the face of that commission, above the signature of the Governor, the following words are written:
"Promoted for meritorious services at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, March 7 and S, 1862."
"Promoted for meritorious services at Prairie Grove, Arkansas. December 7, 1.62."
Early in April, 1863, the Thirty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteers (Cap- tain Blodgett commanding Company D . was rushed from southwestern Missouri into St. Louis in freight cars. and then hurried through the city to a steamer waiting at the wharf to transport the regiment to Cape Girardeau to meet and repel an attack upon that post by a Confederate force commanded by General Marmaduke. General John McNeil was in command of the Federal troops at the Cape. and as the men of the Thirty-seventh Regiment were moving off the steamer in the morning they were saluted by the roar of artillery in the very suburbs of the town. and quickly forming line at the wharf. and sending up a "yell" that could be heard by Marmaduke and his men. they went forward, double quick. to the position assigned them. It was soon discovered, however, that General Marmaduke and his troops were in retreat, and thereupon the Thirty-seventh Illinois |commanded by Colonel John C. Black. and some other Troop-, followed in pursuit down through Bloomfield and on to the St. Francis river at Chalk Bluffs. In approaching the river the highway passed for some distance through a low bottom that was at that time rather sparsely covered with large trees and but little underbrush. When some two or three hundred york- from the river Colonel Black halted his regiment |37th Illinois) and ordered the companies one of which was commanded by Captain Blodgett, to deploy a- skirmishers and advance towards the river. That order was quickly obeyed.
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Wells I). Blodgett
but when the skirmish line reached the river it was found that the bridge had been blown up and rendered impassable. The river at that point was not very broad, and as no enemy could be seen on the other side the men of the Thirty- seventh Regiment left their alignment and sat down on the fallen logs to rest and wait for orders. Soon, however, the silence was broken by the sharp crack of rifles from behind the stumps and trees on the other side, and as the river could not be crossed nor the enemy seen General Black directed his bugler to sound the retreat. In that affair Lieutenant Eaton of Company H. Thirty- seventh Illinois, was killed and two men of Company D of that regiment were wounded. In his official report General William Vandiver commanding the brigade) stated:
"Colonel John C. Black. Thirty-seventh Illinois, brought his command gal- lantly into action, and deserves special mention for his services. I regre to announce the loss of Lieutenant Joseph Eaton. Thirty-seventh Regiment. Illinois Volunteers."
In April, 1863, Blodgett was commissioned by President Lincoln as Judge Advocate of the Army of the Frontier with the rank of Major of Cavalry in the Army of the United States. In September. 1864. he was commissioned by Governor Willard P. Hall of Missouri as Lieutenant Colonel of the Forty- eighth Regiment, Missouri Volunteers. In October, 1864. he was commissioned by Governor Hall Colonel of the Forty-eighth Regiment. Missouri Volunteers. In December, 1864, he was ordered to proceed with his regiment Forty-eighth Missouri Volunteers) to Nashville. Tennessee, and report to General George H. Thomas, but while ascending the Cumberland river. from Paducah to Nash- ville, all traffic on the river was blocked by an artillery force commanded by the Confederate General Lyon, and during the delay so occasioned General Thomas moved out of Nashville with his army and the battle was fought in which the Confederate army under General Hood was defeated. Arriving at Nashville Colonel Blodgett, with the troops of his command. joined in the pursuit of Hood and followed the retreating army as far as Columbia and Pulaski. Tennessee. The war having ended with the surrender of Lee in April. 1565. Colonel Blodgett was. on the 1st of June, 1865, ordered to proceed to St. Louis with his regiment to be mustered out of the service. Upon its arrival in St. Louis his regiment was said to present a very fine appearance. and in the Missouri Democrat (now the Globe-Democrat) of June 12. 1865, the following compli- mentary notice appeared:
"As the Forty-eighth Missouri Infantry. Colonel Blodgett commanding. marched up Fou th street yesterday afternoon they halted in front of the Dem- ocrat office and gave three rousing cheers for the Missouri Democrat, the gallant Colonel proposing the compliment.
"We return our thanks to the Forty-eighth for its appreciation of our course, and promise them and all the other noble soldierly of the country who have been battling for the Union our hearty cooperation whenever the government shall call upon their valor and patriotism."
Again, on June 15. 1865. the following appeared in the same paper:
"This regiment was raised principally in the second congressional district. Its organization was completed at Rolla, and in November, 1564, it started for Nashville. In connection with the Forty-fifth and Forty-seventh Missouri
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WielIs D. Blodgett
Regiments, it opened the Cumberland river-at that time blockaded by the Confederate forces under General Lyon, and on account of that delay the Forty- eighth arrived at Nashville two days after the Confederate army under General Hood had been defeated by General Thomas. The Forty-eighth Regiment joined in the pursuit of the army under Hood and when that army had been driven across the Tennessee river the Forty-eighth returned and took post at Columbia, where it remained until April. 1865. The officers have brought the regiment up to a perfection in drill and in the manual, which shows great energy on their part and great aptitude on the part of the men. We paid a visit yesterday morn- ing to Benton Barracks, in company with General White, General McNeil and Senator Henderson. While there we had the pleasure of witnessing their drill and dress parade of the regiment. The party was joined by Colonel Bonneville, commanding the Post. and by other distinguished visitors, both civil and military. Without notice of such intention from Colonel Blodgett, the men appeared promptly at the call of the bugle with their arms and accouterments in order; their evolutions and manual. as we have just stated, were admirable and elicited the warmest commendations from every one present. After forming into a square. Senator Henderson was introduced to the regiment by the commanding officer. Three cheers greeted his introduction, to which he replied in a brief but eloquent address. Senator Henderson paid a deserved compliment to the reg- iment for the high qualities it exhibited of discipline and proficiency in arms, and expressed the solicitude with which he had watched its course.
"General White was then introduced as a soldier who has served through the entire struggle. Many of the regiment seemed acquainted with that gentle- man. and at the suggestion of someone in the ranks, three hearty cheers were given to him. General White also briefly addressed the regiment, complimenting the men and officers. as only a soldier can. on their military bearing and the proficiency they exhibited in their military acquirements. General McNeil was next introduced. Three cheers were accorded the General, whom all the regi- ment seemed to know. He also addressed the men and officers, praising the reg- iment for its appearance and the rapid proficiency it had shown, and expressing the belief that their experience and training in the service would make every man in the regiment a wiser and better citizen in civil life. The visit was in every respect a pleasant one. affording. as it did, independent of the parade, an inter- esting conversation with Colonel Bonneville: his reminiscences of St. Louis forty years ago were thrown in with great freshness and vivacity."
A letter from Colonel Bonneville reads:
St. Louis, Missouri, June 16, 1865.
Col. Blodgett.
46th Regiment, Mo. Vols. Inf.
Dear Sir:
I write this note to express my thanks for the cordial reception given me Testerday by the officers and men of your command.
I noted with pleasure their efficiency in the manual as well as in their Com- pany and Battalion movements.
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Wells 1). Blodgett
Please say to Senator Henderson that his words were grateful to the cars of an old soldier.
I am, sir,
Yours respectfully, Bonneville. Comdr.
Colonel Bonneville, the author of the foregoing letter, and who is mentioned in the foregoing article quoted from the Missouri Democrat, was the famous Captain Bonneville of the regular army, whose thrilling adventures, at an early day in the far west, were so interestingly described by Washington Irving in his Volume entitled The Adventures of Captain Bonneville.
Following is the military record of Wells H. Blodgett:
(A)-April 17, 1861-Enlisted as private for three months in company com- manded by Captain C. C. Marsh.
(B)-July 18, 1861-Enlisted as private for three years in Company D, Thirty-seventh Regiment, Ilinois Volunteers.
(()-August 1, IS61-Commissioned by Governor Yates as First Lieutenant, Company D, Thirty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteers.
(D)-January 1, 1863-Commissioned by Governor Yates as Captain, Com- pany D, Thirty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteers.
(E)-April 9, 1863-Commissioned by President Lincoln as Judge Advocate, Army of the Frontier, with rank of Major of Cavalry in Army of the United States.
(F)-September 22, 1864-Commissioned by Governor Hall as Lieutenant Colonel Forty-eighth Regiment, Missouri Volunteers.
(G)-November 25, 1864-Commissioned by Governor Hall as Colonel Forty-eighth Regiment, Missouri Volunteers.
(H)-July 1, 1865-Honorably mustered out of military service at St. Louis.
The esteem in which Colonel Blodgett was held by his regiment was clearly shown in the words they caused to be engraved upon the beautiful watch they presented to him on the day of their discharge from the service. The words are: "Presented as a token of admiration to Col. Wells H. Blodgett, 48th Regt. Mo. Vols., by his Officers, July Ist, 1865."
In July, 1865, after his regiment had been mustered out of the service, Colonel Blodgett married Miss Emma Dickson, of Dixon, Illinois, and immediately located at Warrensburg, Missouri, to begin the practice of his profession as a lawyer. In November, 1866, Colonel Blodgett was elected member of the Missouri legislature from Johnson county. In November, IS6S, he was elected to the state senate for a term of four years, from the district composed of the counties of Johnson, Henry, Benton and St. Clair. In 1869 he prepared and on the 25th day of January of that year, he introduced in the Missouri senate the act providing for the establishment of two Normal schools in the state, one to be located north and the other south of the Missouri river. Under that act one Normal school was located at Kirksville and the other at Warrensburg. In 1873 he removed to St. Louis and became a member of the law firm of Blodgett & Dickson. During the year 1873 he was employed as an assistant attorney of the St. Louis-Kansas City and Northern Railway Company, and in 1874 he was elected by its board of directors as the general attorney of the company. The
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last named company was soon afterwards consolidated with the Wabash Railway Company of Ohio, and the consolidated corporation took the name of the Wabash-St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company. At that time David Dudley Field and General Wager Swayne were general counsel for the company in New York, and Blodgett was its general solicitor with his office in St. Louis. As general solicitor he had supervision of all the litigation arising out of the oper- ation of all the lines in the system. Under the advice and supervision of Mr. Jay Gould new lines were added until 1884, when there were, in round numbers, six thousand miles of road in the system. In the latter year the Wabash System fell into the hands of receivers, appointed by the federal courts, and the main lines remained in their hands until 1889 when they were reorganized under the name of The Wabash Railway Company. In December, 1911, the company again became insolvent, and on a bill filed in the federal courts by a general ereditor, receivers (of all its property) were again appointed. The receivers so appointed were directed to take charge of all the property of the company without regard to mortgages, and by that order of the court, Wells H. Blodgett was appointed counsel for the receivers. Later on the trustees in the First Refunding and Extensions Mortgage filed their bill, in the federal court, to foreclose that mortgage. In that foreclosure proceeding the creditors, secured by the Refunding and Extensions Mortgage, were only entitled to the proceeds arising from a sale of the property therein described. And in order to ascertain exactly what property was covered by that mortgage, he (Blodgett), as counsel for the receivers under the ereditors' bill, filed in said court a petition for an accounting, which is now (1920) pending before a special commissioner. In politics he is, and always has been, a republican. During the Civil war he was in favor of refusing the ballot to all who would not take an oath to support the federal constitution, but when Lee surrendered and the war was over, he was among the first to advocate a restoration of the ballot to every citizen.
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