History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 49

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096

USA > Ohio > Knox County > History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present > Part 49

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The main body of the army was in camp on the La Bacca, under the command of General Felix Houston, late of Mississippi.

To camp Independence, for it was so called, the newly arrived troops marched; and were entranced by the loveliness of the scene which surrounded them. The prairie was carpeted with every variety of brilliant wild flowers; the air seemed filled with beautiful birds, whose plumage bore all the tints of the sun, and here and there were wandering herds of deer not yet familiar with the crack of the hunt- er's rifle. Shortly after the arrival of the re-enforce- ments a new regiment was organized, and Joseph Rogers, an octogenarian, now residing in Madison, Indiana, was made colonel. This disappointed Colerick, who possessed the soldierly qualities of courage, energy and ambition, and aspired to the colonelcy. Sometime after the honorable discharge of his company, Colerick returned to Ohio, but died at Cincinnati on his way home. It is said that Lieutenant Lemon, now a ranchero in Texas, is the only member of Colerick's company now re- siding in that State. Indeed very few of them are alive. Among the survivors is Sergeant Lorenzo Jones, now employed at a great old age as team- ster of Mr. Christian Keller of Mt. Vernon; George McKee, another of Colerick's men is still alive and a well-to-do farmer of Coshocton county.

Ten years passed away and the independence of Texas had not been recognized by Mexico, and was not so recognized until Texas was acknowl- edged as one of the States of the American Union by the treaty of peace between the United States and Mexico, entered into in the summer of 1848. France, England, and the United States had long

before acknowledged Texan independence, but Mexico preserved her attitude -of hostility until peace was conquered by the capture of her capital.

In 1844, on the issue of the annexation of Texas, Van Buren was thrown overboard at Baltimore, and Polk and Clay became the opposing candi- dates for President. March 1, 1845, the joint reso- lutions of the Congress of the United States, favor- ing the annexation of Texas, were approved by the President. On the fourth of June following, the President of Texas issued a proclamation suspend- ing hostilities with Mexico; the next month joint resolutions were unanimously passed by both branches of the Texan legislature favoring annex- ation; and on the twenty-seventh of December, 1845, Texas was admitted into the Union.

Mexico was defiant, and prepared for war. Early in the spring of 1846 a squadron of dragoons, com- manded by Captains Hardy and Thornton, was captured near the Rio Grande, and carried into Mexico as prisoners. This act was the inaugura- tion of the war.

The brilliant victories achieved by Taylor at Palo Alta and Resaca de la Palma on the eighth and ninth of May, thrilled the country with enthu- siasm, and there was a general cry, to arms! Con- gress authorized the President to organize fifty thousand volunteers, and an appropriation of ten million was voted to maintain the integrity of the Union.

Ohio was called on for three regiments of in- fanty, and Governor Bartley issued a proclamation calling for volunteers. Samuel R. Curtis was ap- pointed adjutant general of the State, and Ben- jamin F. Brice was made assistant adjutant general, both of whom were men of military training, and were graduates of West Point.

A meeting was called in Mount Vernon to con- sider the necessary steps to be taken to organize a company. Daniel S. Norton was called to the chair, and addressed the meeting on taking his seat. L. W. Strong, Eli Miller, and Hosmer Cur- tis were appointed vice-presidents. The meeting was further addressed by John K. Miller, J W. Vance, Caleb J. McNulty, Captain G. W. Morgan, A. Banning Norton, and Major William A. Hoey According to the Times, the organ of the Whigs of Knox, "there was considerable division in the

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meeting, the Whigs being opposed to the manner in which the Government went into the war, though they were ready to say, 'Our country, right or wrong.'"

The Second brigade Third division Ohio militia, called out by Brigadier General G. A. Jones, was formed on the flat facing on High street, and west of where is now the track of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. The brigade was massed and addressed by Captain Morgan. The same afternoon, those who proposed to volunteer assembled in the court house to organize. By a unanimous vote George W. Morgan was elected captain, Simon B. Kinton was chosen first lieutenant, and Thomas P. Morton second lieutenant. Caleb J. McNulty enlisted as a private soldier. Although only in his thirtieth year he had achieved a national reputa- tion. He thrice represented Knox county in the Ohio legisluture; had been clerk of the lower house of Congress; and was the Democratic candidate for that body against Columbus Delano, the Whig candidate, in 1844. Mr. Delano was elected by a majority of twelve votes. Mr. McNulty had the faculty of intuition to an extraordinary degree, and was one of the first popular orators of his day. He did not live to see Mexico, but died a victim of in- temperance on the steamer which bore the right wing of the Second Ohio volunteers to New Or- leans. The boat stopped in the night at Memphis to obtain a coffin, and the next morning poor Mc- Nulty was buried at the foot of a grand old oak near Helena, Arkansas.

Daniel S. Norton, jr., son of Colonel Daniel S. Norton, who was prominently active in the organi- zation of the "Young Guard" was also a private in that company. Young Norton said to his captain, "I would like to become an officer, and if I cannot do that, it will be my ambition to become the best soldier in the company." He was then probably seventeen years of age. He did make a good sol- dier, but contracted a malignant disease in conse- quence of which he was honorably discharged. He afterward studied law with Rollin C. Hurd, and finally removed with his fellow student, W. H. Windom, to Minnesota, from which State he was sent as a Republican to the Senate of the United States, where, in the struggle over the reconstruc- tion laws, he acted with the Republican Senators

Cowan, Trumbull, Doolittle, and Rose, and sus- tained the policy of Andrew Johnson, and voted against his conviction on his trial before the Sen- ate. Senator Norton was a man of fine intelligence and marked independence of character. He died before the expiration of his term of service in the Senate, and W. H. Windom, the present Secretary of the Treasury, became his successor.

Another private in the "Young Guard" was Rob- ert B. Mitchell. He was made quartermaster ser- geant in Morgan's regiment, and second lieutenant in Captain Harle's company in the Second Ohio, reorganized. He removed to Kansas, and on the breaking out of the civil war, organized, and be- came colonel of the First Kansas infantry; and distinguished himself in the action at Wilson's creek, Missouri. He was afterward made brigadier general, and governor of New Mexico, and now re- sides in Washington, District Columbia.

During ten successive daysafter the organization of his company Captain Morgan drilled his men eight hours each day. One-half of that time was exclu- sively given to the school of the soldier. The com- pany was composed of excellent material, and made rapid progress in drill and discipline.

On Saturday the sixth of June, 1846, the ladies of Mt. Vernon, through Colonel D. S. Norton, pre- ' sented the "Young Guard" with a flag, upon the folds of which their names were inscribed, and a few shreds of this old banner are still in possession of General Morgan who received them.

The company then took up its line of march for Columbus, accompanied for some distance by a large concourse of citizens, and was greeted with banquets along the route; and on Sunday after- noon was escorted into Columbus by the companies of Captains Walcott and Latham.

The general rendezvous of the Ohio troops was at Camp Washington, near Cincinnati, where thir- ty-eight companies soon assembled, and others were ready to march from different parts of the State. So fierce was the desire to go to the field that an armed collision seemed inevitable and was only prevented by the address of Brigadier General John E. Wool, of the United States army, who superintended the mustering into the United States service. The Ohio regiments were organized as follows:

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

First regiment, Colonel A. M. Mitchell.

First regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel John B. Weller. First regiment, Major Thomas L. Hamer.

Hamer was immediately made brigadier general by President Polk, and Giddings was elected to fill the vacancy.

Second regiment, Colonel George W. Morgan. Second regiment, Lieutenant Colonel William Irwin. Second regiment, Major William Wall. Third regiment, Colonel Samuel R. Curtis.

Third regiment, Lieutenant Colonel George W. M. Cook. Third regiment, Major John Love.

When Morgan was made colonel, Simon B. Kenton was elected captain and Charles D. Miller was elected first lieutenant of company "B," for- merly known as the "Young Guard." Some time later Kenton was assigned to the duty of assistant quartermaster and private James E. Hade was elected captain. Arrived in Mexico, every regi- ment of every State was eager to go to the front ; every man in the language of the camp wanted "a chance." General Taylor organized regiments into brigades according to their numbers. The First Ohio and First Kentucky formed the brigade of General Hamer, while the Second Ohio and Sec- ond Kentucky formed the brigade of General Thomas Marshall (not Thomas F. who was a cap- tain of cavalry). This equitable adjustment of a troublesome question, in a volunteer army, caused the Third Indiana to be stationed at the mouth of the Rio Grande; and the Third Ohio to be stationed at Matamoras; while the Second Ohio and Second Kentucky were stationed at Camargo.

It was past midsummer. The hospitals were full, but thanks to the skill and devotion of Sur- geon William Trevitt the loss of the Second regi- ment from sickness was less than that of any other volunteer regiment in the army. Dr. Trevitt lately departed to the great camp in the spirit land to join a large majority of his old comrades who had encamped there long before him. Those who re- main behind cherish his memory with affection, and before many years will pass away all will be again reunited. A rigorous system of drill was adopted, and in precision and promptness the men of the Second acquired the character of veterans. Before advancing from Camargo Morgan's regi- ment could execute every manœuvre in the school of the battalion with rapidity and exactness. When

this was done he taught his regiment to march in square, and to form square from line of battle, without breaking into column, neither of which was taught in our tactics. To the steadiness and precision acquired by the second regiment in marching in square, it afterwards owed not only victory but existence.

While stationed at Camargo, under the direction of Colonel Morgan, Major William Wall built an earthwork with five bastions which was christened Fort Wall, and it has since become historic in the civil wars of Mexico.

There was an enemy in Mexico more dreaded by our soldiers than the Mexicans. It was the taran- tula. The tarantula belongs to the family of the spider. In Italy it is comparatively small and not esteemed dangerous; but in Mexico it attains a size that an ordinary pint cup would scarcely cover. The back and legs are covered with a long hair of a reddish color, and the eyes project from its head.

One morning T. Burr Wadsworth, a solidier in Kenton's company, called at the hospital and com- plained at what appeared to be a carbuncle on his cheek. Surgeon Trevitt told him that it was not sufficiently ripe to lance, but applied some lotion. A few hours later Wadsworth returned, with his face and head badly swollen. Trevitt applied the lance, pouring ammonia on the wound. In the meantime a large tarantula was found in Wads- worth's blankets. Stupor set in; the poor fellow died, and company B had to mourn the loss of one of its best soldiers. A tragedy of a different char- acter occurred not long afterwards. Morgan's regi- ment was broken into detachments; five compa- nies under the colonel remained at Camargo; two companies under the major at Punta Aguda; and three under the lieutenant colonel at Ceoralvo. Lieutenant Miller and Frank Winne asked permis- sion to go to the latter place on duty, and an es- cort was ordered to accompany them. Through a reckless contempt for the Mexicans, without the knowledge of their commander, they set out for Ceoralvo. They were bright young men, full of hope, courage, and energy. They were ambushed by a party of guerillas at Chickaronis. The bloody and torn ground gave evidence for days afterwards of a murderous conflict. Both were killed; and their hearts and other parts of their persons were

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hung upon bushes by the roadside. Similar atroci- ties had been committed elsewhere, and the Mexi- can authorities professed to be unable to prevent them. Colonel Morgan determined to give public security against bandits and assassins. The alcades of every town within a radius of sixty miles of Camargo were required to send to Morgan's headquarters three of their wealthiest citizens as hostages against private rapine and murder with- in their jurisdictions. The hostages were held as prisoners, but were provided with every comfort, and were kindly treated. They were allowed to communicate with their friends, who were given to understand that for every murder of an American soldier not killed in fair fight, there would be prompt retaliation. The measure was stringent; it called forth bitter complaints. Delegates of Mexicans visited the headquarters at Monterey to protest against the requirement of hostages. Mor- gan was sustained. He then went further, and authorized each alcalde to mount a force of twenty armed men to scour the roads as a police force, under commissions issued by Morgan himself. It was done; and the roads and country became more secure than was ever before known. Not another murder was committed, and in time the hostages were restored to their homes.

In the month of September, 1846, the battle of Montery was fought and won by brave old Zachary Taylor. The main attack was made in front, by the divisions of Twiggs and Butler, while Worth turned the enemy's position in the city by carrying the enemy's works on Independence Hill.

Butler was a gallant Kentuckian, and was an aid-de-camp of Andrew Jackson at New Orleans. Worth was a high-mettled steed, and one of the pal- ladiums of the Mexican war. He snuffed with joy the smoke of battle, and was grand in victory or defeat. As his division passed in column be- fore him when about to breast the Hill, he had a smile and words of cheer for each regiment in its turn. As the Fourth infantry advanced under the lead of the famed Martin Scott, Worth hailed them "Well, major, how is the Fourth?" "Fierce as tigers, sir. By -- , I can hardly hold them." And a laugh and a cheer passed along the column. The Hill was carried by storm, and Worth dashed into Monterey from the rear. The troops

of the enemy were massed on the plazza, but out of any direct line of fire from the streets which entered it, and then for the first time perhaps the exploit was performed of shooting around a corner when some distance from it. This was done by Duncan, then a -- of artillery. He charged his guns with half the ordinary amount of powder, and then if he wished to throw his shot into the portion of the plazza to the left of the entrance of the street, he directed his guns so as to strike the wall of the house on the right corner of the street, and the ball glancing would fly into the interior of the square to the great astonishment, and but little to the comfort of the Mexicans.

In front the fight was hot and galling. The bat- teries of the enemy were masked by groves of oranges and pomegranate, and the position of a battery was only discovered by the roar of its dis- charge.

The heaviest loss was sustained by the divisions of Butler and Twiggs, but the storming of the works on . Independence Hill decided the day. The whole army was covered with laurels, and the Ohio troops under Hamer and Mitchell won their full share.

It was now generally believed that the last battle of the war had been fought; and the conviction that there would be a speedy peace spread with the news of victory. Among the few who did not so believe, was Colonel Morgan. In a letter to his brother William, giving the rumors of victory, he said: "The general belief is that Taylor has con- quered a peace. It is a mistake. There will be no peace till a great battle is fought and won before the walls of Mexico."

At length the disagreeable duty of conveying trains from Camargo to Monterey devolved mainly on the Second Ohio. It was a duty full of danger but devoid of glory.

Camargo was the base of Taylor's supplies; and shortly after the battle of Monterey, our army was nearly destitute of stores, and orders were received to press them to the front. As a private enterprise a Scotchman of intelligence and energy named Thompson undertook to convey a train of three hundred mules heavily laden, to Monterey.

Captain William A. Latham, afterwards lieutenant colonel of the Second regiment, when re-organized,

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was assigned to the duty of guarding the train with his company, which sickness had greatly reduced. At the request of Thompson the route by Los Al- damos till then unused for military purposes, was chosen, on the supposition that it would be the least dangerous.

The third night after the departure of the train, a breathless courier from Latham reached Morgan, asking for succor. Latham was entrenched about six miles beyond Los Aldamos, and a large force of Mexicans under Carrajaval (still notorious in the regions of the Rio Grande) was hovering in front of him. Morgan had no cavalry; but within an hour, with sixty picked men of his regiment mounted on quartermasters' horses, he went to the rescue. The night was intensely dark, but under the lead of a Mexican guide who rode by Morgan's side and acted under the double inspiration of a large reward if he acted in good faith, and of death if he did not, the march was continued dur- ing the entire night, and at about the hour of ten the next morning the command wet, hungry and weary, halted at Aldamos for rest and refreshment. Morgan dispatched a courier to announce his ar- rival to Latham, and a Mexican spy to reconnoitre Carrajaval. About four in the afternoon, Morgan joined Latham, and shortly after dusk the spy re- turned. He reported the force of the enemy at over three hundred strong, and that he had fallen back sixteen miles on the road leading to Monterey. The spy was directed to hover near the enemy, and to report to Morgan while en-route the next morning. He departed, but did not return. At dawn next morning the convoy was in motion with front, flank and rear guards, with orders to keep well closed up, and to concentrate on any point seriously attacked. The march was of exciting interest. The enemy hovered around the train, but kept beyond the reach of our muskets.

At night Morgan halted on the banks of the Rio Capidero. A redoubt was constructed of mule packs, and the mules were corralled, but a short distance away, under the care of Thompson and his muleteers, all of whom were armed. To- wards morning a scattering escopet firing was heard from the direction of the corrals and the muleteers came flying in. Apprehensive that the attack on the corrals was a diversion in favor of a movement

to destroy the commissary stores, Morgan sent a detachment of troops accompanied by Thompson and his muleteers to reconnoitre the ground, and if possible, re-capture the mules, and all but eighty, were recovered. Lieutenant Brown of Julians company was ordered to follow the enemy's trail till daylight. On Brown's return, Morgan left Captain Reynolds with one third of the entire force to defend the redoubt and with the remaining force gave pursuit, which was pushed with such vigor that a number of horses fell dead in their tracks, and others were broken down and abandoned. The riders mounted behind their comrades or upon the first horse, found on the route. The town of Chuia on the Rio San Juan was reached late in the afternoon. Two hours before Morgan's arrival Carrajaval following the tactics of the Indians, scattered his command in small parties with orders to rendezvous on the day after the morrow.

In the meanwhile the stores at Monterey were growing less and the supplies on the Capidero must be got there at whatever cost. From a rene- gade American residing at Chuia, Morgan learned that the authorities were in league with Carrajaval, and he at once levied a contribution on the town for eighty mules, twelve horses and necessary sup- plies. The alcalde replied that he possessed no authority by which he could fill the requisition. Morgan told him that by the laws of war he con- ferred such authority upon him, and that if the mules and horses were not furnished by sun set the next day he would reduce the town to ashes. Be- fore the hour named several hundred mules and horses were brought in; but only eighty mules and twelve horses were taken. To protect the alcalde, Morgan gave him a certificate stating that he had filled the requisition under protest, and on compul- sion. At dawn the next day Morgan divided his little command into two equal parts, one for Latham, the other for himself. He directed Latham to proceed with the mules to the redoubt on the Capidero, and with the command of Rey- nolds to escort the train to Monterey, where they arrived without further accident:

Morgan was now left on the same side of the San Juan with Carrajaval and with only one tenth his force. Morgan set out for Camargo by a route seldom travelled, not wishing to encounter a force

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so much larger than his own. All went well, when suddenly the advanced scouts came to a dead halt till the main body joined them. A Mexican was found hanging by his feet to the limb of a tree, his hands were bound over his head, which rested on the ground. He was stone dead; the face terribly swollen and the eyes projecting and blood-shot. Around his neck was suspended a label bearing the single word "traidor!" (traitor). The unfortunate victim was the spy sent by Morgan to watch Carra- javal. While gazing upon the dead man some one called out, "Look! A drove of mustangs graz- ing." Telling his men to keep together, Morgan galloped towards the horses which were fastened with lariats. In a moment Carrajaval and his men swarmed from the chaparral and commenced to saddle. Morgan returned to his men and moved forward at a trot. The Mexicans were soon in the saddle, and moved forward in a line parallel to the road followed by the Americans. Toward evening the little party reached a ranch on the summit of high ground and with a strong corral from which Morgan intended to fight if attacked. Pickets were stationed and orders to look to the horses had hardly been given, when a tall and graceful young Mexican, mounted and armed in superior style, rode up and asked in pure English to see the commandant of the Americans. He rep- resented that a large body of robbers, under Carraja- val, were roving over the country plundering American and Mexican alike, that he was going to Camargo, and desired the protection of the Ameri- cans to that place. Satisfied that he was dealing with a spy, Morgan told him that his horses were fagged: that he would remain at the ranch till . morning and would be gratified to have his com- pany to Camargo. He further urged him to re- main with the Americans at the ranch all night; this he declined doing, but he accepted an invita- tion to take a cup of chocolate. During supper Morgan expressed a hope that Carrajaval would attack him, which caused the Mexican to smile He asked, "How many men have you?" "Thirty picked men, and every man a dead shot, and as for that, Carrajaval has only three hundred." The spy's dark eyes twinkled but he made no reply. In the course of conversation he said that he had been educated in Kentucky; liked the Americans,

and spoke carelessly of the war. He turned out to be one of the brothers Alderetta, who had been educated in the United States, but remained true to their native land. At length he re-mounted his horse saying, "Good night, we will meet in the morning," and cantered away. A profound quiet pervaded the American bivouac; at midnight the pickets were called in; the command silently mounted, and at a slow walk proceeded towards Camargo. About two miles from the ranch was a point of real danger; the road wound across a deep arrayo (the dry bed of a stream); the crossing was shaped like a horse-shoe, and a party in am- bush could have opened a tripple fire on any force marching towards the opposite bank. A recon- noisance was made, the place was found unguarded, and the thirty descended into the winding arrayoand emerged in safety on the opposite bank. The road was composed of a loose sandy soil, which dead- ened the sound of the horses' feet. Scarcely half a mile had been passed, when off to the right, and some distance from the road, was discovered the bivouac of the enemy, who soundly slept, dream- ing of the morrow. For a mile further the march was continued, when in a low voice "Trot! March!" was given, and at dawn of day the wearied troops entered Camargo. It was afterwards learned that towards morning Carrajaval went into ambush at the arrayo, but his sleepless foe had vanished in the starlight.

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 49

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co. Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096