USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 36
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INTO CAMP AT CHAMBERSBURG
"As our train continued we received one continuous ovation. Arriv- ing at last at Chambersburg, Pa., we disembarked and went into camp. Soon the command was given orders to fall in and take arms, as General Patterson and staff were seen approaching us, riding across the field. When they came to a halt he was tendered a salute by the regiment. Then occurred the going through the manual of arms exercises which wound up by the general and staff reviewing the regiment by passing up and down both front and rear. Arriving at the eenter, in a neat little speech he said that he had served in the regular army the greater por- tion of his life and had seen many fine bodies of men, but 'you Wiscon- sin boys cannot be excelled for soldierly deportment and appearance,' which pleased us very much. Salutes were given and thus ended the ceremonies.
BATTLE OF FALLING WATERS, VIRGINIA
"Remaining a few days in this camp at Chambersburg we were then ordered to Hagerstown, Maryland, and thence to Williamsport, situated on the Potomac river. Here occurred the first invasion of Patterson's division into Virginia and as the First Wisconsin occupied the right of the column, or head of the division, we were the first to enter the river waist deep and cross to the shore on the Virginia side. Driving the enemy, we advanced with the aid and under the guns of Doubleday's battery and the men who were with Major Anderson at the bombard- ment of Fort Sumter and the evacuation thereof on April 14, 1861. After proceeding on our march about six miles into Virginia, we were suddenly met by a rain of bullets from the rebs stationed in the woods a little ways in our advance. We did not remain long inactive, for we soon advanced and with the aid of the First Rhode Island battery of six guns had the rebs going and we never saw them afterwards. This en- gagement is known as the battle of Falling Waters, Virginia. Our regiment lost one killed, George Drake of Milwaukee, and Robert Gra- ham, mortally wounded. He soon after died of his wounds and quite a number of others were seriously wounded.
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"After the battle we went into eamp at a place known as Bunker Hill, near the head of the Shenandoah Valley, and remained a short time awaiting orders, as the army was supposed to move and attack Gen. Joe Johnson at Winchester, but instead we received orders to move to Charlestown, Virginia, which movement was made on the day in which the first battle of Bull Run was fought. The booming of eannon was plainly heard as we moved with this splendid division down the valley, and the question was then propounded why Patterson's divison did not make the attack on the rebs at Winchester and save the day for us at this unfortunate defeat of our troops at Bull Run; but it was not to be. Remaining a limited time at Charlestown, the regiment proceeded to Harper's Ferry and thenee to Edward's Ferry on the Potomae where we remained doing picket and guard duty, occasionally receiving an occasional shot from the rebs, but nobody hurt.
REENLISTED
"Our term of enlistment expired the latter part of August, and we were in due time returned to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and honorably dis- charged. In conclusion, will say that the first men after their discharge from their first enlistment in Sauk County again enlisted into other eom- mands of the state, doing good service in many hard fought battles of that great Civil war, without being killed or wounded, and as many years has flown since then, the grim reaper has been amongst us taking therefrom the most, if not all, excepting the writer here of the first en- listing at the breaking out of the Civil war from Sauk County."
REPRESENTATION IN THE "IRON BRIGADE"
There was no feature of the Civil war in which Sauk County took greater pride than in her support of the splendid mettle of the "Iron Brigade of the West." That famous unit of the Army of the Potomac was one of its pillars upon which rested its best successes. The soldiers from Sauk County were well represented in the Second and Seventh Wisconsin, and were unusually strong in the ranks of the Sixth. The other regiment forming the Iron Brigade was the Nineteenth Indiana.
THE SECOND WISCONSIN INFANTRY
The Second Wisconsin was originally a three-months' organization. Under orders to rendezvous at Camp Randall, an organization was effected in May, 1861. Meantime the General Goverment had decided to accept no ninety-day men, and on the 16th of that month the Second was sworn in, with the exception of one company, "for three years, or during the war." It was not only the first long-term regiment to go from
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Wisconsin, but the first body of three-years men to report at the national capital. On the 2d of July the regiment was ordered to Fort Corcoran on the Fairfax road, where it was brigaded with three New York regi- ments under Colonel (afterward General) Sherman. It participated in the battle of Bull Run, where it suffered severely. Soon afterward it went into camp near Fort Corcoran, where it remained until August 27th, when it was transferred from Colonel Sherman's command to that of Brig. Gen. Rufus King. The subsequent history of the regiment was identified with that of the Iron Brigade until May, 1864, when it was engaged with the Army of the Potomac in the advance on Richmond under General Meade.
THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH REGIMENTS
The several companies composing the Sixth Regiment were ordered to rendezvous at Camp Randall in June, 1861, and, under the command of Col. Lysander Cutler, of Milwaukee, it was mustered into the service of the United States on the 16th of the following month. By the 7th of August it was in camp at Meridian Hill, Washington, there joining the Iron Brigade under General King.
The Seventh Wisconsin Regiment also rendezvoused at Camp Randall, was organized under Col. Joseph Van Dor, and was mustered into the service September 16, 1861. Reaching Washington on the 1st of October, it joined General King's command at Camp Lyon.
In the meantime the Second and Sixth Wisconsin and the Nineteenth Indiana regiments, under the general command of Brig. Gen. Rufus King, had crossed the Potomac and, after assisting in the construction of Fort Marcy, had recrossed the river and gone into winter quarters. Having been joined by the Seventh Wisconsin, they remained at Arling- ton Heights until March, 1862, when the brigade participated in the advance on Manassas. In August, the brigade having been assigned a position in the advance of the Army of Virginia, it proceeded toward Groverton and Centerville. Near the latter place the Second Wisconsin, in advance of the other regiments of the brigade, was attacked by a much superior force of Stonewall Jackson's command, but held its ground until the arrival of the re-enforcements. Afterward the brigade protected the passage of the entire army to the Centerville road. While with MeClellan's army it stormed Turner's Pass and routed the enemy, was in the advance to Antietam and took a leading part in that furious engage- ment. In October, the Twenty-fourth Michigan was added to the brigade and, General Gibbon having been promoted to the command of the divi- sion, Colonel Cutler, of the Sixth Regiment, tock command of the Iron Brigade. After a time he was succeeded by General Meredith, under whom the brigade took part in the battle of Fredericksburg, being posted on the extreme left of the Union forces. The command of the Army
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of the Potomac having been transferred to General Hooker, in April, 1863, the brigade took part in the forward movement toward Fitz Hugh Crossing and forced the passage of the Rappahannock. In that impor -. tant movement it was led by the Sixth Wisconsin and the Twenty-fourth Michigan. On July 1st, the Second Wisconsin opened the battle of Gettysburg and checked the advance of the Confederate army. The brigade, as a whole, played a memorable part in that historie battle, and was afterward employed in pieket and guard duty along the Rappahan- nock and Rapidan. In the midst of the vigorous campaign which fol- lowed in the late fall and December, all the Wisconsin regiments of the Iron Brigade re-enlisted "for the period of the war."
At this time, and during the grand forward movement of the Army of the Potomac under Grant and Meade, the Iron Brigade was in com- mand of the veteran of the Sixth Wisconsin, General Cutler. It broke camp at Culpeper on May 3, 1864, crossed the Rapidan and marched toward Chancellorsville. On the morning of the 5th a line of battle was formed in the wilderness. The Union forces advanced by companies through a heavy growth of pine and underbrush and soon encountered the enemy's line. At a distance of forty paces the enemy poured in a terrible fire which was returned with equal determination. The Umon forces then charged with the bayonet, and at this point in this terrible battle of the Wilderness Corp. George A. Smith, of Company H, Seventh Regiment, rushed forward and captured the battle-flag of the Forty- eighth Virginia.
THE IRON BRIGADE IN THE WILDERNESS
The Iron Brigade continued to advance and, after driving the ene.ny a mile and a half through the timber was re-enforeed, but not sufficiently to hold the line so valiantly won. At dusk, it again advanced to within seventy-five yards of the Confederate lines, where the troops camped on the ground. At daylight the battle was resumed and the brigade was a part of the grand charge which steadily forced the enemy back until the arrival of re-enforcements. Then came another slight retro- grade movement on the part of the Unionists, but two furious assaults on the part of the enemy during the day were repulsed with great slaughter. During one of these attacks General Wadsworth, the division commander, was killed, the command then devolving on General Cutler. Col. Edward L. Bragg, of Fond du Lac, who had suecceded to the com- mand of the Sixth Wisconsin, when General Cutler became brigade commander again, was placed in command of the Iron Brigade in June succeeding the battle of the Wilderness.
OTHER RECORDS OF THE BRIGADE
In the meantime the Second had dropped out of the brigade, having been reduced to less than one hundred men and deprived of its field
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officers. But the Iron Brigade as an organization which had become his- torieal in the annals of the war continued to be recognized as a pillar of Hancock's army and the Army of the Potomac, and added to the record of its battles, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad and Five Forks. It participated in the Grand Review at Washington, and the Sixth and Seventh were mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, in the summer of 1865.
The records show that but nineteen residents of Sauk County joined the Second Wisconsin.
Company A, of the Sixth Regiment, was composed entirely of Sauk County soldiers. Its commissioned officers were: Captain, Adam G. Malloy, promoted lieutenant colonel of the Seventeenth Regiment early in 1862; David K. Noyes, first lieutenant (resigned October 30, 1861) ; promoted captain, wounded at Antietam, September 17, 1862, necessi- tating an amputation of the right foot and discharged July 23, 1864; Lewis A. Kent, mustered out as captain, with the regiment, July 14, 1865. First lieutenants-Thomas C. Thomas, resigned September 23, 1862; John A. Conghran, resigned December 3, 1862; Howard A. Pruyn, killed in action May 8, 1864; Howard J. Huntington, discharged July 15, 1864; Mair Pointon, mustered out with regiment, July 14, 1865. Second lieutenants-T. C. Thomas, John A. Coughran, H. F. Pruyn, H. J. Huntington (wounded in action July 18, 1864), promoted; Nelson Moore, mustered out with regiment, July 14, 1865.
Besides First Lientenant Pruyn, Sergt. A. Fowler and Corps. John Alexander and L. D. Fenton were killed in action, during the war, with some fifteen privates, while Corp. Richard Artridge and fifteen privates died either of wounds or disease.
In the Seventh Regiment Corp. J. Dewey, of Company E, was killed in action, and six privates gave their lives in other forms of sacrifice.
JOSEPH I. WEIRICH
Joseph I. Weirich, the sergeant of Company A, Sixth Wisconsin, was a man of considerable prominence as a newspaper man. His father, Rev. Christian E. Weirich, was a Methodist minister of ability and a much beloved army chaplain. Joseph I. learned the printer's trade in Pennsylvania, and in 1856 eame to Wisconsin with the family when his father joined the conference of that state. For several years he was a compositor on the State Journal at Madison, and located at Baraboo in 1859 when his father was assigned to that post as a minister of the Metho- dist Church. Severe sickness prevented hint from answering the first call for troops, but he joined Company A of the Sixth Wisconsin for the three years' term. He was wounded in the breast at the battle of South Mountain, September 14, 1862, and was honorably discharged as sergeant at the expiration of his term of enlistment. For several years afterward
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he was connected with Monroe newspapers, and in August, 1872, he pur- chased the Baraboo Republic, which he conducted alone until April, 1874, when he formed a partnership with Edwin E. Woodman, which continued until Mr. Weirich's death, December 21, 1877.
COMPANY D, NINTH REGIMENT
Nearly all the members of Company D, of the Ninth Regiment, were residents of the towns of Honey Creek and Prairie du Sae, with smaller contributions from Sumpter and Troy. The regiment was mustered into the service at Camp Sigel, Milwaukee, October 26, 1861, under eom- mand of Col. Frederick Solomon. In January, 1862, it proceeded to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and participated in various movements on the frontier until November, when it was engaged in the battle of New- tonia, Missouri. In 1863 and 1864 it participated in various expeditions in Arkansas, and was engaged in the battle of Jenkin's Ferry, as well as a number of minor engagements. The Ninth was one of the last of the Wisconsin regiments to leave the service, being mustered out January 30, 1866, and disbanded in Madison in the following month. Company D sustained quite a number of losses, including the deaths of Sergt. Julius Dobezinsky and Corps. Casper Boul, Arthur Cruse and Max Crasher, who were killed in action, two of them at Newtonia.
THE ELEVENTH WISCONSIN
In the Eleventh Wisconsin Regiment were small representations from Sauk County in Companies B, D, E, F, G, H and K. Its principal engagements were at Bayou Cache, Arkansas; at Milliken's Bend, Louis- iana, Champion Hills, Mississippi, and the actions before Vicksburg. In February, 1865, its members re-enlisted as veterans and subsequently participated in various expeditions in northern Mississippi and Alabama. The regiment was mustered out of the service in September, 1865, at Mobile. Thirteen died from Sauk County, including George Parsons, sergeant of Company H.
THE MARCHING REGIMENT
Company B, of the Twelfth Regiment, was composed almost exclu- sively of residents of the towns of Reedsburg, La Valle, Ironton and Westfield, while the towns of Dellona and New Buffalo furnished about one-third of the members of Company E. There were also residents of Sauk County in Companies A and K. The regiment was organized at Camp Randall, Madison, in the fall of 1861, under command of Col. George E. Bryant. In the following January it left for Fort Leaven- worth, Kansas, and afterward, as part of the Army of the Tennessee, participated in various expeditions in Mississippi. In June and July, 1863, its men were doing their full duty in the trenches before Vicksburg and were there at the fall. It marched with Sherman to the sea and
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through the Carolinas; participated in the battle of Atlanta ; was present at the surrender of Johnston in April, 1865, and took part in the Grand Review at Washington. It was mustered out of the service at Madison in July, 1865, and was disbanded during the following month. There were few regiments in the Union service which experienced so many changes of scene, and it was often designated as the Marching Regiment. Its service began with many miles of marching in Kansas, and it was thenee transferred, successively, to western Kentucky, Tennessee, Missis- sippi and the states traversed by Sherman's army. It is claimed that the regiment marched 3,838 miles, and traveled by rail 2,506 miles, and by steamboat, 3,159; making a total of 9,503 miles, or more than a third of the distance around the world.
Sergts. Frank W. Henry, of Company B, and Corps. John Schultz and Charles Fields, of Company E, were killed at Atlanta, and Corp. William Richards, of Company B, died of wounds received in the same engagement. The battle of Marietta, Georgia, October 7, 1864, elaimed as victims Second Lieut. James H. Thayer, of Company E, who died of his wounds, and Sergt. Spencer S. Miles and Corp. George W. Bell, who gave their lives as a result of injuries received on the field of battle. The casualties among the privates of these two companies were also quite severe, especially the deaths from disease caused by long and fatiguing marches and incessant exposures.
THE FOURTEENTH WISCONSIN
There were members of the Fourteenth Wisconsin in Companies A, H, I and K, from Sauk County, the largest number being in the company last named, from the towns of Greenfield and Baraboo. The regiment rendezvoused at Camp Wood, Fond du Lac, and was mustered into serv- iee under Col. David E. Wood, January 10, 1862. On the 28th of the following March the command reported to General Grant at Savannah, Tennessee, and were assigned to his Sixth Division. The first battle in which it participated was Corinth, but the regiment afterward became veteran fighters at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Atlanta and various campaigns with Grant and Sherman. The Fourteenth was mustered out at Mobile, Alabama, on the 9th of October, 1865. The captains of Company K were Edward W. Cornes, James W. MeCall, Ogden W. Fox, John N. Price and John J. Postel.
COMPANY H, SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT
Company H, of the Seventeenth Regiment, was composed of Sank County men and boys. Its organization was effected at Camp Randall under Col. John L. Doran, March 15, 1862. The command was present, but did not participate in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, but it did get into action at Corinth, where it lost heavily. The regiment participated in other engagements in that state before taking part in the
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advance on Vieksburg, including the battle of Champion Hills. In November, 1862, Lieutenant Colonel Malloy had succeeded Colonel Doran in command of the regiment, the latter having been placed under arrest. The Seventeenth was in the Atlanta campaign, the engagements in the Carolinas and the Grand Review; was mustered out at Louisville, Ken- tucky, July 14, 1865, and was disbanded, a few days later, at Madison.
Commissioned officers of Company H: Captains-Charles Arm- strong, mustered out May 21st and reappointed September 2, 1862; re- signed March 24, 1863; Samuel R. Apker, mustered out with regiment,
COLONEL A. G. MALLOY
July 14, 1865. First lieutenants: Samuel R. Apker, promoted; Darius E. Palmer, mustered out January 24, 1865; Henry A. Nolf, mustered out with regiment, July 14, 1865. Second lieutenants: Richard Rooney, resigned, April 16, 1862; Miles Joyce, resigned November 27, 1862: Darius E. Palmer, wounded at Vicksburg May 19, 1863, and promoted as above; James B. Fowler, mustered out with regiment.
COL. JAMES S. ALBAN, OF THE EIGHTEENTH
Only one private joined the Eighteenth Wisconsin Infantry, Elias White, of the Town of Washington, and yet old residents of Sauk County noted its departure from Milwaukee in March, 1862, with much pride
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and deep interest; for its colonel was James S. Alban, the pioneer settler of Sauk Prairie, then a man of middle age. He was not long to enjoy earthly honors, for a week after the regiment left for the front it was thrown into the battle of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, and Colonel Alban was killed April 6th, on the first day of the engagement.
COMPANY A, NINETEENTH REGIMENT
Company A, of the Nineteenth Regiment, was recruited principally from the towns of Reedsburg, Baraboo, Winfield, Woodland and West- field. The regiment was mustered into service at Camp Randall April 30, 1862, in command of Col. Horace T. Sanders. During the following summer the command was engaged in outpost and pieket duty in Vir- ginia and North Carolina and subsequently in the movements upon Fort Darling and Petersburg. In August, 1864, the Nineteenth-that is, 250 of its men-veteranized, and in the following October were in the trenches before Richmond. On the 21st of that month the regiment lost heavily at the battle of Fair Oaks. In the following April the regimental colors were planted upon the City Hall at Richmond, and the men were mustered out at the former capital of the Confederacy on August 9, 1865, reaching Madison on the 15th. Serg. Ferris B. Palmer and Corp. John Fuller were killed at the battle of Fair Oaks, and Corp. Alvah Rathburn, also of Company A, met his death on that battlefield.
The officers of Company A were: Captains-Rollin M. Strong, pro- moted major October 10, 1863; promoted lieutenant colonel December 29, 1863; wounded and taken prisoner at Fair Oaks, October 27, 1864, and discharged from service April 11, 1865; Henry A. Tator, mustered out April 19, 1865. First lieutenants : Henry A. Tator, promoted as above ; Alexander P. Ellinwood, transferred to Company A, Independent Bat- tery, May 1, 1865; promoted eaptain Company E, May 23d, and mus- tered out August 9, 1865. Second lieutenants-A. P. Ellinwood, pro- moted as above; Emory Wyman, mustered out February 22, 1865; Charles A. Chandler, transferred captain Company A, Independent Battery, June 21st and mustered out August 9, 1865.
COMPANIES F AND K, OF THE TWENTY-THIRD
Company K, of the Twenty-third Regiment, was recruited in the Towns of Prairie du Sae, Spring Green, Franklin, Sumpter, Bear Creek, Troy and Westfield. The bulk of Company F was also composed of Sauk County soldiers from the Towns of Baraboo, Dellona, Excelsior, Greenfield and Merrimack. Colonel Guppey commanded the regiment, which left Camp Randall for active service September 15, 1862. After marching through various parts of Kentucky, they proceeded to
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Memphis, where they arrived in November, and in the following month was before Vicksburg as a part of the Union army gathered for its re- duction. While assisting in the investment of Fort Hinman, the Twen- ty-third so successfully met a surprise attack from the enemy as to capture the entire attacking party. Later the swamps of the Yazoo played havoe with the health of the members of the Twenty-third, but most of them were sufficiently recovered to give a good account of them- selves at the battle of Champion Hills. In May, 1863, the Twenty- third participated in the assault on the Vicksburg defenses, and at the close of the siege its men numbered but 150 effectives. In the oper- ations around New Orleans, Colonel Guppey was wounded and taken prisoner, and thereafter the regiment engaged in the Texas and Red - River expeditions. The last severe engagement was the battle of Sabine Cross Roads, in April, 1864, and the regiment was mustered out of service in July of the following year.
Officers of Company K: Captains-Nathan S. Frost, who died of disease in the hospital at Memphis, December 18, 1862; Ephraim S. Fletcher, resigned July 30, 1863; John Starks, discharged May 20, 1864. First lieutenants-Ephraim S. Fletcher, promoted; A. J. McFarland, died of wounds at Portage, July 4, 1863; Joseph W. Richardson, mus- tered out with regiment, July 4, 1865. Second lieutenants-John B. Malloy, resigned January 28, 1863; Basil Sinout, resigned December 24, 1864. Besides those mentioned, there also died from various causes the following officers of Company K : Sergeants James Hilliard and Orson Patchin and Corporals William Jones, Henry Jacobs and Thomas Hardy.
Officers of Company F: Captains-Charles II. Williams, promoted major August 29, 1862, and resigned February 25, 1863; Jacob A. Schlick, mustered out with regiment July 4, 1865. First lieutenants- Elisha L. Walbridge, died May 21, 1863, while on his way home on leave of absence; Daniel C. Stanley, wounded and taken prisoner at Carrion Crow in 1863, exchanged in 1864, and mustered out with regiment in 1865. Second lieutenants-Daniel C. Whitney, promoted; Robert E. Crandall, taken prison at Sabine Cross Roads in April, 1864; exchanged the following month, and mustered out with his regiment in July, 1865.
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