History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 94

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304

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July .- George C. Smith, the State Agent located at Memphis, has been home on a brief visit, and left Madison on his return to Memphis; he reported a great want of ladies in the hos- pitals of that place, to act as nurses. Upon his representation, several ladies volunteered to return with Mr. Smith to devote themselves to the comfort of sick and wounded soldiers. The names of those who left with Mr. Smith were Miss Fannie Quiner, Miss Emily Quiner, Miss Hannah Chapman, Miss Louisa Richardson, of Madison, and Mrs. Davenport, of Fort Atkin- son. It is a noble work. All his friends were deeply pained to hear of the death of Drum Major Dyke, of the Twenty-ninth regiment, who died at Milliken's Bend, on the 27th of June. He was a noble old patriot, an enthusiastic musician, and loved his country, and died for it. The 4th .- The picnic to the soldiers in camp, gotten up by the Ladies' Aid Society and the Ladies' Union League, went off most admirably. The supply was bountiful, quality excellent, a large attendance, and the soldiers enjoyed it. There never has been witnessed such intense excite- ment among our people, since the war began, as was exhibited July 4, on the receipt of the news of the surrender of Vicksburg. Having been deceived by false reports once or twice, there was a general fear, for some time, that the report might prove unfounded. About 5 o'clock the Gov- ernor received a dispatch from the Secretary of War, stating that Grant was in possession of Vicksburg. This dispelled all doubt, and the air was rent with cheer upon cheer, and the whole populace of Madison seemed crazy with joy. One hundred guns were immediately fired, all the bells were rung, and enthusiasm was manifested by a variety of demonstrations. In the even- ing there was a display of fireworks, and a general jubilee all over the city, till a late hour.

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Vicksburg never surrendered on the 4th of July before, and the people had been waiting for the event so long, that it seemed impossible for them to manifest a sufficient degree of joy. The loss of the enemy was estimated at 10,000 men. A letter, dated July 2, near Gettysburg, says: Col. Fairchild, of the Second Wisconsin, has lost his left arm, and is a prisoner, but that he was doing well and in glorious spirits. Miss Lottie Ilsley, Secretary Ladies' Aid Society, received a check from W. W. Tredway, for $496.98, being one-half of the net proceeds of five bales of cotton donated by Maj. Gen. Grant; the avails to be expended in behalf of the sick and wounded soldiers in the service of the United States. Col. Robbins, of the Eighth Wisconsin, arrived home on a short leave of absence. First Lieut. M. J. Cantwell is among the sick in the officers' hospital at Memphis, arriving there from Vicksburg on the 13th. A hundred guns were fired, under the superintendence of State Armorer McFarland, in honor of the opening of the Mississippi, accomplished by the fall of Port Hudson. Maj. Thomas Reynolds, of the Sixteenth Wisconsin, arrived home on a brief leave of absence. It is the first time he has been away from his regiment since it left the State. He has been through several of the sharpest battles of the war, and distinguished himself for coolness and bravery. Maj. Platt, of the Eleventh, is also in Madison. The gallant Col. Lucius Fairchild is home. An empty sleeve attests his bravery. He is heartily welcomed by his townsmen.

August .- Col. C. L. Harris, of the Eleventh Regiment, arrived in Madison. The regiment under his command has done excellent service ; he has proved himself a brave and accomplished officer. Col. T. S. Allen, of the Fifth Wisconsin, makes his friends glad by a brief visit. Capts. Green, Pitman and Botkin, of the Twenty-third Regiment, all excellent officers and capital fellows generally, are home on a furlough, and are receiving a cordial welcome. A letter, written by Capt. Nat Rollins, of Company H, Second Regiment, at Libby Prison, states that he was taken prisoner after one of the hardest fought battles he had ever seen. Maj. Thomas Reynolds, of the Sixteenth Regiment, left his home for a return to the army. Capt. J. W. Tolford, Lieut. Vilas, S. E. Pierson and others, of the Twenty-third Regiment, returned to their homes in Madison on a short furlough. Capt. Bull, of the Twenty-third Regiment, is also in Madison. The flag of the Seventeenth Regiment (Irish) was returned to the State by Col. Malloy. . It is tattered and torn, and was delivered at the Governor's office by a guard of honor of the soldiers of the Seventeenth, recently furloughed, and elected, as Col. Malloy states in his letter accom- panying the flag, " from the bravest of the regiment." The Governor received it from the hands of the brave boys, with a fit acknowledgment of the gallantry of the adopted citizens who have borne it through the smoke of battle, and always to victory. On the return of Col. McMynn, of the Tenth Regiment, to this State, he brought with him the national colors of the regiment, torn and worn in the service, and forwarded them to the Governor for preservation in the archives of the State. The regiment has done noble service, and well deserves the new colors which will be furnished on behalf of the State, under the laws of last session. The following named gentlemen are in Madison : Adjt. James K. Proudfit, of the Twelfth ; Capt. William C. Young, of the Eighth Regiment; Capt. Stevens, of the Twentieth ; and G. B. Holden. Thomas H. Budlong was killed on the battle-field at Gettysburg; his remains were returned to Sun Prairie, and interred in the cemetery there. Lieut. Jackson, Eleventh Regiment, and Lieut. William T. Monroe, of the Sixteenth, formerly printers in the State Journal office, were promoted each to a captaincy. Maj. John Mansfield, of the Second Regiment, and Capt. W. W. Botkin, of the Twelfth, are in Madison. James K. Proudfit has been commissioned Lieuten- ant Colonel of the Twelfth Regiment, in place of Lieut. Col. Poole, resigned. Dennis O'Keefe, a loyal and brave Irishman who enlisted in the Twenty-third Regiment, is home on a visit to his family.

September .- Lieuts. J. D. Tredway and A. M. Baker, of the Twenty-third, are home on & leave of absence ; both are in excellent spirits, and like the service. Gen. L. Cutler, the veteran warrior, formerly Colonel of the Sixth Regiment, came to Madison. James M. Clark, of Oregon, died in the camp of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry, near Vicksburg, Miss., in the eighteenth year of his age. Corp. E. T. Williams, Twenty-third Regiment, was drowned near

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Natchez, on the 24th of August. The sad news of the death of Capt. Carl Corneliusen, of Company H, Twenty-seventh Wisconsin, was received at Madison ; he died at Memphis. He came to this country from Norway, and settled in Christiana. Capt. Corneliusen was a brave and faithful officer. The following dispatch shows that Mrs. Harvey's mission to Washington, in order to urge the establishment of a hospital in Madison for convalescents, was successful :

To Mrs. Gov. Harvey :

I have ordered the establishment of a hospital at the Farwell House, in Madison, to be called the " Harvey Hospital," in memory of your late lamented husband, the patriotic Governor of Wisconsin, who lost his life while caring for the woundsd soldiers of the State.

(Signed) EDWIN M. STANTON.

October .- Lieut. Col. J. W. Jefferson, of the Eighth, was in Madison. Maj. E. A. Calkins, of the Third Wisconsin Regiment, formerly editor of the Argus, was home. Col. Lucius Fair- child, of the Second Wisconsin, left for his regiment. Lieut. Col. Whittlesey, of the Eleventh, also joins his regiment. First Lieutenant John Starks, of the Twenty-third, was promoted to the captaincy of Company K. The soldiers at Camp Randall publish a letter of thanks to the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society, Madison, for the favors so often received from their hands, and speak also of the kind care they receive from their Surgeon in charge, E. O. Baker. The for- mer residence of ex-Gov. Farwell, in the Third Ward, Madison, has been rented by the United States and converted into. a convalescent hospital, where there are 106 patients quartered, com- prising soldiers from Wisconsin and Iowa, brought here from the hospitals on the Mississippi River. Dr. John Favill has been appointed Assistant Surgeon. Dr. L. J. Dixon, of the Wisconsin First, a brother of Chief Justice Dixon, is a prisoner in Libby Prison. Gen. Fair- child, the Union candidate for Secretary of State, visited the army and delivered his farewell address to his old regiment, the Second Wisconsin Volunteers, when his resignation was accepted.

November .- First Lieut. John M. Sumner was promoted Captain of Company D, Twenty- third Regiment. The draft for Dane County was held the 13th. The new dining-hall at Harvey Hospital was opened for the first time on the 26th, on which occasion the ladies of the city treated the soldiers to a thanksgiving dinner. The long tables were loaded, and the soldiers proved themselves as effective in the use of the knife and fork as with the musket and bayonet. Toasts were proposed and responded to. None were received by the soldiers with such hearty applause as a toast to Mrs. Harvey, through whose persevering efforts the hospital was estab- lished. Dr. Dixon, of the First Wisconsin, and Dr. J. S. Reeve, of the Twenty-first, were released from Libby Prison. The ladies of Madison give a free dinner to the farmers of Dane County, who contribute to the aid of soldiers' families. That the citizens of Madison might share in the work, an admission fee was charged them.

December .- Col. Thomas S. Allen, of the Fifth Wisconsin ; Col. George E. Bryant, Capt. 0. T. Maxon and Capt. Wallace W. Botkin, of the Twelfth Wisconsin, arrived in Madison on recruiting service. Samuel S. Pierce, private in Company I, Twenty-third Regiment, died in the United States Marine Hospital at New Orleans the 8th of October last. The Third Regi- ment arrived in Madison, and are pleasurable anticipating their New Year's visit home.

January, 1864 .- Corporal Edward R. Chipman, of the Second Wisconsin, died at Wash- ington ; he was formerly a student at the State University. The Veteran Fourteenth Wisconsin, Col. Lyman M. Ward, arrived in Madison the 18th.

The glorious old Seventh Wisconsin Regiment, having re-enlisted for the war, has been allowed to return to Wisconsin for the purpose of recruiting and filling up its ranks. Its gallant Colonel, William W. Robinson, has been identified with the regiment from its organization. He was its first Lieutenant Colonel, and succeeded to the command before it had seen any service. He is an excellent officer, and is almost idolized by his men.

After marching through the city, the men received a furlough for thirty days that they might visit their friends in different parts of the State. As the regiment passed through the street it attracted unusual attention and admiration. The flag of the regiment that has been borne to the breeze in all its conflicts, all tattered and torn, was conspicuous on this occasion. It

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brought most vividly to the minds of the people the great perils through which these brave men have passed, and as it was gazed upon it brought many tears to eyes unused to being thus moist- ened. That flag is a sacred reminder of the gallantry of the boys of the Seventh.

While the return of this noble regiment gave much joy to all present, that joy was mixed with sadness at the thought of the many gallant men who left the State with the regiment, that are now missing. Out of a thousand men that left Camp Randall some two and a half years ago, but a little over two hundred returned with the organized regiment. Many more, it is true, live, and have heretofore returned to Wisconsin ; but alas ! the number of those who went out with the regiment in the full vigor of health, and who now sleep the sleep of death, is fearfully large. This thought carries a severe pain to many a heart in Wisconsin. But such is war ! Of those who have returned, nearly every one was among those who first enlisted on the organiza- tion of the regiment.

Camp Randall is under the control of Col. Chapman, but more immediately under the supervision of Capt. McKeffen, a West Point officer, a fine man, and a most excellent soldier. There are some two thousand men in camp-new recruits for almost every Wisconsin regiment in the service.

The weather, since the year 1863 took its departure, has been exceedingly cold. They burn on an average thirty cords of wood per day. An interesting sight was witnessed in the unex- pected marching into Madison of sixteen veterans, commanded by Capt. Sperry, of Company K, of the Second Regiment. A brief but genial time was enjoyed with the veterans, who have so famously sustained the honor of the flag on the bloodiest fields of the war. Capt. Sperry hails from Milwaukee, and left Madison as First Lieutenant in Capt. Stahel's company, which was chiefly raised at Mazomanie, Dane County, in December, 1861. Capt. Derry was promoted to Major of the Third Cavalry. Capt. Derry belongs to Dane County, and left in command of a company for the Third Cavalry, raised by himself and ex-Adjt. Welch. He is a thorough soldier.

February .- Six white mules were brought here by the Fourteenth, and were taken posses- sion of by Quartermaster Van Slyke, and are doing good service in the transportation depart- ment. Fifty veterans of Company G, Second Cavalry, being Capt. Dale, two officers and forty- seven men, were received at the Depot Hotel the 25th, by Col. Firmin, the Governor's private. secretary, and Gen. Lund. These gallant veterans are now in barracks, preparatory to being furloughed, and long to get to the smiles and arms that yearn to greet them.

March 1 .- Col. Harrison C. Hobart, of the Twenty-first Wisconsin, recently escaped from Libby Prison, arrived in Madison. He is considerably weather-beaten, and says he was never so glad to see Wisconsin before. The gallant veterans of the Sixteenth Regiment arrived the 16th, and were received by Gov. Lewis and other State officers and citizens. After a good supper they marched to Camp Randall; the next day they marched up town. During their march the city bells were rung, and Gunner McFarland gave one of his loudest salutes. As they marched through the streets with soldierly tread and bearing, with their battle flags in their midst, they were followed with eager eyes, and many a patriotic bosom heaved with grateful pride as the war-scarred veterans, numbering between 200 and 300, passed. The Seventeenth, Col. A. G. Malloy, arrived the 18th in Madison, and were welcomed by all. They have nobly sustained themselves as men and soldiers, and made a fame which, first recognized in the army in which they served, has echoed throughout the State that knew them as the Irish Brigade, and was proud to own them as such. Capt. W. B. Slaughter has arrived from Vicks- burg, where he has been performing duty as Commissary of Subsistance.

April .- The Eleventh Wisconsin Regiment took an active part in the operations in front of Blakely, Ala., and received from the commanding officer, in his report of the engagement, the high- est praise for the zeal, energy and faithfulness of both officers and men, and for the gallantry dis- played in that memorable charge on the enemy's works on the 9th. Particular mention is made of First Lieut. Angus R. McDonald, who commanded Company E, for his gallant and heroic conduct, who, on mounting the parapet of the enemy's works, was attacked by six men. He knocked

CANacelwand M.D.

SUN PRAIRIE.

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down two men with his sabre, and in return received a bayonet wound in the right lung and a musket ball in the right thigh. Sergt. D. B. Moore, of Company E, whose timely aid saved the life of Lieut. McDonald, shot one, bayoneted another, and when his own gun was shattered seized another, and compelled the remainder of the party to surrender. Mr. Lewis Isbell, general recruiting agent for the Twenty-ninth U. S. Colored Regiment, Col. Bross, arrived in Madison the 2d, and has obtained permission of the Governor to raise recruits in Wisconsin. Col. Bross is a brother of " Deacon " Bross, of the Chicago Tribune, and of Mr. Charles E. Bross, the telegraphic operator in Madison. The Thirteenth, two companies, A and K, of the Second Cavalry, veterans, under command of Capt. William Woods, of Co. A, arrived in Madison. Capt. Woods, in reply to the welcoming remarks of Lieut. Gov. Spooner, said that he and his men had not merely enlisted for three years, but until the rebellion was completely suppressed ; and that their exertions and lives should be spent in the field, until a bright and healing peace expanded over a restored country. Thirty-one veterans of the Twelfth Battery, commanded by Lieut. Jones, arrived in Madison. Thirty-two veterans of the Sixth Battery also arrived, under command of Lieut. Jenawine. According to orders, the tried veterans of the Twelfth Regiment, Col. Bryant, left for the front to-day (30th). They were presented with two very elegant flags, United States and State, to replace the banners worn out in the service.

May .- Four companies of the Thirty-eighth left for Annapolis, under lead of Lieut. Col. Pier. Veterans of the dashing First Cavalry also arrived, under command of Capt. N. Jones, of Co. M. The Thirty-sixth left for the wars the 10th of this month. Among the hundred-day volunteers from Madison, is John Gibbons, a gray-haired man of about sixty, and an Irishman by birth. He says his five sons are at the front, and if they need help it shall not be said their father hesitated. The call for hundred-day men has pretty much emptied the State University ; a large number of students had previously enlisted in the three years' service. From thirty to forty more are now going as one hundred-day men, taking all but one of the senior class, and leaving only three in the regular university classes. Prof. C. H. Allen, of the Normal School Department, will command the company. Quite a number of young men from Madison have volunteered in this company, so that it numbers about sixty. Among the volunteers is Prof. A. J. Craig, the Assistant State Superintendent of Schools. Young Bradley, son of Mr. Bradley, of the State Treasurer's office, who went as a private in the Twenty-third Regiment, has been pro- moted to a captaincy of a colored regiment.

June .- F. A. Haskell, Colonel of the Thirty-sixth Regiment, at the battle of Cold Harbor, Va., on the 3d, was struck by a rebel bullet in the head, and was instantly killed. His loss was deeply felt by the men under his command, and a host of friends in Wisconsin. With the Iron Brigade he had faced the fire at Gainesville, Antietam, Gettysburg and other battles in which the brigade participated. Lieut. Col. West, of the Twenty-fourth, arrived in Madison. He is suffering from a severe wound in the recent battle of Buzzard's Roost. Lieut. B. F. Cram, of the Fifth Regiment, was wounded in the battle of Cold Harbor. B. D. Atwell, of the Thirty- sixth, and Lieut. Skinner, of Co. I, Thirty-sixth, were also wounded in recent battles. The Fortieth Wisconsin Regiment left on the 14th, in good spirits, for Dixie. The Second Wisconsin Regiment has returned, after three years' absence from Wisconsin. It was the first regiment mustered into the three years' service from the State. Originally raised as three months' men, it soon after changed its term of service to " three years or the war."

July .- The Fourth was appropriately celebrated by the Veteran Reserve Corps at Camp Randall. Capt. Balcom and eighty-four veterans of the Third Regiment arrived; notwithstand- ing the privations they have evidently endured, they are full of the pluck and spirit that only leave the freeman's heart and cease to animate his frame with life. On the evening of the 24th, a musical entertainment was given in the Theater Hall, in Madison, to the soldiers of the Fifth and Sixth Regiments, who have just returned from the field of battle, their term of service having expired. The Euterpean Club, the Madison Brass Band and several ladies took part in the musical performances. The care-worn soldiers were highly pleased with this effort to do them honor. The beautiful and touching manner in which Miss Anna Main sung " Home,

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Sweet Home," must have found a warm response in the hearts of these noble heroes who are just returning to their homes after an absence of three years in their country's service. James F. Spencer is promoted to the adjutantcy of the Eleventh Regiment. Some sixty veterans of the Fourth Regiment under Adjt. Chittenden returned. Capt. Wheeler, of Middleton, leaves for Nashville to perform his duties as Commissary of Subsistence. Dr. A. J. Ward, who served so long and faithfully with the old Iron Second, is welcomed back.

August .- Col. John H. Burnham, of the Sixteenth Connecticut, was among the prisoners released and exchanged. Mr. Burnham was formerly a resident of Madison. Cassius, a son of Dr. A. H. Davis, of Madison, died from effects of exposures and injuries received at Kenesaw Mountain, Ga. The veteran Nineteenth, Col. Horace T. Sanders, arrived in Madison the 22d. In all positions in which they have been placed they have done honor to themselves and Wisconsin. Two sons of Elias Ingleby, of Middleton, both belonging to Company G, of the First United States Sharpshooters, were killed ; one, Israel, was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness. The other, Levi, was wounded at Deep Bottom, Va.

September .- On the arrival of the returning hundred-day men of the Fortieth Regiment, they were welcomed by the citizens of Madison. The Forty-second Regiment, Col. Sprague, left for Memphis. Lieut. Col. Paine, of the Forty-third, was in Madison. The " blue " becomes him well.

October .- The old colors of the Nineteenth were left in charge of the Governor. May the memory of the brave men who rallied around these dear old flags, many of whom sleep where " no sound shall awake them to glory again," be ever fresh in the hearts of a noble and gener- ous people. John Beath, of Dane County, member of the Legislature of 1860, has shouldered the musket in the Forty-third. Col. J. W. Jefferson, of the Eighth, Capt. Henry Dillon, of the Sixth Battery, Capt. N. P. Bird, of the Seventh Regiment, and Col. La Grange, of the First Cavalry, are in Madison. The First Battery, under Capt. J. T. Foster, arrived in Madi- son on the Eleventh. Capt. Henry Turner, of Company D, Twenty-first Regiment, is home. Maj. Lu H. Drury is also visiting his old friends.

November .- J. S. Webster, of Berdan's Sharpshooters, has returned safe and hearty. "Barney," the favorite horse of the late lamented Brig. Gen. Ransom, and which has borne his heroic rider through much hard service and many hard-fought battles, arrived in Madison with his trappings and accouterments, having been presented by the General's mother to his late Aid- de-Camp, Lieut. J. D. Tredway. Dr. A. J. Ward has been appointed Surgeon of the Forty- third Regiment. John Reiner, of Madison, of Company A, Thirty-seventh Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, died on the 14th, of wounds received in battle. Silas S. Bush, of Sun Prairie, died of disease contracted in the service; he was a volunteer in the Tenth Regiment.

December .- Between $400 and $500 were realized for soldiers' families from the ball given by the Soldiers' Aid Society in Madison. Roderick J. Park, of Verona, of Company I, Twenty- third Regiment, died November 25. David M. Kanouse, of the Thirty-sixth Wisconsin, a son of Rev. J. G. Kanouse, of Cottage Grove, who was captured in June last, and has been spending several months at Andersonville, Ga., was recently paroled. He fully confirms the previous accounts of the barbarous treatment which Union prisoners there have received. Capt. John Sumner, of the Twenty-third, is home for a fortnight, on his first leave of absence since his regiment left the State.

1865, January .- Capt. Eri S. Oakley, of the Eleventh, died in Madison the 30th.

February .- Capt. W. J. Colburn, Assistant Quartermaster, is home on a short leave of absence from Chattanooga. Company F, of the Forty-fifth Regiment, mostly German, left for the seat of war. Martin Brazee, of Company F, Thirty-sixth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, died while confined as a prisoner in Salisbury, N. C. The Forty-seventh, Col. George C. Ginty, with about 850 men, left for Nashville.

March .- William R. Inman, of the Eleventh, who was home on a sixty days' sick furlough, died on the 9th. Mr. Warren W. Nye, a member of the Eleventh Regiment of the Wisconsin Volunteers, died in New Orleans, in Barracks Hospital, March 29.

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April .- The way the news was received in Madison of the fall of Richmond-" Glory hallelujah ! Richmond is ours! President gone to the front; 20,000 prisoners taken !" Such was the glad tidings heralded abroad to make glad the loyal hearts of Dane County. The news of Lee's surrender was received in Madison the evening of the 9th. A national salute was fired, the bells of the city rung, the crowd, when not hearing dispatches, sung " Star-Spangled Banner," "Johnny Comes Marching Home," "Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow." The proceedings were protracted till between 1 and 2 o'clock in the morning. Abraham Lincoln assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth, at Ford's Theater, the 14th, at 9.30 P. M. The shock to the people of the country, as the news flashed over the wires, was terrible. On the Sunday following, the churches in Madison, and most of those in the county, were draped in mourning, indicative of the profound sorrow of the people.

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History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 94

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1304

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304