History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 92

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044

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In December, the Seventh formed a part of Burnside's forces in the famous attack upon Fredericksburg, but aside from light skirmishes, had no encounter with the enemy. For four days, however, they were exposed to a heavy artillery fire, more trying to the morale and stead- iness of troops than the hottest engagement. During this winter Capt. Callis, who upon the resignation of Maj. Bill, had been promoted as Major of the Seventh, was made Lieutenant Colonel, vice Hamilton resigned, Capt. Finnicum being advanced to the position of Major. . The Seventh took an active part in Hooker's campaign, and at Fitzhugh Crossing maintained their former high reputation. Col. W. W. Robinson reported as follows to Gov. Salomen, the report bearing date of May 12: " Lieut. Col. John B. Callis and Maj. Finnicum rendered efficient assistance in crossing the river and storming the enemy's works ; their coolness, promptness and efficiency, during the seven days under fire, show them to be officers to be depended on in any position." As with officers so it was with men. Company C lost Second Lieut. W. O. Top- ping, killed ; Company F, Private William Ross, killed, and Private William Hayden, wounded.

The division remained intrenched in this position until the 2d of May, and then recrossed the river. This was done in daylight under the guns of the enemy, the Iron Brigade bring- ing up the rear, the Seventh, as usual, in the post of honor, five companies of that regiment being left to support the pickets, in retiring. In June the Seventh took part in a reconnois- sance toward Culpeper Court House. They then crossed to the north side of the Rappahan- nock, and rejoined the brigade which was then on its way, in conjunction with the rest of the army, to intercept Gen. Lee, on that great raid which came so near proving fatal to the Union cause. They met him, as is well known, at the little village of Gettysburg, where was fought July 1-3 what was undoubtedly the pivotal battle of the war. The troops on this march suf- fered much from dusty roads and hot weather, but all discomforts were forgotten when they ar- rived in the vicinity of the enemy.

Gen. Reynolds' corps was ordered to move to Gettysburg on the 1st of July, Wadworth's division being in advance. Buford's cavalry was already engaged with the enemy, opposing their advance. The " Iron Brigade " led the advance of Wadsworth's division, and, entering a field a short distance to the left of Gettysburg Seminary, they advanced up the slope, the Sec- ond and Seventh in the lead. Arriving on the brow of the hill, they were confronted by a strong force of the enemy. The Seventh was with unloaded guns. The order to charge was given, and away they went, depending upon cold steel. Their rushing charge was irresistible. Backward they drove the rebels across the Run, and into their works, where they captured the greater portion of Archer's brigade. The remainder, in attempting to regain their own forces in the rear, were surrounded in a railroad cut, and captured by the Sixth Wisconsin. The Seventh, with the remainder of the brigade, fell back, soon after, across Marsh Creek. Early in the afternoon, they were attacked by the enemy in force, and after stubbornly continuing the

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fight until the enemy was lapping well around their flanks, they were forced to retire, leaving a number of their comrades and officers, among them Lieut. Col. Callis, on the field. They re- tired to Cemetery Hill, and took position near the top of the hill, where they threw up breast- works. In the battles of the 2d and 3d, the Seventh was supporting a battery where they were exposed to a heavy artillery fire, but did not become engaged with the enemy's infantry.

The casualties in this battle were as follows : Lieut. Col. Callis, wounded severely. Killed or died of wounds : Company C, Sergeant, George W. Lean ; Private, William Hull. Wounded: Corporal, William Beazly ; Privates, Isaac McCallister, Lewis Winans, J. W. Enloe, August Erb, J. C. Bolds, James Armstrong. Company F, killed or died of wounds : Privates, Phil- lip Bennett and T. H. V. Darnell. Wounded : Second Lieutenant, A. A. Kidd; Corporals, William R. Ray, John S. Schloesser, John Blackbourn and John Bronson ; Privates, Thomas Garvey, Isaac Rayner, Danford Rector and J. N. Carrier. Company H, killed or died of wounds : Privates, John J. Mitchner and John M. Steers. Wounded: Privates, Nicholas Heber, William A. Clark, Joseph J. Clark, John McLimans, John Schutsz and William Tulke. Among those taken prisoners were Capt. Nat. Robbins of Company H, who was kept a prisoner nearly to the close of the war. The regiment numbered 302 when it went into action, and caine out with 137. After the battle, the regiment started with the brigade in pursuit of the enemy. and passed on through Warrenton to Rappahannock Station, reaching Pony Mountain on Sep- tember 17, where the brigade was presented with a very beautiful flag on this the anniversary day of Antietam. In the subsequent retrograde movement of Gen. Meade, the Seventh lost thirty men, taken prisoners. During the balance of the year, but little was accomplished. In Decem- ber, 211 of the Seventh having re-enlisted as veterans, the regiment was constituted a veteran regiment, and the men granted the usual furlough.

At the opening of the campaign in May, 1864, the "Iron Brigade " broke camp on the 4th of that month and reached the Old Wilderness Tavern at dusk, encountering the enemy further on, in position. And the command was ordered to advance through a heavy growth of pine and underbrush, and, after a transient success, were forced back by the superior number of the enemy. The density of the woods occasioned great difficulty in getting out, and the Wis- consin regiments, especially, suffered heavily. In this first attack upon the enemy's line, the colors of the Forty-eighth Virginia were captured by Corporal George A. Smith, of Company H, Seventh Regiment. The battle was resumed at daybreak on the succeeding day. In the grand charge which occurred at the beginning of this day's fight, the Seventh had the honor of being the only regiment that succeeded in holding, for a short time, the enemy's first line of breastworks. In the last assault upon the enemy's position, such losses occurred as to place Col. Robinson of the Seventh in command of the brigade and Lieut. Col. Finnicum in command of the regiment.

On the 9th, a body of sharpshooters, which had established themselves within a short dis- tance of the Union breastworks, were driven out by a company of the Seventh. In the fighting on the 12th, the Seventh was the first regiment to relieve Hancock's Corps, then holding the first line of the enemy's intrenchments, they themselves soon after being relieved by a Michigan regiment. In the remaining battles of the Wilderness, the Seventh bore a prominent part.

The casualties for this campaign were : Company C-Killed or died of wounds, Capt. Jef- ferson Newman, Sergt. George Mitchell, Privates James Armstrong, William Carpenter, S. D. Hurst, Ezekiel Parker and David H. Bryant; wounded, Second Lieut. J. H. Holcomb, Sergt. H. Rewey, Corp. J. J. Stout, Privates D. Augustine, C. G. Bell, J. C. Bold, Fred Miller, John W. Robinson, Irvin C. Smelker, W. T. Tallada, Jacob Rice. W. J. Wynand, W. J. Wood and Will- iam Eustis. Company F-Killed or died of wounds, Privates Peter Francis, Henry S. Sprague and George Cormick ; wounded, Capt. H. F. Young, First Lieut. William E. Sloat, Lieut A. A. Kidd, Corps. W. R. Ray, J. C. Reamer and N. Bradbury, Privates George Atkinson, J. C. Bradley, Andrew Bishop, C. B. Bishop, Bruce Brian, Harvey Bonham, Thomas Blunt, Web- ster Cook, .C. F. Chipman, James Endicott, James Evans, John Folk, Perry Gilbert, B. F. Hayden, A. M. Hutchinson, Theodore Kinney, M. McHugh, J. Rice, H. Rupke, J. S. Taylor,

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L. Taylor, A. C. Morse, A. Conhor, Thomas Riley, C. Alexander and Richard Fourra. Com- pany H-Killed or died of wounds, Corps. Timothy Kelleher, Robert J. Cutts, Edward Carver and George A Smith, Privates James Andrews, S. Hitchcock, Hiram Kerney, Fred Murden, John Wright, Thomas Adams and James Fulks; wounded, Privates Curtis Chandler, John Bowden, F. M. Dillon, Chauncey Hitchcock, John Shultis, Mark Smith, John R. Arms, James Bishop and John McCubbin.

Lieut. Col. Finnicum was also wounded at the Wilderness.

On the 12th of June, the "Iron Brigade" crossed the Chickahominy and proceeded to the vicinity of Petersburg. On the 18th, they moved against the enemy's fortifications on the west side of the Norfolk & Petersburg Railroad, the Seventh on the right of the brigade. In the afternoon, they advanced against the works of the enemy, under a galling fire. Owing to the hesitancy of the line on their left, the Seventh were obliged to come to a halt within a hundred yards of the enemy's works. In the meanwhile, the regiment was without connecting line on its left, that line having found shelter in a ravine. The ground was held under these disadvan- tages for an hour and a half, during which they suffered badly from the enemy's fire. The only shelter they received was from a slight slope of the ground in front of them. The Union bat- teries were firing over the heads of the Seventh, in order to prevent the enemy from leaving his works, and, in consequence of the lowness of the object aimed at, many shells fell in close prox- imity to the regiment. With the aid of a few shovels, aided by plates and bayonets, the men endeavored to throw up a line of breastworks. Maj. Richardson ran the gantlet of fire and reported the condition of the regiment at headquarters, but his application for succor was with- out success-relief could only be afforded by a general assault. Before the impromptu works were finished, the enemy advanced to within seventy-five yards of their left flank, and, at the same time, a heavy skirmish line marched by the right flank from the rear of the rebel line on the left of the regiment and directly in their rear, being covered by a hill. Part of the Seventh opened fire on the left and part faced to the rear and delivered their fire on the rebel skirmish line. Thus fighting, so long as a chance remained of holding the ground, the Seventh was finally compelled to fall back to the right and rear through a terrible fire, and in the end occupy nearly the same position from which they had started in the morning. Lieut. Col. Finnicum commanding the regiment, spoke in highly complimentary terms of Maj. Richardson and the officers of the line, and paid a well-merited tribute to the dogged bravery of the whole regiment.

The loss from this seemingly mistaken move was as follows: Company C-Killed or died of wounds, Privates George Will and William Howard ; wounded, Sergt. W. Beasley, Privates James Hedges, John Cavenaugh and R. M. Nixon. Company F-Killed or died of wounds, Sergt. C. G. Parker, Corporal John D. Runnion, Privates Martin Calvert and William B. Pauley ; wounded, Privates F. A. Boynton, George Eustice, Thomas Blunt, Henry P. Green, A. C. Morse, J. R. Miles, Joseph Storehouse and Orrin Weymouth. Company F-Killed or died of wounds, Second Lieut. Thomas Tanner, Corporal George Page, Private James Bishop ; wounded, First Lieut. Charles Fulks, Privates James Chapman, Livingston Wagers and Silas Streeter.

On the 3d of August, Lieut. Col. Finnicum was promoted as Colonel, and Maj. Richardson as Lieutenant Colonel of the Seventh.

The regiment remained in the front line on the left of Petersburg until August 18, and then mached to the Yellow House. Here, in an attack upon the Union forces by Gen. Mahone, the Seventh occupied the right of the skirmish line. The enemy succeeded in breaking the line to the left of the Seventh, and, in the fight that ensued, the regiment captured twenty-six pris- oners, being fortunate enough not to lose a single man. The Seventh rejoined the brigade on the 20th on the west side of the railroad, where breastworks were thrown up. Here they were attacked the next day by the enemy, but the onslaught was gallantly repulsed, the Seventh capturing the colors of the Sixteenth Mississippi in the melee. During the remainder of the fall and early winter, the Seventh was engaged in routine siege duties. On the 29th of Decem- ber, Lieut. Col. Richardson was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment. February 6, the

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brigade took part in the engagement at Dabney's Mill, where the Seventh fought with their usual valor. The losses in these fights were as follows : Company C-Killed or died of wounds, Private Alvah E. Daggett ; wounded, Private W. R. Glenn. Company F-Wounded, Corporal George Atkinson. Company H-Killed or died of wounds, Private John Wanyack ; wounded, First Lieut. S. C. Alexander, Privates Thomas Howard and E. L. Riley.

In the middle of February, the brigade was ordered to Baltimore, but this order, so far as it related to the Sixth and Seventh Wisconsin Regiments, was afterward countermanded, and they were re-organized as the " First Provisional Brigade," under command of Col. Kellogg, of the Sixth.

On the 29th of March, the Seventh took part in the action near Boydstown Plank Road, where they ably sustained their former reputation.

On the 1st of April the regiment participated in the battle of Five Forks. Quiner, speak- ing of this encounter, thus notices the action of the Seventh on that day: "In the afternoon the Seventh Regiment occupied the advanced line on the left of the brigade with the Sixth Wis- consin on the right. Companies B and E of the Seventh, were deployed as skirmishers, cover- ing the brigade front. Advancing in line of battle the enemy's advance was driven through the woods back upon their intrenchments at Five Forks. Gen. Sheridan ordered Col. Richardson to move over the enemy's works, which the gallant Colonel obeyed, wheeling to the right and charging the enemy through the open field, driving them through the woods, following their retreating columns, and again charging them through a second open field. Night coming on, the brigade fell back two miles and went into position behind the breastworks captured from the enemy. On the second, the brigade continued the advance, and found the enemy intrenched further on. The Seventh was deployed as skirmishers and ordered to cover the whole line of battle. The enemy retreating again, the pursuit was resumed, marching by day and night, working to throw up breastworks until the 9th of April, when the Seventh had the pleasure and prond satisfaction of being in "at the death," and assisting in the capture of Gen. Lee's army at Appommattox Court House. Col. Kellogg, in his report, after complimenting regimental and line officers of the Seventh and Sixth, made special mention of the following members of the Seventh for marked valor and daring courage: Color Sergt. George W. Davis, of Company C, for gallant conduct in carrying the regimental standard into the thickest of the fight, noth- ing daunted by the iron hail or glittering steel; also, Sergt. Maj. Booth; Sergt. John Harrison, of Company E; Sergt. Hugh Evans, of Company G; Sergt. Albert O'Conner, of Company A, and Sergt. William H. Sickle, Company B. In this campaign the following losses were reported :

Company C-Killed or died of wounds: Private, John Larnek. Wounded: Corporal, John W. Robinson ; Privates, Nehemiah Leech and Arch Van Allen. Company F-Killed or died of wounds: Sergeant, Isaac Ream; Corporal, Thomas Blunt; Privates, Frank Geneva and Joseph Wilkinson. Wounded: Lieutenant, Jesse M. Roberts ; Sergeant, Nathan Brad- bury; Corporal, Thomas W. Reilley ; Private, Simon Heinrich. Company H-Killed or died of wounds: Private, Jacob Johnson; wounded, Corporals, William Costley and Lewis H. Thomas; Privates, Edwin Angelo, John R. Ames, Charles Sawyer and D. A. McLinn.

After Gen. Lee's surrender, the Seventh went into camp at Black and White's Station, where they remained until ordered to Washington to participate in the grand review of May 23, and remained there until the 17th of June, when they were ordered to Louisville, Ky. Here the Seventh was assigned to the First Brigade of Gen. Morrow's "Provisional Division," remaining until July 2, when they were mustered out and started for home, arriving at Madi- son on the 5th of the same month, where they were received by the State authorities, paid off and the regiment formally disbanded, closing the eventful history of what was, undoubtedly, one of the finest regiments in the service. By way of postscript, it might be added that Col. Rich- ardson, for gallant and meritorious services in the final operations around Petersburg, and espe- cially at Five Forks, was brevetted Brigadier General. Lieut. Col. Callis, after recovering in a measure, from his wound, and though still carrying rebel lead in his lungs, returned to the front

Asfarquharson

LANCASTER.

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

and was appointed Colonel of the Seventh Veteran Reserves, and Superintendent of the War Department, where he served with distinction and honor. He was brevetted Brigadier General for distinguished and meritorious services March 13, 1865. He was afterward in command of the Northern District of Alabama, and was from there elected to serve as Representative from that district in the Fortieth Congress, where the General had the honor of introducing the first " Ku Klux bill," designed to protect the suffering freedmen from the tender mercies of these midnight marauders and assassins.

Tenth Regiment .- The Tenth was organized at Camp Holton, Milwaukee, and mustered into the service of the United States October 14, 1861. The companies from Grant County in this regiment were Company F, Capt. Palmer, raised in the southern part of the county, and Company I, Capt. Overton, raised at Platteville. The officers of the former company were Capt. William H. Palmer, First Lieutenant; Edward D. Lowry, Second Lieutenant; Armisted C. Brown. Of the latter: Captain, C. T. Overton; First Lieutenant, Harvey H. Fairchild ; Second Lieutenant, John Small.

The regiment was sent first to Kentucky after leaving the State. They were here engaged in guarding railroads for a short time, when they were assigned to Col. Sill's Brigade, Third Division. The tenth formed part of the column that moved north to Murfreesboro.

On the 5th of April, the regiment resumed its march as far as Huntsville, where they remained engaged as railroad guard until the retrograde movement, caused by Bragg's invasion of Kentucky, was commenced, when the Tenth acted as rear-guard. The casualties in this cam- paign are reported as follows: Company I-killed, Privates, Thomas Denlan, G. W. Hancock and Henry Reed. Company F-Private, Thomas Helgus, died of wounds. Company I-Pri- vate, Richard White, August 23.

The Tenth was soon after transferred to Col. Harris' brigade in Gen. Rosseau's division, and there took part in the battle of Chaplin Hills. Here they signalized themselves by their bravery in defending Simmons' battery, holding their ground against the enemy until supported by the Thirty-eighth Indiana. Their ammunition was exhausted, and the cartridge-boxes of the wounded and dead used, and for a half-hour previous to the coming of their support this stubborn band of heroes held their position with bull-dog pertinacity without a cartridge. Forty-one bul- lets passed through the regimental colors, and two through the staff, and it was the Sixth Color Corporal that finally bore them in triumph off the field. The list of killed and wounded was as follows : Company F-Killed or died of wounds, Corporals, Philip L. Glover and Abner M. Dodge; Privates, David E. Lumpkins, Mark C. Bowen, William P. Eagers, Marcus L. Gleason, Frank M. Shoemaker and Robert Jarrett. Company F-Wounded, Sergt. James Killgore ; Privates, Benjamin Bass, John Singer, Daniel Boyle, J. D. Costello, J. M. T. Lathain, D. B. Robinson, William Pierce and B. B. Taft. After taking part in Rosseau's advance near Mur- freesboro, where private R. F. Crosby, of Company F, was wounded, the regiment went into camp where it remained until June. In the re-organization of the army the Tenth was included in the First Brigade of the First Division, Fourteenth Corps, under Gen. Thomas. Under this leader, the regiment participated in the battle of Chickamauga. On the second day's fight, after numerous vicissitudes, the Tenth found themselves late in the afternoon compelled to fall back with the rest of the brigade. No rallying-point being obtainable, the Tenth Regiment made for a point where they supposed they would find the Union forces in position, but, contrary to expec- tation, ran upon the rebel line. Here they were quickly surrounded, and the entire regiment, or what remained of it, with the exception of Company G, which was guarding a supply-train, con- sisting of twelve officers and one hundred and eleven men, fell into the hands of the enemy. On the morning of the 21st, the regiment numbered three officers and twenty-six men, but, although obliged to surrender, the regiment had nobly sustained its reputation for bravery. The casualties reported were : Company F-Killed and died of wounds, Lieut. Robert Rennie, Sergt. P. H. Northey; Private Thomas M. Jewell. Company F-Wounded, Corporal S. Harklerood; Privates, A. S. Tarcott, E. M. Donell, J. E. Strong, J. J. Crosby and B. P. Taft. Company F-Made prisoners, Sergt. Bratnober ; Corporals P. Cahill and A. Gattwells ; Privates H. Schlosser, J.

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J. Shoemaker, W. Pierce, E. B. Tyler and R. Langstaff. Company I, Capt. Perry, Lieuts. Fairchild and Butler ; Sergts. W. Felson, M. Colligan, W. M. Bush and D. T. Parish ; Cor- porals B. Bower, T. Curtis and C. Fish ; Privates J. H. Trevis, H. H. Winter, R. W. Ran- dall, W. Richards, D. Eastman, J. Wall, William Reines, H. Talbott, H. Shrigley and F. Grosch.

The remnant of the regiment remained in camp at Chattanooga employed in guard and other duties, where it remained during the winter, with the exceptions of taking part in the assault on Mission Ridge, and a feint on Dalton, Ga. Eighty-five recruits joined the regiment in 1864, which, with Company G, and the few remaining after Chickamauga, made a small command that participated in the stirring events of that section until October 16, when the recruits and veterans were united with the Twenty-first by order of the War Department, the remainder starting north- ward and arriving at Milwaukee on the 25th of the same month, where they were mustered out of the service.

Those who were taken prisoners at Chickamauga remained in rebel prisons for thirteen months, many of them falling victims to the atrocities of the prison-pens at Salisbury, Millen and Andersonville.

Twenty-fifth .- This regiment was organized in September, 1862, under the call of July 1 for 300,000 additional troops. The companies assigned to this regiment rendezvoused at Camp Salomon, La Crosse, and were mustered into the United States service on the 14th of the fol- lowing month. In this regiment were the following companies from Grant County : C, E, H and I. Of these, Company C, Capt. Farquharson, was organized at Lancaster; Company E, Capt. Scott, was organized about Platteville; Company H, Capt. Swan, at Potosi; and Com- pany I, Capt. Nash, in the vicinity of Sinsinawa Mound. The company commissioned officers were : Company C-Captain, H. D. Farquharson ; First Lieutenant, L. S. Mason ; Second Lieutenant, Thomas Barnett. Company E-Captain, John G. Scott ; First Lieutenant, John W. Smelker ; Second Lieutenant, John M. Shaw. Company H-Captain, Ziba S. Swan ; First Lieutenant, Charles F. Olmstead ; Second Lieutenant, Henry C. Wise. Company I- Captain, Robert Nash ; First Lieutenant, Daniel N. Smalley; Second Lieutenant, John F. Richards.

On the 19th of October, the regiment left the State for St. Paul, to assist in quelling the Indian insurrection. Capt. Nasmith, formerly of Company C, of the Seventh, had received the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel of the Twenty-fifth.

Arriving at St. Paul, part of the regiment under Lieut. Col. Nasmith was sent to Sauk Cen- ter and places in that vicinity, while the remainder, under command of Col. Montgomery, was sent to New Ulm and that section of the State. Here they remained, with no incidents of a striking nature, until the latter part of November, when they received orders to return to Winona, and thence to La Crosse and Camp Randall. In February, 1863, the Twenty-fifth left the State for the South, reporting first at Cairo, and from there moving to Columbus, Ky. Here it was attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps, under Gen. Hurlburt. In April, the regi- ment was sent to resist Marmaduke's attack on Cape Girardeau, but their aid was not needed, and they returned to Columbus and their regular routine of picket duty. In the latter part of May, the Twenty-fifth proceeded down the Mississippi to Young's Point, and thence up the Yazoo River to Satartia, where they went into camp and were assigned to a brigade which was placed under the command of Col. Montgomery, in Kimball's Provisional Division. June 16, the Twenty-fifth left this position and proceeded to Snyder's Bluff, where they formed part of the force surrounding Vicksburg. Here they remained, with occasional change in the shape of short but futile expeditions against the enemy, until the 25th of July. The position occupied by the regiment was extremely unhealthy, and the sick list showed a footing of 500 men at one time, and very few of what were left were fit for duty.

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History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 92

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1044

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044