USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895 > Part 24
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Black, C. T. Bradley, A. Burnham, T. P. Colling- bourne, Jos. T. Bradford, Harrison Ludington, Chas. Weicks, N. J. Emmons, Edward O'Neil, J. J. Tallmadge, James K. Proudfit, J. C. Spooner, W. E. Smith, A. C. Bentley, H. C. Bentley, G. Johnston, G. R. Williams, Blair & Persons, G. G. Green, H. L. Palmer, Mark Tyson, Chas. M. Hoyt, L. J. McCracken, Lansing Bonnell, H. C. Brad- ley, H. N. Hempsted, F. Herbst & Co., C. Shep- ard, L. Newbour & Sons, M. I. & Chas. J. Ilsley, J. L. Burnham, O. Pritchard, Fred B. Miles, H. M. Kellogg, James Layton, Thomas Weeks, James A. Mallory, Gen. McNamara, L. E. Bacon, Lucius Fairchild, J. L. Bush and Clarence Shep- ard. Among these honorary members are names that have long been familiar to the people of Wis- consin ; men who have served in both branches of Congress, those who have been governors of the state, men who have won high rank in the profes- sions. The Light Guard continued to attract wide-spread attention on account of its parades, anniversary exercises, banquets, balls, etc. Few military companies in the West, or elsewhere in this country, have attracted so much attention, caused so much comment, been so highly praised, as the Milwaukee Light Guard. Those still surviving, who were members of that famous military organization, speak of their membership with genuine pride. When Captain. Good win resigned in December, 1869, General John C. Starkweather was elected as his successor, and served until the election of Captain George R. Wright, who also had been a soldier in the war. The lieutenants under Captain Wright were R. G. Trumble and F. W. Cutler. Wright was elected captain year after year, and being a thorough military man kept up the good reputation of the company. He resigned in May, 1873, and was succeeded by J. M. Arnold, who had resided in Milwaukee from his boyhood, when the place had a population of only one thousand five hundred in- habitants. He had served with credit in the Twen- ty-fourth Wisconsin, closing his term as major of the Third Tennessee cavalry. He made the com- pany a very popular commander. He resigned March 10, 1875. His successor was Captain William Bloodgood, and his successor Captain Joseph P. Rundle, now a prominent Milwaukee business man, who was a private in the company before the war.
At the election in 1870 of the regiment com- posed of Milwaukee companies the following
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
officers were chosen: Colonel, John C. Stark- weather : lieutenant-colonel, Fred C. Winkler; major, George H. Walthers. These three field officers had commanded Wisconsin regiments in the war, and Starkweather and Winkler returned from the war with the rank of brigadier-general. The adjutant was Patrick H. McCauley, who had been major of the Seventeenth Wisconsin. The regiment consisted of the following companies : The Cream City Guard, Milwaukee Light Guard, Sheridan Guard, Milwaukee Zouaves, Merchant Zouaves, Milwaukee Cadets, Milwaukee Light Artillery. Colonel Starkweather resigned, a few months later, and Lieutanent-Colonel Fred C. Winkler was promoted. Walthers was made lieutenant-colonel and Adjutant McCauley, major, while Robert J. Trumble was commissioned adjutant. The regiment took high rank, for those days, while commanded by Colonel Winkler. The second annual reunion of the
regiment was held at Madison. At this
reunion letters were read from President Grant, Vice-President Schuyler Colfax, General James A. Garfield, Alexander Mitchell, and others. The address of the evening was made by ex-Governor Lucius Fairchild. Governor Washburn responded to the toast, "The State of Wisconsin." In 1872 the officers elected were, colonel, John L. Hatha- way; lieutenant-colonel, Florian J. Ries; major, Richard Rooney; adjutant, Charles Osthelder. Colonel Hathaway died three years ago while governor of the Soldiers' Home. The officers of the regiment elected in December, 1873, were: Colonel, James M. Arnold; lieutenant-colonel, Charles Osthelder; major, Thomas G. Shaughnessy; adjutant, W. P. O'Connor. There was a bitter contest at the election in 1875. The contest for colonel was between Fred W. Payne and Colonel J. M. Arnold. At this election Myron W. Reed was elected chaplain. The bitter feeling engen- dered resulted in the disbanding of the regiment. Several of the companies also ceased to exist, among them the famous Milwaukee Light Guard. The Sheridan Guards continued their organization, and are still in existence, and constitute an im- portant part of the Fourth Regiment of the Wis- consin National Guard. The disbanding of the Milwaukee regiment proved something of a damp- ener on the military spirit of the state, and from that time until the approach of the great soldiers' reunion of 1880, but little attention was
given to military matters. The Sheridan Guard and the Kosciusko Guard kept up their organiza- tions, the latter, like the former, being a part of the present Fourth Regiment. The Milwaukee Battery of Light Artillery disbanded in 1875, the Milwaukee Zouaves in 1874, the Milwaukee Light Guard in 1876, and the Cream City Guard the same year. The South-side Turner Rifles were organized in June, 1879. They have been a part of the Fourth Regiment ever since its organi- zation. The coming of the great reunion aroused new interest in military matters. In February, 1880, the Milwaukee Cadets, com- posed of boys, was organized, and early in 1880, Milwaukee's pet calvary company, the Light Horse Squadron, was organized, with Robert Hill for captain, Valentine Blatz, first lieutenant and George W. Peck, second lieutenant. The services of this company during the reunion placed it at once on a secure footing, because it had the con- fidence and respect of the people. Now, in its fifteenth year, it is 'still a strong organization. It has had for its captains such sterling men as Rob- ert Hill, W. A. Collins, George J. Schoeffel, C. P. Huntington, W. J. Grant,and John G. Salsman. Its parades and parties have received as enthusiastic attention and hearty approval as did the parades and parties of the famous Milwaukee Light Guard. The squadron did Milwaukee invaluable service when, in 1886, under the leadership of Captain Schoeffel, later Brigadier-General Schocffel, it constructed the Broadway Armory. The Kos- ciusko Guard also built a substantial armory.
In 1883 the Sheridan Guard, Kosciusko Guard, South-side Turner Rifles and Lincoln Guard con- stituted a provisional battalion, without state sanction or objection, and M. A. Aldrich was made major and took command. The battalion was or- ganized under authority of the state, April 25, 1884, and Captain S. C. Mower, who served nearly five years as a private, lieutenant and captain in the Fourth Wisconsin infantry and cavalry, or- ganized for the war, was commissioned major. He selected for adjutant, Rollin B. Mallory, quarter- master, Henry G. Rogers, surgeon, Oscar W. Carl- son, chaplain, Joseph W. Sanderson. Major Mower gave his command close attention, and dur- ing the year he had the command, brought it up to a high state of discipline. Upon the death of Major Mower in 1885, Captain Henry G. Rogers, the quartermaster, a veteran of the Twenty-fourth
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MILITARY HISTORY SINCE THE WAR.
Wisconsin, was commissioned major and assumed command, his quartermaster being Captain John E. Pennefeather, the other staff officers remaining the same. The battalion went into camp in 1885 for the first time. In January, 1886, Major Rog- ers resigned and Captain George P. Traeumer, of Company C, a veteran of the Twenty-sixth Wis- consin, was made major and assumed command. Captain Mallory at that time resigned as adjutant and was succeeded by Otto H. Falk, who, since then, has commanded the regiment, been quarter- master-general, and later adjutant-general of the state. The battalion was under the command of Major Traeumer during the riots of May, 1886, and his conduct and that of the battalion, under the direction of the late Governor J. M. Rusk and the then adjutant-general Chandler B. Chapman, was such as to restore order within a very short time after the firing of one volley, which killed several and wounded a considerable number. The Light Horse Squadron and the First Wisconsin Light Battery co-operated with the battalion in that memorable riot campaign, winning high praise from city, county and state officials. The battalion appeared on parade on the occasion of President Cleveland's visit to Milwaukee, in 1887. Adjutant Otto H. Falk succeeded Major Traeu- mer in command in September, 1888, at which time Captain H. M. Seaman, now lieutenant-col- onel of the Fourth Regiment, was made adjutant, and a few months later Major Falk was commis- sioned lieutenant-colonel and Louis Auer, major, when Dr. Harry E. Bradley was made surgeon and Captain Edward Shea, quartermaster. The Rusk Guard became a part of the command, and the Badger State Rifles and the Chapman Guard also the next year. In 1889 the regiment, for the first time, went into camp for a week at Camp Douglas.
General W. T. Sherman reviewed the Fourth Regiment on the occasion of his last visit to Mil- waukee, which was in 1889, to attend the National Encampment of the Grand Army. January 7, 1891, in consequence of the promotion of Lieutenant- Colonel Falk to quartermaster-general, Captain Charles King, of the regular army, was placed in command of the regiment and continued in charge for more than a year, greatly to its benefit. He was succeeded by Major Louis Auer, in July, 1892, with Captain Albert Bleuel and Captain H. M. Seaman for majors. Oscar B. Zweitusch was
made adjutant at the same time. The Bay View company was added to the command in 1892, as Company H. Lieutenant-Colonel Auer was then commissioned colonel, and the battalion became a regiment. Major Bleuel advanced to lieutenant- colonel and Captain Emil Wilde to major. In 1893, when Colonel Auer became quartermaster- general, Lieutenant-Colonel Bleuel became colonel, Major H. M. Seaman, lieutenant-colonel and Cap- tain Zweitusch, a little later, succeeded Major Wilde, while Captain Slupecki was made the other major. At present (1895), the regiment consists of Company A, Captain John F. Manion; Com- pany B, Captain Thaddeus Wilde; Company C, Captain Charles E. Schlenger; Company D, Cap- tain Andrew J. Kluppak; Company E, Captain Walter E. Burk; Company F, Captain C. T. Calla- han; Company G, Captain J. J. Lynch; Company H, Captain Martin Anderson. The Fourth Regi- ment, as organized and officered, to-day, is a mili- tary force that does credit to the chief city of Wisconsin.
Early in 1884 agitation for the organization of a Light Battery began, and on the 11th of May, 1885, sixty-five young gentlemen were mustered into the service by Captain Charles King. The first captain was Joseph B. Oliver, who had served as a lieutenant and captain in the Fifth Wiscon- sin Infantry, during the war, with W. B. Roberts, for first-lieutenant. The organization is known as Battery A. It had for its armory, a number of years, the Farwell Avenue skating rink, which it sold in 1890 and took quarters in the Squadron Armory on Broadway. Captain Oliver resigned October 3, 1889, and was succeeded by H. J. Gilson, and he was succeeded by H. M. Kenney, in June, 1890. October 30, 1891, he was suc- ceeded by Harry Ellis who, at this date, is still the captain, the lieutenants being B. H. Dally, Thomas F. Neville and Adolph S. Hosch. Bat- tery A has been well equipped and thoroughly dis- ciplined, and has been credited by regular army officers who have inspected and reviewed it, with being one of the very best volunteer National Guard organizations in the West. The officers are young gentlemen who have entered, heart and soul, into the work of giving Milwaukee an artil- lery company that would be a credit to her.
Of the veteran soldier organizations, the Grand Army of the Republic first made its appearance in Milwaukee, July 31, 1866. Two Posts, Nos.
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
9 and 56, had been organized, and from these were recruited Pltil Sheridan Post, No. 3, which was chartered July 31, 1866. It grew to great dimensions, and had for its commanders, George R. Wright, Henry G. Rogers, George A. Hana- ford, Edward Furgeson, H. A. Valentin, John M. Ewing and Samuel Martin. Rogers, Hanaford and Furgeson have served as Department Com- manders. September 16, 1875, General John Sedgwick Post, No. 12, was chartered and held its meetings at the National Home. It very soon disbanded, and many of its members joined Vet- eran Post, No. 8, which is still in existence with a large membership, having recently been supplied, through the good management of Governor Cor- nelius Wheeler, with one of the finest Post rooms in the state, aside from that occupied by E. B. Wolcott Post, No. 1. Sheridan Post died a natural death. Some of its members, on January 9, 1875, together with other soldiers, organized Robert Chivas Post, No. 2, which is still in existence and prosperous. Robert Chivas was a nephew of the late Alexander Mitchell and a lieutenant in the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin. He was killed at Mis- sion Ridge, November 25, 1863. E. B. Wolcott Post No. 1 was chartered January 5, 1880, and is the largest post in the department of Wisconsin, though it had a hard road to travel during the first year or two. It was on the eve of surrender- ing its charter in 1881, but decided that it would live, and from that date to the present, it has stead- ily improved. It has a membership of three hundred and fifty at the present time, and has had for commanders, Edward Furgeson, Byron H. Kil- bourn, J. A. Watrous. E. A. Calkins, C. H. Ross, C. H. Anson, J. B. Johnson, G. H. Chase, E. R. Stillman, George I. Robinson, O. W. Carlson, George L. Thomas, Joseph P. Rundel and William C. Swain. This post has furnished one com- mander-in-chief, one senior vice and one junior vice commander in-chief and seven department commanders. Other posts in the city are Robert Mueller, Rank and File, George C. Drake and Wil- liam Steinmeyer. The combined membership of the posts is at this writing one thousand.
The Wisconsin Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States was organized in Milwaukee, in 1873. Its total membership, since organizing, is two hundred and ninety-three. Its present membership is two hun- dred and fifteen. Among the commanders it has
had are, Colonel Charles D. Robinson, General C. S. Hamilton, Captain I. M. Bean, Colonel Charles A. Hamilton, General Lucius Fairchild, Colonel C. D. Cleveland, Captain George W. Burnell, Cap- tain George I. Robinson, Major Charles H. An- son, Captain Edward Furgeson, Colonel J. McK. Bell, General F. C. Winkler and Major George E. Sutherland. The commandery holds eight meet- ings a year, on which occasion it has one or two prepared papers, followed by discussions, with musie, and always a banquet. It has published one volume of its war papers, and others will be forth- coming. General Lucius Fairehild, a member of this commandery, who held the office of com- mander three terms, is the present Commander- in-Chief of the Loyal Legion, and had previously been Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, three times governor of the state, consul general to France and Minister to Spain.
There have been several attempts to build up the order of the Sons of Veterans. The Womans' Relief Corps connected with the Wolcott, Drake and Chivas Posts, have been of great service in looking after needy soldiers and their families.
Milwaukee has had as many striking military, or semi-military events as any of the large cities in the northwestern portion of the country. Here was held in 1880, what, up to that time, was by far, the largest and most successful reunion of ex-union soldiers ever held in the United States. In 1889 the National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic met here, and though it was not as largely attended as on some previous occasions, it nevertheless was the equal of any except those at Boston in 1890, Detroit in 1891, and Washington, in 1892. Of these events it is proper to speak in a history of the city that will be regarded as standard for many years to come. The great reunion of 1880 had a small beginning. but a glorious ending, and its effeet, and the effect of the agitation throughout the year and a half taken in preparing for it, resulted in greater bene- fit to the soldier element of the country than all of the other great soldier gatherings that have taken place since then, including the various Na- tional Encampments. In January, 1879, there was but slight interest manifested in veteran soldier organizations of any character, in any portion of the country. The Grand Army, which began to build up in 1866, soon ran its race, because it became little more than a political machine for furthering
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MILITARY HISTORY SINCE THE WAR.
the political, business, and social interests of its ambitious members. In the early seventies it had nearly expended itself and for years the popu- larity and usefulness of the organization were gone. The failure of the Grand Army of the Republic to meet the requirements of the soldier element, and to permanently exist, had discouraged the men who participated in the war for the Union, and they had retreated, pretty generally- determined to make no further efforts in the direc- tion of a permanent organization. When their meetings ceased; when they were no longer talk- ing of the war and particularizing relative to dis- tinguished men and great deeds in companies, regiments, brigades, divisions, corps and armies ; when they were no longer talking about the hero- ism of this comrade or that leader, the newspapers gradually abandoned the practice of devoting space to the war, the Grand Army and to the sol- dier element. To such an extent had this con- dition of things gone in 1879, that there was hardly a paper, outside of a few straggling, starv- ing soldier organs, that mentioned from one month's end to another, the war, the men who participated in it, or any of the feeble organiza- tions resulting from it. That was the state of affairs when the Department Encampment of 1879 assembled at Berlin, Wisconsin. There were only three Posts represented at that gathering, and about the first business that presented itself was the proposition that the charter of the Depart- ment of Wisconsin be surrendered ; that this de. partment seek to join that of Illinois. There was a heated discussion, but upon motion of J. P. Luther, of Williams Post, No. 4, of Berlin, which, by the way, is the oldest Post of the Grand Army of the Republic in the world, the proposition to surrender was defeated. Griff J. Thomas, of Berlin, was elected Department Commander and the representatives of the Department Encamp- ment and a few ex-soldiers, some of whom were members of the Grand Army, but more who were not, at a public meeting adopted a resolution to have a state reunion of soldiers in 1880. Soon after that a movement was inaugurated in Mil- waukee for a state reunion. The committees ap- pointed at the Berlin meeting and at the Milwau- kee meeting held two or three sessions and finally united and decided upon Milwaukee as the place for the reunion, and fixed the time for the week beginning Monday, June 8th. The reunion was
to last through the week. The work of adver- tising the great event began immediately after the adjournment of the Berlin Encampment, through the efforts of Colonel Colwert K. Pier who, at the Berlin meeting, had been elected President of the Wisconsin Reunion Association. He prepared and had printed on a postal card the following circular :
WISCONSIN SOLDIERS.
Soldiers-At a meeting of your comrades, held at Berlin, January 1st, there was organized a Wisconsin Reunion Asso- ciation. Every surviving soldier or sailor wbo enlisted from Wisconsin and was honorably discharged from the United States Military or Naval service is earnestly requested to write upon a postal card, name, occupation, post-office address, letter of company or companies, number of regiment or regi- ments in which he served, and send it to Griff J. Thomas, secretary of the Wisconsin Reunion Association, Berlin, Wisconsin, who will arrange and compile a roster in alpha- betical order, by company or regiment, for record and publi- cation. Sailors will give name of boat or boats on which they served.
Comrades! Attend to this at once, or we shall not know whether you are dead, proud, or gone to Texas. C. K. PIER, President. Fond du Lac, Wis., January 11, 1879.
This circular was sent to several thousand news- papers, and most of them printed it, and responses began to pour in within a week and continued to come for nearly a year and a half. Thousands of the letters contained highly interesting war inci- dents, biography, the best of the war history. J. A. Watrous, then of Fond du Lac, appreciating the mine of soldier news and information that was flooding the office of President Pier, through the secretary, asked the colonel to prepare a chapter for publication in The Milwaukee Sunday Tele- graph, whose editor, at that time, was Colonel Elias A. Calkins. The chapter was gladly received and published, and was followed by similar chap- ters, each week, until the beginning of the great reunion. This publication resulted in agitation, not alone in Wisconsin, but throughout the West- ern States. Without going into details, it can be stated, without the least fear, that the action taken at Berlin, in January, 1879, laid the foundation for agitation that resulted in not only the greatest soldier gathering that had been witnessed since the war, but it was the be- ginning of a new growth, a new and sure growth, of the Grand Army of the Republic, not in Wis- consin alone, but throughout the Union. It was the beginning of new interest on the part of the press of the country in the war and the soldiers,
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a desire for better history of the great struggle and for liberty. Among all of the thousands of pub- lications in the country, it is perfectly safe to say that there is not one daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual, that has not, during the past fifteen years, devoted more or less space to the interests of the soldiers, to incidents of the war and to educating in patriotism, by dealing in facts pertaining to the war, and recounting the deeds of those who participated in the struggle. Milwau- kee will ever have to her credit the fact that her successful efforts in preparing for and conducting the affairs of the great reunion, sent to their homes a hundred thousand visitors who came to attend it filled with enthusiasm of a kind that, when applied, builds up and does not tear down. It placed to her credit the fact that her zeal, indus- try and efforts recreated sentiment favorable to the soldiers of the North, and re-established on a firm basis, the greatest soldier organization known , since the foundation of the world, the Grand Army of the Republic; and that credit mark is one which should be pleasing to every citizen of Milwaukee, and to all who become citizens for centuries to come, for the excellent reason that the education in patriotism from the recreating of soldier sentiment, and from the reorganization and the upbuilding of the Grand Army of the Republic, has been such education that the coun- try is safer, better, and far more patriotic than at any period of its history. The reunion was all that had been expected. About a quarter of a million of people, including one hundred thousand soldiers, hailing from every state and territory in the Union, and some of them coming from foreign countries were present. There was a vast tented field on what is now a beautiful and thrifty portion of the city, including Prospect Hill. Many thou- sands of the soldiers made the tents on that field their home during the week. Every hotel in the city was taxed to its fullest capacity, and thou- sands found pleasant abiding places in private homes. Great numbers of distinguished gentle- men were present, including the old commander of all the armies and of the navy, General U. S. Grant. It was a week of genuine pleasure for the soldiers and other visitors, as well as for the citi- zens of Milwaukee. It was the city's first great gathering of any character, and it enlarged her ideas ; it broadened her, lifted her up; and it is a well known fact that the city's greatest prosperity
began its growth immediately after that won- derful reunion of 1880, that in the next twelve years she more than doubled her population, and that in the same time her manufacturing industries were more than trebled.
The other military event, out of the common, was the National Encampment of 1889, which brought to the city seventy thousand soldiers, and as many more who were not soldiers. It was on that occasion that General William T. Sherman made his last visit to Milwaukee. It was at that National Encampment that General R. A. Alger was placed at the head of the Grand Army of the Republic. One of the attractions of the week-for the en- campment lasted a week-was a naval battle planned and conducted by Captain J. B. Oliver, a veteran of the war and the first commander of the Milwaukee Light Artillery Company. The reve- nue cutters on the northern lakes, together with the Michigan, had been ordered to Milwaukee Bay to participate in the battle. A large sum had been expended in the purchase of ex- plosives for use on the shore and in the boats. The shore line of battle extended from the North- western depot to the government pier. The National Guard of the state constituted the infan- try, and the roar of the guns on the Michigan and Andy Johnson and the other revenue cutters, with the explosives on shore, and the rattle of a thousand muskets, made every soldier present re- call more serious battle scenes, and was a source of astonishment and delight to the vast number of spectators. Milwaukee, as in 1880, was equal to the emergency. Her hands were extended, her doors open and her well-known hospitality was never exhibited to better advantage. The city was never before so generously and beautifully decorated. There were extensive camps on the East, West, and South sides. It was a gala week for Milwaukee, and her successful management added thousands to her number of friends, and these friends have been doing Milwaukee good service since by making known her beauties and advan- tages. For the reunion in 1880, the city raised about forty thousand dollars; for the National Encampment, fifty thousand dollars was raised, and that sum was not sufficient. The managers were in great distress as to how the needed funds should be procured, when Captain Frederick Pabst drew his check for fifteen thousand dollars, and met the deficiency.
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