1864 October 22: Return of the St. Croix Rifles and the 1st Wisconsin Infantry

The following article appeared in The Polk County Press of October 22, 1864.

RETURN AND RECEPTION OF THE GLORIOUS OLD FIRST.—The gallant First Regiment returned to Milwaukee on the 8th and received a splendid welcome there, of which the “Sentinel” publishes an interesting account, with a sketch of the history of the regiment, which we should be glad to publish if we had room.

The Milwaukee Light Guard and a large concourse of citizens turned out to receive the boys at the depot ;  flags and banners were displayed on the line of march ;  there was a formal welcome at the Chamber of Commerce, Col. Buttrick making an appropriate speech ;  then a dinner was given the regiment at the Newhall House, after which toasts were given and eloquent speeches were made by Judge McArthur, Gen. Fairchild [Lucius Fairchild], and Gov. Saloman [sic: Edward Salomon], responded to by Chaplain McNarmara on behalf of the regiment.  After the reception was over, the regiment marched to Camp Washburne, to remain until mustered out.

Capt. Samuel [Maurice M. Samuel] and the boys of Co. F belonging in this county are with the regiment, and the boys may soon be expected home.  Capt. S. we learn will return to Chattanooga.

On the arrival of the regiment in Milwaukee, a vote was taken to ascertain how it stood on the Presidency.  The result was :

Abraham Lincoln,…………….  179
Geo. B. McClellan,……………….  8

1863 December 5: How Wisconsin Regiments Voted, Including Using a Boot for the Ballot Box

The following articles are from The Polk County Press, December 5, 1863.  For reference, the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry included the Saint Croix Rangers (Company D); the Saint Croix Rifles were Company F of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry; the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry included the Hudson City Guards (Company G); and the 10th Battery of Wisconsin Light Artillery was composed of mostly northwest Wisconsin men.

HOW THE 2ND CAVALRY VOTED.—Captain Bently [sic],¹ of La Crosse, writes the particulars of the election in the 2nd cavalry, describing the modus operandi² as follows.  They had no ballot box, and he says:

A camp in the woods with the present army allowance of baggage, is a poor place to find boxes suitable for such purposes.  In our case one could not be found, but we have long since, in the army, learned to surmount difficulties, and we hit upon the following :  A cavalry boot nailed by one of the straps to the table, with a cover attached, was just the thing.  The polls were now declared open, and voting commenced.  Our next difficulty, and almost a dilemma, was to know how, in closing the polls for dinner to lock our ballot boot and secure the votes cast from intrusion.  To place a guard over the box (boot) perhaps would have been military, but was not according to “chapter 11.”  We constituted and agreed that the chairman of the board to whom the boot belonged, should “lock the box” by inserting his foot and wearing it until the polls should again  be opened!  This proved a success. the ballots kept safe; election over; votes cast.  The “copperheads,” “waxed we they there them,” by a unanimous Union vote of thirty-three.”

VOTE OF CO. F, 1ST WISCONSIN.—A letter from Co. F. gives the result of the election as far as that company is concerned :  The whole number of votes polled for Polk county was nine—all straight Union ticket except on sheriff.  KIMBALL received eight votes.

— The boys in the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry, at Baton Rouge, polled thirteen votes for the straight Union ticket, except on District Attorney, Mr. FREELAND receiving one vote.

— The election of some of the County officers will be decided by the returns from the 10th Battery.  As the vote stands, as far as heard from, every candidate on the Union ticket is elected.

1.  Charles S. Bentley, from La Crosse, Company D’s third captain. He won’t officially become the captain until June 27, 1864.
2.  A Latin phrase approximately translated as “method of operation.” We are used to hearing it used in TV crime dramas when the detectives talk about the criminal’s M.O., or modus operandi.

1863 November 28: The First Wisconsin—Something to be Proud of

The following article on the 1st Wisconsin Infantry comes from the November 28, 1863, issue of The Polk County Press.  Company F, under Captain M. M. Samuels, was the Saint Croix Rifles.

The First Wisconsin—What if has Done and Suffered.

A letter from the First Wisconsin, in the Army of the Cumberland, says :

This army has advanced three hundred and fifty miles into the enemys’ [sic] country, conquering as it advanced, and holding every important position gained, in spite of the determined resistance of the foe.  We used the spade and pickaxe at Muldrow’s Hill [Kentucky], on the Ohio, as we are doing now on the south bank of the Tennessee, within rifle range of the State of Georgia, Mumfordville [sic], Bowling Green, Nashville, Murfreesboro, Tulahoma [sic], Chattanooga.  Flanked by Bragg [Braxton Bragg] a year ago, we fought him at Perryville [aka Chaplin Hills], and here the more dazzling record of our regiment begins.  Forty-nine per cent of those engaged in our regiment fell there in line of battle—every second man—while the rest held the position and repulsed the enemy, who left their dead for loyal Kentuckians afterwards to bury.  Wisconsin’s First Infantry saved Indiana’s Fourth Battery, every piece of it.—When the horses were nearly all killed, the Infantry of Wisconsin moved the guns from position to position, until the foe had retired, and then drew them by hand with them.  Indiana’s artillerists presented a splendid stand of colors, and Wisconsin those noble deeds of a half destroyed regiment.  A stand of colors from the soldiers of another State to their fellows in the field is something to be proud of.¹

For the glorious deeds done at Chaplin Hills our Colonel was appointed Brigadier General.²  But the story of the regiment would be too long ;  let us pass to the last great battle, Chickamauga.  We were among the first who passed through Stevenson’s Gap, in the Lookout range, and while feeling the enemy, as it is termed, this regiment lost the only officer killed.  On the morning of the 19th of September we were among the first engaged.  We lost in less than twenty minutes time, sixty-five per cent. of the balance of the regiment.  On Sunday, the 30th, we were among the first to feel the rebel fire, and to resist all the forenoon the rebel advance, and until disasters befell other portions of our army, when a new line must have been formed, and then with our glorious old hero, the Corps Commander, Gen. Thomas [George H. Thomas], we took a new position and held it thirty-six hours, and then came with him and the rear guard into Chattanooga.  Official records make thirty-six officers killed in Gen. Thomas’ Corps.  Wisconsin’s smallest regiment in the army lost five, one-seventh of the whole.  We suffered all this, and yet we shout victory, whatever army contractors and gold speculators may cry.  This army lost 13,000 and gained a position.  Bragg gained part of our dead, some of our wounded, and lost 25,000 men, fourteen Generals, and what was considered a great loss still, the stronghold north of the Tennessee river.  If Bragg had the magnanimity of the old Roman, he would exclaim, “One more such victory and I am ruined.”³

To close, this regiment has had no dismissals for cowardice or otherwise disloyal acts, no court martials for any misdemeanors.

1.  This is confirmed in the official account of the regiment, published in E. B. Quiner’s Military History of Wisconsin, (Chicago: 1866), chapter 11, pages 428-30. Casualties at the Battle of Perryville are listed at the bottom of 429 and top of 430. (UWRF Archives E 537 .Q56 1866; available digitally on the Wisconsin Historical Society’s website).
2.  John C. Starkweather was appointed brigadier general on July 17, 1863.
3.  Pyrrhus after the Battle of Asculum. A victory with such a devastating cost that it is tantamount to defeat is known as a Pyrrhic victory.

1863 August 22: Battle of Hoover’s Gap Described

We find the following letter to the editor of The Polk County Press in its August 22, 1863, issue.  It describes the Battle of Hoover’s Gap, which took place June24-26, 1863, in Bedford County, Tennessee.  General William Rosecrans commanded the Union troops who won this battle, while General Alexander M. McCook commanded at the concurrent Battle of Liberty Gap.

Army Correspondence.

1st Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry. }

DEAR SIR:—It is rather late to give you a detailed account of all the doings of the old 1st since we left Murfreesboro, but not having a chance to do so before, and acting on the strength of the maxim that it is “better late than never,” I proceed to do so now ; supposing that it will possess some interest to you.

Skirmishes Near Liberty Gap,Tenn., June 24-26, 1863, plate 32, map 5 (see footnote 1)

After making quite a number of false starts, we got off at last on the 24th of June early in the morning, just as a long dry spell was terminating in what promised to be a long wet one ; and very faithfully it fulfilled its promise, indeed, for it kept up a steady downpour of rain for weeks after.  The boys said it was all “Old Rosey” was waiting for, as he did not like to march us on such dusty roads for fear of spoiling our complexion.  Be this as it may, it is rather unfortunate that our armies seldom if ever advance when the roads are dry and passible [sic], but as soon as the mud is knee deep, as soon as artillery and baggage wagons will stick fast in every mud hole, then the order is given to advance rapidly.  Well, after a couple of days marching we found ourselves in the vicinity of the celebrated Hoover’s Gap we had heard so much of.  We halted and bivouacked five miles from the Gap and remained there until late the next day listening to the sound of cannon, in front and to our right over on the Shelbyville pike where fighting McCOOK was driving the rebels at Liberty Gap.  At last it was our turn to “go in,” and as the firing had ceased for some time we supposed the Gap had been carried, and as we were marching in column we thought we were in perfect safety, but just as we came to the top of a slight rise at the entrance of the Gap, our illusions were suddenly and rudely dispelled by a rebel battery opening on us with shell, and at by no means a long range either.  I must say I was well pleased at how the boys acted.  We were ordered to halt, and we stood in the road for perhaps five minutes expecting every minute they would get the range and that the next shot would plunge through our columns raking them from front to rear, but still not a man stirred from his place that I could see, and after we got the order to “file left” and leaving the road ascended a steep hill in plain view of the enemy and across the line of their fire, still not a man left the ranks, and though the shells passed but a little above our heads, and they were evidently getting the range rapidly, the men marched steadily and in an orderly manner, the only sign of fear being when some ducked their heads as an occasional shell came lower than the others, but I firmly believe it was involuntary on their part, as the same men would laugh at their motions.  [paragraph break added]

As I kept my eyes open for incidents I was able to observe two that will bear relating, I think.  One was a man mounted, riding along towards the rear, when a shell passed over his head which so alarmed him he threw himself out of the saddle to the ground, in such a headlong manner that I thought he had broken his neck.  This of course raised a laugh at his expense.  The other was a man belonging to the brigade we were relieving, who was standing with his back against a stone chimney which marked the spot where a house had stood but burned down.  He had a tin cup of something in his hand, and was busy eating it while the shell was bursting all around him.  His nonchalance was in striking contrast with the excited state of the other.  A poor fellow was also led down the hill one of whose arms had been shot off, or as some accounts represented both, which showed conclusively they had got the range.  But a friendly ravine received us and we were soon safe from their direct fire, though if they know our exact position they might have thrown shell over the hill into our midst. But our batteries had been replying all this time, and had silenced the enemy’s.  [paragraph break added]

We lay all night on our arms, in what up your way would be considered “a fine growing shower for the crops,” but it only made us grow savage and resolve that when we did “go in” we would make the rebels pay for our suffering.  Soon after daybreak we advanced again, and having deployed into line of battle soon afterwards deployed as skirmishers and advanced.  There was another line of skirmirhers [sic] ahead of us, and the line was stretched out on either side of us some distance.  We had not proceeded far before the sharp rattle of musketry told us we had awakened the “rebs ;” but our advance was not checked in the slightest, except occasionally to let the men get breath, as it was a very rough country, up hill and down dale continually, through fields of grain waist or shoulder high, across cornfields lately plowed and soaked with rain, and worst of all over interminable lines of fences piled up as high as hands could pile them.  It was hard work, and to make matters worse we had three day’s rations in our heversacks [sic] and our wet blankets to carry.  It is no wonder that the rebels got off so easily, for they do not go into action with a small dry goods and grocery store on their back.  We caught some of them in a house and they had only one haversack among them, and that was filled with cartridges.  On our right and left there was some severe fighting but we met with no resistance.  Perhaps they had seen our flag before, and as the rascal said when a lady sent him a female shirt anonymously, “after a little examination he recognized it.”  At all events they got out of our way without ceremony.  In other parts of the line they opened masked batteries in strips of timber, and then an artillery engagement would ensue, which, though always hotly contested, ended invariably in their batteries being disabled and obliged to withdraw.  [paragraph break added]

The Regulars in our division (ROSSEAU’S [sic: Lovel H. Rousseau]) made a splendid charge up a very steep hill, on the top of which was the battery that paid its compliments to us the night before, but not being able to advance very rapidly the rebels limbered up and left.  The 79th Penn. also had some hot work on their part of the field and lost quite a number in killed and wounded, but we were not in luck that day and did not get a chance to add to our laurals [sic].  By four o’clock it was all over, the rebels in full flight, and we had possession of this famous Gap.  It is a strong natural position and it held by men fighting in a good cause might have cost us dear, but the rebels if not scared were certainly “fearfully demoralized.”  We rested on the battle field that night and pushed on in the morning in pursuit, but though we lost no time in following up, they fled with such celerity that we did not get sight of them again, except at the crossing of Elk River, which was an undertaking attended with so much risk and peril, and furnished so many exciting and amusing scenes, that I shall have to defer an account of it until I write again.  But when that will be I cannot state, as there are rumors of our having marching orders, to leave tomorrow for Stephenson, on the Charleston and Memphis rail road.

Yours, as usual,
SEMI OCCASIONAL.

1.   Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, published under the direction of Redfield Proctor, Stephen B. Elkins, and Daniel S. Lamont, Secretaries of War, by George B. Davis, Leslie J. Perry, Joseph W. Kirkley, Board of Publication ; compiled by Calvin D. Cowles (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891-1895). Available in Special Collections, UWRF University Archives & Area Research Center (E 464 .U6), or digitally at Ohio State University’s eHistory.

1863 August 22: John C. Starkweather Promoted to Brigadier General

From the August 22, 1863, issue of The Prescott Journal comes this report of a meeting of the officers of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry, and their resolutions concerning John C. Starkweather, their former colonel, just promoted to brigadier general on July 17, 1863.

From the 1st Regiment.

CAMP, 1ST WISCONSIN IN[fantry], NEAR }
COWEN STATION, TENN., July 30. }

At a meeting of the officers of the 1st Regiment Wis. Infantry, held at Regimental Headquarters July 30, 1863, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted :

WHEREAS,  Our former Col., John C. Starkweather, has been called to fill a higher position in the army, and his connections with this Regiment having consequently ceased, now therefore

Resolved,  That we, his regimental officers, take this occasion to express our sorrow at parting with our commander, who has led us so long and so worthily.

Resolved,  That to his eminent military ability, his inflexible requirement of discipline, and his marked courage on many trying occasions, this Regiment owes whatever of good reputation it possesses in the army or at home.

Resolved,  That we hail with satisfaction the President’s recent recognition of his distinguished services to our cause ;  that it is our hope that further promotion will soon follow.

Resolved,  That in General Starkweather we recognize a truly loyal man, whose heart is in the work of putting down the rebellion ;  that in the hands of such men out armies are safe and our cause certain to triumph.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, signed by each officer, be served on Brig. Gen. Starkweather, that the proceedings and resolutions of this meeting be spread on the records of this Regiment, and that State papers be requested to publish the same.

          Lt. Col. G. B. BINGHAM, Ch’n.  [George B. Bingham, from Milwaukee]
Lt. Z. P. CLARK, Clerk.  [Zerah P. Clark, from Sheboygan, 2nd lieutenant of Company G]

1863 April 4: A Proud Souvenir of Wisconsin’s Glorious Service

An article from The Polk County Press of April 4, 1863, about the flag of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry.  The Saint Croix Rifles were Company F of the 1st Wisconsin.  To see an image of the 1st Wisconsin’s flag from the Battle of Chaplin Hills (or Perryville), go to Forward: Wisconsin’s Civil War Battle Flags from the Collections of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

The Flag of the 1st Wisconsin—A Glorious Souvenir.

[From the Madison Journal.]

A year ago last October, prior to the departure of the First Wisconsin, Colonel J. C. Starkweather, the usual stand of colors, a National and a State flag, were presented to the regiment by the Governor of the State.  The regiment received them, and on bended knee swore that they should never be disgraced.  What is left of that flag has been returned by Col. Starkweather to the State, and is now at the Executive office.  Let those who wish to see how gloriously the solemn pledge given by the regiment on receiving it, has been kept, go and look at the tattered silk and splintered staff that remains.  In two places the staff has been completely severed by grape shot.  Cannon balls and shells have made great gaps in its folds.  Grape shot and cannister [sic], rifle balls and buck shot have torn th[r]ough it.  There is hardly a space six inches square through which some missile of death has not passed.

This was the banner borne by the gallant First at Chaplin Hills.  No tribute of voice or pen to the gallantry of the noble regiment that held it “high and haughty in the face of death”  through the wild battle-storm of that day, can rival the eloquence of the record which has been written on the folds of this stained and tattered flag by the shot and shell of the enemy.  Other Wisconsin regiments can show like evidences of the firmness with which they have stood in worst extremes and on the perilous edge of battle.  They will be gathered up and preserved and cherished by the State as the proudest souvenirs of her glory.

The following is the very appropriate letter addressed by Col. Starkweather to Gov. Salomon [Edward Salomon], upon presenting the flag to the State :

HEADQUARTERS, 3D BRIGADE, (formerly }
28th) 1st Division, (formerly 3d) Centre, }
14th Army Corps, Murfre’boro, Jan. 10, ’63 }

Hon. EDWARD SALOMON, Governor of Wisconsin, Madison :

SIR :—Allow me in behalf of the First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, to present through you to the State which I have had the honor humbly to represent, the Flag of our Union, which was presented by the State through Hon. A. W. Randall [Alexander W. Randall], (ex-Governor) to the Regiment, a short time previous to its leaving for Kentucky ;  and which on bended knee, it swore to protect and preserve against the enemies of this great and glorious government.  Please us by having it placed where it may be preserved, and where it may continue to shed forth the bright lustre [sic] of vicetory [sic].  It is tattered and torn—battle-stained and worn ;  but it shows forth most emphatically the proud deeds done, and the great honor and glory gained and won, by the sons of Wisconsin, that went forth to battle, as has been seen, Only for Victory.  I am with respect,     Yours truly,

JOHN C. STARKWEATHER.

1862 October 15: Fate of Wisconsin’s Regiments at Perryville

The Battle of Perryville was also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills.  It was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky.  Four Wisconsin infantry regiments took part in the battle: the 1st Wisconsin (3 years), which included the Saint Croix Rifles (Company F), the 10th Wisconsin, the 21st Wisconsin, and the 24th Wisconsin.

John (abbreviated here as Jno.) C. Starkweather, who wrote the following report, was the colonel of the 1st Wisconsin and he also commanded the 28th Brigade.  The brigade, which also included the 21st Wisconsin, was in the 3rd Division of Alexander M. McCook’s First Corps, in Buell’s Army of the Ohio.

The October 15, 1862, issue of The Prescott Journal carried the following report.  There are more than the usual number of typographical errors in this article.

Casualties of Wisconsin Regiments.

COL. STARKWEATHER’S DISPATCH.

LOSS IN THE 58TH [sic: 28th] BRIGADE, 800.

MILWAUKEE, October 13.

The following to the Governor of Wisconson [sic], we are authorized to publish:

HEADQUARTERS 28th BRIGADE, }
Battle Field, Chaplin Hill, Ky., Oct. 10,  }
via Louisville.  }

To Hon. Edward Solomon, Gov., Madison:

The old 1st and 21st Wisconsin, of my brigade, marched twelve miles on the 8th inst., going into battle at 12 M., and fighting until 7 P. M., with loss as follows:

1st Wisconsin—58 killed, 127 wounbed [sic], 13 missing, and 12 prisoners taken while bringing the wounded from the field at night time, under a flag of truce.

The Twenty-first Wisconsin had thirty five killed, ninety eight wounded and fifty four missing.

Lieut. D. W. Mitchell, Capt. Bently [sic] and Maj. Schumacher, of the Twenty-first are dead.  Colonel Sweet, who is severely wounded, will live the surgeons say.  Maj. Mitchell was first wounded in the leg severely, and may lose the leg.  Capt. Green, Company K, shot through the neck—is doing well; Lieua. [sic] Wise [Pembroke V. Wise], Company F, shot through the leg; Lieut. Hambroch [sic], comwany [sic] E, shot in the shoulder; Lieut. Galligher [sic], Company B, a prisoner well.¹

I will send a full list of the dead and wounded as soon as possible.

The First Wisconsin took the colors of the First Tennesee [sic].

The First and Twenty-first, and the Seventy-ninth Pennsylvania held their position, as also the Twenty fourth Illinois, protecting my two batteries, drove the enemy from the field, piling up the dead in heaps upon heaps.  All did well.  The fighting of the first is in everyone’s mouth, all proclriming [sic] it the veteran regiments.

Gen. McCook claims that the Twenty eighth brigade saved the day and turned the tide of battle against the enemy.

Our loss is fearful, but all fouht [sic] nobly and well—no flinching, no cowardice was shown by one of the Wisconsin troops.

The 10th and 54th [sic: 24th] Wisconsin were in the fight.  Both Colonels are safe.  The 10th suffered severely.  The 24th lost only four.

As I am told, the loss in my brigade, (28th) in killed, wounded, and missing &c., will number 800 men, as near as it can now be ascertained.

I am making up my official reports, and will send you a copy when finished.

The battle was terrible.  Our enemy were defeated.

We now occupy the position occupied by them, and will undoubtedly move on.  Our wounded need attention and assistance.

Any one coming to Maxville, Kentucky, will soon find the wounded.

We buried the dead last night on the battle field.  They first fought some men that they met at Falling Waters.

All glory to Wisconsin troops.  All honor to the veteran 1st and 21st.

Yours on the field.
JNO. C. STARKWEATHER
Col 1st Wis., Comd’g 28th Brigade.

1.  Following is brief information on the Wisconsin men listed in this paragraph, except for Pembroke V. Wise, who has his own page:

• David W. Mitchell, 2nd lieutenant of Company C, 21st Wisconsin Infantry, from Stanton, was killed in action October 8, 1862, at Chaplin Hills, Kentucky.
• George Bentley, from Janesville, was captain of Company H, 21st Wisconsin Infantry. He was killed in action on October 8, 1862, at Chaplin Hills, Kentucky.
• Fred Schumacher, from Milwaukee, was promoted to major of the 21st from captain of Company F, 6th Wisconsin Infantry. He was killed in action October 8, 1862, at Chaplin Hills, Kentucky.
• Benjamin J.  Sweet, from Chilton, was colonel of the 21st, having been promoted from lieutenant colonel of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry.
• Henry A. Mitchell, from Milwaukee, was the major of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry.
• Thomas H. Green, from Fond du Lac, was captain of Company K, 1st Wisconsin Infantry.
• Richard T.  Hambrook, from Kenosha, was 1st lieutenant of Company E, 1st Wisconsin Infantry.
• Thomas Caliger, from Milwaukee, was the 2nd lieutenant of Company B, 1st Wisconsin Infantry. He was taken prisoner at Chaplin Hills, Kentucky.

1862 September 17: War News From Around the Country

The following article comes from the September 17, 1862, issue of The Prescott Journal.  We meet a lot of new generals in this article, many of them Confederates.

W A R   N E W S !

BALTIMORE, Sept. 13.

The police made an important capture last night at the house of Dr. J. F. Williamson, about seven miles from this city on the Hookerstown road.

Having received information that some rebel officers from the invading army were being feted by their friends, the police proceeded thither and surrounded the house, and bagged the whole party, as follows:

Capt. Harry Gilmor [sic], Co. F, Stuart’s [J.E.B. Stuart] Cavalry; Grafton D. Carlise, Lieutenant Bairn.¹

These men were disguised in citizen’s dress.

The police also seized Dr. Williamson, their retainer, and the following gentle men, friends: J. T. Hayward, J. H. Buchanan, Alexander Clary,  Martin Magraw.  The whole party were brought to this city, and are now in close custody.  The police were armed with rifles, and prepared for any emergency.

These rebel officers belong to the city.  It is thought they will—as they justly should—meet the fate of spies.

We have positive information that railroad communication was interrupted and the telegraph wires cut between Harper’s Ferry and Cumberland, by the rebels.

Reconnoissance [sic] to the vicinity of North Mountain, seven miles south of Williamsport, encountered some rebel pickets.  We killed and captured thirteen.

It was discovered that Lee [Robert E. Lee] and Jackson [Stonewall Jackson] had crossed the Potomac near Martinsburg.  Longstreet [James Longstreet], it was thought, would cross further up the river.  The whole rebel force is retreating across the Potomac.

CAIRO, Sept. 12.

Two days since, as a federal force was going towards Hernando [Mississippi] from Memphis at the house of Moses White, a lieutenant who was riding in the advance was shot from the house and killed.  The company came up and saw young White, who is about 18 years of age, running from the house to the woods.  He was shot and the house and its contents destroyed.  They then proceeded to the house of Hutchinson, a short way off, and destroyed it and its contents also.

A soldier who has been a prisoner for eight months, has just escaped to Memphis.  He says Vilipique’s [sic: John Bordenave Villepigue] forces near Bolivar is about 2,000.  Breckenridge [sic: John C. Breckinridge] is moving towards that point with about 6,000.  The entire body of confederate troops are moving north, Kentucky being their destination.

There was talk of attacking Memphis, but the federals there feel abundantly able to take care of themselves.

At Helena, Ark. a large confederate army mail containing dispatches for Hindman² to the authorities at Richmond, had been captured by a force which had been sent our to thwart their plans and counteract their purposes.

BALTIMORE, Sept. 12.

A gentleman who left Frederick yesterday says that on Wednesday afternoon heavy firing was heard in the direction of Harper’s Ferry.  Yesterday morning secessionists seemed to be very much troubled about the news from that quarter, which was to the effect that Gen. Loring³ had crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, and marched down to Harper’s Ferry, where he attempted to form with a view to attack Mile’s⁴ forces.

The Star says, at an early hour this morning a portion of a division drove the rebels out of Sugar Loaf Mountain, in Fredrick, Md., a point of much military importance.  Some resistance was made, but was overcome; with a loss of not over half a dozen federals killed and wounded.

It was ascertained here last night that in the course of yesterday the rebels were in force at Boonsboro, 14 miles west of Frederick.

A Washington correspondent of a morning paper, a citizen of Frederick, Md., who arrived here to day, having left after it was evacuated, says the rebel force in town is estimated at from 15,000 to 16,000; his own judgment placing the figures much lower than those of our own generals.  One of his neighbors had lost not only his cattle, but his butter and cheese, and even his blankets.  Everything that could be applied to the use of the army had been taken.  He was paid nothing, and was not offered, even Confederate notes by the Invaders.  He says very few Marylanders joined the rebels.

Cincinnati, Sept. 13.

The rebel army has fallen back beyond Florence.  Some stragglers taken by our scouts say that they had 20,000 men, others say only 10,000 advanced this side of Florence, under Gen. Heth.⁵

Prisoners say the retreat was made because they had heard of the presence of Buell [Don Carlos Buell] in Kentucky, and had not heard from Bragg [Braxton Bragg].  Our scouts last night report the enemy retreating in confusion.

Philadelphia, Sept. 13.

The Press of this city received the following dispatch:

Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 11.

The whole of Buell’s army is hastening to the support of this city, which is now menaced by Bragg, who follows our rear guard  at a respectful distance.  The city is being fortified.  Gen. Thomas [George H. Thomas] will be placed in command, with order to defend the city at all hazards.  Before this reaches you, the fate of Nashville, doubtless, will have been decided.

An advance composed of the 79th Penn., 1st Wisconsin, and 17th Ky. regiments, accompanied by two batteries, left here to tender their respects to Kirby Smith’s rear. 15,000 men under Buell will leave to-night for the same destination.  8,000 men from the army of Rosecans [sic: William S. Rosecrans] under the command of Jeff. C. Davis,⁶ arrived here to-day for the purpose of reinforcing Buell.

A refugee from Columbia says Capitol Hill is being fortified.  Bragg will not catch us napping. Secessionists are very bold; Unionist trustful and undaunted.

Baltimore, Sep. 12.—Last evening at half past seven the rebels made a cavalry raid into Westminster about 500 strong and two pieces of artillery.  As they charged through the village they discharged their pistols on disarmed men in the streets.  C. N. Webster, Dist. Att’y, seeing the rebels coming, made for the railroad, and after going about a mile met the train from Baltimore which, on his information, returned to Baltimore.  There was at Union bridge a train of the Western Maryland R. R., a locomotive and two cars, which should have arrived at Westminrster [sic] at five; this train has probably been captured.

The Fedrals [sic] occupied New Market, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 10 miles from Frederick, yesterday.

[The Journal repeated the following paragraph here.]

Washington, Sept 12.—The Star says at an early hour yesterday morning, a portion of a division drove the rebels out of Sugar Loaf Mountain, in Fredersek [sic] Co., Maryland, a point of much military importance.  Some resistance was made, but overcome with a loss of not over half a dozen federals killed and wounded.  It was ascertained here last night that in the course of yesterday, the rebels were in force at Booneboro [sic], 14 miles west of Frederick.

1.  Harry Gilmore and Grafton D. Carlisle were in Company F of the 12th Virginia Cavalry. The unit was part of the Army of Northern Virginia. It fought at Second Bull Run (August 28-30, 1862), Lewis’ Ford (August 30), Poolesville, Maryland (September 8), South Mountain (September 14), and will be at the Battle of Antietam (September 17). Cannot confirm a Lieutenant Bairn.
J.E.B. Stuart commanded the cavalry corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. He seized a large amount of supplies and documents before the Second Battle of Bull Run.
2.  Thomas Carmichael Hindman (1828-1868) served in the Mexican War, then studied law and practiced in Mississippi and then in Helena, Arkansas. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives (1854-1856) and in the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas (1859-1861). After Arkansas seceded, Hindman joined the Confederate army, was promoted brigadier general in 1861 and was slightly wounded at the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862). Later in 1862 he was promoted to major general and commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department, which he used to try to prevent a Union invasion of Arkansas. His tactics were not popular with the citizens and in August 1862 he was replaced. But he convinced his replacement to give him a command in northern Arkansas where he managed to intercept the Federal army, but his self-doubt led to a missed opportunity to destroy the Union army. After the War he will flee to Mexico, later returning to Helena, Arkansas, where he will be assassinated in 1868.
3.  William Wing Loring (1818-1886) fought in the Seminole Wars, in the Texas War for Independence, and in the Mexican War. He studied law and served in the Florida House of Representatives (1843-1845), and in 1849 he led a wagon train from Missouri to Oregon, where he was in military command of Oregon Territory. Loring was promoted to colonel at the age of 38 in December 1856, the youngest in the army. Siding with the South when the Civil War broke out, Loring was promptly commissioned a brigadier general and given command of the Army of the Northwest. After the Civil War, Loring will serve for nine years in the Egyptian army.
4.  Possibly Nelson Appleton Miles (1839-1925), who was a store clerk before the War. He was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 61st New York Infantry Regiment in May 1862, and was promoted to colonel after the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. Miles is best known for his army service on the frontier after the Civil War. He participated in the campaign that scoured the Northern Plains after Custer’s defeat at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, his troops intercepted the Nez Percé band led by Chief Joseph in northern Montana, and he tracked Geronimo in Arizona. Miles City, Montana, is named for him.
5.  Henry Heth (1825-1899) graduated at the bottom of his class from West Point and was a career military officer. He served primarily in western posts and played a prominent role in the Battle of Ash Hollow (1855) against the Sioux Indians in Nebraska. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and served for a brief time as Robert E. Lee’s quartermaster and Lee looked out for Heth for the rest of the War. In 1862 he was promoted to brigadier general and  served under Kirby Smith in the Department of East Tennessee. During the Kentucky Campaign, he was sent by Smith to take a division north from Lexington, Kentucky, to make a demonstration on Cincinnati; although this caused a great commotion in the city’s defenses, only a few skirmishes occurred. History credits Heth with inadvertently starting the Battle of Gettysburg.
6.  Jefferson Columbus Davis (1828-1879), despite the similarity of his name to the president of the Confederacy, was a Union officer during the Civil War. A veteran of the Mexican War, Davis was serving at Fort Sumter when it was bombarded by in April 1861, beginning the Civil War. By August of that year he was colonel of the 22nd Indiana Infantry, which he led at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. In December he became a brigadier general of volunteers and commanded the 3rd Division at the Battle of Pea Ridge and the 4th Division at the Second Battle of Corinth. On September 29, 1862, Davis will shoot and kill General William “Bull” Nelson. He will avoid conviction for the murder because there was a need for experienced field commanders. After the War, Davis will be the first commander of the Department of Alaska (1868-1870) and will gain fame when he takes field command of the Army troops during the Modoc War.

1862 May 12: “Remove slavery, and this would soon be a paradise”

Letter from Pembroke V. Wise with the 1st Wisconsin Infantry in Tennessee, published in the May 28, 1862, issue of The Prescott Journal.

Warning: The “N” word is used by Private Wise.

CAMP CORRESPONDENCE.
From the First Regiment.

 PULASKI, Giles Co., Tenn, May 12, 1862.

Dear Lute:—Many long days have passed since I grapsed your honest hand and looked into your smiling face, but I have not forgotten you.  On Friday, May 2d, it was understood that a party of 600 marauding cavalry was carrying off union men and committing all manner of thievish and murdering depredations, such only as slaveholding chivalry can do, at and in the vicinity of Lawrenceburg.  Orders were issued to be ready to march at once.  Col. Starkweather [John C. Starkweather] was acting Brig. General, and at 10½ A. M., the expedition was in line, consisting of one piece of artillery, two companies of Kentucky cavalry, and the 1st Wisconsin regiment.  We follwed down the Corinth Road 9 miles and then turned to the left, and travled through a very poor, hilly country 16 miles, which brought us out to Lawrenceburg, where we arrived at 10 oclock at night.  But the enemy had chivalrously flown, having left the town on Thursday morning in the direction of Pulaski.  The inhabitants being mostly traitors, on surrendering the public square, extingusihed lights and barred their doors.  Marching through the town, which is a place of some 300 inhabitants and county seat of Lawrence county, we bivouacked without fires in the  yard of a rebel captain who was taken prisoner at Fort Donelson.  The valiant she-rebels fled in their night clothes at the command “stack arms.”  On the 3d, after a little scouting by the cavalry, and the taking of six fine mules, a yoke of oxen, and about a dozen “contrabands,” we were preparing to march on Pulaski, when orders came from Gen. Negley [James S. Negley] to return at once to our old camp, as it was threatended.  It was done, making the trip by the miltary road by 10 o’clock at night.  Many of the men’s feet were used up.

John Morgan, from “Harper’s Weekly” (see footnote 3)

Since that time we have been constantly on the qui vive¹ for the rebels.  Morgan was suprised at Lebanon on the 5th inst,. and his band of outlaws either killed, captured, or scattered into the hills.  William Morgan was taken prisoner, and it is beleived that John Morgan, the chief of devils, was killed.²  On Saturday, the 10th inst., orders came to strike tents, pack everythign up, and be ready to go at once.  Two Sibley tents and one square one to be carried, and knapsacks also, on the wagons.  The company mess chest, the balance of the tents, and other comapny baggage was left behind.  The 1st Wisconsin, two peices of artillery, three companies of 35 Indiana, 25 Kentucky cavlary were in line, and started 2½ P. M. towards the east.  This was all that was known of our destination.  Our route lay through winding and muddy rutted lanes over innumerable brooks and small rivers, which we had to wade.  It was through the hilliest part of the state, among small farms and poor poeple.  We travled until 3 o’clock at night, then halted in the village of Campbellsville.  Then we took a short nap on the ground,  ate a little, and went on again at 5½ o’clock Sunday morning.  Our route lay down “Big Creek,” which we had to ford seven times in that many miles.  The valleys were a little wider and the country looked better.  “Niggers” were plenty again, and their pretended owners were all secesh.  In the hills, where the people have no human chattels, they are all unionists, but every man who claims to hold slaves is secesh.  At 1 P.M. we crossed the N. & H. R. R. track, but the rebel destroyed the bridges.  We forded one more river and reached the pike, which was very dusty.  Five miles travel on the pike brought us to this place.  It is pleasanlty located in a pretty country, on the west side of a river.  We marched  through the town with bayonets fixed, in column by platoons, with colors flying and drums beating.  We soon learned that Gen. Negley, with the 78th and 76th Pennsylvania, had preceded us.  We got  here at 4 P. M.  A large number of young ladies turned out on the streets to take a look at us Yankees, and there were also swarms of blacks of all ages, sexes, and shades, dressed in the gaudiest manner.  They all expressed the highest satisfaction in seeing us, while the greater portion of the whites looked sullen or ferocious.  Morgan’s band of marauders passed through here after leaving Lawrenceburg, and captured 240 men who were in the hospitals here, burned some goverment wagons and took $5,000 from the U.S. Quarter-Master.

Peaches, apples, and plums look finely.  Out of the hills, this is a beautiful country.  Remove slavery, and this would soon be a paradise.  We go to the south to Gen. Mitchell to night.  Capt. Samuel [Maurice M. Samuels] has been at Park Barracks hospital since the 1st day of April, and Lieut. Starkweather⁴ was detailed for extra duty out of the company on the 28th of March, so that I am alone in command of the company assited [sic] only by orderly serg’t. S. O. Marshall,⁵ who I had appointed acting Lieutenant.  Eleven men have been discharged,
P. V. WISE.

1.  A French word meaning on the alert, vigilant.
2.  John Hunt Morgan (1825-1864) was a Confederate General from Lexington, Kentucky. He had served in the cavalry in the Mexican War.  Morgan and a militia company he raised joined the Confederate States Army. Morgan soon raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, becoming its colonel on April 4, 1862, and they fought at the Battle of Shiloh. Morgan soon became a symbol to secessionists in their hopes for securing Kentucky for the Confederacy, and he became one of the leading Confederate raiders.
3.  Harper’s Weekly, vol. 8, no. 404 (September 24, 1864), featured this drawing of Morgan and an article on his death on the front page. The University of Wisconsin-River Falls’ Chalmer Davee Library has microfilm copies of Harper’s Weekly for 1858-1865 (UWRF online catalog).
4.  Fred T. Starkweather, from Milwaukee, became the company’s 2nd lieutenant when Wise was promoted to 1st lieutenant on February 8, 1862.
5.  L. O. Marshall—Lewis O. Marshall, from Hudson, was the company’s 1st sergeant. He will be promoted to 2nd lieutenant and transferred to Company D in August.

1862 May 21: The 1st Wisconsin Infantry Marches Around Northern Alabama

A letter from “Quad” with the 1st Wisconsin Infantry in Tennessee, written May 21 but not published until June 4, 1862, in The Prescott Journal.

CAMP CORRESPONDENCE.
FROM THE FIRST REGIMENT.

CAMP SCRIBNER, Tenn., May 21, 1865.

Friend Lute:—I resume my pen to record a few incidents connected with the “Flying Infantry,” or “Devil Chasers,” which may be of interest to the readers of the JOURNAL.

We had been encamped at Mount Pleasant, Tenn., for several weeks.  Nothing of interest transpiring, rendering it monotonous and wearisome in camp, the General thought he would give us a “relief,” which was accepted and executed in the manner which I am about to describe:—

On Saturday, the 10th inst., we received orders to pack up for a move in some direction.  Taking two tents for a company and what rations we could conveniently haul, knapsacks loaded upon wagons, we got under way, at 3 o’clock P. M.  We marched most of the night of the 10th towards Pulaski, accompanied by one section of Capt. Standarts’ Ohio Battery¹ and three companies of the 35th Indiana Regiment under command of Major Heughes.  Nothing transpired during the night except the wading of streams and confiscation of a few horses.  The former being particularly interesting to the men, and the latter proving a fine thing for the darkies, who accompany us as cooks.  We arrived in Pulaski on the 11th, making the distance of 35 miles in less than 20 hours.  Here we met the 78th and 79th Pennsylvania Regiments, from Columbia, and awaited the arrival of the 38th Indiana, from Shelbyville, which did not arrive until the morning of the 12th.

On the afternoon of the 12th two Brigades; Col. Starkweather [John C. Starkweather] commanding one, and Col. Hambright [Henry A. Hambright] commanding the other, consisting of two guns from Capt. Standarts’ Battery, two companies of cavalry, and the 78th and 79th Pennsylvania Regiments, (Gen. Negley [James S. Negley] having command of the Division,) started for the Tennessee River.  When within nine miles of Rodgersville,² Ala., we came upon a detachment of rebel cavalry.  The brigade was formed in the line of battle and the woods shelled.  The affair resulted in taking a few prisoners.  No one hurt on either side.  Arrived at Rodgersville, which is four miles from Lamb’s Ferry on the Tennessee, the evening of the 14th.  An expedition consisting of two companies of infantry, two pieces of artillery, and a portion of cavalry proceeded to the river, and shelled the woods on the south side while a few men crossed over and took possession of the ferry boats.  The boats were taken to this side of the river and destroyed, this preventing the escape of any cavalry which might be lurking in the woods on this side.  On the 15th the division moved in the direction of Florence, making a halt at Bainbridge Ferry, and then proceeded to Florence where it was thought we should meet with the rebels under Price [Sterling Price] whom it was reported had crossed the river with 10,000 men intending to cut off Gen. Mitchell’s [Robert B. Mitchell] means of obtaining supplies.  But we were here doomed to disappointment.  We had marched more than one hundred miles in a scorching sun, in hopes to have a chance at Price, but true to his native instinct he evacuated before our arrival.

Florence is a town containing, I should judge, in prosperous times about 1,500 inhabitants, beautifully located on the right bank of the Tennessee River.  It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Ala., and is the terminus of a branch road from Tuscumbia, rendering it a town of considerable commercial importance to Northern Alabama.  There was a railroad bridge across the river at this place which was destroyed by a regiment of Kentucky bridge burners.  We destroyed a few that bottomed boats at this place and after remaining over night started on our return.  On our way back we passed through the village of Lauderdale Factory.  This place is situated on Shoal Creek about 11 miles north of Florence.  This place is of but little importance, having no trade or business except a Cotton Factory on the true southern plan and characteristic of their industrious (!) habits.  We kept the old military road, which “Old Hickery” [sic]¹ cut through for the passage of his army to New Orleans, to within eight miles of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., when we “filed right” and marched towards Pulaski.  Arrived on Monday the 19th.  Here all were in hopes to remain for a few days to rest, but only made a halt of about two hours and then were plodding our way toward Columbia.

Pulaski is a pleasant town; the county seat of Giles County, Tenn., and contains 2,00 or 2,500 inhabitants.  It boasts of the most extensive cotton manufacturies [sic] in South Tennessee, and is a place of considerable importance to the interior.

We arrived in Columbia, where one company of the 1st has been doing provost duty for the past eight weeks, on Tuesday the 20th, making the trip of two hundred miles in less than eleven days.  But here we were not to rest, but were ordered eight miles from town to guard a railroad bridge which is building.  And here we are at present, reduced down to our “fighting weight,” but in fine spirits.  The St. Croix Rifles are all in fine condition.  Never better, with the exception of one case of typhoid fever.  Capt. Samuel [Maurice M. Samuel], who was detached on recruiting service, is now stopping in Louisville in charge of Convalescent Barracks.

Fearing to weary the patience of your readers I will close by describing my writing desk.  It consists of a section or pannel [sic] of rail fence, about 18 inches in height, with a news paper spread over the top rail; while the scribbler sits a la Turk flat upon the ground.

QUAD.

1.  William E. Standart/s was the captain of Battery B of the 1st Ohio Light Artillery.
2.  Founded in 1858 it was originally known as Rodgersville, but is now spelled without the “d” (Rogersville). Today it is part of the Florence-Muscle Shoals metro area, which also includes Tuscumbia.
3.  “Old Hickory” was the then well-known nickname of U.S. President Andrew Jackson, and his army was going to New Orleans during the War of 1812..