Hamilton County, Indiana - Chapter 25: Military History, 1915 (part 2 of 2)

Ferry, about eight miles below Roswell and fortified a position on its bank. On the seventeenth the march was again resumed, the regiment marching in the direction of Decatur, about six miles east of Atlanta. On the nine¬ teenth the enemy was encountered near that place. An attack was made at once, the enemy was routed, the town captured and the railroad de¬ stroyed for some distance. The siege of Atlanta was now fairly commenced. As the combined Union armies closed around the fated town continual fight¬ ing was going on, night as well as day. The severe battles of Peach Tree creek and Atlanta, on the twenty-second and twenty-eighth of July, each of them resulting in disaster to the enemy, were fought. The Twenty-third corps had been placed in position on the extreme right of the Union armies, and nearly in the rear of Atlanta, on Utoy creek, near East Point, where the enemy held a strong fortified position, in order to protect his communications. It became necessary to dislodge him from a position that he held that threat¬ ened the right flank of the Twenty-third Corps. The brigade to which the One Hundred and Thirtieth belonged and another brigade were ordered to attack the enemy and wrest it from him. The movement was made on the sixth day of August. Pushing through a dense thicket of pines and oaks, the command emerged into an open field, upon the opposite side of which were the enemy's works, containing a battery supported bv a heavy force of in¬ fantry. With a cheer, the line swept forward, its ranks torn by a heavy artillery and musketry fire from the enemy, and carried the position, cap¬ turing a number of prisoners. On the twenty-ninth of August the regiment marched with the army around East Point to the rear of Atlanta, on the flank movement, which compelled the enemy to evacuate that stronghold. The regiment then returned with its corps to Decatur, and went into camp, where it remained until the fourth of October. The rebel general, Hood, having recruited his shattered army, concluded to march around the flank of the Union army, and, striking its rear, destroy its communications and change the field of conflict to a more northern locality. General Sherman started in pursuit of him, and, on the fourth of October, the Twenty-third Corps left Decatur, and marched with the rest of the army in pursuit, as far as Gaylesville, Alabama. Hood, with his army, having crossed the Tennessee river, General Thomas, with the Fourth and Twenty-third Corps, was left to take care of him, while Sherman, with the rest of the army, marched back to Atlanta and then to Savannah, Georgia.

On the thirtieth the Twenty-third Corps was ordered to report to General Thomas at Nashville, and the regiment with the corps marched to Chatta¬ nooga, from which place it went by rail to Columbia, Tennessee, and from there marched to Centerville, where the regiment was detailed to guard the fords of Duck river and watch for the advance of Hood's army, that was known to be making its way in that direction. On November 30 Hood, hav¬ ing passed around the left flank of Thomas' army, the regiment marched to Clarksville, on the Tennessee river, and from there to Nashville, where it remained, in the fortifications in front of that city, until the army under General Thomas moved out to attack the army under General Hood, on the morning of the fifteenth of December, and, after two days' severe fighting, utterly defeated Hood and routed his army.

The One Hundred and Thirtieth, with its corps, followed in pursuit of the flying foe until the twenty-seventh, when he having made his escape across the Tennessee river, it was ordered into camp at Columbus. On Jan¬ uary 5, 1865, orders were received to march to Clifton, on the Tennessee river, where it embarked on a steamer and went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and thence to Washington City, by rail. From there is proceeded to Newbern, North Carolina. On the sixth of March the regiment marched with its division along the Atlantic and North Carolina railroad, in the direction of Kingston, repairing the railroad as the column advanced. On the eighth the enemy was encountered in force at Wise's Fork, four miles below Kingston. The enemy was flushed with success, having just surprised and captured two regiments of eastern troops, and was pushing on, confident of an easy victory, when he was met and checked by the division to which the One Hundred and Thirtieth belonged. For two days the regiment was engaged in a continual skirmishing with the enemy and on the tenth the enemy made a heavy as¬ sault, which was repulsed with great loss to him, and he fled in great disorder from the field. The regiment took an active part in this battle, and distin¬ guished itself by its coolness and good conduct. The regiment immediately moved into Kingston, which was occupied without further resistance from the enemy, and was busily employed with the other troops, until the twentieth, in repairing the railroad and rebuilding a bridge across the Neuse river, when it marched to Goldsboro, arriving there on the twenty-first, and a junction was formed with the army under the command of General Sherman, that arrived there or in that vicinity on the same day.

The regiment remained there until the tenth of April, when the army, having received a supply of provisions and clothing, which had been badly needed, marched in the direction of Smithfield, which place it reached the next day, encountering a force of rebel cavalry on the road, which was swept out of the way. While there news was received of the surrender of the rebel general, Lee, with his army, at Appomattox Court House, which had occurred on the ninth. Orders were received to leave everything that would retard the march, and the army pushed on rapidly for Raleigh, which place it reached on the fourteenth. General Johnston, in command of the rebel army, was trying to retreat in the direction* of Greensboro, when, finding, that he was nearly surrounded and the chances of escape were hopeless, made overtures for surrender.

The further movement of the army was suspended, pending negotia¬ tions, and on the twenty-sixth Johnston surrendered his entire army, and the war was virtually ended. Soon after the One Hundred and Thirtieth marched to Greensboro, and thence to Charlotte, where it remained on guard duty until December 2, 1865, when it was mustered out of service and left for Indianapolis, where it arrived on the thirteenth and was finally dis¬ charged, its members justly proud of the record they had made.

The governors of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wis¬ consin, having offered to raise for the service of the general government a force of volunteers to serve for one hundred days, Governor Morton, on April 23, 1864, issued a call for Indiana's proportion of that force. The troops thus raised were to perform such military services as might be required of them in any state, and were to be. armed, subsisted, clothed and paid by the United States, but were not to receive any bounty. These troops were de¬ signed to aid in making the campaign of 1864 successful and decisive, by relieving a large number of veterans from garrison and guard duty, and allowing them to join their companies in arms, then about entering upon one of the most active and important campaigns of the war. Their places were filled by the one-hundred-day men as fast as the latter could be organized into regiment and sent forward from the camps or rendezvous. The organiza¬ tion from Indiana consisted of eight regiments, one numbered the One Hun¬ dred and Thirty-second, and one the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth.

The One Hundred and Thirty-second regiment was organized at In¬ dianapolis May 17, 1864, and was mustered into the service of the United States, with Samuel C. Vance as colonel, being ordered at once to Tennessee.

The One Hundred and Thirty-sixth regiment was organized at Indian¬ apolis and mustered into the service of the United States May 23, 1864, and was immediately after ordered to proceed to Nashville, Tennessee.

at different points along the Nashville & Chattanooga and Memphis & Charleston railroads, and until the latter part of August were kept constantly engaged in guarding those lines of communication, used by General Sherman for the transportation of supplies to his army, then advancing on Atlanta.

The regiments each served beyond the period of its original enlistment, when they returned to Indianapolis, where they were finally discharged.

One Hundred And Forty-Second Regiment

This regiment was recruited for the one-year service under the call of July, 1864, and was organized and mustered into the service of the United States at Indianapolis November 3, 1864, with John M. Comparet as colonel. On the eighteenth of November, the regiment left Indianapolis for Nash¬ ville, and on its arrival there, was assigned to the garrison of the post, and was assigned to the Second brigade, Fourth divison, of the Twentieth Army Corps, which division had been left in Tennessee, at the time the other divis¬ ions of that corps started on the march with Sherman from Atlanta to Savannah. During the battle of Nashville the brigade to which the One Hundred and Forty-second was attached, was in the reserve, and occupied the inner line of defense, extending from the Cumberland river to Fort Negley. After the battle the regiment was retained on duty at Nashville until it was mustered out of the service there, July 14, 1865, and left at once for Indianapolis, arriving there on the sixteenth, when the men were paid off and finally discharged.

One Hundred And Forty-Seventh Regiment

On December 20, 1864, a call was made for eleven regiments of infantry to serve one year, and subsequently five additional regiments for the same arm of the service and terms of enlistment were called for ; under those calls the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment, the One Hundred and Fiftythird, and the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Regiments were organized, mus¬ tered into the service of the United States, and sent into the field.

The One Hundred and Forty-seventh regiment was organized at Indian¬ apolis and mustered into the service of the United States March 13, 1865, with Milton Peden as colonel. On the 16th it left Indianapolis for Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and, on arriving there, marched to Charlestown, where it was assigned to one of the provisional divisions of the Army of the Shenan¬ doah. From that time until it was mustered out of the service, it was engaged in performing guard duty at Stevenson Station, Summit Point, Berryville, Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights. The regiment was mustered Out of service August 4. 1865, and left for Indianapolis, arriving there on the 9th, and a few days after the men were discharged.

One Hundred And Fifty-Third Regiment

This regiment was organized and mustered into the service of the United States at Indianapolis March 1, 1865, with Oliver H. P. Carey as colonel. It left Indianapolis on the 5th for Nashville, Tennessee, but was halted at Louis¬ ville, Kentucky, by order of General Palmer, in command in Kentucky, and sent to Russellville, Kentucky and from that point detachments were sent out to Hopkinsville, Bowling Green, and other points in that section of the country. Companies D, G and H were at different times engaged in fighting guerrillas, and lost five men killed and wounded. On the 16th of June the regiment returned to Louisville, and was assigned to duty at Taylor Barracks, in that city, where it remained until the 4th of September, when it was mus¬ tered out of the service and left immediately for Indianapolis, and on the 6th was finally discharged.

One Hundred And Fifty-Fifth Regiment

This regiment was organized and mustered into the service of the United States at Indianapolis, Indiana, April 18, 1865, with John M. Wilson as colonel. On the 26th of April, the regiment left Indianapolis for Washing¬ ton, and, upon its arrival there, was ordered to Alexandria, Virginia, and was assigned to the Provisional brigade of the Ninth Army Corps. On the 3rd of May it was transferred to Dover, Delaware, at which place companies were detached, and sent to Centerville and Wilmington, Delaware and Salisbury, Maryland. On the return to the regiment of two of the companies a railroad accident occurred, by which a large number of men were severely injured. The regiment was concentrated again at Dover, and mustered out of the ser¬ vice August 4, 1865, and left there soon after for Indianapolis, where it arrived on the 10th, and was finally discharged.

Twentieth Battery, Light Artillery

This organization was organized at Indianapolis and mustered into the service of the United States September 19, 1862, with Frank A. Rose as (29) * captain, and was ordered to Henderson, Kentucky, on the following 17th of December. The stay at Henderson was short, as the battery was soon ordered to Nashville, Tennessee. In January, 1863, the Twentieth turned its guns over to the Eleventh battery, in pursuance of orders, and was assigned to duty in the fortifications of Nashville, having charge of the siege guns. It remained there until the 6th of October, when, having received a new field battery of guns and full equipments, it was ordered to the front, and was assigned to duty on the line of the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad. The battery remained on this duty until March 5, 1864, when it was assigned to the Fourteenth Army Corps, and was stationed at Bridgeport, Alabama, as part of the garrison of that post. On July 20th, when it joined its command in the field, before Atlanta, it took an active part in the siege of that place, participating in the battles and skirmishes that occurred. After the passage of the Chattahoochie river, and after the battle of Jonesboro, it returned to Atlanta. The battery remained at that place until the 5th of November, when it was ordered to Chattanooga, and assigned to the command of Gen. J. B. Stea.dman. Soon after, it moved with other troops, composing that command, to Nashville, Tennessee, and took an active part in the battle, fought at that place on the 15th and 1 6th of December. It marched in pur¬ suit of Hood's demoralized and flying battalions as far as Courtland, Ala¬ bama, and then was ordered to Chattanooga, where, upon its arrival it was assigned to the Reserved Artillery Corps. It remained in Chattanooga, on duty in the fortifications at that place, until June 19, 1865, when it was ordered to Indianapolis, where it arrived on the 23rd, and on the 28th was finally mustered out of the service of the United States and the men dis¬ charged.

Grand Army Of The Republic

The following posts of the Grand Army of the Republic have been organized in Hamilton county: At Sheridan, organized October 5, 1882, the first in the county; at Noblesville, February, 1883; at Cicero, in July, 1883; at Westfield, in 1883; at Arcadia, in December, 1883; at Boxley, February, 1883; at Fisher's Switch, in 1884; Shielsville, in 1884; at Hortonville in 1886. With the passing of years the ranks of the old comrades of the Civil War have one by one dropped away and the posts to which they belonged gradually have had to surrender their charters, until the following only remain in existence: Sheridan, Noblesville, Cicero, Westfield and Arcadia. The following were the live posts and the officers thereof in the year 1914:

Cicero Post No. 207, at Cicero, has a membership of nineteen. It was organized July 5, 1883, and now has officers as follows: Commander, T. H. C. Beall; senior vice-commander, Samuel C. Gilkey; junior vice-commander, O. H. Cottingham; adjutant, N. B. Dewey; quartermaster, J. Y. Case; chap¬ lain, Andrew Berg; officer of the day, John Foster; officer of the guard, Elvin Reese; sergeant-major, Allen Turner; quartermaster-sergeant, Michael Kreag; patriotic instructor, T. J. Brown.

Fairfax Post No. 240, at Westfield has only eight members left. The date of its organization was September 22, 1883, and its present officers are: Commander, B. F. Hershey; senior vice-commander, James A. Williams; junior vice-commander, James A. Owen; adjutant, O. F. Brown; quarter¬ master, Calvin Keister; surgeon, W. C. Conklin; chaplain, R. F. Lenfester; officer of the day, W. H. Emery ; officer of the guard, John Gaspar; patriotic instructor, W. H. Conklin.

Hambright Post No. 270, at Arcadia, was organized December 19, 1883, and now has a membership of sixteen, its present officers being: Com¬ mander, W. H. Hartley; senior vice-commander, John Smith; adjutant, A. Guy; quartermaster, Samuel Devaney; officer of the day, T. J. Bishop. The remainder of the offices are not filled.

Lookout Post No. 133, at Noblesville, was organized February 10, 1883, with the following charter members, including officers: James H. Harris, commander; C. B. Williams, senior vice-commander; J. R. Fisher, junior vice-commander; F. M. Householder, adjutant; Isaac Booth, quarter-master; Adam Miesse, surgeon; A. H. Morris, chaplain; William Vance, officer of the day; Mark Davis, officer of the guard; William A. Fisher, sergeantmajor; John R. Metsker, quartermaster-sergeant; Cyrus J. McCole, John McClain, George Dempsey, P. Boren, John Boren, David W. Shock, Thomas J. Ross, O. P. Rooker, Harvey Reedy, John Harris, Joseph McKinsey, D. F. Hedges, Andrew Vogler. J. M. Gray, J. Messie, W. H. Bartholomew, John Hord, J. L. Colborn, J. R. Harris, J. J. Kelley and Thomas J. Reed.. There are now seventy-seven members in this Grand Army of the Republic post and it is by far the largest in the county. The probate court room at Nobles- ville has been the meeting place for this post for many years, and it is neatly furnished and its walls are decorated with pictures of gallant generals of the Civil War period, together with the post charter and pictures of Libby and Andersonville prison pens, as well as a copy of the famous picture of Custer's last charge. There is working in conjunction with this post a well organized Woman's Relief Corps, organized September 12, 1887, known as No. 72. The present officers of the post are as follows : Commander, Philip Rhoades ; senior vice-commander, William H. Cook; junior vice-commander, Benjamin F. Wise; adjutant, C. B. Williams; quartermaster, John E. Lake; surgeon, William H. Barker; chaplain, T. J. Burton; officer of the day, Jesse Venable; officer of the guard, Nathan Kiste; sergeant-major, John W. Pfaff; quarter¬ master sergeant, William E. Craig; patriotic instructor, A. J. Fryberger.

Spanish-American War

The cause of the Spanish-American War was the ill treatment accorded the Cubans by the Spanish government. The island had been in the possession of Spain since 1496, when Columbus first landed upon its shores and during the centuries of Spanish rule there had been many uprisings on the part of the inhabitants of the island. The revolt of 1897-98 was handled by Spain with merciless severity and finally the United States felt compelled to inter¬ vene. It is not true that the sinking of the Maine was the cause of the war, although it may have hastened the conflict.

Public sentiment in the United States undoubtedly forced Congress to action and there can be no question that the resolution of April 19, 1898, was heartily indorsed by the country at large. Four days later, April 23, Presi¬ dent McKinley issued a proclamation calling for one hundred and twenty-five thousand volunteers to serve in the army of the United States for two years, unless sooner discharged. The formal declaration of war was approved by the president on April 25, 1898. The text of the Act is given here in full:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled : First. That war be, and the same is hereby declared to exist, and that the war has existed since the twenty-first day of April, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, including said day, between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain.

"Second. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval force of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the United States, the militia of

"The number of troops from your state under the call of the President, dated April 23, 1898, will be four regiments of infantry and two light batteries of artillery. It is the wish of the President that the regiments of the National Guard or State militia shall be used as far as their number will permit, for the reason that they are armed, equipped and drilled. Please wire as early as possible what equipments, ammunition, arms, blankets, tents, etc., you will require.

As soon as the above message was received Governor Mount issued a proclamation to the people of Indiana asking for volunteers for the four regi¬ ments and the two batteries which was Indiana's quota. In that proclama¬ tion the governor announced that any member of the National Guard would not be compelled to go into active service "except upon his own free will and accord/' Any member whose business or domestic relations were such as to prevent his active service "will be permitted to stand aside honorably and without prejudice/'

In numbering the regiments after being mustered into the United States service it was determined to begin the numbers where the War of the Rebellion left off. The Third Regiment being the first ready was designated as the One Hundred Fifty-seventh. The Second Regiment was next and was the One Hundred Fifty-eighth. It was to the latter, the One Hundred Fiftyeighth, that Company I, organized at Sheridan, May 18, 1895, was attached. Orlando Cox, of Sheridan, was the captain of this company. Company I of Sheridan with three companies from Indianapolis, one each from Rochester, Frankfort. Franklin, Winchester, Covington, Martinsville, Kokomo and Crawfordsville composed the One Hundred Fifty-eighth Regiment of Indi¬ ana Volunteer Infantry. This regiment formed the Second Infantry Regi¬ ment of the Indiana National Guard. The regiment arrived at Camp Mount, April 26, 1898, under orders from the governor, for the purpose of being mustered into the service of the United States. After the physical examina¬ tion of officers and men, the regiment was mustered into the volunteer service of the United States on May 10, 1898, and left for Camp Thomas, Chickamauga Park, Georgia, on May 16, arriving there on May 18, and went into camp. Broke camp at Camp Thomas, August 25, under orders to proceed to Camp Poland, Knoxville, Tennessee, where it arrived August 26. Having been ordered home for muster out, the regiment left Camp Poland on Septem¬ ber 12, and arrived at Camp Mount on September 14. The regiment was furloughed for thirty days from September 17th and was finally mustered out and discharged November 4, 1898.

This company formed the main body of soldiers from Hamilton county. One or two volunteers entered regiments at different points in the state, and served as officers or privates. In the record of these volunteers from Hamil¬ ton county one thing is notable. Not one deserter is to be found in the whole list of Hamilton county boys. The list of the volunteers from Hamilton county in the Spanish-American War here given is taken from the "Record of the Indiana Volunteers in the Spanish-American War," which was issued (1900) by the Sixty-first General Assembly of Indiana. They were all en¬ rolled in Company I on April 26, 1898, and mustered out November 4, 1898.

One Hundred Fifty-Ninth Regiment

Company C was organized at New Albany, Floyd county, June 13, 1889, assigned as Company C, First Regiment Indiana National Guard. Richard L. Hines, musician, Noblesville, April 26, died August 12, 1898.

Company L organized at Vincennes, Knox county, for Spanish-American War, composed principally of students at Vincennes University. Walter Shirts, musician, Noblesville, April 26, mustered out November 23, 1898.

Company I organized at Tipton, Tipton county, April 25, 1898, assigned as Company I, Fourth Regiment Indiana National Guard. Harry Bues, private, Atlanta, April 26, appointed corporal July 13, 1898, appointed ser¬ geant December 13, 1898, discharged March 14, 1899. William Phillips, private, Atlanta, April 26, mustered out April 25, 1899. Benjamin Gorbit, private, Sheridan, June 27, mustered out April 25, 1899. William Rhoades, private, Atlanta, June 26, mustered out April 25, 1899. Gussie Paul, private, Sheridan, June 27, mustered out April 25, 1899.

Company K organized at Columbus, Bartholomew county for Spanish- American War. Wilfred Oliphant, corporal, Noblesville, June 27, mustered out April 30, 1899.

Company M organized at Plymouth, Marshall county for Spanish- American War. Charles A. Turner, private, Noblesville, April 26, mustered out November 1, 1898. Herbert Turner, private, Noblesville, April 26, mustered out November 1, 1898.

Company D organized at Indianapolis, Marion county. George W. McPherson, private, Noblesville, June 15, 1898, mustered out November 4, 1898.

There were a few soldiers from this county who were in the Philippine service for some time, among whom were Fred /Alexander, Harry Heiny and Frank Tucker.