Winona County, Minnesota - Chapter 61: Military Record, 1883

Chapter 61: Military Record

The military history of Winona county is one of the difficult, it were better to say impossible, things to write. It is a history not of regiments; only in isolated cases is it a record of complete companies; it is in the main only a narrative, broken but brilliant, ot the services of detachments, fragments of commands more anxious to serve their country and support the national government in its hour of peril than to be the recognized integers of some military brigade whose achievements should confer honor on Winona county, as the particular locality from which they came. The sparsely settled condi- tion of the county and the intense loyalty of the citizens, responding in some degree to every call that emanated from the governor of the state for another regiment, are largely answerable for the fact that the enlistments from Winona county are so scattered over all the regiments sent out from the state, that to trace the movements of these detachments, or even to determine accurately the number of soldiers furnished by the county for the suppression of the rebellion, is simply impossible. We shall, therefore, confine ourselves to a history of such regiments as contained whole or fragmentary companies from Winona county, and only to such fragmentary companies as contained so large a percentage of Winona county enlistments as to justly entitle -them to be regarded as Winona county companies. In accomplishing our task, rendered doubly difficult by the imperfect records of the adjutant-general's reports, we have searched every available record, all reliable memories have been invoked and no pains spared to make the history as full as there is material to write it from.

First Minnesota Infantry

April 16, 1861, four days after the rebels opened fire on Fort Sumter, Hon. Ignatius Donnelly, governor of Minnesota, issued his proclamation calling for one regiment of infantry of ten companies, each company to consist of one captain, two lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals and sixty-four privates and one bugler, seventy-six men in all, to serve for the term of three months. The regular volunteer militia companies of the state, already organized, were given the preference in the formation of the new regiment, and several companies were at once reported ready to rendezvous at Fort Snelling. Winona had no militia company organized, but determined if possible to secure a representation in the regiment called for, and took steps accordingly. A public meeting was held in the hall of HufTs hotel, April 19, and ended its session in the open air, the hall being unable to hold the excited populace. The next morning the active work of enlistment began, and the following is a verbatim copy of the original agreement under which the Winona company was enlisted, and which was in the handwriting of Henry C. Lester, afterward elected captain :

"We, the undersigned, mutually agree to unite ourselves together as the Winona Volunteer Company and tender our services to the state adjutant-general for the purpose of making a part of the Minnesota regiment of infantry for the purpose of sustaining the government of the United States in ]:»ursuance of the call of the government. The details of subsequent action to be arranged upon the receipt of proper instructions from the adjutant-general's otiice at St. Paul."

Active measures were undertaken by the citizens for the relief of such families as might need their care, on account of husband or son enlisting, and the work ot recruiting was prosecuted so vigorously that the full complement of men was obtained by the 26th of April, and having been notified that it would not be too late for acceptance, left Winona on Sunday morning, the 28th of April, for the rendezvous at Fort Snelling. The steamer Golden Era, on which the company had taken passage up the river, arrived at Fort Snelling on Monday morning, and the same day, April 29, 1861, the Ist reg. Minn. Vol. Inf. was mustered into the service for the term of three months, the Winona contingent being designated as Co. K, and ot which Capt. Lester was in command.

It was soon apparent that the war was likely to be more protracted than was at first deemed probable, and on May 3, 1861, a call came from Washington for 42,000 troops, to serve for a term of three years unless the war should sooner close. In response to this call the question of volunteering for three years instead of three months was submitted to the 1st Minnesota, and almost unanimously agreed to. Of the 76 men in Co. K who had enlisted for three months, over sixty agreed to the three-years term. Capt. Lester having obtained leave of absence for that purpose, returned to Winona, and the work of recruiting the company to the full standard recpiired, 101 men, was rapidly and patriotically prosecuted. Forty-six recruits for the three-years service were enlisted, and reached Fort Snelling May 21, 1861, and this regiment, the Fighting Fii'st of Minnesota, was the first regiment accepted for the threeyears service by the United States government. The com])any consisted of one captain, two lieutenants, five sergeants, eight corporals, eighty-two privates, one drummer, one fifer, and one teamster, as follows :

The whole number of recruits sent to tlie company cannot be accurately ascertained, but is usually placed at about seventy-live. The names of several of these - especially those who reached the company shortly after it took the field - have been preserved, and as far as known are as follows :

On the twenty-fifth day of May a flag was presented to the regiment by the ladies of St. Paul, with appropriate ceremonies. Three days later. May 28, a beautiful flag arrived at the fort, the gift of the ladies of Winona, who tendered it to the regiment through Capt. Lester, of the Winona company, by whom it was transmitted to Col. William A. Gorham. This flag was a beautiful national ensign, made by Genin, of New York. It was emblazoned with thirty-four stars, and bore on one of the stripes the simple inscription ''First Minnesota." There were twenty-five printers in the regiment, as it lay at Fort Snelling, and they formed a "shooting-stick" association, of which S. E. Stebbins, of tlie Winona "Republican," was made secretary. The association served to while away time in camp, but soon had sterner work on hand. While lying at Fort Snelling, Charles E. Ely, son of the elder, who had been rejected at Winona on account of his age, being but sixteen years old, put in his plea so strongly for a chance to tight his country's battles, that he was accepted, mustered in and saw some hard service as will subsequently appear.

Some of the companies of the 1st had been sent to garrison frontier forts, in order to relieve the regular troops, who were rapidly sent forward to the seat of war, and the boys were grumbling at their not "getting a whack at the Rebs," when most unexpectedly the order for marching southward came, and all was rejoicing and confusion. Couriers were immediately dispatched for the companies that had been ordered to Fort Abercrombie and elsewhere, and, in the language of a correspondent writing home, " the regiment fairly howled with joy."

About this time Dr. E. H. Patterson, of Winona, had received nt>tification of his appointment by the war department as a member of the state medical board, and was ordered to St. Paul to assume his duties, arriving there on June 16. June 18 Rev, E. D. Neil was elected chaplain of the 1st, and four days later the regiment was under marching orders for Washington. The steamers War Eagle and Northern Belle had been engaged to transport the troops, who where to proceed to Chicago in two detachments - one by way of Prairie du Chien, the other by way of La Crosse. The latter detachment contained the Winona company, and was on board the steamer Belle for La Crosse. Leaving Fort Snelling on the morning of June 22, the transport reached the Winona levee at 6.30 p.m., landed, and the troops marched out upon the levee, where, with open ranks, tiiey waited to receive the last farewell of friends. The leave-taking was short, and the boys, leaving sadder hearts behind than they carried in their own breasts, re-embarked for La Crosse, where they took the cars for Chicago. From Chicago to Pittsburgh the run was made in twenty-four hours, to Harrisburg in thirty-six, and from thence to Washington, after being uniformed, ai-riving at the capital on June 27. One week later they were posted on the road to Fairfax Court House, and the record of the First Minnesota Iwnceforth becomes a part of the military history of the war of the rebellion. The heroic achievements of the Fighting First can only be rapidly reviewed: July 21, 1861, in the first Bull Kun battle they were ordered to the front to support Rickett's battery, a position most trying to well disciplined troops, and one which Col. Gorham says, in his official report, "two other regiments refused to occupy." The Minnesota regiment supported the battery in good style, and only retired when commanded, taking up their new position in admirable order. In this engagement all the color-guard, except the bearer of the flag, were wounded, and the flag itself bore ample testimony to the severity of the fight, having been pierced by one cannon-ball, two grape-shot and sixteen bullets. The loss was thirty-nine killed and about one hundred wounded. Of these Co. K lost three killed, six wounded and one prisoner. After this battle the regiment received eighty-four recruits to fill its decimated ranks. Before the close of the year eighteen recruits were enlisted tor Co. K, and joined the command early in 1862. The battle of Bull Run had fully tried the temper of the regiment, and won for them a high reputation for bravery and steadiness, by virtue of which they were ever after assigned the post of honor, which is the post of danger. This fact is attested by the losses sustained during its three year's honorable service. When the regiment left the state it numbered 1,046 men; it was recruited up to 1,729 men subsequently, and of these only 416 remained on the rolls when it returned to the state. The regiment was present at the disastrous battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861, where it was ordered to cover the reti-eat of the left wing, and sixty-five men were detached to man the boats at Edwards' Ferry, in which the crossing was effected. The casualties here were slight, only one killed and one wounded. The regiment went into winter quarters in the camps around Washington, and took the field early in the following spring to serve under Gen. MacClellan, in his bloody peninsula campaign. Commencing with the siege of Yorktown in April, 1862, the Minnesota First was engaged in all that series of hard fights whicli, though comparatively fruitless in results, forever established tlie reputation of the citizen soldiers of the North, and covered the participants in these several engagements with imperishable laurels. The rebel forces were successively encountered at West Point, Fair Oaks, Peach Orchard, Savage Station, Glendale, White-oak Swamp, the two battles of July 1 and August 5 at Malvern Hill. Closing the campaign upon the peninsula with the second Malvern nilT engagement, the regiment returned to Washington, and, scarcely halting, on the following month, after a lesser tight at Vienna on Sejitember 2, took ])art in the tei-rible sti-iiggle at Antietam two weeks later, September 17, 1862. In this latter engagement the regiment again lost heavily, the casualties in the Winona company being four killed and six wounded, Captain Holtjcborn being am(mg the slain. In addition to the battles already mentioned, the regiment was in the tight at Charleston, Virginia. October 16, 1862, in both of the engagements at Fredericksburg, at Haymarket, and then in that most disastrous of all, the battle ol Gettysburg, fought July 2 and 3, 1863, closing their brilliant record with the Mine Run light, November 27, 1863. The battle fought by Meade, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, always accepted as one of the most stubbornly contested of the whole war, was that most particular occasion on which the glorious old First crowned a long series of brilliant achievements with the most dazzling of them all, and covered herself with imperishable fame. The lirst day's fight at Gettysburg closed with the advantages decidedly in favor of the enemy. Reynolds was killed, and the Union troops engaged were driven from the field and through the city, taking up a position on Cemetery Hill.

On the morning of the second days' fight, Longstreet massed his forces to crush the Union left under Sickles. A desperate struggle ensued, in which Gen. Sickles fell, and his troops were driven back with great slaughter, uncovering the left center of the T^nion army, which was to have been occupied by Hancock's cor})s, then rapidly approaching. Longstreet marched his victorious columns, 6,000 strong, directly upon this unprotected portion of Hancock's line, and would have penetrated it and won the battle, but for the First Minnesota, which was then, as she ever had been, in the front. Hancock saw that single regiment (some say 325 strong, Maj. Magiimis says 2.52) way in the front, and dashing up to Col. Colville, at the head of the First Minnesota, cried out, "Colonel, advance and take those colors I" It was a march to death. All knew it, all felt it. The desperation of despair was in Hancock's voice as he hoarsely cried, looking around upon the mere handful: "Great God! is this all the men we have here?" Five minutes' delay even would be of incalculable service. Could that victorious column only be stayed in its march until Gen. Williams' division could come into })Osition on the right the day might yet be saved. "Forward!" shouted Col.

Colville, and the doomed regiment stepped down the slope toward the enemy as steadily as if on review. No excitement, no word or cheer escaped their lips. Five color-bearers are shot down ; five times the tiag, proudly waving, goes on as before. As soon as the advance of the gallant First was noticed, the columns ot the enemy halted and poured in a murderous fire at fifty yards distance. In the language of Maj. McGinnis, the rebel flanks lapped around the heroic First like water round a rock. "Charge, men ! " ran along the line, and with a cheer, emptying their guns with the very muzzles at the hearts of their foe, the Minnesota boys were upon them with the steel. Xo ammunition was wasted. A clean swath was made in the rebel ranks, and the recoil upon their second and third supporting lines threw them into confusion. The time had been gained, a Union battery poured its fire into that confused mass and the astonished Minnesota boys, the few who were left, found no longer an enemy in their front. That rebel column had vanished from the field, and the hearty cheer of the Union reinforcements rose over the field. Maj. Maginnis says : "The almost fatal attack was repulsed ; but where was the First Minnesota ? Had they deserted the field for the first time ? This was the first idea that came to my senses, half oblivious of what had passed. But forty-seven men now gathered around the colors. Great heavens ! is it possible that the other 205 lie bleeding under there? Yes, they are all there within a hundred square yards of crimson sward - 205 killed, wounded, none missing." The colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major and adjutant were all wounded, and each severely ; out of twenty-one line ofiicers only were fit for duty.

We are in the midst of a terrible battle, and what remains of our regiment is now for the third day in the front line. Co. K went into the battle with twenty-nine men, of whom twenty-two beside the captain are either killed or wounded. The casualties thus far are :

Wounded - Sergts., M. Marvin, in the foot, and P. Carpenter, slightly. Corporals, Timothy Reily, severely, and John Einfelt and Charles North, slightly. Privates, Charles Behr, Chester L. Durfee. Israel Durr, Charles Ely and Peter Vosz, all severely ; J. S. Eaton, Charles Goddard, William Kinyon,

James Turner, Samuel B. Tenney and Louis Hansen, slightly. (Peter Vosz and Israel Durr died of their wounds soon after the battle). Col. Colville is severely wounded ; Lieut.-Col. Adams, mortally ; Maj. Downie and Adjt. Peller, severely ; Capts. Messick and Muller are killed, and Farrar mortally wounded ; Lieut. Farrar is killed, and Lieuts. Sinclair, May, Boyd, 1 )('marest, DeHiray and Mason, wounded. Two-thirds of the regiment are killed or w(ninded. We got the better of the enemy in the fight, and our regiment captured one stand of colors. Wm. Lochrkn, lieut. commanding Co. K, \st reg. Minn. Vols.

The regiment returned to the state the following winter, arriving at Winona February 12, 1864, where they were received as became the bravest of the brave, and then proceeded to the capital. Having completed its three years' term of service April 29, 1864, and the decision of the war department being to the eftect that the regimental organization could not longer be preserved, the First Minnesota was mustered out early in May. Under the impression that they would not be again required to do service beyond the state limits, many of the old veterans re-enlisted, and these with the recruits formed the 1st Minn. Inf Batt. This battalion, about 200 strong, was ordered to the front May 18, 1864, and, proceeding to Washington, arrived there June 2. Though contrary to their understanding at the time of re-enlistment the remnant of the old First were loyal to their colors, and met the enemy as they had ever done. Resuming their old work as part of the army of the Potomac, they were in the light at Petersburg, June 18, 1864, at the Jerusalem Plank roads on the 22d and 23d of the same month, and at Deep Bottom only four days later. This was rather active work for a battalion impressed with the idea that they had veteranized for state service, that the later enlisted regiments who had not borne the burden and heat of war might have a share in the perils and glory of ho, work at the front. But this was not the end of the battalion's services ; August 14, 1864, they were again under fire at Deep Bottom, and before the month closed had again met the enemy - this time at Ream's Station. Hatcher's Run engagement was participated in by them October 27,

The campaign of 1865 found them in the field, and they opened tlieir work of that year just where they closed it the previous fall - at Hatcher's Run - this second engagement occurring February 5, of new recrnits, joined the battalion, and the command as thus constituted took an active part in the campaign commencing March 28, and which resulted in the capture of Petersburg April 2, 1865, and the surrender of Lee's army just one week later. Four new companies joined the battalion at Berksville, Virginia, in April, and all marched to Washington, District of Columbia, in May, where, after being joined by two more companies, they were ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, in June. They continued in service until mustered out at Jeifersonville, Indiana, July 14, 1865, and were finally disbanded at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on the 25th of the same month. The number of men who joined this battalion as recruits from Winona county cannot be ascertained. The two companies forming the original battalion lost in killed, died from wounds, or other causes in the service, a total of forty-two men during the time they remained in service. Bj reference to the RepxMican tiles of 1861-5 it is quite certain that at least 150 men from Winona county entered the 1st regiment of infantry, and not less than forty-five the 1st infantry battalion, so that Winona is justly entitled to a credit of 195 men as her quota in furnishing the 1st regiment and battalion.

Second Regiment Minnesota Infantry

This regiment was partially recruited under the first call for troops, and it was intended by those who first interested tliemselves in recruiting the men, who subsequently became a part of this command, to form a company for the first regiment. That regiment filled its ranks so rapidly that more men ofifered than were needed, and those who could not join the first naturally took their places in the second. For this regiment Winona county furnished men as follows :

This regiment was organized under the call for three-years men, and was mustered into service in July, 1862. In tlie following October it was ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, and was there assigned to duty as part ot the army of the Ohio. January 19, 1862. the regiment had its iirst encounter with the enemy, at what is usually called Mill Spring, on the headwaters of the. Cumberland. The rebel forces, consisting of seven regiments of infantry, two battalions of cavalry, and six pieces of artillery, attempted to surprise the throe Union regiments lying between the river and Somerset. The Union forces were prepared to give them a warm reception, and after a severe light of two hours the battle was won tor the Union forces by a gallant charge of the 9tli Ohio, supported by the 2d Minnesota. The rebel loss in killed was 192 ; the Union loss 39 killed, 207 wounded. The 2d lost twelve men killed, or died from wounds received. This battle was followed by that of Corinth, Mississippi, in April, 1862, and were then transferred to the army of the Tennessee. September 18, 1862, Bragg made his famous proclamation to the Kentuckians, and entered the state, as he said, to stay. Buell delayed meeting Bragg for some time, but finally encountered him at Perryville, and after a hard tight, in which the greater losses were on the Union side, the rebels withdrew from the tield under cover of darkness. In this battle the 2d Minnesota was actively engaged, and sustained the reputation they had gained at Mill Spring. This action was fought October 8, 1862. They were in tiie battle of Chickamauga September 19 and 20, 1863, and lost quite heavily in killed and wounded. The Mission Ridge fight of November 25, 1863, added another to the list of hard-wo{i fights in which they had participated. In January, 1864, the regiment veteranized, and the following summer took part in the skirmishes and fights of the great Atlanta campaign, being engaged with the enemy at liesaca, June 14, 15 and 16 ; at Kenesaw Mountain, June 27; were with Sherman when he came through Georgia and down to the sea, through the Carolinas, their last engagement being at Bentonville. North Carolina, March 19, 1865. Returning home, they were mustered out at Fort Snelling, July 11, 1865.

The 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th regiments of infantry had so few members from Winona county that any particular mention of the service of these regiments seems unnecessary, only forty-two men from Winona county being enrolled in the four regiments named. These regiments were in the west, and the first two saw hard service in the sieges of Vicksburg and Atlanta, and all the series of brilliant battles fought in connection therewith. The 5th was also at the siege and assault upon Vicksburg.

The Seventh Kegiment Infantry

This regiment contained two full companies of Winona soldiers, and part of a third. Cos. B and D were exclusively recruited in this county, and several men from Co. G. The whole number enlisting from the county in the regiment being 258, nearly double the number enrolled in any other regimental organization, as having enlisted here. The names of officers and men, as they appear upon the rolls of Cos. B, D, G, are :

This regiment was mustered into service in August, 1862, but instead of being ordered south, as the men so much desired, they were sent to the frontier in the expedition against the Indians, where hard marching, little lighting and no glory was the order of the day. In September, 1862, they had a brush with the Indians, at Wood Lake, in this state, and spent the winter of 1862-3 in the forts on the Indian frontier. In May, 1863, they were ordered upon a second Indian expedition, and were engaged with the hostiles during the latter week in July of that year, at the battle of Big Mound, so called by way of distinction, but the campaign soon ended, and on October 7, 1863, the regiment was ordered to St. Louis. In April, 1864, they were sent to Paducah, Kentucky, Irom thence to Memphis, Tennessee, and in June of that year were assigned to the 16th army corps. Under Gen. A. J. Smith they started from Salisbury, fifty miles east of Memphis, on the 17th of July, 1864, and skirmishing with Forrest's cavalry reached Tupelo, Mississippi, July 14, where the rebel general had concentrated his command, 14,000 strong, and where he had resolved to fight. Three times the assault was made upon the Union lines and as often repulsed, Forrest being finally driven from the field with the loss of as many killed as the Union army had in both killed and wounded. August 7 and 8, 1864, the regiment was in action at Tallahatchie, and were thence ordered into Arkansas to pursue Price. Took part in the chase from Brownsville, Arkansas, to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, thence by boat to Jefferson City, thence to the Kansas border, and finally to St. Louis. The regiment was also engaged in the battles of December 15 and 16, 1864, at Nashville, Tennessee, and at the siege of Mobile, in April, 1865. The war having closed and their terra of enlistment having expired, tliey returned to the state and were mustered out at Fort Snelling, August 16, 1865, having been in the army at the south nearly two years.

The 9th regiment was organized in August, 1862, under the same call that brought the 7th into existence, and like that regiment was stationed upon the frontier, and engaged in guarding the western borders of the state from Indian depredations, until ordered south in September, 1863. It was largely engaged in the same skirmishes, raids and severer engagements as the 7th regiment, and the history of the one is so near the history of the other that a recapitulation is unnecessary. The 9th regiment, however, or that part ol it recruited from Winona county, Co. K, had a taste of Andersonville that did not fall to the lot of the more fortunate 7th. At the battle of Gunton, June 10, 1864, Gen. S. D. Sturges was completely outgeneraled by Forrest, and his whole command routed and driven back, "the pursuit continuing almost to Memphis. In this battle and retreat the 9th Minnesota lost heavily, 300 men being captured, most of whom were confined in the rebel pen at Andersonville. Company had thirty-two men taken prisoners, all of them strong, healthy, able-bodied men, and of these only eleven survived the terrible sufferings of that rebel slaughterhouse : one in three was the small pi-oporti(»n of the survivors. The prisoners reached Andersonville about June 20, and some of the few who survived the three months of barbarous cruelty and slow starvation were then sent to South Carolina, and released late in the month of November.

Militaey Recokd

The 11th regiment, the last infantry regiment raised in Minnesota for the war of the rebellion, was mustered in the service in August, 1864, and was principally engaged in defending the approaches to Nashville, guarding bridges and railway lines. No record of the Winona enlistments can be obtained. The lieutenant-colonel was John Ball, of Winona, who was first sergeant of Co. K of the old 1st Minnesota, who was successively promoted second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and received his captain's commission May 6, 1863. The quartermaster of the 11th was Nathaniel C. Gault, of this city, who is authority for the statement tliat of the men composing companies I and K of his regiment at least one-third (he thinks more than that) were from Winona county, and, as he spent nearly two months in assisting to secure enlistments throughout the county, knows whereof he speaks. This would make the quota furnished by this county about seventy men.

First Kegiment Heavy Artillery

The mounted rangers, sharpsliooters, Hatch's cavalry battalion, and Brackett's battalion of cavalry furnished, all told, tliirty-six of their men from Winona county, only one name appearing among the shar])shooters - that of Tlioraas Donlon - wliose name is not on the lists by commands herewith appended.

Brackett's battalion cavalry was organized in November, 1861, and was ordered to Benton barracks, Missouri, the following month. Their first assignment was to a regiment known as " Curtis Horse," and they afterward formed companies C, D and K of the 5th Iowa. They were at Fort Henry in February, 1862, at the siege of Corinth in April following, and at Fort Herman, Tennessee, the next August. Tliey became a veteran organization in 1864; were ordered to the northwest upon the Indian expedition of that year, and mustered out about June 1, 1866.

Hatch's battalion cavalry was organized in July, 1863, and was ordered to Pembina, Dakota Territory, in the following year. May, 1864, it was ordered to Fort Abercrombie, and there remained until mustered out, in the early summer of 1866.

First Regiment Mounted Rangers

The regiment was ordered upon the Indian expedition of May, 1864, and were stationed at frontier posts until mustered out in 1865 and 1866, by companies. Very many of this regiment were men who had served their terms of enlistment at the south and had re-entered the service as veterans.

First Battery Light Artillery

October, 1861, and the following December was ordered to St. Louis, and from that j>oint to Pittsburgh, landing the following Febriiarv, 1862. They took part in the battle of Shiloh, April 5 and 6, 1862 ; siege of Corinth the same month ; battle of October 3 and 4. 1862; the march to Oxford, Mississippi, and thence to Memphis, Tennessee, and were then assigned to the 17th army corps. In January, 1864, became a veteran organization, and were afterward ordered to Cairo, Illinois, thence to Huntsville, Alabama, and from there to Altoona, Georgia, and to Ackworth in the same state. They took part in the battles of Kenesaw Mountain, the siege of Atlanta, July 22-28, 1864, and then took the route through Georgia and the Carolinas with Sherman's army in the great march. They were mustered out at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, June 30, 1865. The Winona county members of this batteiy were :

Second Battery, Light Artillery

The 2d battery was organized in December, 1861, and was not ordered from the state until the following April, when it went south to St. Louis, first, and afterward to Corinth, Mississip])i. This command as well as the 1st battery saw hard service, and did effective work. The}' were at the siege of Corinth ; upon the track of Bragg during his Kentucky raid, and then assigned to the army of the Tennessee, were at the battle of Perryville, October 8 and 9, at Lancaster, October 12 ; Knob Gap, December 20, 1862, and ten days later, at the sharp light at Stone Kiver, Then followed Tullahoma, the march to Rome, Georgia, via Stephenson, Alabama, Caperton's Ferry, and finally to Lookout Mountain. September 19 and 20, 1863, they were in the Chickamauga light ; then at Mission Kidge, November 25 ; thence through Kihggold, Georgia, to the relief of Knoxville, Tennessee, and at Buzzard's R(wst Gap. The battery veteranized in March, 1864, and were in the battle of Nashville, December 15 and 16, ol that year. Returned to the state and were mustered out at Fort Snelling, July 13, 1865.

Second Battery, Light Aktillery Third Battery, Light Artillery

The number ol men killed, wounded, captured, missing, died in service of wounds or sickness, cannot be accurately given. The reports are too incomplete, and private statements too conflicting to be relied upon for a historical narrative. The men furnished by Winona county, whose names appear above, aggregate 801. Add to these the unknown recruits ol the 1st regiment and battalion ol infantry, the enlistments in the 11th infantry, and others whose names cannot be given in the 8th regiment, and it is certain that Winona county lurnished not less than 1,000 men for national defense during the war of the rebellion. It must not be forgotten, however, that while Minnesota was thus loyally endeavoring to do her part in the great struggle for national existence, she was for a time seriously handicapped by an Indian war on her own frontier. To meet this incursion of the hostiles calls were made upon the various sections of the state for volunteers for this special purpose.

Among the responses made to this call was that of Winona, in furnishing and equipping a com]>any of cavalry for the Indian campaign. This company, enlisted by C. F. Buck, left Winona for the frontier September 1, 1862, and are in no way included among the troops mentioned in the foregoing list. There were also several incidents connected with the "home army," the men wlio stayed behind and furnished the sinews of war ; the women who gave time, and prayers, and tears, and means, and loving sympathies to the work of sustaining the courage, and ministering to the health of the sick, and the needs of the wounded in camp and hospital. A few of these incidents illustrative of Winona county loyalty and zeal are here given.

The Winona Soldiers' Aid Society was established in the fall of 1861. Some time in April, 1864, a communication was received from St. Paul requesting the Winona society to become a branch of a state sanitary commission which the people at the capital were then organizing, or had just organized. The reply of the secretary of the Winona Soldiers' Aid Society is a little too long for publication, but here are some of the points. The Winona society had contributed $2,675.25, for the benefit of the soldiers since November 12, 1862 ; the St. Paul society had sent no sanitary supplies for tw^o years, though the cit}^ was three times as populous as Winona ; the Winona society was then shipping at the rate of fifty bushels a day; had recently pushed out for the organization of auxiliary societies, and had then thirty in active operation. Of the amount previously mentioned, Winona city had contributed all save $150 ; the ladies also had a $200 box ready for the Mississippi sanitary fair, and had just put in operation a plan by which they expected to secure a contribution of 6,000 bushels of wheat from the southern Minnesota farmers. The writer of the letter pointed the whole by declining to become tributary to a society located in a place three times as populous as Winona, and yet which, according to the published reports of the jN. W. Sanitary Society, had not sent forward one dollar's worth of sanitary su]>plies in two years.

When the call for 500,000 troops was made by the government in 1861, John A. Mathews, of this city, offered a flag of the value of $100 to the first com])auy that would organize under that call in Winona county. The honors fell to Co. B, Ttli reg. Inf., Ciyjt. Curtis commanding ; the flag was presented April 16, 1863, and consigned to the care of Capt. Curtis, then ab home on leave of absence. The flag itself was a beautiful national ensign, regulation size, manufactured to order by Tiffany & Co., of New York. The material was of heavy silk, the stars embroidered in white silk thread on a blue field. It was furnished with a jointed staff, surmounted with an eagle and tipped with silver. The silver plate on the staff bears the inscription "Presented by John A. Mathews, to Co. B, Capt. John Curtis, 7th reg. Minn. Yols. It is by no means necessary to record the patriotic work of the citizens of Winona county in supplementing the work of their fathers, brothers, sons and husbands at the front. No regiment, either of their own or neighboring states, passed through the city without experiencing the hospitality of the generous citizens, to whom a soldier was always a son of the country, and a regiment or company of them a most welcome guest. The frequent visits of citizens, on private account or commissioned by Soldiers' Aid or other societies to the front, will long be remembered by those who received their welcome visits in camp or in hospital. The letters sent home recounting the heroism ot loved ones in the hour of danger, and the unselfish messages that came from the suffering ones will never be forgotten. But these are only the universal experiences, and these mementoes but the general possession of the nation, Winona being but one among the tens of thousands of such communities all over the north from April, 1861, to April, 1865. The amount of Winona's private benefactions, independent of the public moneys voted for bounty, and which were derived from direct tax levied upon the property, footed up about $52,000, including private subscriptions for bounty funds. No draft was ever actually resorted to to fill Winona's quota; the enrollment was frequently made, and two or three times a draft was ordered, but a more careful enumeration of the actual enlistments within the county always showed that the quota of the county was either in excess or filled, or so nearly so that the actual conscription was unnecessary, and so it was to the end. Winona county met all demands upon her most nobly, and left in the record of her loyal sons a legacy of true devotion to government, and of deep attachment to the principles of the "fathers," and of abiding faith in the perpetuity of republican institutions that will enrich all after generations of her citizens.