Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin - Chapter 8: War and Warriors, 1912

Patriotic Fond Du Lac

The part taken by Fond du Lac county in the Civil war gave her a most honorable place in the archives of the state and nation. The people of the community were loyally and heartily for the maintenance of the Lmion and were ready and willing to assist the president in putting down rebellion and kill¬ ing the viper of secession. The traitorous assault upon the flag at Fort Sum¬ ter was heard with the intensest indignation and horror by the great body of the citizenry of Fond du Lac county and when the astounding news was fully realized that Fort Sumter had surrendered all was excitement and the eager¬ ness for details was beyond description. Business stopped on every side. The merchant, banker, lawyer, farmer and artisan jostled one another to learn every detail of the great crisis that had come upon the nation. Meetings, in halls and upon street corners, were addressed by citizens of influence and the local journalists printed regular and extra editions of their papers, which teemed with intelligence relative to the situation, crowding out the more prosaic items of general interest. The presses were kept busy and editor, compositor and pressmen were taxed to the limit of physical endurance.

The news that Fort Sumter had been fired upon and had surrendered, reached Fond du Lac, Ripon and Waupun, Saturday evening, April 13, 1861. but was not generally disseminated until Sunday. Everything was dropped and people rushed to the centers of population and information for the latest news. Newspapers were in demand and commanded almost any price, one man pay¬ ing a dollar for the Chicago Tribune. Impromptu meetings to sustain the gov¬ ernment were held everywhere, the first of which any record was left being held Sunday evening, April 14th in the city of Fond du Lac. On Thursday evening the largest meeting ever held in this city was addressed at Amory Hall by Edward S. Bragg, J. M. Gillet, S. E. Lefferts and Mason C. Darling. The intensity of the excitement, patriotism and enthusiasm manifested cannot be described. Resolutions upholding the government and couched in the strongest possible language were adopted. About $4,000 was raised to care for the families of the soldiers and pledges were offered on every hand to furnish wood, meat, flour and provisions to soldiers' wives and children. Men of- tereil houses free of rent; physicians offered medical attendance free of charge, and the city council voted at a special meeting, although it had no right to do so, ings were appointed in almost every schoolhouse in the county, and speakers were in great demand. The demand, however, was supplied as men who had never made a speech before, and have not since, proved to be fountains of pa¬ triotic eloquence. The Reporter of Fond du Lac, in its issue of April 27, 1861, thus briefly, but graphically describes the excitement of the hour:

"We should perhaps make an apology that the Reporter is lacking this weekin the usual amount of matter. The events of the week have occupied our whole attention. Our workmen are worn down with night work in getting out extras of telegraphic reports, which we print morning and evening. Nor can we publish all the war news for want of room and for want of typesetters to get up the type. Two of our workmen have enlisted. .

"The war feeling is so intense and absorbing that much of the business of our city has been stopped; men are collected in crowds on the streets and be¬ fore the recruiting office of Colonel Lefferts. Mechanics have left their shops, clerks their desks, printers their cases, laborers their usual employments, and all are prepared to take up arms in defense of the flag of their country."

Captain John McGinnis offered the services of the Hibernian Guards of Fond du Lac, five days after Governor Randall's proclamation was posted, and they were accepted. This was the first offer of a company from Fond du Lac county. It was not the first company to leave for camp, as it was composed of only thirty men who were willing to fight, and some recruiting was necessary to secure the necessary seventy-eight.

The first man to enlist in Fond du Lac county was Colwert K. Pier, and the second was Christian Klock. This was on Monday forenoon, April 15, and they signed the roll in S. E. Lefferts' office at 494 Main street.

Party lines were nearly obliterated, old feuds were forgotten and a new era in good fellowship and patriotism inaugurated. Old enemies, both political and social, met at recruiting gatherings and made speeches together. Patriotism and a desire to do something for their country were not confined to the men. The ladies were busy preparing little things for the soldiers to take with them ; making flags, committing patriotic songs, making rosettes of red, white and blue, and lending their influence by being present at all war meetings. When the first company left Fond du Lac, each member was presented by the ladies with an elegant silk rosette and a Testament, and the company with a large and costly flag. These were presented at Amory Hall on Tuesday evening, April 31, at which time the company assembled to take the army oath. W. C. ' Kellogg administered the oath, and so enthusiastic were the spectators that one and all arose and took the solemn obligation also. Rev. George B. East¬ man made a prayer and E. S. Bragg the following speech :

''Citizen Soldiers : In obedience to your patriotic impulses to defend the flag hallowed by the blood of patriots, the maintenance of which was be¬ queathed to you as a legacy of a glorious ancestry, you are about to bid adieu to friends and kindred, to put off the garb of peace and assume the 'slow measured tread of grim visaged war.' In days of old, the knights did his devoir under the colors of his 'ladye-love.' The remembrance of the sweet.

sad parting cheered him when gloom was stealing o'er his spirit, and rendered doubly dear the achievements of his arm. In later days - in the times which tried men's souls - the women of America cheered the soul of the patriot ; the mother gave her husband and son as willing offerings, and the maiden wiped the death-damp from the brow of her lover without a murmur. The race of noble women is not yet extinct. They are as ready now as then, at their coun¬ try's call, to make the sacrifice.

"Captain McCall, through me the women of Fond du Lac bid you and your soldiers God-speed in your holy purpose. By my hand they entrust you with these colors as a parting token. Maintain them in the front of the battle. Let them never be sullied by an ignoble act on the field, or in the camp. Protect them, if need be, with your blood, remembering always that they possess the talismanic power of a woman's blessing."

"On behalf of the Badgers, I tender to the ladies of Fond du Lac our heart¬ iest thanks for this beautiful flag, assuring them that each and all of us, rank and file, will do our utmost to protect it from dishonor. And whether on the field or in camp, on duty or off, the remembrance of the fair givers will ever be cherished."

Two days after this, May 2, 1861, the company took its departure amid a strange commingling of cheers, sobs and tears. The train left Thursday morn¬ ing over the Chicago & Northwestern railway from Fond du Lac, and the city was literally jammed with people from all parts of the county, to whom the idea of war and the sight of soldiers wer'e novel and inspiriting.

Before their departure, a splendid dinner was served by the proprietor of the Lewis House, B. S. Patty, while the bands discoursed music, and patriotic speeches were made outside the hotel. This company (I), called the "Badger Boys,'* was assigned to the First Wisconsin Regiment, was the first body of Fond du Lac men to start for the war, and consisted of the following officers and privates:

Captain, James V. McCall: first lieutenant, Thomas H. Green; ensign,. Henry Decker; first sergeant, Lyman M. Ward; second sergeant, William S. Burrows; third sergeant, Walter T. Coneys; fourth sergeant, Ed. F. Ferris ; first corporal, Ed. T. Midgely ; second corporal, Milton Ewen ; third corporal,. Timothy F. Strong, Jr.; fourth corporal, Henry Taylor.

T. Wilkins, Parley E. Wilson, George E. Wood, John Wiley, M. D. Wilson, Robert Whittleton, H. Walters, Delos A. Ward, Byron A. Wheeler and Charles Williams.

Innumerable copies of the Star Spangled Banner, and miniature flags, on which were printed various patriotic mottoes, and extracts from the speeches of men, were scattered about the country, and the work of recruiting went on at an astonishing rate, the time of enlistment at first being for only ninety days. Flags floated everywhere. Bulletins naming the prominent men who had enlisted and scraps containing the seditious utterances of southern men and officers were freely circulated to increase, if possible, the enthusiasm for enlisting, and at the war meetings men who could not enlist would "bid" for volunteers. That is, A would call out, "I will give $50 for the next volunteer;" B would say, "Fll give $100 and so on until another volunteer was secured, the meetings continuing until late at night. A description of the wild excitement and intense enthusiasm of one war meeting would apply to all of them, and they were held everywhere in the county.

The following card, printed on imitation bank paper, was suddenly and un¬ accountably found in liberal circulation, furnishing the salaries of soldiers in different positions: colonel, $218 per month; lieutenant colonel, $194; ma¬ jor, $175; captain, $118; first lieutenant, $108.50; second lieutenant, $103.50; brevet second lieutenant, $103.50; first, or orderly sergeant, $29; other ser¬ geants, $27; corporals, $22; privates, $20, and musicians, $21 per month.

These figures, though not correct, mixed well with the enthusiasm of the hour and recruiting went on more rapidly than ever, until it was announced in one of the local papers of May 25, 1861, that "Fond du Lac county had fur¬ nished a greater number of volunteers than any other county in the state, not even excepting Milwaukee. We have now nine full companies and three more nearly full, more than enough for one full regiment. Of these, six companies have enlisted for three years, or during the war. Should the exigencies of the war require it, we are confident the number could be doubled in this county. Our volunteers compare favorably with any in the state. They are a fine, ablebodied set of men, who entered into this business because they felt it their duty to do so, leaving their fields and workshops and occupations to be supplied by others. It is an indisputable fact that Captain McCall's company stands at the head of First Regiment for good order, sobriety and military bearing. They have earned a reputation in their short period of camp life, of which they may well feel proud. Should their example be followed by the remaining com¬ panies, Fond du Lac will have the proud distinction of having better men in the field, as well as more of them, than any county in the state."

In a very few days after the first company was organized under Captain J. V. McCall, within thirty days from the time Governor Randall's proclamation appeared in Fond du Lac county, the following six companies had been or¬ ganized, officers chosen and their services accepted: Captain Emerson's "North Star Rifles," of Taycheedah ; Captain John McGinnis' "Union Guards," of Fond du Lac: Captain Gage's "Hamilton Guards," of the towns of Osceola, Auburn, Ashford and that vicinity; Captain E. S. Bragg's "Rifles," of Fond du Lac; Captain Bertine Pinckney's "Rosendale Guards," of Rosendale ; Captain O. H. La Grange's "Ripon Rifles," of Ripon ; Captain Clark's "Waupun Light Guards," of Waupun, and the "Oakfield Rifles."

Before this time Company I had begun to have "some experience," and it will be interesting to know what it was and how the members liked it. Many of the boys had been accustomed to fine clothes, luxurious homes and plenty of money, and not a few of them took along well filled trunks. C. K. Pier wrote weekly letters to the Fond du Lac Reporter, signing himself "Trewloc," in one of which he said :

"We have at last received our clothes, which they call uniforms, although one would think to see the company on parade, that the tailor had warranted each uniform to fit the largest man or the smallest boy. The cloth is gray, of various shades ; much of it is of poor quality and will not stand hard service. The pants have a black cord down the sides and the coats have brass buttons and stand-up collars. On Monday (May 13), Colonel Starkweather presented the regiment with a remnant of Washington's flag. Yesterday (May 15) we commenced our second course on soldiers' fare. One more, and we will be on regular army rations. The contract has been let to feed us at thirty-nine cents per head. Each man has a metal plate, spoon, knife and fork, which he must take care of himself. About six o'clock, the orderly sergeant calls out, 'Com¬ pany I, fall in for breakfast,' and, as the call is passed from tent to tent, you take your plate in one hand, knife, fork, cup and spoon in the other, and step into the ranks. But be careful as you step into the eating house that you do not slip down in a pool of coffee. As the boys range themselves along the rough table, the orderly commands, 'Inward face - take seats.' At first, a teacup of mustard, a box of pepper, salt and vinegar, are the only articles in the line of victuals to be seen ; but, immediately, a pan filled with slices of bread an inch or more in thickness, another of boiled potatoes, followed by one filled with meat, come in rapid succession. The bread is "baker's' and good ; the potatoes are good enough, and the meat - well, as to meat and gravy, we won't take any this morning. The waiter fills your cup with coffee, which you sweeten and taste. It is cold, and appears inclined to coagulate. Another waiter appears, and while steam rises in large volumes from his pitcher, cries out, 'Hot cof¬ fee!' You want some of course, but what is to be done? Your cup is full, you cannot swallow its contents, and there is no dish in which to empty it. You look around and find everybody in the same fix. Finally, a sly one comes to 'about face' and pours his coffee on the ground. In an instant you follow suit, and so do the others. Now it may be understood whence came the pools of coffee on the ground. * * * After finishing your meal, should you wish to clear your plate of fragments, you empty them on the table or where you did the cold coffee. You clean your dish with bread, dip it in a large dish of hot water and wipe it with paper."

The boys got their pay about the 1st of June, and their genius was taxed to smuggle "liquid dry goods" into camp, as it was against the rules to be caught with a bottle. On Monday before the First Regiment left Camp Scott at Milwaukee, the death of one Monroe, of Company C, took the spirit nearly all out of the boys. On the 9th of June, they started for the front, and the * journey to Maryland was one continuous ovation. Music, cannon, cheers, ice water, hot coffee, lunches, fruits, papers, pretty girls and shouting men met them at everv depot. At one village in Ohio, the people were so enthusiastic as to allow their daughters to board the train and ride with the soldiers until the returning train was met. Some of the Fond du Lac boys put up at hotels and were liberal with money received from friends and relatives at home. Their first fighting was at Falling Waters, in Virginia, July 2, 1861. It was a wild, harum-scarum battle, but the boys thought it was a big thing. The First Reg¬ iment lost one man (jiot from Fond du Lac county), and C. K. Pier wrote home that he saw two of the enemy stretched dead in a field, while David Bab¬ cock sent back word that "in the free and rapid distribution of bullets, the rebs had attained a proficiency that was truly astonishing." Afterward, the bat¬ tle of Falling Waters was a standing joke among the veterans, and is to this day.

Lyman M. Ward went out from Fond du Lac in the first company of the First Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers. He was the author of "Dodge the Big Ones."

After serving with the original First, Colonel Ward, as he was familiarly known, helped to organize, and from the beginning to the end, was identified with the Fourteenth Regiment. At Pittsburg Landing, notwithstanding the terrors and disasters of the first day's fight, the Fourteenth absolutely refused to break or run. Their splendid behaviour won for them the title, "Fourteenth Wisconsin Regulars." Three times during the second day they charged and captured a rebel battery and each time for want of proper support were com¬ pelled to let go their prize. Most every one has heard in one shape or another the story of the officer who told his men they might dodge "the big ones," but few are acquainted with the real incident which gave it origin.

While forming the line for the fourth charge, this regiment drew the con¬ centrated fire of all the enemy's guns within range. Shell, grape and solid shot swept over and about them with shriek, hiss and roar, which only one who has been there can appreciate. The colonel passed along, cautioning the men to stand steady, assured them that they had that day made their names immortal, to keep their ranks solid, that a man was as apt to dodge in front of a bullet as to avoid it, and that another hour would surely give them the victory. Just then a perfect tornado of iron and lead swept over their heads. Every man and officer involuntarily dodged, when Lieutenant Ed. Ferris said:- "But Col¬ onel. when they shoot a cooking stove right past a man's ear, can't he dodge just a little?"

Five minutes later the regiment again went for that battery and never let go of it. As a trophy of that day's service, the government assigned one of the captured guns to the state, and it is now at Madison.

The Draft

There was. some excitement in Fond du Lac county when the order for the first draft was promulgated. This was not because of the large number of men to be drawn, for the quotas of most of the towns and wards were pretty nearly full; but because a. local paper had said the government had no right to

"tear men from their homes to be butchered for the tyrants at Washington," which caused a misapprehension to grow up in some quarters as to what a draft really was. Many expected a squad, of armed soldiers would appear at their doors with handcuffs and chains, to take all the male inmates at all haz¬ ards. When this misapprehension was corrected, there was less excitement and fewer threats of resistance.

The draft was begun by the sheriff in Fond du Lac county about the ist ot September, 1862. Dr. W. H. Walker was examining surgeon, with his office at Fond du Lac. The Ripon Times gave a graphic account of the appalling number of men who were attacked with fatal maladies during August, while the draft papers were preparing, and the Saturday Reporter, of Fond du Lac, in its issue of September 20, said:

"For one whole week the draft commissioner's and surgeon's office in this city has been crowded with applications for exemption. The sidewalk in front of the stairway in Darling's block has been crowded and the passage crammed full. A large number of certificates have been issued, attesting to the great de¬ gree of mortality prevailing. No doubt in many cases the applicants were un¬ fit for military duty and should not be abused for applying there, but so many robust and healthy men have come up that some wag put a sign over the door labeled 'Cowards' Headquarters,' and no doubt, it was with justice to hun¬ dreds we have seen under it."

M. W. Seely was county commissioner and had an office at Fond du Lac for the purpose of examining the evidence of those who claimed exemption from military service, under Order No. 99 of the War Department. These exemp¬ tions were granted where men had been convicted of felony, or were members of families with a certain number in the service, or were the necessary sup¬ port of children or aged and infirm.

Captain E. L. Phillips of Fond du Lac was appointed the ist of May, 1863, as provost marshal of the fourth district of Wisconsin, in which was the county of Fond du Lac. It was his duty, among others, to superintend the draft. The provost marshal's office for the district was at Fond du Lac. The second draft took place in November, 1863, under Captain Phillips. The number en¬ rolled in Fond du Lac county as subject to draft was as follows: Alto - class 1. 166; class 2, 71; Auburn - class 1, 73; class 2, 97 : Ashford - class 1, 122; class 2, 85; Byron - class 1, 111 ; class 2, 88; Calumet - class 1, 64; class 2, 65; Eden - class 1, 102 ; class 2, 137: Empire - class 1, 84; class 2, 85; Eldorado - class

This was a large draft. About twenty per cent of those who "drew prizes" when the wheel turned in Amory Hall, at Fond du Lac, presented themselves for duty. After this draft had been ordered and the enrollment begun, the melancholy feelings of men of sound body and middle age who suddenly re¬ ceived word that their friends in Canada were "very sick - not expected to live,*' were sorrowful to behold. Twenty who thus suddenly learned of illness among their Canada friends left Fond du Lac in a single night. Thirteen left Waupun on a certain Sunday evening, and about the same number tore them¬ selves away from Ripon. Canada did not at that time appear to have well ones enough to properly care for the sick and the good men of Fond du Lac could not see them suffer.

In November, 1863, a Draft Association was formed, with headquarters at Fond du Lac. S. D. Stanchfield was president ; Edward Beeson, vice presi¬ dent ; Keyes A. Darling, treasurer; and T. D. Pooles, secretary. Each member paid a certain initiatory fee, and if the fund thus obtained was not sufficient to pay the $300 for each member drafted, a pro-rata assessment sufficient for that purpose was made.

After the November draft had taken place, Provost Marshal Phillips' office was thronged night and day. The substitute business was also good, but more than one-half of those hired or purchased as "subs" decamped for Canada as soon as they secured the $300 bounty, with some additional local bonuses. These "bounty- jumpers" were mostly natives of Canada, who made a business of getting money in the manner mentioned.

The next draft was in October, 1864 - the vigor with which recruiting was pushed, making Fond du Lac able to escape a draft in January, 1864, even if it had not been postponed. There was another call March 14, 1864, for 200,- 000 men for the navy, which, with the two previous calls for 300,000 and 200,- 000 men, respectively, swelled the number to 700,000. This made the num¬ ber to come from Wisconsin large; but Fond du Lac county, as a whole, not only escaped this draft, but in some towns had credits ahead of her quota.

year past, of all other districts in the state in filling the calls made. It has fur¬ nished also a greater per cent of drafted men for duty and of commutation money than any other district in the state. This, we think, is due almost en¬ tirely to the able management of affairs at the headquarters of the district. The state does not have three more efficient officers than Captain Phillips, Com¬ missioner Burchard and Surgeon Carey."

The draft of October, 1864, was made in Spencer Hall, Fond du Lac, on Wednesday, October 5th, for Fond du Lac county, or rather the towns of El¬ dorado and Auburn. Eden, Osceola and Ashford were behind, but before the draft for the balance of the district was completed had filled their quotas and no draft was had for their benefit. For Auburn 132 names were enrolled as

On the Saturday succeeding this draft one of the Fond du Lac papers had the following, giving the names of the drafted : "More than one-half of the men drafted in Eldorado on Wednesday have run away."

On Friday, January 27, 1865, a supplemental draft was made for the more delinquent towns of the fourth district, and the town of Eldorado was the only one in Fond du Lac county for which the draft wheel was turned. The de¬ ficiency was 17 at this draft, but only one man was secured.

The last draft in Fond du Lac county was conducted by General Charles S. Hamilton, who was appointed provost marshal of the fourth district, in place of Captain E. L. Phillips, about the middle of March, 1865. This draft was for only a portion of the county, many towns and wards having their quotas more than full. The draft was for Eldorado, with a deficiency of 60; Forest, with 21 ; Auburn, with 14 ; Osceola, with 16; Eden, with 11 ; and Ashford, with 7. The marshal thought it necessary to post the law against draft riots in some of these towns. The men drafted this time never saw active service, the war closing soon after.

The first man to shed Wisconsin blood on a southern battlefield in the re¬ bellion was Lieutenant William A. Matthews, of - Company G, First Wisconsin Volunteers, who was severely wounded at the battle of Falling Waters, in July, 1861, in Virginia. He enlisted at Fond du Lac, his home. The last Wisconsin blood shed was at the capture of Jeff Davis, in Irwin county, Georgia, May 10, 1865, when several men were wounded by volleys fired by a detachment of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry upon a detachment of the First Wisconsin Cavalry.

The Third Regiment was quartered during several weeks at Camp Hamil¬ ton, in Fond du Lac city. Edward Pier and John W. Carpenter had the con¬ tract to supply the men with food, which they did for thirty-eight cents apiece per day. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Charles S. Hamilton and consisted of ten full companies, or about eight hundred men. This regiment broke camp at Fond du Lac and left for the front on Friday, July 12, 1861. The ladies gave to nearly every soldier some article of comfort before the regi¬ ment left Fond du Lac.

Captain Emerson's "North Star Rifles" of Taycheedah left for camp, Mon¬ day, June 24, 1861, and Captain E. S. Bragg's "Rifles" left July 1, 1861. His company consisted of 120 men. This company was raised by Captain Bragg.

Company A of the Thirty-second Regiment was in camp for a while in 1861, at the fair grounds in Fond du Lac, but soon afterward joined the regi¬ ment in Camp Bragg, at Oshkosh.

Colonel Edward Colman had a recruiting office over the office of the Bank of the Northwest. Other recruiting offices were opened by Sergeant M. W. Petters and Sergeant Higgins during 1862.

The town of Empire held a war meeting August 22, 1862, and voted $3,000 for bounties to those who would enlist before the draft, which was expected to take place on the 1st of September following.

The "Fond du Lac Mill Boys" composed a company of one hundred and four men, enlisted by Captain Alexander White, in Fond du Lac, in August, 1862, nearly everyone of whom was a mechanic, machinist or millwright. As Captain White was a splendid machinist and mechanic, being one of the own¬ ers of the Hiner & White Iron Works, it was said of his company that they could build and equip a railway with cars and locomotives, build a mill, make a rifled cannon, erect a truss bridge, or do anything in the mechanical line, even to making clocks and watches. In this company five Derusha brothers and six of their brothers-in-law enlisted. No company in Fond du Lac ever got such a large number from one family. This company went into camp at Osh¬ kosh, September 1, 1862.

In October, 1862, nearly one hundred negroes, - men, women and children - arrived in Fond du Lac from northern Alabama, in charge of the chaplain of the Fourteenth Regiment. They were mostly taken as servants in the city of Fond du Lac.

In November, 1862, Roswill M. Sawyer and William A. Dewey were placed upon Brigadier General C. S. Hamilton's stafif. General Lyman M. Ward en¬ listed at Fond du Lac as a private and won all his promotions by gallant con¬ duct on the field of battle.

Prairie Grove was one of the hottest battles of the war. Captain Strong's company from Ripon was highly complimented for the part it took in that en¬ gagement.

In the Ripon papers of December, 1862, was a long letter giving a descrip¬ tion of governing cities in the south by military law, and particularly how Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia, were being governed by Major Alvan E. Bovay, who was provost marshal of those cities until the latter part of 1863.

In February, 1863, Kingman Flint, son of Judge Flint, was promoted to sec¬ ond lieutenant in the regular army. A few months later he died at Pensacola, of black vomit. He was a wonderful man, physically.

In December, 1862, the county board of supervisors passed a resolution to furnish aid after that date to the families of, volunteer soldiers. Each per¬ son so aided was required to furnish evidence to the nearest supervisor that he or she was a relative of a volunteer soldier and dependent upon him for sup¬ port.

General O. H. La Grange, afterward for several years superintendent of the United States mint at San Francisco, enlisted at Ripon and traveled to the final high position from the bottom round of both the military and civil ladders.

The Turners of Fond du Lac raised a company for General Sigel's regi¬ ment and turned over every dollar in their treasury to pay bounties for new recruits.

Jerome B. Johnson was shot through the groin at Bull Run and lay six days upon the field without food or attendance. He lived and in October, 1862, was able to return to Fond du Lac. However, he was never able to return to his regiment.

A Mr. Temple of Lamartine, anxious to get into the service of his coun¬ try as soon as possible, went to the front and enlisted, being assigned to Com¬ pany D of the Third Regiment. The next day he was shot dead in battle.

In October, 1863, occurred one of the largest funerals in Fond du Lac. It was at the burial of Grier Tallmadge, son of Governor Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, who died at Fortress Monroe in September.

In April, 1863, the ladies of Wedge's Prairie collected fifty barrels of pro¬ visions and some cash for the soldiers. They then formed themselves into an Aid Society and continued the work of doing for the soldiers.

In April, 1863, the members of Company A, Thirty-second Regiment, sent home to their families, as the surplus saved from three months' pay, the sum of $4,263.

The first work of the Soldiers' Aid Society of the town of Byron, in 1863, was to collect for the boys in blue two loads of food and clothing and $116 in cash. The society afterward did much more in the same direction.

William Frost, of Eden, went to Memphis, where he had one soldier son dead and another fatally ill, in May, 1863, and a few days later the family re¬ ceived word that he, too, was dead, having been lost overboard while cross¬ ing the Mississippi.

War speakers were occasionally molested and some of them injured in some portions of the county. At Taycheedah, R. B. Charles was set upon while speaking in favor of the war and the administration, and quite severely in¬ jured. 4 While this was going on, his harness was destroyed and his wagon torn to pieces. At Ripon, there were two or three who made demonstrations of disloyalty, but after one of the parties had been led to the mill pond and had the depth of water taken before him, with the understanding that water was considered excellent for treasonable utterances and demonstrations, the balance subsided.

A military company was formed in the southeast towns of the county in June, 1863, with the following officers: Captain, Fred Baldwin; first lieuten¬ ant, Nicholas Gaffney ; second lieutenant, E. C. Coon ; first sergeant, E. A. Whitney ; second sergeant, O. P. Howe ; third sergeant, E. C. Airhart ; fourth sergeant, A. A. Bratt; fifth sergeant, G. N. Hatch.

The "Badger State Guards" were raised by C. K. Pier, of Fond du Lac, in the summer of 1863, with the following officers: Captain, C. K. Pier: first lieutenant, C. T. Carpenter; second lieutenant, F. R. St. John; first sergeant, D. M. Wilson; second sergeant, John Miller; third sergeant, W.' R. Allen; fourth sergeant, fohn Markle ; fifth sergeant, Solon W. Edson. This company went out, after being drilled by Captain Pier, as Company A, Thirty-eighth Regiment, three years. Pier was made colonel of regiment and Carpenter captain of company.

The "Union Guards" were raised at Ripon, with Herman Stempel, cap¬ tain ; W. T. Whiting, first lieutenant ; Lyman B. Everdell, second lieutenant ; N. Bowerman, of the Prairie City Record, first sergeant. The company was organized in September, 1863.

In August, 1863, Dr. Walker took from the tongue of F. H. Farr, of Com¬ pany K, hirst Regiment, two double teeth, which had been imbedded there about a year previously by a minie ball.

In October, 1863, four small children, whose mother was dead, gathered in Eden as mourners at the funeral of their last relative, Peter B. Miller, their father, of the Nineteenth Regiment. It was a sad sight.

I11 January, 1864, all there was left of the Fourteenth Regiment returned home, the time of enlistment having expired. The regiment, which contained only 302 privates and 19 officers, was given big receptions at Chicago, Milwau¬ kee and Fond du Lac. At Milwaukee special mention was made of Michael Mangan, of Fond du Lac, for his conduct at the terrible charge at Gettysburg. Every man in the regiment reenlisted. Speeches were made at Fond du Lac by General C. S. Hamilton and Colonel Lyman N. Ward.

In January, 1864, the common council of Fond du Lac voted to pay a bounty of $100 for recruits for the city, and a week later increased the amount to $200 for each recruit.

Charles H. Benton was promoted in April, 1864, to be second lieutenant of Company G, First Regiment, and Thomas Bryant, first lieutenant of Company H, Thirty-second Regiment. Soon after Lieutenant Benton was made quarter¬ master of the First Regiment.

Captain W. W. La Grange of the First Regiment of Cavalry, wounded through the body at Chattanooga, in December, 1863, died at Ripon, after a painful surgical operation to extract the shot, July 1, 1864.

By a general order from headquarters, Colonel C. K. Pier was placed in command of the One Hundred and First New York Regiment in April, 1865.

Letters to soldiers who were prisoners within the rebel lines were required to have ten cents upon them in confederate stamps. Those who had friends among such prisoners were furnished with confederate stamps free by John J. Beeson, at Fond du Lac, to whom they were sent by Lieutenant Bannister. Lieutenant Bannister had confiscated them, of course.

Company

Captain, William T. Whitney; first lieutenant, William H. H. Valentine; sec¬ ond lieutenant, George Perkins; first sergeant, Nelson Bowerman ; second ser¬ geant, Warham P. Rix; fourth sergeant, Harris P. Welcome; fifth sergeant, Charles Hyde ; first corporal, Charles Cowan ; fourth corporal, Edward D. Olm- sted; fifth corporal, Amasa H. Van Kirk; sixth corporal, Isaac C. Booth; seventh corporal, Edwin F. Baley; eighth corporal, Charles S. Brockway; wagoner, Wil¬ liam F. Butler.

The first commander was General E. S. Bragg. Since its organization the post has had over four hundred members but over half of them have answered the last roll call. Meetings were first held in the postoffice block, corner of Forest avenue and Macy street, but more suitable quarters were finally found at the corner of Main and West Second streets. In 1899 the second story of the brick block, corner of Main and Fourth streets, was fitted up and since then Brown post has held its meetings as this place. A janitor looks after the rooms and it is always in a neat and comfortable condition.

Edwin A. Brown, Woman's Relief Corps, No. 35, was organized with the following charter members : Ruth R. Harvey, Ella L. Adams, Susie M. Dodge, Emma C. Wade, Mary R. Fox, Josephine DeGroat, Lillie J. Killam, Hattie B. Sackett, Alice M. Burrows, Ellen F. Adamson, Lottie H. Everett, Theodosia A. Brasted, Emeline L. Perkins, Ellen Mangan, Elizabeth Powrie and Sedate S. McEwen.

The corps was instituted by Mrs. Ellen Rogers, department president, and Mrs. Sophia Nelson, department secretary. Mrs. Ruth R. Harvey was first president.

The Fond Du Lac National Guards

The first military company organized in this vicinity was the Fond du Lac National Guard in 1857. D. E. Wood was captain, D. G. Hoskin, first lieutenant, J. W. Partridge, second lieutenant, and E. H. Jones, orderly. T. S. Weeks was placed in charge of the guns and given the title of armorer. One of the memor¬ able incidents of -the Guards was the disappearance of their munitions of war at the same time of the spiriting away of a negro slave, named Glover, who was at the time in custody of the United States marshal. Glover had been rescued from the official, by members of the "underground railroad" at Ripon. It was learned, after the excitement had waned that Colwert Pier and some of his friends had taken the guns and hid them. They were restored to their rightful owners in due time.

Of the Fond du Lac Guards there were sixty members, composed of young men of Fond du Lac's principal families. General C. S. Hamilton was drill master. Preceding the war the Guards made a number of public appearances and were the pride of the community.

The Iiibeknian Guards

The Hibernian Guards, composed of ninety-three prominent young Irish¬ men, was organized in 1861. Their armory was at the corner of Johnson and Bannister streets. When the weather permitted, however, the company drilled on parade grounds, now the site of St. Patrick's church. The officers were: Captain, Janies McGinnis; first lieutenant, Samuel Ray; second lieutenant, Ed¬ ward Medgley. The members were all patriotic and lovers of the Union cause, but by reason of an unfortunate circumstance, the company did not enlist for the Civil war, which was then in progress, and it was disbanded.

Second Fond Du Lac Guards

The present Company E, Second Wisconsin National Guards, was organized at the law office of George E. Sutherland on the evening of March 25, 1880.

At an adjourned meeting, held April 1, the list was increased by the addition of the names following: A. A. Kelly, J. Q. Haas, F. A. Dawes, J. E. Kent, John E. Waters, C. J. Hunter, Waldo Sweet, Fred Eycleshimer, Lamont Hunter, Otto Petters, W. H. Shattuck, Lester Noble, F. A. Brasted, E. A. Galloway, P. B. Haber, C. R. Boardman, E. T. Tallmadge, H. T. Sackett, Frank Sweet, Richard Purcell, John Rogers, E. A. Little, C. A. Erhart, Harrison Pade, Fred French.

By April 21st, with the addition of the names here given, the company had three more men than the required minimum of sixty-five: R. M. Wilson, H. W. Wilkner, Joseph Carberry, F. F. Dufify and T. H. Shepard. The officers elected were: Captain, Sumner L. Brasted; first lieutenant, John C. Kenneally; second lieutenant, Charles J. Hunter.

In 1883 the Guards first went into camp, at Oshkosh, and it was then the com¬ pany adopted the name of Company E. Its first inspection came in September, 1886, made by Adjutant General Chapman, but previous to this event the com¬ pany attended the funeral, on February 10th, of Colonel S. L. Brasted, its first captain. By 1905 the company, through superior merit, attained the head of the

Wisconsin National Guards, and that too, under various inspections of General Charles King, an exacting "West Pointer.'' The company won first place and a prize of $700 at St. Louis in 1900 and in the same city in 1904, gained a nation¬ wide acclaim for its superiority in exhibition drill.

When the company was organized, Helmer Hall, on Fourth street, was used for armory purposes, but in 1888, the W atke skating rink, on Second street, was purchased for the sum of $2,700. On this site a magnificent armory building was erected in 1911, at a cost of $33,000, where every equipment for a military organization has been installed. The building is spacious, has a large stage and balconies, kitchen, dining rooms, reception rooms and is the place of many gather¬ ings other than those of Company E.

Company E In The Spanish-American War

The war of the United States with Spain was declared April 23, 1898. At midnight on Thursday following, Company E received orders from the governor to proceed to the rendezvous at Milwaukee, and the next morning the company, fully equipped, boarded the train for Milwaukee, amid the glare of bands and the acclaim of the entire populace. It reported at Camp Harvey in the after¬ noon and then came two weeks of incessant drill in preparation for field work. Meanwhile regular army officers carried on a severe physical examination which weeded out some of the members, and on May 12, 1898, the company was mus¬ tered into the service of the United States for a term of two years, or until the end of the war.

May 15, 1898, they left the camp at Milwaukee for Chattanooga, Tennessee, where nine weeks were spent in camp duties, after which they went to Charles¬ ton, South Carolina, and after waiting nine days for the fitting out of the trans¬ port, sailed for Ponce, Porto Rico. They arrived at Ponce, July 25th, and after various encampments and marches on the island set sail for the United States, September 1st, arriving home on the 9th. The only death by disease on the island was that of Arthur McCourt. The following is a complete roster of the com¬ pany when it left the city :

V. Langlois, George A. Crippen, Frank L. Skinner, Fred C. Krebs, Albert Hass, Rudolph A. Bechaud; musicians, Carl R. Zinke, Alfred R. Zinke; artificer, Edwin