Grant County, Wisconsin - Chapter 2: The Civil War, Grant County's Advance Guard, 1900

First Enlistments

The defiant attitude of the seceding States and the promptness and decision of their overt acts of treason during the early months of 1861, on the one hand, and the hesitating and uncertain action of the United States Government on the other hand, had been a cause of intense anxiety to the lovers of the Union and the opponents of a slave gov¬ ernment all over the Northern States. The firing upon Fort Sumter broke the spell of doubt and uncertainty, and from the great mass of the Northern people went up the cry for the forcible suppression of treason. A glance at the political history of the county in Part II of this work will be sufficient evidence that in no part of the North did the fire of patriotic indignation blaze up more fiercely than in Grant County. Thousands of her young men were eager to take up arms to defend the Union and punish treason.

On the 15th of April, 1861, President Lincoln issued a proc¬ lamation calling for 75,000 volunteers for three months to put down the insurrection. On the next day Governor Randall issued a proclamation calling on each county for its quota of volunteers. The call was brought to the county seat by Richard Carter, a resident of Lancaster, but then a clerk in the legislature. There was then in Lancaster a militia company commanded by Capt. G. W. Ryland, with John B. Callis First Lieutenant. It was not practicable to take this company as Grant County's quota, as many of them were not ready to leave home on such short notice, and it was the duty of each town in the county to furnish a quota of the volunteers in proportion to its population, and this was not only looked on as a duty, but claimed as a right by the several towns. There was a hum of eager excitement in every town. There have been many claims to the honor of being the first man in the county to enlist, but as enlistments were going on simultaneously in all the towns, it is impossible to decide the question. In Platte ville the honor was given to Calvin M. Brooks. At a public meeting held at the court house in Lancaster, Saturday evening, April 20, a rosette was pre¬ sented to George L. Hyde as the first man to enlist. This meeting appointed a committee of three, Ed. D. Lowry, Addison Burr, and James A. Jones, to raise money for the support of the* families of the men going to war. Rousing speeches were made and spirited resolutions adopted.

In Tafton, the Academy school was in session, but every male student over eighteen was ready to drop his books and take up a gun. The whole quota of the town, five in number, was filled from the students, and several residents of other towns, but students of the Acadamy, also enlisted, the enlistments being all made the very day the call was received.

The volunteers were ordered to report at Boscobel early Monday morning, April 22, so it was necessary for most of them to make the journey on Sunday. Those in the western part of the county went by wagon to Bridgeport, and from there by rail to Boscobel ; but the greater part assembled at Lancaster. The citizens of that place spent Sunday forenoon in preparations to receive the volunteers and take them to Boscobel. Public worship was postponed. The girls were making rosettes for the soldier boys. Old Deacon Howe came up the street with a large flag, and Deacon Jones was busy with the finances to meet the expenses of entertaining and transporting the volunteers. At twelve o'clock the Lancaster volunteers fell in at the call of the drum. Then the jokes and laughter ceased, as the boys realized that this was the first step on a path along which they could not see and on which they might never retrace their steps. Soon the men of Platteville, Potosi, and other towns were seen coming in, accom¬ panied by many friends. They got out of their vehicles and fell in line with the Lancaster men, and all marched to the Congregational church to hear a sermon by the Rev. S. W. Eaton. During the service some excitement and surprise was created by Captain (at least Brevet Captain) Britton's ordering the Platteville volunteers to fall in and march out of the church. They did so without question or hesitation, when they were informed by their commander that he perceived that there was danger of the floor of the church giving way beneath the

In the afternoon, after partaking of the dinner provided for them, all the volunteers at Lancaster were taken in wagons to Boscobel. Thirty-four wagons were laden with the soldiers and their friends.

On Monday morning at Boscobel the first company of Grant County volunteers was organized, and elected the following officers : Captain, David McKee, of Lancaster ; Fir^t Lieutenant, C. K. Dean, of Boscobel; Ensign, William Booth, of Potosi. At noon the Governor telegraphed Captain McKee that his company was accepted and must be ready to come to Madison at a minute s notice. Captain McKee responded : " Old Grant is ready."

After the organization of this company it was found that enlisted men enough were left to form another company and the Governor was notified of the fact. He replied that when the company should be organized it would be received, notwithstanding the fact that the quota of the county was only one company. "But," said he, * as Old Grant seldom asks for favors, and never asks for anything but what is right, she is entitled to double glory and honors; let the second com¬ pany be ready." Early Tuesday the second company elected its offi¬ cers1, as follows : Captain, G. W. Limbocker; First Lieutenant, Wil¬ liam Britton ; Ensign, E. J. Bentley.

The Second Wisconsin Infantry

The first company was called the "Grant County Grays," the uni¬ form of that time being the gray of the West Point cadets. While at Boscobel the ladies of the county presented to the company a banner with the motto : " Lead is King, not Cotton." The company left Bos¬ cobel May 5 and went into camp at Madison. They were not in time to get into the first regiment of three months' men, and it soon became evident that a good deal more than three months would be needed to put down the rebellion and the men of the "Grant County Grays" were asked to reenlist for three years. Not all of them did so ; but the company did better than most of the companies at the capital. The reorganized company was assigned to the Second Infantry and became. Company C. The roster of this reorganized company is as follows :

Although the company went into camp in early May, there was a long succession of storms and cold winds, the barracks had not been built, and the sudden change to camp life was trying on the boys, but they bore it bravely and uncomplainingly. The regiment as a whole, consisting mostlj of boys just out from the restraints of home, were rather wild, and received from the citizens in the vicinity of Camp Randall the name of the 41 Rowdy Second."

The regiment remained in Camp Randall, Madison, drilling, until June 20, when it set out for Washington, D. C. On the way it had to march through the city of Baltimore from one depot to another. Every regiment that had passed through had met a rough reception from the violent secessionists and rowdies of the city, the Sixth Mas¬ sachusetts having had several men killed. But the Second Wisconsin were ready for both rebels and toughs. They had received their guns at Harrisburg, Pa., and on entering Baltimore they loaded with the "ball and buckshot" cartridges of the time, and capped the guns ready for instant use. The mob was on hand, insulting the "Yan¬ kees " with all sorts of epithets, firing two or three pistols with blank charges, and cheering for Jeff Davis. But the big copper caps on the nipples of the guns were visible to the mob, showing them that the guns were loaded, and the Second looked so ready and able to use them, that the secessionists concluded that they did not want any Badger meat.

On the 2nd of July the Second went to Arlington Hights, near Washington, and were brigaded with three New York regiments. The brigade was commanded by Colonel (afterward the famous Gen¬ eral) W. T. Sherman, and were placed in General Tyler's division. On the 15th of July, with three days' rations and blankets, and leaving all other baggage and their tents standing, the Second began its march. In the forenoon of the 18th the regiment halted near Center¬ ville for orders. Cannonading was heard in front, and soon the brigade was ordered to the support of the troops engaging the enemy at Blackburn's Ford on Bull Run. They went forward on the doublequick through the hot sun and thick dust for three miles and, filing to the right into the woods, formed the secoqd line of battle. Lying down to avoid the shells passing overhead, they remained there three hours, having three men wounded, but none of them from Co. C. Toward evening the Second returned to near Centerville and remained in line of battle through the night and for three days.

The Battle Of Bull Run

On the morning of the 22d of July the Second went into the dis¬ astrous battle of Bull Run. It is not within the scope of this work to describe the whole of this, nor any other battle or campaign, but only such parts as Grant County soldiers were engaged in. While in some parts of the field the Union troops were repulsed again and again, Sherman's brigade drove the enemy's right from the front of the field and out of the woods, down the road and across it up the slopes of the other side. The Second Wisconsin was in this brigade. But farther on was a hill on which the Rebels had some of their most effective batteries, and it was important to silence or capture those batteries. Rickett's and Griffin's batteries pushed forward and did such execution that the enemy determined to capture them. One Rebel regiment, dressed in the same "cadet gray" as the Second Wisconsin, was mistaken for Federals and came near capturing one of the batteries, but they were repulsed. A second and a third time the enemy charged the batteries, but were repulsed each time, not, however, before they had disabled the battery horses so that the guns had to be dragged away by hand.

The Second then advanced to capture a Rebel battery on a hill near the Sudley road beyond Bull Run. The Rebel infantry was con¬ cealed in the woods, and several batteries had an enfilading fire on our men. The Second charged up the ascent under a terrific storm of shell and canister. Twice they passed the brow of the hill and twice were repulsed by the terrible fire. The New York Sixty-ninth (Irish) and Seventy-ninth (Highlanders), both crack regiments, were also repulsed at this point, the enemy being in greatly superior force. The Second was then a green regiment, having left Madison only a month before, and yet they carried themselves like veterans.

But in the afternoon the Rebel General Johnston brought large re¬ inforcements on the field. Kirby Smith's division struck the wing of Sherman-'s brigade, (in which was the Second Wisconsin) and soon the Thirteenth New York of the brigade gave way in a disorderly retreat. The Second stood up to its work for a while, until Lieut.-Col. Peck, apparently the first man in the regiment to be struck by the fear¬ ful panic of that day, rode along the line, shouting: "All is lost! Get to Washington the best way you can !" Naturally, the green soldiers, hearing such words from their commander, were disheartened and began a retreat, in which the regiment was soon broken up and mingled with the confused mass. There was a regiment (or perhaps only a squadron) of Virginia cavalry called the Black Horse, and this cavalry had been so much vaunted by the Southern papers and so much had been said of it in the Northern papers that it became a very bugaboo to the Union soldiers, and on that day's insane flight the cry "The Black Horse are coming! " drove thousands wild with terror.

wounded by a ball which passed in at the mouth and out at the back of the neck. James Gow, the color-bearer of the regiment a very l&rge, strong man, undertook to carry Hyde from the field, and gave the flag to George Stephenson, of Co. C. A squad of Rebel cavalry pur¬ sued Stephenson, to capture th£ flag, but he got over a high rail fence, which for a time kept off the horsemen. A dozen or so of the company who had stuck together "rallied round the flag," and drove off the cavalry, and retreated safely to Centerville, where thejr found Captain McKee and a few more of the regiment, and all marched back to Washington in good order under their rescued colors.

The loss of Co. C. in this battle was : killed or died of wounds, Thomas D. Cox, Belknap Fuqua, Wieland Weibel ; wounded, George F. Jones, George L. Hyde.

After The Battle

After the battle of Bull Run the Second Wisconsin camped on Arlington Hights. While there Governor Randall visited the regi¬ ment and on behalf of the ladies of Madison presented to the regiVnent a beautiful flag. On August 27th the regiment was transferred to General Rufus King's brigade and moved their camp to Meridian Hill, near Washington.

At ten o'clock on the night of September 3 the long roll beat, the Second "fell in" and marched to Chain Bridge, seven miles from Wash¬ ington. On the 4th they crossed the Potomac and occupied a place commanding the approaches to Chain Bridge on the Virginia side. Their tents had been left at their camp on Meridian Hill, and their only shelter from the almost incessant rains was what they could make of pine boughs.. There they helped to build Fort Marcy . On the 14th they received their tents and went into camp near the fort. On the 25th the regiment went out on a foraging expedition and had a skirmish with the enemy, but without loss. October 1st the Second recrossed the Potomac and camped near the bridge.