Grant County, Wisconsin - Chapter 10: Second, Third, and Milwaukee Cavalry and Miscel¬ Laneous Organizations, 1900

Laneous Organizations Second Cavalry

Company C of this regiment was enlisted in the western part of the county and rendezvoused at Patch Grove. When the company was supposed to be about to leave there, the citizens furnished the com¬ pany a dinner in the M. E. church and presented to it two flags: one to Captain Wood, by Miss Olive A. Parker, and one to Lieutenant Ri¬ ley, by Miss Julia Brown, with suitable presentation speeches and re¬ plies. This was on Monday, September 23, 1861.

In May, 1862, the regiment marched from St. Louis to Springfield, Missouri. In June the second and third battalions of the regiment, (including Company C), in charge of a large train, marched to join General Curtis at Batesville, Arkansas. The expedition reached Gen¬ eral Curtis's rear-guard at Jacksonport, Arkansas, on the 4th of July and the main army on the 6th, at Augusta, having marched four hun- dred miles with no loss and capturing 150 prisoners. Moving down the White River, the Union force encountered the enemy, 4,500 in num¬ ber, near Cotton Plant. The Second Wisconsin Cavalry was in the extreme advance. Company D, being ahead, came near being sur¬ rounded. but fell back. The infantry came up and the Rebels were repulsed, leaving 135 dead and wounded on the field. The Union loss was thirteen killed and twenty-five wounded. It is said that the Reb¬ els took two Union men prisoners here, tied them to trees and shot them. The battle occurred in a field* of high corn.

On the 10th of July the force reached Clarendon and found that the transport had left two days before. General Washburn then took 2,500 cavalry and set out to reach Helena by a forced march and put himself in communication with Memphis and have supplies sent from there. They set out on the morning of the 11th and reached Helena, sixty miles distant, on the morning of the next day. The men were in good condition, although hungry and ragged. Their rugged health was a remarkable contrast to their condition in August and Septem¬ ber, when the malarious climate had made sad havoc with them.

In November, 1862, Grant's army, reaching the Tallahatchie River, found the enemy in strong force there, strongly fortified. To get them out without assaulting the fortifications, two thousand cav¬ alry, among them the Second Wisconsin, crossed the Mississippi ten miles below Helena, the last of Novembei, and made a rapid move for the enemy's line of communications fifty miles south of the Talla¬ hatchie, in the Rebels' rear. At Oakland, Mississippi, they met a brigade of Texan cavalry and repulsed them severely. The demon¬ stration produced the desired result for the Rebels abandoned their fortifications and retreated.

Early in February, 1863, the Second Cavalry took part in the expedition for opening the Yazoo Pass from the Mississippi, to take troops and gunboats into the Yazoo River by way of the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers. After two week&of incessant labor the pass was cleared so as to allow boats to move through.

In February, 1863, the second and third battalions of the Second went to Memphis and remained there until May. Scouting out from Memphis, they took many prisoners from Chalmers's force, without losing a man in action, although they lost thirteen by disease, in May. On the 10th of June the Second embarked for Vicksburg, arriving at Snyder's Bluff on the Yazoo, in the rear of Vicksburg, on the 13th.

At four o'clock on the morning of the 4th of July the regiment moved to the forks of Deer Creek and the Big Black River. On the 7th it moved towards Jackson, General Johnston's forces disputing the advance. Reaching Jackson on the 10th, the cavalry was sent, the next day, to destroy the railroad track and buildings near Canton, which they did, but fell back before a strong Rebel force, until they received reinforcements, when they returned to Canton, repulsed the enemy, and entered the city on the 15th. On the 18th they returned to Jackson. On returning from this expedition, the Second camped near Big Black River. This locality proving unwholesome, the Second Cavalry, early in August, moved to Red Bone Church, ten miles from Vicksburg, where it remained until the 27th of April, 1864, when it moved to Vicksburg. In January, 1864, a large number of recruits came to the regiment, and in March many more, after which the veterans went home on furlough, returning to duty May 11. The duty of the regiment was to patrol the country between Vicksburg and the Big Black River, and keep it clear of roving bands of guerril¬ las. The men suffered much from sickness during the summer, many of them dying of disease.

On the 2d of December, 1864, 280 men of the Second, while reconnoitering, encountered a heavy force of the enemy twelve miles from Yazoo City. After a severe fight of half an hour, the Rebels flanked the detachment, which, after twice repulsing the enemy, retired with a loss of five killed, nine wounded, and twenty-five taken prisoners. On the 8th of December the regiment embarked for Memphis, where it joined an expedition under General Grierson, going through the inter¬ ior of Mississippi. At Egypt Station, on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, a short but severe action took place, in which nearly five hundred Rebels were taken prisoners and were turned over to the Second Cavalry to guard. After destroying a vast amount of Confederate property, tearing up railroads, and burning bridges, the expedition reached Vicksburg on the 5t*h of January, 1865, having marched four hundred miles through a broken and swampy country. On the 13th of January the regiment went back to Memphis by boat. It was engaged during the winter in very laborious marches through the woods and swamps of Arkansas, penetrating even into Louisiana, re¬ turning to Memphis on the 17th of February. On the 9th of May 330 of the regiment went to Grenada, Mississippi, 130 miles from Mem¬ phis, remaining as garrison of that place until the 24th of June when the detachment rejoined the regiment, which had moved to Alexan¬ dria, Louisiana. On the 3d of July about two hundred men were mustered out. On the 8th of August the regiment left Alexandria, crossed the Sabine River into Texas, and pushed on to Hempstead. The route was through a poor country and the men and animals suffered much from lack of food.

On the 30th of October the regiment set out for Austin, where it was mustered out. As it had turned over its horses to other regi¬ ments, the regiment marched on foot to Brenham, one hundred miles, and thence traveled by rail and steamboat to Madison, where, on the 13th of December, the men were discharged.

Third Cavalry

On the 26th of March, 1862, the regiment left the State for St. Louis. Three miles from Chicago several cars of the train carrying the regiment were thrown from the track and twelve men were killed and twenty-eight wounded. The regiment reached St. Louis on the 28th. On the 22d of May it embarked for Leavenworth, Kansas, where it arrived on the 27th. In early June the regiment was sta¬ tioned, by detachments, in different parts of the State, extending from the Nebraska line on the north to Fort Scott on the south, to hunt up and expel the jayhawkers and bushwhackers of that region. Com¬ panies C, F, I, and M were sent, on the 12th of June, from Fort Leav¬ enworth to Fort Scott, where they arrived on the 17th. This march of 130 miles was accomplished in five days without the loss of a man or a horse.

Early in September, 1862, Companies I and M were substituted, at Fort Scott, for C and F. They were constantly engaged in scout¬ ing expeditions and as escort for trains to General Blunt's army in southwestern Missouri, until January, 1863, when Companies C and G were added to the command and remained until July, when Com¬ pany G returned to the regiment. Meanwhile the first and third bat¬ talions were engaged in the duties incident to border warfare. In June Company G went to Shawnee, Kansas. In the fall six com¬ panies were detached and afterward took part in the battles of Cane Hill and Prairie Grove, but they were not the companies containing the Grant County men. In May, 1863, Companies B, G, H, I, and M marched to Fort Blunt, in the Indian Territory, as escort for a supply train. A force of 1,500 Texans and Indians attacked them on the 30th of May, when they were only four miles from the fort. The enemy was repulsed. On the 4th of June they set out from Fort Blunt as escort for a returning train, and on the 20th turned about as escort for another train to the fort. At Cabin Creek, on the 27th, they were attacked by a much superior force of Rebels. The enemy were driven fifty miles across Verdigris River. On the 16th of July they marched from Port Blunt southward. The next day they fought a battle at Honey Springs, where the Rebels lost many prisoners and all their artillery. Afterward the Third Cavalry crossed the Arkansas River and pursued the enemy, having some skirmishes, and on the 19th returned to Fort Blunt.

On the 22d of August a detachment of the Third participated in an expedition in which a large quantity of Rebel stores were captured and the town of Perry ville burned. The detachment then went to Van Buren, Arkansas, where it was joined by Companies E and K. On the 16th of October they made a raid to Waldron, Arkansas, routed a superior force of the enemy, and captured thirteen prisoners. The next day they attacked a large body of Rebel Choctaws, captured their stores and put the force to flight. Early in November they at¬ tacked a thousand Rebels and after a sharp fight drove them across the Arkansas River, capturing many prisoners. In December a scout¬ ing party penetrated to the Red River, returned without loss, captur¬ ing many prisoners.

In January, February, and March, 1864, three-fourths of the regi¬ ment reenlisted. On the 30th of March the regiment moved from Van Buren for Little Rock, whence the veterans went home on furlough.. Returning to duty, they landed near Little Rock on the 27th of July. The regiment was then employed in picket duty, in scouting between the Arkansas and White Rivers, and in escorting trains between Huntsville and Duvall's Bluff. On the 28th of August 104 men of the Third accompanied an expedition of eight hundred mounted men in. pursuit of Shelby's forces, who were encountered forty-five miles from Huntsville, repulsed, and pursued, the Third sustaining no loss. Oa the 7th of September the command returned to a camp near Little Rock.

Company M was stationed at Pawnee, Kansas, engaged in scouting, picketing, and foraging. They were highly commended by the chief of the cavalry in the department. A detachment of the Third took part in the battle of Newtonia, November 4, 1864, and gained much credit for its action.

On the 25th of September 141 men of the Third joined an expedi¬ tion at Little Rock for Fort Smith, and returned on the 13th of Octo¬ ber, after a March of four hundred miles. The seven veteran com¬ panies, B, E, G, H, I, K, and L, were stationed in the vicinity of Little Rock during the fall and winter, scouting, guarding trains, patrolling the roads, and clearing the country of bushwhackers, with whom they had frequent encounters.

On the 10th of March a detachment of forty men of the Third left Little Rock and near Clear Lake, forty miles distant, fell into a strong ambush, losing two killed, three wounded, and eleven prisoners, none of them Grant County men.

The original term of service of the regiment having expired, it was reorganised in April, 1805, and the twelve companies made ten. That part of the regiment which was at Little Rock moved to Duvall's Bluff on the 21st of April, and on the 3d of June embarked for St. Lcuis, whence they proceeded to Rolla and Springfield, Missouri. On the 18th of July they began the march to Fort Leavenworth, arriving in two weeks. This battalion was mustered out on the 8th of Sep¬ tember, and on the 14th arrived at Madison, where the men were dis¬ charged. The remainder of the regiment was mustered out on the 29th of September and reached Madison on the 2d of October, except Companies G and L, which remained at Fort Leavenworth nearly a month longer, reaching home November 1, 1863.

This company was recruited under the supervision of Captain Gus¬ tav Van Deutsch, of Milwaukee, in July and August, 1861, and left the State in September for St, Louis, where it was mustered into the United States service as an independent acceptance on the 23d of that month. It served a short time as body-guard of General Fremont, and it was afterward incorporated, as Company M, with the Fourth Missouri Cavalry and served with that regiment until mustered out.

Miscellaneous Organizations

The following Grant County men enlisted in various organise** tions. too few in each regiment to justify a history of the organization in this work.

M18Csixaneovs Organizations

Thirty-seventh Infantry. - Company F - John Atchison, Gardner L. Gordon, John Greenhalgh, Geo. Piele, Joseph A. Rollins, Clifton ; Geo. Cass, Neill McPhail, Thomas Morgan, Platteville. Company G - Hans B. Warner, Clifton. Company H - Dudley D. McLeod, Lima ; Oliver P. Manlove, Muscoda ; Wm. Mound, Platteville. Company I - Henry Donaldson, Lancaster. These were all recruits or drafted men.