HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY 391
LXXII.
MARSHALL COUNTY'S MILITARY RECORD.
Marshall
County has always been patriotic and has always furnished its quota of soldiers
in, the different wars in which the country has been engaged since the
organization of the county. The Mexican war infused a military spirit into the
patriotically inclined, and a few veterans who took part in the Mexican
campaign were instrumental in setting the military fires ablaze.
In
1854 the Bourbon Light Infantry was organized through the efforts of Capt. John
C. Hedrick, a Mexican war veteran, who voted for Andrew Jackson for president.
The articles of association are in the well-known handwriting of Capt. Hedrick,
on the thirteenth of May 1854. Those who "enlisted,” pledged themselves to
continue in the "service" for a period of six years unless sooner
discharged. Each member was required to uniform himself with a pair of fine
boots with red top fronts, white drilling pantaloons, a red sash at least six
feet in length, a black or deep blue frock coat, a black stock, a black glazed
cap, plait and plume. The company was required to meet at Bou1-bon for drill on
the last Saturday of April, May, June, August and September in each year, and
on the Fourth of July of every year.
It
was provided that each officer who should behave in an "unofficer"
like manner while on parade should be fined $1, and each noncommissioned
officer and private who should behave in an unsoldier like manner while on duty
should be fined 50 cents. Any member who should get drunk while on duty, if a
commissioned officer, should be fined $5, and all others $2, and be liable to
be discharged by the captain. Fines collected were to be applied to the payment
of the musicians and other necessary expenses of the company.
On
application of Rufus Brown, colonel of the Fifth regiment of the Indiana
militia, the board of commissioners ordered the necessary arms and
accoutrements to be forwarded to the company by the governor. The following
were elected officers of the company: John C. Hedrick, captain:
John
E. Mooner, first lieutenant; William Bennett, second lieutenant; William Mc
Whorter, sergeant; Ralph Curry, second sergeant; William Brown, third sergeant;
E. G, Mulser, fourth sergeant: Oliver Morris, treasurer; John McWhorter, John
Sharley and John Nidig, drummers; Isaac Noel, first corporal; Ben Johnson,
second corporal; Zachariah Senior, third corporal; William Gillespie, fourth
corporal. Whether the company lived out the allotted time specified in the
articles of association is not stated, and the information at hand is confined
to the above narrative.
392 HISTORY
OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
The Plymouth Greys.
This
was a company organized under the state militia law, in June 1854. William
Rudd-"Dick" Rudd, as he was familiarly called-was the captain. Col.
Rufus Brown procured seventy-five rifles and the side arms for the officers.
The company was partially uniformed, armed and equipped for the fray, but was
never called into active service. No data of its organization remain of record,
and hence its history must forever remain hidden from all prying eyes.
Another
company was attempted to be formed about that time, but military ardor having
somewhat subsided, it died in course of incubation. It was a cavalry company
and was called the "Marshall County Rangers." At the meeting called
for its organization David Vinnedge was chosen chairman and Rufus Brown
secretary. On motion of Dr. Brown, the uniform was made to consist of the
following gorgeous outfit: Kossuth hat, with ostrich plume, citizen's frock
coat (black), sky-blue pants with stripes (satinet), red sash, and spurs.
Marshall
County was favored with commissions from the governor for regimental officers,
under the law organizing the state into regiments by congressional districts.
H. B. Dickson was commissioned colonel of the Fifth regiment, Ninth brigade,
but, not being of a military turn of mind, declined the appointment.
Nevertheless, the prefix to his name followed him, and during life he was
hailed by the high-sounding title of Col. Dickson. Rufus Brown was then
appointed, and entered upon the discharge of the duties of the position with
the enthusiasm that characterized his efforts in everything he undertook.
Thomas J. Patterson was appointed major, but the efforts to organize the
regiment were: unsuccessful, and the great state military movement died without
a hero. This ended Marshall County’s part in the military affairs of the
country until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion in 1861.
The
part Marshall County took in the war of the Rebellion would fill a large
volume, and in a work of this kind it is impossible, for reasons that will
readily suggest themselves, to do the subject justice. The information to make
the record complete is not at hand, and cannot be obtained. The hundreds who
enlisted at their country's call, some of whom were on almost every
battlefield, demeaned themselves in such a manner as to reflect credit on
themselves and honor on their patriotic constituents.
The
soldiers from Marshall county who enlisted in the various companies were mostly
assigned to the following Indiana regiments: Ninth, Twentieth, Twenty-ninth,
Forty-eighth, Fifty-fourth, Seventy-third, Twelfth cavalry, One Hundred and
Twenty-seventh regiment, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth, One Hundred and
Fifty-first, One Hundred and Fifty-fifth, Twenty-first Battery Light Infantry,
and a large number of individual soldiers were assigned to various Indiana
regiments.
A
list of all those who enlisted from Marshall county so far as their names and
service could be obtained may be found in full in the History of Marshall
County by the writer of this history, published in 1881, to which the reader is
referred for further particulars.
The
following incident will show what some of the soldiers had to endure: M. C.
Moore, captain Company D, Twenty-ninth Indiana; captured
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 393
at
battle of Chickamauga September 20, 1862, and confined in Libby prison ;
escaped through a tunnel made by himself and others, and arrived within two
miles of the Union lines when he was recaptured by the rebels and marched back
to prison. He was soon afterwards exchanged and started home and died from
disease contracted while in prison.
Local Reminiscences of the War.
During
the first half of the war the army was kept up by voluntary enlistments. A
great many of the leaders thought it would not last but a short time, and so
those who enlisted thought it would not be much more than a play spell-a
pleasurable little outing. Even President Lincoln was so confident that the
rebels could be crushed out in ninety days that he issued a call for 300,000
volunteer soldiers to put down the rebellion. They were quickly raised and
marched to the front with bands playing and banners flying. It soon developed,
however, that the putting down of the rebellion was no child's play, and was
liable to be prolonged for an indefinite period. Enlistments gradually
decreased until it became necessary to resort to conscription to fill up the
depleted ranks. Three drafts were made in Marshall county. The last one was for
300, most of whom were drawn from Center Township. This draft, it was generally
thought, was unnecessary, as it was known that the backbone of the rebellion
was broken and that there would be few more battles fought. The names of those
subject to draft were enrolled by Deputy United States Marshal William
Babington, who, whether justly or not, made himself somewhat unpopular by the
exacting manner in which he performed his unpleasant duties. A little anecdote
here is worth telling: "Cam" Harris, as he was familiarly called,
whom everybody then knew, in giving his name to the marshal told him his name
was Alexander C., supposing the marshal knew his surname. The marshal in an arrogant
manner told him he wanted him to give him his full name. Cam then told him his
full name was Alexander Campbell. When the draft came off Alexander Campbell
was drafted, 1ut when the marshal began to hunt up those who had not responded
h~ could nowhere find Alexander Campbell, and so Alexander Campbell Harris
escaped the draft.
Babington
lived in a house on what was then known as the "brewery road" in West
Plymouth. After he vacated it, for several years it had been regarded by
superstitious persons as the headquarters for ghosts and hobgoblins, and many
persons refused to occupy it as a residence on that account. He was a tall,
stoutly built man, and being clothed with a little brief authority as marshal,
used it, as many thought, arbitrarily. He made many bitter enemies, some of
whom charged him with crimes which, if true, would have sent him to the bad
without the benefit of clergy. Whether any of these stones were true or not is
unknown, as no judicial investigation was ever had; but certain it is his
enemies believed them, and when he died many years ago, the house in which he
had lived and finally died at once became the rendezvous for all sorts of
ghosts and nocturnal apparitions. The building was allowed to go to rack for
the reason that no one could be found to occupy it when any other dwelling
house could be secured. Things moved on in this way until the early part of
1880, when a circumstance occurred; that proved conclusively to the minds of
some that the stories of the haunted house" were partially true at least.
The building was occupied
394 HISTORY
OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
by
John W. Richey and family, who had moved in a few days prior to the
circumstance about to be related. About 10 o'clock one dark and dreary night
Mr. Richey was aroused from his slumbers by unknown persons who requested
admission. On arising Mr. Richey was confronted by five men, all strangers to
him, three of whom had large carpet sacks, and the fourth a large bundle
resembling a mailbag. The oldest man among them seemed to be the commander, and
he informed Mr. Richey that they had no designs against him or his property;
but one of the number had resided in the house some eight years before, and
that they desired the privilege of digging in the cellar. Having received
permission which they would have taken whether they received it or not three of
the men went down m the cellar, one remained with the family, and the man who
did the talking left. The parties’ worked away in the cellar, the noise of the
pick and shovel being heard unceasingly until about 1 o'clock a. m., when it
stopped. Mr. Richey looked into the cellar, where he saw the men closing up
their sacks and found that they had taken up the stone in the floor of the
cellar and dug a hole, three by six feet and about four feet deep under the
cellar floor. This done the men came up from below and informed Mr. Richey that
they failed to find what they expected, but an examination the following
morning gave indications of a box having been under the cellar, as the impression
of it in the dirt was very plainly to be seen. Having completed their work the
men hastily got into a wagon in waiting near by and rapidly drove away. The
next morning search al1d inquiry were made for them, but nothing as to who they
were, whence they came, or whither they went was ever ascertained. The house
was burned Christmas day, 1880, the cellar later filled up, a new house erected
thereon, and not a vestige of the "haunted house" now remains, or of
the original proprietor who gave it its notoriety.
During
the summer of 1863 there was probably more trouble and dissatisfaction among
the people of this locality than at any other period during the war. It was
confined, of course, to those who remained at home, and the soldiers had no
part in it. They were on the battlefields attending to business. The trouble
was to a great extent political, and grew out of the conscription act, the
emancipation of the Negroes, and the formation of secret societies by both
parties. All over the state the war and anti-war sentiment grew to fever heat,
and the state was put practically under martial law. In April, 1863, Gen. Milo
S. Hascall, of Goshen, was placed in charge of the district of Indiana, and
being clothed with a little brief authority, "cut such fantastic tricks
before high heaven as made the angels weep," by issuing an order-No,
9'---practically suppressing the freedom of speech and of the press. The order
was deemed unnecessary and was very severely criticized by loyal men of all
parties. Ed Van Valkenburgh was then editor of the Plymouth Democrat and he was
so indignant over it that he wrote and published a scathing criticism of the
famous order. Among other things he said: "Brig. Gen. Hascall is a donkey,
an unmitigated, unqualified donkey, and his bray is long, loud and harmless
merely offensive to the ear merely tends to create a temporary
irritation." And he further added-: " And who is he? A country
politician, a brigadier general who has no more rightful authority over the
people of Indiana than our town marshal. He has made the order. What will he do
with it? We shall see what we shall see."
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 395
And
he did see. Ed was sleeping in the back room of Wheeler's bank. It was not long
after this article appeared until the opposition sent a marked copy of the
Democrat containing it to Gen. Hascall, and a week or so after- wards one
morning the news rapidly spread around town that a squad of soldiers had come
up from Indianapolis during the night, broke open the door, took Ed out and
carried him off a "prisoner of war" to Indianapolis. There was much
excitement about town and much indignation against Gen. Hascall for the
arbitrary manner in which he had so precipitately acted. He had sent a squad of
twelve soldiers who arrested and took him before Gen. Hascall, at Indianapolis,
who sent him to Gen. Burnside, at Cincinnati. Gen. Burnside wanted to know of
Ed what he was there for. He told him he did not know unless it was because he
had called Gen. Hascall a donkey. Gen. Burnside told him he ought to have had
more consideration for so distinguished a general as Hascall than to have
called him a donkey, and advised him to go home and be more careful in the
future as to the manner in which he criticized those in authority. Ed returned
home two days later. In the meantime Gen. Hascall had ordered the editors of
the Columbia City News, The Warsaw Union, the South Bend Forum, and the Winamac
Democrat to retract their criticism of his order or he would suppress their
papers. The general's action was entirely too radical for the most radical, and
a month after his appointment Gov. Morton removed him, and there- after peace
reigned within the borders of Indiana. All the parties connected with this
little episode are long since dead. Peace to their ashes.
Reception to Paroled
Soldiers.
In
June 1863, about 100 of Capt. Matt Boyd's and Capt. William M. Kendall's
companies, captured in a raid made by CoI. Streight, having been paroled,
returned home, and were accorded two grand receptions and banquets. The first
was held at Corbin's hall on a Saturday night following their return. The hall
was crowded, there being fully 500 present, and the audience was addressed by
C. H. Reeve, Horace Corbin and John G. Osborn, while a crowd fully as large in
the street in front of Becker's store was addressed by M. A. 0. Packard. The
banquet was one of the finest ever spread in town prior to that time. A glee
club furnished excellent vocal music, one of the pieces having been written
especially for the occasion by Mr. Reeve. The war and political excitement ran
high at that time, and the reception and banquet at the hall was called by the
republicans a "Copperhead" arrangement, and many refused to attend on
that account. In consequence of this feeling, a reception and banquet under the
direction of the republicans exclusively was given at the seminary grove, on
the Monday following, at which John L. Westervelt presided as chairman. A large
con- course of people was in attendance, and the reception was considered a
grand success by those who superintended the arrangements. The Warsaw Glee
Club, assisted by some local talent, furnished the music, and Rev. A. Fuller,
Rev. J. E. Chapin, Rev. Johnson, of Valparaiso, Rev. Webb and Rev. Brook: were
the orators of the day. Of course, the democrats called this reception a
woolly-headed, black republican abolition arrangement, and both parties having
exhausted the vocabulary of naughty names, the boys, in whose honor this
reception had been given, after a few days' rest and
396
HISTORY
OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
recreation,
returned to their respective regiments and resumed aggressive operations.
In
the beginning of the war the excitement ran high in Marshall county as
elsewhere, and much bitterness of feeling was manifested by those in favor of
the war and those who opposed it, and as the preparations increased, and
company after company was enlisted and marched to the front, to the scene of
the conflict, the excitement increased. Society began to be divided; the churches
felt the effects of it; the Masons and Odd Fellows, and other benevolent and
fraternal organizations were permeated with the virus that came near causing
their overthrow. Neighbor was arrayed against neighbor, brother against
brother, father against son, and one political party against the other. For
five long years this state of affairs held full sway in our midst. But the
rebellion was crushed, peace was declared, and it is gratifying, after the
lapse of forty-two years since the close of the war, to be able to record that
the wide differences of opinion, and the belligerent attitude between the
contending parties then existing have entirely disappeared.
It
hardly seems possible that since the close of the war more than half of all
those who took part in that dreadful struggle have fallen by the way- side, and
that according to the natural course of events most of those still living must
soon be called upon to "join the innumerable throng that moves to that
mysterious realm from whence no traveler returns." In the language of the
genial Old Rip Van Winkle, may those who still survive continue to "live
long and prosper," and when the last taps come, may they take their places
in the silent halls of death like those who wrap the drapery of their couch
about them and lie down to pleasant dreams.
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
The
Spanish-American war, as it was and is called, which took place between the
United States and Spain, with Havana and the island of Cuba as the objective
point in dispute, in the summer of 1898, was the last war in which Marshall
county soldiers have taken part, and owing to manner in which those high in
places manipulated the movements of the troops they did not have the
opportunity of distinguishing themselves on the field of battle as did Teddy
Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, who marched up San Juan Hill and then marched
down again.
Those
boys from Marshall county who served those six hot summer months on the fair
plains of Florida without being allowed to embark for the scene of war are
entitled to as much honor and praise as if they had been permitted to
participate in the sanguinary conflict, as will be seen by the trials and
tribulations through which they were forced to pass until the close of the war,
and they were permitted to return home, fully discharged with all the honors of
war.
Company
M, One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
In
the spring of 1898, when the pity and the wrath of the entire American nation
was aroused by the dying thousands of Cuba, and when the spectacle of Spanish
troops crushing the life from the bodies of the poor and the defenseless was
becoming unendurable to a free people, the question went out over the wires of
the great Hoosier state "What are we going to do about it?"
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 397
Plymouth,
long the seat of military activity, there having been companies commanded by
Rollo B. Oglesbee, and later by Adam E. Wise was at this time sounded as to her
old allegiance to the colors, and an invitation was extended for her to again
take her old place in the line of Indiana's Third Regiment of Infantry.
One
hundred and fifty men responded to the call, and during the night of April 25th
telegraphic orders were handed to the captain from the governor of the state
for the assembling at Indianapolis. A week later, and after many
disappointments caused by the wholesale rejection of many valuable men on
account of physical disabilities, the old county of Marshall had again placed
on the uniform of war and sworn to support the hand of the president of the
nation.
On
the fourteenth day of May the quiet of the Sabbath was broken by the steady
tramp of Studebaker's "Tigers," the newly christened One Hundred and
Fifty-seventh Indiana, marching through the crowded streets of Indianapolis,
while the chimes of a hundred churches rang out the fare- well and the
Godspeed. At 10 o'clock the next day the regiment was landed at Chattanooga,
spending the day looking over famous surroundings. Another day, and it was in
the heart of the great Chickamauga Park, at the first great camp of the north,
and where at night 160,000 men gathered around the campfires, beginning to
learn the life of the soldier.
First
out of the state, the Tigers were the first out of Chickamauga, and on their way
south to meet the real work of the campaign.
The
1,350 men of the regiment were astonished to find awaiting them two long trains
of the most luxurious Pullman sleepers, which drew out of Ringgold at
nightfall, and became the home of the boys for the next two days, carrying them
through Alabama, Georgia, over the Suwanee river, down the length of tropic
Florida to the edge of the sea at Tampa landing the morning of June 4th, two
days ahead of any of the now famous regiments of Rough Riders, Ninth Cavalry,
or Seventy-second New York. Truly in the very van of the column.
Out on the waters of the bay, and but a short distance from shore, rode a great concourse of large sized ocean going steamers, numbered in great white figures from one to forty, and with two carrying the red crosses of the hospital, ship, Ten days of miserable waiting followed-a succession of orders and counter orders-of sudden activity and irritating delays, while the men were held in instant readiness to embark; with the sun blazing down with a fury no northern man can understand; with the tropic storms drenching through the long nights; with the colonel, although worked up to a great tension of Impatience, yet refusing to relax one inch of the strict discipline and the steady drill, work, drill, that was fast whipping the men and officers alike Into a huge, cohesive, automatic, obedient fighting machine.
And
then, at the last moment, not to be chosen!
With
what must have been criminal stupidity on the part of those who directed the movements
of the campaign this huge concourse of ships, great as it was, was not equal to
the carrying of one-half of the force assembled on the shores, not one-half of
the force intended and needed to
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 398
successfully
carry out even the first move organized against the enemy then guarding. the
Spanish positions. On the nineteenth, with ships loaded to suffocation with
men, mules, provisions and army, with parts of regiments on board, with half of
the Roosevelt Rough Riders being taken without any of their horses, and the
other half of the regiment left helplessly behind because somebody's orders had
become mixed, with heavy siege guns forming a very heavy part of the freight,
yet forgetting to send their wheels with them so that they might be handled
when they were unloaded, the invasion began, and in four hours only a wreath of
smoke away off south on the horizon was left to tell of the passing of our high
hopes that we should be with that first fighting column.
Then
came pestilence, and disease, and homesickness 25,000 men waiting for an order
waiting for action. Brigaded with the First Illinois the First Ohio from
Cincinnati, the Third Pennsylvania of Philadelphia, the regiment was then
throw~ over on the Atlantic coast to make part of an immense host then
gathering to attack the very heart of the Spanish resistance at Havana, and,
.on the first day of August, after an all night's tide of 260 miles, the
regiment looked out upon the blue waters of the ocean, at Fernandina, and took
up their quarters in the most God- forsaken of mosquito wildernesses-brush so
thick that the mosquitoes could not find their way out-with orders to -
clear it up!
Our
information was afterwards (its correctness never being verified ) that the land
was the property of Secretary Alger's son-in-law, and the 25,000 men were kept
busy working over that devoted piece of landscape until it was as clean as a
billiard table, and ready for the hand of the planter and the fruit raiser.
Then
on the first of September came the cry of home, and again the same magnificent
trains of Pullmans carried the "Tigers" through the valleys and over
the mountains of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentuckian~ on
the morning of September2d the screeching of whistles and the ringing of bells
for 100 miles welcomed the regiment back to the old state. At Indianapolis
clouds of white canvas stood ready for the dangerously sick numbering nearly
300 multitudes of ladles gave of their time and their means to administer badly
needed care and attention.
Another
week, and all of the state north of the Wabash was given up to a welcome of its
returning boys.
Mustered
out the first day of November, Company M presented the record of no losses,
no dead." final and honorable discharges for every man in
the company.
Company
M. One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Indiana Infantry – Plymouth Company.
John C. Capron, captain, Plymouth.
Claude D, Fish, first lieutenant, Plymouth.
William D, Lankenau, second lieutenant, Plymouth.
Edward Lenfesty first sergeant, Plymouth.
Harcourt C. Corbin, sergeant, Plymouth.
Edward J. Giller, sergeant, Plymouth.
Edward R. Neil, sergeant, Plymouth.
HISTORY OF NIARSHALL COUNTY. 399
Charles Protsman, sergeant, Plymouth.
Lee M. Kendall, sergeant, Plymouth.
Charles Crawford, corporal, Plymouth.
Noyes E. Tyrrell, corporal, Bourbon.
Arthur B. White, corporal, Plymouth.
Emory Ocker, corporal, Plymouth.
Berthold, Alleman, corporal, Plymouth.
Percy E. Bailey, corporal, Plymouth.
George Bollinger, artificer, Plymouth.
Everett Miller, wagoner, Bourbon.
Alexander, James M., private, Argos.
Baker, George, private, Donaldson.
Ball, Charles L., private, Plymouth.
Bayman, Claude, private, Plymouth.
Bayman, May Rue, private, Plymouth.
Cannon, Elias, private, Argos.
Conboy, James, private, Plymouth.
Cross, George, private, Plymouth.
Drake, Urban S., private, Plymouth.
Doppler, Fred L., private, Plymouth.
Haines, Ora, private, Argos.
Hayes, Edward E., private, Plymouth.
Hoham, George, private, Plymouth.
Irwin, Charles M., private, Argos.
Johnson, Melvin D., private, Plymouth.
Jacobson, Samuel, private, Plymouth.
Kanarr, Seymour, private, Plymouth.
Kanouse, Francis, private, Argos.
Kepler, Edward, private, Plymouth.
Knisely, Norman, private, Bourbon.
Linkenhelt, Floyd, private, Plymouth.
LaBrash, Charles, private, Plymouth.
Miller, Clarence, private, Plymouth.
Miller, Charles, private, Bourbon.
Miller, Solomon, private, Plymouth.
Mowrer, Newton B., private, Bourbon.
Marshall, John, private, Plymouth.
McKaglle, Robert G., private, Plymouth.
Neff, Charles D., private, Argos.
Ohler, James M., private, Argos.
Pontills, Wilber, private, Plymouth.
Powell, William, private, Plymouth.
Primley, Seneca, Jr., private, Plymouth.
Radel, Frank, private, Plymouth.
Riggens, Lawson E., private, Bourbon.
Riggens, William, private, Bourbon.
Reed, David, private, Argos.
Rowell, Charles, private, Donaldson.
Rowell, John, private, Donaldson.
Ralston, William, private, Argos.
400 HISTORY
OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
Sausser, William,
private, Argos.
Shearer, William,
private, Plymouth.
Shepherd, William,
private, Donaldson.
Schroeder, William,
private, Plymouth.
Schroeder, Willard,
private, Plymouth.
Shiveley, Jesse,
private, Bourbon.
Soice, Claude,
private, Plymouth.
Snyder, Vernon,
private, Bourbon.
Stahl, Henry S.,
private, Culver.
Stangler, Quincy V.,
private, Bourbon.
Stout, Frank H.,
private, Plymouth.
Stroup, Norman,
private, Plymouth.
Stuller, Burl,
private, Plymouth.
Wilson, William W .,
private, Plymouth.
White, William E.,
private, Plymouth.
Wickizer, Elmer 0.,
private, Argos.
Willford, Dallas,
private, Bourbon.
Williams, Lora B.,
private, Plymouth.
Wiseman, Charles M.,
private, Plymouth.
Wolf, Charles, private,
Donaldson.
Wolf, George,
private, Donaldson.