Person:John Hineman (24)

In an email, Ronald Hineman states that this John Hineman died during the civil war in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was also kind enough to email me the source:

Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion 1861-1865, Wisconsin Historical Society Library, ( Madison , WI ). Page 145. [20th Regiment Infantry, Company B]

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/results.asp?image_id=2131

According to this source, John was wounded on 07 Dec 1862 at Prairie Grove, Arkansas, and died of the wounds on 18 Jan 1863 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Battle of Prairie Grove, December 7, 1862

From Rugged and Sublime: The Civil War in Arkansas; Courtesy of the Department of Arkansas Heritage

Since the beginning of 1862, the Confederates had only reacted to Federal moves, but Hindman was greatly encouraged by what he saw as his success in forcing Curtis away from Little Rock. He convinced Holmes to allow him to seize the strategic initiative in northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri. At Fort Smith Hindman struggled to train and equip the recruits and unwilling conscripts that made up the First Corps. Progress was excruciatingly slow because arms, ammunition, clothing, equipment, wagons, draft animals, and food were in short supply. Hindman grew impatient and led a small force into southwestern Missouri. He had barely established his headquarters in Pineville, Missouri, before Holmes called him to Little Rock for a conference. In mid-September Hindman reluctantly returned to Arkansas and left Brig. Gen. James S. Rains in command in Missouri.

As luck would have it, Holmes recalled Hindman at the worst possible moment. On September 19 Curtis, now a major general, succeeded Halleck as commander of the Department of the Missouri; Steele in turn succeeded Curtis as commander of the Federal garrison at Helena. In surveying the situation from his new headquarters in St. Louis, Curtis immediately noted Hindman's presence in the state. Curtis had swept Price's army out of southwestern Missouri eight months earlier, and he was absolutely determined to prevent the Confederates from reestablishing themselves in that region. He directed his principal subordinate, Brig. Gen. John M. Schofield, to clean the Rebels out of Missouri once and for all. In effect, Curtis gave Schofield the same task Halleck had assigned Curtis the previous December. The primary difference was that after Pea Ridge the focus of the war in the TransMississippi had shifted eastward to the banks of the Mississippi River, where the titanic struggle for Vicksburg was underway. The resources available to both sides to carry out major military operations on the frontier were smaller than at the beginning of the year. Another difference was that Schofield had much less military ability than Curtis.

Schofield hastily gathered together a composite force that he called the Army of the Frontier. After several weeks of confused campaigning during which both Schofield and Rains demonstrated their incapacity for independent command, the Federals finally pushed the scattered Confederate detachments back into Arkansas and the Indian Territory. The Army of the Frontier entered northwestern Arkansas on October 18 and briefly occupied Fayetteville, Bentonville, and Cross Hollows. The only engagement of note in or near Arkansas occurred just west of Maysville on October 22 when Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt's Federal division attacked and routed a small force of Confederate Indians commanded by Col. Douglas H. Cooper.

Early in November Schofield fell back to Springfield with two of his three divisions, but left Blunt's division in the northwestern corner of Arkansas. On November 20 Schofield became ill and returned to St. Louis. Command of the scattered Army of the Frontier passed to Blunt, a self-confident and aggressive amateur soldier from Kansas. Emboldened by his success at Maysville, Blunt led his division south down the Military Road that ran along the border between Arkansas and the Indian Territory. The other two Federal divisions, commanded by Brig. Gen. Francis J. Herron of Pea Ridge fame, remained near Springfield. By the end of November, the main components of the Army of the Frontier were dangerously far apart.

Hindman returned to Fort Smith and learned of the inviting disposition of the Army of the Frontier. He decided to try to cross the Boston Mountains undetected and overwhelm Blunt's isolated division before Herron could react. If everything turned out as he hoped, the road to Missouri would be open once again. Back in Little Rock, Holmes continued to be extremely concerned about the danger of a Federal offensive from the east. His anxiety mounted when Confederate authorities in Richmond urged him to send ten thousand men to Vicksburg at once. Then he learned of Hindman's bold plan to march north. It was all too much for Holmes; he refused to allow any of his troops to leave Arkansas. "The invasion of Missouri is interdicted," he told Hindman, "so make your arrangements to give up that darling project." Hindman assured Holmes that the planned attack on Blunt was a limited offensive that did not presage an invasion of Missouri and that regardless of the outcome of the operation he would return to Fort Smith. Considering Hindman's nature, and his disdain for the ineffectual Holmes, Hindman may not have been entirely honest.

The initial phase of the Confederate offensive did not go as planned. Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke led a cavalry force of about two thousand men across the Boston Mountains to distract Blunt and to screen Hindman's advance. To Marmaduke's surprise, Blunt rushed forward to meet him with a force of five thousand men and thirty cannons. The two unequal columns collided on November 28 at Cane Hill. The Federals used flanking maneuvers and superior artillery to drive the Confederates from one position after another. The nine-hour running fight swept across twelve miles of forested ridges and valleys. As was often the case in the Civil War when mobile mounted forces were engaged, casualties were light: the Federals lost nine killed, thirty-two wounded, and a small number missing; Confederate losses were slightly higher.

Marmaduke was pushed back across the Boston Mountains to Dripping Springs before Hindman could ferry the main body of his army across the Arkansas River from Fort Smith to Van Buren. Hindman was not particularly upset, however, because he realized that the engagement at Cane Hill had drawn the aggressive Blunt thirty-five miles deeper into Arkansas. Blunt's division now was located at the northern edge of the Boston Mountains, nearly one hundred miles from Herron's two divisions near Springfield, but only thirty miles from Hindman's army at Van Buren. Blunt was more vulnerable than ever and Hindman believed it was imperative that the Confederates take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity.

On December 3, Hindman led the eleven thousand men and twenty-two cannons of the First Corps of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi north toward the Boston Mountains. The ragged Rebels who tramped out of Van Buren exemplified Van Dorn's crippling legacy to the Trans-Mississippi: the First Corps was a makeshift army thrown together and rushed into battle without adequate training and equipment. Many men were conscripts of dubious reliability. They were armed with a reasonably effective mix of rifles, smoothbores, and shotguns, but they carried only enough ammunition for a single day of combat. The artillery was unimpressive even by Confederate standards. Draft animals were emaciated due to a lack of forage, and the small number of rickety wagons that composed the train could not support the army in the field for more than a few days.

Hindman was optimistic despite the obvious weaknesses in his command. His plan was simple: Marmaduke would advance across the Boston Mountains once again and create a diversion by threatening Cane Hill from the south. With Blunt's attention fixed on Marmaduke, Hindman and the main body of the First Corps would swing around Blunt's left flank and strike him from the east. The Federals would be overwhelmed on the spot or be driven into the wilderness of the Indian Territory, where they would be without hope of supply or succor. It was a sound plan on paper, but it demanded a great deal of inexperienced officers and men and relied heavily on an extremely fragile logistical system. Thus began the final Confederate offensive in northwestern Arkansas.

Blunt was headstrong and belligerent, but he was no fool. He realized that his advanced position practically invited an attack, so he kept a close watch on Confederate activity in western Arkansas. On December 2, the day before the First Corps marched out of Van Buren, Blunt concluded that something was afoot. He telegraphed Herron to march immediately to his support. Despite the gravity of the situation, Blunt did not fall back toward Missouri. Instead, he placed his troops in defensive positions around Cane Hill and prepared for a fight. Three days passed as the anxious Federals waited for the slow-moving Confederate column to cross the Boston Mountains.

On December 6, Marmaduke's cavalry finally emerged from Cove Creek Valley and clashed with Federal cavalry near Reed's Mountain. While this noisy diversion was in progress, Hindman led his infantry and artillery around to the east of Cane Hill. The Confederates inched forward at an agonizingly slow pace, hampered by fatigue, confusion, primitive roads, failing draft animals, and disintegrating wagons and artillery vehicles. Nevertheless, events generally were unfolding according to plan, if not on schedule. Then, during the night of December 6-7, Hindman learned that Herron had left Springfield with his entire force and was hastening to Blunt's relief on Telegraph Road. Hindman realized he could not attack Blunt from the east and expose his rear to Herron. He decided instead to move around Blunt's left as originally planned, but to continue north and intercept Herron before he could reach Cane Hill. He intended to defeat Herron somewhere near Fayetteville, then turn back and deal with Blunt.

The hastily revised plan required Hindman's Confederates to march farther and faster than originally anticipated. It also ignored the fact that they did not have enough ammunition to fight two battles. Finally, it meant that most of Marmaduke's cavalry would have to accompany the main body, leaving only a small force near Reed's Mountain to keep Blunt occupied. Hindman was not averse to taking risks. Now, as so often before in his civilian and military career, he would attempt to accomplish much with little.

Early the next morning, December 7, the Confederates struck out across the rolling terrain north of the Boston Mountains, giving a wide berth to Blunt's position at Cane Hill. The troops moved so slowly even Hindman reported that it was painful to observe the exhaustion of the men. Straggling became epidemic, and the train fell far behind. Shortly after sunrise Marmaduke's cavalry division, riding several miles ahead of the sluggish infantry, encountered a small Federal cavalry force near the Illinois River (west of present-day Farmington). The Federals were the vanguard of Herron's column. They were easily routed and retreated in disorder to the outskirts of Fayetteville, where they reached the safety of Herron's main body.

The presence of Herron's two divisions at Fayetteville at that day and hour was nothing short of miraculous. Herron received Blunt's message late on December 3 and placed his troops in motion on Telegraph Road early the next morning. During the next three days, the Federals marched a hundred and ten miles-an average of almost thirty-five miles per day. Some units covered the final sixty-six miles in only thirty hours. The march was one of the extraordinary events of the war and an epic of human endurance. Not every one of Herron's men was able to maintain the furious pace, however. About seven thousand Federal soldiers set out at the beginning of the march but only half that number were on their feet at the end. Hundreds of those feet were bare, for many men either wore out their shoes along the way or found it more comfortable to do without them. Fortunately for both sides, the weather throughout the campaign was unseasonably mild for December. Herron's attenuated column reached Fayetteville during the night of December 6-7, halted for a brief rest, then moved on at sunrise and encountered Marmaduke's cavalry.

Marmaduke fell back before the inexorable advance of Herron' s weary, footsore infantry. Ten miles west of Fayetteville the Confederate cavalry retired across the Illinois River and ascended a low wooded hill surrounded by rolling grasslands. Atop the hill was a modest structure known as Prairie Grove Presbyterian Church. Marmaduke halted to await the arrival of the rest of the First Corps, which slowly came up from the south and deployed along the hill facing north. By this stage of the campaign, the Confederates had suffered considerable attrition as well, and the First Corps probably consisted of fewer than nine thousand men. Hindman reached Prairie Grove at mid-morning with the intention of attacking Herron's force, but his men trickled in so slowly it would be afternoon before he had sufficient strength to do the job. Then his scouts reported that Blunt was stirring at Cane Hill and preparing to march. The Confederate commander was almost as worn out as his soldiers, and this latest information seemed to deflate him. Afraid that if he went after Herron, Blunt would strike him in the rear, Hindman simply stopped at Prairie Grove, unable to decide upon an appropriate course of action in this crisis.

Hindman first attempted to attack Blunt at Cane Hill before Herron arrived in support, then he attempted to attack Herron at Fayetteville before Blunt realized what was happening. Both efforts failed because of Herron's alacrity and Hindman's unrealistic expectations of what his army could accomplish. Now the tired, hungry, and poorly equipped Confederates were between two converging Federal forces whose combined strength was roughly equal to their own. And those Federal forces were led by two of the most combative officers in the Department of the Missouri. The coming battle would determine whether the First Corps of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi would survive to return to Van Buren.

During the morning of December 7, Herron and his two shrunken divisions forded the Illinois River and deployed on Crawford's Prairie opposite the Confederate right. Herron was outnumbered better than two to one and his line was less than half as long as the Confederate line. Moreover, his men-the thirty-five hundred or so who were still with him-were hardly in the best condition for a grueling fight. Undaunted, Herron ordered his twenty-four rifled cannons into action against the lighter Confederate artillery planted on the forward slope of the hill. Around ten o'clock the Federal artillery roared to life and began "Spitting Fire and Smoke Shell and Shot in to the Secesh Ranks." The bombardment lasted two hours. By noon all of the Confederate guns on Hindman's right had been disabled or abandoned, and most of the Confederate infantry and dismounted cavalry had taken cover on the reverse slope of the hill. The devastating bombardment was another stunning demonstration of the superiority of Federal artillery in the Trans-Mississippi.

When the Confederate batteries fell silent and the infantry disappeared from sight, Herron mistakenly assumed that the Confederates had retreated. He ordered four small regiments forward. The Federals advanced across Crawford's Prairie and up the wooded slope, easily overrunning an abandoned Rebel battery. They continued on past Archibald Borden's house and reached an orchard on the crest of the hill. There they were met by a furious counterattack and "a perfect hail storm of bullets" from two divisions of Confederate troops commanded by Marmaduke and Brig. Gen. Francis A. Shoup. Half of the Federals were killed or wounded within minutes. The Rebels then advanced from three sides and drove the surviving Federals back down the hill in disarray. "As we came off the field the bullets were flying seemingly as thick as hail and nearly every one was struck either in his person or clothing," wrote an Indiana soldier. "I was one of three in my company who did not receive a mark of a bullet." Wildly yelling Confederates, barely under the control of their officers, swept down the slope and across the prairie after the fleeing Federals, only to be cut down in heaps by Herron's artillery.

Despite the bloody repulse of the spontaneous Confederate counterattack on Crawford's Prairie, Hindman saw his chance. With the Federal infantry decimated by the slaughter around the Borden house on the Confederate right, he had only to wheel forward his center and left and overwhelm Herron's command. A quick decisive victory might be possible after all. It was mid-afternoon, however, before the Confederates advanced down the slope toward the prairie. As they commenced the maneuvers required to swing around to approach Herron's position, they were struck by artillery fire from the northwest. Blunt's division was on the field.

Blunt passed most of the morning at Cane Hill wondering why Hindman did not attack. When he heard the roar of artillery in the direction of Fayetteville, he belatedly realized that Hindman had gotten around his flank and intercepted Herron. Furious at having been fooled, Blunt immediately marched toward the sound of the guns. It was fortunate for the Union cause in the Trans-Mississippi that he did so, for he arrived on the battlefield in the nick of time. Blunt's division deployed opposite Brig. Gen. Daniel M. Frost's division on the Confederate left, which was just beginning to move toward Herron. Blunt unleashed his artillery against the surprised Confederates and drove them back to the hill. He then sent his fresh infantry forward. Severe fighting raged around the William Morton house at the base of the hill, but the Federals were unable to dislodge the numerically superior Confederates and eventually fell back. Frost's men sensed victory and pursued the Federals onto the prairie, but were "mowed down like grass with canister and grape" from Blunt's massed artillery. The bloody repulse of the Confederate counterattack was a reprise of what had occurred a few hours earlier on Herron's part of the battlefield. Confederate survivors retreated back up the wooded slope and remained there for the duration of the battle. Late in the afternoon, Blunt and Herron made contact and thereafter presented a continuous front to the enemy. Neither army was able to dislodge the other and there were no more major assaults, though artillery fire and volleys of musketry raged along the line until dark .

During the night of December 7-8, Blunt ordered up three thousand cavalrymen whom he had held in reserve at Rhea's Mill to guard his train. Hundreds of footsore but determined Federal stragglers, barefoot or otherwise, limped in from Missouri and rejoined Herron. Hindman had no reserves to call upon, and his stragglers either deserted or drifted back to Van Buren. Moreover, his artillery had been devastated, his train was miles to the rear, and his men were low on ammunition and out of food. There was nothing to do but withdraw under cover of darkness. The weary soldiers of the battered First Corps quietly slipped away from the battlefield, leaving behind their dead and most of their wounded. They trudged back across the Boston Mountains and reached Van Buren on December 10, a pathetic remnant of a ragtag army.

If Pea Ridge was an extended boxing match in which the combatants weaved and jabbed, Prairie Grove was a short, brutal, slugging match in which the two sides traded direct frontal assaults until both were exhausted. "For the forces engaged, there was no more stubborn fight and no greater casualties in any battle of the war than at Prairie Grove, Arkansas," declared a Federal officer. He was correct. The toll for both sides was severe. The Federals went into battle with fewer than 8,000 men and suffered 1,261 casualties: 175 killed, 813 wounded, and 263 missing. Most of the losses occurred in the terrible fighting around the Borden house. Confederate numbers are problematic, as always. The Confederates had no more than 9,000 men on the battlefield and suffered at least 1,317 casualties: 164 killed, 817 wounded, and 336 missing. Actual Rebel losses almost certainly were higher. A reasonable conclusion is that each army lost over 15 percent of the troops engaged. In addition to men struck down in the battle, the Confederates experienced serious desertion of conscripts during the campaign. Several hundred of these deserters, mostly northern Arkansans who opposed secession, changed sides after the battle and enrolled in Arkansas Union regiments.

In late December Blunt learned that Schofield had recovered his health and was on his way to resume command of the Army of the Frontier. For several weeks Blunt had toyed with the idea of a raid to the Arkansas River. He believed that such an operation would disrupt the Confederate logistical base at Fort Smith and Van Buren and make it impossible for Hindman to launch another campaign into northwestern Arkansas or southwestern Missouri in the foreseeable future. Blunt feared that the ambitious but inept Schofield would shoulder him aside and fritter away this opportunity. After conferring with Herron, who enthusiastically supported the plan, Blunt decided to act while he still commanded the Army of the Frontier.

On December 27 Blunt and Herron led eight thousand men and thirty cannons on a rapid march across the Boston Mountains. The Federals made surprisingly good time on the primitive roads that had caused the Confederates so much grief. They stormed into Van Buren the next day, capturing over one hundred surprised Rebels and scattering hundreds more in all directions. The Federals looted the town, destroyed three steamboats and a ferry, and burned a large amount of food and military stores. Hindman had only about five thousand troops in the vicinity, most of them just across the river in Fort Smith. He now regarded Blunt and Herron as formidable opponents and had no desire to tangle with them again so soon after Prairie Grove. He burned two Steamboats at Fort Smith and hastened down the south bank of the Arkansas River toward Clarksville with what remained of the First Corps. The Confederate exodus was so abrupt that between three and four thousand Rebels were left behind in Fort Smith hospitals. As it turned out, Blunt made no attempt to cross the river and reach Fort Smith. He withdrew from Van Buren on December 29, his objective achieved. The Army of the Frontier recrossed the Boston Mountains and returned to its camps in northwestern Arkansas two days later. The Prairie Grove campaign was over.

The course of events in northwestern Arkansas during the fall of 1862 was another unmitigated disaster for the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy. Hindman's First Corps fought Blunt's Army of the Frontier to a costly tactical draw at Prairie Grove, but the purpose of Hindman's offensive was to destroy Blunt's isolated division and recover northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri. None of these strategic objectives was achieved. The First Corps, assembled at such enormous cost in time, energy, and resources, was devastated and its men dispirited. Prairie Grove also cost the Federals dearly, but they succeeded in turning back the Confederates and defending the strategic gains made earlier in the year.

Website Location: http://www.civilwarbuff.org/prairie_grove.html

-From Aaron Kneavel

THE MILITARY HISTORY OF WISCONSIN

BY E. B. QUINER

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Pages 675 - 685

REGIMENTAL HISTORY-TWENTIETH INFANTRY.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER - ORDERED TO MISSOURI - MARCH TO CROSS HOLLOWS - BATTLE OF PRAIRIE GROVE - EXPEDITION TO VAN BUREN - MOVE TO ROLLA - SIEGE OF VICKSBURG - EXPEDITION TO YAZOO CITY - AT CARROLTON - EXPEDITION TO TEXAS - PROCEED TO MATAMORAS, MEXICO - RETURN TO NEW ORLEANS - PROCEED TO MOBILE - CAPTURE OF FORT MORGAN - EAST PASCAGOULA - CAPTURE OF SPANISH FORT - PROCEED TO GALVESTON - RETURN HOME - MUSTERED OUT-STATISTICS .

The Twentieth Regiment was recruited in the months of Jane and July, 1862, and sent forward in squads to Camp Randall, Madison, where the regimental organization was perfected, under the superintendence of Colonel Pinckney, and the muster into the United States service was completed on the 23d of August, and the regiment left the State, being ordered to St. Louis, on the 30th of August. The following was the regimental roster:

COLONEL-BERTINE PINCKNEY.

Lieutenant Colonel-HENRY BERTRAM; Major-HENRY A. STARR; Adjutant-HENRY V. Morris; Quartermaster-JOHN A. DOUGLAS; Surgeon-CHANDLER B. CHAPMAN; First Assistant Surgeon-EMANUEL MUNK; Second Assistant Surgeon - MARK A. MOSHER; Chaplain-Rev. W. H. MARBLE.

Co. Captains A-Aug. H Pettibone, B-Byron W. Telfalr, C-John McDermott, D-Almerln Gillett, E-John Weber, F-Nelson Whitman, G-Edward G. Miller, H-Henry E. Strong, I-William Harlocker, K-Howard Vandagrift.

Co. First Lieutenants. A-William H. York, B-Emory F. Stone, C-Charles E. Stevens, D-George W. Barter, E-Frederick Kusel, F-Albert H. Blake, G- Albert J. Rockwell, H-George W. Root, I-Thomas Bintliff, K-Nathan Cole.

Co. Second Lieutenants A-James M. Brackett, B-Frederick A. Bird, C-Jacob McLaughlin, D-Charles B. Butler, E-Charles A. Menges, F-David W. Horton, G-James Ferguson, H-George W. Miller, I-Albert P. Hall, K-Samuel B. Jackson.

The regiment arrived at St. Louis on the 31st of August, and was quartered at Benton Barracks until the 6th of September, on which day, it moved by rail to Rolla, the terminus of the Pacific Railroad. There they were assigned to General Herron's brigade, and remained in camp until the 16th, when they marched to Springfield, 135 miles, by way of Waynesville and Lebanon. On the 11th, the regiment, with the brigade, moved to Cassville, arriving on the 14th. Here General Herron was placed in command of a division, and Colonel Pinckney was assigned to the command of the brigade, which left Lieutenant Colonel Bertram in command of the regiment. From Cassville, the brigade proceeded, by forced marches, by way of Sugar Creek, Ark., to Cross Hollows, in order to capture the rebel camp at that point. The rebels abandoned the place on their approach, which was occupied by the Union forces until the 4th of November, when they left Cross Hollows and marched northward, to Wilson's Creek, twelve miles south of Springfield, where they went into camp.

Here a message was received from General Blunt, who was then encamped at Cane Hill, near Fayetteville, Ark., 112 miles distant, stating that the rebel General Hindman was advancing against him, with a force reported to be 30,000 strong, and asking for reinforcements. Accordingly, General Herron soon put his army in motion, leaving Camp Curtiss, eleven miles south of Springfield, at 2, P. M., on the 3d of December, and reached Fayetteville on the 6th, about midnight. On the 7th they moved out about five miles, when the First Arkansas Cavalry, in the advance, fell into an ambush, and was driven back. Advancing five miles further, the enemy was encountered. General Herron had sent forward to General Blunt nearly all his cavalry, and had left only six regiments of infantry, three batteries, and about 500 cavalry, in all not more than 7,000 men. The enemy flanked Blunt's position at Cane Hill, and proceeded to meet and attack Herron, before he could join his forces with General Blunt. That General had drawn up his forces at Cane Hill, expecting the attack at that point. The battle between Herron and Hindman began about 10 o'clock, A. M. The enemy had posted himself upon a timber ridge, which skirted a prairie about half a mile in width, about ten miles south of Fayetteville. His force consisted of about 24,000 men, in four divisions, under Generals Parsons, Marmaduke, Frost and Raines, and was well clothed and equipped, their guns and ammunition being of English manufacture, and were posted, with their artillery, twenty-two guns, in close proximity to the farm buildings on the ridge.

Colonel Bertram was in command of the First Brigade, and Major Starr was in charge of the regiment. The brigade battery was placed in position, supported by the Twentieth Wisconsin, and, with the rest of Herron's artillery, opened fire upon the enemy, whose fire began to slacken in about thirty minutes. Colonel Bertram now ordered the Twentieth Wisconsin to advance cautiously, which they did, about 500 yards, and lay down under cover. The enemy threatening the left flank of his brigade, Colonel Bertram ordered his three regiments to change front to the left, which was done. At this time the enemy were endeavoring to get a battery in position in Colonel Bertram's front. He immediately ordered the Twentieth Infantry to charge upon it. Led by Major Starr, the regiment advanced in line of battle, on the double quick, changing front so as to face the enemy; they fired a couple of volleys, and made their way up the hill, through the underbrush, which covered the slope and materially impeded their progress Getting in front of the battery, they fired a volley, and rushed over the fence and took possession of it. Color Sergeant Teal planted the national colors over the pieces.

After taking the battery, the regiment advanced to the brow of the hill, where they met a heavy force of the enemy, five or six regiments being massed at that point. The right wing of the Twentieth advanced to within thirty yards of the rebel line, when the enemy opened on it a tremendous cross fire, which compelled it to give way, and it was soon followed by the left wing. The men were, however, rallied, and they again went to work, fighting splendidly, but their efforts were unavailing. A heavy column of the enemy's infantry was seen advancing rapidly on the right; the Twentieth could not change front to oppose them, and to avoid annihilation or capture, it was obliged to retreat. The action lasted about fifteen minutes, in which the regiment lost very heavily.

The regiment fell back in good order, destroying what they could of the battery which they had taken. They continued their retreat across an open field to a fence, where they reformed, and remained until the firing ceased for the day. Further attempts were made to capture and hold the battery, by the Thirty-seventh Illinois and Twenty-sixth Indiana, both regiments of Pea Ridge fame, but with the same result.

The battle raged along the line during the day, the overpowering numbers, and the position of the enemy, giving him every advantage. Until 4 o' clock, the whole brunt of the battle was sustained by Herron's force, of less than 7,000 men, who, after their long march from Wilson's Creek, were footsore and weary, notwithstanding which, when the enemy were discovered, they went into the battle with a shout, forgetting their weariness and exhaustion.

Hearing the opening cannonade in the morning, General Blunt learned for the first time, that Herron was in his vicinity, and immediate]y put a force of 5,000 men and twenty-four pieces of artillery in motion, to his aid. Arriving on the field at 4 o'clock, he opened on the enemy's left, with his whole artillery. The rebels attempted to capture his batteries, but he massed his guns at one point, and loaded them with canister, and when the enemy came within range, the discharge fairly swept away the advancing force. The battle raged fiercely until dark. The enemy, by means of a flag of truce, succeeded in getting his army so far away by morning, that pursuit was useless.

The conduct of the Twentieth elicited the commendation of all who beheld the gallant charge they made upon the battery. General Herron, in a letter to Governor Salomon, spoke in enthusiastic terms of the conduct of the regiment.

The list of killed, and those who died of wounds, we have copied from the Adjutant General's records, and the list of wounded is as officially published:

KILLED OR DIED OF WOUNDS.-Company A-Color Sergeant Lindsey E. Teale, Sergeants Jas. Crawford and Joseph Frame, Privates Stephen L. Bowen, Peter Huntsinger, J. D. Chandler, Xavier S. Pierzfall, John B. Parr, Frank Rice, William Riley, Robert E. Taylor, John H. Weston, Robert L. Walshonce and James B. Posey. Company B-Sergeants Maurice E. Sexton and Samuel F. Curtis, Privates John Peters, Alexander Parland, William A. Yakeley, John Hineman, Samuel Marsh, Jas. R. Smith and Nathaniel L. Standish. Company C-Captain John McDermott, Privates Norman B. Clark, Elias Lowers and George W. Smith. Company D-Privates Jonathan Corlis, Dennis Callaghan, John Jenkins, Henry S. Remington and Joseph W. Rice. Company E-Captain John Weber, Privates August Berton, Gotfried Muster, John M. Ramsey, John Warm, Julius Weigt, Julius Werlich, Louis Fisher, August Kluge, Ernest Schnasse and Frank Sehnelder. Company F-Corporals Addison A. Hicks and Albert A. Cady, Privates Jas. Steward, Hans Shilburn, David Brown, Orris P. Cady, Abel Harper and James Lightner Company G-Corporals Benjamin S. Doudna and John G. Nichols, Privates Willis Baker, Preston S. Downing, Peter F. Emerick, George Johnson, Melvin E. Merrill, George M. Rickerman and Charles Heering. Company H-First Lieutenant G. W. Root, First Sergeant Edmund Dawes, Corporal John P. Sargent, Privates Lorenzo Howard, Dexter B. Shute, Anthony LaFountain and William H. Weber. Company I-Flrst Lieutenant Thomas Bintliff, Privates Cyrus W. Vesper and Stephen W. Peyton. Company K-Corporals Willard Jacobs, Franklin H. Washburn, Robert Johnson and Jesse Blackburn, Privates Terry O'Kelly, Charles Leisinger, Dennis Sullivan, Robert Struthers, George Truedell, Gardner B. Warden, William Dumprope and Charles Dobbert-82.

WOUNDED.-Company A-Second Lieutenant S. P. Jackson, Corporal S. Smith, Privates E. W . Blake, W. Brownlee, W. Heines, A. Huddleston, P. Dean, W. Morrison, G. Pettingill, H. E. Thompson, H. Underwood, M. J. Paine, E. W. Hestleroth G. B. Shaffer, and Jerry Brandon. Company B-Lieutenant F. A. Bird, Privates C. M Atwood, J. Davolt, S. R. Ewing, H. Hineman, J. Holden, G. Hoffman, R. M. Jacks, E. Lewis, P. C. Pool, H. Pine, M. Simpkins, C. M. Welton and J. Gray. Company C-Sergeant K. Smith, Corporals J. M. Reynolds and S. Livingston, Privates J. Ewing, S. Flizgerald, J. Hammond, A. Houghtaling, A. Norton, A. S. Richards and J. Watkins. Company D-Captain A. GiIIette, Lieutenant C. B. Butler, Sergeant E. E. Ellis, Corporals F. Swinger and S. Doane, Privates F. E. Garner, J. Glesenheimer, C. Pagel, G. H. Phillips, C. G. Read, J. L. Rockwell, S. D Stevens, B. J. Thompson, D. Tool and H. C. Wood. Company E-Lieutenant F. Kusel, Sergeant H. Sommers, Privates G. Janish, C. Rettig, H. Mueller, W . Tank, L. Zanener, W. Bandle, H.Volkman, W. Hahn and W. Wodke. Company F-Lieutenant A. H. Blake, Sergeant W. E. Marshall, Corpornl J. T. Paine, Privates S. Payne, J. Harris, R. Russel, E. Holmes, J. Wagner and G. Lamb. Company G-Lieutenant J. Furguson, Sergeants O. S. Phllllps and W. Scott, Corporals T. Parr and D. S. Burbank, Privates A. Hazlewood, D. Foley, M. W. O'Kean, S. G. Lockwood, F. Larson and W. Brandt. Company H-Captain Henry C. Strong, Lieutenant G. W. MiIIIer, Corporal E. M. Lull, Privates A. Nass, F. Cruger, B. Smith, L. St. George and David Weber. Company I-Corporals John Stack, E. A. Sprague, C. W. Snider and G. W. Day, Privates M. Bitney, G. C. Johnson, C. R. Saddleback, M. J. Whitesides, Wllliam Waddle, J. Woodhouse, A. M. Barnum, E. Hulthcroft and B.Peasley. Company K-First Lieutenant N. Cole, Sergeant J. Blackstone, Corporals F, Rinses, W. Nagues and J. M. Hunter, Privates M. Aaron, J. W. Hamilton, H. Herbig, E. Hager, B. F. Hickman, M. H Judd, O. Otto, D. W. Plopper, J. Shaffer, S. Smith, J. Sullivan and W. Wilcox-123.

After the battle, they remained in camp at Prairie Grove until the 27th of December, when the regiment took part with the Army of the Frontier in a forced march to Van Buren, on White River, for the purpose of surprising and capturing the enemy's supplies said to be arriving at that place. With six days rations they started at 4 o'clock, A. M., and marched all day and night, only stopping at 5 o clock next morning to boil some coffee. They had travelled thirty miles over a road which was very muddy, and rough and stony. General Blunt pushed on ahead with his cavalry, met the enemy's cavalry ten miles from Van Buren, boldly attacked them, put them to flight, and drove them into and through the town, of which he took immediate possession, capturing four steamboats loaded with sugar, molasses and other stores for the rebel army. The infantry arrived during the afternoon, and encamped in the outskirts of the town. Entering the place in the evening, they were drawn up in line of battle, but the enemy did not offer to attack. The Twentieth suffered no loss, and returned to camp on the 31st, having marched 120 miles in five days. The regiment subsequently moved into Missouri, occupying a camp at Forsyth for some time, after which it moved to several different points, until the 31st of March, when they camped at Lake Springs, near Rolla, where they remained until the 3d of June. George W. Dowse, of Company A, is reported as killed at Springfield. On the 3d, they marched to Rolla, and, taking cars, proceeded to St. Louis, where they embarked and proceeded down the Mississippi River to Young's Point, and crossed the peninsula to Warrenton, below Vicksburg, On the 12th, and on the 15th, marched with Herron's Division, and took position in the line of investment in the front of Vicksburg, being the division on the extreme left of the investing forces. Here they remained till the capitulation of the city, engaged in picket duty and labor on the intrenchments. Colonel Bertram reports that on the 23d of June, Captain Glillett, of Company D, with twelve men of Companies B and D, in the night, succeeded in creeping up to within four rods of the enemy's rifle pits, in front of the regiment, and surprising the men there stationed, capturing thirteen and killing one. For this gallant act, Captain Glillett was appointed Inspector General of General Herron's command.

The casualties during the siege were two men wounded-Peter Nimm, of Company H, and J. Champney, of Company C, who died in hospital.

The regiment encamped within the fortifications after the surrender, and on the 12th of July, General Herron's division was ordered to reinforce General Banks, at Port Hudson. News was received of the surrender of that place, and the division was ordered on an expedition up the Yazoo River, in connection with the gunboats. Arriving near Yazoo City on the 13th, Companies G and K were sent out as skirmishers on the right bank of the river. On approaching the town, the enemy were discovered to be leaving it. The brigade disembarked, and after a circuitous march, entered the town. About midnight, the Twentieth was ordered into line for the purpose of capturing a rebel camp. They succeeded in capturing about sixty straggling rebels. They also captured a rebel commissary of subsistence and his assistants and family. Captain Miller was ordered to take ten men and escort them to brigade headquarters, while the regiment pushed on a mile or two further. When about a mile from the town, Captain Miller discovered, a short distance in front, a company of rebels drawn up in line. The captain looked at his small force, and then at this rebel line of battle, and began to think that the chances were against him in a fight with a force five times his number. The rebel captain advanced, but instead of demanding the surrender of Captain Miller and his party, he expressed a wish to surrender the force under his command. His company stacked their arms, filed into the road, and they marched into town. They proved to be Germans, and belonged to Wall's Texas Legion. The regiment remained at Yazoo City until the 23d, during which time Captain Vandergrift acted as Provost Marshal. The division then embarked, and returned to Vicksburg, from whence they proceeded down the river to Port Hudson, where they remained until the 28th of August, when they moved by transports down the river to Carrolton, near New Orleans, and encamped. From this point, on the 5th of September, they accompanied an expedition up the river to Morganza, twenty-five miles above Port Hudson. The brigade landed next morning, and penetrated into the interior as far as the Atchafalaya River, where the enemy was found strongly intrenched on the opposite side of the river, which was not fordable, and it was found impossible to build a bridge. The force, therefore, returned and encamped at Morganza till the 11th of October, when they returned to Carrolton. The Twentieth lost one man killed while on picket-Corporal John Sargent, of Company H.

The object of this movement on the Atchafalaya was to make a diversion in favor of General Franklin, who was moving on Opelousas, by compelling General Dick Taylor to divide his forces.

Here the division of General Herron was transferred to the Thirteenth Army Corps and became the Second Division in that Corps, and participated with it in the operations of General Banks in Texas. Embarking on the steamer Thomas A. Scott, the Twentieth left Carrolton and proceeded to the head of the passes and waited for the rest of the fleet, which to the number of twenty-seven, stood out to sea on the 27th of October, encountered a severe storm on the 29th, and arrived at Brazos Santiago, on the 1st of November, and proceeded to the mouth of the Rio Grande where an unsuccessful attempt to land was made They returned and subsequent]y landed at Brazos Santiago, and on the 9th, went into camp at Brownsville, on the Rio Grande, opposite the Mexican town of Metamoras. Here the regiment was employed in garrison, picket and fatigue duty, at Fort Brown.

Matters were so unsettled and unsafe at Metamoras, that the American Consul, Mr. Pierce, asked protection at the hands of General Herron, the two belligerent parties on that side of the river, being engaged in constant warfare to the imminent danger of peaceable citizens and non-combatants. General Herron accordingly ordered Colonel Bertram with the Twentieth Wisconsin, Ninety-fourth Illinois and Battery B, with forty rounds of ammunition and one days' rations, to move across the river into Mexico, with orders to protect the American Consul, not to fire upon either party unless fired upon-and then to defend themselves. The property in the custody of the Consul was removed to the other side of the river, and Colonel Bertram returned to Fort Brown on the 14th. Great credit was conceded to Colonel Bertram for the admirable manner in which he managed this affair. The regiment remained at Brownsville, Colonel Bertram being in command of the fort until it was evacuated by the Union forces, July 28th, 1864. They embarked on the 1st of August, and landed at Carrolton, above New Orleans, on the 5th, and went into camp.

On the 7th of August, they again embarked and proceeding with the land forces attached to the expedition of Admiral Farragut against the forts commanding the mouth of Mobile Harbor, and landed on the 10th, at Mobile Point. The land forces consisted of a portion of the Thirteenth Army Corps, under the command of Brevet Brigadier General Joseph Bailey, of the Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry, and the brigade, the Third in General Herron's division, was commanded by Colonel Bertram. The land forces immediately proceeded to the rear of Fort Morgan, where they engaged in building works, digging rifle pits and the other labors pertaining to the siege, besides the usual picket and camp duties, and were constantly occupied until the surrender of the fort on the 23d. Forts Powell and Gaines had been captured or destroyed by the Navy. A general bombardment from the land forces and a portion of the fleet on the 22d, made the place so hot for the rebels, the shells having set fire to the interior works, that on the 23d, at 7, A. M., they hoisted a white flag and surrendered. The Twentieth Wisconsin and Thirty-fourth Iowa, at 2 o'clock P. M., received the garrison as prisoners of war, and marched them on shipboard for New Orleans. On the 8th of September, a detachment of the Twentieth proceeded up the bay and destroyed some large salt works capable of making 1,000 barrels per day, and brought down a large amount of lumber for the building of commissary and quartermaster depots.

General Bailey immediately set to work repairing Fort Morgan, and making it stronger than ever. The Twentieth was camped at Navy Cove, four miles from Fort Morgan, engaged during the month of October, in constructing a telegraph and building a railroad to Fort Morgan, repairing wharves and barges, and unloading supplies, besides picket and guard duty. On the 15th of October, Colonel Bertram was appointed by General Granger, to the command of the district of South Alabama, which devolved the command of the regiment on Lieutenant Colonel Starr. The regiment remained at Navy Cove until the 14th of December, when Colonel Bertram, with his command, proceeded in transports to Pascagoula, moved up the river a few miles, and landed and marched to Franklin Creek, twelve miles, above Pascagoula. Here he seized a large amount of pine lumber, cotton, and rosin. On the 18th, a reconnoitering party of the enemy was driven off. On the 22d, the enemy was encountered, about 3,000 strong, and after a short and sharp skirmish, was put to flight, and driven across Davis Creek. William Eichel of Company E, was wounded. It being found impossible to ship the captured lumber down the river in boats, the Twentieth Wisconsin was detailed to raft it. This they did successfully, running their raft thirty miles through the enemy's territory, securing thereby about 800,000 feet of excellent lumber, besides a large quantity of cotton.

The Twentieth reached Griffin's Mills, with their raft of lumber and cotton, on the 25th. Here they landed and seized additional lumber sufficient to make 1,800,000 feet. They remained encamped at this place, and Williams' Mills, two miles below, until the evacuation of East Pascagoula, on the 31st, when they marched to that place and covered the embarkation of the troops and proceeded to their old camp at Navy Cove, on Mobile Point, where they engaged in picket, garrison, and heavy fatigue duty. On the 8th of March, the regiment moved camp three miles east, and from this time until the 26th of March, was moving in various directions, bridging creeks and making corduroy roads, and in other arduous duties, finally camping at Montrose, on Mobile Bay. Taking part in the movements of General Canby, on the 26th, they marched out six miles on the Bay road and encamped within two miles of Spanish Fort, one of the enemy's strongest defenses around Mobile, and on the 27th, took position under a galling fire on the extreme left of the line of investment, within five hundred yards of the Fort.

At this time, the following casualties occurred:

WOUNDED.-Company A-Private Edward Ross. Company B-Captain E. F. Stone, mortally, and Private Thomas Murray. Company D-Privates Terence Grimes and Wesley J. Hancock, mortally. Company E-Privates Peter Wettesheim and Bernard Peasely-7. Two mortally.

On the 28th, the regiment was held in reserve, but Private John H. Williams, of Company A, and Peter Laford, of Company F, were mortally wounded. On the 31st, Corporals Thomas S. Perry and John G. White, of Company I, and Private Fred Voelker, of Company E, were wounded, the last mortally.

The regiment remained in the lines before Spanish Fort until the 9th of April, when it moved into the fortification, which had been abandoned by the enemy the night before, being the first regiment to enter. Here they were stationed and employed in collecting the stores, ammunition and artillery left by the rebels, till the 21st of April, when they marched to Blakely and camped, and on the 6th of May, moved down the river, crossed the bay and camped within four miles of Mobile on the Shell road. Mobile surrendered and was taken possession of by the troops of General Granger, on the 12th of April, thus closing the great rebellion in the valley of the Mississippi.

The Twentieth regiment remained near Mobile until the 22d of June, when Companies A, B, D, F and G, under Captain Gillett, embarked at Mobile, and proceeded to Galveston, Texas, arriving on the 25th, and were joined by the other wing on the 28th. There they were employed in garrison and guard duty until July 14th, when they were mustered out. On the 17th, the regiment embarked for home, the left wing under Colonel Bertram, and the right wing under Captain Gillett, proceeded to New Orleans, thence up the Mississippi River to Cairo, and from there by rail to Madison, where they arrived on the 30th of July, and were paid off and disbanded on the 9th of August. Major Pettibone resigned on the 17th of June, and Captain Almerin Gillett was appointed Major.

Col. Bertram was brevetted Brigadier General for meritorious services during the war. Regimental Statistics.-Original strength, 990. Gain-by recruits in 1863, 12, in 1864, 120, in 1865, 6; by substitutes, 1; total, 1129. Loss-by death, 229 ; deserted, 41 ; transferred, 115; discharged, 222; mustered out, 524.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census. (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005).

   Online publication - Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850.M432, 1,009 rolls. Dunkirk, Dane, Wisconsin, roll M432_995, page 292, image 111.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census. (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004).

   Online publication - Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860.M653, 1,438 rolls. Rockbridge, Richland, Wisconsin, post office Rockbridge, roll M653_1428, page 219, image 223.

3. ↑ Memorial 218949977, in Find A Grave.