The Vidette-Messenger Centennial EditionThe 1936 special edition celebrating Porter County's centennial year . . . .
The following article has been transcribed from the August 18, 1936, issue of The Vidette-Messenger, published in Valparaiso, Indiana. This particular special edition focuses on Porter County's centennial celebration and contains a 94-page compendium of Porter County history up to that time.
Return to the index of articles from The Vidette-Messenger's Porter County Centennial special edition.
Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso,
Porter County, Indiana; August 18, 1936; Volume 10, Section 4, Page 11.
PORTER COUNTY PLAYED PART IN ALL OF NATION'S WARS
From Earliest Days Sons of Porter County Volunteered For Service With Old Glory
Porter Was First County In Indiana To Form Company In Response To Lincoln's Call
CIVIL WAR
Porter county
played a never-to-be forgotten role in that fearful struggle, the war of the
rebellion, 1861-65. Hundreds upon hundreds of men from Porter county became a
part of that great drama and scores made the supreme sacrifice at Shiloh, Fort
Donelson, Chicamauga, Stone River, and other battlefields of the war.
In 1852 the new constitution of Indiana was adopted, the system was revived by
an act of the legislature, and each Congressional district was required to
organized a militia. Northern Indiana was required to organize the Ninth
brigade, the second regiment of which was apportioned to Porter county. Of this
regiment, L. A. Cass was colonel; H. E. Woodruff, lieutenant-colonel, and a man
named Freeman was major. About half the townships formed companies and for a few
years meetings for drill and instruction were held regularly. Then the interest
began to wane, and by 1859, the militia had sunk into a state of inactivity.
That day when news of the president's call reached Valparaiso, the publishers of
the Valparaiso Republican issued an extra edition containing a call for a
meeting at the court house in the evening.
Porter county's response to the call was instantaneous. The court house was
packed to its utmost capacity within a few minutes after the doors were opened.
Dr. E. Jones was elected to preside, and J. F. McCarthy and A. J. Berry was
chosen secretaries. On motion of Dr. R. A. Cameron, a committee was appointed to
draft resolutions indicative of the feeling that percaded the entire North. The
committee consisted of Dr. Cameron, Jacob Brewer, S. S. and J. N. Skinner and
Mark L. DeMotte.
The response was so general that within a few days a company numbering 130 men
was ready for organization.
The honor of being the first county in the state to raise a company for the
preservation of the Union belong to Porter county.
On Sunday, April 21, 1861, a sermon was preached to the members of the company
by Rev. Aaron Gurney, and that evening they left for Indianapolis, where they
arrived early the following morning. A temporary camp was formed on the state
house grounds at 6 o'clock, where at 9 o'clock they were sworn in by Judge
Perkins of the supreme court, Governor Morton being present.
The company was then ordered to Camp Morton, and having more men upon its muster
rolls than the army regulations permitted, it was reduced to seventy-seven
enlisted men. The surplus members were organizaed into a new company which took
the name of the "Valparaiso Guards."
On the 23rd the original company was mustered into the United States service as
Company H, Ninth Indiana Infantry, Col. Robert H. Milroy commanding, with the
following officers, Robert A. Cameron, captain; Isaac C. B. Suman, first
lieutenant; Gilbert A. Pierce, second lieutenant. At that time the prevalent
opinion was that the war was not a serious affair and would soon be ended, hence
the first troops were mustered in for a term of only three months.
After a few days spent in drilling and perfecting the regimental organization,
the Ninth was ordered to western Virginia.
During the three months' service the regiment was in several minor skirmishes in
western Virginia, the most important being at Laurel Hill, July 8, 1861, in
which John Matthews, Company H, was wounded. Although in no heavy engagements
the willingness of the men to perform a soldier's duty in any action that might
be brought gave the regiment the name of the "Bloody Ninth." At the expiration
of the three months' term, the Ninth was ordered to Indianapolis, where it
arrived on July 24, and was mustered out on the 29th.
On Aug. 27, 1861, it was reorganized at LaPorte for the three years' service,
and was there mustered in on Sept. 9, with Colonel Milroy again in command.
Company H was offered by Isaac C. B. Suman as captain; DeWitt C. Hodsden as
first lieutenant; William H. Benney, second lieutenant.
Again the regiment was ordered to western Virginia, where it took part in the
engagements at Green Brier and Alleghany, as well as a number of light
skirmishes. In February, 1862, it was ordered to join General Buell's army at
Nashville, Tennessee, where it was assigned to General Nelson's division. It
participated in the second days' battle at Shiloh, the campaign against Corinth,
the pursuit of Bragg's army through Kentucky, fighting at Perryville, Danville
and Wild Cat mountain. It then returned to Tennessee, where it took part in the
battle of Stone's river, and later was in the battle of Chickamauga and the
military operations about Chattanooga.
In the spring of 1864 it joined General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign. After
the fall of Atlanta it returned to Tennessee with General Thomas and was in the
battle of Nashville on Dec. 15, 1864, pursuing Hood's retreating army as far as
Huntsville, Ala. Its next service was in Louisiana and Texas as part of General
Sheridan's command, and was finally mustered out on Sept. 28, 1865. Throughout
the entire service of the Ninth, the Porter county company was on the firing
line whenever the regiment was called into action.
The Valparaiso Guards -- the surplus members of the original company -- were
assigned to Company C., Fifteenth Indiana Infantry, which was commanded by Col.
George Wagner. This was one of six regiments of state troops which were mustered
into the United State service in the summer of 1861. Company C. was commanded by
Capt. John M. Combaret, of Fort Wayne, O. H. Ray and John F. McCarthy, of Porter
county, were the first and second lieutenants, respectively. The first service
of the Fifteenth was in western Virginia, where it was engaged at Rich Mountain
and Green River, after which it joined Buell's army in Tennessee. It
participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Stone's river, the
Tullahoma campaign, the operations around Chattanooga, and then marched to the
relief of General Burnside, who was besieged at Knoxville, Tenn. The main body
of the regiment was mustered out in June, 1864, the veterans and recruits
continuing in the service until Aug. 8, 1865.
Company I, Twentieth Infantry, was composed almost entirely of Porter county
men. The officers of the regiment were W. L. Brown, colonel; Charles D. Murray,
lieutenant-colonel; Benjamin Smith, major. When the regiment was mustered in on
July 22, 1861, the officers of the company were: Captain, William D. Macey;
first lieutenant, Richard T. Henderson; second lieutenant, Jesse N. Potts. The
regiment was mustered in at Indianapolis and left that city on Aug. 2 for
Maryland.
It was then sent to Hatteras inlet and from there to Fortress Monroe, where it
formed part of the land forces at the time the Merrimac made the attack on the
Union fleet, March 9, 1862. It was this regiment which prevented the capture of
the gunboat Congress by the enemy. On June 8, 1862, it was assigned to
Jamieson's brigade, Kearney's division, Heintzelman's corps, Army of the
Potomac, with which it took part in the battles of Fair Oaks, the Orchards, the
Seven Days' Battles, especially at Glendale, and was then ordered back to
Alexandria, Virginia.
Its next engagement was at Manassas Plaines, where Colonel Brown was killed, and
it was also in the battle of Chantilly. It was with Franklin's corps at the
battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862; was with General Hooker in the battle
of Chancellorsville in May, 1863; participated in the pursuit of General Lee's
army from Gettysburg, where Col. John Wheeler was killed and 152 men of his
regiment were either killed or wounded, and soon afterward was sent to New York
to assist in quelling the draft riots in that city.
It rejoined the Army of Potomac in time for the Mine Run campaign in the fall of
1863, and was with General Grant in the final campaign against Richmond, taking
part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, the siege of
Petersburg, and was present at the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox, April
9, 1865. It was then ordered to Louisville, Ky., where it was mustered out on
July 22, 1865, with 23 officers and 390 enlisted men.
A few Porter county men served in the Twenty-ninth Indiana infantry, which was
commanded by Col. John F. Miller at the time of the muster in. J. F. Heaton was
assistant surgeon of the regiment; Samuel E. Wetzel was the first lieutenant of
Company F; Anson Goodwin was second lieutenant of Company I, and S. G. Gilmore
was a sergeant in Company G.
In the Thirty-fourth Infantry, Stephen L. Bartholomew, a Porter county man, was
quartermaster, and S. C. Logan was chaplain. Rev. James C. Brown was chaplain of
the Forty-eighth infantry until his death at Paducah, Ky., in 1862, and
Theophilus Matott served as second and first lieutenant of Company D until he
resigned from the service on Sept. 18, 1863.
In Company B, Sixty-third Indiana infantry there were a number of Porter county
men. Henry O. Skinner was mustered in as a sergeant and was promoted to the
captaincy; Lawrence Tompkins, John Teeter, Thomas H. Lewis and Allen W.
McConnell served as corporals, and the original muster roll bears the names of
twenty-two privates who enlisted from the county. John S. Williams was colonel
of the regiment at the time it was mustered into service Aug. 29, 1862.
The Seventy-third Indiana infantry was mustered in on August 16, 1862, with
Gilbert Hathaway as colonel; Robert W. Graham, of Valparaiso, as
lieutenant-colonel; and Hiram S. Green, of Porter county, surgeon. Company E of
this regiment contained a number of Porter county men, and Company L was
recruited in the county.
Of the latter company, Rollin M. Pratt was the first captain; Robert W. Graham,
first lieutenant; Emanuel M. Williamson, second lieutenant. Lieutenant Graham
became captain on Oct. 20, 1862, and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on Feb.
13, 1863. Lieutenants Emanuel M. Williamson and William C. Eaton also served as
captains of the company.
The regiment was raised in northern Indiana and was mustered in at South Bend.
On Oct. 1 it was ordered to Kentucky, where it was attached to Harker's brigade,
Wood's division, of Buell's army.
Nicholas F. Manville served for a time as chaplain of the Eighty-sixth Indiana
infantry, and in the Eighty-seventh Indiana infantry John W. Elam was captain of
Company D. This regiment served under General Burbridge, and later formed part
of the Third brigade, Third division, Fourteenth army corps, which was with
Buell at Perryville and with Sherman on the Atlanta campaign and the march to
Savannah. It was mustered out at Louisville, Ky., July 21, 1865.
Porter county was well represented in the Ninety-ninth Indiana infantry, which
was mustered into the United States service in October, 1862, with Alexander
Fowler as colonel. About three-fourths of the men in Company C came from Porter
county. Jacob Brewer was captain; Fred W. Drawans, first lieutenant; William
Harmon, Charles R. Loux and Daniel R. Lucas served as second lieutenants at
different times.
During the year 1863 the regiment was in a number of engagements in Tennessee
and Mississippi. In the fall of that year it took part in the operations about
Chattanooga, and in the spring of 1864 joined Sherman's army for the advance
upon Atlanta. After the fall of that city it was with Sherman in the march to
the seas and the campaign through the Carolinas. It was mustered out in June,
1865.
The next infantry regiment in which Porter county was represented was the One
Hundred and Twenty-eight, which was mustered in on Jan. 12, 1864, with Richard
P. DeHart as colonel. Of this regiment, William H. Calkins, of Valparaiso, was
quartermaster, and Max F. A. Hoffman, surgeon. Company E was made up almost
entirely of Porter county boys and was officered by Benjamin Sheffield, captain;
John E. Cass, first lieutenant; John Fitzwilliam, second lieutenant. This
regiment served in the Atlanta campaign and later with General Thomas in
Tennessee, taking part in the engagements at Franklin and Nashville. It was
mustered out on June 8, 1865.
In the spring of 1864 several regiments were raised and mustered into service
for a term of 160 days. One of these was the One Hundred and Twenty-eight
Indiana infantry, which was commanded by Col. James H. Shannon. Thomas G. Lytle,
of Porter county, was captain of Company D; Horace A. Goodwin was first
lieutenant, and there were several enlisted men in the company who came from
Porter county. The regiment was employed during the entire service on guard
duty. There were several Porter county men in Company K, One Hundred and
Forty-second Infantry, of which John M. Comparet was colonel. In the company
mentioned George H. Piercon was first sergeant; William Christie and James
Johnson, corporals, and come eight or ten privates were credited to this county.
Two companies -- B and E -- of the One Hundred and Fifty-first Infantry, Col.
Joshua Healey commanding, were composed largely of Porter county men. Anson H.
Goodwin, who had served as second lieutenant of Company I, Twenty-ninth
infantry, was commissioned captain of Company B; John E. Moon was first
lieutenant, and John B. Marshall was served lieutenant. Aaron W. Lytle was
captain of Company E; Charles E. Youngs was first lieutenant, and Orlando R.
Beebe, second lieutenant. All were from Porter county.
Besides the companies mentioned, Porter county was represented in the cavalry
and artillery of the volunteer army. In the Fifth cavalry, commanded by Col.
Robert R. Stewart at the time of the muster in on Aug. 2, 1862, Arthur M. Buell
was first lieutenant or Company I; James McVicker McGill was first sergeant of
the company until transferred to the Sixteenth Tennessee and commissioned first
lieutenant; Levi H. Mutchler was sergeant, and James Bell was a corporal. Most
of the service of this regiment was in Kentucky and Tennessee. It took part in
twenty-two battles and skirmishes and was mustered out on Sept. 15, 1865.
The Seventh cavalry, commanded by Col. John P. C. Shanks, was mustered in by
companies from June to September, 1863. In this regiment Aaron L. Jones, of
Porter county, was quartermaster. Company A was made up largely of Porter county
enlistments and was officered by John Febles, captain; John R. Parmalee, first
lieutenant; Henry S. Stoddard, second lieutenant.
The Seventh Indiana cavalry was one of the regiments whose members "lived in the
saddle."
The Twelfth cavalry was organized in the early spring of 1864. It was under the
command of Col. Edward Anderson. James H. Claypool, of Valparaiso, was chaplain,
and William H. Calkins, who had served as quartermaster of the One Hundred
Twenty-eighth infantry, was promoted to major while it was in service. A
majority of the members of Company M came from Porter county. Of this company
Lewis Stoddard was captain; William Bissell, first lieutenant, and James M.
Buell, second lieutenant.
In the Fourth Indiana battery of light artillery, which was organized in the
summer and early fall of 1861, Mark L. DeMotte served as first lieutenant until
commissioned assistant quartermaster by President Lincoln, April 14, 1862.
Augustus A. Starr, who went out second lieutenant, resigned on July 1, 1863, and
Henry J. Willets then served as second lieutenant until the battery was mustered
out. The battery was with Buell's army at Shiloh and Corinth; was then at Stone
river and on the Tullahoma campaign; was next at Lookout mountain and in other
engagements about Chattanooga. It was mustered out on Aug. 1, 1865.
Henry Rankin, for many years surveyor of Porter county, was a first lieutenant
in the Fifth light battery, and in the Twentieth battery, Warren C. Gilbreath
served as second lieutenant from the time the battery was mustered in on Sept.
19, 1862, until it was mustered out on June 28, 1865. The Twentieth was at first
stationed in the fortifications at Nashville, Tenn. It was engaged almost daily
in the Atlanta campaign, after which it returned to Tennessee with General
Thomas and took part in the battle of Nashville, Dec. 15, 1864.
Just how many volunteers from Porter county served in the Union army in the
Civil war will probably never be known. The official records of the
adjutant-general's office -- though compiled with great care -- are imperfect,
especially in not giving to Indiana credit for men who really belonged to the
state, but who served in regiments in other states. The same is true of the
several counties. Men frequently enlisted in a company which was being organized
in another county and were credited to that county instead of their own. In
addition to the organizations mentioned, it is known that there were in other
regiments a number of men who should be credited to Porter county. Then there
were some in the regular army and navy. Names of Porter county men were found on
the rolls of twenty-nine regiments of infantry, four regiments of cavalry and
three batteries of artillery which went from this state, and there were Porter
county men in Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee regiments.
According to the adjutant-general's reports, the casualties suffered by Porter
county troops were 110 who died of disease; 24 killed in action, 13 died of
wounds; 1 drowned in the Mississippi river, and 1 accidentally shot, making a
total of 149 deaths among those who enlisted.
The adjutant-general's report showed that 1,136 men were enrolled for service
from Porter county. Porter county paid $55,000 for the work of sanitary and
Christian commissions and support of soldiers' families, and $65,227.50 for
bounties to soldiers for enlistments.
Article transcribed by Steven R. Shook