| "History of Buchanan County, Iowa 1842 to
1881"
THE SIMULTANEOUS RAISING
OF TWO COMPANIES,
The spring
of 1862 was signalized by brilliant successes on the part of
the Federal troops in the west and southwest. But these were
not achieved without a price, and many existing military
organizations required to be filled up by new enlistments,
in order to be certain of retaining the advantages already
gained. In June of this year a call was made for three
hundred thousand men to be "enrolled without delay, so as to
bring this unnecessary and injurious war to a speedy and
satisfactory conclusion."
It was soon
announced that enlistments were going forward with much
energy throughout the State, and Buchanan county, as
heretofore, was not long in placing herself in the front
rank in this prompt response to the call of the Government,
Mr. J. D. Noble, commission merchant, Independence, was the
first to initiate steps for raising a company, which met at
once with encouraging success. Already midsummer, another
harvest would soon be passed, when, with the bounty offered
by the board of supervisors, and the advanced pay from the
Government, the families of enlisted men could be provided
for. This liberality produced a marked effect in the rapid
increase of volunteering in all parts of the county, as
indeed wherever the policy was adopted thus enlistments were
confidently expected to render drafting a dead letter. The
good work was soon progressing, not only at the county seat,
but also at Quasqueton under the supervision of Mr. Whitney;
and in Byron township a company was being raised by Jacob M,
Miller. The fire of patriotism had not lost its ardor, and
at the first breath it was again ablaze. Some of the most
prominent business men of the county had soon given their
names; the legal profession being represented by such men as
W. G. Donnan and Jed Lake.
We make the
following extract from the Guardian of August 19th:
The enthusiasm apparent at the time we went to press last
week has continued, and has culminated in the enlisting of
two companies of excellent men from this county. The rolls
of these companies show the names of some of the best
citizens of our county, and better material for soldiers
cannot be found anywhere.
The members
of both companies were at the county seat on Monday and
Tuesday, eighteenth and nineteenth of August, with hundreds
of their friends, thus giving the town another faint ripple
from the utmost verge of that angry sea into which our
unhappy country had been plunged. Again were the sad parting
scenes re-enacted, the same clinging, tearful farewells on
the part of those left, and most to be pitied - the same
heroic mastery of self on the part of those who had given
themselves to their bleeding country. The companies were
both filled to the maximum number, and the character of the
men was such as to promise the highest honor to the county,
their State and to, themselves. Captain Miller was elected
by acclamation, but further organization was deferred by
both companies until they should be in camp at Dubuque. The
roster of company C,* Captain Miller's; taken from the
adjutant general's report, is here appended:
*Note by Elaine Johnson:
This is actually the roster from Company H --see the bolded
note below.
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
Captain Jacob M. Miller.
First Lieutenant Otis N. Whitney.
Second Lieutenant William G. Donnan.
NON-COMMISSIONED
OFFICERS.
First Sergeant Aaron M. Wilcox.
Second Sergeant Wesley G. Smyser.
Third Sergeant Charles W. Woolley.
Fourth Sergeant Charles W. Evans.
Fifth Sergeant Mark Brownson.
First Corporal Joseph H. Blank.
Second Corporal Daniel Anders.
Third Corporal John G. Litts.
Fourth Corporal Alonzo L. Shurtleff.
Fifth Corporal Henry Silker.
Sixth Corporal Thomas S. Bunce.
Seventh Corporal John S. Frink.
Eighth Corporal George Kirkham.
Musician Sidney C. Adams.
Musician George W. Heath.
Wagoner Benjamin Miller.
PRIVATES.
William C.
B. Adams, Sylvester Abbey, Samuel Beckley, John M. Blank,
John Buck, Nelson J. Boone, Morgan Boone, Amos R. Blood,
Sylvester W. Bowker, Mathias Buro, Hamilton B. Booth, James
Campbell, Columbus Caldwell, William Casebeer, Warren Chase,
Charles Conlon, Francis M. Congdon, Devolson Cormick,
Erastus Campbell, Alford Cordell, Moses Chase, Albert
Cordell, Benton F. Colborn, Charles H. Coleman, William
Crum, Henry E. A. Diehl, Levi H. Eddy, Hamilton Evans,
William B. Fleming, Henry French, Jacob Glass, George G.
Gaylord, Isaac Gill, James C. Haskins, Newton Hammond, Hiram
H. Hunt, Michael Harrigan, George Hathaway, Ezekiel Hays,
jr., Adam Hoover, Charles Hoover, William J. Hendricks,
Clinton H. Losure, Harrison H. Love, Charles H. Lewis,
William N. Loy, James A. Laird, Edward P. Lewis, Walter B.
Lan-fear, William McKenney, Alvi McGonigil, Edward E. Mulick,
John Mulick, Louis A. McWilliams, Bartimeus McGonigil,
Abraham S. Monshaw, John McBane, Charles W. McKenney,
William Morgan, Stewart McKenney, Emanuel Miller, Warren
Munson, Joseph Moore, Augustus P. Osgood, John Olar, Edward
T. Potter, Austin W. Perkins, George A. Patterson, William
T. Rich, John Slavin, Philip C. Smyser, Benjamin Sutton,
Howard T. Stutson, Thomas Sproull, Henry H. Turner, Joseph
Turis, John A. Tift, Myron H. Woodward, Emanuel Wardell,
William M. Winkley.
It was
mentioned as a matter of interest, that forty-nine of these
men were single and fifty married. This roll, first copied
from the Guardian, was afterward corrected by
comparison with the roster found in the official report of
the adjutant general. Captain Noble's company took the
letter name C, in the Twenty-seventh infantry, and Captain
Miller's became company H in the same regiment.
The roll of
Captain Noble's company (company C) though reviewed at the
Guardian office, and acknowledged with the promise of an
early insertion, through undesigned omission did not appear.
The following roster is taken from the report of Adjutant
General Bake; published January 1, 1863:
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
Captain Joseph Noble.
First Lieutenant Henry F. Snell.
Second Lieutenant Herman C. Hemenway.
NON-COMMISSIONED
OFFICERS.
First Sergeant James A. Poor.
Second Sergeant Joseph F. Jackson.
Third sergeant Enoch R. Fary.
Fourth Sergeant Edward P. Baker
Fifth Sergeant William H. Vanderbilt.
First Corporal Albert M. Green.
Second Corporal Charles H. Wright.
Third Corporal Jonathan F. Gates.
Fourth Corporal Lewis A. Main.
Fifth Corporal Frederick Spragg.
Sixth Corporal George Frink.
Seventh Corporal William P. Warren.
Eighth Corporal George N. Whaite.
Musician Robert N. White.
Musician Harry Green.
Musician Oliver Bray.
Wagoner Byron C. Hale.
PRIVATES.
Eli
Anderson, Hiram Abbott, Emery S. Allen, Richard H. Andrews,
Daniel L. Brisbin, Job Barns, Gilbert P. Brant, Eli C.
Brown, William B. Burris, Warren Bouck, Henry M. Bailey,
George W. Beaman, John Brady, Michael Butler, Lorin D.
Carpenter, John S. Coats, Needham N. Crandall, Levt Durham,
Electus D. Frizell, Erasmus B. Frizell, Zenas R. Fary, Frank
B. Fredenburg, George H. Fuller, Joel Fisher, James C.
Glass, Harry Green, George W. Hilling, Abner B. Hoffman,
Gilbert L. Hicks, Matthias Hook, David N. Jewett, David F.
Johnson, Martin T. King, Willard H. King, William S. King,
John R. Laton, Abraham Littlejohn, William H. Leuder, Walter
S. Munger, William B. Minton, Reuben L. Merrill, David
McGowan, William Milligan, Carr W. Mosher, Joel D. Nourse,
James H. O'Brien, Bezin Orput, Samuel V. Pelley, Gilbert R.
Parish, Joseph Postel, Joseph Russell, James E. Robinson,
John G. Rice, Henry H. Romigs, Elliot G. Smith, Joel S.
Smith, Cyrus E. Smith, Samuel H. Smith, Daniel S. Spragg,
John W. Sanders, Edward H. Spalding, George H. Spalding,
Benjamin S. Sager, Lucien Stevens, Albert Tennis, Sylvanus
Taylor, N. D. VanEman, John D. VanCleve, Jesse Wroten, John
M. Watson, Joseph A. Williams, Seth Wheaton, Thomas Watson,
David E. Wheeler, Eri A. Wilson, George Wille, James G.
Warren, Abisha W. Washburn, Thomas Linn.
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