Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
April 17, 1897



Co. H, 24th Wisconsin
Chapter 12

When Thomas abandoned the pursuit of Hood's army at the Tennessee river, he ordered the Fourth corps to Huntsville, Ala., the Sixteenth corps and the cavalry to Eastport, Miss., and the Twenty-third corps was sent to Clifton, Tenn., and shortly after to join Shermanís army in North Carolina.

Accompanying the movements of its corps, the Fourth, the Twenty-fourth reached Huntsville on the 5th of January, 1865, where it began to build winter quarters. Nice, broad "company streets" were laid out, and the work of erecting log huts began. Those modest, but to the veteran soldier, comfortable dwellings were generally built after this plan: A squad of four soldiers who believed that they could agree well enough to peaceably occupy one dwelling for a short time, clubbed together to erect a hut, house, winter tent, or ìshebang,î just as they saw fit to call it. Securing small logs, they built walls of them about five feet high, and enclosing a space about seven by five feet. Their shelter or "dog" tents formed the roof, and deserted houses near by furnished lumber for floors and bunks, and bricks for outside fireplaces and chimneys. Thousands of those simple habitations went up as if by magic, and by the middle of the month, our boys were comfortably (?) housed and enjoying a much needed rest.

Dan Sullivan, of Port Washington, who had been taken prisoner at Chickamauga, rejoined Company H at this camp, and whiled away some of the long winter evenings around the campfire by telling of his experience and the terrible sufferings of our men in the southern prison-pens. On January 28th, the news of the death of John Sheehan, of Saukville, in the horrible prison-pen at Andersonville, Ga., reached his old comrades of Company H, through the newspapers.

The boys were kept from rusting in this camp by the usual drills, inspections, picket guard and fatigue duties.

Writing of the life in camp that winter, Capt. J. N. Kiefer says: "being the commander of the company and also the company clerk, I had all that I could do in getting the books in order, sending out descriptive-rolls, making out pay-rolls, requisitions for clothing, and ordinance reports, condemning camp and garrison equipage, and any amount of other work. Thus the time passed rapidly. Then we began to cut logs with which to build a church (some will think that this was strange work for soldiers), and in a week's time the church was up and completed. We had church in it three times on Sundays, and a prayer meeting each evening."

On the 28th of March, 1865, accompanying the movement of Gen. Thomas' forces into East Tennessee, designed to co-operate with Gen. Grant's final campaign in Virginia, the Twenty-fourth struck its tents, boarded the cars, and the next day arrived at Chattanooga, Tenn. Continuing the journey, they steamed eastward through Charleston, Loudon and Knoxville, and arrived at Bull's Gap, Tenn., on the 31st. From there, the regiment marched eastward ten miles to Blue Springs, where it received news which elicited hearty, vigorous and prolonged cheering; the news being of the fall of Richmond and Petersburg. Capt. Kiefer writes: "Here our officers received several dispatches from our old division commander, Gen. Phil. H. Sheridan, which were read on dress parade, and were greeted with cheers. The last one was, 'I am after Lee, and will soon catch him!' Rumors and 'grapevines' now came thick and fast, and every few minutes, fresh news from Virginia would be reported, much of which was too good to be believed. It was a disagreeable, rainy season, and I find the following entry in my diary, written at that time, 'Oh, give me anything by a rainy day in the army!'"

Soon came the joyous tidings of Lee's surrender, and then their cup of gladness was full. But on Easter eve, April 15th, the Twenty-fourth was sent out on a scout, marching all night and wading through several creeks two or three feet deep. The roads were very muddy and heavy, and although the regiment marched but ten miles that night, and back to camp the next day, Easter Sunday, the boys reached camp much fatigued and nearly "played out." Here they received the sad news of President Lincoln's assassination. No one but a soldier who was there can imagine what a gloom that news spread over the late merry encampment or how badly the boys felt upon hearing of the cowardly, infamous deed.

On the 19th, the regiment returned to Bull's Gap, and after moving camp several times and getting up every morning at three o'clock to board the cars, they finally did so on the 22nd, and were whirled away to Knoxville. Leaving there that night, they reached Chattanooga, where some of the boys of Company H found E. J. Dodge, of Port Washington, working for the government in a blacksmith shop. Continuing by rail, the regiment reached Nashville, Tenn. on the 24th, and encamped four miles from the city in a nice grove. On the 29th they received the glad tidings of the surrender of Gen. Johnston to Gen. Sherman in North Carolina, and there was more prolonged, lusty cheering and also much "music by the band."

On that day, Capt. J. G. Tannatt of Company H, was mustered out, and Sergt. John N. Kiefer mustered as 1st lieutenant of that company. The last year and a half of Capt. Tannatt's service was spent on detached service, as a military conductor of the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad.

The time spent in the camp near Nashville was occupied in drills and parades, guard and fatigue duties -- anything to keep the boys employed and out of mischief. Then there were brigade, division and corps reviews, held by the different commanders to "show off" their troops, and which were witnessed by many people from the city. May 14th, the boys heard of the capture of Jeff Davis, and had another hurrah.

As if the drills, parades and reviews were not enough to impose upon the war-wearied soldiers, Gen. Opdycke ordered his brigade out to fight a sham battle for the edification of the citizen audience. It was a grand success, the firing being all with blank cartridges, and making music somewhat similar to the real thing, only the merry zipping of bullets and shrieking of shells were conspicuous by their absence. It was such a success that the General ordered a reproduction. But the boys began to think that while such exhibitions might be very pleasant and amusing for the officers and their visitors, they were anything but pleasant for them, and some of the reckless ones determined to put an end to the sham battles. When, during the manouvers, the command "fire" was given, the first volley was far more natural than on the first day, for the real music of the minie accompanied it. Gen. Opdycke was riding gallantly in front of the line as it fired, and he was horrified to hear a flight of minies pass him, some of them very close. He immediately gave the command "cease firing," dismissed the troops, and thus ended the second and last sham battle of that brigade. Some of the boys had accidentally (?) loaded their rifles with ball cartridges.

But the daily drills were kept up. Even when the hot days of May came, there was no cessation to those dreadful drills. When the weather was so warm that it was quite uncomfortable, the poor soldiers had to drill from 5 to 7 A.M., and from 5 to 7 P.M. Of course, it was good for their health to stir around a little every day, but an hour's or even a half hour's drill would have been sufficient in hot weather. A martinet who would make the poor fellows hustle around, loaded with guns and traps for four hours on a hot day ought to have been cashiered and dismissed from the service. There was too much of such work -- too many of such martinets in the army, and the gallant boys in the ranks had to endure untold sufferings as a consequence. While those poor soldiers were drilling under the burning sun at Nashville, their comrades of the Fifteenth and Seventeenth corps were being raced through the torrid heat in Virginia, on their way home from North Carolina, for the pleasure of some addle-pated officers, scores of the boys dying by the wayside from fatigue and overheating, after having survived the battles and campaigns of four years of war.