Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
April 24, 1897



Co. H, 24th Wisconsin
Chapter 13

On June 3, 1865, the company commanders of the Twenty-fourth received blanks and were ordered to prepare the muster out rolls of their respective companies. By the 9th, the rolls were completed, and on the 10th, Capt. Wilson, of the Thirty-sixth Illinois, acting as mustering officer, mustered out the Twenty-fourth with the exception of the recruits, who were transferred to the Thirteenth Wisconsin. The Ozaukee boys thus transferred were Joseph Gietzen and John P. Victor. They were mustered out with that regiment Nov. 24, 1865.

On the 12th of June, the division commander, Maj. Gen. Elliot, bade the Twenty-fourth a touching farewell, and striking its tents, it boarded the cars in the Nashville depot at 3 P.M. and was soon steaming away to the north, homeward bound. Arriving in Louisville, Ky., at 11 A.M. on the 13th, it marched through the city to the river, crossed on the ferry boats, and again boarding a train, went whirling northward through Indiana. Reaching Indianapolis at midnight, and resting in the barracks till morning, the regiment continued its journey and reached Chicago at 2 A.M. on the 15th, where the boys slept in Monitor Hall. The next morning, the regiment marched to the great Soldier's Fair then in progress, where it was enthusiastically received by Gen. Sherman and a large crowd of citizens of Chicago. The boys of the Twenty-fourth received a warm greeting on every hand, thousands striving to make the reception one long to be remembered.

A delegation from Milwaukee met and took charge of the regiment before it left Chicago, and under its escort, the Twenty-fourth was hurried through to the Cream City without making a stop, reaching its destination at 4 P.M. June 16th. The boys found their home city in an uproar, old and young, big and little, rich and poor turning out to welcome home the famous "Milwaukee Regiment," whose grand war record reflected so much credit upon the city. The crowd was so great and dense that it was with much difficulty the regiment disembarked and formed in line, amid the cheers and sobs of the multitude -- "cheers for the living and tears for the dead" -- for many of the noble, well-remembered young heroes who had marched away with it were now missing from its ranks, having been left to sleep their eternal sleep in Dixie. Headed by a band proudly bearing its tattered colors and escorted by thousands of friends, the regiment marched through the streets to the building in which the famous Soldier's Home Fair was being held, where the boys were treated to a sumptuous supper. But the excitement was so intense that the poor boys could eat little or nothing, the food would not go down, and they contented themselves with admiring their surroundings, especially the pretty girl-waiters.

Here the three sisters of their dead commander, Capt. Gustav Goldsmith, met the survivors of Company H, and tears and sad emotions so choked the utterance of both parties that it was some time before they could speak. This was but one of the many sad and pathetic scenes witnessed there that night. In nearly every part of the vast hall, there was someone mourning for a boy in blue that could never return. After supper, the regiment marched to another large hall where a rousing public reception was tendered it, the speakers being the Mayor of the city, Gen. Starkweather and others. The boys were then marched out to Camp Washburn, where the regiment broke ranks, and the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin passed into history as one of the famous organizations of the war. The following statistics, relating to the history of the Twenty-fourth are taken from official sources; but let me say right here that the official reports of the losses of very few if any of our regiments are correct, owing to the carelessness of those whose duty it was to make or preserve such reports: Original strength 1003. Gain by recruits 74; total 1077. Loss - by death 173; deserted 72; transferred 138; discharged 298; mustered out 406.

Of the Ozaukee squad in Company H: Original strength 34. Gain by recruits 2; total 36. Loss - by death 6; transferred 6; discharged 5; mustered out 19. Capt. G. Goldsmith, John Eder, Frank Ellenbecker, Andrew Wachtman and Joseph Weiskopf were killed or mortally wounded, and John Sheehan died in Andersonville prison. Chas. Bisch, Wm. Bold, Joseph Gietzen, Leopold Meyer, Chas. J. Powers and Peter Schlimm were wounded in battle, and Wm. Becker by an accident in camp.

On the evening of the 17th of June, 1865, the survivors boarded the steamer bound for Port Washington, which place they reached about midnight and found a goodly portion of its population awaiting for them on the pier. A brass band and Singing Society were on hand, and after a ěshakeî all around, the boys were escorted to the old Arcade Hall, where as in Milwaukee another bountiful supper awaited them; but as in Milwaukee, the boys were too full of emotions to have any appetites. Addresses of welcome were made by Honorable W. H. Ramsey, E. S. Turner and W. A. Pors; and at the conclusion of the speech-making, the boys stood up and gave three rousing cheers and a "tiger" for their Port Washington friends. The tables were then removed and the reception ended with a dance in which the boys took a prominent part, it being nearly dawn when the festivities ended.

The following named survivors of the Ozaukee squad of Company H were present at that reception: Capt. John N. Kiefer, Lieut. E. R. Blake, sergeants Chas. J. Powers and Wm. Bold; corporals Wm. H. Kaehler, Erastus C. Parr and Leopold Meyer, and privates Henry Bichler, M. Jacquinett, Chas. Klein, John B. Klopp, Nic Kommes, Nic Oswald, Alanson C. Powers, Oliver Sabisch, John P. Sands, Peter Schlimm and Dan Sullivan.

The following were absent sick, or transferred to other organizations: Sergt. John B. Warling, Corp. Chas.. Bisch, Mich. Dailey, Joseph Gietzen, H. F. Marsh, John State and John P. Victor.

Chas. J. Powers, Warling, State, Jacquinett, Meyer and Sullivan have since died, the first four being buried in Port Washington, and Meyer at Ahnapee, Wis.

John N. Kiefer had been commissioned Captain, and Edward R. Blake, 1st Lieutenant on the 2nd of June, but owing to the muster out of the regiment on the 10th, they were not mustered as such officers. Each had made a record to be proud of. The writer is greatly indebted to both for valuable information in regard to the history of the company.

General Emerson Opdycke, the daring leader who so fearlessly led the Twenty-fourth and the other regiments of his brigade into the breach at Franklin, and who displeased his boys by having sham battles in the camp at Nashville after the close of the war, was a brave man, a fearless soldier and a skillful commander. Like many other famous commanders, he hailed from Ohio, from which state he entered the Union army as a private in 1861. He gradually climbed the ladder of promotions until at the end of the war, he was a full brigadier and a brevet major general of volunteers. But he gained his promotions by hard work, and by daring conduct upon the field of battle. At Chickamauga, he was told that he must try to hold that part of the line which his brigade occupied. "We'll hold it or go to heaven from it," was his laconic answer, and he held it although badly wounded himself. At Mission Ridge, he had two horses shot under him and was seriously wounded at Resaca. At Franklin, with a flag in one hand and a revolver in the other, he led his brigade in one of the most remarkable charges of the war, and was for several minutes in the midst of the fierce hand to hand encounter which ensued, emptying his revolver in the struggle.

When the great soldiersí reunion of 1880 was about to be held in Milwaukee, Capt. E. B. Parsons of that city, and formerly of the Twenty-Fourth Wisconsin, wrote to Gen. Opdycke, then residing in New York, asking him to attend the reunion. In his answer, Gen. Opdycke wrote: "I did not answer sooner because I hoped to arrange my business so as to allow me the great pleasure of meeting the boys of that grand old regiment, the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin. I would be delighted to shake hands with every one of them, and I ask you to express to them my deep regrets over the impossibility of responding to roll-call on the 7th instant. The conspicuous heroism of the Twenty-fourth is one of the most precious and fadeless recollections of my mind, and I should seem to be in the midst of our old camp-fires again if amongst those dauntless men who with Blake (Ed. R. Blake of Port Washington) bearing the colors, charged up the hill and into the whirlpool of battle at Franklin. I do not believe that any troops ever made a more gallant charge. Without it all of our forces clear up to the Ohio river would have been swept away; and any one who takes a comprehensive view of the whole field of our military situation at that time, cannot fail to see the far-reaching consequences of the disaster that was certain but for that charge of our old brigade a splendid part of which was the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin."

About three years later, while carelessly examining an old revolver, the weapon was discharged, inflicting a mortal wound. Thus died Emerson Opdycke, the survivor of two score of battles and a man of far more than ordinary intelligence, the victim of almost criminal carelessness.