Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
March 6, 1897



Co. H, 24th Wisconsin
Chapter 6

The assault on Missionary Ridge occupied about one hour from the time of the firing of the signal guns on Orchard Knob until our troops entered the works on the crest of the ridge. During that whole hour, Sheridan's division had been exposed to a heavy fire of both artillery and musketry, but owing to the elevated position of the enemy it had overshot its mark to such an extent that the loss of the division was quite small, considering its exposure. Out of 6,000 in its lines, 1,300 were killed and wounded. The loss of the Twenty-fourth was reported at five killed and thirty wounded, a remarkably light loss for a regiment exposed as it was in the assault. It kept its position in the first line of the brigade from start to finish, and its officers and men vied with each other in the race for the ridge's crest, a race in which they were led by the gallant color-bearers of the regiment. Edward R. Blake, of Port Washington, was one of the color-guards of that day. Although Company H kept up the good name gained on previous fields, and was among the first to storm the enemy's works on the crest, its loss was but four wounded, and the Ozaukee squad was so fortunate as to escape without any loss.

The day after the battle of Missionary Ridge, Sheridan's division was ordered back to Chattanooga, there to load its wagons with supplies and prepare for a forced march to Knoxville, Tenn., to relieve Gen. Burnside's force, which was cooped up in that place by a rebel force under Gen. Longstreet, and was reported to be in danger of starvation or capture. The store of clothing at Chattanooga at this time was a very small one, and Sheridan could get little for his men, who were much in need of a supply, they having received none since leaving Murfreesboro in the preceding June. As many of the men were without shoes fit to stand a march of that length, they, with many others whose physical condition was not good, were left at Chattanooga, and on the 29th of November, the whole Fourth corps started on the long march to Knoxville. At the same time, Gen. W. T. Sherman, who with the Eleventh and Fifteenth corps had been cutting the communications between Bragg and Longstreet at a point southeast of Chattanooga, also started with his command for Knoxville, his troops, especially the Fifteenth corps, which had of late marched from the Mississippi, being in even a worse condition than Sheridan's. But as Burnside had reported to Grant that he was surrounded and in a critical condition at Knoxville, our brave boys cheerfully pushed forward to his relief with very little to eat or to wear. The Fourth corps marched up the Tennessee river, and at Philadelphia, Tenn., was joined by a column under Gen. Sherman, who assumed command of the whole force and pushed forward as fast as his troops could travel.

When the relief expedition reached Marysville, fifteen miles southwest of Knoxville, on December 5, it learned that Longstreet had shortly before assaulted Burnside's works, had been signally repulsed, had raised the siege and retreated east towards Bean's Station. The Eleventh and Fifteenth corps immediately returned to Chattanooga, while the Fourth corps kept on to Knoxville. Sheridan's division, in order to maintain itself, was sent to the region of the French Broad River, where it was spread out over the country and succeeded in gathering a plentiful supply of provisions.

But the division was not allowed to stay here for long. Longstreet again making demonstrations against Knoxville, the division was ordered to that place, and thence to Strawberry Plains, which it reached late in December. Mid-winter was now upon our thinly clad troops, hundreds of whom had no shoes and all were without tents. Consequently there was much suffering from the cold. While in Knoxville, our boys of Company H had the pleasure of seeing a daughter of the famous Parson Brownlow riding a magnificent horse through the streets, and there they also met the parson's famous son, the Colonel of the Second Tennessee Cavalry. At Strawberry Plains, the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin was encamped between two thickly wooded hills, which protected the camp from some of the winter blasts and furnished plenty of fuel, but provisions soon became very scarce. One pint of corn meal and one pound of salt pork were the rations issued each soldier for a two-days supply, and later the same scanty rations had to last three days.

A train of wagons which Sheridan had left at Chattanooga to bring on clothing for his division, finally reached it with a supply of clothing that was a great relief to the suffering troops. In the middle of January, 1864, Sheridan's division was again on the move with a greater part of the army in East Tennessee, their destination being Dandridge and the French Broad region, and in the movement Sheridan's men had to ford the Holstein river, wading through water full of slush ice. After marching and counter marching and suffering from cold and hunger for several days, our boys again found themselves back at Strawberry Plains. But happily for its members, Sheridan's division was soon ordered to Loudon, Tenn., to which the railroad had been repaired so that supplies were being shipped there from Chattanooga. The division reached Loudon about the 1st of February, and finding plenty of supplies there, were soon well clothed and fed, for the first time in many months.

On January 20, the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin had been chosen by Gen. Sheridan as his Provost or Headquarters Guard, the General saying, it has been claimed, that he considered it one of the best regiments in the army. When Loudon was reached, a number of vacant houses were found there, two of which were soon occupied by the Twenty-fourth as barracks. Some small buildings nearby were torn down and the lumber used making tables, seats, etc. and while there, the boys of the Twenty-fourth "lived high." Dressed in their bright new uniforms, with burnished guns and accoutrements, the Badgers presented an attractive appearance. Every morning the regiment had "guard mounting," and each evening" dress parade" in front of Sheridan's headquarters, the General usually having a party of invited guests on hand to witness the show, he being very proud of his Wisconsin boys. Of course, being thus appreciated, the boys of the Twenty-fourth took great pains in keeping their guns, accoutrements and uniforms in the "pink of condition," and camp life at Loudon was one long holiday. The officers and company clerks had now a good opportunity to write up the official accounts and records, and they were not slow to take advantage of the chance.

Here Charles J. Powers, of Port Washington, who had been promoted to a sergeancy of Company H, and had been sent home recruiting, returned to the regiment with a squad of recruits, two of whom were Joseph Gletzen and John P. Victor, both of Port Washington. Here also a number of regiments of the division whose terms of service allowed them to do so, went through the process of "veteranizing," and notwithstanding, the hardships and sufferings of the preceding nine months, many of them re-enlisted almost to a man.

But camp life at Loudon was too good to last very long. On the 12th of March, Gen. Grant was assigned to the command of all the Union armies, as general-in-chief, and on the 23rd, Gen. Sheridan was ordered to report to the Adjutant-General of the Army, Grant having selected him to command the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac. The next day, Gen. Sheridan, accompanied by two of his staff, took the train for Chattanooga without taking any formal leave of his beloved division, fearing to trust his emotions if he attempted to do so. Writing of that occasion, Sheridan says: "A parting from such friends was indeed to be regretted. They had never given me any trouble, nor done anything that could bring aught but honor to themselves. I had confidence in them, and I believe they had in me. They were ever steady, whether in victory or in misfortune, and as I tried always to be with them, to put them into the hottest it could be gained, or save them from unnecessary loss, as occasion required, they amply repaid all my care and anxiety, courageously and readily meeting all demands in every emergency that arose. I regretted deeply to have to leave such soldiers, and felt that they were sorry that I was going; and even now I could not, if I would, retain other than the warmest sentiments of esteem and the tenderest affection for the officers and men of Sheridan's Division, Army of the Cumberland."

When Sheridan boarded the train at the Loudon Station, nearly the whole division was gathered on the hill-sides around to see him off, they having assembled spontaneously, officers and men. As the train pulled out, they silently and sorrowfully waved him farewell, and thus Sheridan and his gallant division parted forever on this earth.

Of the Ozaukee boys in Company H, Franklin Hoyt, musician, who had been taken prisoner at Stone River and afterwards exchanged, Sergt. Allen A. Turner and Leonardt Ruppelt were discharged for disabilities in April, 1863. Abner P. Stone had been discharged for the same reason in January of that year, Charles Bisch, who had been wounded and taken prisoner at Stone River and subsequently exchanged, Horace F. Marsh, the Grafton boy, and John State were all transferred to the 1st U.S. V. V. Engineers about the same time. Alanson C. Powers was detailed as a teamster shortly after the regiment entered Dixie, and continued as such during the war. Sergt. John B. Waring who had been taken prisoner at Stone River and again at Chickamauga, never returned to the company. He was mustered out June 17, 1865, and died in Port Washington March 15, 1866. John Sheehan was taken prisoner at Chickamauga and died in Andersonville prison of starvation July 30, 1864. Capt. Goldsmith, John Eder, Joseph Weiskoft and Andrew Wachtman having been killed or mortally wounded in battle, as described in previous chapters, there was less than half of the Ozaukee squad left to enter the Atlanta campaign in the spring of 1864.

Major Carl Von Baumbach having resigned November 28, 1863, the youthful Adjutant, Arthur McArthur, was promoted Major January 2, 1864, and commanded the regiment until Lieut. Col. West, who had escaped from prison, reached our lines and after a short furlough, was commissioned Colonel, rejoined the regiment in April, 1864. He was probably one of the youngest colonels in the Union army.

About the 1st of April, 1864, the Twenty-fourth left Loudon and accompanied its division to Cleveland, Tenn., where it remained until the commencement of the Atlanta campaign. In the reorganization of the army, it remained in the First brigade, Second division, Fourth corps, Army of the Cumberland. Maj. Gen. Newton succeeded Gen. Sheridan in the command of the division and Gen. O. O. Howard superseded Gen. Granger in the command of the corps.

On the 4th of May, 1864, the Fourth corps moved forward to take its place in Sherman's army and the next day the whole army moved forward and the historic and eventful Atlanta campaign had begun. That day the boys of the Twenty-fourth participated in the attack on Rocky Face Ridge, in front of Dalton, Ga., on the 9th, and succeeded in carrying a portion of the hill, where it remained skirmishing until the morning of the 13th, when it was discovered that the enemy had abandoned the position and retreated to Resaca. In the action at Resaca on the 14th, the Twenty-fourth took an active part and advanced across an open field in the face of a hot fire of artillery and musketry. Forcing its way to the crest of the hill in front, the regiment held the position gallantly for two hours, when their guns growing dirty and ammunition growing scarce, the regiment was ordered to fall back. In this action, Col. West was wounded, and Maj. McArthur again assumed the command of the regiment. The loss of the Twenty-fourth at Resaca, in addition to the wounding of its Colonel, was seven killed and thirteen wounded. Company H was so fortunate as to suffer no loss.

Passing through Calhoun on the morning of the 17th, in pursuit of the retreating rebels the brigade reached Pleasant Hill, near Adairsville, Ga., where a whole rebel division turned on our gallant boys and tried to rush them off of the field, but after a long and desperate struggle, the Union brigade held the position when darkness ended the fight. The boys of the Twenty-fourth fought with their accustomed valor at Pleasant Hill, and added new luster to the good name of the regiment. Our Ozaukee boys, as usual, stood manfully by their colors, and the heroic Frank Ellenbecker, of Port Washington, died bravely for the old flag. Frank was quite a favorite with his comrades of Company H, and his death was deeply felt. The regiment lost six killed that day, the number of its wounded is not given in the records.