Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
May 29, 1897



Co. H, 24th Wisconsin
Personal Sketches

Lieut. Edward R. Blake

One of the boys from Ozaukee county who distinguished himself by his bravery in battle and fortitude on the march, was Edward Reed Blake, who fought his way from the ranks to a lieutenancy in Company H. Born in Franklin, Mass., November 28, 1844, the subject of our sketch was by birth and breeding a genuine "Yankee." Coming to Wisconsin and Port Washington with his father, Barnum Blake, in 1848, Edward was given a common school and commercial college education; and when the war began, he was one of the boy patriots who believed that the Union should be preserved.

When in August, 1862, Gustavus Goldsmith opened his recruiting office in Port Washington, Edward had become convinced that his place was at the front in that glorious line of blue, which was forming for the protection of the old flag and the perpetuation of our great republic, and he made up his mind to go at once. His father, mindful of the boy's youth, and fearing that he would not be able to survive the privations and hardships of a soldier's life at the front, tried to induce him to stay at home, and it is said offered Edward $10,000 if he would remain. But all the remonstrances and proffered bribes were of no avail. It is said that young Edward's answer was: "Father, you cannot bribe me to desert my country!" and on the 13th of August, 1862, he volunteered to serve Uncle Sam as a soldier in the ranks, for "three years or during the war."

Marching to the front in the ranks of the gallant Twenty-fourth Wisconsin, Edward received his baptism of fire in the battle of Perryville; and continuing on with the regiment, marched coolly into the whirlwind of death at Stone River, where he, with his brave comrades fought heroically for the old flag, winning by their valor a proud name for the regiment -- a name which places it high up in the list of fighting commands. Never being sick or unfit for duty, Ed. Blake participated in every campaign and battle in which the regiment took a part. At Chickamauga, his trusty rifle added its voice to the din, and his encouraging cheer helped to buoy up many a sinking heart.

Just before the battle of Mission Ridge, Edward was promoted color-corporal, and as such, gallantly climbed the Ridge in the face of that terrible fire. Being one of the first to scale the enemy's works on the summit, our hero was the first boy in blue to reach the rebel General Bragg's headquarters, and Erastus Parr, another Port Washington boy, was the second. This is a matter worth making note of, as a number of generals and other officers have claimed the distinction of reaching the rebel commander's headquarters first, and of capturing the guns ėLady Breckenridgeî and ėLady Buckner,î which were near the headquarters and which were captured by the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin and other regiments of Sheridan's heroic division. Put it down as a fact that cannot be disproved, that those two Port Washington boys were the first at Bragg's headquarters on Mission Ridge.

At the battle of Adairsville, Ga., in May, 1864, the struggle in which the young hero, Frank Ellenbecker, of Port Washington, fell gallantly fighting for the flag, a Gin House between the contending lines gave the enemy considerable shelter, and Gen. Sherman sent orders to Col. McArthur of the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin, which was on the skirmish line, and in whose front the Gin House stood, to have the house burned or destroyed in some way. Riding up to the color-guard, the boy-colonel told of Shermanís orders, and asked Corporal Blake if he would try to go to the house and set it on fire. Blake's answer was: "If I am ordered to do so, I will go!" Col. McArthur gave the order and the young corporal immediately started upon the dangerous errand. By very good luck, he escaped the bullets which rained around him from both friend and foe, reached the house and not only fired it, but also applied a match to a barn nearby, and strange to say, returned to his comrades without a scratch. For this daring exploit, Blake was promoted color-sergeant, and carried the colors in the battles of Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro, Franklin and Nashville.

At the battle of Franklin, one of the fiercest fights of the whole war, the Twenty-fourth, with the balance of its brigade, Opdycke's, was lying in reserve below the famous Carter house, when the heavy assaulting column of the enemy broke through the Union line at that point, and came pouring over the works. Without a moment's delay, Gen. Opdycke put his gallant brigade of seven small but veteran regiments, numbering but 2,000 officers and men, in motion, and leading it with a flag in his hand, charged heroically into the mass of grey which was swarming over the works and around eight pieces of Union artillery which had fallen into their hands. What followed is graphically described by an eye-witness in an article written for the New York Times in 1882, and from which we quote as follows: "Fortunately, we struck the enemy just before they had time to come to order on our side of the trenches, and therefore, they were unable to withstand the shock of an unexpected and determined attack made with fixed bayonets. This conflict was short but severe; the brigade soon sent some hundreds of prisoners to the rear, captured ten battle-flags and left others on the ground; retook the flag of a friendly regiment, and forced the enemy from the cannon so recently fallen into their hands. Opdycke's men then worked these guns upon the enemy, and Bridges brought forward a battery of reserve artillery. Thus the line was restored; on our side of the works there remained no Confederates except the dead, the wounded and the prisoners."

"Still the struggle continued some time longer, the men fiercely contending on opposite sides of the breastworks, before the whole of the exterior slope of the parapet was yielded to us." . . . ėThe attacks on the other parts of the line, although vigorous and severe, were firmly repulsed with little loss to our side, Rielly and Lane taking some flags and prisoners. The enemy soon gave his principal attention to maintaining and developing his advantages on Carter's Hill. Having been expelled from the works, Hood now sent forward Johnson's division of the reserve corps, and so reinforced his line as to partly enclose our position on Carter's Hill. The reserve brigade (Opdycke's) thus became exposed to direct and cross fires of great severity; but it was reinforced by many of the routed soldiers, who were rallied by Gen. Cox, and the successive assaults that followed were met by a mass of fire so destructive that no troops could retain their organization within its range. The rebel Grandberry's brigade, with its brave leader, nearly all fell dead in or near the ditch on their side of the parapet.î . . . "Though under fire 115 days during the war, and participating in a number of bayonet charges, this was the only conflict in which I saw bloody bayonets." . . . "The gallant young McArthur commanding the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin, received a second ugly wound before he would consent to leave the field. His standard-bearer, Blake, had become so attached to the regimental flag that he declined a promotion that would separate him from the emblem of martial glory, probably the only instance of the kind in the history of the war."

Jeff Davis thus wrote of the struggle at Franklin: "This was one of the bloodiest battles of the war . . . The engagement was close and fierce, many of our men being killed inside of the enemy's works. Some of the Tennesseans, after years of absence, saw again their homes, and strove with desperation to expel the invader." Gen. Hood in his "Advance and Retreat," says: "These soldiers had been gloriously led by officers, many of whom had fallen upon or near the Federal breastworks."

Our troops succeeded in breaking the main line at one or more points, capturing and turning some guns on their opponents. Just at this critical moment, a brigade, reported to have been Stanley's, gallantly charged and restored the Federal line, capturing almost 1,000 of our troops within the enemy's intrenchments.î The brigade referred to was Opdycke's. The great rebel chieftain, Gen. Jos. Johnston, who is thought by many to have been a far greater general than Lee, referred to this battle as "the useless butchery at Franklin," meaning that the slaughter was of no benefit to the rebel cause.

It was in this fierce struggle that Edward R. Blake won the shoulder-straps and commission of first lieutenant by conspicuous valor. Bearing his colors in the van of his brigade when it went charging up the hill to the rescue, he gallantly bore them through the fierce melee near the Carter house, and planting them on the works in the midst of a rain of lead, held them there until the fight ended in victory for the Union arms.

And then in that trying night retreat to Nashville, our hero carried his colors with a fortitude and endurance that showed of what splendid material he was made. Through the two days of battle at Nashville, he heroically bore Old Glory; and in the pursuit of Hood and the subsequent minor campaigns, it was ever on his shoulder. On June 2, 1865, Blake was given a commission as first lieutenant of Company H, but the regiment being mustered out of the service a few days later, he was not mustered as lieutenant. But he proudly bore his colors home to Wisconsin, turned their tattered remnants and bullet-shattered staff over to the state authorities, and retired to private life. When in 1880, Generals Grant and Sheridan came to Milwaukee to attend the great soldiersí reunion, the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin turned out to greet its old division commander, ėLittle Phil,î and to act as his escort and Blake again carried the tattered remains of his beloved flag.

After the war, Comrade Blake married and engaged in the mercantile pursuits in Port Washington until the failure of the Ozaukee County Bank in 1887, carried his business down with a crash. In 1874, he represented Ozaukee county in the lower house of the state legislature, and in 1882 was elected to the state senate from this district. In 1891, he became president of the "Woven-Down Duster Company," of Chicago, which position he still holds. His family still resides in the old homestead in Port Washington, whither he often comes to spend Sundays and holidays with them. Thus the heroic color-bearer of the fighting Twenty-fourth Wisconsin is peacefully floating down the "stream of time." That his voyage may be a happy and prosperous one, ending in a haven of rest; that his sterling patriotism and heroic services may be fittingly recorded in the annals of the county, state and nation; and that his memory may be kept green by a grateful posterity, are the sincere wishes of his old comrades-in-arms.