Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
May 1, 1897



Co. I, 9th Wisconsin
Chapter 1

When the bombardment of Ft. Sumter proved to the world the fact that the slave holders of the South were determined, if possible, to dissolve the Union of states and set up a government of their own; when President Lincoln was appealing to the loyal North to furnish men and means to suppress the rebellion; and when it was evident that a terrible civil war was about to test the stability of our form of government, occurred "the days which tried men's souls," and showed the materials of which they were made. In that period of disorder, conflicting opinions, and intense excitement, none exhibited more sturdy, unswerving patriotism and loyalty to the old flag, than did a very large majority of our adopted citizens of German birth; and it is said that before the end of the war, 170,000 of them entered the Union army, there to risk life and limb in defense of Freedom's flag and to perpetuate our republican form of government, thousands of them dying for the glorious cause.

A leader among the loyal Germans of Ozaukee county was Peter Spehn, then as now an honored citizen of Grafton. He was serving his third term as register of deeds for the county when the war began; but although well advanced in years and the father of a large family of children, he became convinced that the proper place for him to serve his adopted country was at the front, in the blue line of battle. Refusing a re-election as register of deeds, he resigned that office, and securing a recruiting commission from Gov. Randall, in July, 1861, began the task of recruiting a company of his countrymen for the Ninth Wisconsin infantry, the first regiment of Germans furnished by the state.

In the latter part of September and the first two weeks of October, the following named heroes from Ozaukee county enrolled their names in Spehn's company, enlisting for "three years or during the war."

Claude Augustin, August Bethke, George Bernhardt, Ferdinand Born, Carl Fred Gross, Louis Heinemann, John F. Wilkie, Fred B. Hanns, John M. Schmidt, John Schmit, Henry Trautsch, Jacob Theilen, John Schaefer and Joseph Schaub, of Saukville.

Peter Spehn, Wm. Baden, Ferd. Larromie, Fred Meyer, Peter Loewen and John Wiltges, of Grafton.

Wm. Fred Groth, Henry Hackfeld, Henry Meyer and Wm. Riebling, of Cedarburg.

Geo. Fischer, Henry Haverkost, Moritz Mann and John Fritsch, of Mequon.

Nich. Metzer and Paul Oswald, of Port Washington.

Paul Hemmer and Henry Tibor, of Belgium -- 32 in all. Frank Simon of Grafton, joined the company in the field, as a recruit, in October, 1862.

Capt. Spehn took his Ozaukee squad to Camp Sigel, Milwaukee, the rendezvous of the Ninth regiment, where recruits from Milwaukee and other parts of the state swelled his ranks until he had a company of 100 men which was mustered into Uncle Sam's service with the balance of the regiment, on the 26th of October, 1861, as Company "I" with the following commissioned officers: Captain Peter Spehn, of Grafton; 1st Lieutenant Wm. Markhoff, of Milwaukee; and 2nd Lieutenant Wm. Schulten, of Fond du Lac. John M. Schmidt, of Saukville, and Henry Meyer, of Cedarburg, were two of the first sergeants of the company. Meyer was transferred to Co. C., Dec. 3, ë61.

The Ninth regiment remained drilling in Camp Sigel until January 22, 1862, when it left the state under orders to report to the commander at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with the following regimental roster: Colonel Frederick Salomon; Lieut.-Col. A. George Wriesberg; Major, Henry Orff; Adjutant Arthur Jacobi; Quartermaster, Wm. Finkler.

Traveling by rail to Weston, Mo., the Ninth marched the remainder of the distance to Leavenworth, where it was assigned to the "Southern Expedition," then organizing under Gen. Jim Lane, at Fort Scott, Kan. Marching the 160 miles to Ft. Scott, the Ninth remained there until the 27th of May, when the expedition being abandoned, it marched by way of Humbolt, Kan., and Indian Mission to Spring River. Encamping there till June 13th, the regiment marched to Baxter's Springs. While there, expeditions were sent out which destroyed the rebel camps at Cowskin Prairie. The regiment was now reinforced by two regiments of Indian infantry, and two cavalry regiments with a battery of artillery, all under command of Col. Wm. Wier, and destined for an expedition into the Indian country.

Starting on the 28th of June, the expedition met and routed a force of rebel Indians on July 3rd, and arrived at Flat Rock Creek, fifteen miles from Fort Gibson on the 9th. Here Col. Wier, whose intemperate habits endangered the command, was placed under arrest by Col. Salomon of the Ninth, his junior officer, who took command of the troops and conducted them back to Quawpaw Reserve, 80 miles from Fort Scott. There were several skirmishes, and the retreat was continued to Fort Scott, which was reached on the 11th of August. Col. F. Salomon was here promoted to Brigadier General, and Chas. E. Salomon, another brother of the governor of Wisconsin, was commissioned Colonel of the Ninth. It was no wonder that Lieut. Colonel Orff, who had been promoted from major when Lieut. Colonel Wriesberg resigned in February, resigned at once. Major A. Jacobi, who had been promoted from Adjutant in March, was now commissioned Lieut. Colonel, and Capt. H. Schleuter, of Co. E, was promoted major. About this time, the regiment was sent on a "wild goose chase" into southwestern Missouri, and traveled 350 miles without meeting the enemy.

When the "Army of the Frontier" was organized by Gen. Blunt, the Ninth Wisconsin was assigned to the first brigade, Gen. Salomon commanding. Leaving Fort Scott, the brigade marched to Sarcoxie, Mo., reaching that place on the 22nd of September. On the 29th, Lieut. Col. Jacobi, with companies D, G, E and H, of the Ninth, a section of artillery, and a squad of cavalry was sent to reconnoiter the enemy's position at Newtonia, fifteen miles out. They fell into a well laid trap and after a short, sharp and heroic fight, nearly all of the four infantry companies were killed, wounded or captured. The killed numbered 28, the wounded is unknown, and 167 were taken prisoners. On the 3rd of October, Newtonia was evacuated by the rebels, and some of the wounded of the Ninth were retaken. From this time until Nov. 29, the regiment was engaged in marching to various points in Arkansas, without getting into a fight. That day the brigade arrived at Rheas' Mills, where it remained operating the mills until the 7th of December, when it joined the main force at Cane Hill. Here it was discovered that the enemy was in their rear, and the first brigade was hurried back to Rheas' Mills to protect the wagon trains.

The rebel Gen. Hindman, advancing with 30,000 men against Gen. Blunt's 10,000, the latter ordered Gen. Herron, at Wilson's Creek, to hurry to his assistance. Gen. Herron met the enemy at Prairie Grove, Ark., on Dec. 7th, and defeated him. Gen. Blunt reached the field with a portion of his command during the battle, the Ninth reaching the scene too late to participate in the fight. On the 10th of December, the Ninth marched back to Rheas' Mills, and remained there some time making flour and meal. In a raid on Van Buren, Ark., the regiment marched sixty miles in two days, and returned to the Mills. During the first six weeks of 1863, the Ninth performed a sort of patrol duty, which required almost constant marching, and on February 20th, went into winter quarters at Stahl's Creek, thirty-six miles west of Springfield, Mo. Here the men captured through the unpardonable blunder at Newtonia, returned to the regiment, having been paroled.

During the year, 1862, Ferd. Born, Ferd. Larromie, Moritz Mann and Henry Trautsch of the Ozaukee squad in Company I, were discharged on account of sickness, on October 1 and Nich. Metzer on December 9th. Two members of the squad died of disease; Peter Oswald at Quawpaw, Kan., on the 8th of August, and John Schmit at Sarcoxie, Mo., on the 3rd of October. Frank Simons, of Grafton, joined the company in October. The squad thus had its number lessened by five during the first year in the field.

With the exception of a short time at Carrollton, Ark., the Ninth was stationed at different points in Missouri, engaged in foraging duties during the first half of 1863, and on the 8th of July, moved by rail to St. Louis, Mo., where it remained doing guard duty until Sept. 12th.

Here Capt. Spehn, who had suffered terribly from rheumatism for some time, was forced to resign on account of ill health, and go home. The boys of Company I were very sorry to lose their kind, honest and brave Captain, but he felt that he could not accompany them on any more marches if he stayed in the service, and therefore, could be of little use to them.