Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
August 29, 1896



The Ozaukee Rifles
Chapter 10

(This installment was incorrectly entitled "Chapter 9" in the newspaper; it should have been "Chapter 10")

By an act of Congress which became a law in 1863, all soldiers who had served at least two years in the Union army, were given opportunity to ėveteranizeî, as it was called, by re-enlisting for three years more. As inducements to get the tried, experienced and acclimated soldiers to re-enlist for a term that in the judgment of many would end the war, each one so doing was given a $400 bounty and was excused from serving the unexpired time of the term for which he first enlisted. Thus the veteran received $400 for adding two years to his original term of enlistment.

These were strong inducements, and it was expected that a large majority of the veterans would take advantage of the offer, as they really did; but when we consider how many of the members of the Sixteenth had been wronged by the consolidation of the companies, it was no wonder that when their two years had been finished in December of that year, many of them refused to ėveteranizeî, as they desired to get out of the the regiment as soon as they could honorably do so. And thus it was that a number declined to veteranize. As special inducements to have them re-enlist and remain in the regiment, John P. McGinley was given a sergeantcy in company G, the rank he had held in the defunct company K, and Patrick Keogh was given the colors to carry that he had so bravely borne in the battle of Corinth, and which had been wrongfully taken from him after that battle. These two men together with the following named survivors of the rifles re-enlisted or veteranized: Robert A. Coleman, Thos. E. Wildman, Charles Thomas, Henry Thomas, James Wilson No. 1, Stewart Daniels, Pat. Welsh No. 2, Thos. Murphy, Ogden Tomlinson, Nic Colling, Sam. Orcutt, James H. Rooney, Philander Walkins and Lewis Wert. Thus did those brave boys, after all they had experienced and suffered, volunteer to continue in the service and follow the colors of the gallant Sixteenth for three years more. Thereafter the re-enlisted men were known as ėveteransî and the others ėnon-veterans.î

Before the cold weather set in, teams were sent down to the deserted town of Warrenton, on the Mississippi, and hauled lumber and bricks to the camp of the Sixteenth. The lumber was used by the boys to build walls three or four feet high, upon which their ėwedge tentsî were fastened as roofs. With the bricks the boys constructed small fireplaces in their abodes, finishing the chimneys with headless barrels, boxes, or whatever came handy. Having put in bunks and filled them with nice, soft beds of cotton fresh from the surrounding plantations, where it was wasting in the fields and in the gins, while it brought almost fabulous prices in northern and European markets, the boys had very comfortable quarters for that climate, and enjoyed them until the following February. The weather became quite chilly at times during that winter, but it was cold enough to freeze but once; and that was on the memorable New Years day of 1864, when an ice was formed on the water, the first that had been seen by the inhabitants of that region.

There were but very few white men on the plantations in that neighborhood during the stay of our boys at Redbone Church but there were plenty of white ladies, with many of whom a number of our officers and men soon struck up an acquaintance, and in whose company some of our boys seemed to enjoy themselves hugely. There was a certain locality or cross roads several miles south of Redbone Church that was known as Bogashay, where there was a number of charming young belles, and Bogashay soon became the Mecca of scores of bluecoats, who when refused to ėpassî would ėrunî the picket line, that is, sneak through it in the darkness of the night, and run the risk of being tied up by the thumbs or otherwise punished for it the next day. Of course there was a great deal of danger attending these nocturnal visits to Bogashay, which was within the enemy's lines, but danger always adds spice to such adventures, and few were deterred by fear of the enemy from going regularly. That some of them made love to these southern girls in earnest, was proven by the fact that when the regiment went home on veteran furlough the following March, a dashing private of company E took a Bogashay belle to his northern home as a bride.

When Gen. Sherman started on his famous ėMeridian Raid,î Gen. McArthur's division with some colored regiments were left to garrison Vicksburg and the Sixteenth was ordered to that place to assist in the garrison duties. On the 5th of February the regiment struck its tents at Redbone, and marching into Vicksburg encamped on some vacant lots a few blocks from the court house. In the tower of this court house was an excellent clock, which became famous during the siege by striking loud enough to furnish the time for both the Union and rebel armies. Some Union artillerists tried to hit the clock, but it seemed to bear a charmed existence, and the nearest they could come to it was to knock away some of the pillars that ornamented the tower's exterior.

Washington's birthday was celebrated by a parade and review of the entire garrison, at the close of which the troops were massed in front of the court house, where, led by Gen. McArthur, they sang ėThe Battle Cry of Freedom.î

A squad of company G, including the writer, occupied the picket post on the ėJackson roadî on the day that Sherman's army reached Vicksburg on its return from Meridian. The troops looked to be very tired as they filed past the post, and their uniforms, rifles and accoutrements bore mute witness to rough usage in the bivouac and upon the long march they were just finishing and contrasted greatly with the clean uniforms and the polished rifles and accoutrements of the garrison. Some 2,000 negroes, fleeing from bondage and anxious to reach the land of Freedom, followed in the wake of the troops as they entered the city. None but a heart of stone could avoid pitying those wretched people as they struggled to keep up with the soldiers, and to carry their children and a few personal effects. The ablebodied men were enlisted in the colored regiments and the remainder of the refugees were sent to a camp on the Louisiana side, opposite the city.

On March 5, the Sixteenth was joined by three new companies, F, H, and K, from Wisconsin, and two days later the veterans and such of the non-veterans as had not been furloughed since the regiment had been at the front, left for home on a thirty-days furlough. The three new companies and a company composed of the non-veterans and recruits left behind by the old companies were formed into a provisional battalion and remained at Vicksburg under the command of Capt. Craig, of the new company F. On March 10, four divisions, two of the 16th and two of the 17th army corps, embarked on twenty steamers at Vicksburg, and started upon the ill-fated ėRed River Expeditionî amid the booming of cannon, music of numerous bands and the cheers of the troops.

A few days later the battalion of Sixteenth men was sent out on the Jackson road fourteen miles to the Black river bridge, where it did post duty two weeks. It was then marched back to Vicksburg and immediately embarked on the four-decker ėMaria Denning,î with orders to proceed to Cairo, Ills., to join the veterans of the regiment. Detachments from three or four Ohio regiments and a battery of artillery were also loaded upon the Denning, and when finally the lines had been cast off and the boat headed up stream, it was found that there were 1,700 soldiers, 300 mules, 100 horses, 80 army wagons, the guns and equipment of the battery and fifteen days rations for men and beasts aboard.

With such a load, slow progress was made against the powerful current of the swollen stream and rations were nearly exhausted when Memphis, Tenn., was reached. Taking on a fresh supply at that city the tiresome journey was continued. The discomforts of the overloaded boat were added to as it slowly steamed up the river and encountered cold rain storms which gradually turned to sleet and then to snow. The soldiers, who were mostly crowded upon the open decks, with no shelter but their blankets, suffered greatly from the exposure, and huddled together in groups trying to keep warm. Had a band of guerrillas fired into that boat, there would have been a great loss of life, as in their cramped, chilled condition the soldiers on board would have been unable to make much of a defense. But fortune favored them greatly on that score, and they steamed up the river without hearing a shot, and passed safely by Ft. Pillow two or three hours before it was captured and its garrison massacred by the rebels under ėButcherî Forrest. The next morning our boys reached Columbus, Ky., and found the place in an uproar. News of the massacre at Ft. Pillow had been received, and the enemy was said to be advancing on the Columbus in force. To reinforce the garrison, the Badger battalion and the battery disembarked and were stationed in Ft. Hallack, on the high bluff just north of the town. Forrest did not attack the place, and after remaining there a week our battalion boarded a small steamer and finished its journey to Cairo, where it found the old companies of the regiment and another new company B, they having just arrived from Wisconsin.

The veterans and non-veterans had enjoyed themselves hugely during their furlough, had again bidden farewell to loved ones, many of them for eternity, and had come back to the seat of war in glorious spirits to continue the war for liberty and Union. At Cairo, on May 1st, Sergeants John Gough and Charles Gatfield, of old company K, were mustered out, they having been wrongfully retained in the service since the consolidation of the old companies in November, 1862, and the regiment lost two of its best men.