THREE YEARS 
 
 AND 
 
 THREE MONTHS 
 A SOLDIER 
 

 
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 P«mp^Ut Collection 
 Duke University Library 
 
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Three Years and Three Months 
 A Soldier 
 
 By 
 
 SERGEANT C. H. TODD 
 
 1920 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/threeyearsthreemOOtodd 
 
/JV MEMORY 
 
 of my comrades, the Attica Guards, 
 and my regiment, the loth Indiana 
 Volunteer Infantry, and my father 
 and sister uho hove the harden of 
 anxiety, sorroiv and grief during the 
 Civil JVar of 1S61 to 186d, uhile I 
 ivas doing ivhat I could as a soldier 
 in the U>iion army, three years and 
 three months, to save the Union and 
 Liberty, this volume is affectionately 
 inscribed. 
 
SERGEANT C. H. TODD 
 AT THE AGE OF 21 
 
SERGEANT C H. TODD 
 AT THE AGE OF 70 
 

 r 
 
 
 
The shot fired on Fort Sumpter April 12th, 1861, 
 which was heard around the world, and the call of Pres- 
 ident Lincoln for seventy-five thousand men, touched 
 my young heart with such force that it set the fires of 
 love for my country aflame, and on the 22nd I volunteer- 
 ed to go to its defense against all traitors and opposers 
 of liberty and freedom; I joined a company, then being 
 organized by A. A. Rice in Attica, Indiana, which was 
 called The Attica Guards, and on June 14th we were 
 mustered into the Union army for three years, if not 
 sooner discharged — one hundred and one strong, into 
 the 15th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. A civil war had 
 begun. The martial strife was on. The cry arose 
 above the battle’s din and roar, “to arms! to arms! the 
 people’s freedom and liberty and their flag are assailed 
 by traitors and state’s rights men of the South’’; and on 
 July 1st Company A, the “Attica Guards’’, with its regi- 
 ment, the 15th Indiana, went to Cincinnati, Ohio. On 
 the 2nd the citizens gave us a fine dinner in the Pearl 
 street market house. On the evening of the 5th we 
 crossed the Ohio river into West Virginia near Clarks- 
 burg, going then to Buchanan, thence to Middle Fork 
 Bridge, where we arrived July 6th and saw the first 
 dead soldier, he having been killed the day before. I 
 was very much impressed with our serious business. 
 We passed on to Rich Mountain where we arrived in a 
 cold rain on the evening of the 11th when the battle was 
 just closing. The following morning the regiment 
 formed a part of the pursuing force which captured 
 many prisoners and much war material. We camped 
 that night in Tigart Valley, then marched to Huttons- 
 ville and camped in Small Valley on the road to Cheat 
 Mountain. We next moved to Camp Elkwater, where 
 we erected fortifications and performed picket and scout 
 duty out to and beyond Point Mountain, some fifteen 
 miles away. On one of these trips one of the men in 
 the rear of Company A fell and his gun was discharged, 
 the ball passing through the leg of our First Sergeant 
 Dennis Bright, which resulted in a stiff ankle that dis- 
 abled him from field duty. He was a noble, intelligent 
 young man. This happened September 1st. 
 
 7 
 
On the 10th Robert E. Lee, commanding the Rebel 
 forces in western Virginia, came down on our army, 
 located near Cheat Mountain and Camp Elkwater, with 
 a force of over five thousand. During this investment 
 Coloned John A. Washington of Lee’s staff and three 
 other men were making a reconnoissance to ascertain 
 our position. Our boys being secreted in the thick 
 brush allowed Washington’s party to get very close be- 
 fore they fired. All were hit, Washington falling from 
 his horse with three balls through his body. The 
 others turned to flee and held one man on the horse. 
 Washington was taken to our colonel’s tent and died 
 in less than half an hour, only speaking once when he 
 said, “0, my God!” In his pockets were found one 
 hundred dollars in U. S. gold and a splendid gold watch. 
 Lee sent three thousand men to the left and rear of 
 our camps. During the latter part of the night two 
 companies of our boys started with dispatches to our 
 force on Cheat Mountain. The Confederates had drop- 
 ped down and gone to sleep right in the path on which 
 our boys were going, and had placed no pickets, so our 
 boys got into their very midst before they were dis- 
 covered. It was so sudden that it caused a panic in 
 the enemy’s ranks and the latter fled in wild haste, 
 leaving arms, blankets, haversacks, canteens and pro- 
 visions. The panic became contageous, and Lee broke 
 camp and retreated back over the mountain to Green- 
 brier river. 
 
 On October 1st our regiment marched to Cheat Moun- 
 tain in rain, sleet and snow, and so severe was the storm 
 that eighteen head of mules and horses and one man 
 perished during the night and a large number of men 
 were prostrated by sickness.. It v/as ten o’clock before 
 we could get a fire started because the rain, sleet and 
 snow came down with such great force under a wind 
 that went at a sixty mile gate. Our regiment had no 
 tents or shelter of any kind, only a blanket to a man, to 
 protect us from the blast of the storm and cold. It was 
 the worst storm I was in during the three years and 
 three months of war. 
 
 We were on top of the mountain October 3rd, 1861. 
 
At two o’clock A. M. we left our camp for a reconnois- 
 sance in front of Camp Barto, the rebel camp on Green- 
 brier river, ten miles from the summit of Cheat Moun- 
 tain, where some fifteen thousand rebel troops were in 
 camp under General Jackson and others. General Rey- 
 nolds was commanding our forces. A brisk action 
 ensued between our Union force of five thousand men 
 and the Rebels. After crossing the river we found 
 both sides of the road strewn with blankets, canteens, 
 haversacks and hats of both armies. Our boys, strip- 
 ped for the running fight, were sending the Rebels at 
 double quick to their Camp Barto. Turning a point in 
 the road, to the left in a beautiful valley, full one mile 
 wide, we began to step over the dead and wounded of 
 both sides. Our regiment and the 25th Ohio were in 
 reserve line. Our batteries, Daum’s, Loomis’s and 
 Howe’s, passed on and advanced to within five hundred 
 yards of the Rebel camp and forts. The infantry took 
 position to protect our guns; then for over four hours 
 the duel between fifteen cannon on our side and eighteen 
 on the Confederate side shook the earth, and many men 
 and horses were killed and wounded. We got up so 
 close to the Rebels that we heard, when there was the 
 least stop of our guns, heart-rending cries of their 
 wounded in the trenches, which was proof they were 
 getting a plenty. Our loss was thirty killed and one 
 hundred seventy-five wounded, and it doubtless would 
 have been greater, but for some reason the enemy did 
 not cut their fuse properly. The Rebel’s loss was over 
 one hundred and fifty killed and nearly four hundred 
 wounded. One man was cut in two wdth a cannon 
 ball and many were knocked down by shell explosion. 
 The enemy had five cannon disabled; we had one. Al- 
 together I was seriously impressed with the awfulness 
 of war, and was nearer hell than I liked to be. What 
 surprised me was that so few were killed when tons of 
 iron and lead were fired in among so many men. To 
 me it was the most wonderful battle I was in during the 
 war. It was grand beyond description. As General 
 Reynolds had accomplished all he went for, we quietly 
 returned to our camps on Cheat Mountain. 
 
 9 
 
On October 10th we went back to our old camp at 
 Elkwater, and then to Huttonsville. November 19th 
 we started to Louisville, Kentucky, camping at Phillippi 
 the 24th and at Parkersburg the 28th, going by steam- 
 boat to Louisville, Kentucky, where we pitched camp 
 November 30th, 1861. On December 10th we marched 
 fifty miles south from Louisville and went into camp 
 December 14th at Camp Wickliff, Ky., where we re- 
 mained until February 10th, 1862, when we took up our 
 march south, expecting to re-enforce General Grant at 
 Forts Henry and Donaldson, but Grant whipped the 
 Rebels, and we turned east to Nashville, Tenn., where 
 we arrived March 5th and went into camp. We were 
 later ordered to Grant’s support near Pittsburg Land- 
 ing, Tenn., one hundred and thirty-five miles south and 
 west, where we arrived at 6 P. M. April 6th. We 
 crossed the river on the morning of the 7th and went 
 into battle at eight A. M., passing over the dead of the 
 day before and the wounded of the early morning, on 
 out nearly two miles, where we became actively engag- 
 ed for the remainder of the day. At night in a hard 
 rain we lay down among the dead to sleep, for we had 
 not slept for three nights. On the 8th we followed the 
 fieeing enemy for more than 10 miles, fighting their 
 cavalry all day. We did not return to camp until after 
 dark, and lay down among the dead of both armies. 
 The next two days we buried the dead. The scene 
 beggars description. No pen can describe its awful- 
 ness — men with their heads off, bodies mutilated and 
 disemboweled, and in places men lying three-deep as 
 they had fallen after being shot down. That wooded 
 country for over ten miles in length and four miles in 
 width had been fought over, back and forth many times. 
 The dead were scattered all over that large space of 
 land. Many bodies were so swollen that they looked 
 twice their natural size, and many of them burst while 
 we handled them in the burial. I had a detail of eight 
 men — four with stretchers to gather the bodies and four 
 to dig graves and cover the bodies. The bodies were 
 placed side by side in trenches, from ten to fifty in a 
 place. Thus all day hundreds of men were engaged in 
 
 10 
 
that dreadful duty amidst that awful sight. In two 
 different places every horse lay dead in its harness, 
 hitched to cannon or caisson, and I could have walked 
 on dead men’s bodies, over thirty yards in extent both 
 to the east and to the west, without stepping on the 
 ground. The men of both armies lay two and three 
 deep in places and the ground was littered with parts 
 of bodies. The scene was so terrible I turned sick al- 
 most to fainting. When we crossed the river near one 
 of our field hospitals we noticed two piles of hands, 
 arms and legs that would have more than filled a large 
 wagon bed. On the other side of the river there were 
 at least a thousand men, frightened and bloody, with 
 heads and limbs tied up, begging to cross back over the 
 river. I saw five hundred dead horses lying side by 
 side, ready to be burned, over fifteen hundred having 
 been killed in the battle. There were over 40,000 
 Union men and 60,000 Confederates engaged on Sunday, 
 the 6th of April, and 70,000 Union men and 55,000 
 Rebels on Apiil 7th, Thirty thousand Americans were 
 killed and wounded in the three days’ fighting! 
 
 The battle of Shilo or Pittsburg Landing was one of 
 the most fiercely contested battles of the Civil war. On 
 Sunday our boys were surprised and had to fight a 
 much larger force, and were driven over two miles back 
 to the river. Early in the morning on Monday the 7th, 
 Buell’s army having arrived during the night. Grant 
 attacked the enemy, and a terrible army, strong and 
 mighty, was in action. The sight was beyond my 
 powers of description — all parts of that great host, the 
 two armies, serged, charged and rushed at one another, 
 with fixed bayonets, with horses and cannon, in regi- 
 ments, divisions and corps, moving with steady step, 
 while loading and firing. Then, with deafening yells, 
 both sides would drive in great lines a mile long, until 
 re-enforcements would come and stop for a little while 
 the mighty power. Then the line of Union boys would 
 move forward and drive all before it for over 5 miles in 
 length along the entire line. It was a sight grand, 
 beautiful and terrible, once seen never forgotten, mak- 
 ing the heart sick to see the awful suffering of human 
 
 II 
 
beings. Our army was told not to write home and tell 
 of the awful scenes, as that would discourage enlist- 
 ments. In no history have I ever seen a description of 
 that battle that did it iustice. 
 
 On April the 12th the advance on Corinth, Mississippi, 
 was commenced under General Halleck. We took Cor- 
 inth on May 28th, after which we were ordered to 
 Huntsville, Alabama, being in camp there until July 
 10th. We then went north by way of Murfreesboro, 
 Tenn., and Nashville to Louisville, Ky., reaching there 
 September 20th. On October 3rd, 1862, we started 
 after Bragg’s forces and on the 8th engaged them in 
 battle at Perrysville, Ky., where we whipped them and 
 drove them south to Murfreesboro, Tenn. Our army 
 next went into camp at Nashville, thirty miles west of 
 the enemy, where we remained until December 26, 1862. 
 
 The battle of Perrysville, Ky., fought October 8th, 
 1862, was a severe contest between a part of Bragg’s 
 army and a part of the Union army under D. C. Buell. 
 Our corps, Crittenden’s, did not get in line of battle 
 until 4 P. M. to take part in the struggle. Our forces 
 were badly cut up and hard pressed by the enemy, be- 
 ing forced to retreat more than half a mile. We turn- 
 ed the tide of battle instantly as soon as we got to firing, 
 and drove the enemy until dark closed the struggle. We 
 were in fine condition to renew the battle in the morn- 
 ing, but during the night the Confederates retreated, 
 and we went in pursuit of them immediately. The 
 Union loss in killed in this battle was nearly five hun- 
 dred. Among them were Generals Jackson and Tyrell, 
 There were fourteen hundred and sixty-five wounded 
 and one hundred and seventy missing. The Confeder- 
 ate loss in killed, wounded and prisoners was about the 
 same. During the battle, near dark, there occurred an 
 unusual incident. General Polk (Confederate) be- 
 lieved that some Confederate troops were firing into 
 each other, so rode down to the regiment that was firing 
 upon his troops and asked the Colonel what he meant 
 by shooting into friends and asked him also to cease 
 firing. The Colonel replied, “I am sure they are the 
 enemy. Who are you?” “Enemy?” said General Polk, 
 
 12 
 
“Why, I have just left them myself. Cease firing. Who 
 are you, sir?” “I am colonel of the 27th Indiana.” 
 “Cease firing. I will show you who I am, sir.” Thus 
 made aware that he was with a Federal regiment and 
 that his only escape was to brazen it out. General Polk 
 shook his fist at the colonel and told him to cease firing. 
 He then cantered down the line, shouting. “Cease fir- 
 ing”. As soon as he reached the cover of his own Con- 
 federate troops he ordered them to open fire and told 
 them how close he came to being killed or taken 
 prisoner. For weeks after that it was an every day 
 joke among our troops — “Cease firing, cease firing. Gen- 
 eral Polk is coming! Cease firing!” 
 
 As we had learned that Bragg had said this campaign 
 was to be won by marching — not by fighting — our army 
 did not crowd the Confederates, and when the Rebels 
 commenced the fight our forces were scattered and it 
 took several hours to concentrate During the first of 
 the battle we were out-numbered three to one. and the 
 Rebs came near whipping our boys, but as soon as our 
 corps got busy at them they began to pray for dark to 
 hide them. The fight took place on a piece of open 
 country, oval in shape, in the center of which between 
 the two armies was a depression some two hundred 
 yards wide, which gave a fine view of both of the con- 
 testing forces, each side of which now numbered twenty 
 thousand. On the 10th of October, 1862, Bragg’s army 
 in Kentucky numbered all-told sixty thousand men and 
 the army of Ohio about the same. 
 
 December 25th we broke camp and started to whip 
 Bragg or get whipped. The army moved out on the 
 Nashville and Murfeesboro Pike toward Laverne. 
 Skirmishing commenced with the enemy as soon as the 
 outposts were passed and kept up all day. We went 
 into camp after dark near Laverne. The next three 
 days we advanced and on December 30th we formed in 
 line of battle and drove the enemy to within one mile 
 of Murfreesboro to Stone River. My company (Co. A) 
 was on the skirmish line and just at sundown I receiv- 
 ed a wound in my right middle finger, which broke the 
 bone, splitting it and making a very painful wound. We 
 
 13 
 
went into camp where we were, on the front line. The 
 next morning with my hand in a sling, I went with the 
 company to do what I could, carrying my gun in my left 
 hand, for as soon as I let my right hand hang down, to 
 say nothing of holding my gun with it, I would turn very 
 sick. On the morning of December 31st, at four 
 o’clock, our whole army corps was in line of battle and 
 there we stood until 6 A. M., when all at once terrific 
 firing commenced on our extreme right, which soon 
 reached the roar of battle of small arms and over fifty 
 cannon. We looked to the right and an appalling sight 
 met our gaze. One-half mile away was a dense cedar 
 thicket, out of which our men, horses, ambulances, 
 wagons and cannon were pouring in retreat, frightened 
 and surprised, and kept up the retreat for two miles, 
 and turned like a gate to the west, which told us that 
 our time would soon come. At that time Brecken- 
 lidge’s division swung around our left and rear, out of 
 the thick woods, and we were moved forward to meet 
 them. We hastily crossed an open cotton field to the 
 bank of Stone river and were ordered to lie down under 
 the fire of two batteries — twelve guns of the enemy, 
 but soon had to face to the side and rear to meet the 
 enemy. A large number in that short hour had been 
 killed and wounded in our brigade, one of whom was 
 Will Hegler. The Rebels continued to close in on us 
 from the front and rear, determined to turn our left, so 
 we charged them with bayonet and a yell and double 
 quick, bringing back more prisoners than we numbered. 
 It was then 11 A. M. and general firing, by the division 
 and the army, was universal until 4 P. M. Then soon 
 after that all became quiet, except some picket firing, 
 and so ended the first day’s general engagement. 
 
 January 1st both armies reorganized and growled at 
 each other. Only at times there would be a very spirit- 
 ed fight in different places along the line, both by ar- 
 tillery and musketry, both sides holding their own. On 
 January 2nd both sides began to maneuver and had 
 several severe fights. The Rebels shifted a large part 
 of their forces from their left to their right, around 
 behind a thick woods, and about 3:30 P. M. attacked our 
 
 14 
 
left with over thirty thousand men. Our outposts and 
 pickets came rushing in to the main line. Along the 
 west bank of Stone river and in line of battle over two 
 miles long, in three lines in close columns, more than 
 twenty-five thousand men were coming in a turkey trot, 
 but we were ready to receive them. Our chief of ar- 
 tillery, General Mendenhall, gave the signal and seven- 
 ty cannon, forming a line a half mile long with shot, 
 shell, grape and canister, belched forth a storm of iron 
 and lead, and fifteen thousand rides in the hands of the 
 best soldiers in the world helped to make another page 
 in history, brilliant with Union men’s valor and cour- 
 age. I was lying on the ground with our company and 
 regiment, supporting and defending our artillery, which 
 fired so rapidly that they sent forth a continuous sheer 
 of dame the whole length of the line. The earth seem- 
 ed to expand and contract and shake as a leaf; we could 
 feel ourselves rise and fall with the awful power of 
 concussion which continued over forty minutes. The 
 timber in our front, where the Confederates were, was 
 literally mowed down, hundreds of the enemy being 
 killed and wounded by falling limbs and parts of trees. 
 The survivors said that in that short time they lost in 
 killed and wounded twenty-dve hundred men besides 
 over one thousand prisoners. It was the grandest and 
 most magnificent sight I saw during my three years’ of 
 service; thus ended the great battle of Stone River or 
 Murfreesboro. On January 3rd, Saturday, the enemy 
 left and we took possession of the town with its four 
 thousand wounded Confederate soldiers, and camped 
 there until July; then we took up our march for Tulla- 
 homa where the Rebel army was. No set of men could 
 have done more than the 15th Indiana did in holding the 
 key of the battlefield of Stone River, that hazardous 
 point between the river and the railroad. Never did 
 men make more stubborn resistance against an attack- 
 ing charge than did the 15th Indiana Volunteers. As 
 evidence of their heroism and power, look at their dead 
 and wounded who lay two hundred yards in advance of 
 the line of battle where the attacks of Bragg’s best men 
 were made and driven back in three distinct bayonet 
 
 15 
 
charges. The enemy, though numbering three to our 
 one, was hurled back and at the same time we brought 
 back more prisoners than we numbered; only one regi- 
 ment, unsupported part of the time, to charge a brigade 
 and then a division — an unparalleled feat in the face of 
 an army! We were ordered to hold the key to the 
 battlefield of Stone River and we did it and saved our 
 army from utter retreat and rout, though the toll of 
 blood and life was fearful. Fifty-two of our best lay 
 dead and two hundred wounded; a loss of sixty per cent. 
 Five of my company (Co. A) were among those who 
 gave their all for their country and liberty. The night 
 of December 31st I went to the field hospital to see and 
 do what I could for our wounded boys, and the horrors 
 of the scenes of that night’s work are before me now; 
 cries, groans, screams, agony, begging for some one to 
 kill them and put them out of their awful misery, call- 
 ing for loved ones to see them once more before they 
 died; doctors cutting off legs, arms and hands; blood 
 flowing; men dying. I could never be induced to go 
 to another field hospital. The hospital covered twelve 
 acres of ground. Our regiment with the army left 
 Murfreesboro June 24th, 1863, on what was called the 
 Tullahoma campaign. Our army under Rosencrans 
 numbered some fifty thousand men. We went by way 
 of Manchester and Guy’s Gap, which we were to hold 
 while the main part of the army attacked Bragg in 
 front; but twelve hours before we got there Bragg’s 
 army passed through the gap and we lost our chance 
 to give him battle. The next morning we heard of the 
 fall of Vicksburg and our great victory in the east over 
 Lee’s army, and, say, we did feel good and did some big- 
 cheering. We were happy. The army then took up 
 its march to take Chattanooga, which it did September 
 8th. On the 9th our regiment and brigade crossed the 
 liver and took possession of the city. The army of the 
 Cumberland followed, passed us, and camped out south, 
 near Crawfish Springs and along Chickamauga Creek. 
 As our brigade took and entered Chattanooga first, we 
 were ordered to hold it and fortify it, so that was the 
 reason we were not in the battle of Chickamauga on 
 
 16 
 
September 19th and 20th. Our army was defeated, 
 but came back into Chattanooga on the 21st and 22nd, 
 where we were all surrounded by the enemy until Nov- 
 ember 25th, when we licked them and drove them away. 
 General Gordon Granger, following Sherman’s army, 
 went to the aid of our forces in Knoxville. The battle 
 of Chattanooga was fought on the 23rd, 24th and 25th 
 of November, 1863. Its scenery was brilliant beyond 
 description — off to our right was Lookout Mountain 
 rising 2500 feet above the Tennessee River which 
 sweeps by its base; from its summit one can see into 
 seven different states — a scene so grand one is forced 
 to exclaim, “Surely this is the handiwork of our Heaven- 
 ly Father!” Across the river was Moccasin Point 
 where were our big cannon; and north was Waldron’s 
 Ridge whose rocky impassable sides rise one thousand 
 feet for miles eastward where the river closed the only 
 gap to Missionary Ridge. The north end of the ridge — 
 some five hundred feet high — was right up to the river 
 and then extended about three miles to Ross’s Gap, 
 nearly due south of Chattanooga, then west and north 
 around to Lookout Mountain, four miles distant, mak- 
 ing the Confederate line more than seventeen miles long 
 around the position of the Union army, which was seven 
 miles east and west by nearly six miles north and south. 
 The Rebels had tw’O well entienched lines of earth works 
 reaching around the entire ridge. On the top of that 
 semi-circle was General Bragg’s headquarters, about 
 midway from the river to Rossville Gap. While in the 
 valley below, shut up in Chattanooga, was the army of 
 the Cumberland in the center. General Sherman’s army 
 of the Tennessee on our left and General Hooker’s 
 eleventh and twelvth corps of the Potomac on the south 
 and west. We were hemmed in, with rations cut off. 
 For over two months we were compelled to live on one- 
 fourth rations. Men stole corn from the mules and 
 horses; bare starvation faced us. General Grant says 
 in his official report, “More than ten thousand horses 
 and mules had starved to death in six weeks’ time, be- 
 fore the battle.” Our quartermaster killed our cattle 
 to keep them from dying. We had that kind of meat, 
 
 17 
 
and that even appeared to shrink up in cooking. This 
 is not an overdrawn picture of conditions before the 
 battle of Chattanooga was fought. From Fort Wood, 
 where we were camped, we could see all over that great 
 space of country— the tents and war implements, with 
 flags of both armies, which numbered over one hun- 
 dred thousand each, ready to grapple in a death 
 struggle for victory. The scene was grand and terrible 
 beyond the ability of man to describe. 
 
 At 1 P. M. on November 23rd the guns in Fort Wood 
 signaled the opening of the battle of Chattanooga. 
 Sherman on our left drove and was driven, and that 
 great army of the Tennessee did grand work, and with 
 appalling loss, until night stopped the awful carnage. 
 The morning of November 24th was cloudy and remain- 
 ed so all day. Soon we heard Sherman’s guns; he was 
 renewing his attack on our left, and after a short time 
 Hooker, on our right, began on Lookout Mountain to 
 slowly drive the enemy, and about three P. M. captured 
 the entire mountain, and until after dark drove the 
 enemy from its top. Sherman fought and struggled 
 all day with heavy loss, but could not turn the enemy’s 
 right wing, and so ended the second day’s battle of 
 Chattanooga. Hooker had won a great victory. Our 
 army of the Cum.berland, in two days, had driven the 
 enemy over two miles to the foot of the ridge and had 
 thrown up breastworks for protection ; on the 24th we 
 were exposed to the fire of the enemy’s artillery but 
 held our position. While Hooker fought he was, much 
 of the time, above and in the midst of the clouds; the 
 flash of his guns could be plainly seen as if there were 
 thousands of lightning bugs in the mountains, and 
 the darker it grew the plainer it could be seen, making 
 a very rare and beautiful sight. About four o’clock 
 the news was brought to us, “Hooker has taken Lookout 
 Mountain.’’ Then we rejoiced and hollowed until we 
 were hoarse. All quieted down by seven o’clock, ex- 
 cept the wounded. 
 
 - The morning of November 25th came out beautiful 
 and bright. The Rebels commenced firing on us with 
 their cannon about seven A. M. All was ready for 
 
 18 
 
whatever was to be done. Our army of the Cumber- 
 land, being in the center between Sherman and Hooker, 
 our regiment, brigade and division were in front of 
 Bragg’s headquarters, and as it so happened, our regi- 
 ment went up the ridge right in front of a Rebel battery, 
 two cannon to our right, two to our center and two to 
 our left, and two lines of infantry. Hooker had now at 
 ten A. M. reached Ross’s Gap and was pressing the 
 Rebels, but soon he and Sherman met such stubborn 
 resistance that there was a stop until near three o’clock, 
 when the aimy of the Cumberland was ordered forward 
 to diive out and take the Rebel rifle pits at the foot of 
 the ridge, six hundred yards from the top, which it did 
 in its usual style. We soon found that because of our 
 position being so near to the Rebel’s artillery we could 
 not stay there, do nothing and be murdered. We said, 
 “We will go forward.” The number being killed in the 
 division showed that it was simply murder to stay there 
 where we could not return the fire and accomplish any- 
 thing. The men began to say, “Does Grant want to 
 have us murdered?” Soon v/e all began to hollow, 
 “Forward! Forward!” and in less time than it takes 
 to tell it we started amid shot, shell, grape, canister and 
 musket balls, and above the awful din and noise could 
 be heard, “Forward!” until the army of the Cumber- 
 land under that matchless leader, G. H. Thomas, and 
 those fighters, Gordon, Granger, Sheridan and others, 
 bioke through the center of Bragg’s army and drove 
 them pell mell in retreat — a glorious page in history 
 for the army of the Cumberland. Over thirty cannon 
 were part of our spoils and trophies. The battle of 
 Missionary Ridge will ever be remembered as one of the 
 grandest battles of history, for numbers, scenery and 
 wonderful victory, and I am very proud of my company 
 and the 15th Indiana regiment. Our flag was the first 
 planted on the ridge after it had been shot down six 
 times. Its bearer, George L. Banks, fell first; then 
 others raised it only to be shot down, until it fell six 
 times. Comrade Banks, staggering from loss of blood, 
 raised it last and, being too weak to stand, T. N. Gra- 
 ham took it and placed it on top of the breastworks. In 
 
 19 
 
GEORGE L. BANKS 
 
 AT THE AGE OF 70 
 
 20 
 
Old Glory 
 
a few moments more than a hundred flags, extending 
 over a mile in distance, were proudly proclaiming vic- 
 tory and thanks to God. I could never describe my feel- 
 ings at that time, but I did say many times, “Glory to 
 God in the highest,” for giving us the victory, for He 
 w'as more than all that were against us. But, oh, my 
 heart sank within me when I saw so few left of our 
 grand regiment. Over seventy per cent had been killed 
 and wounded — 52 killed and 147 wounded. Out of 335 
 men only 140 assembled after the battle. Our regiment 
 captured 56 Rebels besides those taken by the other 
 part of the brigade. 
 
 On the 26th we drove the Confederate army to Chick- 
 amauga Creek, ten miles, and in the evening returned 
 to our camp in Chattanooga. On November 28th we 
 left for Knoxville, Tenn., 135 miles distant, to aid our 
 army there which was surrounded by the enemy. We 
 arrived December 5th, one day after the battle. At 
 night the Rebels retreated, as Sherman had formed his 
 men ready to attack in the morning. Near Fort San- 
 ders, where the hardest fighting had been, pools of dry 
 blood and pieces of flesh could be seen all around on the 
 ground as proof of the slaughter of men. We followed 
 the enemy south from Knoxville three miles and went 
 into camp in the woods without tents, where we re- 
 mained a few days ; then we went up to Strawberry 
 Plains, thirty miles east of Knoxville, and to the French 
 Broad river along the Allegheny Mountains, doing scout 
 and reconnoissance duty until February 1st, 1864. We 
 then returned to Knoxville, going from there thirty 
 miles west to Loudon, Tenn., where we camped until 
 February 23rd. 
 
 “No man who climbs the ascent of Missionary Ridge 
 by any of the roads that wind along its front can be- 
 lieve that 18,000 men were moved upon its barren and 
 crumbling face, unless it was his fortune to witness 
 the deed. It seems as awful as a visible interposition 
 of God. Neither Generals Grant nor Thomas intended 
 it. Their orders were to carry the rifle pits along the 
 base of the Ridge and cut off their occupants, but when 
 this was accomplished the unaccountable spirit of the 
 
 21 
 
trocps bore them bodily up the impracticable steeps,, 
 over the bristling rifle-pits on the crest, and sixty can- 
 non enfilading every gulley. The orders to storm ap- 
 pear to have been given simultaneously by Generals 
 Sheridan and Wood, because the men were not to be 
 held back, hopeless as the attempt appeared to military 
 prudence. Besides the Generals caught the inspiration 
 of the men and were ready themselves to undertake 
 impossibilities.” 
 
 General Hooker’s fight up the slopes of Lookout 
 Mountain on November 24th was fought above the 
 clouds, from which his musketry was heard and the 
 flash seen, and the larger flash from his cannon was, like 
 lightning. “There is on record one parallel to this 
 in the campaign of Napoleon — the battle of the Colde 
 Tarvis which was fought above the clouds in the Cranic 
 Alps on March 22, 1797, the artillery thundering in the 
 laboratory of storms, while the cavalry performed their 
 evolutions on the ice, and the infantry attacking in snow 
 three feet deep.” 
 
 FIELD ORDERS 
 
 Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, 
 November 25. 186.3 
 Chattanooga, Tenn. 
 
 Major General Granger, 
 
 Missioh Ridge. 
 
 Please accept my congratulations on the splendid suc- 
 cess of your troops, and convey to them my cordial 
 thanks for the brilliant style in which they carried the 
 enemy’s work. Their conduct cannot be too highly ap- 
 preciated. 
 
 George H. Thomas, 
 
 Major General Commanding. 
 
 Headquarters Fourth Army Corps, 
 
 Bragg’s Headquarters, Mission Ridge, Tenn., Nov, 
 26, 1863. 
 
 Soldiers of the Fourth Army Corps: — 
 
 In announcing this distinguished recognition of your 
 
 22 
 
signal gallantry in carrying through a terrible storm of 
 iron, a mountain crowned with batteries and encircled 
 with rifle pits, I am constrained to express my own ad- 
 miration of your noble conduct, and I am proud to tell 
 you that the veteran generals from other fields, who 
 witnessed your heroic bearing, place your assault and 
 triumph among the most brilliant achievements of the 
 war. Thirty cannon, more than three thousand prison- 
 ers and several battle flags taken from the enemy are 
 among your trophies. Thanks, soldiers! you made that 
 day a glorious page of history. 
 
 G. Granger, Major General Commanding. 
 
 Headquarters Second Division 4th Army Corps, 
 
 Chattanooga, Tennessee, Nov. 27th, 1863. 
 General Order 
 No. 20. 
 
 The General Commanding desires to express to the 
 olficers and men of his Division his sincere thanks for 
 their gallant conduct in the battle of the 25th. 
 
 The storming of Mission Ridge and the manner in 
 which it was done has not a parallel in this war, nor in 
 history. That bold Ridge, which, for months past, has 
 been occupied and nightly illuminated by the camp 
 fires of an insolent foe. has by your gallantry become a 
 towering monument of your glory to future generations. 
 In exulting over our splendid success we must not for- 
 get that it was attended with the loss in killed and 
 wounded of 122 heroic officers and 1176 brave men. 
 
 Let us offer to the wounded and to the families of the 
 gallant dead our heartfelt sympathies. 
 
 By command of Major General Sheridan. 
 
 George Lee, Capt. and A. A. G. 
 
 Then we returned to Chattanooga. On that trip we 
 marched over four hundred miles. March 1st our regi- 
 ment numbered one hundred sixty men and my Company 
 A, sixteen men. I had been in command of the com- 
 pany more than three months. Our captain. B. F. 
 Hegler, was in command of the regiment during that 
 time. We went into our old camp and stayed in Chat- 
 
 23 
 
tanooga until June 23rd, when we were ordered to In- 
 dianapolis to be discharged, as our term of enlistment 
 had expired. 
 
 Many incidents of the soldier’s life are never put in 
 print, nor mentioned, and I will tell a few things that 
 I saw and what I did while in the army, hoping it will 
 interest some w'ho may read this narrative. A few days 
 after we went into camp the Captain ordered me to take 
 a platoon of men and drill them. I told him I did not 
 believe I could do it. He replied, “I will risk you. If 
 you make mistakes that is what all the rest of us do,” 
 and I went at it. I certainly did have a thrilling time 
 with that green squad of men, but I wanted to be busy 
 so I tried to do everything I was told to do, and as a re- 
 sult I was promoted until I became First Sergeant of the 
 company, which position I held for nineteen months, 
 often in that time commanding the company in the ab- 
 sence of any commissioned officer. 
 
 General Wagoner decided to celebrate our victory at 
 Mission Ridge, and ordered all commanders of compan- 
 ies as well as all commissioned officers of his brigade to 
 report at his headquarters. I went to help celebrate. 
 Speeches, bragging, drinking, whiskey and some danc- 
 ing were the order of the evening, and fully one-half of 
 the officers got noisy drunk. I must say I did not like 
 such an entertainment. 
 
 At another time the officers of the brigade decided 
 they would get all the men to re-enlist for three years 
 more. The colors were brought out and carried up and 
 down the color line and speeches were made. Four 
 hundred dollars and three months’ furlough home were 
 offered each man that would re-enlist, but there were 
 very few in the brigade who re-enlisted. The men were 
 happy and the officers were mad. I was offered a cap- 
 tain’s commission if I would command a company of 
 colored troops, but I said, “No, thank you. I am not in 
 this war for money or office.” 
 
 After the battle of Mission Ridge, in conversation 
 with a prisoner, a ma.ior we captured told me this, to 
 our credit and praise. “Sergeant, I want to say I never 
 saw anything equal to it. Your soldiers kept coming. 
 
 24 
 
We saw we could not stop you, and I quit telling my men 
 to feed it to you, and by that time you were not more 
 than 15 feet from us. Then you came over those logs 
 with fixed bayonets — not like men, but like giants, 
 thrusting, knocking and shooting. Well, such men can 
 be killed, but never conquered. I am done. I will 
 never fight you again. You are brave men. I know I 
 will be well treated by such men as you.” 
 
 Our flag had passed through five battles and ten 
 other engagements in eighteen months of service, and 
 it was torn by shot and shell. Twenty balls had pass- 
 ed through it, as well as two cannon balls, and the staff 
 was splintered. The ladies of Haskell’s Station, La- 
 porte county, hearing of our ragged flag, presented us 
 with a new one, with Stone River printed on it in large 
 capital letters. It was given us as a token and in ap- 
 preciation of our noTle conduct in defending and carry- 
 ing to victory in every engagement we had been in. 
 They said in their letter to us that there was no need to 
 say to the gallant 15th Indiana, ‘‘Defend that flag.” 
 They said that what we had done in the past was proof 
 of what we would do in the future with this flag. And 
 “God bless the ladies of Indiana, and especially of La- 
 porte county” was the unanimous shout of every man of 
 that grand regiment. Our dear old flag, which we had 
 carried for more than eighteen months to victory, in 
 summer’s heat and winter’s cold and storms, through 
 mud, dust, day and night, in sickness, wounds and 
 death, we sent to our good governor. O. P. Morton, for 
 safe keeping. Up to that time, February, 1863, the 
 regiment had lost over five hundred men, fifty-five hav- 
 ing been killed in battle, two hundred fifty wounded 
 and over one hundred sick in hospitals, but, full of 
 fight and love of country, we carried our new flag to 
 greater victories. 
 
 I will now relate an incident that occured while the 
 battle of Bethesta Church was being fought. This was 
 told by my old soldier friend, Levi Coffman, once sur- 
 veyor of Fountain county. At the time of this incident 
 he was civil engineer on Gen. B. staff. “The Rebel 
 battery in front of our division was giving no serious 
 
 25 
 
trouble. The general told me to go forward to a cer- 
 tain hill in front and get its height. I saluted and 
 started. The general, with tears in his eyes, wished 
 me success and a safe return. I reached the hill, got 
 my instruments, and sent my orderly back some dis- 
 tance behind a hill with the horses. I went to work, 
 and the Rebels got very busy I thought, for their 
 bullets, grape and canister seemed to me thicker than 
 bees on a hot day in a clover field. My instruments 
 were knocked out of my hand, my clothes were torn, and 
 I expected to be killed every second. When I was in 
 agonizing dread I, all at once, felt that my dear old 
 mother was praying for me, thinking of me and plead- 
 ing for me. With that thought and strange feeling, I 
 went at rhy job faster and soon performed what was 
 required. I then ran behind the hill, mounted my 
 horse and got away, but not before both my orderly and 
 I and our horses had been slightly wounded. On meet- 
 ing the General I saluted and gave him my report, the 
 orderly taking the papers to the captain of the artillery, 
 who had the charge sounded. The battery went on the 
 run, took position and in less than one hour that Rebel 
 battery was destroyed. Our infantry went forward 
 and drove the enemy pell mell in a hurry. I wrote to 
 mother and asked her where she was at that time of 
 day and if she had been thinking of me. To my joy, 
 she said, ‘As usual I had been thinking of you, and felt 
 you were in great danger. I went to God in prayer, 
 asking Him to protect you and save you from harm 
 and death.’ And at the same hour I didn’t expect to 
 live a minute. I tell you, friend Todd that was a won- 
 derful evidence of the power of prayer, and I have been 
 a greater believer in religion and the protecting power 
 of God ever since.” 
 
 There was a man in our company — J. J. Boord. He 
 and I were neighbor boys. We were near Cheat Moun- 
 tain in West Virginia. It was on the 24th of July, 
 1861, just after our awful defeat of Bull Run battle, 
 when he told me he wanted to talk to me and burst out 
 crying. His body shaking with agony, he told me that 
 he felt discouraged, that he was sure this war would 
 
 26 
 
last longer than three years, that his lady love had been 
 killed by a horse, and that he never could endure such 
 hardships as these. For two hours I tried to comfort 
 him, but left him cryiner. The next morning- he was 
 not at roll call. I told the captain what Boord had 
 told me the evening before, and I was very uneasy about 
 him. At nine o’clock a searching party was sent out 
 to find him, and they were successful, finding him be- 
 tween three and four P. M. on the next day in the 
 thick laurel bushes on the side of a mountain one- 
 fourth mile from camp. I was soon at his side. He 
 had knelt down between two stumps, placed a revolver 
 in his mouth and discharged it. With the revolver 
 gripped in his hand and in kneeling position we found 
 his body. It was a sad scene. We buried him where 
 he fell on the side of the mountain and notified his rela- 
 tives. 
 
 S. T. Morris of my company declared he would be 
 killed in the first battle in which he took part. I plain- 
 ly heard the ball which killed him strike his breast. 
 Carlton D. Crane of our company also told me he would 
 not get out of the battle of Mission Ridge alive, and he 
 was killed while carrying the flag. He asked me be- 
 fore we went into the charge to tell his mother that he 
 tried to do his duty, and that he only regretted he did 
 not have two lives to give instead of one. A Confed- 
 erate friend of mine told me that there was a man in 
 his company who declared that his brains would be 
 knocked out as sure as he went out on picket duty at a 
 ceitain time. In less than two hours he was brought 
 back to camp dead, his brains having been knocked out 
 by a piece of a shell fired from one of the Yankee guns. 
 
 Visions in dreams are almost as mysterious as pre- 
 monitions. April 2nd to 5th I had some three or four 
 dreams which at the time were startling, wonderful 
 and mysterious — different from anything I had ever 
 seen in all my life. In my sleep I saw vast throngs of 
 men, horses, two-wheeled wagons and flags. The sky 
 was partly red and smoky. The clouds above seemed 
 to be natural except for patches of red like blood. Every- 
 thing was agitated and all the things on the ground — 
 
 27 
 
men, horses and wagons — were going in one great 
 struggle, with all speed, forming, concentrating, separ- 
 ating and closing together. Some of the men looked 
 very white, while some were very red. Some were fall- 
 ing, some were lying on the ground while other men and 
 horses, with flags, were running over them. Flags 
 could be seen in all that vast mix-up. Men were wav- 
 ing them. Some men were carrying others off. The 
 scenes were so wonderful and different from anything 
 I had ever read of or imagined that I awoke in amaze- 
 ment and wonder of the scene. What was it? I could 
 not solve its mystery and it soon passed from my mind, 
 but when Fort Sumpter was fired on the 12th of April 
 following it came to my mind again. I then thought 
 that there was going to be war and probably that was 
 what my dreams indicated. Again it went from my 
 mind until I had seen the same in actual war in the 
 battle of Shiloh, Tenn., — so plain they came to mind. 
 This is exactly what I had seen in my vision. Mystery! 
 Mystery! Vision of what is to be. 
 
 The exposure and hardships of the soldier and his 
 suffering on the march in bivouac and on picket is never 
 understood or comprehended. I will just mention one 
 fair example of hundreds through which the man who 
 kept in line of duty went. He marches through heat, 
 dust, cold and mud; lay down; sat up on logs, rails, 
 stumps, rocks, brush and anything to keep out of the 
 snow, mud, slush, water and ice; worked day and night 
 pulling cannon and wagons out of the mud, over moun- 
 tains and across streams, doing all this often without 
 sufficient food. They would fight the enemy for hours, 
 then march all night to surprise them in the early morn- 
 ing, or keep their guns in hand all night, lest they be 
 surprised. They were often sick, had blistered feet, 
 no socks, and the weather was so cold that the blankets 
 would freeze to the ground. Often they were called to 
 get in line to go on double quick for a mile to save our 
 forage train from capture. They often marched as 
 high as forty miles a day. then went on a reconnais- 
 sance to locate the enemy, or other things in line of 
 duty. Sometimes eight or ten days of continuous duty 
 
 28 
 
in that way would be necessary to keep in safety with 
 the army and trains, and to have a little to eat. No 
 one, only those w'ho went through three years of war 
 in active service, can know what we suffered and en- 
 dured. 
 
 In a running fight after we had routed and driven the 
 Rebels from the top of Mission Ridge several of us, in 
 our zeal and desire to get all the Rebels we could, kept 
 on after the assembly had been given. I saw tw'o Rebels 
 about forty steps from me drop down behind a brush 
 heap. I rushed forward and sprang beside the brush 
 pile, put the muzzle of my gun to their breasts and 
 ordered, “Drop those guns!” They obeyed my order, 
 and I marched them back, turning them over as prison- 
 ers. It was easily done, but I took a big risk. The 
 captain asked where I got them, and I replied that I 
 found them, behind a brush pile. One of the fellows 
 
 replied, “Yes, if you had not been so D quick I 
 
 would have killed you.” I thanked him for being slow. 
 If that had occured in the late World War, I would have 
 received a medal, but in the Civil war that kind of thing 
 occured so often we did not think anything about it. I 
 have been proud to know that if all the soldiers of the 
 Union aimy had been as lucky as I was the war would 
 have been over months before it was, for there would 
 have been no Rebels left to fight us. 
 
 One of my father’s letters to me was as follows: “I 
 
 have just heard the thrice happy and heart thrilling 
 news that you are still in the land of the living, through 
 the kind protecting care of our Heavenly Father. And 
 in vain would it be for me to attempt to describe the 
 anxiety, the trouble of mind, the depression of spirit and 
 almost despair that has pervaded my mind and thoughts 
 since I heard of the awful and terrific storm of battle 
 you were in and went through for three days in sut- 
 cession, facing the leaden and iron hail, while your 
 comrades were falling on your right and left and all 
 around you, dead or wounded, especially when I heard 
 that so many of your neighbor friends and schoolmates 
 had been killed and others wounded. Neither could I 
 describe the weight and despair that was removed off 
 
 29 
 
my mind, and the buoyancy of spirit that immediately 
 sprang up on hearing a letter read from your Captain 
 to Mrs. Hegler, from which I learned certainly you 
 were still living and but slightly wounded. He said 
 Sergeant Todd lost two fingers on his right hand. I 
 felt so elated and thankful to kind Providence for his 
 protecting care over my young son, that I hardly know 
 what to write. Oh, thank God, may his life be spared 
 for usefulness here in a long life.” 
 
 Another letter written to me by my father after the 
 battle of Mission Ridge and Chattanooga, on December 
 17th, 1863, is as follows: “Dear Son: — The long-look- 
 
 ed for letter, after weeks of great anxiety and trouble 
 of mind, came to hand yesterday, and I saw Lieutenant 
 Pierce who told me you were well and all right, except 
 for a small wound across your right hand. When I re- 
 ceived your letter of November 22nd, written before the 
 great three days’ battle, and your letter of November 
 26th, the day after the battle, a thrill of joy, gratitude 
 and thankfulness rushed through my old afflicted heart 
 to Almighty God for His kindness and protecting care 
 over my brave, patriotic son and his brave companions, 
 sons of my neighbors and friends. I glory in the 
 thought that our brave soldiers have immortalized them- 
 selves in the eyes of the world. Before the battle of 
 Mission Ridge, you said you were in good health, and 
 hoped we are all well and will live long to enjoy the 
 blessings of peace after this war is over. For my part 
 I am happy and contented and feel that I am perform- 
 ing a duty I owe my God. my country, my friends and 
 generations yet unborn. The fortunes of war are un- 
 certain, as well as life with us all. I live in hope ol 
 living through this war, but if I should fall in battle I 
 feel it not too great a sacrifice for our country. I go 
 forward in duty, trusting Him who is too wise to err 
 and too good to do wrong. 
 
 Lovingly, Clayton.” 
 
 After seventy years of experience and reading history 
 and noting the results of cause and effect, I am forced 
 to believe that there is only one safe course to take for 
 
 30 
 
profit and safety, and that is to prepare in an intelligent 
 way for the worst that may happen to an individual or 
 to a country, in all different things that may happen 
 in life. A farmer, a preacher, a merchant, a lawyer, a 
 teacher, a soldier or a policeman, to be victorious, must 
 be prepared in order to be safe and powerful. Use 
 kindness and love to accomplish the great things in life. 
 Love is the greatest of all powers among men and wo- 
 men. Whether an individual or a nation, we can lead 
 more easily than we can drive, and with so much better 
 results. My experience has been the same in regard 
 to good, religious people. They have done the greatest 
 amount of good for all mankind in all ages and under 
 all ages and under all conditions in life — in war or in 
 peace. The greatest pleasures and happiness in this 
 life are in faith and obedience and in doing the will of 
 God, loving and serving Him, and keeping the Golden 
 Rule. Our best soldiers v/ere religious men, always 
 found doing that which was for the best interest to the 
 greatest number of mankind. 
 
 Old Glory, seeing you fly, and the boys marching by. 
 There’s a shout in the throat and a blur in the eye 
 And an aching to live for you always — or die. 
 
 If dying we still keep you waving on high. 
 
 And so by our love for you floating above 
 
 And the scars of all wars and the sorrows thereof. 
 Who gave you the name of Old Glory and why 
 Are we thrilled at the name of Old Glory? 
 
 And it spoke with a shake of the voice and it said 
 By the driven snow-white and living blood-red 
 Of my bars, and their heaven of stars overhead. 
 
 By the symbol conjoined of them all, skyward cast. 
 
 As I float from the steeple, or flap at the mast. 
 
 Or droop o’er the sod where the long grasses nod — 
 My name is as old as the glory of God. 
 
 I stand for Liberty, Justice, Righteousness and God, 
 
 31 
 
MEMORIAL DAY ADDRESS 
 
 By Cajd. B F HegJer 
 
 This adch’ess, enjoyed and approved when delivered 
 by my friend and comrade, Capt. B. F. Hegler, of Com- 
 pany A, 15th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, on May 30th, 
 1884, (Memorial day), is highly valued and appreciated. 
 For nearly three years of war we marched, fought, 
 slept, suffered, froze, thawed out, divided our rations as 
 low as to one’half a cracker each, and when nothing to 
 eat could be found drank dirty water to each other’s 
 health and safety, for very often we could not get clean 
 water. I learned to love him — a brave soldier, a fine 
 commander, an honorable gentleman. In going into 
 battle, with a smile, he would say, “Now, it is to the 
 giave or glory, gentlemen.” He was a natural born 
 soldier and fighter. It has been more than thirty-six 
 years since he gave the citizens of Attica and surround- 
 ing country this beautiful speech. On every Memorial 
 day since I have missed my friend and comrade, Hegler. 
 I hope to meet him and all the dear comrades in that 
 land Somewhere, where there is no such thing as war 
 and separation. Capt. Hegler spoke as follows: 
 
 “This is a day of sorrow, and of pride — sorrow for the 
 dead, pride in their deeds; a day of grief for the noble 
 fallen, and gratitude for the grand work which they 
 wrought. 
 
 “With a deep reverence befitting this solemn occasion, 
 and an intelligent comprehension of what it teaches and 
 suggests, we gather to honor the sacred dust, and gar- 
 land with the choicest blooms of May, the grassy mounds 
 where sleep, till resurrection morn, the grandest heroes 
 this grand Nation has produced — the dead Union sol- 
 diers, who by their valor saved and made sure the ex- 
 periment of self-government, and perpetuated Liberty, 
 “Since the fortunate termination of the unfortunate 
 struggle which made these men immortal, this day has 
 been faithfully observed, and its beautiful and impres- 
 sive ceremonies performed. From hundred harbored 
 Maine, whose wailing pines join in the funeral dirge 
 today, to California’s Golden Gate, the flag of the free 
 is draped with the sombre symbol of woe. The weeds 
 
 32 
 
of mourniner shadow a mighty continent, and eyes all 
 unused to tears are wet with the dews of sorrow. Un- 
 numbered hosts are thronging to the soldier’s grave to- 
 day. The busy hum of trade is hushed. The fierce 
 contention of party strife is stilled, and the rushing 
 world stops for a brief time to give expression of sorrow 
 and of honor. 
 
 “And is it too much? What did these silent men, 
 whose once brave and bounding hearts are now but 
 dust? What did these glorious manly lives, now so 
 still, and dead to all the plaudits eloquence can give — 
 all the thanks that gratitude can bestow? In the 
 morning and prime of their hopeful, happy lives, they 
 offered every hope, and promis’e and joy on the altar of 
 patriotism. Homes, friends, ease, pleasure, fortunes, 
 all the loves that make the best of life, were put aside 
 for Liberty’s grand service, and they went forth to 
 battle, offering, last and greatest, their own lives in the 
 sacred cause to which they were devoted — a cause 
 fraught with the happiness and welfare of all the mil- 
 lions of today, and all the millions yet to be, not only in 
 this land, but in all the lands yet to be knitted together 
 in that greatest of all fraternities, the Brotherhood of 
 man. 
 
 “Many men there are today, whose hearts and sym- 
 pathies are in this cause; many women t’nere are, 
 mourning their dead as Rachel mourned for her chil- 
 dren, and will not be comforted, because they are not; 
 and many of the later generation, with whom the awful 
 experience we commemorate are only a tradition. But 
 none of them know, nor ever can know, what these men 
 did. Eloquence may attempt, but will not achieve its 
 description The old soldiers here, and they only, know 
 how these dead heroes 
 
 ‘Did such deeds of valor strong. 
 
 That neither history or song 
 Can count them all.’ 
 
 “The peril of battle, like the deeper experiences of 
 human life, is beyond portrayal on canvas, or in song or 
 story. But with him who has been an oft invited guest 
 at the banquet of death, the recollections this day 
 
 33 
 
evokes fills his soul with something of the old fire, and 
 he feels again the trembling earth, as the grim batter- 
 ies belch death and destruction. He sees again the 
 rich life blood poured out so lavishly on sunny slope, 
 and rugged steep, and fertil plain. He sees the glintter- 
 ing of the bayonet and the sword in the flash of battle. 
 He sees the white faces of the dead, so ghastly and 
 blood besprinkled, looking so cold and fixed, to the still 
 stars of heaven, when night brings truce. He hears 
 again the moan of pain, and the sharp cry of anguish; 
 and the ringing shout of victory, as over the smoking 
 fort, and trenches piled with the late contending hosts, 
 boats the starry banner of the free, all blackened and 
 tattered, all gashed and battle rent, but with every 
 star of liberty shining undimmed from its folds. And 
 he sees again that worse than battle, the prison pen, 
 where no lion-like courage, no brave arm nor heart of 
 steel, could withstand the surest of death’s agents — 
 starvation and disease. He sees the long and dusty 
 march under a blazing sun, where the earth is iron and 
 the sky is brass, and he lives in a dry land, where no 
 water is; where all sulTered as the rich man, looking 
 afar off with a hope that only mocked them, and begging 
 one drop to cool their parched tongues. He feels 
 again the pinch of winter’s frost, and remembers the 
 long watches, the march through the dark and tangled 
 fen, and over burning sands, and up the mountain 
 height. The least of war is its battles. But the world 
 sees best and hears best the noisy part of life. 
 
 “Since Satan despoiled Eden, and all the sins of man 
 showered upon us their fruitful curses, there has been 
 nothing worse than war. Only Liberty’s defence can 
 ever justify it. So we do not honor these men just be- 
 cause they were warriors, but because they were pa- 
 triot warriors, and endured all this for Liberty. And 
 right here, standing among the graves of my dead 
 comrades, I want to speak, as a Union soldier, and re- 
 cord my solemn, earnest protest against the growing 
 spirit of sickly sentimentality, misnamed forgiveness, 
 which tends to the obliteration of a just and proper dis- 
 tinction between the soldier of patriotism and the sol- 
 
 34 
 
dier of treason. There is a sentimental swash about 
 the ‘blue and erray,’ which is utterly unworthy of the 
 noble cause for which these men died. We read after 
 every decoration day that the friends of the Union and 
 Confederate armies have met here and there, and 
 decorated the graves of their dead together. Now God 
 knows, if none else does, that there is not now. and 
 never has been, in my heart, one spark of bitter per- 
 sonal hate against our vanquished foes. They were, 
 as a class, honest, brave and sincere. But they were 
 wrong. They shared with us the glory of being Ameri- 
 cans though they were for the time bad Americans. No 
 soldier ever doubted their grand courage, their splendid 
 fortitude in the face of disaster and discouragement 
 that well might appal the stoutest heart. But this 
 Decoration Day is to honor and keep in remembrance 
 the Union soldier, the patriot who died for a free gov- 
 ernment, not the traitor, who fought for the destruc- 
 tion of the Union, and to disgrace and dishonor the 
 Flag of his Fathers. This is plain talk for a grave- 
 yard, but it is time to speak. Surely, if we could be 
 
 shot at for years for our country’s sake we ought not 
 nov/, in these piping times of peace, to be afraid to 
 stand up and speak for the right. If the war for the 
 Union was not right, then nothing was right. And if 
 the war for the Union was right, then the war against 
 the Union was wrong — criminally, cruelly, damnably 
 wrong. And if this be so, why decorate the graves of 
 the “blue and the gray” alike today? What significance 
 is there in the tribute, if it be bestowed with impartial 
 hand on the men who died for the right, and the men 
 who slew them? But such talk isn’t popular, says 
 some weak-kneed brother, without conscience enough 
 in him to have a conviction on any subject. No matter. 
 The man who proclaims a truth should not stop to ask 
 whether it places him in the majority or minority. If 
 Decoration day were the occasion for a private and 
 personal expression of sorrow and respect, then, divest- 
 ed of its public character, the ‘blue and the gray’ might 
 be remembeered together. And I know I can safely 
 say for the Union soldiers in this audience, and else- 
 
 35 
 
where, that none others would be more ready than they 
 to forgive, freely and fully, and render due respect to 
 all the gallant dead. And if any friend wishes today 
 to visit the grave of one who gave his life to the lost 
 cause, in the name of a free country, in the name of a 
 Christian civilization which prays, ‘Forgive us our tres- 
 passes as w’e forgive those who trespass against us.’ 
 let him or her do so, and let no man hinder and let 
 such sorrow and sympathy be respected. But in the 
 name of a free country, saved by the valor of the Union 
 soldier, as respect this day, let it be sacredly dedicated 
 to the memory of those for whom it was instituted. 
 These are principles that are eternal. These are truths 
 that are changeless. There are some things ever right, 
 and others ever wrong. And whenever our people fail 
 to discern the difference between the men who died for 
 their country, and those who fought against it, then 
 they will have become untrue to every patriotic tradi- 
 tion from Lexington to Appomattox, and unworthy the 
 enjoyment of the liberties that have cost so much. 
 
 “There is no proper time or place for ambitious politi- 
 cal display, or the elaboration of some pet theory of 
 government. But it is a most proper time to learn a 
 lesson from these grand lives, all hushed and still for- 
 ever. 
 
 “If they could die for us, we can at least remember 
 why they died. We can now and here renew our 
 pledges for and rekindle our love for the cause for 
 which they perished. Our promise as a Nation is 
 great, but forgetfulness of the Union soldier and his 
 work, begets the decay of patriotism, and marks us for 
 destruction. A Nation’s safety is, and can only be, in 
 the hearts of her people. Let the fires of Liberty die 
 within our bosoms and the chill of death is upon us. 
 
 “Then let our gratitude arise to heaven this day like 
 a grateful incense. Let us carry this lesson home with 
 us, and teach it to our children. Let us resolve for our 
 dead patriots, that 
 
 ‘The fame of their endeavor. 
 
 Time and change shall not dissever 
 From the Nation’s heart forever.’ ’’ 
 
 36 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESS 
 
 Delivered May 30, 1920, by the Writer of this Book; 
 
 Ladies, gentlemen and soldiers: — Please allow me to 
 thank you on this Sabbath of Americanism, on this 
 Memorial day, for your presence. It assures us old 
 soldiers that fifty-six years after our struggles to save 
 the Union the fires of patriotism are still burning in the 
 hearts of our American citizens, as well as in the minds 
 and hearts of the soldiers. 
 
 I see the affectionate good-by of our heroic mothers, 
 fathers, sisters and sweethearts. I feel the loving 
 press of the hand of neighbors and loved ones, as the 
 car bell rings and we must part. I see again the grand 
 heroic women of America rise up in their might and 
 power and with choked emotion, in tears, say, “Go and 
 save your country and its flag, and we will stand by 
 you.” All through that long struggle in the war they 
 did not forget or forsake us, but nourished back to life 
 the sick, bound up the mangled bodies of the wounded 
 and comforted the dying. They also sent, in streams, 
 loving epistles of cheer and courage to the men at the 
 front, encouraging them and exciting them to greater 
 action and greater sacrifice. And I see that only a 
 few old ladies are left. I want to say for my comrades 
 and myself, that as long as we live we will hold in love 
 and affectionate remembrance what the women did for 
 us. Their heroism, when surrounded by the enemy, 
 proved them to be as true as any of the men. They 
 would take the old flag and, with defiance, say, “Shoot 
 this old body, if you will, but spare your country’s flag.” 
 They are just as deserving of the floral tribute today 
 as are we. We will never forget them. And with 
 malice toward none, but charity for all, we meet in lov- 
 ing remembrance of those we love for their devoted 
 service to others. Love, the greatest power on earth, 
 is the foundation of our meeting here today. It is 
 boundless. You cannot confine it. It goes out in 
 gifts to others, those gifts comforting and blessing. 
 And how fitting it is that we meet to tenderly cherish 
 in love the memory of our heroic dead of the Civil war 
 
 37 
 
and of the late World war, who made their breasts a 
 barricade between our country and its foes. Their 
 soldier lives were the reveille of freedom over a race 
 in chains, and their deaths a tattoo of rebellious tyrany. 
 We have with us on this day those who are in as loving 
 remembrance of their comrades of the Spanish-Ameri- 
 can war, and the World war, as we are of our sacred 
 dead. They are equally entitled to the flowery tribute 
 which we lay on the grave of every man who served his 
 country well in her hour of need. If other eyes grow 
 dull, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours 
 shall keep it as long as the warmth of life remains in 
 us. Here let us highly resolve that they shall not have 
 died in vain. And here let us consecrate ourselves to 
 the great duty of all true Americans, to so hold in 
 sacred remembrance what they did that their heroic 
 and noble service shall be continually remembered and 
 cherished. 
 
 This day brings to mind duty as well as the loving 
 memory which is to keep that which they have entrust- 
 ed to our care- — our country and its flag. At the close 
 of the World war, and up to the present time, we find 
 the wisdom of man has been a failure. It is clear to 
 my mind, by the experiences of the past, that the arbi- 
 trament of war, and through the tests of rebuilding a 
 life of peace, neither education, science, diplomacy, nor 
 commercial prosperity, allied with a belief in material 
 force as the ultimate power, are real foundations for 
 the ordered development of the world’s life. The spirit 
 of good-will among men rests on spiritual forces; the 
 hope of a brotherhood of humanity reposes on the 
 deeper spiritual fact of the fatherhood of God. In 
 recognition of the fact of that Fatherhood and of the 
 divine purpose of the world, which are central to the 
 message of Christianity, we shall discover the ultimate 
 foundation for the reconstruction of an ordered and 
 harmonious life for all men. The spiritual resources 
 of the race are the true solvent of our problems. We 
 must depend on the spiritual more than on the material 
 for a lasting peace. The old soldiers living today 
 fear for the safety of our country, for there is war in 
 
 38 
 
our country this Memorial day. As we lay the flowers 
 on the graves of the soldiers of the past, we see there 
 is no peace. ■ Neighbor is against neighbor. Greed, 
 selflshness, hatred, malice, envy and profiteering is 
 dividing our country. We are in a dangerous condi- 
 tion. We must cast off everything that is wrong and 
 love our neighbor as ourself. Control yourself for the 
 sake of the life of our country, keeping the Golden 
 Rule as your guide, praying God to guide you in all 
 things, so that the last resort — war and the slaughter 
 of men, may be avoided. The war that is on us today 
 is division — the same kind that preceded the Civil war 
 of 1861-65. Then some wanted slavery, but the ma- 
 jority wanted all mankind to be free. That division 
 was in the hearts of the people before 1861, and owing 
 to the division our country could not stand. The war 
 slaughter was the result. I was in seven battles of 
 that struggle and slaughter, and in one of the seven 
 I saw twenty-six thousand American dead and wound- 
 ed scattered over the battlefield ten miles long and 
 four miles wide. That kind of war we must prevent 
 by stopping this war we are now in, which we can do 
 by the greatest power, love, by all practicing the Golden 
 Rule, by all laboring for the brotherhood of man, liberty 
 and the enforcement of law and order. We must do 
 this so we may keep that which they have entrusted to 
 our care — our country, its flag and all it stands for. In 
 the future as in the past, we should live under only one 
 flag. It has come to us through great suffering, sacri- 
 fice and loss of thousands of lives and billions of treas- 
 ures. My countrymen, how can we keep such a pre- 
 cious heritage? The people see many things today 
 they would like to remedy in the condition of unrest, 
 avarice, greed, selfishness, distrust, profiteering and 
 other things. There is surely service enough for all 
 men and all women. The highest thing is service and 
 duty. 
 
 I am glad on this occasion to have the opportunity 
 to say what I can in memory of that peerless army under 
 Lincoln that saved our country and our flag of liberty 
 and freedom, which we are all so proud to say on this 
 
 39 
 
day is our flag. It still floats from the steeple and 
 flaps at the mast, and today droops over our heroic dead. 
 Let us more fully appreciate the rich inheritance be- 
 queathed to us, and by viligance and continuous duty 
 prepare for war in times of peace. By education, in 
 Sunday school, public schools, in patriotism, in military 
 schools, in best citizenship, in the great world move- 
 ment to convert the world to Christ, by sending thous- 
 ands of missionaries to all parts of the world, to edu- 
 cate all the people in the love of Christ and the Golden 
 Rule, the love of God and all mankind, the brotherhood 
 of man, let us do everything in our power to prevent 
 war. And while we are doing that, let us see that we 
 have the tools at hand to use if we are forced to defend 
 our just laws and country — such as the strongest navy, 
 the best aviation force, the best equipped soldier citizen- 
 ship, the best regular army of two hundred thousand 
 men, all liberally paid and properly equipped with the 
 best arms of all kinds. Let us insist that America 
 must be a free country to do everything for the best 
 interest of liberty and welfare of all mankind. We 
 want no foreign dictation, no entangling alliances with 
 any nation or nations of the world, and we want, in our 
 way, to prevent war. giving all people a square deal. 
 Our past acts with Cuba, the Philippines and those 
 during the World war are proof enough of what we will 
 do for righteousness and justice to all men. We want 
 liberty for America first and for all time. We will 
 continue to insist that all troubles shall be adjusted by 
 counsel and arbitration, not by guns and slaughter of 
 innocent men. We want a working covenant of peace 
 between us and all nations, consistant with safety to 
 our country. And we should so guard it that we can 
 pass it on in its purity and radiance, with added glory, 
 to those who follow us. I thank you. 
 
 C. H. T. 
 
 40 
 
15th Indiana Volunteer Infantry 
 
 OFFICERS 
 
 1. A. A. Rice, Captain, resigned, dead. 
 
 2. J. N. Coleman, 1st Lieut., resigned, dead. 
 
 3. J. Pearce, 2nd Lieut., resigned, dead. 
 
 4. D. Bright, 1st Sergt., advanced to Lieut., wounded, 
 discharged, dead. 
 
 5. B. F. Hegler, Sergt,, advanced to Capt., wounded, 
 discharged, dead, 
 
 6. J. W. Budd, Sergt., returned to ranks, discharged 
 Sept. 17, 1862, dead, 
 
 7. H. Barkdull, Sergt., returned to ranks, discharged 
 in 1862, dead. 
 
 8. A. Pearce, Sergt., appointed 2nd Lieut, in 1863, 
 dead. 
 
 9. B. G. Snider, Corp., died of disease at Louisville, 
 Ky. 
 
 10. J. W. Hamilton, Corp., discharged June 25, 1864, 
 dead. 
 
 11. C. H. Todd. Corp., discharged June 25. 1864, living 
 July 20, 1920. 
 
 12. M. S. Persing, Corp., deserted Feb. 5, 1862, dead. 
 
 13. John Seelig, Corp., reduced to ranks June 20, 1862, 
 dead. 
 
 14. S. T. Stallard, Corp., appointed Serg., wounded, dis- 
 charged in 1864, dead. 
 
 15. E. Crane, Corp., wounded, discharged June 25, 
 1864, dead. 
 
 16. R. Kester, Corp., appointed Serg., killed in battle. 
 
 17. J. K. Prichard, musician, discharged in 1862, dead. 
 
 18. W. W. Meek, musician, discharged in 1862, dead. 
 
 19. W. H. Barnits, wagoner, reduced, wounded, dis- 
 charged in 1863, dead. 
 
 PRIVATES 
 
 1. Allen, E., discharged June 27, 1862, dead. 
 
 2. Allen. Henry, wounded, died Dec. 31, 1862. 
 
 3. Andersen, S. S., died in W. Virginia in 1861. 
 
 4. Barlow, Ira B,, discharged in 1864, dead. 
 
 5. Boyd, Lem, discharged Nov. 19, 1861, dead. 
 
 41 
 
6. Board, Chris, wounded, discharged June 25, 1864, 
 dead. 
 
 7. Boord, J. J., killed in West Virginia in 1861. 
 
 8. Brown, W. R., discharged 1864, dead. 
 
 9. Brady, J. W., discharged in 1862, dead. 
 
 10. Brady, Joe V., discharged in 1862, dead. 
 
 11. Benge, T. H., discharged in 1863, dead. 
 
 12. Broadsword, A., discharged in 1862, dead. 
 
 13. Butler, J. H., died of disease in Kentucky in 1862. 
 
 14. Bunce, J. W., discharged in 1862, dead. 
 
 15. Cassel, J. H., killed in battle of Mission Ridge in 
 
 1863. 
 
 16. Gatlin, A. S., discharged in 1862, dead. 
 
 17. Conner, J. M., discharged in 1864, dead. 
 
 18. Crane, C. D., killed Nov. 25, 1863. 
 
 19. Curran, John, killed Dec, 31, 1862. 
 
 20. I)a.y, Wes, killed Nov. 25, 1863. 
 
 21. Dithmer, F., transferred to 17th Indiana, dead. 
 
 22. Downey, James, discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 23. Downey, Si, wounded, discharged July, 1863, dead. 
 
 24. Dunkleberger, H. J., discharged June 25, 1864, 
 dead. 
 
 25. Edenburg, Pete, discharged April 10, 1863, dead. 
 
 26. Erwin, Elza, discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 27. Fitzpatrick, C. F., deserted May 25, 1862, dead. 
 
 28. Fremont, J. C., discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 29. Furgeson, W. H. H., discharged July 10, 1862, dead, 
 
 30. Fisher, Henry, discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 31. Greenburg, N. E., transferred to 17th Ind., dead. 
 
 32. Griffin, Mike, transferred to 17th Indiana, dead, 
 
 33. Green, A. J., transferred to 17th Ind., dead. 
 
 34. Hale, W. H., wounded twice, discharged June 25, 
 
 1864, dead. 
 
 35. Hart, J. G., wounded once, discharged June 25, 
 1864, dead. 
 
 36. Hegler, V/. T., wounded Dec. 31, 1862, died in 1863. 
 
 37. Hogelan, Henry, killed at Stone River, Dec. 31, 
 1862. 
 
 38. Keister, J. M., killed at Mission Ridge Nov. 25, 1863. 
 
 39. Death, George H., wounded, discharged June 25, 
 1864, dead. 
 
 42 
 
40. Leffler, Alf., wounded, discharged June 25, 1864, 
 dead. 
 
 41. Lonberger, H. H., discharged in 1862, killed in west. 
 
 42. McClafflin, C., discharged in 1864, dead. 
 
 43. McDonald, S., discharged in 1863, died. 
 
 44. McKnight, J. T., advanced to Lieut., discharged 
 June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 45. McKnight, W. H., discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 46. Miller, A., discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 47. Miller, John, died of disease at Indianapolis in 
 1862. 
 
 48. Moore, Alonzo, died of disease in 1862. 
 
 49. Morris, S. T., killed at Mission Ridge, Nov. 25, 1863. 
 
 50. Maylan, John, died at Indianapolis in 1862. 
 
 51. Murry, William, died in 1863. 
 
 52. Mourse, Moses, died in 1862. 
 
 53. Odle, Miles, discharged June 25, 1864, died Nov. 
 21, 1919. 
 
 54. Paulding, Jacob, discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 55. Parmer, W. E., killed at Stone River, Dec. 31, 1862. 
 
 56. Phifloon, James, discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 57. Phipps, David, discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 58. Phillips, J. H., discharged in Oct. 1863, dead. 
 
 59. Powers, D. F., discharged Sept., 1862, dead. 
 
 60. Pulleyblank, John, discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 61. Pickard, J. M., discharged May 1862, dead. 
 
 62. Ralston, J. W., left the company in May, 1863, dead. 
 
 63. Rainey, R. W., discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 64. Ruark, W. M., died Jan., 1862. 
 
 65. Seely, A .S., discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 66. Search, W. H., discharged August, 1862, dead. 
 
 67. Shields, Andrew, discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 68. Shideler, G., transferred to U. S. cavalry Dec. 3, 
 1862, dead. 
 
 69. Smith, G. W., transferred to U. S, cavalry Dec. 3, 
 1862, dead. 
 
 70. Snow, Francis N., transferred to U. S. cavalry Dec. 
 3, 1862. dead. 
 
 7L Stafford, H. H., discharged in Dec. 1863, dead. 
 
 72, Steadman, J. C., discharged in Dec. 1863, dead. 
 
 73. Stewart, S., discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 43 
 
74. Swords, Jo, discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 75. Stauffer, S. H., died at Nashville April 1, 1862. 
 
 76. Stevens, Clay, discharged in June. 1863, dead. 
 
 77. Thompson, S., discharged June 25, 1864, dead. 
 
 78. Treadwell, I., killed at Mission Ridge Nov. 25, 1863. 
 
 79. Warren, D. G., transferred to V. R. C. Jan., 1864, 
 dead. 
 
 80. Wert, John, transferred to V. R. C. in Jan., 1864, 
 dead. 
 
 81. Woods, John, transferred to V. R. C. in Jan., 1864, 
 dead. 
 
 82. Williams, J. W., killed at Stone River Dec. 31, 1862. 
 
 RECRUITS TO COMPANY A, AUGUST 10, 1862. 
 
 1. Campbell, Thomas P., transferred to 17th Indiana, 
 living in California July 20, 1920. 
 
 2. Campbell, Jonathan, died in Tennessee Jan 16, 
 1863. 
 
 3. Crane, Lewis C., wounded at Stone River, V. R. C., 
 Aug. L 1863, dead. 
 
 4. Day, Joseph H., transferred to 17th Indiana VoL, 
 dead. 
 
 5. Gibbs.Johathan, died in Tennessee March, 1863. 
 
 6. White, James A. L., killed at Mission Ridge Nov. 
 25, 1863. 
 
 7. Gunter, C. C., died in Tennessee June, 1863. 
 
 8. Harbert, Isaac, transferred to 17th Ind. June, 1864, 
 dead. 
 
 9. Pearson, T., transferred to 17th Ind. in June, 1864, 
 dead. 
 
 10. Purple, E., died in Kentucky in Jan. 1864. 
 
 Company A, The Attica Guards, on June 14, 1861, num- 
 
 bered 101 men. 
 
 Recruits in 1862 10 men. 
 
 Total number men in company 111 men. 
 
 There were killed in battle 14 
 
 Died from disease or accident 11 
 
 Discharged on account of disability or disease 43 
 
 Transferred to other organizations 10 
 
 Discharged June 25, 1864 33 
 
 44 
 
They were under the enemy’s fire in battle fifty-two 
 times, and were in the following battles : Rich Moun- 
 
 tain, Virginia, Tigert Valley, Virginia and Battle Green- 
 brier, West Virginia: Shiloh. Tenn.; Pittsburg Landing, 
 Tenn. : Corinth, Miss.; Perrysville. Ky. ; Stone River, 
 Tenn. ; Chattanooga, Tenn. ; Mission Ridge, Tenn ; Knox- 
 ville, Tenn.; and in forty-two other engagements. They 
 marched on foot over four thousand miles and traveled 
 by boat and cars twenty-five hundred miles. 
 
 There were all-told in the 15th Indiana 1125 
 
 Killed in battle 111 
 
 Wounded in action 332 
 
 Discharged on account of disability, wounds or 
 
 disease 525 
 
 Died from disease 55 
 
 Transferred to other regiments 96 
 
 Discharged June 25, 1864 336 
 
 Company A lost 63 per cent of her men and the regi- 
 ment lost 62 per cent of hers. 
 
 45 
 
DEATHS IN CO. A, I5TH INDIANA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY 
 
 From June 14. 1861. to June 24. 1864. inclusive. 
 
 NAMES RANK WHERE CAUSE 
 
 Joseph H. Board private West Virginia shot 
 
 Samuel S. Anderson corporal West Virginia disease 
 
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The Little Bronze Button 
 
 It is just a little button 
 
 Made from cannon of the foe, 
 Captured on the field of battle 
 By men whose names we know : 
 Cannon trained upon Old Glory 
 The emblem of the free, 
 Defended by the boys in blue 
 Upon the land and sea. 
 
 It is just a little button 
 
 Worn upon a Comrade’s breast. 
 But it tells a thrilling story 
 Of one who stood the test 
 Under our starry banner 
 In that long and bitter fight. 
 
 With Sherman. Grant and Farragut, 
 For Union and for right. 
 
 It is just a little button. 
 
 Quite simple, yet sublime. 
 
 But it wakens recollections 
 
 Of that well remembered time : — 
 They left their wives and sweethearts 
 Weeping at the door. 
 
 And responded to the summons 
 For a hundred thousand more. 
 
 It is just a little button. 
 
 But no valiant knight of old 
 Ever wore upon his bosom 
 
 Made of precious gems, or gold, 
 A badge of greater value 
 Than this simple little stud. 
 Worn by veteran volunteers 
 
 And purchased with their blood. 
 
 47 
 
It is just a little button, 
 
 And carved upon its face 
 As well as on their memory 
 That time cannot deface, 
 
 Is the emblem of Protection, 
 
 To helpless child or wife. 
 
 Left by a fallen Comrade, 
 
 In the world of care and strife. 
 
 It is just a little button. 
 
 But I needn’t ask you why 
 The banker in his broadcloth 
 Salutes in passing by. 
 
 Though the coat be old and seedy. 
 With other signs of wear. 
 
 It never will be noticed 
 If it has the button there. 
 
 Poets write of decorations. 
 
 By Emperors and Kings, 
 
 Of gold and iron crosses 
 
 Legion of Honor and siirnet rinp;s. 
 But among such recognitions 
 Of response to duties call 
 The little copper BUTTON 
 
 Is the one that ranks them all. 
 
 The writer, who did not miss a single campaign or en- 
 gagement with the enemy and who was twice wounded 
 during the three years he took part in the Civil war, 
 visited the old battlefields thirty years after the close of 
 the war. The lightning flash of memory, penetrating 
 the clouds of over thirty years, brought before me the 
 slaughter of war on Virginia’s bloody streams, on 
 Shiloh’s bloody field, on Stone River’s bloody banks, on 
 Mission Ridge’s bloody drenched heights, on Perrys- 
 ville’s peaceful hills, valleys and rich mountain slopes — 
 and brought before me the sick, the dying and the dead 
 
 48 
 
As I went over and viewed the old battlefields, I was 
 inspired to write the following poem: — 
 
 THE COMFORTING JOY IN OLD AGE 
 
 I tell you, friends, those days there was wild music in 
 the air. 
 
 So awful wild, it was enough to raise a feller’s hair — 
 
 A sort of double chorus, with the singers face to face — 
 
 The muskets singing tenor, and the cannons singing 
 bass. 
 
 I have gone over the same ground on which we were 
 fighting there. 
 
 And felt a thrill start at my feet and run up to my 
 hair. 
 
 I lay down on the very snot, as near as I could tell ; 
 
 I went on working my old gun in that hot, fiery hell. 
 
 Around the battle field there seemed a tumult in my 
 brain. 
 
 My thoughts were with those bloody days again. 
 
 I heard the cannon roar defiance from their throats. 
 
 The ring of desperate anger in their wild unearthly 
 notes. 
 
 The shells a’bustin’ all around, and screaming oyerhead. 
 
 I see the upturned faces of my comrades lying dead. 
 
 Again I smell the battle smoke, the breath of battle hell. 
 
 Arising from a fire it seemed no earthly power could 
 quell. 
 
 And I heard the groans of wounded boys that all around 
 us lay. 
 
 Their faces set in agony as their life-blood ebbed 
 away. 
 
 Again I heard the rebel yell resounding in my ears. 
 
 When they came charging on our triumphant cheers. 
 
 49 
 
Then I see the sr&y lint waiver in confusion, then re- 
 treat — 
 
 A failure they were not anxious to repeat. 
 
 And today my thoughts awaken scenes that unfold 
 The newly wakened memories that shine as burnished 
 gold. 
 
 Again I hear the fifes and drums begin to play 
 
 “The Girl I left Behind Me”, as my thoughts wing 
 away. 
 
 Dear comrades, we are near the journey’s end, hand in 
 hand. 
 
 Let us do a little more service as we go to the promis- 
 ed land. 
 
 Onward, Christian Soldiers 
 
 Onward, Christian soldiers. 
 Marching as to war. 
 
 With the cross of Jesus 
 Going on before; 
 
 Christ the Royal Master 
 Leads against the foe; 
 Forward into battle. 
 
 See, His banners go. 
 
 50 
 
My Country ’Tis Of Thee 
 
 My country ! ’tis of thee, 
 
 Sweet land of liberty. 
 
 Of thee I sing; 
 
 Land where my fathers died! 
 Land of the pilgrims’ pride! 
 
 From ev’ry mountain side 
 Let freedom ring! 
 
 My native country, thee 
 Land of the noble, free, 
 
 Thy name I love; 
 
 I love thy rocks and rills, 
 
 Thy woods and templed hills; 
 
 My heart with rapture thrills 
 Like that above. 
 
 Let music swell the breeze. 
 
 And ring from all the trees 
 Sweet freedom’s song; 
 
 Let mortal tongues awake ; 
 
 Let all that breathe partake; 
 
 Let rocks their silence break. 
 The sound prolong. 
 
 Our fathers’ God! to Thee, 
 Author of liberty. 
 
 To Thee we sing; 
 
 Long may our land be bright 
 With freedom’s holy light; 
 
 Protect us by Thy might. 
 Great God, our King! 
 
 51 
 
Xhe Joy Just Before Last Roll Call 
 
 still, still with thee, when purple morning breaketh. 
 When the bird waketh and the shadows flee. 
 
 Fairer than morning, lovelier than the daylight. 
 Dawns the sweet consciousness I am with thee. 
 
 Alone with thee, amid the mystic shadows. 
 
 The solemn hush of nature newly born. 
 
 Alone with thee, in breathless adoration, 
 
 In the calm dew and freshness of the morn. 
 
 When sinks the soul, subdued by toil to slumber, 
 
 Its closing eye looks up to thee in prayer; 
 
 Sweet the repose, beneath thy wings are shading, 
 But sweeter still to wake and find thee there. 
 
 So shall it be at last, in that bright morning 
 When the soul waketh and life’s shadows flee. 
 
 0, in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning 
 Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with thee. 
 
 52 
 
In taking a retrospective view of what I have written, 
 mv life seems to have been a wonderfully miraculous 
 one — in war and in peace. As I recall what I have 
 seen and e.xnerienced, I am forced to believe my Creator 
 has been with me and directed and protected me all 
 through the eighty years of my life — years full of toil, 
 joys, suffering and rich reward — a life worth living. 
 My sacrifices have not been equal to my joys, and as I 
 near life’s journey my chief joy is service to God and 
 country. In youth I enjoyed to the full its bloom, its 
 love and fruitage, and joys. War came and the bur- 
 dens and responsibilities of life’s duties — labor, sacri- 
 fice, toil and suffering. I have tried to do my part in 
 defense of right and liberty. Peace came. I thank 
 God for it. I plunged into its activities; I founght its 
 battles; I gathered its fruits as I passed its various 
 ways. Some were bitter, but most of them were sweet. 
 My pleasures have been greater than my sorrows. My 
 Heavenly Father chose to give me a loving wife in 1867 
 (Miss Belle Spinning), and when death separated us 
 in 1885, he again chose and gave me in 1887 a loving 
 companion who has blessed me with a good home, a 
 loving home and the necessary comforts of this life. 
 Surely goodness and mercy have been with me all my 
 life. And in conclusion I would insist that all Amer- 
 icans work for America, make it powerful and strong 
 by universal preparation for the worst that can come 
 to our country. To the young people of our country 
 I say, “Choose the good part that cannot be taken from 
 you. Bear life’s burdens like men. Love God and 
 your country.’’ I only regret that I did so little in 
 life’s duties. 
 
 THE END 
 
 C. H. TODD, Sergeant Co. A, 15 Indiana. 
 
 53 
 
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A BOOK— THEEE YEARS AM) THREE MONTHS A SOLDIER 
 
 Many of my comrades and friends have asked me many times to 
 write a narrative of my experience and what I saw during three years 
 of the Civil War as a soldier. As none of my regiment has written any 
 history of the part we performed, I decided to write a short- history 
 without exaggerations concerning life in war. And at the age of 79 
 years, amid the infirmities of age I have written the story. I hope it 
 will prove interesting to my comrades and all others with whom I 
 have been associated since these thrilling scenes were enacted. I have 
 published a limited number of these booklets at my own expense, and 
 all revenue from their sale will be given to the building fund of the 
 new Methodist Episcopal Church of Attica, Indiana. As the expense 
 of printing is very high I am asking my friends to pay one dollar per 
 copy to the treasurer of the M. E. Church, Attica. 
 
 Dear Friend, — I am sending you one of my books which I hope 
 will interest you; a private soldier’s experience in over three years of 
 Civil war in America, showing what the rank and file of an 
 
 army has to endure and go through. We are rebuilding 
 
 our M. E. Church in Attica and have a Soldiers’ Building fund. 
 We are asking soldiers and friends of soldiers to assist us in raising 
 funds to pay for it, what you contribute will go on the Soldier fund, 
 
 and you will be credited on same. Our new church, w'hen completed, 
 
 will be fireproof, and one of the finest in Indiana, a blessing to our 
 city, surrounding country and to generations of children yet unborn. 
 It is the young people we want to educate in everything that makes 
 them better citizens and lovers of home, church, and country. Please 
 send direct to Treasurer M. E. Church, Attica, Indiana. 
 
 In behalf of the church and all interested, I thank you, 
 
 C. H. TODD. 
 
 C. H. TODD WRITES HISTORY 
 
 C. H. Todd, a civil war veteran of this city, has just finished the 
 publication of a 56 page book, which gives a history of the part taken 
 by Company A, 15th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the civil war of 
 which he was a member. Mr. Todd served for three years and three 
 months as a member of this company, and saw and took part in some 
 of the greatest battles of that war. Mr. Todd gives a very graphic de- 
 scription of the maneuvers in those great batties, and being toid by 
 one who was on the ground the story is told with an earnestness that 
 gives it a realism, and the reader sees before him the movements of 
 these great armies with the tragedies that follow in their wake. It is 
 a very interesting book for any one to possess and especially any one 
 who had a relative in the civil war. Mr. Todd published this book at 
 his own expense and he has given the copies to the M. E. church to be 
 sold at $1 each, the proceeds to go to the new' church building fund. — 
 Fountain-Warren Democrat. 
 
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