CHAPTER VIII. REGIMENTS AND BATTERIES. THE FIFTEENTH-FIRST ENLISTED FOR THREE YEARS-ITS PART AT SHILOH-BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL GEORGE C. ROGERS-THE SEVENTEENTH-ITS CAMPAIGNS-THE EIGHTEENTH-Brevet Brigadier-General JulES C. WEBBER-THE TWENTIETH— LIFE IN PRISONS-THE TWENTY-SECOND-THE TWENTY-THIRD-LIST OF BATTLES IN WHICH IT WAS ENGAGED THE TWENTY-NINTH-Re-enlistMENT IN THE VETERAN SERVICE THE THIRTIETH-A Veteran RegimenT-THE THIRTY-FIRST-THE CHARGE AT FORT HILL-THE THIRTY-SECOND-ELEVEN THOUSAND MILES OF MARCH-BUSTEED'S BATTERY-OLD Batteries A and B, FIRST ARTILLERY-AN HONORABLE RECORD. FIFTEENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. HE 15th Regiment was organized at Freeport, in April, 1861, and mustered into the United States service May 24th, being the first Illinois regiment mustered into the three years' service.* The following is the original roster: Colonel, Thomas J. Turner; Lieutenant-Colonel, Edward F. Ellis; Major, Wm. R. Goddard; Adjutant, Cyrenus C. Clark; Quartermaster, Samuel Hice, Jr.; Surgeon, William J. McKim; 1st Assistant Surgeon, Harman A. Buck; 2d Assistant Surgeon, Leonard L. Lake; Chaplain, David E. Halteman. Co. A-Captain, Louis D. Kelly; 1st Lieutenant, Daniel C. Joslyn; 2d Lieutenant, Mark Hathaway. Co. B-Captain, William Haywood, 1st Lieutenant, David L. Baker; 2d Lieutenant, Addison N. Longcor. *In Vol. I [p. 296], we have stated that the 13th was the first mustered into the three years' service. Both the 13th and 15th were so mustered on the same day; but the former was mustered in in the afternoon, and the latter in the forenoongiving the 15th the honor of being the first. It was also the second regiment of volunteers in the Union to be mustered for the three years' service-the 15th Massachusetts being the first. Co. C-Captain, Holder Brownell; 1st Lieutenant, Cyrenus C. Clark; 2d Lieutenant, George W. Bradley. Co. D-Captain, Harley Wayne; 1st Lieutenant, Frank S. Curtis; 2d Lieutenant, Fred. A. Smith. Co. E-Captain, James Rany; 1st Lieutenant, Daniel J. Benner; 2d Lieutenant, John W. Luke. Co. F-Captain, John H. Paddock; 1st Lieutenant, William Henry; 2d Lieutenant, John J. Sears. Co. G-Captain, James O. P. Burnside; 1st Lieutenant, R. C. McEathron; 2d Lieutenant, Albert Bliss, Jr. Co. H-Captain, Morton D. Swift; 1st Lieutenant, Thomas J. Hewitt; 2d Lieutenant, William H. Gibbs. Co. I-Captain, Joseph B. Jones; 1st Lieutenant, George C. Rogers; 2d Lieutenant, John S. Pratt. Co. K-Captain, Adam Nase; 1st Lieutenant, James O'Brien; 2d Lieutenant, J. W. Puterbaugh. On the 1st of June, the regiment proceeded to Alton, where it remained till the 1st of August, when it went to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. It then went to Rolla, Missouri, where it arrived in time to cover General Sigel's retreat from Wilson's Creek. On the 1st of October it marched to Tipton, where it joined General Fremont's grand army, and began a campaign in Missouri. Near Sedalia it assisted in the capture of 1,300 of the enemy. Thence it marched to Otterville, where it went into winter quarters on the 26th of December, remaining there till February 1, 1862. On the 7th of the latter month it was ordered to St. Louis, whence it proceeded to Fort Donelson, arriving on the morning of the surrender. Here it was assigned to Hurlbut's "Fighting Fourth Division." It then went to Pittsburg Landing, being the first regiment to disembark there. At the battle of Shiloh, on the 6th of April, the 15th was in the first line of battle, with the 77th and 53d Ohio regiments on either flank. At the first fire of the rebels, the Buckeyes broke and ran, and the enemy was soon on both flanks of the 15th, which bravely stood its ground for an hour, and until entirely cut up. It was in the final charge on the 7th, led by General Grant in person, which gave our army the victory. In this battle the 15th lost 252 men killed and wounded. Among the former were LieutenantColonel E. F. W. Ellis, Major Goddard, Captains Brownell and Wayne and Lieutenant John W. Puterbaugh. It was in the advance on Corinth, when Colonel Turner, who had been absent on account of severe illness, again assumed command, but was obliged to give it up after the evacuation of that place. Captain George C. Rogers then took command of the regiment, and was soon afterward appointed Lieutenant-Colonel. After the evacuation of Corinth, the 15th marched to Grand Junction and Holly Springs, and on the 21st of July arrived at Memphis. After making numerous expeditions into the country, it broke camp at Memphis, on the 6th of September, and marched to Bolivar, Tennessee, and thence to the Hatchie River, and took an active part in the battle of the Hatchie, where General Hurlbut, with his division of 5,000 men, met 15,000 of the enemy on the retreat from Corinth, under VanDorn and Price, defeating them and capturing a large amount of property and many prisoners. It accompanied General Grant in his campaign through Northern Mississippi, and in the spring of '63 was ordered before Vicksburg, where it participated in the siege of that place, and was also with the army that pursued the rebel General Johnston to Jackson, Mississippi, taking part in the battle that was fought there, forcing the enemy to evacuate the city. It afterward, likewise, assisted in the reduction of Fort Beauregard, Louisiana, and was with General Sherman on his grand raid to Meridian, having a severe engagement with the enemy at Champion Hill, where it was deployed as skirmishers, and routed three regiments of rebel cavalry. The men now re-enlisted as veterans, and proceeded north on furlough, after the expiration of which they again returned south, and after a long and fatiguing series of marches, joined the grand army moving against Atlanta. Here, as attached to the brigade commanded by Colonel George C. Rogers, the regiment was detached with that command, and ordered to remain and fortify Allatoona Pass. While thus engaged, the 14th and 15th regiments, both in the same brigade, having become fearfully decimated, were consolidated by command of Major-General McPherson, and were afterward known as the Veteran Battalion, 14th and 15th Illinois Volunteers, the command numbering in all 625 men. After remaining at Allatoona for some days, the Veteran Battalion, with which the 14th regiment had become identified, was ordered to Marietta, Georgia, and thence to Ackworth, being detailed to guard the railroad at these places, the only communication of General Sherman. During this service, the battalion was constantly scouting through the country, and fighting guerrillas, until about the 1st of October, when the rebel General Hood with his army, then making a demonstration in the rear of Sherman, struck the railroad at Ackworth and Big Shanty, and after a fierce engagement succeeded in capturing a portion of the battalion. Those who escaped capture in this engagement now returned to Marietta, and after being mounted, started with General Sherman. on his grand march to the sea. On this memorable incursion, the battalion acted as scouts, flankers, and advanced guard, and were the first to drive the rebel pickets inside their works at Savannah. During the long and arduous marches through the Carolinas, the battalion also accompanied General Sherman, being continually in the advance or on the flanks, skirmishing with the enemy. It was the first command to enter Cheneau, South Carolina, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, upon the capture of those places, and also participated in the battle of Bentonville. While at Goldsboro, recruits sufficient to refill both regiments were received, and the organization of the Veteran Battalion was discontinued from that time, and the 14th and 15th regiments re-organized. After the surrender of Johnston, the regiment marched to Richmond, and thence to Washington, where it participated in the grand review of Sherman's army, May 24, 1865, being afterward ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, and thence to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. It was sent for a short time to Fort Kearney, Nebraska, but soon returned to Fort Leavenworth, where it was mustered out on the 16th of September, 1865, and ordered to Springfield for final discharge. At that time its roster was as follows: Colonel and Brevet-Brigadier-General, George C. Rogers; Lieutenant-Colonel, Lemuel O. Gilman; Major, Joseph Devlin; Adjutant, Andrew H. Hershey; Quartermaster, George A. Austin; Assistant Surgeon, Only P. B. Wright; Chaplain, Barton F. Rogers. Co. A-1st Lieutenant, George W. Thompson; 2d Lieutenant, David McGrath. Co. B-Captain, Arthur Dawson; 1st Lieutenant, Charles W. White. Co. D-Captain, Ezekiel Giles; 1st Lieutenant, Volney Bliss; 2d Lieutenant, Charles A. Harper. Co. E-Captain, Benjamin F. Gardner; 1st Lieutenant, Henry M. Older. Co. G-Captain, Albert Bliss, Jr.; 1st Lieutenant, Devalson J. Kimball; 2d Lieutenant, Augustus S. Chappell. Co. H-Captain, Edward Burrell; 1st Lieutenant, Thomas C. Shelly: 2d Lieutenant, William Dodds. Co. I-Captain, Benjamin J. Gifford; 1st Lieutenant, Septio Roberts; 2d Lieutenant, William Derth. Co. K-Captain, John A. Loug; 1st Lieutenant, Jacob Paul; 2d Lieutenant, Tilghman Driesback. During its term of service (four years and four months) the 15th mustered in an aggregate of 1,965 men, and at the date of its muster out numbered 640. It marched on foot 4,299 miles; traveled by rail, 2,403 miles; by steamer, 4,310; total, 11,012 miles. General George C. Rogers was born at Piermont, New Hampshire, November 22, 1837, and came to the West in 1853. He was educated at Bradbury Academy, New Hampshire, and at Wauconda, Lake County, Illinois. He studied Law with Hon. E. P. Ferry, at Waukegan, and in 1860 was admitted to the bar, at Springfield. In that year he canvassed the State for Douglas. On the breaking out of the rebellion he raised the first company in Lake County, and went into the 15th regiment as First Lieutenant of Company I, and in September was made Captain. At the battle of Shiloh he was wounded four times, and while at home received from Governor Yates a commission as Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment. After the battle of the Hatchie, he was appointed Colonel, in the place of Colonel Turner, who had resigned. At the battle of Champion Hills he was twice wounded. The works at Allatoona were built under his direction. In the Atlanta campaign he commanded a brigade, and in Washington, in June, 1865, he received his promotion by brevet as Brigadier-General-an honor fairly and bravely won. He was mustered out of the service with his regiment. SEVENTEENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. The 17th regiment was organized at Peoria, and was mustered into the State service on the 13th of May, 1861, and into the United States service on the 24th of the same month. The original roster was as follows: Colonel, Leonard Fulton Ross; Lieutenant-Colonel, Enos P. Wood; Major, Francis M. Smith; Adjutant, Abraham H. Ryan; Quartermaster, Henry L. Smith; Surgeon, L. D. Kellogg; 1st Assistant Surgeon, Charles B. Tompkins; 2d Assistant Surgeon, Henry H. Penneman; Chaplain, Sanford A. Kingsbury |