Otto C. Hager-- Part 3

Captain Hager returned to Galena, Illinois, but "itched" to fight and re-enlisted and marched with Sherman to the sea  His company was at Raleigh when Lincoln was assassinated  He was dipping water from a creek when he looked up and saw the camp's flag at half mast.  he knew at once what had happened

The war was over, but Sherman's Army had not been mustered out.  After taking part in Sherman's Grand Review at Washington, Hager and his company were mustered out in Chicago.

In 1866, he went to St. Joe and here hired out to a freighter  named Galbraith, an Atchison man.  He went with Galbraith's caravan of prairie schooners as far as Cottonwood Falls, where he quit his job and began splitting rails for the Union Pacific.

In 1867, he came to Atchison, Kansas.  At that time there was one brick building there, the rest of the city being made up mostly of frame shanties between Fourth and Fifth Street on Commercial Street.

--Old Secesh

Galena's Gen. John E. Smith-- Part 5: Service to End of War

Ely Parker got a job as an engineer on John Smith's staff.  Grant needed an engineer and got Parker who served in that capacity on Grant's staff for the remainder of the war.

Smith's division was the first to enter Vicksburg after its surrender on July 4, 1863.

Then the division went to Chattanooga.  After Chattanooga, Smith was in charge of the task of keeping Union railroads open during the Atlanta Campaign.  His troops were at Altoona Pass, but he wasn't there.

Smith went with Sherman in his March to the Sea and during the Carolina's Campaign, Smith said that the water was "not deep enough for navigation, but too deep to say we came by land."

He was still with Sherman when Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered at Bennett Place.

He didn't go to the Grand Review in Washington, D.C., and was sent to Memphis to serve as military governor of Western Tennessee.

John Smith mustered out in 1866 as commander in the volunteer service, but chose to remain in the regular Army and was made colonel of the 27th U.S. Infantry.

--Old Secesh

John E. Gurley (135th USCT Commander)-- Part 6: The Battle of Atlanta to the End of the War

So, at the Battle of Atlanta, John Gurley did not become "a ruined man."

During the close-in fighting, Gurley had two horses shot out from under him.

But, for ordering those two regiments into line of battle without his commander's orders, Gurley was court martialed but since this action also saved his division from surprise and probably great loss of life, he was promoted to then rank of colonel and eventually received command of the 135th USCT Infantry Regiment the next year.

Before receiving that command, Gurley was part of Sherman's March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign.

He held the command of the 135th from March 1865 and his regiment was part of the Grand Review in Washington, D.C., and then to Louisville, Kentucky, where he and the regiment were mustered out of service in October 1865.

--Old Secesh

135th USCT-- Part 2: Marched in the Grand Review and Mustered Out in Louisville

Once the 135th USCT enlisted in Goldsboro, N.C., the men were issued the blue Union Army uniforms with the famous brass buttons with the freedom eagle on them.

Research on their pension records reveals that the regiment's men felt very proud to be fighting for their freedom.

Upon leaving Goldsboro, the 135th marched as part of Sherman's army and left their picks and shovels behind.  They were now soldiers.  They marched to Raleigh, the state's capital.  Then it was into Virginia to Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Alexandria.

Then came one of the regiment's proudest moments as the 135th marched with Sherman's army in the Grand Review in Washington, D.C., on May  24, 1865.  In their pension records, they proudly say that they marched past the president of the United States under their own regimental flag.  (I was surprised to see that they participated in the Grand Review as I thought that no USCT were allowed in it.)

Following a brief time in D.C. and performing guard duty  at Fort Kearny, on of the capital's defenses, the 135th was transported by train then boat to Louisville, Kentucky, where they performed more guard duty until mustering out on October 23, 1865.

--Old Secesh

The 14th Connecticut Infantry in the Civil War-- Part 2: In the Thick of It

1864

June 1-12:  Battle of Cold Harbor

June 15-18:  First assault on Petersburg

June 16:  The Siege of Petersburg begins

August 25:  Reams Station.  The regiment was under fire from three sides and for some time from both sides of their earthworks.

October 27-29:  Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher's Run

December 13:  Encamped near Fort Clark.  The regiment now was reduced to just 180 men fit for duty and was issued Sharps rifles.

March 28-April 9:  The Appomattox Campaign

April 2:  Assault on and fall of Petersburg.

April 6:  Sailor's Creek

April 9:  Surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox.

May 23:  Grand Review

May 30:  Mustered out.  Veterans and recruits transferred to 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery.

June 1:  Began journey home

June 3:  Regiment reaches Hartford, Ct.

One Hard-Fighting Regiment.  --Old Secesh

15th Illinois Infantry Actions and Campaigns-- Part 2: Atlanta Campaign

Duty Vicksburg, Ms. Nov. 10 to Feb. 1864
Meridian Campaign Feb. 3 to March 5, 1864
Atlanta Campaign June 8 to Sept. 8, 1864

Assigned garrison duty Altoona Pass, Ackworth, Big Shanty and Marietta until Nov.
Consolidated with 14th Illinois July 1, 1864 and became the 14th and 15th Illinois Battalion Infantry
March to the Sea  Nov. 15 to Sept. 10, 1864

Siege of Savannah Dec. 10 to Dec. 21
Campaign  of the Carolinas January to April 1865
Battle of Bentonville  March 19-21

Occupation of Goldsboro, NC, March 24
Occupation of Raleigh April 14
Bennett's House April 26.  Surrender of Johnston's Army
Grand Review Washington, D.C.. May 24

Duty on the plains until September 1
Mustered out Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Sept. 16, 1865

--Old Secesh

135th USCT's Re-enactment in Goldsboro This Weekend-- Part 5

Since their regiment number was so high, they were probably one of the last USCT regiments mustered in.  Plus, since it had members from Georgia and South Carolina, I imagine many of those men had been following Sherman's army.

After Confederate General Johnston surrendered to Sherman at Bennett Place in Durham in late April, the 135th was one of the few black regiments to take part in the march in review along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. in front of the U.S. president.  (I had always thought that no USCT regiments were allowed to be in that march.)

After the war, the 135th was used to guard bridges and hospitals in Kentucky.

A partial list of the members of the 135th has been compiled.

--Old Secesh

105th Illinois Infantry-- Part 4: Service

The regiment was organized in Dixon, Illinois, mustering into U.S. service on September 2, 1862 and then moved to Camp Douglas in Chicago on September 8, 1862 and then to Louisville, Kentucky, from, September 30-October 2, 1862.

After the March to the Sea, they moved from Savannah, Georgia, through South Carolina and into North Carolina and at the Battle of Bentonville March 19 to 21, 1865.  They occupied my hometown of Goldsboro, N.C., on March 24 and the Advance on Raleigh April 10-14 and Bennett's House and the Confederate surrender on April 26.

Afterwards, the regiment marched to Washington, D.C., by way of Richmond from April 29 to May 19, participating in the Grand Review on May 24.

They were mustered out in Chicago on June 7 and discharged in Chicago on July 17, 1865.

--Old Secesh

105th Illinois Infantry-- Part 3: Battles and Campaigns

Atlanta Campaign
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Battle of Resaca, Battle of Peachtree Creek.

March to the Sea

Campaign of the Carolinas

Battle of Bentonville

Bennett's House, surrender

Grand Review in Wasihngton, D.C.

--Old Secesh

The Union's Grand Review

The Grand Review of the Armies took place in Washington, D.C. May 24th and May 25th, 1865.  Lots of dust was churned up on unpaved Pennsylvania Avenue.

General George Meade's 80,000 man Army of the Potomac marched it on May 24th.

The next day, General William Sherman's 70,000 man Army of the West followed the same route.

Sherman's army had just completed a 700-mile trek through South and North Carolina.

Sadly and unfairly, the soldiers of the USCT were not allowed to receive the glory.

--Old Secesh

Follow Up on Charles Albert Nichols, 16th Michigan

From Nichols family on Genweb.

Was in Co. I, 16th Michigan in the Army of the Potomac which was heavily engaged during Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign.  At one time Nichols was on the front lines for seven straight days and his uniform was riddle with bullet holes, but he only received a shoulder wound which required hospitalization in Washington, D.C..

He participated in the Grand Review in D.C., at the war's conclusion.

In later years he organized the GAR post in Leroy, Osceola County, Michigan and was very involved in its activities, participating in many Memorial Days.

--Old Secesh

Fighting With Private Schlegel, 198th Pa.

Continuing with the story of Private Schlegel's Discovered Ring.

From the Family2Remember site which had two members in the 198th Pennsylvania.  The regiment was organized in Philadelphia and accepted into service September 9, 1864.  They left for Petersburg, Virginia September 19th and were assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Division of the 5th Army Corps.

September 1864: Siege of Petersburg
Sept- 29-Oct. 2:  Poplar Springs Church
Oct. 8: Reconnaissance to Boydton Road

Oct. 27-28:  Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher's Run
Dec. 7-12:  Warren's Raid on Weldon Railroad

Feb. 5-7, 1865:  Dabner's Mills, Hatcher's Run
March 29, 1865:  Junction, Quaker and Boydton Roads
March 29:  Lewis' Farm near Boydton Road

March 30-31:  White Oak Road
April 1:  Five Forks
April 9:  Lee's surrender at Appomattox

May 1-12:  March to Washington, DC.  Private Schlegel lost his ring during this time.
May 23:  Grand Review
June 4, 1865:  Mustered Out

Quite a busy regiment, especially the last 11 days of the fighting.

Old Secesh

US Colored Troops Represented in a Commemorative Ceremony

From the Dec. 14th Afro (Tn) blog.

The 1865 Grand review of the USCT (United States Colored Troops) was recently commemorated in Harrisburg, Pa., with over 100 re-enactors. Twenty-five of the those were members of the 13th USCT of Murfreesboro and the 44th USCT from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Back in 1865, the regiments of the USCT were not allowed to march with the whites in Washington, DC. Instead, Pennsylvania hosted their review.

Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Randall honored them, who proudly represented the 180,000 blacks who served in the USCT. Of these, 24,000 came from the Volunteer State, Tennessee.

Very Brave Soldiers. --B-R'er