The Story of the Forty-Second Indiana Infantry, 1861-65.

By Bruce V. Jones

This book is to honor the sacrifices and courage shown by the Forty-Second Indiana Infantry in their military campaigns during the Civil War from their organization in 1861 until final victory in April 1865.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524604172

Bruce V. Jones

Bruce Jones is a native of Indiana and a graduate of Indiana State University. A lifelong Civil War buff, he was motivated to write this book to honor his five relatives that served in the Forty-Second Indiana Infantry during the Civil War.

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© 2016 Bruce Jones. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse  04/29/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5246-0451-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-0450-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-0417-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016906695

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Contents

Preface

Chapter 1    Camp Vanderburgh to Kentucky

Chapter 2    Wartrace to Perryville

Chapter 3    Battle of Perryville

Chapter 4    Battle of Stones River

Chapter 5    Tullahoma to the Tennessee River

Chapter 6    Battle of Chickamauga

Chapter 7    Battle Above the Clouds

Chapter 8    Missionary Ridge

Chapter 9    Atlanta Campaign

Chapter 10    Marching Through Georgia

Chapter 11    March through the Carolinas!

Chapter 12    Victory!

Chapter 13    Boys in Blue Return

In Closing

Bibliography

About the Author

This book is dedicated to my father

Russell Jones (1921-2012)

Preface

I wrote this book to honor my ancestor’s service to their county during the War of the Rebellion. Their regiment was the Forty-second Indiana Infantry that was organized in late summer early fall of 1861. The Forty-second would see five of my relatives serve in its ranks. Burton and Meredith Dimmett, the brothers of my great great grandmother Stacy Ann (Dimmett) Cox, enlisted on September 16, 1861. They served in Company B which was officially mustered into service on October 30, 1861. Meredith was 20 years of age and Burton was just 16 and a half years old. They would both eventually rise to the rank of Sergeant in the regiment. Meredith would be killed at Chickamauga in September of 1863.

My other relatives in the regiment were Joseph Cox the first cousin of my great great grandfather Wilson Cox. He was originally from Gallatin County, Kentucky, area. At the start of the Civil War, he was 33 years old and the father of three. Captured at Chickamauga, he would die in Andersonville Prison on May 15, 1864. He left his widow Rebecca and their children all under the age of 11.

James Perry Crow became part of the Dimmett family when he married my great great aunt Parmelia Milley Dimmett in 1857. They would have three children. He would join the regiment on August 19, 1862. Upon his death in February of 1863, he would leave his widowed wife and their three children all under age 4. Washington P. Camp married my grandfather Cox’s first cousin Elizabeth Jane Cox on September 27, 1857. He would enlist in September of 1861, and his death at Perryville left his widow and their four children all under age 8.

From what I’ve understood, there were other brothers of Stacy Ann (Dimmett) Cox that were of military age, but they were needed to keep the family farm and a neighbor’s farm going as their neighbor’s husband had also enlisted. All across the North this was playing out where neighbors joined together to keep the farms producing crops while the men went off to war.

I wasn’t able to find much written on the regiment other than its regimental history book written in 1892 by the veterans themselves called, History of the Forty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Originally, I wrote up summaries of the service my two great great uncles went through with the regiment, and after much encouragement from my family, I decided to write this book.

The Dimmett Family that sent two sons into this regiment were originally from North Carolina moving to Indiana in the mid-1830s. Indiana was a fairly new state and land was going for $1.25 per acre. Alfred and Mary Dimmett would settle on a piece of land just a mile south of what would become known as Folsomville, Indiana. The town of approximately 200 was located in Warrick County, which had a population of almost 3,000 citizens residing in the county. The ground he set up on was rolling ground with plenty of woods. A family of 12 would be born and raised here.

Unfortunately I don’t have enough of their personal histories to base this book on, so the history of the Forty-second Indiana will tell their story of what their Civil War service experiences were like. This is my way of honoring not only their service but, also those that served with them through the carnage of the Civil War.

Chapter 1

Camp Vanderburgh to Kentucky

When Lincoln is elected to the presidency on November 6, 1860, it sets off a strong reaction by the southern powerbrokers who view him as a threat to the institution of slavery. Slavery is the lifeblood of the southern economy. Secession documents are quickly passed in a number of the southern states before Lincoln is sworn into office on March 4, 1861. Throughout the South, federal armories have been seized in some cases even before a state has seceded. Things are brought to a head on April 13 at 4:30 a.m. when Confederate President Jefferson Davis orders the firing on Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor to commence. Running low on supplies fort commander Major Anderson surrenders. This sets off America’s bloodiest war.

The North and South are not prepared for war in 1861. The US Army of 1861 consists of 16,000 men of 198 regimental companies scattered across the nation in 79 different posts. There are 183 companies out on the frontier leaving the remainder to guard the Canadian border and the sea coasts. When war breaks out, 270 out of the 1,108 officer corps resign and join the Confederacy. Some of America’s finest officers are in that group of 270. Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet, despite long careers in the US Army are in that group of 270. Only a scant few hundred of the more than 15,000 enlisted ranks goes over to the Confederacy. In impressive fashion, the US Army will see over 2 million men serve in its ranks over the next four years. Almost half of these will be serving in the field at the same time during April of 1865.[¹]

Reaction in Evansville to Ft. Sumter:

When the news of Ft. Sumter arrives in Evansville, Indiana, it causes war fever. Businesses temporarily close throughout the city. A young prosecutor James M. Shanklin (25 years old) is in court for a Grand Jury proceeding when he is notified of the news. He stands up and addresses the court:

Gentlemen, there is no more business for the Grand Jury today, and with the consent of the court, Judge Parrott, I feel it my duty to request that the Grand Jury and court adjourn. At this moment matters of grave importance await every patriot. Fort Sumter has been fired upon, the flag dishonored, and all loyal eyes and hearts are turned in that direction. I, for one, shall enter the conflict in defense of my country’s flag.[²]

Shanklin is a native of Evansville, Indiana coming from a prominent family. He was born on January 24, 1836. In his pre-war days he attended Wabash College and the University of Michigan ultimately leaving his studies. He tried a hand at the timber business in Michigan but then moved west into the Kansas and Nebraska Territories. He moved back to Evansville shortly before the war and was elected prosecutor. With Lincoln’s call out for troops, Shanklin enlists and will be rewarded for his recruiting efforts with the commission of Major for the Forty-second Indiana.[³]

With the shelling of Ft. Sumter, President Lincoln asks the states to provide 75,000 militia to put down the rebellion. On April 17 Virginia refuses to supply troops against its fellow southern state and secedes from the Union. That same day in Evansville, a big rally is held at the Court House where Attorney Conrad Baker gives a very rousing speech for the Union.[⁴] With three cheers for the Union and the flag, the rally breaks up. James Shanklin, a very entertaining and enthusiastic speaker begins to recruit from the surrounding counties.[⁵]

By the time of the firing on Ft. Sumter, South Carolina had been joined in rapid secession by Mississippi on January 9, Florida on the 10th, Alabama on the 11th, Georgia on the 19th, and Louisiana on the 26th. Texas announced its secession on February 1. The new call for troops not only prompts Virginia but many of the previously undecided Upper South states also to secede as well. In North Carolina the committed Unionist congressman Zebulon Vance is giving a pro-Union speech when given news of Lincoln’s call for troops. He immediately stops in mid-speech and asks for those assembled to volunteer to defend South Carolina. A secessionist convention is convened, and on May 20th North Carolina officially joins the Confederacy. Arkansas had already seceded on May 6. The last state to secede, Tennessee, does so on June 8.[⁶]

Then on July 21, the North and South meet at Manassas, Virginia, just outside of Washington. In the first battle of the war, it is a Federal disaster as the South routs the Union forces, which had appeared to be on the verge of winning when Confederates dressed in blue uniforms flank attack setting off chaos in the Union lines. The Union retreat is pure panic, and the soldiers don’t stop until they reach Washington itself. They are nothing more than an undisciplined armed mob….those that kept their rifles during the retreat anyways. Lincoln and the congress realize now that this is going to be a long war.

Lincoln issues a call for troops and Congress quickly passes legislation calling for 500,000 volunteers to preserve the Union. The call to preserve the Union, not yet 75 years old, is a powerful message. All across the north, recruiting offices are set up and become swamped to the point that volunteers have to be turned away in some cases.[⁷]

Shanklin wastes no time and immediately starts his recruitment tour making it as far north as Daviess County. Washington, Indiana, newspaperman Spillard F. Horrall describes Shanklin’s appearance there in early September in the regimental history of 1892. He wrote:

[Shanklin] was a tall, angular figure, having a pleasant voice, of great volume, however, when fully aroused." He is known as a War Democrat. With only a few hours notice, the city turns out in large numbers to hear him speak. "It was soon after sunset that Mr. Shanklin mounted a dry- goods box, southwest corner Main and Third streets, and began to get in readiness for the speech. Meantime, men and women, to the number of from 1,200 to 1,500, had collected [a large assembly people for the town then] and the speaker began.[⁸]

Speaking to the citizens of Washington, Shanklin speaks to the firing on Ft. Sumter and its insult to the American flag and national honor. He speaks of the dangers of disunion and its bad consequences. Horrall who is in the crowd stated that "he had not spoken five minutes before the people, men and women, began to press together to where people couldn’t pass through." [⁹] Shanklin quotes Andrew Jackson’s response to South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun during the 1832 secession crisis, The Union, it must and shall be preserved. Tell Calhoun to stop, or, by the Eternal, I’ll hang them all higher than Hamen. The crowd cheered throughout Shanklin’s speech. Within 20 days, 118 men were recruited into Company G from Daviess County. Horrall himself who is there in person for the Washington speech enlists as a 2nd Lieutenant and will by war’s end make the rank of Captain.[¹⁰]

Organizing the Forty-second Indiana:

On October 9, 1861, the Forty-second Indiana is organized at Camp Vanderburgh on the old fairgrounds in Evansville, Indiana, located near where the rail line crosses Pigeon Creek (approximately where Fendrich Golf Course is today).[¹¹] The troops are then marched over to the Quartermaster. Here they are issued their military gear of tents, haversacks, uniforms, belts, canteens, and other items they will need. They are also issued converted War of 1812 .69 Caliber muskets. This rifle was a flintlock musket made into a percussion fire weapon. A private’s pay is $13 per month.[¹²] Before the recruits are accepted into the service, they are required to be inspected by a surgeon. The surgeon that performs this duty on this day in 1861 makes a quick run through the ranks. He is looking for any signs of ill health.[¹³]

Colonel James G. Jones takes command of the regiment. Prior to the war he served as the first mayor of Evansville and in the election of 1860 became the Attorney- General of Indiana. With the outbreak of war, he resigned his position and accepted the colonelcy of the Forty-second Indiana Infantry, which was forming in his hometown of Evansville.[¹⁴] Along with his trusted subordinates, Lt Colonel Denby and Major Shanklin, he sets about getting the regiment into military shape.

Lt Colonel Denby is a native born Virginian not yet 31 years old at the outbreak of War. Prior to the war he was practicing law in Evansville when news of Ft. Sumter comes. He has a military education from Virginia Military Institute where he graduated with high honors in 1850.[¹⁵] He quickly goes about putting his training to use by organizing a company of troops to guard the Evansville military depot. The depot is vulnerable with the divided state of Kentucky just across the Ohio River. It will attract prying Southern eyes. Denby drills the collection of troops in the morning and in the afternoon relentlessly. These men eventually become Company A of the Forty-second Indiana. They will form the core of which the regiment is to be built around.[¹⁶]

As the companies report to Camp Vanderburgh, they are given rudimentary drills. Denby’s expands from squad drills to company drills as the troops performance improves. After a few weeks in Camp Vanderburgh, the regiment is marched through the city to cheering crowds and makes a new camp just below the city on the Ohio River. They put up their tents squeezing up to six men into one tent.[¹⁷] Lt Colonel Denby has turned them into a well-trained and disciplined unit.[¹⁸]

Union Army Structure:

Army Group (ex. Army of the Cumberland) – is made up of 3 Army Corps.

Army Corps - is made up of 3 or 4 divisions.

Division – is made up of 3 or 4 brigades.

Brigade – is made up of 3 or 4 regiments.

Command Structure of a Regiment:

A Civil War regiment on paper consists of 1,000 officers and enlisted men. A regiment is broken down into 10 companies of 100 men. Each company is headed by a Captain and usually two Lieutenants. The regiment is then commanded normally by a full Colonel and two subordinates usually a Major and Lt Colonel. A First Sergeant for the regiment is the liaison between the enlisted and officers. He handles any issues arising from army service that was deemed necessary to be brought to the Regimental commander’s attention. He is the man that runs the company. Under the First Sergeant are four Sergeants and eight Corporals. The Corporals oversee a Section (Squad in today’s terminology) of around 10 to 12 privates. The Sergeants oversee two Corporals (squads). The Sergeants report to the First Sergeant of any issues concerning the enlisted troops.[¹⁹]

The ten companies that make up the Forty-second Indiana Infantry:

Company A is made up exclusively of Vanderburg County men. They officially mustered into service on October 9, 1861 and are commanded by Captain William Atcheson. The company is made up of a total of 98 men enlisted. Charles G. Olmstead enters the company as a First Lieutenant. He is a native of Vanderburgh County, Indiana, born on November 1, 1823. Before the war he was in the sawmill and lumber business. Upon Captain Atcheson’s promotion to Chaplain, Olmstead is promoted to Captain. He studies tactics and how to conduct troops. He proves to be a good officer. Another member of Co. A is Andrew McCutchan of Vanderburgh County. Born in 1840, he became a teacher at age 18. Enlisting on September 9, 1861, as a private, he becomes the Orderly Sergeant in September of 1863. He continues his rise through the ranks and by March of 1865, is promoted to Captain of the regiment.[²⁰]

Company B is formed up from Warrick and Spencer County men. In the early part of September 1861, they are sent to Camp Vanderburgh. The company is led by Captain Cyrus W. Metcalf. Company B is officially mustered into service on October 30, 1861. There are 96 enlisted men in its ranks. Company B of the Forty-second Indiana was actually able to enlist 118., but they had to transfer the overflow to the other companies of the regiment to balance the regiment out. Five of my relatives served in Company B.

Company C is also made up of Spencer County men. Company reports in September 1861 to Camp Vanderburgh. They are officially mustered into service on October 9. There are 98 enlisted men on its roster. Captain Alfred Myler commands the company. Myler was born in Washington County, Virginia, on August 4, 1809. By outbreak of war, he is farming in Spencer County, Indiana. He becomes the prime recruiter of Co. C. He would be wounded in the left hand and leg at Wartrace, on April 11, 1862. Later, he would be wounded in the head and taken prisoner at Perryville on October 8,1862. He was paroled and sent to Camp Chase to be exchanged.[²¹]

Company D is made up of volunteers from Warrick, Vanderburgh, Spencer, and Daviess Counties. It officially musters into service on October 10, 1861. Captain Francis M. Edmonds of Vanderburgh County will lead it. A total of 97 enlisted men are on its roster. Elder Cooper enlists as the Commissary Sergeant for Co. D. Cooper was born in Ireland in 1839. He would emigrate to the US in 1857. He would settle in Evansville, Indiana, as a book keeper at a grocery store. His father and uncles served in the British navy. He would rise to the rank of Captain of Co. D. He did this while not being a naturalized citizen. He was described as a progressive, wide awake business man, and a typical Irishman. [²²]

Company E is raised in Princeton in Gibson County. Commanded by Captain Nathaniel B. French, it has 88 enlisted men. It is enlisted into service in September 1861. French was born in Gibson County, Indiana, on April 20, 1827. By 1846 he was working in Princeton as a clerk in Joseph Devin’s general merchandise store. By 1851 he was part owner of the now renamed store, Devin & French. On May 25, 1854, he married Devin’s daughter Cordelia. With the outbreak of war and his enlistment into the Forty-second Indiana in September of 1861, he dissolves his part in the store. He then raised Co. E in October 1861 serving as Captain until promotion to Major in June 1863. By May of 1864, he is discharged due to disability.

Company F is formed up in Gibson County. Captain Samuel Barrett heads it as its commander. The company reports in early September 1861 with 97 enlisted men. The Second Lieutenant of the company is William M. Cockrum. A native of Gibson County, he was born on a farm near Oakland City, Indiana, on December 8, 1838. He will be in command of the company by the battle of Stones River and distinguishes himself well under fire there.[²³]

Company G is formed by Daviess County recruits. They were recruited by Major James Shanklin. Called McCarty’s Company as it was commanded by Captain Eli McCarty. The volunteers meet up in Washington, Indiana, on September 27, 1861. They then take the westbound O&M train to Vincennes where they travel the Evansville & Crawfordsville Railroad to Evansville. They have 98 enlisted men. Spillard F. Horrall, the man moved by Shanklin in Washington, Indiana, to enlist, was born on May 22, 1829, in Veale township of Daviess County, Indiana. Married on January 27, 1853, to Jane Crabbs, they would raise seven children. He attended Asbury University, Greencastle, Indiana in the 1850s. he became a teacher and then principal at Benton, Illinois, academy. His grandfather William Horrall served in the Revolution and his dad Thomas Horrall served in the War of 1812. In 1857 Horrall became a journalist in Washington, Indiana, rising to editor of the paper. After Shanklin’s recruiting speech in September 1861, he enlisted into the army the following month as a Second Lieutenant of Co. G of the Forty-second Indiana. He will be promoted to Captain and hold that rank until September 16, 1864, when he is forced to resign due to health reasons. When he recovers, Horrall is made Provost Marshall General in Indianapolis.[²⁴]

Company H volunteers come mostly from the Gentryville vicinity in Spencer County. But some also come from Dubois County. There are 90 enlisted men on its roster. Captain James H. Bryant (veteran of Mexican War) commands the company at its inception. First Lieutenant Gideon R. Kellams of Rockport is second in Command, and Second Lieutenant is Adam Haas of Jasper. Lieutenant Kellams was born near Gentryville on June 6, 1828. Growing up in a poor German-Irish family, he is educated and by 1857 was studying law under Judge L. Q. Bruler of Rockport, Indiana. With the outbreak of war, he is appointed Company H. Kellams would become one of the first officers to learn the mastering of drill. He would be promoted to Captain and then Major of the regiment. Later he would be promoted Colonel and be in overall command of the regiment.[²⁵]

Company I is formed of Pike County men. The men upon enlisting are taken by carriages to Princeton where they catch the train for Evansville. There are 97 enlisted men in its ranks. They are led by the 34 year old Captain W. T. B. McIntire. A native of Petersburg, Indiana, the war finds him living in Washington, Indiana. He returns to Pike County when news of Ft. Sumter is received and he raises Company I for service.

Company K is formed up from Warrick County volunteers mostly around Boonville and the northern part of the county. They organized on September 12, 1861. Captain Daniel G. Thompson leads the company of 92 enlisted men.[²⁶]

The Adjutant of the regiment is DeWitt Evans who is the oldest grandson of General Robert Evans, whom the city of Evansville is named after. James Orr is the son of a prominent Evansville family and is a cousin of Major Shanklin’s wife. Orr is made the Quartermaster Sergeant. Dr. William D. Taylor is appointed regimental surgeon. The regiment also recruits a 20 piece band that won’t be with them for the whole war.[²⁷]

Reasons these men joined the cause for restoration of the Union varied. Some did it out of patriotism. The Republic was directly being threatened, and they felt it was their duty to defend the greatest government on earth. Three of my relatives in the regiment left behind wives and children. Their motivations to join the war have been lost over the years. But the fact that they left behind their families with young children makes me believe that it was out of patriotism. The two youngest relatives (Meredith and Burton Dimmett) were 20 and 16 years old when the regiment was calling for volunteers. When the call for volunteers came, they enlisted.

Co. A Private George Morgan Kirkpatrick was 15 years old when war came. What inspired him? His inspiration came from seeing his neighborhood kids come by while he was out in the fields working his chores. They had new uniforms on and laughed at the fact he was too young to enlist. He would travel to Cincinnati with a friend in an attempt to enlist. He was he was sent home When it was found out how old he was. He tried to enlist a second time in Evansville in a cavalry regiment. When his father found out, he came and took him home.[²⁸]

On his third attempt to enlist, Kirkpatrick ran into Charles Olmstead who was forming a company for the soon to be designated Forty-second Indiana. He described the excitement of it all when he was finally allowed to enlist, It was all excitement drums beating, flags flying, shouting, and eating corned-beef and cabbage out of tin plates, drinking coffee out of tin cups, and having lots of fun drilling and wearing the grand blue clothes, which someone else paid for, for at the time, there were no thoughts of the hardships of marching through mud and snow, and worst of all, being shot at by strangers that we did not even know, and it was going to be a breakfast spell. The general feeling in camp was that they would lick them Johnnies before breakfast.[²⁹]

Chapter 2

Wartrace to Perryville

On November 1, after marching through the city to Marine Hospital Grounds, the regiment sends four companies to Henderson, Kentucky, because of guerilla activity in the Hawesville to Paducah the area on the Ohio River. On November 13, the rest of the regiment is sent over to Henderson. According to Horrall, there wasn’t a more bitter pro-secession feeling in the south than what the regiment experienced in Henderson.[¹] On December 3, the regiment pulls out of Henderson and is put on the march to Calhoun in a southeast direction.[²] Major Shanklin writes to his wife of the march:

Our trip from Henderson was a hard one sure. We could not have any worse the whole winter; but I stood it very well, and so did the men – although it was awful hard traveling through the cold mud and snow with leaky shoes. They shouted and cheered all along the way, and kept in good spirits. It’s a splendid regiment, and I hope they will make the state glorious.[³]

The troops are all packing 75 pounds of supplies in their knapsacks, with the weight of the rifles and cartridge box on top of that. A little over halfway to Calhoun, they reach the Green River at Curdsville, Kentucky. It’s a bad crossing due to the flooded conditions, and the regiment has to be transported by boat across.