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The
Thirty-first Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry volunteers was composed
of two battalions raised at different times. Companies A, B,
C, D, E and F went into camp at Prairie du Chien upon the 23rd day
of September, 1862, and were mustered into the service of the United
States, by virtue of a special order from the War Department, upon
the 9th day of the following October. In the month last mentioned,
recruiting officers were commissioned to raise the four remaining
companies of this regiment.
Until November 14th, the battalion at Prairie du Chien was engaged
in guarding prisoners, and in gaining a knowledge of tactics and
drill. At this date, Companies A, D and F were ordered to Camp
Randall, Madison, and Companies B, C and E, together with the
recruits then in camp belonging to the unorganized companies, to
Camp Utley, Racine, it being the duty of each detachment to act as
guards at the draft rendezvous then being established at these
posts. December 20th, the three companies at Camp Randall were
relieved by the Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and were
ordered to rejoin the battalion at Racine. Here, Companies G, H, I
and K were filled up, and mustered into the United States service
upon December 24th, 1862. The final and complete organization of the
regiment was not concluded until the 14th day of January, 1863. The
discipline and drill of this regiment, while in the State, were more
than usually strict and thorough. On the 1st day of March, 1863, the
regiment left the State.
It went to Cairo, Ill., by rail, and from thence to Columbus by
boat, where it was disembarked, assigned to the Sixth Division,
Sixteenth Army Corps, and quartered in Fort Halleek, which overlooks
Columbus. The regiment spent the summer at this point, furnishing
very heavy picket details, and guards for steamers bound for points
below. It also sent out scouting parties, which scoured the country
upon both sides of the river. These details frequently met and
skirmished with small bodies of guerillas. During the hot season,
the regiment lost heavily by sickness. At times more than one half
the men present were unfit for duty, and during the month of August,
the deaths were from four to eight per week.
Owing to the concentration of troops in the Department of the
Cumberland, the Thirty-first was, in September, ordered to proceed
from Columbus Ky., to Nashville, Tenn., by way of Cairo and
Centralia, Ill., Mitchell, MD., and Louisville, Ky. It left
Columbus on the 24th, and reached Nashville on the 27th of that
month. Here Colonel I. E. Mesamore, who brought the regiment from
the State, resigned, and Lieutenant Colonel Francis H. West was
commissioned Colonel, to fill the vacancy. October 5th, the regiment
marched to LaVergne, Tenn., sixteen miles south of Nashville, and
guarded the road at that point until the
25th of the same month, when it proceeded to Murfreesboro, sixteen
miles further south, and on the line of the Nashville and
Chattanooga Railroad. Companies B, G and K were detached from the
regiment, and stationed at the point where the railroad crossed
Stone River. They threw up fortifications, and guarded this
important bridge during the winter. April 2d, 1864, these companies
rejoined the regiment, which was still at Murfreesboro. During the
month, the Thirty-first was transferred to the Fourth Division,
Twentieth Army Corps, and on the 16th, it was broken up into
detachments, and posted at various points along the road, from
Murfreesboro south, a distance of over thirty miles, to Normandy,
Tenn. These detachments patrolled every portion of this distance
once each hour, day and night, while each guarded its own camp, and
threw up substantial fortifications. In addition to these duties,
the Thirty-first furnished a mounted company of sixty men, who
scouted the country for miles on each side of the railroad, thus
doing much valuable service.
Upon the 6th day of June, the regiment was ordered to consolidate
and proceed to Nashville. The entire command was assembled at
Murfreesboro on the 8th, and reached Nashville on the 10th of the
same month. Quarters were assigned them west of the Nashville and
Chattanooga Railroad, and it was ordered to furnish the patrol guard
necessary to preserve order within the city.
SIEGE OF
ATLANTA
July 5th, by order of General Sherman, the regiment was transferred
to the Third Brigade, First Division, Twentieth Army Corps, with
instructions to proceed to the front as soon as relieved. It left
Nashville on the 16th of July, and proceeded by rail to Marietta,
Georgia, reaching that place on the evening of the 19th of the same
month. While on the road, and near Kingston, Ga., one of the trains
ran off of the track, wounding two officers and killing one man, and
severely wounding ten others. On the morning of the 20th, the
regiment marched from Marietta, to join its command. Our battle line
was reached on the morning of July 21st.
On the second day following, the regiment moved with the army upon
Atlanta. Reaching the vicinity of the enemy's works, it was placed
in the front line, and assisted to throw up fortifications within a
quarter of a mile of the rebel defence Here it lay, constantly under
fire, until August 25th, when it took part in the movement of its
corps, back to the railroad bridge across the Chattahoochie, while
the rest of the army swung around to Jonesboro.
The casualties in the vicinity of Atlanta, from July 22d to the
close of the Atlanta campaign, were as follows, found in the
Adjutant General's records:
KILLED OR DIED OF WOUNDS.--Company D--Private Norman Sherwood. Company E--Sergeant Charles H. O. Bailey. Company G--Privates Francis Smith and Charles Jackson. Company H--
Corporal John Downs. Company I-- Privates L. W. Halloway and John Dibble. Company K-- Private John P Smith--8.
WOUNDED.-- Company A --Sergeant J. M. Strong. CompanyC--Privates Joseph Dochnell and F. K Bliss. Company, D-- Privates William Evans and M. Dunn. Company E-- Sergeant M. VunNorman. Company H--
Corporals W. H. Davis and H. Terharr. Company I--Private John H. Dollar. Ctmipaey K--Second Lieutenant Alex. F. Cook--l0.
BATTLE OF
AVERYSBORO
September 4th, its skirmishers were among the first to enter the
city, brushing out the few rebels still remaining. The next day, the
regiment moved within the fortifications, and was assigned quarters
within the city. In addition to the usual duties devolving upon
troops in an enemy's country, the regiment formed part of the guard,
at two different times, to accompany and protect forage trains, upon
the 16th day of October, and also on the 26th day of October, each
trip consuming four days. These expeditions were very laborious and
dangerous, but were a complete success, furnishing grain for the
famishing horses and mules of the army, and adding largely to the
scant rations of the men.
November 15th, the Twentieth Army Corps broke camp, and filed out
from the burning city, upon what proved to be the march to the sea.
The fatigues and dangers to which all were exposed, were endured by
the Thirty-first during the march through Georgia. However, nothing
of importance occurred to this regiment until December 9th, when
within ten miles of Savannah, the head of the First Division,
Twentieth Army Corps, (of which the Thirty-first was a part,) was
stopped by a body of the enemy, who held two small redoubts,
commanding the road. The Thirty-first Wisconsin and Sixty-first
Ohio, (the latter having less than 120 muskets,) were ordered to the
left of the road, with instructions to flank the position. They
struggled through a swamp, which the enemy had considered
impassable, and, in spite of a galling fire from the redoubts,
charged them, and carried them by storm, capturing the works and the
camp of the enemy, with all its equipage. The number of prisoners
taken was small. The loss to the Thirty-first was one man killed,
William D. Tanner, of Company F, and three wounded, one mortally,
Zachariah Wright, of Company K. General Jackson, commanding the
division, General Williams, commanding the corps, and General
Slocum, commanding the left wing of the army, each sent his
compliments to these two regiments, for this gallant exploit.
The regiment took part in the siege of Savannah, its division
occupying a position on the left of the line, next to the Savannah
River, and, after its capture, Was assigned quarters within the
fortifications. Here the men were reclothed and refitted.
On the 18th of January, 1865, the regiment crossed the Savannah
River at the city, and rejoined its division, which had crossed a
few days before, and then lay at Purisburg, S. C., twenty five miles
distant from Savannah.
It reached Purisburg on the evening of the 19th. The rain was
filling rapidly, and by morning, the whole country was
flooded. The entire command was water-bound at this point until the
28th of the same month. It is a singular fact that in the month of
January, 1779, General Lincoln, the commander of the Federal forces
in the advance upon Savannah, was water bound for nearly four weeks
at this same village--and this detention cost him the city, as the
British garrison was reinforced during the delay. Upon the 28th of
January, the water had subsided so that the corps was able again to
take the road. Up through South Carolina the regiment marched with
the rest of the army, doing its share of burning and destroying,
tearing up railroads and building corduroy, furnishing its
proportion of pickets and foragers, and aiding, when the
Thirty-first formed part of our advance, to drive back the enemy's
rear guard.
March 1st, the Thirty-first was in the advance upon Chesterfield.
The command marched seventeen miles in a steady rain, and drove a
battery of artillery, and Butler's division of rebel cavalry, out of
the village and across Thompson's Creek, before halting to rest.
March 16th, it was in the front line at the battle of Averysboro,
and was under fire from noon until dark of that day.
During the afternoon our line drove the enemy from three positions,
making in all, an advance of about one mile. The loss of the
Thirty-first in this action, was two killed and ten wounded:
KILLED OR DIED or Wøuus.-- Compamy, B--Private Charles E. Blaisdell.
Company B-- Private Samuel I. Barrington --2.
Woutwzn.--Company B--Corporal John S. Rood, Privates Levi Isiminger,
James McBride and George F. Shroyer. Company C--Private James Lord.
Company B--Fri. vaLe George J. Merriman. Company F-- Private Philip
Fisher. Company 0-- Lieutenant Edwin Cummins, Privates Albert
Reinhart and Urine Divan--la
March 19th, at the battle of Bentonville, the Thirty-first, with two
other regiments, was thrown to the front, unsupported. The enemy
flanked them on each side, and attacked them in front, doubled them
up and forced them back in confusion. The regiments retreated about
a quarter of a mile, when they reformed, and were supported on each
flank by other troops. They threw down a rail fence for a rifle pit
The enemy made five distinct charges on this portion of the line,
(composed of part of the Fourteenth and Twentieth Army Corps,) but
were each time driven back with great loss. When night came, the
Thirty-first was relieved, and sent back into the second line. The
enemy made no more attacks on this portion of the line. The loss of
the Thirty-first in this action, was ten killed, and forty-two
wounded.
The list of those killed or died of wounds, is taken from the
Adjutant General's records, and the list of wounded is as officially
pub1ished:
KILLED OR DIED OF WOUNDS.-- Company A--Private William O. Johnson.
Company B--Private Eli Shears. Company C--Sergeant Daniel Wickham,
Privates J. Rynarts and John T. Mabbett. Company E--Private Thomas J.
Taylor. Company G-- Private William Mansur. Company I--Privates
William M. Hawley and George F. Cromwell. Company K--Private
Robert M. Thomas--10.
WOUNDED.-- Company A -- Lieutenant George Lyman, Sergeants Edwin
Thompson and Gardner Stearnes, Privates George W. Newton, Joseph
Michael, Milton Jacobs, James Smithurst and Otis Stafrord. Company
B--Sergeant Charles A. Weed, Private Theophihis Case. Company
C--Corporal Henry Carter, Privates George H. Beaumont. A. R. Jeardoe
and James H. Graufell. Company D--Sergeant James A. Porter. Private
David Wright. Company B--Sergeants A. Cochran and John Richards,
Corporals A. C. Parkinson and A. B Helm,Privates Id. Bassert and A.
F. McDiarmid. Company 0--Sergeants James H. Seavey, James McQuillan
and James McKee, Privates Geo. Brillamore, Jacob Elmer, James Hall,
Alex. Hackwortb, George B. King, Charles Marks, William hiatt and
John Frankman. Company H-- Corporal J. T. Ewbank, Privates James
Belts, H. Goldner and George Mable. Company I--Privates Thomas
Crabtree, Thomas K. Dent and David H. West. Company K-- Corporal
William True, Private John Mischo--42.
Goldsboro was reached, and a permanent camp was pitched, on the
afternoon of the 24th of March. It was time that the men had rest,
food and clothing. They had been on the tramp sixty-five days,
twenty-three of which the rain fell without cessation; in many
cases, in spite of the cast off garments of the citizens, they were
not dressed with decency, about ten per cent. having made the last
two hundred miles barefooted, and often they had gone hungry for
twenty-four hours. At Goldsboro, the army was reclothed.
April 10th, the army was again in motion. This time, Raleigh, N. C.,
where Johnston's army lay, was the objective point. The Twentieth
Army Corps passed out eighteen miles beyond this city, in pursuit of
the rebel army, when it was stopped by the news of the surrender of
Johnston to General Sherman. It returned to Raleigh, and went into
camp near the city.
Grand
Review, Washington D. C.,
April 30th, the Twentieth Army Corps started for Washington. It
passed through Richmond, Vu., May 11th, and arrived at Alexandria,
May 20th. The Thirty-first took part in the Grand Review at
Washington, on the 24th of May. The same day, the camp of the
regiment was changed from near Alexandria, Va., to a point about
three miles east of Washington. About the 2nd day of June, 1865, the
regiment was transferred to the Temporary Division, Fourteenth Army
Corps, and ordered to Louisville, Ky. It left Washington, D. C.,
June 10th, and proceeded to Parkersburg, Va., by rail, and from
thence to Louisville by water. Here quarters were assigned to the
Thirty-first, five miles east of the city.
Six companies, from A to F, inclusive, were mustered out, to date
from June 20th, and left for Madison, Wis., June 21st. They were
paid off and went to their homes, July 8th, 1865.
The remaining companies, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
George D. Rogers, remained in camp at Louisville, Ky., until July
8th, when they were mustered out, and started for Madison, Wis.,
July 9th, reaching that place July 12th, and were paid off and
finally discharged, July 20th, 1865.
On the 18th of July, Captain Farlin Q. Ball was commissioned as
Major, vice H. B. Stevenson, resigned.
While at Washington, Colonel Francis H. West was brevetted Brigadier
General, for gallant and meritorious services, to date from the 19th
day of March, 1865, the day upon which the battle of Bentonville
occurred.
Re9irnental Staii3tics.-- Original strength, 878. Gain --by recruits
in 1863, 8, in 1864, 188, in 1865, 4; total, 1,078. Loss-- by death,
114; missing, 2; deserted, 52; transferred, 33;
discharged, 167; mustered out, 710.
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