FIRST CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEERS--THE
DRAFTS IN WELLS COUNTY--FI-
NANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS--REPRESENTATION
IN MEN--LIEUT.-COL.
WILLIAM SWAIM--LAST
BATTLE OF THE CIVIL WAR--MAJ. PETER
STUDABAKER--THE
HOME GUARDS--OFFICERS
AND PRIVATES WHO
DIED IN THE
CIVIL WAR--SOLDIERS OF THE WAR
OF 1812--THE LEW
DAILEY POST OF BLUFFTON--REUNION
OF THE FORTY-SEVENTH
REGIMENT--THE
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR--REGIMENTAL OFFICERS
--COMPANIES
E AND F, ONE HUNDRED SIXTIETH VOLUNTEER IN-
FANTRY--IN
THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY, ET AL.--CAPTAIN
DUNN
AND COMPANY A--VOLUNTEERS
AND DRAFTED MEN.
Wells is no exception to any other county or section of the state
which has ever had anything to do with an American war; it has risen
to the height of the occasion, whatever sacrifice was demanded in
vindication of individual conscience and the adjudged rights de-
pending upon its exercise. From the period of the Civil war of 1861-
65 to the World war of 1914--, its men and women, its boys and girls,
have never faltered in their stanch support of what they believed to
be right; and the greatest tribute which can be paid to the
patriotism of Wells County is to simply say that it has the American
spirit.
Following the day of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the fol-
lowing sixteen men of Wells County loaded themselves into wagons at
Bluffton and started for Fort Wayne: W. W. Angel, Samuel M. Karns,
Dwight Klinck, Samuel D. Silver, Phillip W. Silver, Jacob V. Kenagy,
John T. Cartwright, James A. Starbuck, George M. Burwell, Andrew J.
Barlow, Thomas J. Barlow, James A. Rounds, John C. Campbell, Isaac H.
Lefever, Robert J. Rogers and Isaac P. Wilmington. At the same time
Uriah Todd, another resident of the county, enlisted in Ohio.364
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 365
Throughout the war, there was no "slacking" on the part of Wells
County men. A typical section was known as the Glass school
district, two miles west of Ossian, which, with its twenty-two
families, sent fifty soldiers to the Civil war.
The draft was popular with many citizens who would not have
waited for its demands to join the ranks, but who believed that it
was the fairest way to levy upon the man power of the nation; and
their views have since been enthusiastically adopted by the most
democratic nation of the world. In October, 1862, the following were
drafted from the different townships of the county: Jackson, 18;
Chester, 19; Liberty, 2; Rock Creek, 6; Union, 17; Nottingham, 28;
Harrison, 19. Total, 109. Jefferson and Lancaster, having furnished
their full quotas, through their volunteers, escaped altogether.
The only other draft which operated in Wells County was that of
1864, in which eleven men altogether were selected. There was no open
resistance to the draft, or any other military measure enforced
during the war, although there undoubtedly existed in the county
treasonable organizations known as the Knights of the Golden Circle,
composed of sympathizers with the Confederate cause.
In these days of millions and billions raised for the support of
the "allies" and their "associate," the United States, the financial
statistics representing the contributions of Wells County to the
maintenance of the Union, do not appear especially imposing, but
considering the population of the county (about 11,000) and the
comparative wealth of the United States at that time, the
contributions of money were generous indeed. During the Civil war the
county paid $100,000 in bounties and the townships, $26,650; while
for the relief of soldiers' families, the county contributed $1,424,
and the townships, $10,000. Grand total for bounties and relief,
$138,074. Adams County, with a population of about 9,000, contributed
nearly $83,000. If anything, therefore, Wells "had it," a little on
its twin county.
Wells County was represented in a number of regimental units,
such as the Twelfth, Twenty-second, Thirtieth, Thirty-fourth, Forty-
366 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
seventh, Seventy-fifth, Eighty-ninth, One Hundred and First, One
Hundred and Thirtieth, One Hundred and Thirty-seventh, One Hundred
and Thirty-eighth and One Hundred and Fifty-third Infantry and the
Eleventh and Thirteenth Cavalry.
The Twelfth was a one-year regiment, was accepted for service
in May, 1861, and after its term had expired in connection with the
Army of the Shenandoah, it veteranized for three years, joined
Sherman's grand army, the fortunes of which it followed until
mustered out in June, 1865, only 270 strong. During its military
life it was commanded by Cols. John M. Wallace and William H. Link.
In July, 1861, the Twenty-second was organized at Madison,
Indiana, with Jefferson C. Davis, then a captain in the regular
army, as colonel. It was a three years' regiment and, after serving
in Southern Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee, it also was absorbed
by Sherman's command, and had the honor of enduring to the last.
The Thirtieth Regiment of Volunteer Infantry went into service
during September; 1861, marched, skirmished and fought in Kentucky,
Tennessee, Alabama and Texas, and remained in the last named state,
engaged in guard duty, until the Confederacy had long been a
government of the past. Its first colonel, Sion S. Bass, died at
Paducah, Kentucky, as the result of a severe wound, and he was
succeeded by Joseph B. Dodge.
The record of the Thirty-fourth was much the same. Its first
active engagement was at New Madrid, Missouri, in March, 1861; it
played a leading part in the capture of Island No.10, and in May,
1863, was in the engagement at Port Gibson, and in the battle of
Champion Hills, losing heavily in both. Among these severely
wounded in the latter action was Lieut.-Col. William Swaim, who
died as the result of his injuries on the 17th of June. His son,
James, was a member of Company A, of the Thirty-fourth, and served
until his musterout at Brownsville, Texas, February 4, 1866.
Lieutenant-Colonel Swaim was a carriage manufacturer in New
Jersey before he bought a farm near Ossian in 1857. He was en-
gaged in its cultivation and improvement when the Civil war aroused
him. He raised Company A from Ossian, Murray and Bluffton volun-
teers, and when the Thirty-fourth was organized he was elected its
captain. In February, 1862, he was promoted to be major of the regi-
ment and June 15th, a year before his death, was advanced to the
lieutenant-colonelcy. He was leading the regiment at Champion Hills,
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 367
May 16, 1863 when he received his death wound. He died from its
effects on the l7th of the following month, while aboard a
steamboat bound for the North. His remains were buried at Ossian
cemetery, and at the head of his grave stands a beautiful monument
erected to his memory by the officers of his regiment. On the 30th
of June, succeeding Colonel Swaim's death two weeks before, his
fellow officers had gathered to pass resolutions expressive of
their sense of loss on his death. Post No. 169 of Ossian was well
named in his honor.
James Swaim, the son mentioned above, resumed farming when
discharged from the service and subsequently became a justice of
the peace, school trustee and otherwise prominent in local public
affairs. He is also an old and leading Mason; an honored citizen of
Ossian, now in his seventy-third year.
After the death of Colonel Swaim the Thirty-fourth Regiment
participated in the siege of Vicksburg; was in the Banks
expedition; and returned to Texas to fight the last battle of the
Civil war. This occurred May 12-13, 1865 at Palmetto Ranche,
adjoining the old battlefield of Palo Alto, near the mouth of the
Rio Grande. With a battery of six field pieces, 250 of the
regiment drove 500 of the enemy mounted, a distance three miles in
three hours. The colonel David Branson, having received news of
the surrender of Kirby Smith, the last of the Confederate leaders
to hold out in the older states, gave the order to cease firing, as
he considered the Civil war closed. Not so the enemy; as he got
his gun in position and poured such a destructive fire into the
ranks if the Thirty-fourth as to cause a general withdrawal.
Colonel Bransom ordered Companies B and E to remain toward the
front as skirmishers to cover the retreat, but they were soon
surrounded and forced to surrender. The Thirty-fourth lost in
killed, wounded and captured, during this historic engagement,
eighty-four men. Thus the last battle of the Civil war was a
virtual defeat for the Union troops. It was witnessed by hundreds
of men perched in the rigging of eighty men-of-war and other
shipping moored at the mouth of the Rio Grande, as the hazy sun set
in a fading glamour behind the sandy hills on the western bank of
the great river.
After this last battle of the Civil war, the Thirty-fourth was or-
dered to various places in Texas and, as stated, was mustered out in
February, 1866. Besides Lieutenant-Colonel Swaim, the following of-
ficers were credited to Wells County: Maj. John L. Wilson, Maj.
368 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
Harrison L. Deam, Capts. William Wilmington and John Phipps, and
Lieuts. George Harter and Andrew C. Fulton. Three Harter brothers
served from Wells County. The lieutenant was discharged for
disability in 1864. Another brother, Andrew, who enlisted in
Company K, Seventy-fifth Regiment, was shot at Chickamauga, in
September, 1863, and Thomas, who took Andrew's place, died of
disease.
Although the Forty-seventh Regiment was a mixed command--that
is, no county or counties had a great preponderance of men in the
ranks—-a few volunteers went from Wells County and a full company
was raised in Adams. All the men were raised in the Eleventh
Congressional District. It was organized in the fall of 1862 and
served in the southwest; participated in the engagements at New
Madrid, Fort Pillow, Champion Hills and Vicksburg, in Bank's Red
River expedition and before Mobile.
The Seventy-fifth Infantry, also organized in the Eleventh Con-
gressional District, was mustered into service in August, 1862, with
John U. Pettit as colonel and a force of more than 1,000 men. With
the Eighty-seventh and One Hundred and Thirty-first regiments, it
composed the Indiana Brigade. It was the first to enter Tullahoma in
the following June, and in September it met with considerable losses
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 369
at Chickamauga. Then followed Missionary Ridge, the siege of At-
lanta, the march of Sherman to the sea, the progress through the
Carolinas and the grand review at Washington. Many men from Wells
County were in the Seventy-fifth, among whom were Capt. Sandford R.
Karns and Lieut. James A. Starbuck.
There were fewer men in the Eighty-ninth, but Adams County was
strongly represented, furnishing three full companies. It was still
another command raised in the patriotic Eleventh, and was mustered
into the Union service in August, 1862. The Eighty-ninth
participated in the operations around Memphis and Vicksburg, in
Northern Mississippi and in pursuit of Price through Missouri and
of Hood through Tennessee. It was in at the fall of Mobile, and was
finally mustered out of the service at that point in July, 1865.
The One Hundred and First Indiana Infantry claimed more of
Wells County men than any other regiment. In it were Major Peter
Studabaker, Dr. C. T. Melsheimer (assistant surgeon), Capt. Andrew
J. Barlow, Capt. George Lindsey, Lieut. William Miller and Lieut.
Simon Krewsen.
Major Studabaker was serving as county treasurer at Bluffton
when the war broke out and was active in organizing Company B, of
which he was commissioned captain in August, 1862. In June of the
following year he was promoted to be major. The regiment saw much
active service and was in most of the battles under General Thomas
in the Fourteenth Army Corps. In the battle of Chickamauga it was
the last to leave the field. At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain
Major Studabaker was wounded in the left foot, but while in the
service never lost a day from sickness or any other cause. After
the war he was mustered out with his men in June, 1865, and
returned to his farming, banking and public interests, fulfilling
the full expectations of those who had previously shown their
confidence in his stalwart abilities.
The One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, another regi-
mental unit drawn from the Eleventh Congressional District had not
a few representatives from Wells County who did their part in repell-
ing the furious Confederate charge at Resaca. They were also engaged
in the battles at Pine and Kenesaw mountains, the siege of Atlanta, at
Jonesboro and m the campaigns waged against Hood's forces near
Nashville. Finally, the regiment joined Sherman's army at Golds-
boro, and was mustered out of service in December, 1865 with 27
officers and 540 men. The officers from Wells County who served in
370 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
his regiment were Captains William H. Covert and James A. Millikin
and Lieut. John S. Campbell.
The One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Regiment, which had a number
of soldiers from Wells County in it, was mustered into the service
in May, 1864, for one hundred days. Under Edward J. Robinson, of
North Madison, as colonel, it exceeded its term, doing duty along
the lines of the railroads which supported Sherman in his advance
upon Atlanta.
The One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Infantry, under Col. James H.
Shannon, of LaPorte, was mustered in upon the same date as the
preceding and the nature of its service was similar.
The One Hundred and Fifty-third Infantry contained a full com-
pany of volunteers from Wells County--Company E of which Benjamin
F. Wiley, of Bluffton, was captain; John M. Henry, of Ossian, first
lieutenant, and Marvin W. Bennett, of the same place, second
lieutenant. It was a one-year regiment and left Indianapolis for
the front in March, 1865, being mustered out in the following
September after considerable skirmishing with the enemy and guard
duty at Louisville.
A number of men from Wells County joined both the Eleventh and
the Thirteenth Cavalry regiments. The Eleventh, known numerically
as the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Indiana Regiment, was fully
organized at Indianapolis, in March, 1864, and the command given to
Robert R. Stewart, formerly lieutenant colonel of the Second
Cavalry. It saw service in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and
Kansas.
The Thirteenth, the last cavalry organization to be raised in
the state, was the One Hundred and Thirty-first Regiment of
Volunteers. When fully organized in April, 1864, Gilbert M. L.
Johnson was its colonel. Both regiments served a portion of the
time as cavalry and a part of their term as dismounted infantry.
The last eight months of the military life of the Thirteenth,
however, was spent as cavalry, pure and simple. It was mustered out
at Vicksburg in November, 1865.
Besides the commands which went to the front with their various
quotas of Wells County men, the citizens at home, whose age or other
circumstances prevented them from accepting active military service,
formed organizations to meet any emergencies which might arise call-
ing for the protection of their firesides and families. Fortunately they
were not called out for such service, but at least two bodies of Home
Guards were ready and thus officered: Harrison Guards--captain,
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 371
Herod T. True, and first lieutenant, Picket P. Connett, of
Bluffton; Jefferson Guard--captain, James Gorrell, and first
lieutenant, John W. Todd, of Ossian.
OFFICERS AND PRIVATES WHO DIED IN THE CIVIL WAR
In 1885 the Bluffton Banner compiled a list of the Civil war
soldiers from Wells County who were killed in action or who died as
a result of wounds received and disease contracted during that
period. The officers who gave their lives: Lieut.-Col. William
Swain, Thirty fourth Infantry, buried at Ossian, First Lieut. J.
Sharpe Wisner, Company A, Forty seventh Infantry Bluffton, Second
Lieut. John B. Louis, Company A, Forty seventh Infantry, Bluffton,
First Lieut. Lewis W. Dailey, Company I, Twenty-second Infantry,
Murray; Second Lieut. Uriah Todd, Company K, Seventy-fifth
Infantry, Prospect; Capt. Sanford R. Karns, Company K, Seventy-
fifth Infantry, Bluffton; First Lieut. Simon Krewson, Company G,
One Hundred and First Infantry, Prospect; Second Lieut. Abe S.
Masterson, Company B, One Hundred and First Infantry, Six Mile;
Capt. James A. Millikin, Company F, One Hundred and Thirtieth
Infantry, Ossian. Total, 9 officers.
Casualties among the privates of the different commands: Thir-
teenth Regiment, 4; Thirty-fourth, 35; Forty-seventh, 37; Seventy-
fifth, 48; One Hundred and First, 53; One Hundred and Thirtieth,
14; scattering commands, 34. Total of officers and privates, 234.
In addition to the foregoing Civil war soldiers whose bodies
lie in Wells County cemeteries, are the remains of the following
who served in the War of 1812: James Jackson (Mendenhall Cemetery),
Henry Mossburg (Mossburg Cemetery), Rural Wright, Thomas Deaver,
William Griffey, David Miller and William Beasley.
THE LEW DAILEY POST OF BLUFFTON
Lew Dailey Post No. 33, G. A. R., of Bluffton, was named in honor
of Lewis W. Dailey, brother of Judge Joseph S. Dailey, who was only
nineteen years of age when he died as first lieutenant of Company I,
Twenty-second Infantry. Lieutenant Dailey was the first Wells
County soldier to be killed in the Civil war. He is buried at Murray
near the old family homestead in Lancaster Township. The Post was
372 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
organized October 6, 1881, by Gen. James R.. Carnahan, mustering
officer, of Indianapolis, with the following charter members: Capt.
E. Y. Sturgis, commander; William B. Miller, senior vice commander;
William II. Cover, junior vice commander; Levi L. Martz,
quartermaster; Dr. Andrew J. Gorrell, surgeon; Jacob J. Todd,
chaplain; George W. Louis, officer of the day; Samuel M. Karnes,
officer of the guard; F. N. Kellogg, adjutant; James W. Spake,
William S. Knapp, Jacob K. Oman, M. M. Justus, Thomas Sturgis,
Curtis Burgan, William T. McAfee, Hiram E. Grave, John North,
William L. Swan, H. Stejhamper, C. J. Kline and J. V. Kenagy. The
commanders of the Lew Dailey Post, in succession, have been as
follows: E. Y. Sturgis, 1882; James B. Plessinger, 1883-84; Jacob
K. Oman, 1885; Henry Stejhamper, 1886; Benjamin F. Fry, 1887-88; W.
H. Stevenson, 1889; John Wasson, 1890; James B. Plessinger, 1891;
Joseph L. Myers, 1892; Levi L. Martz, 1893; William J. McAfee and
John H. Vose, 1894; J. J. Todd, 1895; C. J. Kline, 1896; O. P.
Koontz, 1897; M. Morquart, 1898; H. Stejhamper, 1899; M. M. Justus,
1900; C. Warner, 1901; M, M. Justus, 1902; W. W. Angell, 1903; M.
M. Justus, 1904-06; James Chaddock, 1907; Jacob V. Kenagy, 1908; H.
C. Melick, 1909; John Wisner, Jr., 1910; J. C. Fulton, 1911; E. M.
Rinear, 1912; James Worster, 1913; Benjamin F. Plessinger, 1916;
John Kleinknight. 1917. Of the foregoing Messrs. James B.
Plessinger, John Wasson, J. J. Todd, C. J. Kline, O. P. Koontz,
James Chaddock, Jacob V. Kenagy, John Wisner, Jr., E. M. Rinear,
and James Worster are deceased, and up to October 24, 1917, the
Post had buried 176 of its comrades.
REUNION OF THE FORTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT
A noteworthy reunion of Civil war veterans from the old
Eleventh Congressional District who had joined the Forty-seventh
Regiment was held in Bluffton in August, 1917. Sixty-three members
chiefly residents of Whitley, Huntington, Wabash and Adams and
Wells counties, assembled in the little court room on the second
floor of the courthouse, where the arriving veterans presented
their credentials and were presented with badges. The forenoon was
given over to a heart reunion of "vets." and their families, and at
noon a dinner was served by the local Woman's Relief Corps. Capt.
William Henley was chosen president of the organization which is to
have charge of the thirty-sixth reunion at Wabash in 1918, and T.
B. Ayres, of Huntington, was named as secretary. Thus closed the
thirty-fifth reunion of the survivors of the Forty-seventh.
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 373
The Wells County companies which were identified with the
Spanish-American war were originally E and F of the Fourth
Regiment, Indiana National Guard. Company E was organized at
Bluffton on December 12 1890, and Company F at Ossian May 3, 1897
For service in the Spanish American war, the Fourth National Guard
of Indiana became the One Hundred and Sixtieth Volunteer Infantry
and was composed of companies also from Marion, Decatur, Lafayette,
Wabash, Columbia City, Warsaw, Tipton, Huntington, Anderson and
Logansport.
The regimental officers from Wells County comprised the
following: Lieut.-Col. William L Kiger, Bluffton; Quartermaster
Ransom Allen, Ossian, Battalion Adjutant Levi L. Martz,
Quartermaster Sergeant D. C. C. Kocher and Commissary Sergeant S.
E. Hitchcock all of Bluffton. Colonel Kiger had joined Company E
as captain in December 1890; was promoted to be major in April
1892, and lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Regiment Indiana
National Guard in August, 1895. He is still a resident of Bluffton,
in active business. Quartermaster Ransom was a Civil war veteran,
having served in Company A, Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry,
the later portion of his service as corporal. In July, 1896, he
was appointed quartermaster of the Fourth Indiana National Guard.
Adjutant Martz, who still resides at Bluffton, had also seen varied
service in the Civil war, in connection with the Thirty-fourth
Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He had been principal musician of his
company (A), sergeant and quartermaster, and was not mustered out
until February, 1866. Adjutant Martz entered the Fourth Regiment of
the National Guard as quartermaster sergeant in 1891 and was
appointed adjutant of the second battalion in May, 1892, holding
that position when mustered into the service of the United States
for the war with Spain.
COMPANIES E AND F, ONE HUNDRED SIXTIETH
VOLUNTEER INFANTRYThe Bluffton organization, Company E, arrived at Camp Mount,
Georgia, with other units of the regiment, April 26, 1898, when the
following officers were enrolled: Captain, Charles F. Brunn, Bluffton;
first lieutenant, Charles Pugh, Bluffton; second lieutenant, Henry
Johnson, Bluffton; first sergeant, H. Clyde Brown, Bluffton; quarter-
374 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
master sergeant, Lester A. Burgan, Bluffton; sergeants, Jacob
Britt, Bluffton, and Jacob M. Kress, Fort Wayne; John W. McCormick
and Samuel Pence, Bluffton; corporals, Orlando Bennett and Reuben
Bennett, William G. Jones, N. Frank Smith, Dillon Myers and Fred J.
Tangemann, all of Bluffton; musicians, Carl T. Hathaway and William
Stewart, of Warsaw; artificer, John A. Masterson, Bluffton;
wagoner, George W. Hart, Poneto.
Second Lieutenant Johnson and Sergeant Clyde succeeded Captain
Brunn in command of the company, and Lester A. Burgan followed[image]
COMPANY E LEAVING BLUFFTON
Charles Pugh as first lieutenant, serving until the muster-out of
the regiment April 25, 1899. Corp. Fred J. Tangemann succeeded
Henry Johnson as second lieutenant in January, 1899, the latter
having been commissioned captain a short time before. Of the 90 men
in the ranks of Company E, 71 were from Bluffton, 4 from
Montpelier, 4 from Pennville, 2 from Petroleum, 2 from Warren, and
scattering singles from Craigville, Vera Cruz, Murray, Poneto,
Elwood, Fiat and Domestic.
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 375
Company F mostly composed of Montpelier and Ossian men was as
stated, organized as a National Guard unit May 3, 1897 When
mustered into the United States service April 26 1898 it was
officered as follows: Captain, Elmer E. Derr; first lieutenant,
Floyd R. Wilson, second lieutenant, George M. Mills, first
sergeant, Stanley Allen; quartermaster sergeant, Levi A. Todd;
sergeants Lafayette Allen, Warner J. Deam, Wilson Hoopengardner and
Palmer O. Norris all of the foregoing but the last named being from
Ossian--Sergeant Norris of Roanoke; corporals, Harry W. Beatty,
Frank E. Foughty, Victor H. Beatty and Robert F. Tisron, all of
Ossian, as well as Frank L. Riley, of Sheldon, and Davis W.
Wolfcale, of Uniondale; musicians, Marion P Allen and Clyde Wagner,
of Ossian, artificer, Samuel Albertson, Ossian, wagoner, Franklin B
Snarr, Wells County. Of the 89 privates in Company F, 28 were from
Montpelier 21 from Ossian, 6 from Sheldon, 5 from Hartford City, 3
from Kingsland, 2 each from Tocsin, Prospect, Zanesville, Roanoke
and Poe, and one each from Uniondale, Warsaw, Marion and other
scattering places. There was virtually no change in the officers.
The men of Companies E and F, like other units of the One
Hundred and Sixtieth Regiment, were subjected to a thorough
physical examination before being mustered into the volunteer
service of the United States on May 12, 1898. The command left Camp
Mount May 16th and proceeded by rail to Camp Thomas, Chickamauga
Park, Georgia, arriving there two days afterward. Under orders to
proceed to Porto Rico, the regiment departed from Camp Thomas on
July 28th and arrived at Newport News, Virginia, on the 30th. As
the orders for Porto Rican service had been countermanded, its next
destination was Camp Hamilton, Lexington, Kentucky and it arrived
there on August 23d. It was at Columbus, Georgia, in November,
1898. On January 15, 1899, the regiment was ordered to proceed in
three sections, to Matanzas, Cuba, where it was reunited on January
27th and went into camp. There it remained until March 27th, ready
for action, but denied any experience of real Cuban warfare. On
the date named the men were ordered to proceed to Savannah,
Georgia, to prepare for muster out, which occurred at that city
April 25, 1899.
IN THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY, ET AL.
A number of the young men of Wells County volunteered to serve
in the war of 1917-18 (?) against Germany and the other Central
Powers of Europe.
376 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
In April Charles R. Dunn, of Bluffton, organized Company A, of
the Fourth Indiana National Guard, the members of which were
largely citizens of Decatur and Adams County. This being the case,
it was sworn into the service of the United States at Decatur in
August. Captain Dunn had served in the Spanish-American war as a
member of Company E, which had been organized in his home town. His
connection with the organization of the company is thus described
in the Decatur Evening Herald: "The history of Company A, Fourth
Indiana Infantry, starts on April 1, 1917, a few days after our
relations with the German Empire were broken off, when Capt.
Charles R. Dunn began soliciting for recruits for a new company.
After a short time he was joined in the work by Lieut. Robert
Patterson. It was also at about this time that it was decided to
have the headquarters of the new organization in this city
(Decatur).
"In a comparatively short time enough enlistments had been
secured to assure a company, and on April 25th, after the physical
examination was given by an officer designated for the purpose, the
boys were mustered in as Company A, Fourth Indiana National Guard.
The ceremony took place on the evening of April 27th, at the
Soldiers' Monument, in the presence of a large crowd, Maj. P A.
Davis, of Indianapolis, having charge. At the conclusion of this
service, an impressive and appropriate address was given by Hon.
Clark Lutz, of Decatur. Subsequent to the above event, Captain
Dunn and Lieutenant Peterson were given their respective
commissions by Governor Goodrich.
"On August 11th and 12th, the company was given its federal
inspection by Lieut. R. B. Moore. The results of the examination
were given out later, and showed that five had failed to pass, a
number very small in comparison with those of other companies in
the vicinity. Members who received their honorable discharges were
Dwight N. Archer and M. Richardin, of Bluffton; Robert Allspaw, of
Berne; George H. Sprague, of Monroe, and Frank Hower, of Decatur.
This brought the roster down to 109."
The Fourth Indiana Regiment was commanded by Col. Robert L.
Moorehead, of Indianapolis, who, during the Spanish-American war,
had served as a sergeant major in the One Hundred and Fifty-eighth
Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Subsequently, he rose to the rank of
major in the Second Indiana National Guard. Company A, with other
units of the regiment, went to Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg,
Mississippi.
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 377
In the first quota of volunteers the following boys went from
Wells County: Jefferson Brinneman, Liberty Center; Paul H. Cook,
Poneto; Charles Fryback, Richard Harden, Sherman Kumpf, Homer
Miller, Roscoe Stout and Medford Wynne, Bluffton.
Later came the series of drafts, with the result that, by
November 1917, the following were at Camp Shelby, distributed among
various commands of the National Army. From Bluffton--Clarence A.
Martin, Ray O. Vondersmith, Claude E. Zackmire, James H. Mason,
Otis V. Plank, David Eddington, Elwin B. Johnson, Charles E.
Grandlienard, George S. Studabaker, William H. Inskeep, William C.
Humerickhouse, Alphonso Vachon, John Groh, Earl E. Strohm, Emery L.
Cotton, John D. Helms, Gerald M. Dailey, Floyd E. Sands, Jesse
Brown, Urban M. Pence, C. B. Ratliff, Charles R. Sturgeon, Raymond
J. Tinsman, Hiram Lockwood, Grant S Hughes, True W. Shepherd,
Rudolph W. Borne, William E. Pennington, John A. Eversole, Harmon
F. Brubaker, Robert E. Nash, Oral Meyers, Vaughn Abshire, Gordon
Graham, Ray Gordon, Wayne Summers, Frank Wetrick and Manuel E.
Stinson. The seven last named were the first of the drafted boys
to leave for camp. The Ossian contingent comprised: Walter E.
Werling, William F. Meyer, Fred A. Heckman, Adolph H. Bauermeister,
Clarence A. Jackson, Charles M. Neuenschwander, Milo C. Vance
Wilson, Harold Travis, Benjamin F. H. King, Jerre Clark, Hubert
Cochran, Robert N. Wolf, Ora C. Toppin, Curtis E. Quackenbush; from
Markle--Ralph E. Allen, Harry King and B. E. Swaim; Petroleum--
Chauncy King, Forrest C. Johnson, John W. Fox, Lester Knigand, John
Shoemaker; Vera Cruz--Fred Heiniger, Albert Baumgardner, Harry
Heche and George Heiniger; Poneto--James H. Huffman, Otto C.
Cossairt, Arch S. Davis and Hugh Kindlesparger; Tocsin--Warren G.
Kleinknight, Craigville--Frank R. Diehl; Fort Wayne--Lloyd Moore;
Warren--Lawrence L. Beavans, Verl C. Ebert, Ray B. Clickand,
Lawrence Earhart; Uniondale--Frederick T. Rice, Detroit--Albert L.
Lewis, Montpelier--Guy A. Kilander, Ralph J. Carter and William E.
Riggs; Keystone--Cary E. Mounsey, Frederick D. Day and Edgar L.
Lowery; Liberty Center--Robert B. Moore, Kingsland--Carroll P.
Pursley. Up to the 15th of November, 1917 when the names were
published in the Bluffton papers, eighty-seven boys had been
selected through the drafts to represent Wells County in the
National Army.