Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley
as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
May 30, 1896
Chapter III
The draft riot, the first in the country, although bringing disgrace upon the
participants and upon the fair name of the county, was a blessing in disguise, for
the promptness with which the incipient rebellion was crushed and the draft finished
under the iron hand of the military power of the government, opened the eyes of thousands
of the deluded people, completely demoralized their leaders, and had a very salutary
effect. Thereafter there was no talk of resisting the orders of Uncle Sam, of whom
they ever after had a wholesome dread; if not respect; and they were more guarded
in giving voice to disloyal opinions, and in their abuse of their loyal neighbors.
It was about this time that the appropriate name of "Copperheads" was given
to the Northern men who, in an underhand, sneaking way, did their best to assist
the rebels and to dismember the Union.
Immediately after the rioters were disposed of, the draft was completed; and one
cold November day over 700 drafted men reported at Port Washington and were sent
on the steamer "Sea Bird" to Milwaukee, where they were quartered in Camp
Washbourne. These men were drafted for a term of nine months, but very few of them
served that time. Probably 80 or 100 of them enlisted for three years and joined
Wisconsin regiments then at the front, while 150 were assigned to the 34th Wisconsin,
a regiment made up entirely of drafted men. A few furnished substitutes and the remainder
of the 700 deserted, very few of whom were ever arrested. The 34th was sent to Columbus,
Ky., where it performed garrison duty, and at the end of its term of service was
mustered out. The 28th regiment remained at Port Washington until the drafted men
had been sent to Milwaukee, and everything had been quieted down, when it returned
to its camp near Milwaukee, and on December 20th left the state for the front.
In the first week of September, 1862, occurred the great Indian scare, but as that
part of the county's war record was given in a paper published in THE STAR in 1895,
I will pass it by.
The year 1863 was ushered in by President Lincoln's famous Emancipation Proclamation,
a document which was not given a warm reception in Ozaukee county, but which will
live in history for centuries to come. In May came the disaster to the Union army
at Chancelorsville, Va., but on the National's natal day came the glorious victories
at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, which set the whole North rejoicing. Recruiting in Ozaukee
County came to a standstill after these victories, as in fact it did throughout the
state, people thinking that the war was nearly ended, and for a few weeks no volunteers
would be accepted except for the regular army. But in September came the terrible
battle of Chicamauga, a Union defeat which told the North plainer than words that
the war had not ended. In this battle, and in the battle of Mission Ridge, the Ozaukee
boys in the 24th Wisconsin and other regiments fought heroically.
More calls came for troops, and the 35th Wisconsin infantry was organized. On its
rolls, distributed though several companies, we find the names of 53 boys from Ozaukee,
many of whom had served terms in the army earlier in the war. When in March, 1864,
Gen. Grant assumed command of all the armies of the Union, and Gen. Sherman succeeded
him in the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, great efforts were
made to refill the broken ranks for a final struggle, and Ozaukee sent volunteers
and drafted men to the front by the score, many being assigned to new regiments,
the 36th, 37th and 38th Wisconsin, and many others were sent to the old regiments.
The three regiments last named were soon rushed into heavy fighting in Virginia,
and a number of our Ozaukee boys were killed and wounded before they had been many
weeks from home.
Between 40 and 50 of our Ozaukee boys joined the 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery and
when the hundred-day regiments, the 39th, 40th and 41st Wisconsin, were organized,
a goodly number of Ozaukeeans were in their ranks. The 44th and 45th Wisconsin regiments
numbered nearly fifty recruits from Ozaukee on their rolls.
But in the meantime calls for more men came so thick and fast that in order to avoid
being drafted many of our citizens fled for parts unknown, a number sojourning in
Canada until the end of hostilities. Those who remained at home adopted various ways
and means to fill the quotas. In some towns a direct tax was levied on all taxable
property to offer bounties large enough to get the required number of men, but as
this method was a great injustice to taxpayers already in the service, or who had
sent all their sons to the front, it was defeated in some towns. Clubs were organized,
each member paying a large membership fee, and when any one was drafted from the
club, a sufficient amount would be taken from its treasury to buy a substitute. But
the members of some clubs were drafted in such rapid succession that the treasury
was soon empty, and the members had to face the music or disappear from the view
of their neighbors. A great many of our citizens traveled considerably in those days,
making pleasure (?) trips to the backwoods, or to Canada, or to Europe, and in the
last year of the war the female sex largely predominated in Ozaukee.
Go To Next Chapter
Back to Ozaukee County
in the Civil War Page
Back to Main Ozaukee County Page