At the time of the War Between the States the name of Colonel Sion S.
Bass was well known in Fort Wayne; today few citizens of the Summit City
recall his heroism. Only a bare outline of his life can be constructed
from the meager information available. Grace Leslie Dickerson,
grandniece of the Colonel, assembled most of the material for this
biographical sketch. Supplementary details were found in the Fort Wayne
newspapers of the Civil War years.
The Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen
County gratefully acknowledge the kindness of Mrs. Dickerson and other
members of the Bass family. This biography is presented in the hope that
the life and sacrifice of Colonel Bass, Civil War hero, will become more
familiar to his fellow citizens.
Not many years ago, the Fort Wayne post of the Grand Army of the
Republic was an active organization. Today that post, named for Sion S.
Bass, is no longer in existence. His name, as well as Civil War terms
like Shiloh, United States Volunteers, and Copperhead, has almost lost
its significance for the average citizen.
The honorable causes espoused and defended in the tragic Civil War were
championed by many men of heroic stature—men worthy of the unstinted
admiration and respect of each succeeding generation. These were the
soldiers who acquitted themselves honorably in fighting for the causes
they believed just. Colonel Sion St. Clair Bass, a successful young man
who could have avoided military service, was one of the many who gave
their lives in the struggle.
Colonel Bass was born on a farm near Salem, Kentucky, on January 6,
1827. He was descended from a line of early settlers in Virginia, the
Carolinas, and Kentucky. In 1805, at the age of three, Sion’s father had
been taken by his parents from Virginia to the wilderness of Christian
County, Kentucky. Sion’s mother, Jane Todd Bass, who had come with her
family from Charleston, South Carolina, was also an early pioneer in the
bluegrass country. In Kentucky, Sion’s father acquired large areas of
farmland and became prominent in local affairs.
The young Sion enjoyed a normal, happy childhood with his brothers, John
and Jerden, and his sister, Emily Jane. The children helped to till the
fields and performed their daily household chores. Their most exciting
diversions were holiday journeys to nearby Paducah where they could
watch the barges and steamboats on the Ohio and Tennessee rivers. The
children were educated in the schools of Kentucky. Sion, the eldest,
later attended Bartlett’s College of Commerce in Cincinnati.
After his graduation in February, 1849, Sion followed his mother’s
advice and came to Fort Wayne. Jane Bass believed that Fort Wayne,
already a thriving town, would offer good business opportunities for her
sons because of its favorable location at the confluence of the three
rivers. Chicago, she believed, would soon grow too large. In Fort Wayne,
Sion found employment with the great western fur traders, Ewing, Chute,
and Company, and soon became a trusted confidential agent of the firm.
In this position, he became acquainted at first hand with the dangers
and privations of frontier life.
Very little material can be found concerning his private life in Fort
Wayne. It is recorded, however, that he married Eliza Bayles, and that
they were the parents of two daughters, Georgia and Beverly. And we do
know that the young man was a devout member of the Episcopal Church.
In 1853 Sion became a member of Jones, Bass, and Company, which
manufactured iron products. In 1857 the firm was sold to the Pittsburgh,
Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad. In September of the same year, Sion
Bass formed a partnership with William H. Jones. The partners
established a new foundry and machine shop along the Pittsburgh, Fort
Wayne, and Chicago Railroad and the Wabash Railroad. In 1858 a
partnership, which had been formed by Edward Force and Sion’s brother
John, leased the plant. And the following year, the plant was sold to
the Fort Wayne Machine Works. The activities of Sion Bass cannot be
traced from the completion of the sale negotiations until the onset of
the War Between the States.
In 1861 the Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston
Harbor signaling the outbreak of bitter civil strife. Drafting of men
for military service was not practiced in the United States at that
time; both sides relied upon volunteers to fill their fighting ranks.
Sion Bass found himself in a dilemma; he was torn between his fond
attachment for the South, where he had spent his childhood and early
youth, and his loyalty to the North. Because of his southern background,
many Northerners did not trust him. Besides, he was the sole breadwinner
of his family; his wife and two children were wholly dependent upon him.
He could have refused to face the issue; he could have continued his
daily routine as a civilian in the North. But his firm conviction of the
moral wrong of slavery and his desire to fight for the Union overcame
all his reservations. In response to President Lincoln’s call for
volunteers, he enlisted in the Union Army.
On September 12, 1861, Sion Bass received his appointment as colonel of
the Thirtieth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, which was then being
recruited. By September 24, the quota for the regiment had been filled,
and the Thirtieth was organized at Camp Allen in Fort Wayne. Although he
was himself untrained for military service, Colonel Bass entered upon
the task of disciplining and training his raw recruits with such energy
and devotion to duty that he soon won the praise of his superior
officers.
[Illustration: _Georgia • Mrs. Eliza Bass • Beverly • Col. Sion S.
Bass_]
On October 2, the Thirtieth Indiana left Camp Allen and traveled to
Indianapolis by special train on the Wabash Railroad. The train stopped
en route at Peru, Indiana, where the ladies of the town met the regiment
at the depot and provided an excellent dinner. This act of kindness,
although not possible under the strict army regulations of our day, was
typical of the spirit of the times and was much appreciated by the
hungry soldiers.
The Thirtieth remained in camp at Indianapolis only for a few days.
During this time, the men underwent further training; arms, uniforms,
and accouterments were issued to them. The unit was then ordered to
proceed to Kentucky. On October 13, 1861, the regiment was assigned to
the Fifth Brigade, Second Division in General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of
the Ohio. For the next few months Colonel Bass and his Thirtieth Indiana
Regiment marched with Buell’s army but saw little action.
The anxiety which his family felt for him is shown in the following
letter written by his mother to her younger son John:
Salem, Lexington County, Kentucky
November 29, 1861
Dear Son,
It is with great pleasure I write you hoping to hear from you soon, as
I have not heard from you for months. I know not where your brother
is. I hope he is not in Columbus. We hear the firing of cannons every
day at Cairo, Columbus, Belmont, and several other places.
We have had no FORT WAYNE TIMES for two weeks till yesterday. It gave
an account of his being in Nevin, about the center of the state, where
I think he will be killed.
John, could you have no influence over him? Why did he go? What will
become of his little children? Buckner and he will come in contact
with each other soon, and what will be the event? God only knows. I
never expect to see him again.
Richard M. Ford was killed in the Battle of Belmont, six miles from
Columbus. I expect his wife is in Texas. Ford Sterling was killed at
Bowling Green. Mr. Pippen died the nineteenth of November, and you
heard of the death of Mr. Barker.
Beverly was here yesterday and says they are all well. Every person
has left Salem except for a few families. Your Pa says, “I have done
nothing in no way”; and he expects to stay at his home and do the best
he can.
All the ferryboats are sunk, and there is no way to cross the river.
The troops pass through Salem—the Northerners and the Southerners. I
am afraid of their meeting sometime in Salem.
This may be the last letter you ever will get from me. I expect the
mail will stop. Give my respects to Eliza and the children, and write
often. Let me hear from your brother if you ever hear again.