While the regiment lay at Ringgold, an order was received at
head-quarters authorizing the enlistment of veteran volunteers, to
serve for three years, or during the war, with the proviso that those
who had been in service for two years would be accepted, and none
others; and that each should receive a bounty of four hundred and two
dollars, and a thirty days furlough; and, also, that their old term of
service should expire, and their new term commence, on the day of
enlistment. Some fifteen or twenty re-enlisted immediately, and, after
returning to Whitesides, some two hundred and fifty others entered
their names for the veteran service. This, according to an act of the
War Department, constituted the Fifty-Ninth a veteran regiment. It,
therefore, now lost its identity as the Fifty-Ninth Regiment Illinois
Volunteers, and assumed the name of Fifty-Ninth Veteran Volunteer
Infantry Regiment of Illinois. The men were mustered on the 5th day of
January, 1864, as veterans, and, on the 13th of February, arrived at
Springfield, Illinois, to receive their promised furloughs. On their
arrival, Adjutant-General Fuller addressed to them the following
beautiful expression of welcome and regard:
"I congratulate you on your soldierly appearance, and the favorable
auspices under which you have returned to fill up your decimated ranks.
The liberal bounties offered by the Government, and the almost
universal liberal policy adopted by the several counties of the State
to aid and encourage enlistments, together with the high character
which your regiment has deservedly acquired, will, doubtless, attract
to your ranks hundreds of our patriotic and loyal young men who have
awaited the return of our veteran regiments to identify their destinies
and unite their fortunes with them.
"On the 21st of September, 1861, you took the field as undisciplined
recruits. You now return a regiment of veteran _volunteers_, and
as such are entitled to wear the badge of honor--the mark of
distinction--the evidence of recognition of your country for past
meritorious service.
"So great was the rush to arms in this State, in the early stages of
the rebellion, you were unable to obtain admission as the Ninth
Missouri. At that time our sister State of Missouri was undergoing the
throes of a revolution within her own borders, and nothing but the
strong arm of military power prevented her from throwing off her
allegiance to the General Government, and openly espousing the cause of
her enemies. Your services, and that of other Illinois regiments, did
much to rescue her from the abyss of ruin into which she was plunging.
"Though you went to the field, and have returned from it unheralded,
your history is not unknown, nor have your services been unnoticed.
Without disparagement to others, all of whom have done so well, I can
truly say that in no Illinois regiment has the State authorities and
the people of the State taken a stronger interest, or felt a greater
pride, than in the Fifty-Ninth. Why should they not? The rapidity of
your long marches, your patient endurance, and your daring dash in
battles, have rarely, if ever, been excelled. The Polish Lancers were
not more fleet, nor the French Hussars more daring, nor the English
veterans more unyielding, than you. And, while you have been making the
circuit of Western battle-fields, as this, the general officers under
whom you have served, testify of you.
"We hear of you on the 22d of September, 1861, embarking on transports
at St. Louis for Jefferson City. At Jefferson City on that day, we hear
of you at Otterville, on the 1st of October; at Syracuse on the 14th;
at Warsaw, on the 24th; crossing the Osage on the 25th; by forced
marches, at Springfield on the 3d of November; at Syracuse again on the
17th of November; at Lamoine Bridge preparing winter quarters, December
7th; at Lamoine Bridge again on the 15th; breaking camp again and
marching in mud, and rain, and snow, with scanty camp and garrison
equipage and half rations, for Lebanon; leaving Lebanon on the 10th of
February for Springfield, as a part of General Curtis' army, to fight
the rebels under Price, at that place. You arrive on the 13th, and find
the enemy fled; pursuing and fighting the rear guard, you bring him to
battle and fight and whip him at Dry Springs; crossing the Arkansas
line on the 19th; at Cross Hollows on the 22d; and at Pea Ridge, on the
7th and 8th of March, shoulder to shoulder, with the Twenty-Fifth,
Thirty-Seventh, Davidson's Battery, and other Illinois troops, you
fight and win one of the most stubborn and well-contested battles of
the war.
"Without rest after this terrible struggle, and the enemy leaving their
dead Generals behind, and fleeing across the Ozark Mountains, you leave
Pea Ridge on the 10th, and we hear of you at Cross Timbers, April 6th;
at Bull Creek, April 20th; at Sulphur Rock, May 10th; and at Cape
Girardeau, almost in sight of your homes, May 20th; en route to
reinforce General Halleck's army at Pittsburg Landing, stopping at
Paducah a short time, on the 24th; you hear from Governor Yates, who
there addressed you cheering words upon what had transpired while you
were in the "wilderness;" you proceed to Hamburg Landing, and
participate in the engagement of the 30th of that month. On the 3d of
June we again hear from you at Boonville, Miss., in pursuit of the
enemy; at Ripley, Miss., on the 30th; at Jacinto, Miss., on the 4th of
July; at Iuka, Ala., on the 15th of August; at Florence, on the 24th;
at Murfreesboro', September 2d; at Nashville, September 4th; at Bowling
Green, on the 17th; at Louisville, on the 26th; and entering the fight
at Perryville, on the 7th of October, with three hundred and sixty-one
men, and coming out of it with less than two-thirds that number.
"The distance actually marched, from the time you left Boonville, Mo.,
until you bivouacked at Franklin, Tenn., was two thousand five hundred
and forty-seven miles. With such a record of marches and counter
marches, of skirmishes and battles, you have indeed merited the
compliment paid you by one of your Generals, as the 'grey hound, or
fleet-footed fighting regiment of Illinois.'
"I have no time to dwell upon the honorable and brilliant part you bore
in the subsequent battles of Stone River, Chickamauga and Chattanooga.
Nine hundred and fifty-seven men have entered your regiment, at and
since its organization. Two hundred and sixty-seven have re-enlisted as
veterans. These figures tell the tale, and are more eloquent of your
praise than any words which I could utter. You will be furloughed for
thirty days, and at the expiration of that time, rendezvous here for
re-organization. The good people of Coles, Cumberland, Edgar, Greene,
Knox, Madison, McDonough, St. Clair and Warren, who have an especial
interest in your fame and welfare, will welcome you with loving words
and open arms. Return then, to families and friends, and receive a
soldier's welcome and your country's gratitude.
"But in your thankfulness to a kind Providence which has permitted you
to return to receive your children's love, your brother's friendship,
and your parent's blessings, forget not to console the bereaved.
Bleeding hearts await you to learn the last tidings of those who have
wasted away by disease, or been stricken down by your sides. Comfort
bereaved ones by the assurance that your fallen comrades maintained the
fair fame of a Union soldier while living, and died while manfully
battling for their country and their country's cause.
"General White, in whom I recognize a true gentleman, a gallant officer
and an old friend, and under whom you served on many long marches, and
at the memorable battle of Pea Ridge, I feel assured can not resist the
temptation to address his old comrades, now impatient to hear him."
General White then said: "Fellow soldiers of the Fifty-Ninth. The
language usually employed at the meeting of friends, does not express
the emotion experienced by me on this occasion. In you I recognize not
only patriots, who have devoted themselves to the rescue of our country
from the hands of traitors, but men with whom it was my fortune to
share the toils, privations and dangers of the soldiers' life in camp,
on the march and on the battle-field. The bond of affection thus
created is well known to officers and soldiers; and may it never be
broken."
After a few further remarks, the General retired and the men, on the
reception of their furloughs, dispersed to their beloved homes, until
duty again called them to the field.
On the departure of the "veterans" for Springfield, those who did not
re-enlist, to the number of eighty, were assigned to duty with the
Seventy-Fifth Illinois Regiment. Here they remained until the
Fifty-Ninth returned to the field, when they rejoined it and continued
in their old companies until their term of service terminated, which
was on the 6th day of September, 1864, three years and one month after
being mustered in at St. Louis. Their three years' service really
expired on the 6th day of August, but by some chicanery or other they
were compelled to serve one month beyond that time, and even then did
not get their discharge papers until about the 15th of September, being
kept in idleness and suspense for ten days after being relieved from
duty. The last month of their service, which was the month of their
conscription, was the most arduous and most dangerous of any during
their three years' servitude. It was the last month of General
Sherman's campaign against Atlanta. On the last day of their term of
service, the 6th of September, they made one of the most desperate
charges on the rebel line of works that had ever been made by any other
regiment during the campaign. Several of the veterans were killed and
many wounded; and one of the non-vets, Jacob Rader, of Company F, whose
term of service, according to an original act of the War Department,
had expired on the 24th of June, over two months previous, that being
the day of his enlistment, was severely if not mortally wounded.
Another one, James Rowsey, of the same company, was mortally wounded in
the head, and died in a few days afterwards. His term expired on the
6th of August, one month previous, but his life was sacrificed to the
unjust conscription now being practiced upon those who could not
consistently re-enlist as veterans. Whether this injustice was due to
any act of the War Department, or to the neglect or inhuman feelings of
the commanders in the army is left for others than the writer to
decide.
One Donathy, of Company K, also a non-veteran, was killed on the 4th
day of July, while making a charge on the enemy's lines. The remainder
of the non-veterans finally left the army on the 12th day of September,
and, after much difficulty and great risk, arrived at Louisville,
Kentucky, where they were paid, and received an honorable discharge,
and were now permitted to return to their homes. Long may they live to
enjoy the peace and comfort they so richly deserve! May their lives be
prolonged on the earth until the last enemy of the free institutions of
this glorious Union be called hence, to render up the final accounts to
Him who judgeth the quick and the dead.
"Cheers, cheers, for our heroes!
Not those who wear stars;
Not those who wear eagles,
And leaflets, and bars;
We know they are gallant,
And honor them too,
For bravely maintaining
The Red, White, and Blue!"
"But cheers for our soldiers,
Rough, wrinkled and brown;
The men who make heroes,
And ask no renown;
Unselfish, untiring,
Intrepid and true,
The bulwark surrounding
The Red, White, and Blue!"
"Our patriot soldiers!
When treason arose,
And Freedom's own children
Assailed her as foes;
When anarchy threatened
And order withdrew,
They rallied to rescue
The Red, White, and Blue!"
"Upholding our banner,
On many a field,
The doom of the traitor
They valiantly sealed;
And worn with the conflict,
Found vigor anew,
Where victory greeted
The Red, White, and Blue."
"Yet, loved ones have fallen--
And still when they sleep,
A sorrowing nation
Shall silently weep;
And Spring's fairest flowers,
In gratitude, strew,
O'er those who have cherished
The Red, White, and Blue!"
"But glory, immortal,
Is waiting them now,
And chaplets unfading
Shall bind every brow,
When called by the trumpet,
At Time's great review,
They stand, who defended
The Red, White, and Blue."
THE END.