Major Guido Ilges (1835-1918): Indian Wars Hero to Disgrace—Part 2

Remembering Our Civil War Heritage and Heroes:

1861-1865

Major Guido Ilges (1835-1918): Indian Wars Hero to Disgrace—Part 2

By Ken Robison

For The River Press

April 24, 2013

This continues a monthly series commemorating the 150^th Anniversary of the Civil War and the veterans that settled in Central Montana. This month concludes the adventures of Civil War hero Guido Ilges as he commanded Fort Benton Military Post during the Indian Wars Army before resigning in disgrace.

Many Civil War veterans served in the Indian Wars in frontier Montana. Among these was the colorful and popular Major Guido Ilges who like many German immigrants served in the Civil War and continued to make the Army a career after the war. Major Ilges served with distinction during the Civil War and the Montana Indian Wars, commanding the Fort Benton Military Post from 1875-79, only to fall victim to bad judgment, court martial, and disgrace.

Prussian-born Guido Joseph Julius Ilges (1835-1918) was a natural soldier and leader. During the Civil War he rose to the rank of Captain in the Union army, earning brevets to lieutenant colonel for gallantry in the Wilderness and at Spotsylvania. He remained a Captain in the 14^th Infantry Regiment after the war and served in the Southwest during the Apache Indian Wars. Stationed in Arizona, Capt. Ilges was active in scouting and operations against the hostile Apaches. In April 1867, Capt. Ilges led a scouting expedition against Apaches in the Tonto Basin and one year later fought at Cottonwood Springs.

In 1867 he rescued a seven-year-old boy named Ernest Amelung, who had been captured by the Apaches. Capt. Ilges adopted the boy as his ward, sending him to San Francisco to live with Ilge’s aunt until relatives could be located. Finally, an uncle was located near Frankfurt, Germany, and  Ernst was sent to live with him. About 1882, when Amelung was twenty-two, he returned to the United States, securing work as an interpreter in the War Department. He began a long search for the man who had saved his life, and finally found Ilges in 1912 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Promoted to Major, December 10, 1873, Ilges joined the 7^th Infantry Regiment under Col. John Gibbon in frontier Montana Territory. Assigned to command the Fort Benton Military District, Maj. Ilges became a popular and respected figure around that lively head of navigation town.

On September 25, 1877 with a depleted company from the 7^th Infantry and a strong mounted civilian volunteer column, Ilges fought the Nez Perce at Cow Creek Canyon, suffering light casualties. [See this author’s series “Facing Danger Down: Fort Benton Men in the Nez Perce War,” available online at fortbenton.blogspot.com]  In 1883 Ilges responded to an account of the Nez Perce War with which he took exception. In his letter to the Benton Record of August 12, 1883, Ilges wrote:

   “In justice to one enlisted man, Private Bundy, Company B, Seventh Infantry, and thirty-seven citizen volunteers under my command, I desire to say that this [Ilges’] column took up its line of march from Fort Benton at noon of the 21^st of September, 1877, crossing the Missouri at Fort Claggett, and reaching the opposite shore of Cow Island on the evening of September 24^th, six hours after the departure of the Nez Perces from that point and having traveled about two hundred miles; that this column on the morning of the following day (September 25^th) crossed the Missouri, followed the trail of the Nez Perces leading up Cow creek, overtook these Indians at noon and engaged in a battle of two hours’ duration with them, during which one volunteer and several Indians were killed; that during the following night I dispatched two of my volunteers, Charles Bucknam and William Gantes, as couriers to General Miles, paying them for their dangerous service the sum of $300; that these two couriers delivered my letter of information as to the whereabouts of the Nez Perces on September 26^th to General Miles, who was then operating on the eastern slope of the Little Rockies, and that they conducted as guides Gen’l Miles and his command to Snake creek, where the final capture took place after five days’ severe fighting.

   “Although these services rendered by my command have for some unaccountable reason never been publicly recognized, either officially or otherwise, I hold in my possession a private note from Gen. Miles of subsequent date, in which he acknowledges the receipt of my information and service rendered, of which he made such good use.

   “In justice to my independent command, I claim that the same discovered the trail of the Nez Perces, after evading the different commands in pursuit, and the exact location of their crossing of the Missouri; that it relieved the dangerous position of Fort Claggett; that it saved by its prompt advance and pursuit two steamboats (then near Cow Island) and over one hundred tons of Government freight; that harassed, fought and delayed the Nez Perces for about two days, and that it furnished the information to General Miles which rendered final success probable and even possible. Guido Ilges Lieut. Col. 18^th Infantry.” 

While Ilges exaggerated the impact of his small Army and civilian force, no doubt their greatest contributions were delaying the movement of the Nez Perces to safety and the intelligence delivered by scouts Bucknum and Gantes to Col. Nelson Miles.

National interest and newspaper coverage of Montana’s Indian Wars of 1876-78 was intense. On June 2, 1878 the New York Times headlined, “An Indian War Threatened. News From Sitting Bull—Hostile Demonstrations—A Speech From the Old Chief—Runners Dispatched to Arouse the Northern Tribes.

   “Special Dispatch to the New York Times. Chicago, June 1.—Some interesting intelligence concerning the movements of the Indians in the North-western Dominion has just been received at military head-quarters in this city. Under date of about a month ago Major Guido Ilges, commanding a detachment of the Seventh Infantry, stationed at Fort Benton, Montana, reports to Gen. Sheridan that from reliable information at hand he is convinced that the hostile Sioux under Sitting Bull, encamped at the eastern extreme of the Cypress Hills, British America, design an early excursion southward for scalps and plunder. The officer [Ilges] states that the situation seems to him so serious that he felt it to be his duty to bring it to the notice of the proper authorities. At that time he claimed that there were encamped at the place designated about 1,400 lodges, at least 2,000 of the dwellers in which were warriors. Only a short time prior Major Ilges had been told by Major Irvine, commanding officer [of the North West Mounted Police] at Fort Walsh, that there was no dependence to be placed on the peaceable professions of the Indians under Sitting Bull. Their demeanor was overbearing and defiant, and they were mistrusted by the Canadian authorities. Major Irvine had also said that he regarded the outlook as of so grave a nature that he was in favor of removing Fort Walsh to a more suitable site for defensive purposes.

   “Major Ilges also reported information to the effect that the hostiles had assembled at Sitting Bull’s camp on a certain day, and were harangued for several hours by that chief. Some 20 or 30 young bucks dressed in blouses and pantaloons stripped, from dead soldiers on the Custer battle-field, were paraded for the purpose of exciting a war feeling. Old Sitting Bull told the assembled warriors that he had fled from the Yellowstone country because he wanted to, and not because he was afraid of the whites. He said he could not live there for the stench arising from the dead bodies of the soldiers he had slain. He longed for fresh air, and crossed the line expecting to find the true sons of the mother chief, but instead, he added, he had found only Canadians, snakes, and crabs, and they had all lied to him. He boasted that when the grass grew he would “make the Canadians weep,” after which they would retreat to the Yellowstone.

   “During the delivery of these remarks Sitting Bull became so excited that he removed the clothing which he wore, and tore it into shreds, this performance being wildly applauded by the thousands of bucks and squaws present. This was followed by a war-dance, and on the next day runners were dispatched to all the neighboring tribes both north and south of the line, inviting them to a grand council to be held early in May. Word was sent by the hostiles to the [Metis and Cree] half-breeds on Milk River, warning them of the coming danger, and the latter fled in dismay.

   “In a communication of a later date, Major Ilges reports to Gen. Sheridan information gathered while making an inspection of the soldiers’ graves at Snake Creek. At Old Fort Belknap he learned that the Gros Ventres and Assiniboines had accepted Sitting Bull’s invitation, and had nearly all gone to the Cypress. A few lodges had refused to go, and were encamped at Sweet Grass Hills. Major Ilges reported that they have certainly crossed the line, and for no good purpose. The half-breeds, with the exception of three families, had all fled from Milk River Valley before Major Ilges reached there. They were fearful that the Sioux would murder them. The American half-breeds, some 42 families, had fled South, while the other 65 families, whose nativity is unknown, had gone north to the neighborhood of Fort Walsh.”

By the summer of 1878, the Third Infantry Regiment had relieved the Seventh at Fort Shaw and Fort Benton. On October 22, Maj. Ilges used his Fort Benton based Third Infantry Company to capture a camp of 35 Metis from the Red River in Canada, and returned them northward across the border. 

In December 1879 Maj. Ilges transferred to the Fifth Infantry at Fort Keogh, near today’s Miles City. One year later with five companies from his new regiment, he moved through bitter winter weather from Fort Keogh to Camp Poplar on the Missouri River. On January 2, 1881 with about 300 officers and men, Maj. Ilges attacked a strong camp of Sioux on the north side of the Missouri River, killing eight and forcing about 300 to surrender. One week later some 20 additional Sioux were captured, and on the 29^th of January 64 more were taken, without casualties to the U.S. Army troops except for many cases of frostbite because of the bitterly cold weather. Among the captured Sioux were warriors Gall and Iron Dog who had participated in the Custer defeat on the Little Big Horn River five years earlier. Continuing to pursue the hostile Sioux, Maj. Ilges arrested 185 in a Yankton camp at Redwater, Mont. on February 12, 1881. One year later on February 6, 1882, Ilges was promoted Lieutenant Colonel of the 18^th Infantry.

In 1883 Lt. Col. Ilges found himself with financial problems and was charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman and in violation of the 61^st article of war for depositing duplicate pay accounts. Col. Ilges pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, and was court martialed. His trial was conducted in St. Paul from 17-20 July.

Col. Ilges admitted his errors, but denied any intent to defraud anyone, stating in his address to the court:

   “Has this act on my part, under the circumstances shown, rendered me a fit subject to be branded by you as a felon; to be hurled from the high position of an officer and a gentleman to the level of a criminal, to be loathed and shunned by honest men? I think not! . . . I am compelled to come to you, not asking for mercy, but for simple justice to preserve for me my standing as an officer and a gentleman . . . You will rather remember some good act of my life and my twenty-two years of faithful and hard service to the country in determining as to my intent.”

Despite his eloquent protestation, the court found Lt. Col. Ilges guilty of financial irregularities, although no dishonesty was involved. The court recommended his dismissal from the Army. President Chester A. Arthur approved the recommendation, and on October 31, 1883 Guido Ilges was cast out of the Army.

Ilges’ friends in Fort Benton rose to his defense. The Benton Record of October 27 editorialized, “We cannot allude to the recent action of the President in approving the sentence by which Lieutenant-Colonel Ilges was dismissed from the army, without emotions of grief and indignation. . . Col. Ilges had climbed too high upon the military ladder for a man who was without family influence. His sole claim to preferment was, that for long years he had undergone all the privations attendant upon early campaigning in this country; that he had conducted the most successful campaigns ever made against the Indians in this country; that he had furnished information which made it possible for Miles to capture Chief Joseph; that his energy was unequalled and his bravery unsurpassed; that no man in this country who ever knew him did not recognize in him the brave soldier, the courteous gentlemen, the steadfast friend.”

The Record kept up the drumbeat of support in its news columns, “Just how much sympathy is felt for Colonel Ilges, the gallant officer whose unjust sentence has been referred to in these columns, among the men he had commanded so long, may be judged from this incident: When Troops B and K, of the Second Cavalry, left Assinnaboine last week, and were marching by the Colonel’s headquarters, the band involuntarily wheeled about and played with spirit the grand old tune, ‘Hail to the Chief.’ Every soldier in the ranks drew up his horse and burst into cheers over the pretty compliment paid the man they all so much admired and then in silence rode away. That Colonel Ilges fully appreciated the mark of respect cannot be doubted. In fact, he was completely broken down and was forced to retire. There will never be a man in the army who can obtain such a hold upon his men as Colonel Ilges has today and the sentence which deprives him of his position also deprives the government of one of the best officers that ever entered the service.”

After the crushing blow of dismissal, Ilges traveled around Montana speaking of the Apache Wars and his other experiences to enthusiastic and supportive audiences.

Eventually, civilian Guido Ilges settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, and began working for German-language newspapers there. For eighteen years Ilges worked as a journalist in Cincinnati and then another thirteen years as a weight master at a hay market.

In March 1905 a Cincinnati reporter visited the old soldier just as he was celebrating his 67^th birthday. The journalist described his visit with Guido Ilges, “The tall [6 feet two inches], commanding form of this distinguished old soldier looms up into the cupola of the little shanty when he rises from the little old desk where he keeps his accounts and at the side of which he adjusts the balance for the loads of hay and other produce and all sorts of things needing certified weighings. The bronze of many campaigns during the great Civil War and of many marches against Apache and Uncapapa Sioux clings to his face and reminds one immediately of the Indians, against whom he marched and fought for many years.

By 1917 Ilges was crippled from war wounds, nearly blind, and almost destitute. As a last resort to avoid the poorhouse, he applied for a pension based on his Civil War service, rising from Private to brevet Lt. Col. After a lengthy delay, his pension was granted finally for thirty dollars per month. Yet, Civil War hero Lt. Col. Guido Ilges never cashed his first pension check—he died Jan 13, 1918 a few days before it arrived.

[Sources: Benton Record; 12 Aug 1883, 27 Oct 1883; Washington Evening Star 19 April, 26 April 1861; Unident Cincinnati Newspaper 19 Mar 1905; New York Times 2 Jun 1878; Civil War Service Records; Official Report 146, War of the Rebellion; U.S. Census 1860-1910; Byron Farwell. Encyclopedia of 19^th Century Land Warfare. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001, p. 415; Guy V. Henry. Military record of civilian appointments in the United States Army, 347-48; Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography, vol. 2; http://www.guilfordgreys.com/14th_US-Regiment_and_Battles.htm ]

Photos:

1.     Major Guido Ilges in the center of his men of the 5^th Infantry Regiment. (Courtesy of OHRC)

Life and Death on the Upper Missouri: The Frontier Sketches of Johnny Healy

My new book is published! Its available on Amazon.com right now and I'll have copies next week. Ole Johnny Healy blazed quite a trail across the early northwest . . . and he was a great Irish storyteller. Enjoy!

Johnny Healy's sparkling commentary about life on the Upper Missouri in the 1860s and 70s appeared as a series of Frontier Sketches in his newspaper, the Benton Record, northern Montana's first newspaper. Healy's Sketches are presented here for the first time in book form. John J. Healy, an Irish immigrant lived life on the edge. He blazed a wide swath across the Upper Missouri frontier as a miner, Indian trader and fighter, politician, merchant, and sheriff. He sought adventure first, fortune second, all the while recording his escapades with a unique blend of color and historical accuracy. Here is Johnny Healy, a master story-teller at his best! 

Born in Cork, Ireland in 1837, John Jerome Healy immigrated to the U.S. and joined the Army's Second Dragoons during the Mormon Campaign in 1858. Discharged from the Army in 1860 just before the Civil War, Healy joined an emigrant train en route Oregon. Fighting off native Indian raids, Healy gained "gold fever" and stampeded to the new Idaho gold fields. His party struck gold at Florence, yet Healy continued to seek adventure more than riches. 

For the next quarter century Johnny Healy centered his adventures on the Upper Missouri River. There he established a robe trading post at Sun River Crossing and began to acquire the money he needed to move across the Canadian border to challenge the mighty Hudson Bay Company. It was at Healy's Trading Post in 1867 that Acting Governor Thomas Francis Meagher spent his last days before riding on to his death at Fort Benton, falling, jumping or being pushed off a steamboat never to be seen again. By 1869, Healy had the money he needed to built a major trading post, Fort Whoop-Up, near today's Lethbridge, and with other Free Traders from Fort Benton began to dominate the robe trade, often using whisky to "sweeten the pot" for the native bison robe trade just as the Hudson Bay Company had used rum for the same purpose. In reaction, the Canadians formed the North West Mounted Police and move this new force into western Canada to shut down the American traders with Johnny Healy their premier target. 

By 1874 Healy withdrew from Canadian territory to relocate to Fort Benton where he operated as a government scout in the Nez Perce War and led General Alfred Terry across the Canadian border for a fateful meeting with the Sioux and Sitting Bull at Fort Walsh. Healy was named Sheriff of massive historic Choteau County which extended from the Rocky Mountain Front eastward to the Little Rockies and from the Judith Basin northward to the Canadian border. He served with distinction as Sheriff for most of the eight years. Throughout the Fort Benton years Healy joined a large contingent of Irish Fenians who kept life at the head of navigation lively at all times. Healy's Frontier Sketches record many of his lively adventures and those of his friends. He presents the most compete record of the violent years between Blackfoot and white settlers from 1865-70, culminating in the murder of legendary fur trader Malcolm Clarke and the retaliatory Marias Massacre. Healy records many of the conflicts initiated by the Sioux as they were forced westward into Montana Territory along the Missouri River. 

My book presents for the first time all fifty Frontier Sketches by Johnny Healy together with a series of important stories written by him about the Nez Perce War and other adventures. Throughout these stories Johnny Healy proves to be a master story-teller. His historically accurate tales are illustrated with many photographs and images together with introductory text and endnote documentation by the editor. History is best told through story telling, and few told the history of the early Northwest better than Johnny Healy. He walked, rode, scrapped, and fought, and wrote boldly as he blazed a trail across the region.

Major Guido Ilges (1835-1918): Civil War Glory Years—Part 1

Remembering Our Civil War Heritage and Heroes:

1861-1865

Major Guido Ilges (1835-1918): Civil War Glory Years—Part 1

By Ken Robison

For The River Press

February 27, 2013

This continues a monthly series commemorating the 150^th Anniversary of the Civil War and the veterans that settled in Central Montana. This month features Civil War veteran Guido Ilges, who rose from private to Lieutenant Colonel in the Civil War, and was revered in the Indian Wars Army before resigning in disgrace.

Many Civil War veterans served in the Indian Wars in frontier Montana. Among these was the colorful and popular Major Guido Ilges who like many German immigrants served in the Civil War and continued to make the Army a career after the war. Major Ilges served with distinction during the Civil War and the Montana Indian Wars, commanding the Fort Benton Military Post from 1875-79, only to fall victim to bad judgment, court martial, and disgrace.

Born at Ahrweiler, Coblenz, Prussia on Nov. 10, 1835, Guido Joseph Julius Ilges immigrated to America when he was twenty years of age. After practicing law at Vincennes, Indiana before the Civil War, Ilges joined the Frontier Guard as a private in April 1861 in the early days of the Civil War. Newly elected Kansas Senator and General James H. Lane raised the Frontier Guard to protect the White House in the chaotic early days of the war when southern sympathizers in and around Washington, D. C. threatened President Abraham Lincoln and the capital.

At that time there was no Secret Service and very few Union troops stationed in Washington so Gen. Lane responded to the danger by raising loyal troops from Kansas and Illinois men living near Washington. The government accepted Lane’s volunteer Frontier Guard to protect the White House. On April 19, a few days after the Guard was formed, the Washington Evening Star reported:

   “Beside the regular guard which has been stationed in the vicinity of the President’s house for some time, a guard of sixty under the command of Gen. James H. Lane, of Kansas, occupied the east room and slept upon their arms last night. This company has been organized but a day or two, yet a large force is already enrolled, and the corps increasing rapidly. Late in the evening the President attempted to enter the east room, but as the sentinel at the door had received orders to admit no one without the countersign, Mr. Lincoln was forced to beat a retreat, to the no small amusement of the company . . . This company goes on duty at the Executive Mansion every night at 8:30 o’clock and will continue to guard the White House until there is no danger of an attack upon the city.”

A week later on April 27 the Evening Star reported: “The Frontier Guard, commanded by General Lane, who have been stationed during the past week in the neighborhood of the Executive Mansion, waited upon the President yesterday afternoon in a body, at the White House. They formed at General Lane’s headquarters, Willard’s Hotel, numbering 120 men and marched thither, making a formidable appearance. They were ushered into the east room where they formed in line, and upon the entrance of the President was introduced by their commander.”

Private Ilges’ conduct of his duties with the Guard attracted the personal attention of Lincoln, and the President took occasion to appoint him a Captain. On May 14, 1861 Guido Ilges left the Frontier Guard to accept his commission as Captain in the 14^th U.S. Infantry Regiment, one of nine regular Army units newly formed as part of the Army’s rapid buildup as the Civil War began. Captain Ilges served with the legendary 14^th U. S. Infantry Regiment during the first three years of the war, earning brevets to Major for gallantry in the Wilderness and to Lieutenant Colonel for gallant and meritorious service at Spotsylvania.

Captain Guido Ilges saw action in many of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. He was engaged in the siege of Yorktown, battles of Gaines' Mill, Charles City Cross-Roads, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Chancellorsville, action against the “Gray Ghost” John S. Mosby at Ewell's Chapel, battles of Gettysburg and Rappahannock Station, operations at Mine Run, battles of the Wilderness (when he was wounded), Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania (when Ilges commanded the regiment), North Anna, and Petersburg, Virginia.

The 14^th U.S. Infantry Regiment compiled a distinguished record during the war. Its ranking Captain, John “Paddy” O’Connell, who often led the 14^th into battle, once said, “I would take the 14^th to the very gates of Hell, but I want a chance to whip the Devil when I get there.”

The Peninsula Campaign. In time for The Peninsula Campaign in late June 1862, the 14^th Infantry was assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, Fifth Corps under Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter. In the bloody battle at Gaines Mill on June 27, Capt. Paddy O’Connell reported on the action of the 14^th: “I . . . took my position on the right of the 12^th Infantry near the woods, just below the house near Edwards’ battery. From this point the battalion received a severe fire from the woods, which was turned by the battalion, slowly retiring in good order to the lane near the house referred to, where it took up and held a position until the troops were drawn from the field. During this engagement five officers,  - Captain McIntosh, Lieutenants Sinclair, McElhone, Lyon and Hoover – were wounded, the last three badly. Eighteen enlisted men were killed, 113 wounded, and 12 missing. The list of killed is probably greater than here stated. The officers and men behaved well. At night [we] crossed the Chickahominy and encamped on the ground that had been occupied by the general headquarters near Savage Station.”

Second Bull Run. At the Second Battle of Bull Bun August 29-30, 1862, Captain Ilges’ 14^th Infantry again assigned to Porter’s Fifth Army Corps, fought well. Their action was reported, “On the very ground which [Gen. Stonewall] Jackson had held in his first battle the best troops of the Federal army were rapidly assembling. Here were [Second Division with the 14^th Infantry, Brig. Gen. George] Sykes’ regulars and Reynolds’ Pennsylvanians; where the woods permitted batteries were established; and Porter’s Fifth Army Corps, who at Gaines’ Mill and Malvern Hill had proved such stubborn fighters, opposed a strong front once more to their persistent foes . . . As the attack was pressed the resistance of the federals grew more stubborn, and before long the Confederate formation lost its strength . . . The conviction that the battle was lost was no longer a signal for ‘the thinking bayonets’ to make certain of their individual safety; and the regulars, for the second time on the same field, provided a strong nucleus of resistance.”

Antietam. Just weeks later, September 16-17, 1862 at the decisive Battle of Antietam, the 14^th Infantry Regiment and its Second Division under Brig. Gen. George Sykes were in the eye of the storm. At Antietam Captain Ilges commanded Company E, First Battalion, 14^th Infantry. Historian Brian Downey wrote, “Few military organizations find themselves on the precise spot, at the precise moment, to be a trigger to war’s conclusion. For Brigadier General George Sykes’ 2^nd (Regular) Division, Fifth Army Corps, one such golden opportunity came at Antietam.” Of course, the war did not end at Antietam, but this lost battle for the Confederacy proved in many ways the high water mark.

After Antietam, First Battalion commander Capt. W. Harvey Brown reported:

   “The battalion was first posted in line of battle at 6 p.m. on the 15^th [Sept.], on the left of the Second Battalion, Fourteenth Infantry, and in rear of the Second Battalion of the Twelfth Infantry. In this position I bivouacked.

   September 16, occupied the same ground under heavy artillery fire for several hours, and remained in this position all day.

   September 17, occupied the same ground under very heavy fire until 3 p.m., at which time I received orders to cross the Antietam Creek in company with the Fourth Infantry . . .

   I then continued up the road nearly 1 mile towards Sharpsburg, under heavy artillery fire and musketry firing from the enemy’s sharpshooters. At this place the Fourth Infantry were deployed as skirmishers, and I received orders to hold the battalion in reserve near a wagon road which crossed said pike about 1 mile from the position I had occupied during the early part of the day.”

Ewell’s Chapell. The next spring, acting on good intelligence Gen. George Meade ordered a trap set at Ewell’s Chapell in Prince William County for Confederate Major John S. Mosby and his partisan rangers. Mosby, known as “the Gray Ghost,” and his rangers of the 43^rd Battalion, 1^st Virginia Cavalry, were noted for their lightning quick raids behind Union lines. On the morning of June 22, 1863 a 30-man detachment of the 17^th Pennsylvania Cavalry was exposed as bait, while Company E with 100 men, 14^th U.S. Infantry commanded by Captain Ilges hid in the rear of Ewell’s Chapel and along a farm lane that entered the Old Carolina Road near the chapel. As Mosby and about 25 men passed through the Ewell Farm, they saw the Union cavalry and attacked. The trap had worked, but the concealed 14^th Infantry found half their weapons failed to fire because of damp and rainy conditions and delivered such poorly directed fire as the rebels approached the chapel that Mosby and his men quickly scattered, suffering only three wounded. While Union forces suffered just a single casualty, the trap had failed, causing Gen. Meade to lament that they had failed the “Prettiest chance . . . to dispose of Mr. Mosby.”

Gettysburg. The eight companies of the 14^th U.S. Infantry, commanded by Captain Grotius R. Giddings, arrived near Gettysburg on the morning of July 2 and took position with the rest of the First Brigade, Second Division, Fifth Corps near Twelfth Corps on the right. They moved with the Division from the right to the left of the line and at 5 p.m. with the Brigade moved across Plum Run near Little Round Top and supported the Second Brigade in its advance to the crest of the rocky wooded hill beyond and facing left engaged the enemy. The 14th retired under a heavy fire on both flanks and from the rear after the Confederates had possession of the Wheatfield in the rear of the Brigade and went into position on Little Round Top. The 14^th remained in the same position through July 4^th when the regiment with the 12^th supported the 3^rd, 4^th, and 6^th U.S. Infantry in a reconnaissance and developed a force of the Confederate Infantry and Artillery in front. During the Battle of Gettysburg the 14^th suffered 16 killed and 132 overall casualties. A regimental monument for the 14^th Infantry stands today along Ayres Avenue on Houck’s Ridge.

The Wilderness. The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5-7, began a series of engagements extending over a five week period. The Wilderness was most notable because it began the long personal struggle between Lieut. Gen. Ulysses Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee. It was notable in the Ilges story because during the battle he was cited for gallantry earning promotion to Major. He also was wounded in this battle, although the details are unknown. The 14^th Infantry and their First Brigade began action on May 3-5 as reported by Timothy J. Reese:

   “The Regular Brigade crossed at Germanna the night of the 3^rd and 4^th in territory all too familiar to them. . . . Strewn before them to either side lay the infamous Wilderness where thousands had perished by bullet and flame while Hooker dawdled at Chancellorsville to the east. . . . Skeletal remains of their half-buried of fire-ravaged predecessors lay all about, mute evidence of what awaited them should Lee take it into his head to attack here. . . .

   Ayres’ Regular Brigade was up early on Thursday, May 5, gulping down a quick breakfast before running to their places in line. . . . and began the tortuous advance through the undergrowth by regiments in column of fours to the right of the pike. They constituted the extreme right of the army until such time as Wright’s division of the VI Corps made connection from the North. . . .

   Sweating and swearing, they emerged at the edge of a broad open field perhaps 800 years wide and half as deep across which the Rebels could be plainly heard erecting breastworks within their sector of the forest. . . . [H]ere in Sanders’ Field – for whatever it might have been worth – the Regulars were about to go in for the last time in ordered ranks.” The Battle of the Wilderness continued through May 7^th.

Spotsylvania Court House. From May 8-21 Grant and Lee continued a series of engagements including the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. The Union Fifth Corps including Major Ilges and his 14^th Infantry were heavily engaged in battle at Spotsylvania. In this action, Ilges was cited for gallantry and meritorious service, received a battlefield promotion to brevet Lieut. Col. and assumed command of the 14^th. While Gen. Grant failed to defeat or destroy the Army of Northern Virginia, Gen. Lee failed strategically to keep the Army of the Potomac out of Central Virginia. It was during this battle on May 11^th that Gen. Grant sent his famous dispatch declaring, “I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.” It took that summer and more.

After the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, brevet Lt. Col. Ilges continued to serve in combat at the engagement at North Anna River on May 24 and skirmishes leading to Petersburg in mid June 1864. After coming under fire in some 40 engagements, being twice promoted, suffering wounds, Lt. Col. Guido Ilges ended active combat duty with his appointment as Acting Assistant Inspector-General, Second Division, Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac from June to August 1864. The fall of 1864, he served as a member of the Inspecting Board of General Hospitals for the State of Pennsylvania from October to November. Finally, the decorated warrior, Lt. Col. Ilges ended the last months of the war on recruiting and mustering duty in New York, December 1864, to May 1865.

Following the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox April 9, 1865 the Union Army prepared for their triumphant parade through Richmond celebrating victory. When asked where the gallant 14^th should be placed in line, General George Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac, immediately responded. “To the Right of the Line. The 14^th has always been to the front in battle and deserves the place of honor.”  This was followed by the Grand Review of the Armies in Washington D. C. at the end of the war with the 14^th again in the place of honor at the Right of the Line.” While Lt. Col. Guido Ilges no longer served with the 14^th, there is no doubt he was with them in spirit and memory as the marched through the captured rebel capital and later at our nation’s capital.

[Sources: http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/frontier-guard/16898; Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society 1907-1908, Vol. X, edited by Geo. W. Martin, Secretary, State Printing Office, Topeka, 1908, 419-21; Washington Evening Star 19 April, 26 April 1861; Unident Cincinnati Newspaper 19 Mar 1905; Civil War Service Records; Official Report 146, War of the Rebellion; U.S. Census 1860-1910; Byron Farwell. Encyclopedia of 19^th Century Land Warfare. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001, p. 415; Guy V. Henry. Military record of civilian appointments in the United States Army, 347-48; Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography, vol. 2; http://www.guilfordgreys.com/14th_US-Regiment_and_Battles.htm ]

Photos:

1.     Major Guido Ilges. (Courtesy of OHRC)

2.     Photo: Regimental Monument for the 14^th U.S. Regulars along Ayres Avenue, Houck’s Ridge, at Gettysburg. (Courtesy of OHRC)

3.     Review of the Army in Washington, D. C. May 23 2013.

“Grandpa” William J. McAfee: Geraldine’s Union Soldier

Remembering Our Civil War Heritage and Heroes:

1861-1865

“Grandpa” William J. McAfee: Geraldine’s Union Soldier

By Ken Robison

For The River Press

January 30, 2013

This continues a monthly series commemorating the 150^th Anniversary of the Civil War and the veterans that settled in Central Montana. This week features Civil War veteran Private William J. McAfee, known in early Geraldine as “Grandpa” McAfee.

In the words of a Confederate infantryman, “The air which was so silent and serene is now full of exploding and screaming shells and shot, as if the earth had opened up and let out the very furies of Avernus. The hurtling and death-dealing missiles are plowing amidst batteries, artillery and lines of infantry, crushing, mangling and killing until the groans of the men mingle with the tempest’s sound. The story of battle rages.”

Lt. James Crocker 9^th Virginia Infantry.

These dramatic words are testimony by an infantryman of the impact made by artillery during the Civil War. Some ten percent of all casualties in the Civil War came from artillery in support of cavalry and infantry engagements. Few artillery units fought in more major engagements than Captain James M. Knap’s Independent Battery E Pennsylvania Light Artillery, known as Knap’s Battery. Private William J. McAfee fought with Knap’s Battery from 1861-64 before settling in Geraldine late in life, and this is his story.

William McAfee was born May 10, 1838 in Belfast, Ireland. At age 14 he immigrated to America with his parents Hugh and Kate Griffin McAfee. When Captain Joseph M. Knap formed an artillery unit in September 1861, young William McAfee signed up. He enlisted in Pittsburgh as a private for a three-year term. Mustered in and beginning training at Point of Rocks, Md., Knap’s Battery was attached to the 28^th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment.

In early October 1861, Knap’s Battery was ordered to Camp Duncan located on East Capitol Hill in Washington D. C. In this camp for cavalry and artillery units, the battery received uniforms, guns and equipment making them a four-gun battery. During drills at Camp Duncan, Captain Knap obtained permission to fire their guns on targets on the Virginia side of the Potomac. This practice soon paid dividends when Camp Duncan came under fire from an enemy battery. Knap’s Battery promptly returned fire and succeeded in disabling and silencing the rebel guns within half an hour.

In December Knap’s Battery returned to winter quarters at Point of Rocks and Harper’s Ferry, taking part in occasional skirmishes while training and adding two more guns. Knap’s Battery and other light artillery batteries had 150 enlisted soldiers, five officers, and six guns. Each gun crew was composed of eighteen men and each two-gun section was under command of a lieutenant. The number of men actively in service of the six guns was 112 while the remainder served in supporting roles: Guidon bearer, bugler, artificer, blacksmith, drivers for the battery wagon and traveling forge, first sergeant, quartermaster sergeant, and the commander. Knap’s Battery was at times over strength by up to 100 men allowing for immediately replacement of casualties and for augmenting accompanying infantry units.

In March 1862, Battery E with the 28^th Infantry was posted at Salem and Front Royal on the Manassas Gap railroad in Virginia. On this march the battery participated in the capture of Leesburg, Middleburg, White Plains, and other towns on the line of march. A two-gun detachment of the battery with elements of the 28^th at Front Royal were attacked May 23rd and forced to retire to Winchester, Va. During this engagement an overwhelming force of 22,000 Confederates attacked some 700 Union men. The Union troops were driven back and began to withdraw in the face of the overwhelming Confederate force. Knap’s Battery kept the enemy at bay for a while with its artillery fire, but eventually Confederate cavalry gained the flanks and most Union troops were captured including the two-guns of Knap’s Battery with 28 men. These guns were shortly recaptured.

About August 1^st, Knap’s Battery was attached to Crawford’s Brigade in General Banks’ Corps, and moved toward Culpeper, Va. On August 9, 1862 at Cedar Mountain, Va. the battery was closely engaged and finally forced from its exposed position by Confederate guns. During this battle, the battery met its first man lost, Private Connelly. This major battle ended with a Union withdrawal with Knap’s Battery engaged in minor skirmishes during the Union retreat. The most memorable was at White Sulphur Springs when the battery silenced a rebel battery in half an hour, when earlier two Union batteries had failed to silence that battery after several hours of constant firing.

During General Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the North in mid September 1862, at the decisive Battle at Antietam, Md. Knap’s Battery took up a line of march to Frederick City, Md, and on the 17^th took part in the battle, losing one man killed and several wounded.

Winter quarters were established at Fairfax Station and then Acquia Creek, Va. In the major Chancellorsville campaign in the spring of 1863, the battery did effective service. Arriving at Chancellorsville on the evening of April 30, the battery took part in the battle over the first two days of May with the 12^th Corps, and on the third day with the 1^st Corps on the right of the line. One the evening of May 4^th, the battery was ordered to occupy the north side of the Rappahannock River to protect pontoon bridges that were under enemy fire. In an artillery dual with rebel batteries, the enemy guns were silenced. Overall, during the battle, Knap’s Battery disabled three enemy guns, while losing one man killed and several wounded. Captain Knap’s horse was shot from under him, and he narrowly escaped death.

In the series of heavy engagements over the four days at Chancellorsville, Union forces lost over 17,000 while the Confederate casualties totaled about 13,000. While this battle showed inept Union military leadership and a significant victory for the South, the combination of heavy Confederate casualties and the devastating loss of Lt. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, tempered the victory. General Lee likened the loss of Stonewall Jackson to “losing my right arm.”

Shortly after Chancellorsville, Captain Charles A. Atwell assumed command of Battery E, upon the resignation of Capt. Knap to accept a position at his family’s Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburgh, maker of large caliber artillery pieces for the Union Army. Private McAfee’s unit continued to be called Knap’s Battery in honor of their popular first commander.

After the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the South believed that Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was more than a match for the Federal Army of the Potomac. At Gettysburg during the first three days of July 1863, General Lee’s second invasion of the North was decisively defeated in a series of major engagements. Knap’s Battery was attached to the 12th Corps, and it was actively engaged throughout the Battle of Gettysburg. The 12th corps, commanded by Maj.-Gen. Henry W. Slocum was composed of the two divisions of Brig.-Gens. Alpheus S. Williams and John W. Geary, and the artillery brigade under command of Lieut. E. D.
Muhlenberg. Altogether the Army of the Potomac had 65 batteries numbering 370 guns.

The first active service by Knap’s Battery at Gettysburg was by a two-gun section on Culp’s Hill, when with another artillery section eight Confederate guns were silenced in thirty minutes during a hot artillery dual. Knap’s Battery lost one man. One of two monuments to Knap’s Battery for their service at Gettysburg is on Culp’s Hill showing the position of the battery’s guns on July 2. A second monument is on Powers Hill showing the position of the battery on July 3. Battery E was commanded by Captain Charles A. Atwell and brought six 10-pounder Parrott rifles to the field manned by 4 officers and 135 men with a loss of three men.

On the 24^th of September, the 11^th and 12^th Corps with Knap’s Battery were ordered by rail to join the Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga, Tenn. Part of a Union division with Knap’s Battery arrived in camp at Wauhatchie Junction, near Chattanooga, on the evening of October 28th and were almost immediately attacked by a superior rebel force under Lt. Gen. Longstreet. Heavy fighting raged all night with neither side gaining an advantage as the Confederate force was being rapidly decimated by grape and canister being poured forth by the only Union artillery present, Knap’s Battery. Gen. Longstreet gave up the contest and retreated leaving his casualties on the field. Knap’s Battery suffered six killed and eighteen wounded, and Captain Atwell was mortally wounded and died soon after the battle. After the battle, the 12^th Corps Artillery Commander gave Knap’s Battery “the credit of having repulsed the enemy. Too much praise cannot be awarded them for their coolness and courage with which they served their guns in the presence of almost overpowering odds.”

After the death of Captain Atwell, Lieut. J. D. McGill succeeded to command of the battery. In November 1863 the battery participated in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge without loss. After winter quarters at Wauhatchie, Tenn., the 12^th Corps with the battery became the 20^th Corps in support of Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s army as it began its March to Georgia. On the way to Atlanta, Knap’s Battery, attached to Gen. Geary's White Star Division, participated in many battles—Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, Pine Knob Mountain, Pumpkin Vine Creek, New Hope Church, Kolb’s House, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and the siege and capture of Atlanta on July 22, 1864.

Private William J. McAfee had survived many battles and the dramatic capture of Atlanta, Ga., but his three-year term of service with Knap’s Battery was up, and he had had enough of war. On October 13, 1864 at Atlanta Private McAfee was mustered out of the Army. He returned to Pennsylvania and began farming in Clarion County, western Pa. The following year 1865 he married Mary E. Hummel, and they raised a family of seven boys before Mary’s death about 1884.

With the death of his wife, William and his family moved west and he remarried Eliza Lydia Prince Law in 1886. They began a second family of three girls and four boys. By 1890 the McAfee family lived in west central Missouri. In the early 1900s William and Lydia McAfee with several children moved on to Ward County, North Dakota.

Three of William’s sons from his first marriage, George, Willis, and Henry moved west to the Geraldine area during the Chouteau County homestead boom of the 1910s. While Lydia remained in North Dakota operating a boarding house, the aging civil war veteran William joined his sons near Geraldine.

In June 1916 William, known fondly as “Grandpa” by local settlers, suffered a serious injury at the ranch of his son Henry in the Big Sag. The frail 78 year old was attacked by a buck when his back was turned while he was driving a flock of sheep to water. William suffered broken ribs, a broken thumb, and a crushed chest. He recovered, and as the town of Geraldine began to grow after arrival of the Milwaukee Railroad, he moved into town to operate a harness and shoe store. Although increasingly feeble, William became Geraldine’s oldest resident and a familiar figure on the streets, noted at all time in the best of spirits. He died during the early morning hours of March 30, 1922.

Private William McAfee was a member of Sheridan Post #28 of the Grand Army of the Republic in Great Falls. Although he left no known account of his Civil War service, he was a proud veteran. Today he rests in Geraldine Cemetery.

[Sources: McAfee Line by Katherine Grace McAfee; Fold3McAfee Service Record Online; Ancestry.com Knap’s Independent Battery Online; Civil War Schedule 1890 Census; James P. Brady, Hurrah For the Artillery Knap’s independent Battery “E,” Pennsylvania Light Artillery; Geraldine Review 24 Jun 1916, 5 April 1922]

Photos:

1.     Knap’s Independent Battery E, Pennsylvania Light Artillery at Antietam Battlefield.

2.     Corporal William J. McAfee’s Gravestone in Geraldine Cemetery.