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 150th 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 14th 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 14th 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 14th U.S. Infantry Regiment
compiled a distinguished record during the war. Its ranking Captain, John
“Paddy” O’Connell, who often led the 14th into battle, once said, “I
would take the 14th 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 14th 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 14th: “I . . . took my
position on the right of the 12th 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’ 14th 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 14th 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 14th 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, 14th
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’ 2nd (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 15th
[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 43rd
Battalion, 1st 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 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry was exposed as bait, while Company
E with 100 men, 14th 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
14th 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 14th
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 14th remained in the same position through July 4th
when the regiment with the 12th supported the 3rd, 4th,
and 6th U.S. Infantry in a reconnaissance and developed a force of
the Confederate Infantry and Artillery in front. During the Battle of
Gettysburg the 14th suffered 16 killed and 132 overall casualties. A
regimental monument for the 14th 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 14th 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 3rd
and 4th 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 7th.
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
14th 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 14th.
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 11th 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 14th should be placed in line, General George Meade,
commander of the Army of the Potomac, immediately responded. “To the Right of
the Line. The 14th 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 14th again in the place of honor at the Right of
the Line.” While Lt. Col. Guido Ilges no longer served with the 14th,
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 19th
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 14th 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.
