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.

James Berry: The End of Outlaw Berry And the New Life for His Family in Montana Territory—Part III

Remembering Our Civil War Heritage and Heroes:

1861-1865

James Berry: The End of Outlaw Berry And the New Life for His Family in

 Montana Territory—Part III

By Ken Robison

For The River Press

January 2, 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 outlaw James Berry meets a violent death in Missouri. After his death, his widow and children come up the Missouri River to Fort Benton to settle with her family. This concludes the escapades of Confederate veteran James F. Berry.

After holding up a Union Pacific express train at Big Springs, Nebraska, east of Cheyenne on September 18, 1877, the Sam Bass-Joel Collins gang divided their loot and split up. James F. Berry returned to his home near Mexico, Missouri. Almost one month later Sheriff Henry Glasscock led a posse that tracked Berry down. In a brief shoot-out, Jim Berry was shot in the leg, captured, and taken prisoner to the Ringo House in Mexico. The narrative from the Mexico Weekly Ledger of October 18, 1877 continues:

   “The Sheriff and posse will receive a reward of about $4,000. This reward will be divided between the captors, just how we do not know. Glascock got the clue, planned the capture, but of course could not do the work by himself, at least he did not think he could before he started . . . Berry is now resting very easy [at the Ringo House]. He has an ugly leg on him.

   “Later. At 20 minutes to one o’clock last Tuesday [Oct. 16] James Berry, one of the Union Pacific train robbers, died at the Ringo House, with little pain or dread of death.

   “After receiving his wounds near Kazy’s [R. T. Kasey] house Sunday morning, there was no reaction at all, and Monday night gangrene set in and from this he died Tuesday. Berry did not seem to dread death at all, and often told those around him that he would not die. His brother-in-law, James Craighead of Fulton was with him in his last moments. His sister and friends came in on the 3 o’clock train from Martinsburg, but were too late to see him alive. Lanny Jones went in a buggy for his wife [Mary Elizabeth Price] only in the morning, and she arrived about 4 o’clock and was surprised to find her husband dead. She has the sympathy of all, in this her bereavement. She has 6 children, one boy and five girls, all dependent on her for food and protection. We learn that she is a most excellent lady and worthy the sympathy of all. What ever he may have done, his wife and children still cling to him as a tender love, such as becomes the true woman.

   “Monday night Berry made a confession, and said he was in the [Union Pacific train] robbery, but said he was not sorry for it. He made this confession in the presence of several witnesses. He spoke of [Joel] Collins . . . as the leader. He would say nothing about those of the gang who are yet alive. He said he would not ‘squeal’ on them. Dr. Lacy prayed with and for him, several times during the night before the day of his death. He paid no attention to this, except once, when the Dr. had left the foot of his bed and gone out. Berry asked ‘who in the Hell was that?’ He said he was not afraid of death. When told he must die, he seemed to think that he was being scared into telling something and would hoot at the idea of death. He died without scarcely a struggle.

   “He suffered much the night previous, but everything was done that could be, to make his illness and death as easy as possible. About half past 3 o’clock Tuesday, Dr. S. N. Russell, County Coroner, summoned . . . a Jury of Inquest [who] produced the verdict that ‘The deceased came to his death by gunshot wounds, eight in number, inflicted on the left leg, by a shot-gun in the hands of H. Glascock, on the morning of October 14^th, 1877, as we believe, a necessary act in the discharge of his duty.’

   “The remains were on Wednesday morning, interred by friends in the Richland grave yard, in Callaway county.”

   “What adds solemnity to the occasion is that only a few hours previous to Berry’s death, his aged mother departed this life, and side by side with his venerable mother the unfortunate boy was laid. What could be more impressive than the thought that the aged widowed mother, and the erring son, both reaching each other and their Maker, as it were, in the same hours. [Jim Berry was buried next to his mother in the Liberty Church Yard Cemetery, approximately three miles north and west of Shamrock Mo.]

   “Sheriff Glascock. No one was more unrelenting in their attention to the patient, than Sheriff Glascock. He spared neither time nor trouble to make Berry easy in his affliction and Berry showed no hard feelings and expressed himself in a way that he harbored nothing against his captor. Glascock, of course, feels bad, and will always remember the death bed scene, but he has nothing to blame himself with and no honest, justice-loving citizen can ever bear a hard feeling for what the Sheriff did in the matter. He gave Berry two chances to save himself. He issued a challenge to halt and when he did not do it, he shot over him thinking that would bring him to a pause, but no, Berry still kept on and yet the Sheriff called to him again to halt, but Berry paying no attention, Glascock shot at his legs, thinking to cripple him, and thus capture him, but his Allwise Creator saw best to make his wounds deadly, and for this Glascock is sorry, but perhaps if Berry had his choice, he would have preferred death to long confinement, for at that time, he begged the Sheriff to shoot him, that he did not want to live.

   “Berry’s Guilt. There can be no mistake about Berry’s being guilty, for he confessed it before witnesses, and for this reason Glascock can not feel the remorse he would, if he had made a mistake in his man, and in addition to his confession we have other proof, which is sufficient in itself, for we took occasion on Tuesday to interview Detective Leach, on this point, thinking that his evidence might be pertinent to the occasion. We were introduced to Leach at the depot, just before he left, by Sheriff Glascock, and was surprised at the personal appearance of the man. He was a short wiry-looking little fellow, dressed in a very outlandish manner. He had on an old pair of shoes, almost worn out pants, a new hat and a loose coat with the tails cut off. The only thing in his appearance that would strike a casual observer was that brilliancy of his eye. He had an eagle eye surely; under his coat he had a long ‘45’ caliber pistol with two belts full of cartridges. He was evidently ‘fixed’ for any body. During our conversation with him, he stated that he could identify Berry if it was necessary, but as he had confessed there would be no need of it. He says he knew Berry about 2 years ago, when he [Berry] was in business at North Platte, Neb., with a man named Garretson. He said that they broke up and left their creditors in the lurch . . .

   “After that Berry went to the Black Hills. The next time [Leach] saw Berry he came to [Leach’s] store in Ogallala [Nebraska], (for he had a store there and attends it when not scouting) to get a pair of boots on ‘tick’ [credit]. Leach would not let him have them; Berry then went and got this man Collins to come and pay for the boots, Collins raked up money sufficient to pay for the boots and Berry put them on. A few days after this the train was robbed . . . and Leach went at once to the scene of the robbery and took the trail and followed the robbers two hundred miles through the wilds by himself. At last he came up on their camp and saw them sitting around the fire counting the money. He saw Berry and Collins and recognized them both, as the men that came for the boots. He heard them all talk about their plans and learned their different addresses, and he says the deceased is the same Berry that bought the boots and the same one he saw in the camp with the money. This and Berry’s confession settles without the shadow of a doubt, the fact that Berry was guilty.

   “We could give you a full account of Leach’s movements on Berry’s trail, but they are of no interest, so we will close this painful story with a short account of the robbery.

   “The Reward. The individual reward offered for Berry was $500, and ten per cent of the money recovered, one of the $500 packages was $35 short, so that left the amount of money recovered, $2,769, ten percent of that added to the $500 makes the total reward $776. At a meeting of the captors last night it was declared that each of the 4 men that assisted the Sheriff, were to have $100 each and Glascock was to have the $376. As it will take $76 dollars to pay the expenses of the trip, which falls on the sheriff, he will get as his portion $300. We understand that there is a good chance for a large reward which was offered in Omaha, Nebraska.

   “Leach’s Say. During our interview, Tuesday, with Leach, the detective who followed the Big Spring robbers through 200 miles of wilderness in Nebraska, until he obtained information as to their destination, he took occasion to say that one night, when he was taking a peep into the camp of the robbers, he heard Collins administer the oath to Berry and the rest of the gang, to the effect, that as one of them should ‘preach’ on the other; and each one took a solemn oath that he would not be taken alive. The next night he slipped into the camp after the band were all asleep, and did not think a human being was in hundreds of miles of them, and stumbled upon the money [$60,000 in gold coins], sewed up in a blanket, fixed for strapping upon a mule. He tried to pull it out of the camp, but it was so heavy he could not move it, and while he was endeavoring to get into it and carry it off by piece-meal, some one of the gang awoke, and he (Leach) made himself scarce, and only the darkness saved him. He says in his scout after them, he crawled miles after them, through the grass, on his hands and knees. He often saw them, and knew Berry, Collins and some of the others.

   After the gang separated, Leach followed after Berry . . . to this place [Mexico], where Berry stopped for supplies . . . “ Thus ends the Mexico Ledger account.

At least three mysteries remain about the Jim Berry story:

(1) How was Jim Berry captured? The Mexico Ledger details Sheriff Glasscock’s version—that he shot Berry after ordering him to surrender and firing a warning shot in the air. But was this the true version? Relatives and friends of Berry dispute the Sheriff’s claim. By their account, Sheriff Glasscock came up behind a sleeping Jim Berry, who was laying on his side in the shade of a large tree. The sheriff fired a shot at the sleeping Berry, a horse neighed, and the wounded Berry emptied his two six-shooters simultaneously with the shot that wounded him. Only then, wounded and out of ammunition, was Berry captured. Perhaps we’ll never know with certainly how Berry was captured, but the weight of evidence seems to support Sheriff Glasscock. After all, Berry lived and talked with several people before his death. Berry does not seem to have disputed the sheriff’s version before he died.

(2) Is this a photograph of Jim Berry? According to The Black Hills Pioneer of Deadwood City, S.D., the men in this photo are Left to Right: Joel Collins and Jim Berry standing; Frank Towle and Jack Farrell seated. Yet, Perhaps the most authoritative website on Sam Bass and his gang is maintained by Round Rock, Texas where Sam Bass is buried. This Round Rock site is

            http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/home/index.asp?page=1768

            According to this site, this is the only known authenticated photo of Sam Bass,           and Jim Berry is not one of the men. Left to Right: Sam Bass, Joe Collins, John           E. Gardner, and Joel Collins. The photo is attributed to Robert G. McCubbin, Jr.           The Round Rock site is likely correct. No known photo of Jim Berry has been    located, although a sketch of his likeness appeared in the Mexico Ledger.

            (3) Less than one-third of Berry’s cut of the Union Pacific loot was      recovered—what happened to the other $7,000? Although Berry’s home was searched, had he been able to hide the money? Did his wife benefit from           this stolen money? Mrs. Berry and the six children continued to live on the       farm for three years after Jim Berry’s death—they had relatives and friends,            but it seems very likely that the stolen money helped them survive.

The Union Pacific stolen money may also have helped Mrs. Mary Berry pay the passage for her family to come to Fort Benton on the steamboat Red Cloud three years later. On June 10, 1880, Mrs. Mary E. Price Berry with her children stepped ashore at Fort Benton after a long trip up the Missouri River. The children were Jennie Lee born Aug. 30, 1864 at Reece River Valley, Nevada; twins Anne Natalie and Adelaide “Addie” Price born May 14, 1867; three more children were born near Mexico, Missouri, Nora (1869), John R. (Dec. 14, 1871), and Myra (Sep. 19, 1877).

Mrs. Mary Berry brought her family to Fort Benton to join her father Cyrus Price and brothers Charles W. and Kyle Price who came to Montana Territory in the 1860s and became successful ranchers. The 1880 census, shortly the Berry family arrival, has Mrs. Berry keeping house in her father’s household at Ulida, Chestnut Valley near today’s Cascade. Mrs. Berry lived in the Highwood Mountain area until 1885 when she married C. B. Houser and moved to Butte. In February 1885, daughter Addie Price Berry married prominent Highwood rancher John Harris and descendants remain in this area.

In 1898 Mrs. Mary Price Houser moved on to Kalispell and lived there for twenty years. After the death of her son, John R. Berry, at the Montana Soldier’s Home, she came to Great Falls to make her home with her daughter, Mrs. Anne Townsend, until her death in 1927. Mary E. Price Berry Houser rests today in Riverside Cemetery, Fort Benton with her father and brother.

Confederate veteran James Berry lived a life packed with adventure dashing headlong from Quantrill’s Raiders to Nevada Territory to early Montana Territory to outlaw days as a stage and train robber to his violent death. Fortunately, his family survived to become prominent in Montana history.

[Sources: US Census 1850-1880; 2012 http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-jamesberry.html; http://penningtons.tripod.com/roster.html ; Sam Bass & Gang. By Rick Miller. Austin, TX, State House Press, 1999; The Tenderfoot Bandits Sam Bass and Joel Collins, their lives and hard times. By Paula Reed and Grover Ted Tate. Tucson, AZ: Westernlore Press, 1988; “John Harris and Addie Berry Harris Family” Collection of Harris-Berry Family Material Collected by William H. Patterson Held at OHRC; “Historical Sketch of James F. Berry (1838-1877)” by John F. Harris (Great Grandson); Sedelia Weekly Bazoo 23 Oct 1877; The (Jefferson City Mo.) State Journal 19 Oct 1877; http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/home/index.asp?page=1768]

Photos: [please run both photos!]

1.     Sam Bass—Joel Collins Gang without Jim Berry: Bass standing left; Joel Collins seated right. (Courtesy of Round Rock, Texas)

2.     Sketch of James F. Berry—the only known image of Berry. (Courtesy of OHRC)