Newspaper clippings, 1861-1930, Vol. 1

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ihe Second Wisconsin.
¦fhe  C'lireer  of the  lte«lincnt   AVliit^U
. Iuvliiil«>i1  R (.'oiiipany  of OsU-
tiOMh  Aoiimloers.
In C(mnt'ction with tlie semi-centen¬ nial iiuniver.sary of the departure to the civil v.iir of Comimny B, formerly known HiH the "Oshkosh voluntcei-e," which anniversary is to be adequately observed in thie cit.\- this evening, it v,iU be of interest lo present a brief litetory of the Second Wisconsin in¬ fantry, of which legiment the Oshkoish company bocnme a part. Here is a summary prepared b>- Lieut. Col. J.i A. Watrous, Wisconsin war veteran and   writer: I
"Tho Second Wisconsin wae indeed a! famous conmiand., a fighting machine of the first order. ("The first colone! wa© S. Park Coon of Milwaukee, a former attorney gen¬ eral of tho state. Henr.\- W. Peck was the lieutenant colonel and Demean McDonald thp ni;'J<;r. They were but little heard from in military circles af¬ ter the  fir.st  battle of Bull Run.
"The fliwt quai-termaster was Lieut. Halbert K. Paine, a Milwaukee law¬ yer, partner, of Carl Scluirz. Paine was soon made colonel of the Fourth, became a brigadier general, lost a leg at Port Hudi3(m. served several terms in congress from the Milwaukee dis¬ trict when it took in tlio entire city and ¦c<3urity, Racine, Kenosha, Waukesha and .Walworth coyntieH, and later held for several years the office of United State? conimisfiioner of patenter. He died in Waiihington a few years ago. Tbe lir.st ad.)utant was J. M.-Hunter of Milvvaukc^e and the first surgeon, J. M. Lewis, who was later colonel of the Twenty-eighth  Wisconsin. ¦
thtr. Twelfth as major, became lleuten- int colonel and wae breveted a briga¬ dier general, and was twice wounded; Milwaukee, Capt. A. J. Longworthy,, whose company was traneferned to the heavy artillery, another Grant county takin.g its place, one of whose captains was killed ;in battle.
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"The companies came from Fox iya'ke, Capt. George H. Stevene, Avho was killed at Gettysburg, then the lieutenant colonel; La Crosse, Capt- AVilltaon Colw<?ll, who war? killed at Soutli Mountain; Grant county, Capt. David McKee, killed in battle while lieutenant colonel of the Fifteenth Wisconsin; Janesville, Capt. George B. pBly; Oshkosh, Capt. Gabriel Bouck, a [former attorney general of tbe state, [who became colonel of the Eighteenth,.! ;?erved two terms in congress and as j speaker of the astiembly, dying a few j .N'ear.s ago; Columbia county, Capt, ! Alexander Hill; Madison, Capt. Julius ' F. Randolph, killed at Gainesville; Mineral Point, Capt. Thomas iS. Allen, who became lieutenant colonel, and then went to the Fifth ae colonel, was several times wounded, breveted a brigadier general, served four years as secretary of state, dying at Oehkosh some, years ago; Portage, Capt. John Mansfield, who became colonel, was several times wounded and after the war lived in California, where he (Served as lieutenant governor; Racine, Capt.  William F.  Strong, who went to
"Col. Edgar O'Connor, who succeed- pd Coon, was killed at Gaineeville; his successor. Col. Lucius Fairchild, lest an arm at Gettysburg; Capt. W. W. .lone© lost an arm; Capt. Robert Hughes was killed at Spottsylvania; Capt. Dennis B. Daily, who became major of tho Sixth, was wour^ded four cimcs; Capt. Aluard Larke lotst an arm; Capt. Albert Morgan was twice wounded and became lieutenant col- bnel  of a  New York regiment.
"A   majority   of   the   officers   of   the Second wene either killed or wounded. My object in  going into details touch¬ ing casualties among the officers of a regiment was to meet and overshadow the   impression   that   so   generally   pre¬ vails  that the officers keep out of the way of bullets.   Three times during the last  month  I  have  heard  three  differ¬ ent  men   of war  sneer at  officers  and eay   that they  all  came  home  because they   got   behind   trees,   rocks   or   dug, holes in the ground in  tim© of battle. ; Two of the said three men of war got! large   bounties   in   1865   but   didn't   get] away   from   Camp   Randall,    and   thei other beloiged  to a regiment that es- i caped battles  and skirmishes.
"The Second was in the battlets of Bull Run, first and second: Rappa¬ hannock, Station, Gainesville, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Fitzhugh Crossing, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, two battles of the. Wilderness, .r..aurel Hill, SpottjTsl- vania. Bethesda church. North Anna, and Cold Harbor, not to mention many skirmishes which today would be cstUed battles. It Icfit in killed and died of wounds, 208, and 5;^ died of disease, a total of 261. Its per cent of deaths from battles wits greater than that of any other regiment in tho union army. Nine-tenths of its original 1,000 men felt  the sting of bullets.
The Second's term of three years closed June 0, at Cold Harbor, and the little remnant of heroes bade good-by to the Iron brigade comrades and set their face© toward home, under the command of Maj. George H. Oils, whc>, throe years before had gone out wit^> Compan^• l as a private." "^