of the drum, the voice of the bugle, the clatter of musketry, the reverberations of the artillery and the whistle of the shells ricochetting over fields, through woods, on the hillside and in the valley. Their effects, too, were manifested in the hurrying to the front, in the cheeks of her now pale and ready for the seal of the Master of mortality, that once warmed into love and were stained with the blush of the bridal. They were plainly to be seen in the new-made graves, hiding dust that was precious to those left behind-to the lad whose cheek was dimpled with joys of youth, to the wife who stood sobbing in the sunlight as he passed, and forever, to the old man whose silvered head was bowed in grief, to the loving mother, who tarried but a little way behind before she, too, sank to slumber in the "windowless palace of rest."

There was but one sentiment found expression among the people of the North, who stood up shoulder to shoulder, unmindful of past political affiliations and predilections. They ignored differences gone by, and waited for the word to march in unbroken phalanx to the field of battle, there to shed their last drop of blood in defense of the national honor. The divided North that was anticipated at the South failed to materialize for the reason that the right was lacking in their creed of government. The wilderness, inherited from former generations, had been made into gardens, and with this title was vested in the heirs a determination to realize that strength which exists in Union, and to respect their flag which is everlasting as the hills.

On the evening of April 22, 1861, the loyal people of La Crosse convened at Leiderkranz Garden for the purpose of obtaining an expression of opinion in reference to the condition of the country.

The Hon. C. C. Washburn presided, and M. M. Pomeroy acted as Secretary, with the following Vice Presidents: Gen. Crosby, ex-Mayor Levy, A. W. Pettibone and T. W. Edwards. A series of resolutions expressive of the views of the assembly were reported by the committee, consisting of Messrs. Seymour, Cordry, Barlow, Scharpf and Baxter; speeches were made by "Brick" Pomeroy, A. W. Bishop, Dr. Baxter, Hon. W. Hull, Gen. L. E. Webb, A. W. Pettibone, Dr. Blakeslee and others, and $3,451 were subscribed as follows: C. C. Washburn, T. B. Edwards, Artillery Company, N. Hintgen, Tenny, Oatman & Co., Company K, and S. and C. K. Martindale, $100 each; Lloyd & Supplee, Lottridge & Seymour, and Moses Anderson, $75 each; M. M. Pomeroy, Milton Barlow, T. N. Horton, John Servis, Walter Webb, L. E. Webb, T. O. Wells, S. A. Gillette & Son, J. & J. Andrews, James Vincent, Colton & Whelpley, Dunlap Brothers, Neuman & Cantrovits, W. R. Sill, G. A. Metzger, M. Henderson, Bishop & Cameron, H. T. Rumsey and T. B. Stoddard, $50; J. A. Sumner and W. B. Hanscome & Co., $30; H. B. Calahan, J. W, Polleys, C. F. Parsons, Justus White, A. J. Stevens, V. M. Adams, S. C. Barton, T. P. Laverty, W. E. Potter, H. E. Hubbard, Barron & Kadish, R. I. Johnson, S. B. Sheldon, J. C. Coombs, W. C. Root, J. B. Jungen, Wehausin & Hunt, S. S. Burton, Lewis Pammel, C. B. Solberg, J. K. Lush, M. M. Cordry, W. C. Rogers, C. H. Eaton, George Staley, L. C. McKenney, W. W. Crosby, S. Kellogg, C. L. Colman, Shimmins & Helburg, Hogan & Bauman, I. Cantrovitz, F. P. Metcalf, G. H. Garrett, G. W. Morgan, J. T. Van Valkenburg, J. M. Loomis, Cene & Fay. W. W. Jones, W. H. Lemon, George Edwards, Leach & Paul, M. G. Bradbury, J. McCrary, J. I. Lyndes, J. Fay, A. A. Stevens, George Carlton, A. T. Clinton, Ira Cole, C. Michel, A. Overbaugh and G. R. Montague, $25 each; Black & Bradish, John Halverson, E. K. Butrick, George Hoare, J. R. Coudry and George Scharpf, $20 each; Joseph Gutman, T. Atkinson, L. Stauss, H. I. Bliss, O. Ewe and George Snelling, $15 each, in addition to a track of 160 acres of land from Edward McFadden.

A feature of the times was the following call, which appeared at the head of the editorial columns in the La Crosse Democrat:

WANTED. -Two hundred and fourteen men are wanted to enlist as volunteers for the war, to form a company of "horse zouaves," the dress to be gray pants, red shirts with low collar, gray mantle to come to the saddle when mounted. The arms of the company to be a minie rifle, two revolvers and a saber. Horses to be bay or brown. Those who will enlist for the entire war, be it short or long-who can live, if need be, on one meal and three fights a day-or more fight and less eat, will please send in their names to the undersigned. The company, when full, to elect its officers, and be in readiness to meet at La Crosse as soon as arms and borses can be furnished. The proposed name," Wisconsin Tigers," will indicate the amusements offered. M. M. POMEROY.

LA CROSSE, April 26, 1861.

The above was kept as a standing "ad" for several weeks, but does not appear to have charmed the necessary complement of men ambitious to become Tigers, and with the Tigers stand, in gray pants and red shirts with low collars, armed with a deadly minie, two revolvers and a saber, and ready to live on one meal a day. "Brick's overtures were not met with the response he anticipated, according to all accounts, and the undertaking was abandoned long before "Old Bob" assumed command in the five-days' fight. As times changed, it is an historic fact that "Brick" changed with thein, and between the inception of war, in fact, and the surrender, was resolved from an ardent advocate of death in the last ditch, and a leader of men identified with the Union, to a "peace at any price" man, with all that the name implies. Why this radical change, or whence proceeded the cause, are conundrums as incapable of solution as an improbable theorem in mathematics.

The first company to enlist for the war in La Crosse County was the Light Guards. It responded to the first call for troops for three months, but before it could be mustered into service the quota for that length of time was full, and hence it became part of the number under the call for three years or the war. On the evening of April 30, 1861, the ranks having been filled up to the requisite number, the organization assembled at Barron's Hall, preparatory to their departure for Madison. Many of the company being without blankets, the ladies of La Crosse supplied them with a liberality and irresistible em pressment characteristic of the women whom those troublous times brought prominently to the surface, in the performance of acts which have shrived their sex with a luster that time cannot diminish, or distance quite obscure.

In all times of trial and affliction, the sympathies of a true woman are of priceless value. By the hearth, in the cloister, when disappointment and ingratitude, with corroding care, gather round one; when the gaunt form of poverty menaces with his skeleton fingers, and in the chamber of death, their sympathies gleam about the soul like an angel's smile. It would seem that God, compassionating woman's first great frailty, had planted these jewels in her breast, the heaven-like influence of which should cast into forgetfulness man's remembrance of the fall, by building up in his heart another Eden, where perennial flowers ever bloom and crystal fountains gush from exhaustless springs.

At half past 10 o'clock, on the evening mentioned, the company was ordered to fall in, and Col. William Hull addressed them in feeling and appropriate terms. He was followed by Dr. Baxter, who concluded his remarks by asking the company if they would ever disgrace their banner, to which the united voices of eighty-five men responded, "Never!" In marching to the depot, the Pioneer Engine Company led the van, followed by the departing soldiers, who boarded the train after having taken farewell of their friends, and at midnight began their journey to fame and Camp Randall.

The Light Guard-Was organized in 1858, uniformed in 1859, and prominent in military circles in the West. It mustered into the Second Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry as Company B, and from that date, as a portion of the "Iron Brigade," it became the pride of the city, State and nation. In all the battles fought by that famous organization, Company B was conspicuous for bravery and endurance, and probably better known than any individual company in the Army of the Potomac. The long line of promotions from the rank and file of this company to prominent military positions during the war was conclusive evidence that its membership was composed of the very best citizens, who always make the most effective and successful soldiers. Of the original Commissioners who went to the front with the company, Capt. Colwell was killed at the battle of South Mountain September 14, 1862; Second Lieutenant Robert Hughes was killed in the Wilderness in September, 1864; while Frank Hatch, First Lieutenant, was wounded at Bull Run, and afterward promoted to command a battalion of cavalry in the West. "How little do we know of what we are;

How less of what we may be !"

Pass down the memorial column of those who went out to preparation on that mild spring night, thence to become part of the Army of Northern Virginia, and mark the names of those same who fell during the campaign of the Peninsula, at Gainesville, Antietam, Chancellorsville,

Gettysburg, South Mountain, whose bodies have been laid to rest on the banks of the Rapidan, in the swamps of the Chickahominy, by the side of Falling Waters, where their graves are their monuments and their burial places sacred to Americans as is Jerusalem to the Hebrews, a city about which cluster thoughts of the greatest history of the past; or as was Athens of old to the Greeks, the city of memories, the shrine of the arts, the germ of ideas. If there is a spot in all this land of liberty where time and enduring marble should rear high its tablet of illustrious names, and of renowned events, it should be in that estate where the American flag was never lowered, and where the proudest columns that ever crossed the plains laid down their arms and dispersed to desolate homes with honor and a parole as a testimony of their prowess. And Company B, of La Crosse, bore a prominent part in the contest for national supremacy, from Bull Run to Appomattox. Beneath the fluttering folds of the Stars and Stripes her sons fought and died, even as that "star-flowery banner" was planted amid the whirlwind of shot and shell upon victorious battlements, but not before the portals of heaven had been opened to gather in and soothe to an eternal rest many a soul that was drooping, mute and motionless."

66

The composition of the company upon its muster in for three years was as follows: William Colwell, Captain; Frank Hatch and Robert Hughes, Lieutenants; C. C. Messervey, Milo Pitkin, James D. Wood, R. A. Scott, and W. M. Spear, Sergeants in the order named; R. W. Burns, U. P. Olin, H. B. Jarvis, P. C. Dunn, W. H. Sherwood, C. C. Busher, F. H. Lee, and James Woodward, Corporals; Edward Cantwell Fifer, Ignatius Anders, Henry Agnew, L. M. Baker, L. H. Bunnell, George Brown, J. O. Burroughs, H. B. Beardsley, Robert Barnes, William Brown, Jefferson Brackett, O. M. Bradford, E. O. Brewster, M. H. Burns, J. P. Blakeslee, D. F. Chapman, G. W. Currier, A. Coffin, H. Coffin, J. M. Clark, W. H. Collins, C. D. Clark, Newton F. Chapman, J. C. Cary, William Donald, S. R. Dow, John Donavan, George H. Estabrook, N. F. Eldridge, Richard Fabey, W. Frigger, C. W. Farrand, George W. Fisher, Joseph Frame, F. F. Forrest, George Fax, George W. Flemming, W. Franklin, George Gillis, W. L. Gordon, George Gross, F. Hildreth, J. Hawkins, A. E. Haven, G. Hollenbeck, Elijah Heath, E Huggins, Č. C. Jenks, George Kuneson, Andrew Knoblanch, D. W. Knox, D. W. Kenney, L. Lockman, M. Lee, J. C. Leach, William Johnston, J. P. Jackson, T. B. Laverty, C. W. Messer, J. S. Marsh, N. Molson, R. S. McClintock, E. Markle, E. E. Moore, J. McCoy, F. Mertens, J. Martin, D. B. Pieon, Edward Potter, P. Post, F. J. Phelps, E. Reardon, J. B. Rand, F. Riebe, Claus Reickeman, Thomas B. Rand, J. H. Smith, William Stace, H. C. Smith, G. G. Symes, C. R. Spafford, R. Swartz, J. W. Sloan, J. W. Seymour, P. G. Tompkins, Cyrus Van Cott, John Van Cott, John B. Webb, E. K. Whiting, Reuben Wright, G. M: Woodward, C. Washburn, G. Wenzell, George Washburn, J. Warren, E. D. Weeks, and James Wylie, Privates.

It need only to be added that the company, to use the language of a commander of the Potomac army, "was with the Iron Brigade,' and won the admiration of the highest officers in the army. On the 11th of May, 1864, the Second Regiment became so reduced that less than 100 men remained fit for service, when they were assigned to provost duty, remaining in that capacity until mustered out of service in June following, when with 133 men, all told, out of 1,000 mustered in three years before, the company and regiment returned to Wisconsin.

The Eighth Regiment, known as the "Eagle Regiment," contained one company enlisted in La Crosse at a period in the history of the war when the outlook was far from encouraging. At that time, as will be remembered, the duration of the war was admittedly beyond the ken of prophets, and the decision of the arbitration one of doubt, to say the least. Self-appointed Cassandras were of frequent birth, and the predictions they ventured were of as distressful import as those which preceded the destruction of Troy. The shadows had begun to grow thicker and darker with the coming of the first winter of the war; many homes had been shaded with sorrow and draped with mourning, and the clash of arms had disturbed the peaceful pursuits of life to supply the increasing demand for human material. The recruits mustered in for a period of three months no sooner became efficient than the expiration of their term of service incapacitated them for duty. The three years' recruits had scarcely attained sufficient profi

ciency in the knowledge of war to render them effective against the drilled forces they were expected to put to flight. Under embarrassments thus suggested, the Eighth Regiment was organized, and as its subsequent history illustrates, became one of the most reliable, brave and successful organizations that was sent into the field from the Badger State.

Company "I" was enlisted in La Crosse and vicinity late in August or early in the month of September succeeding the defeat at Manassas. The officers were M. M. Baker, Captain; A. D. Hickok and H. D. Lathrop, Lieutenants; S. J. Sergant, Thomas J. McMahon. Duncan A. Kennedy, O. O. Sisson and George L. Govner, Sergeants; H. S. Phillips, P. Plunges, A. Mahoney, John Sullivan, D. H. Hall, W. C. Brown, F. J. Painter, John Flynn and M. Schenck, Corporals; Hiram Adams, J. P. Aney, S. Anderson, W. H. Andree, J. Allen, A. K. Allen, M. Bassett, B. P. Beardsley, W. Baker, C. Brown, Henry Baker, M. Bloom, David Cronon, Edmund Cronon, Thomas Cunningham, F. J. Case, R. W. Clark, F. D. Colver, S. B. Cox, I. Conboy, J. O. Chilson, W. Cumamon, P. Donnelly, C. Downer, D. Davis, E. N. Evans, P. Errickson, J. C. Edgar, J. Ferguson, John Gladson, Andrew Gladson, M. Godert, G. Gronaveldt, G. Glover, J. Hammond, L. Holowok, O. B. Houk, W. E. Hewitt, C. Holbrook, D. Hare, J. Hall, L. K. Houk, J. Hittinger, M. Hare, A. J. Johnson, C. H. Joolsen, H. Jordan, C. Jansen, Z. Johnson, M. Johnson, J. Kendall, George Key, G. Kottinger, M. Liverman, C. La Vone, D. Langston, O. Larson, J. Mellor, H. A. McNiell. J. Myers, John Newton, A. I. Nash, J. W. Nash, M. Northrup, C. Olsen, I. Olsen, S. Olsen, J. Ölsen, Paul Olsen, John Oberlee, W. A. Penfield, V. Perham, Eugene Perham, A. Pruett, N. Quiggle, John Richards, R. Rogers, N. N. Saunders, R. Sage, H. Swennik, James Sykes, John Shores, J. Sly, H. V. Sacia, G. W. Trude, B. Trainer, J. Thorp, E. J. Vernon, Van Loon, A. J. Vilboom, J. Underwood, R. Van Loon, R. A. Walker, A. H. Wyman and A. Wood, privates.

The company was mustered into service on the 4th of September, 1861, and, on the 12th of October following, left Camp Randall for service in the field. After a brief sojourn at Benton Barracks, near St. Louis, the company became attached to the Western army, serving at New Madrid, Island No. 10, Farmington, Tenn., Iuka, Memphis, Jackson, Miss., Young's Point, Canton, Miss., Red River, Nashville, Mobile, etc., and were mustered out at Demopolis, Ala.. September 5, 1865, arriving at Madison one week later, where they were discharged, having, during their service, marched 4,004 miles, and traveled 10,810 miles by rail and river.

It is, perhaps, not unworthy of note that the eagle which they took with them from the State survived the campaigns through which the Eighth passed, enjoying excellent health and undiminished appetite until the spring of 1881, when he died.

Company D, Fourteenth Regiment of Infantry, was recruited in La Crosse in the winter of 1861, and rendezvoused at Camp Wood, Fond du Lac, where it was mustered into service January 30, 1862. On March 8, following, the regiment was removed to St. Louis, where it remained until receiving orders to move up the Tennessee River, where transports were taken and the regiment conveyed to Savannah, Tenn. The Company participated in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, Lieutenant Staley distinguishing himself by the capture of a gun from a Confederate battery. The regiment afterward proceeded to Hamburg, Corinth, Bethel, Iuka, Memphis, Vicksburg, Lake Providence, Milliken's Bend, Grand Gulf, being assigned to the position of honor at the surrender and occupation of Vicksburg, and evoking from Gen. Ransom the remark, "every officer and man in the Fourteenth is a hero;" Natchez, the Red River expedition, Tupelo, Duvall's Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Warrenton and other points in Missouri, Nashville, New Orleans, Spanish Fort, Montgomery and Mobile, where the regiment arrived on the 27th of August, 1865, and where, on October 9 of the same year, it was mustered out of service, arriving at Madison on the 22d, when it was discharged.

The company, when it left La Crosse, was as follows: James Polleys, Captain; G. W. Staley and David Law, Lieutenants; David Kimball, Edward F. Doane, Charles R. Spafford, Henry C. Anderson, Timothy O'Brien, A. M. Watson (Orderly Sergeant), R. E. Osborn, Oscar P. Allen, S. Annuson, W. F. Blackley, W. H. Brooks, C. M. Butts, Alfred Collins, W. Chapman, Louis Amiolt, Willard Atkinson, John Cready, J. H. Chambers, B. M. Dunham, Daniel

Davis, William Dolan, Edwin Elkins, James Foster, Daniel F. Farr, Moses Frost, I. Gallagher, Samuel Gertin, J. M. B. Glenn, Cyrus H. Glenn, Patrick Gerr, James Harris, James Harrison, Joseph Hafner, Patrick Haloran, Samuel Hunstable, Edwin Howard, S. A. Harris, Charles W. Jenks, John Johnson, Harvey Kimball, Frederick Koch, William Logan, Alfred Lowell, James F. McCoy, John McCoy, Charles Millard, S. H. Moodie, William Mc Connell, Shadrach Mason, John Nevins, H. F. Newland, M. Owens, J. M. Owens, T. W. Owens, Herman Runge, William A. Strosander, Ezra Sherwin, Louis Sprain, David Seaton, Cyrus H. Shepard, J. Snodgras, William Tayler, Robert J. Thomas, Everton Tucker, O. Vincent, H. Vincent and T. J. Woodcock, privates.

Company F, Twenty-fifth Regiment, was raised in La Crosse and Jackson Counties, during the summer of 1862, by Capt. J. Č. Farrand, of Onalaska. About the 1st of September, the company was organized under the name of the "Black River Tigers," and on the 14th of the same month mustered into service for three years or the war. Within a week thereafter, it proceeded to Minnesota River, and remained on the Northwestern frontier until January, 1863, thence proceeded to Columbus, Ky., Yazoo River, Vicksburg, Lake Providence, Eastern Arkansas, Canton, Miss., Cairo, Decatur, Ala., Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw, Atlanta, through the Carolinas, and took part in the review at Washington, after which they were mustered out.

On the roster of members, as mustered into the service, the following were from La Crosse County: James C. Farrand, Captain; Parker C. Dunn, First Lieutenant; Oscar K. Hickok, First Sergeant; Alfred H. Lamb, Fourth Corporal; Leonard Alley, Joseph Aiken, Oleff Erickson, Seth M. Gedney, Thomas W. Joy, Ezra Lockman, James H. Miller, William G. Papst, Joseph Shafer, George Smith, William J. Spencer, John White and Frederick Halinka, privates. In August, 1861, Capt. Jacob T. Foster, commanding an artillery company in La Crosse, received orders to fill up his organization to 150 men, as soon as possible, and proceed to camp in the vicinity of the city.

The Captain had previously offered the services of the company, but not until this date were they accepted. It was commanded by J. T. Foster, who resigned his position of cashier of the Green Bay Bank for that purpose, supported by Alexander Cameron, District Attorney; A. W. Bishop, a prominent lawyer; John Anderson, a leading teacher, and J. L. Usher, a wealthy farmer as Lieutenants.

Recruiting progressed rapidly, and on September 16, an election of officers was held, followed on the 19th by the presentation of a banner from the ladies of La Crosse. It was army regulation size, composed of heavy silk, bordered with gold fringe, embellished with two heavy gold cords and tassels, surmounted with a golden eagle, holding in his talons arrows and olive branches. Dr. Cameron made the presentation speech, which was responded to in an appropriate manner by Capt. Foster; addresses were also delivered by Charles Seymour of the Republican, Judge Gale, Mr. Montgomery, Lieut. Otis and others, the exercises of the day concluding with a benefit ball at the Augusta House, which was largely attended by citizens of La Crosse and the surrounding country.

The company remained in La Crosse until the evening of Wednesday, October 2, 1861, when it proceeded to Camp Utley, near Racine, and went into camp. Previous to their departure, a reception was held at Barron's Hall, which was crowded to its utmost capacity by friends of the "boys," who were there to bid them a kind farewell and God speed on their mission. Short speeches were made, and the ceremonies were impressive, as many an eye unused to tears testified.

About 11 o'clock, a procession was formed, headed by the Bohemian band, thence following the Missouri Sharpshooters and Fire Department, under the escort of which the company went to the cars. Although the hour was midnight, it was a demonstration of which the city was proud, and after a brief time passed in final leave takings, and, mid hearty cheers, the train bearing the company departed for other fields. Much was expected of this organization; its composition was of a superior quality, the officers having occupied prominent professional positions, which they resigned to enter upon the duties of their rank, and with the non-commis