The weekly pioneer and Democrat., 1865-08-18

ana ~inona preparaAry 70 being sent South.
All the companies save 0aud Il which were at
Fort Aoercrombie came ino camp BY the 5th Of
October, and on the 9th thos> At sre,,;no With
Headquarters. started South, ,.k;nu nm thoae
at Winona on the way.
Col. Wilkin with these eight e.ror.r;o. ~
his regiment reported. as per ordersE to Car. I
eral John NJ. Schofeld, commanding -.
ment of the Missouri, at Ct Louis on thu re..
Of October, and was Immediately orderes -
Join the troops sent out to check the $50 ShN.
by raid then at its height The comman0
arrived at Jefferson City on the 14th, and the !
Shelby affair being about over, it was assigned
to garrison duty at that place.
The headquarters of the Regiment remained
at Jefferson City until in February, 1864, but
the command was further divided and sub-di-
vided. Four days after reaching Jefferson,
Companies c and K were detached to garrison
the post at LIE Mine Bridge, point on the Pa
cidc Railroad seventy miles west, where they
remained during the winter.
About the middle of November, Companies
II and G arrived at st. Louis from Fort Aber.
crombie, under command of Major Markham,
and were assigned to duty in that city. On the
7th OF December four more companies CA, B, +
and ID were detached from headquarters, and
sent to Rolla. On the nth of February, head.
quarters, with the companies remaining at
Jefferson, Cd and p left that place for War.
rensburg, Mo-, taking up c and < at LIE Mine
on their way west The headquarters and
those four companies remained at Warensburg
until March 9th, when the command was fur
ther divided by headquarters and Companies D
and moving again westward, leaving C and K
at Warrensburg On the march west, f was
dropped at Independence and D went on with
headquarters to Kansas City.
Meantime E had been ordered from Rolla to
garrison Waynesville, some thirty miles west of
Rolla d had been ordered up to Rolla in Els
place and G was stationed at Franklin at the
junction of the southwest branch with the main
trunk of the Pacific Railroad. Thus at one
time the regiment was scattered from the Kan
sas line, 29O miles west of st. Louis, along the
railroad to within less than forty miles of that
city. and thence out on the branch road one
hundred and ten miles,.
In the month Of April the headquarters were
removed to Rolla, and On the 18th of May Or
ders were received to rendezvous the regiment
at St Louis, preparatory to being sent further
south. The scattered companies were rapidly
assembled at Camp Gamble in the suburbs of
the city, and on the evening of the 2Sth of
May the regiment, 97o strong after being
an organization half the term of its existence,
was for the first time fully consolidated, and
had its first dress parade as regiment.
The Ninth left Saint Louis on the 29th and
landed at Memphis on the 31st of May. The
same evening Col Wilkin had orders to march
the next morning, forming one of the regi-
ments in the unfortunate
"N GUNTOwH EXPEDITION.
The suferings endured by the Ninth and the
other regiments composing Sturgis' command
ia this unfortunate campaign, need not be re-
ferred to here. The loss of the Ninth was
eight officers and two hundred and thirty-eight
men killed, wounded and missing. Of this
number two officers were killed and six taken
prisoners, all of whom providentially sue
ceeded IN surviving the horrors of their South
en prisons. Of the enlisted men, 21O were
taken prisoners only sixty-eight of whom
were alive when the exchange took place Last
winter and spring. Several of this sixty-eight
have died since coming home. The remain
der of these brave fellows sleep in that mur-
derous Golgotha-the Andersonville prisoners
graveyard.
The subsequent history of the Ninth varies
very little from that of the Seventh and
Tenth. On their return to Memphis after Gun
town, the regiment was attached to the ID
brigade, LIST division, 18th army corps, Colonel
Wlkin, by rank, assuming command of the
brigade. The Seventh at the same time was
attached. TO the Sd brigade, same division, and
the Tenth to the 1st brigade. The Fifth Min
nesota was an old main pillar of the ID brig.
ade; and thus Tar the first and only time in
the history Of the war, Minnesota had four reg
iments in one division, and thus she became a
power of herself in that command. The same
organization continued until the division was
disOrgsnized by the order to muster ont regi-
ments last month.
The Ninth shared the dancers and the gio-
ies Of the Tupelo campaign in July of last
year, where they had the satisfaction of help
ing to chastise and terribly punish the exult.
ant foe which month previously had in
measure humiliated them at Guntowr. On the
last occasion that the command was struck on
the flank during the march from Poutotoc to
Tupelo on the 18th of July, Ghe day previous
y the main battle,) the Ninth got good
"ready" on body of the enemy who were
skulking out Of cornfield and through .
piece Of woods, attempting to capture the I'd |
Iowa Battery. At one volley saOesty- |
seues of the " "chivalry" went down to rise no |
more, which decisive shot ended any further |
demonstration on the part of the enemy in
that immediate quarter.
The next day, in the midst of the STORM of |
battle, the gallant Col Wilkin expired on the |
field, being instantly killed by musket ball |
through the heart.
Returning to Memphis, the Ninth next ac-
IT. fho