Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-12-21
CIVIL WAR RECALLED.
Reunion of the Army of the From.
tier at Madison.
LUCIUs FAIRCHILD POST G. A. r..

Hsrndcns Reception by the Army of the
Frontier The Battle of Prairie Grove,
Ark.-Portion of General Harnden's Ac-
count of the Capture of Jer Davis
Madison, Wis. Dec. 13.-Heroie memo
ries of the days of stress ard strife
have been the order of the h ur here for
several days past. The annual nspec-
| ton of Lucius Fairchild post, q. A. r..
which claims TO be the Oldest in the
world, followed by the reunion of the
Army of the Frontier. have. turned the
thoughts of all who have come in cor
tact with the veterans back to the
dreadful drama in which the war broken
survivors of the armies of the republic
figured. The Madison G. A. r.. post
was founded June 10, 1866, and named
Itself Cassius Fairchild pest No. /, in
honor of 1t Madison hero who died of
wounds received at Shiloh The senior
lty of the Macs n post is contested by
that of Berlin, Wis, on the ground that
the Madison p, st did not hold continu-
Gus meet mss on organizing and so is
not entitled to first place. But the
Capital city post holds the original
charter, dating back to June TO- 1866.
The charter members of the post hold
ing this gratifying distinction of beng
the Oldest in the word are, in the order
their names appear on the list as fol-
ows:
Joshua w Tolford, Henry Sanford.
Charles G. Mayors, Lucius Fairchld, A
a. Meredith, r. j. Chase, IL. c. Olney,
Iohn Reynolds, Francis Downs, George
+. RoWeH George H. Meissner, John
tietts, Louis l.. Gootman, S. l.. Pearson.
Charles II. Barton, James X. Proudfit
and Thomas Reynolds OF these Gen
eral Fairchiid Mayors, Meredith, John
and Thomas Reynolds and Pearson are
dead, Captain Tolford lives at Neils-
vile, Sanford alone remains in Madison.
Olney was in Kansas when last heard
from, Downs is department commander
of California. Rowell resides in Mazo-
manic, Goodman in Waunakee and
Prcudht in Missouri Captain Tolford
was the first post commander and Hen
/ ~ Sanford. the present adjutant, was
also the first adjutant. James X.
| Proudht was the first state department
| commander and George f. Rowell the
| first assis,a.t adjutant general The
first meetings were held in the base
Governor Wasnburn the name of the
| post was changed to c. c. Washburn
But the Fairchild family had a soft
| place in the hearts of the veterans and
| on the death of General Lucius Fair
child the name was quickly changed
| in honor OF that hero, a special meet
| ing having been called at once to fore
stan similar action by some other post
Anniversary of an Important Battle.
The reunion of the Army of the From
| tier was hold in the assembly cham
| Der of the capitol Dec. I. which was the
| thirty-siXth anniversary of the battle
| of Prairie Grove, Ark, which the par
| Elephants say was the beginning of the
| end of the war in that it broke the
| rebel power west of the Mississippi,
| saved st. Louis from falling into the
hands of the enemy. thus preventing a
probable invasion of the northwest and
served to keep in check the murderous
| Cherokees. Sioux and other tribes who
| were ready to take the warpath
| Though history makes small mention
| Of it. IT was one of the bloodiest and
most desperately contested battles of
the war. A Union force of 10000 men,
under General Frank j Herron, now of
New York city, defeated a rebel force
Of three times that number under Gen
eral Marmaduke. The Twentieth Wis
consin went into the fight less than 500
strong and lest $50 men. of whom eighty
six We're killed on the field of battle
in twenty minutes, the largest loss any
Wisconsin regiment suffered in any
battle In the war. BY a resJlut on
ndnntpA WpIpacday oil g1fl
| served west of the Mississippi and nurth
Of the Red river are entitled to mem
bership in the society of the Army of
the Frontier.
None of the speakers at the reunion
was more heartily received than was
General Henry Harnden, who had the
honor of capturing Jeff DAVIS when the
illstarred head of the confederacy made
his futile attempt to escape southwark
after Lees surrender.
Capture Of JeT Davis.
General Harnden has recently con-
tributed to the Wisconsin historical col
lect ons an acc unit of the First Wiscon-
sin cavalry at the capture of Jeff Davis,
from which we are privileged to make
extracts. 1t was in May, 1865 that he
was detailed by General Wilson to take
a detachment and cross the country
toward Savannah TO head off Jeff DaV-
is, who was reported to be making his
way southwark into Georgia The duty
was so well performed that it resulted
In the capture of the rebel chief at a
place near Irwinsville, in, the pine woods.
in the south of Georgia. At the capture
of Davis an unfortunate affair hap
pened which was afterward the cause
of some controversy between General
Harnden and the lieutenant colonel OF
the Fourth Michigan cavalry. but was
finally settled by congress, after full
investigation, dividing the reward given
for Davis equally between the two de-
tachments and generating General
Harnden from all blame in the collision
of the two regiments in the dark, in
which two of the Michigan regiment
were killed and several wounded and
several Wisconsin men also wounded
General Harnden writes of the capt
ure of the rebel chief with the brevity
and directness of true soldier. The
pursuing party Of $50 horsemen was
quickly upon the trail of Davis in hot
pursuit but in the woods near Dublin.
Ga, it was lost. General Harnden
thus describes how it was again dis
covered. and it seems like the work
ings of fate that one of the race whose
subsection. was to have been the corner
stone of the confederacy should be in
strumental in finally bringing its presi-
dent into the hands of the victorious
enemy:
For several months I had been served
by an old colored man. whom we called
Bill He had been slave and owned
by staff officer of General Braxton
nrago Of the confederate army.
II had scarcely lain down to sleep,
when Bill came and touched me. Col
onel. Colonel" he said. wake ID. I
have found colored man who will tell
you something Well, what is it?'
asked. 1t was as dark as pitch, but ]
could see the whites of their eyes. and
knew they had some important infor-
maticn to & We. The stranger sa d that
Jefferson Davis had been in town that
day. / said, How do you know it was
Jeff Davis? What makes you think so?'
Well he said, all the gentlemen called
rim President Davis and he had his
wife with hir ard she was called Mrs
Davis
Left ~, y Hurry.
He further said toat they were going
TO dine with Judge Rose. a gentleman
who had been persistent in urging me
to spend t1e night at his house, but be
fore they could get the dinner ready,
they hearo something that made the
PARTY leave. in a hurry going south on