Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-12-07
REUNION OF THE TWENTIETH,
A Regiment in Which WatertoWn Had
Company-Fought Gallant
ly at Prairie Grove

1y OFOV6.
The thirty-sixth anniversary of the
battle of Prairie Grove is being OBJ
served at Madison to-day by com
bined reunion of the Twentieth Wis
consin Volunteer infantry and of the
Army of the Frontier. Considerable
local interest attaches to the event,
inasmuch as one of the companies of
the IWentieth-CO. E-was recruited
from Watertown and immediate vicin-
lty. 1t was known as the German
company and went to the front under
the captaincy of John w. Weber, who
was fatally wounded at Prairie Grove
and who was succeeded by our present
fellow-citizen, Captain Fred Kusel.
Thelieutenant-colonel Of the regiment,
the late Henry Bertram, who COM
manded the brigade in the engage
ment, was also resident of Water
town. George Henze was second lieu
tenant of Co. E, and many other
Watertown men won distinction dur
ing their service in this company.
The reunion will conclude this even
ing with campfire.
The following interesting descrip-
ton of the battle of Prairie Grove was
given in Mondays Sentinel:
The battle of Prairie Grove, Arkan-
sas, took place on December Z, 1862.
The Union forces were commanded by
General Heron and General Blunt,
and the rebels by General Hindman
and his four division commanders,
Rains, >Marmaduke, Frost and Parsons.
The rebels numbered 26, 900, with
twenty-five pieces Of artillery. Gen
eral Heron and General Blunt had
$4,000 men and forty-eight pieces of
artillery. The rebels had a strong
position on wooded height with open
fields in front and on their left. Gen
eral Blunt moved toward them from
the west, while General Heron ap-
preached from the north The battle
began at 10 in the morning. After
considerable fighting, General Heron
directed all his artillery at once against
the nearest of the enemy's guns and
silenced it in two minutes. He then
tried another and another, in the same
way, till eight or nine of the most
troublesome were abandoned. When
General Blunt's forces reached the
field at in the afternoon, General
Heron was nearly outfanked by the
numerous enemy, his batteries nearly
ready to quit, and his men almost ex-
hausted. General Blunt immediately
marched his forces across the open
plain, pushing the rebels inch by inch
till they fed to the woods, where our
troops charged them. The conflict
ragged with terrible uncertainty on the
west of the wooded hill for four hours.
At night an armistice was agreed upon
and in the morning it was found that
the enemy had fed.
The Wisconsin troops engaged were
one battalion of the Second cavalry
under Major Miller; five squadrons Of
the Third Wisconsin cavalry and two
howitzers under Major Calkins, and
the Twentieth infanty under Major
Starr, Lieutenant-Colonel Bertram
having command of the brigade. The
Ninth Wisconsin, for the most part,
had charge of trains.
The feature of the battle was the
brave charge of the Twentieth regi-
ment, led by Major Starr. They we're
pressed back by the weight of mum
bers, five regiments of the rebel troops
being opposed to them. The charge
only occupied twenty minutes, but in
that time ffty-one members of the
Twentieth were killed and $50 wound
ed. Captain John McDermott, of Co.
@, and Lieutenant Thomas Bintliff, of
Co. |, were killed in this charge Cap
tain McDermott fell bearing the colors
of the regiment, which he had seized
when the color bearer was shot. Lieu
tenant Bintliff was Methodist clergy
man from Beetown, Grant county
Captain John w. Weber, of Co. E, was
severely wounded and soon died.
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Bertram
had horse shot under him and had a
slight confusion on the thigh. Cap
tains A. Gillett and FL. E. Strong, and
Lieutenants jackson, Bird, Butler,
Blake, Ferguson, Root and Miller were
wounded.