The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-20
LAYTON A CAPTAIN.

Even then he had given evidence of
! his fitness for rank and command, and
at Milroy's suggestion to Co. Els young
| captain, LaWton, not yet eighteen, was
made a sergeant in his company. I've
never had as much rank since,'' said
Lawton to a friend, talking of his first
service. Il was impatient to learn it
all, but I soon saw how much there
was that l didn't understand. I had the
I company drill pretty pat, but of guard
mounting, picket and outpost duty and
many other things, l absolutely knew
nothing"
Il remember Lawton in 1851 very
well,'' said a distinguished regular ar
my officer, since dead. Il think he had
the biggest, blacklist eyes 1 ever saw
in a boys head, He was pale, slen-
der youngster, whom rapid growth and
possibly hard study had rendered some
what anaemic. But he made up for his
possible lack of blood by an lndomita-
BILE energy that has grown with his
growth and become greater with his
strength. He was a most careful mil
itary STUDENT, too, and one far beyond
his years. He used often to puzzle me
with difficult tactical questions. I think
when his three months service was
ended lie was as fine a tactical officer
/ in the school of the company and bat
talon as l have ever seem"
SERVICE AT CORINTH.
Lawton's three months service ended
without any very startling episode,
and he returned to his home, determin-
ed to obtain commission.
Our young soldier was mus
tered out of the three months service
July 30 He was at once engaged as drill
sergeant by Lieut.. Col. Hugh B. Reed,
the second in command OF the Thirtieth
and Aug. 20 was commissioned first lieu
tenant, the youngest commissioned Of
fcer OF the regiment, and the best, a
little over IS years old.
The regiment commanded by Col
Reed was ordered to the army of the
Tennessee. Its first service was in Ken
lucky, but early in 1852 it was ordered
to Tennessee. 1t was among the gal
liant Indiana regiments that did good
work at Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh
as the confederates call it, April and
Z, 1862 It's next sharp fighting was at
Corinth and Iuka, 1862 and here Law
ton got the double bars. The officers
of the Thirtieth suffered severely in the
Shiloh campaign, and in that immedi-
ately following. Corinth and Iuka, and
so it happened shortly after his nine
teenth birthday he was promoted to
be captain of his company.
ut was a lovely day in June, 1862
| that my commission of captain was
handed me-" said Lawton, long after
ward in Arizona, relating the incident
to a conrade. II had been commanding
my company for some time, and 1 knew
/ would receive the formal promotion
| for my immediate superiors had all in
! dorseG Ire in the most favorable terms
| But l had not the formal warrant to
assume the rank. When it was handed
| to me would not have changed places
| with king or kaiser. | was nineteen
! years old, and, though my upper liz
| was as bare as a girls, l was a captain
in a fighting regiment 1t was then that
| / felt that if 1 had a vocation fo1
| anything upon earth it was the life OF
| a soldier. Then and there l determined
70 make the service of my country my
| life's work"
UNDER BRAGG
! The Thirtieth Indiana took part in
! the sharp fighting with Gen. Bragg's
army, on its advance northward in 1856.
| into Kentucky, and back into Tennes.
see, in the campaign under Gen. Rose.
Grams ending at Chickamauga. 1t was
| a part of Gen. Sherman's army, an6
was then under Major General Sheri.
dan, as it's division commander.
| BY this time, in that curious process
| OF 9IIrlItOn Dy@ WHICH COMPANIES, TeBl
ments and armies melt invisibly away
| the Thirtieth Indiana was much re-
/ duced in strength. So Dec. 3, 1864, by
command of Major General Thomas L
| Wood, the Thirtieth was consolidated
| into seven company battalion, with {
| strength on paper of 701 men, but with
| present for duty of about Co., Earl,
! in 1865 the residuary company of the
! Thirty-sixth Indiana was added to thi:
| command by order of Major Genera
| Sheridan and Lawton was promoted
from captain to lieutenant colonel, anC
| thirty commissioned and six non-com
missioned officers were appointed at TIL,
! same time.
After the hard fighting of the Allan
| ia campaign and that under Gen. Sher-
man, the Thirtieth Indiana battalion
had a pretty easy time of it until No
vember, 1865, when it was mustered out
of the United States service.
IN REGULAR ARMY.
BY this time Brevet Col. Lawton Chat
being his rank them had determined to
get into the regular army if he could
| There We're no vacancies then and the
! United States army would need to be
| reorganized ON a much more liberal
! basis before there would be any chance
for him. So he waited with some i'm
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