Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-04-19
"REMINISCENCES OF
THE DAYS OF CTS
RISE OF HENRY BERTRAM TO
THE GENERALSHIP.
Rapid Rise From Private to High
Military Station = WdtertOWn
Had d Company in the 10th. of
Which Fred kuSel Became Cap
tdin-Mdny Killed in Battle.


readers of The Leader. The article
is written by H. w. Rood of Madison,
one of the best posted Grant Army
men in the state. 1t appeared in the
Sunday issue of the Madison Demo
GRAFT 1t refers to General Henry
Bertram, in command of the 10th
Wisconsin regiment, of which the
WatertoWn Rifles were part Fred
Kusel of this city, came out captain
and there are other survivors, In the
battle referred to at Prairie Grove,
Ark, sveral from WatertoWn were
killed Besides the Offices held by
General Bertram after the war, he
was also postmaster in Watertown for
several months, being the predecessor
to J. T. Moak. The article referred
to is highly interesting and will be
read with interest by many. IL fol-
lows:
General Henry Bertram-A picture
was brought to memorial hall few
days ago by Robert Hastreiter com
pany l 10th Wisconsin, late of Madi-
son but now of Milwaukee, that will
be highly priced by all who honor the
memory of a gallant soldier, but es-
pecially by survivors of the twentieth
Wisconsin Infantry. 1t is full-length
portrait of General Henry Bertram.
and was presented by survivors of his
regiment.
No Wisconsin soldier did better ser
vice in the civil war than General
Bertram. When Lincoln's first call
for troops came he was living IN
Watertown He enlisted at once,
April Is 1861, less than week after
Fort Sumter was fired upon, in com.
pany called The Watertown rifles
On that same day the services of the
company were accepted. Later il
went into rendezvous at Camp Hamil-
ton, Fond du Lac, and became Com
pany A of the third infantary. There
it was. with the rest of the regiment
put into vigorous training for military
service.
The third was under command Of
Colonel Charles ,. Hamilton, Wes
Pointer who had served with some dis
tinction In the Mexican war. The
lieutenant Colonel was Thomas III
Ruger, also West Pointer. Among
the line officers Captain Darius Glib:
and Lieutenant Bertram of Company
A, Captain John Scott, Company B
Captain Howard Vandagrift, Company
l, and Captain William Hawley, Com
pany K, had all seen service in the
Mexican war. Captain Hawley was &
Madison man. He became. March TO-
1868, colonel of. the regiment, and was
later brevetted brigadier general.
Colonel Hamilton soon became a ma.
jor general, and Colonel Rugee was
made major general by brevet.
Henry Bertram enlisted as pri-
vate, but on the lst day of May, 1861,
he was commissioned 1st lieutenant.
From August &c, '61, to the third day
of the following October he was act
ing adjutant of the regiment, and or
the Oath of September, 81, he was
made captain of his company. The
late Dean Bryant of the university,
was later adjutant of the third, and a
few years ago he wrote a most excel
lent history of the service of the regi-
ment. In his book he speaks more
than once of the efficient service OF
Captain Bertram. The regiment was
in the Army of the Potomac.
On the 1st day of July, 1862, Bert
rams ability as an officer was recog-
nlzed by an appointment to the posi-
ton of lieutenant colonel of the goth
Wisconsin, a regiment then beng or
ganized in Camp Randall. On the goth
day of the following August the TWEEN
tieth left the state for st. Louis, and
it soon became a pert of the brigade
of General Heron at Rolla, Missouri.
Not long after this Colonel Plckney
was put in command of the brigade
dLiu DCItIdiil USSdIuS SOiiliHdliuS1 VI
the regiment. On the 2nG of Deem
Der, '62, Colonel Pinckney resigned
his position, and on Decemper 6 Bert
ram was promoted to be colonel.
In the meantime the regiment had
been in active service in Missouri, do
ing a great deal of marching though
no fghing. But on the 7th of Decem-
Der, go. the twentieth had part in one
of the hardest fought battles of the
war,-at Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
In this conflict Colonel Bertram was
in command of his brigade, as indeed,
he was most OF the time during the
war.
The losses of the twentieth, as re-
ported in the official records of the
union and confederate armies were as
follows: KIlIed-two officers and 49
enlisted men.
Wounded II officers and 11S enlist
ed men.
Missing-1S enlisted men.
Totals.
The officers killed were Captain
John McDermott, Company c., Fenni-
more; and Lieutenan Thomas Biatliff,
Company I, Beetown-both Grant
county. Captain John Weber, Com