Company K, Twentieth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry Part 4

[1] In original ma.n.u.script the name of this recruit was given, but it is here omitted in compliance with the very earnest solicitation of the printer.

LEWIS G. BISHOP, Grand Junction, Colorado.

July 16, 1861-August 9, 1862. Born in Yorks.h.i.+re, Cattaraugus county, New York, on St. Patrick's day, 1838. Was, therefore, twenty-three years old at time of enlistment. Was wounded in left arm and left leg at s.h.i.+loh. Was sent down the rivers to hospitals at Paducah and Mound City. In course of time obtained leave of absence and went up to Newark, Illinois. Was then made aware that the people appreciated the soldiers. Was lionized wherever he went in Kendall county, which was a source of embarra.s.sment to him, as he was a modest and humble individual. Was discharged because of wounds and receives pension therefor at rate of twelve dollars a month. He is glad that he still has his left leg, although it is not as good as the other. He is obliged to wear a rubber stocking and use other appliances to suppress inflammation and reduce varicose veins.

Comrade Bishop remembers with minute particularity the events of the Fort Henry and Fort Donelson campaigns. He remembers as though it were yesterday the morning, when, at dawn, we discovered lines of Confederates looking at us from their rifle pits and when Chaplain b.u.t.ton went upon his knees on the ground and prayed with great earnestness for the salvation of the souls of those who should be slain in the impending battle. He thinks that if the Chaplain had taken a fife and stepped out and played "Yankee Doodle" it would have a better effect. He confesses that the prayer depressed him. In the state of mind in which he was at that time he would greatly prefer to live than to die and take his chances for heaven. This was probably the prevailing sentiment among the soldiers of both armies.

Comrade Bishop came West in the spring of 1860; went as far as Fort Larimie, Wyoming, returned in the fall to Illinois, taught school near Newark in winter of 1860-61; in spring of 1861 went to Wisconsin and helped to run a raft of lumber out of the Wisconsin river down to Muscatine; in July, 1861, returned to Kendall county, Illinois. When the disaster occurred at Bull Run he awoke to the fact that the country was seriously menaced and resolved to be a soldier. He was acquainted with many of the boys of Company K, had visited them in Joliet, and he decided to cast his lot with them. He picked up his carpet-bag and went to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and was mustered in.

After discharge Comrade Bishop became a student and a teacher; later he studied dentistry, and for many years has been engaged in the practice of that profession.

Religion: Agnostic. He neither a.s.serts nor denies any theological dogma.

Politics: Anything to beat the republican party. Believes that the principles and methods of that party should be relegated to "innosuous desuetude." The party is owned and fenced in by syndicates, corporations and factories, and is not worthy of public confidence. The people should rise in their sovereign capacity and decree that capital shall cease to dominate the legislation of the country.

Comrade Bishop has been married and he has been un-married. He considers that St. Paul gave first-cla.s.s advice when, in his letter to the Corinthians, he wrote, "Seek not a wife."

AUGUSTUS GAY, No. 902 Second Street, Seattle, Was.h.i.+ngton.

April 5, 1862-April 9, 1865. Was born at Albany, New York, in July, 1846.

Was, therefore, fifteen years and nine months old when he enlisted. Was the youngest man in Company K, and looked very honest. No boy in the whole Union army had a more innocent face than Augustus Gay. He came to us at Joliet and was rejected. He followed up the Regiment for about a year and during most of that time had a position on Dr. Bailey's staff. Finally, at Pittsburg Landing, the day before the battle of s.h.i.+loh, he was mustered into the service as a member of Company K. Was mustered out at Raleigh, North Carolina, by reason of the expiration of his term of enlistment.

Augustus Gay appeared to court danger. He went into battle with a broad smile on his face and a twinkle of the eye as though he were engaged in something pleasant and agreeable. Was very reckless and daring in action.

The wonder was how it happened that he was never killed. Was captured near Atlanta July 22, 1864, and went to Anderson prison, where he spent several months. Was finally transferred by the Confederates from Andersonville to Savannah and was at that place when it was captured by the Union army December 21, 1864.

I am in receipt of a long and interesting letter from Comrade Gay in which he gives facts concerning himself. This is dated March 26, 1894. I had previously written him up for the roster from memory and had cla.s.sed him among the missing. He says he was very glad to hear from Company K. He has never seen any of the Company since the war, and had never heard from any of them. He was not sick a day while in the army and was never wounded.

Since the war he has never been so seriously sick as to be confined to his bed. He is not a rich man and he is not a poor man. He weighs 250 pounds.

He lives well. He never chews nor smokes tobacco nor drinks intoxicating liquors and never plays cards. He has been on the Pacific slope for twenty years and has not been back to the States during that time. He has been married for ten years and has now a boy more than half as old as he was when he joined Company K. After the war he studied dental surgery and has followed that profession continuously. Receives pension at rate of six dollars a month. Writes thus: "I want you to put in your roster that if ever a Company K man comes to this part of the world I want him to come and see me."

He says that he is Protestant. But I don't think he is a full-blooded Protestant. If I remember correctly he used to tell us in the army that his parents were Hibernians, and that he was half Catholic and half Protestant, and had by inheritance all the good qualities of both kinds of religion.

JAMES SPRINGER, Eighty-eighth and Throop Streets, Chicago, Illinois.

Born on a farm near La Fayette, Indiana. Enlisted August 28, 1862, at the age of twenty-two years. Joined Company K at Holly Springs, Mississippi, in November, 1862, and served until mustered out at the close of the war in 1865.

After discharge became a student at the University of Chicago, also, law department thereof, from which he graduated in June, 1868, and was then admitted to the bar. Practiced law for sixteen years. For a time was engaged in journalism. Since 1885 has followed a business career.

In politics an independent; in religion a Methodist.

LAMBERT CONNER, Braidwood, Illinois.

Born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey. I think he enlisted in the spring of 1863. Was then eighteen years old. Mustered out July 16, 1865. Receives pension at rate of sixteen dollars a month for disabilities incurred in service. He did not reply to my letter of inquiry.

FOUR KIDS.

Four nice boys, in a bunch, came into our camp at Big Black river, Mississippi, about the first of April, 1864. These were Pease Barnard, Charles Hall, Luman Preston and Fayette Scofield. They were all "Suckers," were separated from their mothers for the first time and, to the old campaigners of Fort Donelson, s.h.i.+loh and Vicksburg, they, appeared very fresh and innocent. They had been mustered in several weeks before by a recruiting officer in Illinois, and fitted out with Uncle Sam's uniforms, and were now ready to a.s.sist in winding up the war.

NATHANIEL PEASE BARNARD, Newark, Illinois.

February 25, 1864-July 16, 1865. Born in LaSalle county, Illinois.

Seventeen years old when enlisted. Served in Georgia, went with Sherman from Atlanta to the sea, and helped to eviscerate the Carolinas. Pensioned at rate of eight dollars a month. Member of M. E. church. An active member of republican party. A lawyer by profession.

CHARLES HALL, Westport, Brown County, South Dakota.

February 24, 1864-July 16, 1865. Born in Kendall county, Illinois.

Eighteen years old when enlisted. July, 1864, in Georgia campaign, was shot in the neck, and for a time was supposed to be dead. This recruit was built of good material for a soldier. Did not answer my letter.

LUMAN PRESTON, Dixon, Illinois.

February 16, 1864-July 16, 1865. Born in Kendall county, Illinois.

Eighteen years old when enlisted. Is in business. Did not reply to my letter of inquiry. Is probably very busily engaged attending to customers.

I meet Luman occasionally. He is always in good shape and happy. I think he is a democrat. Is of the bluest Puritan blood, but has the figure of a Teuton.

Our Missing Members.

The following four Company K men I cannot find. If any Comrade can give me any information concerning any of them I desire to have him do so. They may be living, but I think it is more probable that they are dead:

GEORGE ADAMS.

June, 1861-October 14, 1862. Born in England.

JOHN CONSTANTINE.

May, 1861-August 29, 1861. Born in Ireland. Came to America when one year old. Claimed to have been discharged from the regular army a short time before enlisting in Company K. Was an intemperate, boisterous and quarrelsome man. Was dismissed from the army by sentence of a court martial.

LOUIS MINTZ.

April, 1861-August 24, 1863. Born in Portugal. In religion was supposed to be a Hebrew. I think he came to Newark as a peddler and there joined Company K. He was a good soldier, but was very excitable. On one occasion, when advancing on skirmish line through the woods, he fired into a dead rebel who was hanging on a fence. Comrade Mintz was overheated at Raymond, from which he never recovered, and on account of which he was discharged.

JOHN PEPOON.

May, 1861-December 16, 1862. At time of enlistment he lived in Oswego towns.h.i.+p, Kendall county, Illinois.