The American Civil War

The American Civil War began April 12, 1861 when Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, S.C. was fired on by the Confederates.  At this time Clark Co., Wis. had about 120 families and a population of about 800 people.  The war ended on April 9, 1865 in Appomattox, Va. (There were some skirmishes beyond that date by “die-hard” Confederates.

Clark County men enrolled in Company I of the 14^th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment Infantry starting on Oct. 19, 1861.  The leadership was composed of 2 captains, 4 first Lieutenants and 3 second lieutenants of which 8 enlisted on 10-19-1861 and 1 enlisted on 11-16-1861.  Four of these men were from Neillsville, 3 from Black River Falls, 1 from Springfield and 1 from Alma.  All 9 of these officers survived the war with only 2 of them being wounded.

Non-officers, which included corporals, sergeants, regular infantry,  and musicians, totaled 161 men during the course of the war.  These 161 men listed their residence as:

Clark County – Neillsville (27); Hixon (6); Lynn (5); Levis (3); Weston (2).  These 43 non-officers added to 4 of the officers from Clark Co. equals 47 Clark County men in Company I, 14^th Regiment during the Civil War.

Other Than Clark County – Black River Falls (21); Alma (17); Albion (9); Springfield (8); La Crosse (6); Watertown (6); Meeme (5); Irving (4); 2 each from Fox Lake, Manitowoc Rapids; Maple Creek, Melrose, Mischicot, Westford, and 1 each from Aztalan, Barre, Burke, Caledonia, Farmington, Fond du Lac, Freedom, Fredonia, Greenfield, Irving, Lake Mills, Lebanon, New Orleans, Newton Osceola, Oshkosh, Outagamie, Plainfield, Rockland, Scott, Sparta, Sterling, Stiles, Stockbridge, Suamico, Sumner, Wyocena.

In addition, there were 3 men from Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., 2 who enlisted on 6-15-1862, of which one was discharge “by order” on 7-12-1862, and one who deserted on 1-12-1863.  The 3^rd one enlisted on 6-12-1862 and deserted on 6-15-1862.

All the preceding 161 non-officers enlisted with the exception of 23 men who were drafted in September through December 1864.  The drafted men were from La Cross (2 of the 6 drafted), all 5 of the Memme men, all 2 each from Manitowoc Rapids, Maple Creek, Mishicot, and all 1 each from Caledonia, Fredonia, Freedom, Lebanon, Newton, Plainfield, Rockland, Stiles, Stockbridge, and Suamico.
 

A time table of the 161 non-officer’s enlistment/draft dates and the casualty count

(A = killed in action / died of wounds; B = died of disease)

• * In addition to the two Tennessee deserters, one of the men who enlisted on Oct. 19, 1861 deserted on Feb. 25, 1864, and the other enlisted on Jan. 4, 1864 and deserted on July 2 1864, both of these men were from Neillsville.
• ** Counted in Sept. 1864 “died of disease” is one man who committed suicide “while temporarily insane” on April 30, 1865 in Mobile, Ala.  He had been drafted on Sept. 21, 1864 from La Crosse, Wis.
• *** The 23 who died from disease represented almost twice as man men as those who were killed in action or died of their wounds. (14.2857%  vs. 7.453%).  The 1861 and 1862 enlistments had an equal ratio of “killed in action/died of wounds (12) and died of “disease” (12), but in the 1863 – 1865 enlistments, all of the deaths were caused by disease.  Wisconsin, as a whole, lost 13.65% from wound and disease combined.

Union Side Statistics

Civil War who died from disease and were from the 14^th Regiment, Company I

• * This was Washington Short

• ** This was Alexander Green of Neillsville, who originally enlisted 10-19-1861, released 05-30-1862, reenlisted 12-26-1863, became a prisoner in Dec. 1864, and died 04-13-1865 in Neillsville, Wis. (his home) of diseases contracted during the Civil War.

Per the “World Book Encyclopedia”, twice as man men died of disease as from the battles.  Unsanitary conditions, inadequate diet and non-sterile medical equipment were the norm.  Common diseases (with Webster’s definitions) at that time included.:

• Consumption – a wasting away of body; a disease causing this; esp., tuberculosis of the lungs.

• Dysentery – any of various intestinal inflammations characterized by abdominal pain and intense diarrhea with bloody, mucous feces.

• Malaria – an infectious disease, general intermittent and recurrent; caused by any of various protozoans that are parasitic and in the red blood corpuscles and are transmitted to man by the bite of an infected mosquito, esp. the anopheles; it is characterized by severe chills and fever.

• Typhoid – an acute infectious disease caused by a bacillus and acquired by ingesting food or water contaminated with excreta and is characterized by fever, intestinal disorders.

The following is a chart of the 12 men from Company I, 14^th Regiment who were killed in action or died of their wounds: