I was going through an old skirmish drill book and noticed a diagram of how Wagner’s Brigade was originally lined up for the assault on Missionary Ridge. I thought it noteworthy to share with this audience.
Source: Skirmishing, Volume 1, By Kent J. Goff, date is unclear
An outstanding video by Joseph Ricci and Eric Jacobson (The Battle of Franklin Trust) about General George Day Wagner. The 40th Indiana is also mentioned in the video. I am often asked what happened with his decision making at the Battle of Franklin. This video sums up his life and action at Franklin very well.
Great article about Corporal Sylvester Leaming, 40th Indiana Infantry. Ronald S. Coddington wrote the article for Military Images Magazine. The 40th Indiana Infantry Blog was humbled to be contacted while the article was in progress.
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana) 09 Apr 1960 p.23
Lt. John C. Webster, orphaned when very young, left school to enlist (40th IN.) and was seriously wounded at Missionary Ridge and at Kennesaw Mountain. After his discharge, he studied medicine and practiced for many years at Romney. Several men from the 40th (IN.) were involved in the disaster of the riverboat Sultana on April 28, 1865. The Sultana, over-crowded with 1,866 Union soldiers, mostly captives freed from Andersonville prison, caught fire from the explosion of a hastily patched boiler and was completely destroyed on the Mississippi near Memphis. Hundreds of soldiers who had survived in the water or were trapped by the collapse of the hurricane deck or scalded by escaping steam. In all 1,238 men died, including Capt. Will L. Coleman, Capt. Henry L. Hazelrigg, and George D. Kent. Theophilus W. Milligan, of Clarks Hill, and Christian Nisley were among the survivors.
(James H. Jackson, Co. H, was also killed in the Sultana disaster) S.R.B.
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana) 09 Apr 1960 p.23
“UNUSUAL STORY: Capt. Jacob F. Marks, of Odell, left his college studies at Asbury College (DePauw University) and enlisted in the Union Army immediately after the first call for volunteers in ’61. Wounded at Missionary Ridge while leading men of the 40th Indiana Infantry regiment (Co. I), Capt. Marks was thought to have been killed when a shell exploded near him. Later he was discovered still living and was taken to a hospital where he remained unconscious for 12 days. In later life he was subject to spells of “fever” and during those periods would mutter “We can make it boys,” words he apparently was uttering at the time he was wounded. Surviving today is his daughter, Mrs. Borden B. Kessler, 815 North Tenth street, who loaned this picture to the Lafayette Journal and Courier.”
” The 40th regiment, organized at Lafayette, included many men who had unusual war stories. Capt Jacob F. Marks, of Odell, led a charge at Missionary Ridge and while he was giving a command, a shell exploded close behind him. He was taken to the rear by stretcher bearers who left him in the woods, thinking he was dead. After the battle he was found alive and taken to the hospital in Chattanooga where he remained unconscious for 12 days. When he regained consciousness his first utterance was the uncompleted command that he had been giving on Missionary Ridge. He was brought home and for nearly a year remained blind and deaf, then after his recovery served as county treasurer.”
Captain Marks was honorably discharged 5/16/64
A newspaper story about Captain Wilson DeWitt Wallace’s recruiting efforts in Montgomery County, Indiana. Nearly one-half of company C was recruited due to his hard work.Wallace served as a lieutenant and captain with the 40th Indiana Infantry. His service was ended when he was severely wounded in the right arm at at Stones River on January 2, 1863.
Source: Lafayette Journal and Courier Sun 5 Oct 1980 p. 40
“Interesting people fill Lafayette’ history and one of the more fascinating is 19th century lawyer W. DeWitt Wallace, a man forgotten today. The student of Lafayette history encounters Wallace many times through 40 years as a soldier, lawyer, speaker, public servant and author. He was born in 1838 to cabinetmaker James Wallace and his wife Sarah – and with few exceptions lived in Tippecanoe County his whole life. He attended the city’s “common schools’ and in the fall of 1855, entered Waveland Academy in Montgomery County. But his father couldn’t afford the tuition so DeWitt dropped out after a year. In the fall of 1856, he taught in a private school in Tippecanoe County saving enough of his pay to re enroll at Waveland in 1857.”
“Then in the fall of 1858 he enrolled as a sophomore at Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, being graduated in the spring of 1861. But that was the spring the Civil War broke out and Wallace left college to enlist for three months’ service in an Indiana regiment. When he came home to Lafayette, he learned his two brothers had signed up and that the region had filled its quote of volunteers. So young Wallace began studying law, as was the custom then, in the office of two established Lafayette law partners, Samuel Huff and Mark Jones.”
“The war dragged on. Eventually, Wallace enlisted probably in late summer 1861, as a private soldier in Company C of the 40th Regiment of Indiana volunteers. Finding that there were not more than 30 enlisted men in the company and that new recruits were attained with great difficulty he visited the vicinity of Waveland Academy and inaugurated a series of public meetings for the purpose of gaining volunteers for the service. His eloquent appeals to the patriotism of his former schoolmates and associates met with success. Within a few days … he succeeded in obtaining the necessary quota of volunteers. The members of Co C as was the custom in regiments of volunteers elected their officers and chose Wallace 2nd Lt.”
Thanks to K.Z. for bringing this article to my attention.
William G. Cook, was born in Ohio on September 27, 1843.
William enlisted as a private with the 40th Indiana Infantry on September 11, 1861. The state rolls show him enlisting as a member of Company B, at Mexico, Miami County, Indiana. William was involved in all of the marches and campaigns the regiment participated in, up to the Chattanooga Campaign.
On November 25, 1863 the 40th Indiana Infantry was ordered to assault the heights of Missionary Ridge. During the attack, Corporal Cook was severely wounded by enemy fire. 1883 pension records show that William was a resident of Miller, Lake County, IN. The record reflects that he was wounded in the left leg and that he was received $8.00 per month for his wound. The wound was so severe that he was discharged from the service on a medical disability. There is no specific discharge date given on the state rolls.
After the War, Will Cook worked as a Railroad Operator and later as an Agent for the Lakeshore & Michigan Southern Railroad at Miller Station. He was also the first postmaster in Miller, IN. William G. Cook died on August 16, 1897 and is buried in Lake County, Indiana.
Two images of Thomas N. Moody, company C. He was wounded in the right hip during the assault on Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863. He would spend months recovering in a military hospital before returning home and then back to the regiment. Thomas Moody enlisted in the 40th Indiana Infantry on September 13, 1862, and mustered out on June 14, 1865. Thomas is pictured wearing veteran stripes on his uniform sleeves.
The two images are assumed to have been taken around the time that Thomas married Martha Ellen Clements, August 25th, 1864.
After the war Thomas would return to Waveland, IN. where he owned and operated a livery stable. He passed away September 1928 at the age of 83, his grave is located at Maple Ridge Cemetery, Waveland, Indiana.
| (See the 40th Ind. archives for Thomas Moody’s Letter Home.) https://40thindiana.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/thomas-moody-letter/ |
Note: The images are courtesy of Moody’s great grand son, J.D. Gilliand.
Today’s Civil War soldier has complete birth and death dates that always make Kim, Suzi and I happy. Born in Morgan County, Indiana, Isom R. Farmer was the son of Peter and Blanch Westley Farmer, entering the world on April 10, 1832. He was one of eleven children, having seven brothers and three sisters, at least one of his brothers serving in the Civil War, but not in the same company (Eli Co D 70th Indiana; Isom Co H, 40th).
Isom (spelled Isham) was found with the large family in Morgan County in the 1850 census but appears June 22, 1854 in Montgomery when he married Lydia M. Moore. Her parents, Robert S. and Freelove (Groves) Moore lived in Waveland as did Isom and Lydia for a while until they moved to Crawfordsville on South Green Street.
It was on October 6, 1862 when he was mustered into Company H, of the 40th Indiana Volunteers, Col. William C. Wilson, his commanding officer. He left Lydia home with three small children, upon a leave, producing her another child, then they would have three more, totaling seven children. Her mother and younger brothers were extremely helpful to her when Isom was off to war. Although he reupped once, he spent three years, mustering out on October 22, 1865.
Company H saw many battles and skirmishes, the bigger ones being Stones River, Lookout Mountain, Chattahoochee, Peach Tree Creek and Nashville. Company H was filled with many of his friends, some of whom were lost, but Isom came home unscathed as far as is known.
An exceptional carpenter, he and his sons worked side by side building and repairing homes, but before his death, Isom worked in a planing mill in Crawfordsville. He was hurt at work and developed weakness afterward. As sickness does, when you’re down, you’re vulnerable and Isom got a lung disease called quick consumption. His wife had passed away just a few months earlier, but with the lengthy consumption, sick for a very long time. Isom was gone within a few weeks. This was on March 31, 1888, he lacking just a few days before his 56th birthday and Lydia having passed at not yet 50.
Buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Isom had no gravestone. However, thanks to Suzi (Oak Hill Cemetery) and Kim (Kimberly Hancock), he can RIP one of Montgomery’s unknown heroes, Etched in Stone: one by one!
Over the coming weeks and months I will write these columns highlighting each new stone.
Karen Zach is the editor of Montgomery Memories, our monthly magazine all about Montgomery County. And she writes Around the County, which appears each Thursday in The Paper of Montgomery County. One by One: Etched in Stone is her latest offering and will appear periodically on Mondays in The Paper.
Thank you for the article Karen Zach! Here is a link to the newspaper article: https://thepaper24-7.com/Content/Columnist/Columnist/Article/ETCHED-IN-STONE-One-by-One-Isom-R-Farmer/163/373/64639
Early wartime image of Private Isaac Yike (b.1838). Isaac was an original member of Company B, enlisting at Chili, Miami County, Indiana. He was with the 40th Indiana during all of it’s hard fought battles. During 1864, Yike would reenlist as a Veteran Volunteer. By war’s end Isaac had attained the rank of sergeant. After the war he returned home to Miami County, where he would live until his death on August 21, 1907. This early image shows Private Yike wearing a frock coat, forage cap and grasping his 1853 Enfield rifle-musket.
40th Indiana Infantry 