Hardin County, Illinois residents were nervous in 1862. Ulysses S Grant's Union Army had come through in 1861 and by the spring of 1862, the bloodiest battle in US history to date occurred 200 miles to the south in Shiloh, Tennessee.
New fighting units were being formed throughout Illinois and Hardin County was no exception. The Illinois 131st Infantry was formed in August 1862 and took in men from Hamilton, Gallatin, Pope, Hardin, and Massac Counties.
John W Barker was born in 1822 in Perry County, Indiana. We don't know much about his parents yet, but currently family researchers believe they are Moses Barker and Crissy Willard who married on April 8, 1813.
He married Elizabeth Thacker in Pope County, Illinois on December 25, 1858. Elizabeth was born and raised in Pope County.
By 1860, they owned land in Hardin County, Illinois which is just east of Pope County. Their first daughetr, Maria, was born that year. 1861, their second daughter Angelana was born.
Elizabeth became pregnant a third time in the summer of 1862.
With the national situation being in disarray, John W Barker joined the Union Infantry on August 12, 1862. he became a member of the 131st Illinois Infantry, Company B.
He was away at war when his third child, John Washington Barker, was born.
This is John W Barker's Civil War story.
The photo shows a baby feeder from the 1800s. It was not owned by the Barker family.
Unbeknownst to Hardin County residents, a major reason for the forming of new units was to prepare for the new 1862 Union thrust: to split the Confederacy in two by taking control of the Mississippi River. The 131st Illinois was a part of this effort.
About 100 of the 815 men were discharged due to death or disability.
On November 13, 1862 the 131st Illinois Infantry was mustered into US service. They were issued inferior Harpers Ferry flint-lock guns of various calibers, which they received in protest.
On Wednesday December 3, 1862 the troops boarded the steamboat Iowa and proceeded down the Mississippi River towards Memphis, Tennessee.
- Wed Dec 3, 1862 sundown: arrived and spent the night in Cairo, Illinois
- Thurs Dec 4, 1862: arrived and spent the night at Island 10
- Fri Dec 5, 1862: arrived and spent night at Fort Pillow
- Sat Dec 6, 1862: landed in Memphis about 2 PM
They found the land covered in snow on their trip to Memphis and arrived at their camp on Sunday evening, December 7, 1862.
"Dear father and Mother it is With plesher that I take my pen in hand to Write to you to let you know that I am Well at present"..."Will try to give you a faint idear of my trip down to Memphis We left Metropolis on Wednsday a bout 2 ococ and landed in Cairo a bout sun down that night Whare We layed untell Thursday morning from thare We Went to Island 10 and layed that night from Island No 10 We Went to Fort Pillow Whare We layed until Friday saterday morning We landed at Memphis a bout he saim time in the day that We left Metropolis We had a fine time Coming down to this place but it Was sum What Cold the sand bares Was all White With snow I thought that Was a Way down North in dixey in stead of Way down South in dixey We did not get in to Camp untell Sunday evening and I have been very bisey every cence or I would have rote Sooner and am very bisy yet I expect to eather go on a scout or on picket to morrow"
Note from the Fardell quote: "picket" means to guard a larger group of troops in order to provide early warning of advancing enemy troops.
On December 11, 1862 Fardell also wrote:
"We have a larg army at this place Which Would be hard to Whip from all accounts thare is about 80 thousand fighting men at this place We drawed our arms and Equipage on Monday last the boys looks more like soulders than tha do like formers."
"We are encamped a bout too miles end a half or three miles south east of Memphis on a very pretty place that srounds us looks most butiful every thing looks romantic and butiful for superior to the old hills of Massac or Pope I think I Will Mary sum of those rich cicech Girls after War is over sumwhare a bout the suburbs of Memphis for this Country is far better that to live in it is a pitty that Men in as good surcumstances as the most of Mem is here Will be an enemy to ther Country"..."I have a bin [word unclear] down in dixey plenty as the best looking girls you ever saw"..."Write more tell lora that I had plenty of Milk and butter to last me"
"I will give you a small idear of the Wether here this Morning the Wether here is Coald and rainey the starm raiged very high here last night I am in the Fort this morning With the 120th Reg I come down from our Reg on yesterday evening with Lutenent Mitchel he Was out and taken diner With me yesterday thare is a gradel [great deal] of sickness in Camp but as to myself I am well and have been every cence I left metropolis the rain and wind still falles With furce the wind is Coald and rain"
On December 20, 1862 the 131st used the steamer Iowa to head south on the Mississippi to Milliken's Bend, just north of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The 131st spent four days at Milliken's Bend.
Though almost illegible, Milliken's Bend is shown in the upper left of this map.
The 131st was sent to Haines Bluff, Mississippi just up the Yazoo River. This is a modern photo taken at Haines Bluff, looking towards Vicksburg.
Several Union advances were made towards Vicksburg over two days, but they were repulsed each time.
Fardell reported that the 131st was not involved in those advances - the 131st guarded the 74 steamboats that were now a part of the Union gathering in the area, which included troop carriers, commissaries, and floating hospitals.
On Jan 3, 1863 Fardell wrote to his parents:
"on board the steamer Iowa Janery the 3rd 1863 Dear Mother and father it is With plesher that I take my pen in hand to address you a fu lines to let you know that I am yet in the land of the liveing and feel tolorable Well onley I am just recovering againe from a hard spell of sickness We left Memphis Dec the 20th We have been down here every cence and I have been unwell every cence untell now I will give you a small idear of What has passed cence We Come down in the first place I Will try to give you a idear of the sise of our army the No of the steamboats is a bout 74 of Which is all Well loded with soulders Comissrys forage and soforth"
"We have a tolarable larg fight at this place as to the lost I cant find out What it is the fight Commenced on the 28 of Dec Which lasted for too days up the yazoo river the Mouth of the yazoo river is 10 or 12 miles a bove vicksburg there Was severl Charges made but we was repulced every time With hevvy loses but unnone by me What the loses ware as our reg Was not in the fight at all We Was Detailed to guard the fleet as We Was not drilled as Well as the most of the other Regt We are now laying in Milkens bend at Milkinsville abat 15 miles above the moth of yazoo Whare we landed last night We left the yazoo yesterday here Wateing for reinforcement I think but I doant know what the Motive is for stoping at this place unless that is it I cant give you afull account of all that has passed Cence I saw you or Cence I rote to you last I think that I am a loyal man God forbid that I should be any thing elce but the Caus Will never propser or Gods earth it is a speckleing War to make the officears and kill the privets the War is not Cared on to make friends of the South but it is to imbiter every southern man aganest our nobel Country I have saw sights and wonders Cence I left home tha are burning every thing Whare tha go almost every privet dwelling I have saw meny thousands dollars Worth burned Cence I left memphis Which had made enmys of friends Would it not have been better to have thretand them if tha did not Come back to the union that We Would do such but all is to Contrery the enemy instid of perswanion I will drop the subject and leave it"
On January 4 1863, the steamer Iowa began its trek north first along the Mississippi to the mouth of the White River, then up the Arkansas River 30 miles to just outside the Confederate held Arkansas Post.
Unbeknownst to the troops in the 131st, they were about to become part of an important Civil War battle. The Confederates had been disrupting Union shipping on the Mississippi River from Fort Hindman located at Arkansas Post. Union Major General John McClernand began landing troops there the evening of January 8, 1863. Major General William T. Sherman forced the Confederates to retreat into Fort Hindman.
The Confederates had 5,500 casualties and the Union had 1,047 as a result of the battle.
The 131st spent the next few days filling ditches, burying the dead, and demolishing fortifications.
The 131st was again on the move aboard the steamer Iowa on January 15, 1863. They arrived at Youngs Point on January 23, 1863.
The curve of the river in front of Vicksburg made it impossible for Union ships to pass the town without being exposed to rebel fire.
Abraham Lincoln proposed building a canal at Youngs Point that would allow ships to bypass Vicksburg, and the project was started on July 27, 1862. President Lincoln was very disappointed when the concept did not work as planned. The canal came to be called Grant's Canal.
The men left the steamer on January 25th and set up camp at a point surrounded by the levee while the rain continued to pour. They waded through waist deep water to get to their posts and used pick and axe to dig the canal. Pneumonia, smallpox, and measles were rampant. The regimental surgeon was too sick to report to duty, and the healthy troops were tasked with burying those that died. They buried between 1 and 5 men from the 131st every day.
On March 2, 1863 General McClernand ordered the 131st to board the steamship Westwind and return to Memphis to recruit their health.
On March 7th, the dam holding the Mississippi out of Grant's Canal broke and work permanently ceased on the canal.
The troops arrived at Fort Pickering on March 8, 1863. This is apparently where John Washington Barker and Joseph Fardell part company because Fardell did not go to Memphis with the other troops - he was sent to Jefferson Barracks at the US General Hospital in St Louis, Missouri.
"my helth is yet bad tho not half as bad as it Was When I last rote you I think that I will gane my helth in a short time I could have got my discharge at one time if I had have sum one to have taken me home but I Was destitute of a friend at What time thare four it Was not attended to I am now ganeing my helth so I don't know Wether I Will get it or not if I get Well I can get a chance to stay in Jefferson Barracks as long as I Want to do duty in the gareson I could have go the chance to have been from the Ward Dr Ordly if I have Wanted I can get my helth I can do Well here Which I think thare is no dout from the Wa I feel at this time I feel al most as Well as ever if it was not for the Desies that I have in my brest and that is getting better I think that I can get a transfur to our own state if I want it but I am a frade that I Will not better my self in doing thare four I think that I Will remain Whare I am tho I doant know What I would do if they offer me a transfur I might take it better for Worse and run the Chance at doing better if I take a transfur I will get to Mound City I am at a los to leve here for I am With a good set of men I like them all and as for as I know I am Well beliked by all off them so I doant think that I could better my self
I have got me a new Discriptive Roll so that I can draw my money the next pay day I doant remember Wether I stated the reson to you in my that I did not draw my moeny before the reson was that my Discriptive Roll Was not maid out rite thare four I had to send and get a new one I have needed moeny long it Will be good When I get it We Will be mustered for pay a gane in a fu days if I live to draw my moeny on the next pay day I will draw $100 and 4 Dolalrs and 35 cts if I ever get it I Will live as I Want as long as it last Shure
I Will now proseed to give you a short discription of the Surounding Country here the County high and bamey it was every appearance of being a helthy Country every thing looks butiful and romantic to the eye Jefferson Barracks is 12 miles below St Louis I have nothing more of importance to Write at presant I Still remane your Sun untell Deth J.A.F. Write Sone give my best love to all inquiring friends in any I have So good by for this time if We never meet a gane on earth I hope we will all meet in Heaven Mother kiss little brother Jimme for me"
By May 10th, 1863 the original 815 men of the 131st were down to about 400 due to death or disablement. The remaining 400 boarded the steamboat Golden Era on that day and headed down the Mississippi River bound for Vicksburg, accompanied by the steamboats Crescent City and Warren, along with a gunboat.
The 131st spent the next five days at Sherman's Landing.
The 131st returned from Sherman's Landing to Milliken's Bend and relieved the 30th Ohio that had been on duty guarding army supplies from thieves.
This is about the time that John W Barker fell ill and was transferred to a convalescent hospital.
On May 23rd, 1863, the Union began the Siege of Vicksburg.
May 24 - Jun 7, 1863: Sherman's Landing
The 131st used the steamboat Fanny Bullett to return from Milliken's Bend to Sherman's Landing on May 24, 1863. They camped within full view of Vicksburg. Some of the men did picket duty while others manned mortar boats.
June 7 - June 9, 1863: Milliken's Bend
On June 7th the 131st and 120th were ordered back to Milliken's Bend to support a "colored regiment" of 300-400 men equipped with inferior weaponry and 120 men of the 23rd Iowa who were being attacked by 1200 rebels.
The 131st Illinois was in line and ready to board transports within 10 minutes of the order. In one hours time, the 131st Illinois and 120th Illinois were within site of the battle, and the rebels retreated at the sight of the gunboats. The Union had lost 652 and the rebels 185 in the battle. The 131st Illinois stayed for two days waiting for the re-attack that never came.
June 9 - July 4, 1863: Sherman's Landing
The 131st returned to picket duty at Sherman's Landing until July 4, 1863.
July 4, 1863: Vicksburg
The Confederates surrender Vicksburg to Union control.
July 5, 1863: Just Outside of Vicksburg
John W Barker dies in a military hospital just outside Vicksburg on July 5, 1863.
By the end of June 1863, Confederate General Pemberton realized his situation was desperate. Over 10,000 of his soldiers were incapacitated due to illness, wounds and malnutrition. His supplies were at critically low levels and he had just learned that Grant was preparing for another massive assault in early July.
Pemberton and his commanders concluded that surrender was inevitable. On the morning of July 3, 1863 he gave orders to display a white flag of truce and sent someone to deliver a message to General Grant proposing to meet to discuss surrender terms. At 3 PM, Grant and Pemberton met under an oak tree midway between opposing lines. They did not reach agreement, but notes exchanged later in the day brought about the final terms.
Also on this day, General Robert E. Lee was defeated in Gettysburg.
These two events marked the turning point in the Civil War.
On May 18, 1863 as Confederate forces retreated, they were ordered to burn the house but where shot before they could apply torch. Mrs. Adeline Shirley, her 15 year old son Quincy, and several servants were in the house and huddled there for three days before they made their presence known by waving a white flag.
Chauncey Cooke wrote about his travels down the Yazoo in this letter to his father on July 1, 1863:
"...we boarded the Dexter, a Mississippi boat that reached nearly across the Yazoo River, and were soon pushing down toward the father of waters. The idea of riding on the Mississippi again and heading toward home made us happy. And we figured on having a good drink soon as our boat touched the muddy waters of the big river that we somehow loved just because it flowed by our homes."
"We had just been paid off for two months and the boys had a good fill of oysters and store crackers. I only got six dollars though. I had drawn some extra clothing and my little thirteen dollars was cut to three dollars a month. It was so long ago I got the clothes. I began to think the clothes were forgotten. Uncle Sam's Paymasters have a good memory. Just as I am writing this the Silver Moon, a Yazoo steamer, is passing up the Yazoo toward Haines Bluff. She has a Caliope and it is playing Nellie Gray. She is loaded with hard tack and bales of hay clear to the water line and her half naked deck hands lying around the hay bales look like so may alligators."
"She gave us the right of way and we pushed on down the river whose water though clear and tempting we dared not drink. The boys kept cracking away at the alligators that lay on logs and drift wood on the sand banks. They scaly things would flounder in the water and sink out of sight. Some of them looked to be seven or eight feet long, more of them were three or four feet."
The city of Vicksburg did not celebrate the 4th of July for the next 80 years.
There is no grave marker for John W Barker in the Vicksburg National Cemetery, but it is possible he is buried in one of the 13,000 unmarked graves.
This is the monument to the 131st Illinois Infantry now on display in Vicksburg.
A note about the Chauncey Cooke letter:
A "Caliope" is a musical instrument that produces sound by sending steam through large whistles. Here is the song "Nellie Gray" that was playing on the steamer Silver Moon as it moved on the Yazoo River in 1863:
No comments:
Post a Comment