Members of the 19th Illinois Regiment, from The Nineteenth Illinois: a Memoir of a Regiment of Volunteer Infantry Famous in the Civil War, James Henry, 1912. At least eight Lake County men enlisted in this regiment.

A charged object or "dark souvenir" is an object collected to share as a witness to historic events such as a natural disaster or military battle. The term “charged object” is used by museums to denote artifacts “charged” or permeated with the energy of an event. These Victorian terms may sound odd to the modern ear, but still represent the sentiment of how people collected and preserved what affected them.

The bullet-ridden battle flags of the 96th Illinois Infantry as photographed for the History of the 96th Illinois Regiment, 1887. The regiment consisted of four companies from Lake County and six companies from Jo Daviess County, IL. 

Asiel Z. Blodgett (1832-1916) of Waukegan understood the importance of being a good leader.

During the Civil War, he served as the main recruiter and Captain of Company D, 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He prided himself on knowing each of the men in his command.

While at Wartrace, Tennessee in the summer of 1863, he was given a challenge. An officer from another company asked, "Captain Blodgett, I am curious to know whether or not you have memorized your roster."

Blodgett replied, "I am of the opinion that I have memorized it."

The officer bet Blodgett that he could not "call it correctly."

That day, Captain Blodgett was sitting in front of his tent, using the drummer boy's drum as a writing surface to make out his reports. He had set the drum on top of a camp stool, and with the challenge made, brushed aside his reports.

He wrote directly on the drum head from left to right, carefully listing every man's name from memory. All 98 men of Company D, plus the eight men who had died in the company's first year of service. Blodgett won the bet.

Shortly after making the roster, the 96th Illinois fought in the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18 - 20, 1863. The battle was the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater of the Civil War, and had the second highest number of casualties in the war following the Battle of Gettysburg two months earlier.

The 96th's Company D lost five men (killed) and 18 wounded. Among the injured was Blodgett, who was wounded twice on September 20. Early in the engagement he was shot in the shoulder and though the wound hurt him greatly, he remained with the command.

According to the Regimental history, on Sunday afternoon, September 20th, Blodgett was "thrown to the ground by the fall of a heavy tree-top which, striking his head and back, rendered him unconscious." This happened in the midst of the battle, leaving Blodgett temporarily within Rebel lines. "When the Union lines advanced in a second charge" the men removed the tree and "he was released from his perilous position."

The drum was lost in the confusion of battle.

Blodgett recovered only partially from his injuries and reluctantly had to resign his position in August 1864. Years later, he received an official package from the U.S. War Department. Opening it, he found the drum head on which he had written the names of his men.

In 1939, Bess Bower Dunn, contacted one of Blodgett's sons about the story. John H. Blodgett replied with a copy of the "drum head roster" and the full account.

Blodgett's son wrote: "It occurred to me that possibly some of the relatives of the men who were with Dad are still around and if so might be interested in looking it over. If Frank Justice [sic] cares to say anything about it in his paper I would like to have you send me a copy."

Indeed, Frank Just, the editor of the Waukegan Daily Sun, was very interested and ran a long article on Blodgett and the 96th Illinois.

Athlyn Deshais wrote in her article: "They are gone now, those gallant soldiers who marched and fought beneath the banner on which was inscribed the magic figures, 96.... The day of the eye-witness reminiscences belongs to the past."

For more, read by post on the life of Asiel Z. Blodgett and post on the 96th Illinois at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Sources:
"History of the 96th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry," Charles A. Partridge, editor, 1887.
Letters of John H. Blodgett to Bess Bower Dunn, 1939. Bess Dunn Collection, Dunn Museum.
"Capt. Blodgett Honored by His Brave Soldiers," by Athlyn Deshais, Waukegan Daily Sun, 1939.

U.S. Register of Deaths of Volunteers, 1861-1865. Levi H. Mead's record is highlighted in red.

Entrance to the Marietta National Cemetery.  "Here rest the remains of 10,312 Officers and Soldiers  who died in defense of the Union, 1861 - 1865."

Record of Levi Mead's interment at the National Cemetery.

Levi H. Mead's grave marker, Marietta National Cemetery. Image: Findagrave.com

Reunion of the 65th Illinois, circa 1885, location unknown. John Mead is second from left. Image credit: http://civilwar.illinoisgenweb.org/scrapbk/65threunion.html

Image credit: Findagrave.com

For Lake County's 96th Illinois Infantry, Chickamauga was "A battle of tremendous proportions and fraught with mighty import."

Today, this American Civil War battle is not as well known in the North, likely because it was a Union defeat. So, on this 150th anniversary, let us look back and remember.

Lithograph by Kurz and Allison, 1890. Library of Congress.

The Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, September 18 - 20, 1863 was the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater of the Civil War, and had the second highest number of casualties in the war following the Battle of Gettysburg two months earlier.

The battle was named for Chickamauga Creek, and fought between the Army of the Cumberland under Major General William Rosecrans and Confederate Army of the Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg. For the 96th Illinois, this was their most intense engagement of the war.

The opposing generals at Chickamauga: Maj. General William Rosecrans and General Braxton Bragg

Early in September 1863, Rosecrans had forced Bragg's army out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, but Bragg was determined to reoccupy the city. He decided to meet Rosecran's army head-on. As Bragg marched north on September 18, his cavalry and infantry fought skirmishes against Union cavalry and infantry with the key engagement at Reed's Bridge.

Captain Blodgett of the 96th's Company D "caught a bullet in the shoulder" near McAfee Church, but remained with the company although the wound was painful.

Fighting began in earnest on the morning of September 19, and though Bragg's men made a strong assault they could not break the Union lines.


Late on the morning of Sunday, September 20th, General Rosecrans was misinformed that he had a gap in his line. Moving units to fill the supposed gap, Rosecrans inadvertently created an actual gap. The breach was exploited with deadly force by Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's corps. Longstreet's attack confused the Union ranks and drove one-third of the Union army, including Rosecrans himself, from the field.

Major General George H. Thomas took over command, and Union units, including the 96th Illinois, created a defensive line on Horseshoe Ridge and Snodgrass Hill. The Confederates repeatedly assaulted the Federals, but the Union lines held. Thomas was thereafter known as the "Rock of Chickamauga."

Snodgrass Hill where the 96th Illinois and other Union troops fought off repeated attacks by Longstreet's corps. Curt Teich Postcard Archives, RC488.

The 96th Illinois's Lt. Col. Isaac Clarke of Waukegan, led his men up Horseshoe Ridge. “Clarke sat calmly on his horse near the left of the Regiment, speaking words of cheer to the men as they met the terrible fate. A moment later a bullet struck him, inflicting a mortal wound. He was assisted from his horse and carried to the rear upon a blanket,” and subsequently died.

Lt. Col. Isaac L. Clarke

The loss of Clarke caused confusion in the ranks. A staff officer approached Capt. George Hicks of Company A: "hurriedly, with arms outstretched... his manner and tone indicating intense excitement," and informed Hicks of the loss of Clarke.

Hicks immediately assumed command of the Regiment: "Comrades, you have made one charge-a gallant charge. On yonder hillside lie the bodies of your fallen comrades. Forward to avenge their deaths!"

After the days' desperate battle, “The Union forces were well exhausted and almost out of ammunition, except as they took it from the cartridge boxes of the dead and wounded.” Twilight ended the battle. Union forces retired to Chattanooga while the Rebels occupied the surrounding heights. The 96^th Illinois and 121^st Ohio were the last organized body to leave the field.

George E. Smith of the 96th Illinois Company D wrote to his sister in Millburn two weeks after the battle: "I suppose you have all heard of the fight in which we were engaged at Chickamauga, and are all waiting with beating hearts to hear the result." He had survived those fateful days with only his foot being scraped by a bullet.

During the Civil War in October 1862, the 96th Illinois Infantry was in northern Kentucky. There, they were approached by two Confederate deserters—James Kenty and John McGill.

Both men had enlisted from New Orleans with the 1st (Strawbridge's) Louisiana Infantry. James Kenty was an unwilling recruit, enlisting on April 29, 1861, and John McGill was conscripted, enlisting on May 23, 1861.

A large number of the men in the Louisiana Volunteer Infantry were foreign-born, particularly Irish from New Orleans' wharves and docks. John McGill (1833-1891) was a laborer and immigrant from Ireland, and James Kenty (1840-unknown) was a sailor and immigrant from England.

Desertion rates in the South were far lower than those of Union soldiers. Some have attributed this to the South fighting a defensive war, on their own ground, giving the soldiers a sense that they were fighting for their homeland. Another factor, early in the war, were the Union's great losses.

Private Kenty was wounded while fighting with the 1st Louisiana at Pittsburgh Landing in the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862.

Kenty requested a discharge after completing his year of service, but was refused. He was present on the muster rolls until September 1, 1862. Private McGill was present on the muster rolls until April, 1862. Interestingly, neither man is listed in Confederate war records as a deserter.

How these men managed to survive until they approached the 96th Illinois is anyone's guess. They had come to Kentucky with General Bragg's Army. According to the 96th's history: "upon a favorable opportunity slipped from the ranks and made their way northward until they met this command when they offered to enlist and were accepted."

Kenty and McGill officially enlisted with Company C, 96th Illinois on November 1, 1862.

Both proved to be excellent soldiers. Kenty served most of the time in the Quartermaster's Department as the regimental/brigade butcher.

McGill was promoted to sergeant, and was severely wounded in the shoulder at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863. He rejoined the command, but in front of Atlanta, August 24, 1864, he was again wounded in the shoulder, this time so severely he was discharged from service.

Kenty and McGill survived the war. Kenty's last known residence was in Stockton, Rooks County, Kansas in 1886. McGill settled near Walled Lake, Michigan with his wife Elizabeth A. Graham McGill. The 96th's history noted that in 1885, he was in poor health (probably from his war wounds).

Every so often a story comes along that makes you believe in ghosts. The tale of Private James A. Davis of the 19th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment is one of them.

(right) Portrait of James Alfred Davis (1843-1862) from "Tales of Old Barrington" book by Cynthia Baker Sharp, 1976.

First a little background on the Davis family...

James Alfred's parents were James Sullivan Davis and Parintha Lawrence Davis. The couple were married in Massachusetts in 1828, and by 1830 moved to New York State and then to Pennsylvania. By 1841, the family had settled in Wauconda Township, Lake County, Illinois.

The extended Davis family had also come to Illinois with them, and included the Sumner Davis family (James S. Davis's brother), and their parents David and Sarah Davis.


The James S. Davis farm (highlighted) was located north of Fiddle Lake in Wauconda Township. James Alfred was born there in October 1843. (L. Gast Bro. & Co. Lith. St. Louis, 1861). By 1856, the family owned both the Wauconda Township farm, and property in Barrington on Franklin Street.

According to family lore, when the Civil War broke out in 1861 and President Lincoln called for troops, the Davis's second youngest son, James Alfred, and a neighbor boy, ran away to join the army.

I researched the 19th Illinois in hopes of identifying the neighborhood friend. The Regiment's records show only one other soldier in Company C from Barrington, who enlisted at the same time as Davis, and that young man was Franklin Applebee. The Applebee home was just down the block on Main Street from the Davis home.


Barrington in 1861 showing the J.S. Davis property at the west end of Franklin Street, and G.A. Applebee home on the far left on County Line/Main Street. (L. Gast Bro. & Co. Lith. St. Louis, 1861)

James Alfred Davis and Franklin Applebee mustered in with the 19th Illinois at Camp Douglas, Chicago on June 17, 1861. James Alfred was not quite 18, but was described on his enlistment papers as being 18. His enlistment papers also describe him as 5' 8 1/2" tall, brown hair and brown eyes, single, and a farmer.

Running away to enlist was indeed a bold venture for the young men, made ever more exciting by the fact that the 19th Illinois was a Zouave Regiment.


Several officers and sergeants of the 19th Illinois had belonged to the original company of Ellsworth Zouaves. Colonel Elmer Ellsworth of Illinois is shown 2nd from right (above). Ellsworth's militia had spawned a national Zouave craze, so it's not surprising that some of the first regiments formed adopted the Zouave dress and drilling style. (See my post on Ellsworth's Zouave Cadets).

Family lore states that on April 17, 1862, James Alfred's mother, Parintha, had gone to bed in her room on the first floor. The room had a view of the front porch, and as she lay in bed she saw James Alfred come onto the porch, wearing his uniform. What great joy to have her son home from the war! Her husband, James, came into the bedroom, and she declared their son's return, but James said it wasn't so. Parintha got up and they searched the house and porch, but couldn't find James Alfred anywhere.


The Davis family home where James Alfred appeared on the porch on April 17, 1862. Image courtesy of Davis family descendant.

Parintha Davis was convinced she had seen her son. Several weeks later she discovered why.

The family received a letter from Captain J.W. Guthrie of Company C of the 19th Illinois, in which he stated: "I regret to inform you that on April 17 your son, Private James Alfred Davis, was shot and killed by a Confederate scout while on picket duty just east of Tuscumbia, Alabama." U.S. Army records note that James Alfred died at the regimental hospital the same day he was shot.

Depending on the source, later that summer or after the war, a friend and comrade of Alfred's (probably Frank Applebee) visited the Davis's and recounted those last days. He said that he and Alfred were on picket duty and when retreat was sounded at dusk he called to his friend, and Alfred replied, "I can't, I am shot."

It was the same day and time that Parintha Davis had seen her son come onto the porch of the family home. The family has always believed it was James Alfred's spirit visiting them at the moment of his death.

In all, five of James and Parintha's sons fought in the Civil War: James Alfred (19th Illinois), George L. Davis (15th Illinois Cavalry), Anson C. Davis (15th Illinois Cavalry), Luther W. Davis (52nd Illinois Infantry), and Charles B. Davis (32nd Illinois Infantry).

Just six weeks after James Alfred's death, the Davis's next oldest son, Anson, died at Monterey, Tennessee.

The Davis home where James Alfred's ghost came to visit is no longer standing. The site on Franklin Street between Hough Street and Cook Street is now a car dealership.