'E •V :53ì,5 REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE fourteenth Annual Reunion OF THE 5tb Wisconsin IDol ITnfantrç \86U\865 —• .. —••!-«,• — ....,._ .y.,—. * «|= LIBRARY HELD AT.... JMUwaukee, Qlísconsín, (JClednesday and Cbursday, 7une 27th and 28th, 1900. CLAFLIN PRINTING CO., !•• DEARBORN ST., CHICAGO. Our f)onored Dead. ««« BAND. ALDEN B. WINN, Jan. 29th, 1892. Bcloit, Wis. FRANK A. WINN, May 1st, 1895, Beloit, Wis. FRANK S. FENTON. Oct. 28th, 1896, Beloit, Wis. CAPT. ROBERT DONALD ROSS, Co. B, Nov. 5th, 1899, Chicago, 111. GEORGE W. SINCLAIR, Co. B, 1899, Milwaukee, Wis. JAMES MclNLEY, Co. D. BREED B. BALDWIN, Co. E, March 12th, 1899, Waupon, Wis. CORP. WILLIAM VERITY, Co. E, Appleton, Wis. ISAAC A. COTANCH, Co. G, March 14th, 1894. Brushville, Wis. HENRY N. LEWIS, Co. G, Breckenridge, Mo. JOSEPH HARKER. Co. H, Eureka, Wis. PALMER BEULIN, Co. K, June 27th, 1897» Mefflin, Wis. PETER H. SOPER, Co. D, 1898, Milwaukee Vet. Home. CHARLES McCOY, Co. D. ALFRED INGALLS, Co. K, Aug. 2nd, 1900, at Linton, Wis. It has been found by communication to all addresses contained in such lists as were in our possession, that the above members have died since the organization of this Association. This list is probably not complete. ASS'N 5TH WIS. VOL. INFANTRY. 142 WASHINGTON ST. CEO. B. ENGLE, JR., SECRETARY. CHICAGO. ILL., November 20, 1901. Mr. Isaac A. Bradley. State Historical Society, Madi son »Wisc on sin. Dear Sir: About the first of last June I letfft with you for preservation photographs of Marye's Heights,back of Fredericksburg,and of the 'sunken road." I am desirous of reproduing these pho- tographs in half-tone to put in the 15th Annual|/ Report of the 5th Wisconsin Association. Will you please kindly enclose them to me in the shape that they will not be broken,and as soon- as I can have half-tone plates made,which -.all be in a few days, I will return them to you in pood shape. By kindly doing this r me you will oblige me as well as the 5th Wisconsin As­ sociation. Diet. Yours truly, (3U-^y_ .1, AliltSEMK ON ACCIDENTS, DKI.AVS Of CAtiülEBrt OK OTJIKR 1)F,T,AVH HIGYONTl OTÏH CÓMTIÍOI. CHARLES BONNER SYLVESTER MARSHALL FRICS. AND TREAS, VIOE-PRES. AND SECY. TELEPHONE MAIN 2402 BONNER & MARSHALL COMPANY ROOFING TILE DEPARTMENT DISTRIBUTORS FOR H. B. MORGAN & CO. FACE BRICK WATER P ROOFINGS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, 138 WASHINGTON ST. GEO. B. ENQLE, JR., MGR. ROOFING TILE DEPARTMENT •WATER PROOFING DEPARTMENT CHICAGO. III., 4v- Qyé — y^o^ TH^T. eK ^4. Qw*d¿+y J^ZćtyU /Ó (^^¿U^.ćByL, (i^^^i^fr-^ /*?o f^/9o-z~-/w^ BUILDING MATERIAL SUITE 304 CHAMBER COMMERCE BUILDING 142 WASHINGTON STREET ARCHITECTURAL TERRA COTTA CHAMPION IRON CO.. KENTON, O. VITRIFIED ROOFING TILF. ORNAMENTAL AND STRUCTURAL IRON, IMPERVIOUS FLOOR AND WALL TILE CREAM CITY SASH & DOOR CO., IN ALL COLORS ETC., ETC. MILWAUKEE, TjaLKPHONse MAIN 1399 CHICAGO April 4th. 1901. Mr. Isaac S. Bradley, Socty. & Supt. Madison, Wis, Dear Sir:- Your favor of April 3rd. is at hand. ^ zr Sffa There have been three reports of former reunions .of the 5th. Wis. Ì Infty. printed but they are of little moment, being only a report of those in U „ a iL ¡4. attendance and a tief report of matters brought up at the meetings, ^.¿v^.^ne of these reports but I shall try to find a complete sot for you. We are to have another report of a meeting that will be held in the/coming May at Milwaukee, anda t will give me pleasare to furnish you s a copy of the same as soon as it is printed» I have a paper descriptive of the part taken in the storming of . Maryes' Hill at the rear of Prederieksburgh, by theöth. Wis. & 6th. Maine, on ; May 3rd. 1863. in which battle the 5th» lost '61% of the men in the charge in six minutes. I will have a copy made of/it as soon as I can and send it to jiou if you would like it. It is largely a compilation of information gatherd from men and officers who took a part in the battle. Yours very truly, G.B.Eÿ. , , . WISCONSIN HISTORICAL PROCEEDINGS LIBRARY AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE Association of Tiftb Wisconsin Uolunteer Maníry HELD AT MILWAUKEE JUNE 27th-28th, 1900, Rooms of Military Order of the Loyal Legion. The reunion of the survivors of the 5th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry was called to meet at this time and place because of the low railroad fare prevailing by reason of the Summer Festival at Milwaukee. The very pleasant and beautiful quarters of the society of the Loyal Legion were open to us by the courtesy of that societv. Owing to the absence of our president. General Thomas S. Allen, the meeting on the morning of the 27th was presided over by Captain Irving M. Bean, our most efficient vice-president. George B. Engle, Jr.. elected secretary pro tern. Chairman Bean—I was under the impression that at some meeting there had been a regular order of proceedings adopted, but I don't find one. and. in the absence of any regular order of business that should be transacted, anything that may occur tn any of the comrades present will be in order. Secretary Engle—Mr. President, it seems to me that it might be possible at this meeting to have a little bit of a campfire ; we have several men here that can talk, and I think Comrade Anderson from Manitowoc, Company "A," has some reminis­ cences always at hand, and I suggest that he entertain us first. Chairman Bean—It seems after all that a regular order of business was adopted at the last meeting. Perhaps we had better follow it, deferring action upon the sug­ gestion of Comrade Engle for a few minutes. Secretary Engle—I move that as the proceedings of the last meeting are all pub­ lished in printed report, that that part of the order of exercises be omitted. Motion seconded and carried. Chairman Bean—The next order of business here is the election of officers. Comrade Ben Smith—I move that that be deferred until some time after our pro­ ceedings this morning; that it be brought up at a later session of thesociety. Motion seconded and carried. Chairman Bean—The chair takes pleasure in availing itself of the suggestion of Comrade Engle, and we should be pleased to hear some remarks from Judge Anderson of Manitowoc. (Applause.) Judge Anderson—Mr. Chairman and Comrades : I had some thought some time ago about making our meeting interesting in the way of recalling, or recording, rather, some of the occurrences that took place down m Virginia in the course of the regi­ mental history, and it was my intention to prepare a paper on the history of the course of the regiment during the Wilderness campaign. That is a part of our regimental history, as far as the public is concerned, that is more obscure than •any portion of our career. It was the hardest. I think, that we experienced. It took place in those Vir­ ginia thickets, and a great deal of the history of the regiment from May 4th up to June T2th or 14th will never be known. In looking up my material for the paper which I intended to prepare, and which I may say I have on hand perhaps to a greater extent than any other one of the regiment. I found three letters which, read together, give a connected history of the regiment from May 4th up to the time we closed around Cold Harbor, and I thought that I could do nothing better than simply to take those letters, written at that time by a boy to his people at home, and give them here and now; and I think you will agree that, while the letters are crude with the crudities of a boy that simply went out of school into the army, that they are a reasonably faithful picture of what occurred down there. The first I will read is a letter written to my father and dated May 13th, 1864 : Dear Father : I suppose you are all in a state of the most harrowing anxiety up in Wisconsin, each one fearing that his family circle has been broken, and well you may, for this has been a terrible and bloody campaign, and many of our brave boys have fallen. Our regiment broke up camp at Brandy Station on the 4th of this month and marched to the Rapidan, which we crossed at Germania Ford, and bivouacked for the night in an open field about two miles beyond. Next morning we marched along the Fredericksburg and Gordonsville Plank Road till we struck the Old Verdiersville road, where we turned to the right and com­ menced advancing carefully. We did not go more than a mile before we found the enemy in heavy force, when we formed in line of battle and commenced driving them. Our regiment formed in line under a heavy skirmish fire, and five companies from the right were thrown out as skirmishers. We charged on their skirmishers with a yell and drove them out from behind their logs and trees in a hurry, but not until they had killed and wounded quite a number of our men. It was here that Michael Pilcha ot our company was killed and young Croissant wounded. We kept advancing and driving them until about 4 o'clock, when the rebels advanced on our left with the intention of flanking our line of battle.