79. NINTH AND FIFTEENTH INFANTRY

Organization of the Ninth

Volunteers from Livingston

Departure of the Regiment

Service in Kentucky

Battle and Disaster at Murfreesboro'

Engagements at Tyree Springs, Tennessee, and Mumfordsville, Kentucky

High Opinion of the Ninth expressed by General Thomas

Assignment of the Regiment to Duty at Army Headquarters

Veteran Re-enlistment and Furlough

Return to Duty in the Army of the Cumberland

The Regiment on Duty at Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville

Muster Out

Members of the Ninth from Livingston County

The Fifteenth Infantry

Representation of Livingston County in the Regiment

     THE Ninth Infantry Regiment of Michigan was raised during the latter part of the summer, and in the early autumn of the year 1861. Its rendezvous was at Fort Wayne, Detroit, where its 80. organization was perfected, under the following officers:

     In the ranks of the Ninth, during its term of service, were nearly two hundred men from Livingston; the county being most numerously represented in Company K, but to a less extent in A, D, H, and I, and having a few men in four of the other five companies. The company which was distinctively composed of Livingston County men was recruited by Captain John A. Tanner, and having been sufficiently filled for muster, left the county on the ninth of October, 1861, and proceeded to the regimental rendezvous at Fort Wayne. Following is a list of the members of the company at that time. It does not exactly correspond with the roster of the company as mustered, but is given here as showing who were the volunteers who accompanied Captain Tanner to the rendezvous, with the expectation of joining and serving with the regiment.

     The regiment having been armed with weapons of an inferior class, was mustered into the United States service for three years, by Captain H. R. Mizner, United States Army, at the rendezvous, October 23d and 25th, 1861, and on the last-named day left Detroit for the seat of war in the Southwest, being the first regiment from Michigan which entered the field in the Western departments. It reached Jeffersonville, Indiana, on the twenty-seventh, and on the following day was moved by steamboat to Salt River, Kentucky, It was soon after engaged in the construction of a defensive work on Muldraugh's Hill, and made its winter quarters in that vicinity. During their stay at that place the men of the Ninth were terribly afflicted with measles and other disorders, as many as four hundred having been on the sick list at one time.

     Immediately after the fall of Fort Donelson, the regiment was moved by transports from Salt River to Nashville, Tennessee, where it remained for some weeks; then moved to Murfreesboro', and was posted there from April to July, as one of the chain of detachments which were placed to guard the rear and communications of General O. M. Mitchell, in his advance on Huntsville, Alabama. During that time it formed part of the force with which General Negley made a demonstration against 81. Chattanooga, reaching the north bank of the Tennessee River, opposite the town. After that expedition it was again stationed at Murfreesboro' and vicinity, and on the thirteenth of July the six companies which were at that place (the other four, under command of Major Fox, being at Tullahoma) were attacked by a body of the enemy's cavalry, three thousand five hundred strong, under General N. B. Forrest. Of this battalion of the Ninth at Murfreesboro' one company was quartered in the court-house, and five companies were camped in a body in the northeastern outskirts of the village, all under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Parkhurst. Colonel Duffield was present but not on duty; he having arrived in the evening of the eleventh, in company with General Crittenden, on business connected with the formation of a new brigade, of which Colonel Duffield was to have the command. The Third Minnesota Infantry Regiment was encamped on the bank of Stone River, less than two miles to the northwest of the town, and with it was Hewett's (First Kentucky) Battery.   

     Forrest's attack on the camp of Lieutenant-Colonel Parkhurst's battalion was made at four o'clock in the morning of Sunday the thirteenth of July. He had evidently expected that it would be a surprise, but such did not prove to be the case, for Colonel Parkhurst had suspected, or had by some means been warned of their approach; and prepared to give them a very warm reception. The result was that the first attack was successfully repelled, with considerable loss to the enemy, who then withdrew, and proceeded to attack the company occupying the court-house. Upon the withdrawal of the enemy from his front, Colonel Parkhurst at once dispatched a messenger to the colonel of the Third Minnesota, at Stone River, informing him of the situation, and asking him to come to his (Parkhurst's) assistance. With this request the officer in question, for what doubtless seemed to him good reasons, declined to comply. It was believed that he might have done so with good prospects of success, he having a comparatively large force, including an efficient battery. Certainly any attempt of Colonel Parkhurst with his little force of less than three hundred men, and no artillery--to effect a junction with the Minnesotians, in the face of such an overwhelming body of the enemy, would have been almost foolhardy.

     At the court-house the attacking party met a very warm reception from the defending garrison, who held them at bay for two long hours, and only surrendered when they found such a course inevitable. Immediately after their capture they were sent to the rear, in the direction of McMinnville, without an hour's delay, for the rebel commander believed that his work might at any moment be interrupted by Union reinforcements from either or all of the several detachments posted at different points in the vicinity; a very natural supposition, which might very easily have been verified.

     From the siege of the court-house the enemy returned to the attack of Colonel Parkhurst's position, which during the brief cessation of hostilities had been strengthened by such slight defenses as the men had been able to construct in the short time, and with the insufficient means and materials at their command. Slight as they were they afforded some shelter to the defending force, who though outnumbered more than ten to one by their assailants, fought with the most determined and persistent bravery till past noon, when, as it became evident that they need look no longer for succor, and that further resistance was useless, their leader submitted to the inevitable, and surrendered. During the eight hours through which they had stood at bay their loss had been thirteen killed and eighty-seven wounded. The enemy admitted that his own loss in killed alone had been thirty-five, and there is little doubt that it was much beyond this figure. Among the captured officers were Lieutenant-Colonel Parkhurst and Captain Mansfield. The first was marched away by the victorious rebels. Captain Mansfield being unable to endure the march was left behind, paroled, as was also Colonel Duffield, who had been badly wounded during the fight. His companion in his unfortunate visit to the post-General Crittenden had also been captured at the hotel in the village, and was taken away with the other prisoners, to whose numbers was also added the Minnesota regiment before mentioned, and the men and officers of Hewett's Battery.

     At McMinnville, Forrest paroled the enlisted men whom he had captured, and they returned to Nashville, whence they were sent to Camp Chase. He, however, retained the officers and took them to Knoxville. From there they were sent to Atlanta, then to Madison, Georgia, where they remained for a considerable time, then to Columbia, South Carolina, to Salisbury, North Carolina, and finally to Libby prison, at Richmond, where they were eventually paroled. Colonel Parkhurst was exchanged in December, 1862. In the mean time the portion of the regiment which had escaped capture at Murfreesboro' had been engaged against the enemy at Tyree Springs, Tennessee, and at Munfordsville, Kentucky, about the time of General Buell's advance from Louisville to Perryville and Bowling Green.

     82.  On the twenty-fourth of December, 1862, Lieutenant-Colonel Parkhurst, then in command of the Ninth (Colonel Duffield was permanently disabled by the wounds received at Murfreesboro, and resigned less than two months after that time), reported for duty at the headquarters of General Thomas, near Nashville, and was assigned to duty as provost-marshal; his regiment (reorganized and with ranks refilled by the exchanged prisoners) being detailed as provost-guard of the Fourteenth. Corps. The remark was made by Gen. Thomas, on the issuance of the order assigning it to that duty, that he had fully acquainted himself with the history of the part taken by the regiment in its defense of the post of Murfreesboro' against Forrest and that just such a regiment was what he needed at his headquarters.

     The duty to which the Ninth was thus assigned was performed by the regiment from that time until the expiration of its term of service. For the manner in which it performed the duties devolving on it at the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga (particularly the former), Colonel Parkhurst and the regiment were warmly complimented by General Thomas. When that general assumed the chief command of the Army of the Cumberland, after Chickamauga, Colonel Parkhurst (who received his promotion to the colonelcy February 6, 1863) was made provost-marshal general of the department, and the Ninth became provost-guard at army headquarters. In December, 1863, the regiment, to the number of two hundred and twenty-nine, re-enlisted as a veteran organization, received a veteran furlough, and returned to Michigan in a body, arriving at Coldwater in January, 1864. At the expiration of its furlough, reassembling at the same place, it left on the twentieth of February for the front, with its ranks filled to about five hundred men. At Chattanooga it returned to duty at headquarters, and in the summer and fall of 1864 participated in all the operations of the Army of the Cumberland in Georgia and Tennessee. It entered Atlanta on its evacuation by the enemy, and was there engaged in provost duty till that city was abandoned by the Union forces, when it returned to Chattanooga. During October, sixty-nine members were discharged by expiration of their term of service, but as a large number of recruits had been received during the year, the regiment, on the first of November, 1864, numbered eight hundred and ninety-seven enlisted men. It remained in Chattanooga until the twenty-seventh of March, 1865, when it was moved to Nashville. There it stayed on duty at headquarters and as guard at the military prison until the fifteenth of September, when it was mustered out of the service, and on the following day left for Michigan. It arrived at Jackson on the nineteenth of September, and one week later the men were paid off and disbanded, when they returned to their homes and to the avocations of peace.

MEMBERS OF THE NINTH INFANTRY FROM LIVINGSTON COUNTY

85.  FIFTEENTH INFANTRY

     The number of Livingston County men serving in the ranks of the Fifteenth was more than equal to a maximum company, but they were divided among at least eight companies of the regiment; the principal part, however, being found in "D" company, commanded by Captain Erastus A. Pratt.

     The regiment was raised and organized under Colonel J. M. Oliver in the fall of 1861, and had its rendezvous at Monroe. It left its camp of instruction for the front on the twenty-seventh of March, and was transferred directly from the peaceful parade-ground at Monroe to the storm of battle at Pittsburg Landing. It arrived the evening of the fifth of April, 1862. The next day the battle opened, and the Fifteenth was hurried to the front, taking an active and gallant part, and having thirty-three officers and men killed and sixty-four wounded, while seven were reported missing.

     The regiment served, through the siege of Corinth, and was on duty in the vicinity until that place was attacked by the rebel generals Price and VanDorn, on the first and second of October, 1862. It was then on outpost duty, ten miles northwest of Corinth, and was assailed by the whole rebel force. It fell back, contesting the ground inch by inch, and with some other regiments held the enemy in check during the whole of that day, giving ample time for General Rosecrans to prepare for the next day's conflict, in which he won a complete victory over the rebel army. The casualties of the Fifteenth were thirteen killed, thirty-two wounded, and five missing.

     The regiment served in Northern Mississippi until June, 1863, when it was ordered to Vicksburg. Having been assigned to the Ninth Corps, it took part in the siege of that city, sharing the hardships and dangers, which were at length rewarded by the surrender of the place, with the whole army of General Pemberton, on the ever-memorable Fourth of July, 1863. The Fifteenth remained in Central Mississippi during the summer, and in October was sent with the Fifth Corps to reinforce the Army of the Cumberland. It was stationed in Northern Alabama until February, 1864, when a portion of the men re-enlisted, and the regiment was sent home on veteran furlough, returning, to take part in Sherman's Georgia campaign, in May.

     After unnumbered wearisome marches and many skirmishes, the Fifteenth found itself in the Fifth Corps, in front of the enemy, near Decatur, Georgia. The rebels drove back the Seventeenth Corps, which was on the left of the Fifth. The Fifteenth Michigan was ordered to take possession of an exposed position some distance from the line of its corps. On the regiment's arriving near the point indicated, it was found to be in possession of the enemy. The men of Michigan did not hesitate, but moved gallantly forward, and after a brief but sharp conflict captured the position, with seventeen rebel officers, one hundred and sixty-seven men, and three stands of colors. The loss of the Fifteenth was only four killed and six wounded.

     On the twenty-eighth of July the regiment won another victory over an assailing force of the enemy, which was driven off with heavy loss, leaving its dead and wounded on the field. Still another triumph was gained near Jonesboro' on the thirty-first of August, when the enemy attacked the fortified camp of the Fifteenth, and was most decisively defeated.

     After the surrender of Atlanta the regiment went to Northern Alabama to operate against the rebel general Hood, but returned in time to "march to the sea" with Sherman. It also marched through the Carolinas with that general; went from Washington to Little Rock, Arkansas, in June and July, 1865; returned to Detroit in August, and was discharged on the first of September.

OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS FROM LIVINGSTON COUNTY