the Army of the Tennessee 15,000 men, the following-named regiments will be at once mustered-out of the service of the United States in the manner herein indicated. The necessary rolls and papers will be prepared under the supervision of the corps, division and brigade commanders, and the muster-out will be performed by the assistant commissary of musters of divisions, who will be guided by the instructions in General Orders, No. 84, Current Series, Adjutant-General's Office. As soon as the troops herein designated shall have been mustered out of the service, they shall be placed en route for their respective state rendezvous, there to be paid off by paymasters especially designated for that purpose, and finally discharged from the United States service. While the troops are en route for their states and after their arrival therein, prior to their final payment and discharge, they will be under the control of their respective officers, still being liable to trial and punishment for any breach of military discipline. The following-named rendezvous are indicated as those to which the troops will se sent: Wisconsin, Madison and Milwaukee. By command of Major-General Logan. MAX WOODHULL, Assistant Adjutant-General. Memorandum of troops to be mustered out in accordance with General Orders, No. 26: [CIRCULAR, NO. 9.] * HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, Louisville, Ky., July 5th, 1865. Thirty-sixth Wisconsin Volunteers. To finally wind up the affairs of the regiment was not a small matter. Every officer must account to the government for everything used by his men. The muster-out roll was a long, tedious job. Every man's name who had ever been with the regiment must appear on it with his record and be made in triplicate, one for the state, the other for the government, which meant for our regiment 1,014 names written three times. The quartermaster must make his final statement on blanks furnished, all stores, etc., if lost in action, or how, and the balance turned in to the government. Quartermaster Capron was detailed as brigade commissary, therefore I was kept very busy in winding up the regimental quartermaster's accounts. Adjutant Atwell had to fill out and sign for every man his final discharge, of which the following is a copy, and which the soldier appreciates his whole life: To Whom it May Concern: Know Ye, That. of Captain ... Company a (-) Thirty sixth Regiment of Wisconsin (Infantry) Volunteers who was enrolled on the . . . . . . day of .... dred and ... one thousand eight hunto serve 3 years or during the war, is hereby Discharged from the service of the United States this ... day of at ... by reason of G. O. 21, C. S., 1865, Hd. Qu's A of Tennessee (no objections to his re-enlistment is known to exist.) inches high, Given at Jeffersonville, Ind., this 12th day of July, 1865. JOHN W. SHARP, C. E. WARREN, Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding Regiment. Maj. 20th Ind. Vet. Vols. and A. C. M. Prov. Div. A. of T. The regiment left Jeffersonville on the 12th of July for Madison, when it went into camp at the place where we were mustered into the service, where it received final payment and disbanded on the 24th. While in camp at Jeffersonville I received, with others, my commission as Second Lieutenant of my company (G), which is as follows and which is similar to all which were issued to every officer: STATE OF WISCONSIN. WYMAN SPOONER, ACTING GOVERNOR. To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Know Ye, That reposing special Trust and Confidence in the Patriotism, Fidelity and Good Conduct of Sergeant J. Madison Aubery, I have appointed and constitute, and by these Presents do appoint and constitute him Second Lieutenant of Company G of the Thirty-sixth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantryvice Lane, promoted-to date from June 15th, 1865, and I do hereby authorize and empower him to execute and fulfill the duties of that office according to law; and he is required to observe and follow such orders and directions as he shall from time to time receive from the Commander-in-Chief, or any other his Superior Officer, according to the Rules and Discipline of War and in accordance with the Constitution and Laws of the State. In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and caused the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin to be affixed. Done at Madison, this fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-five. (Great Seal of Wisconsin.) CHAPTER X. THE reader may better appreciate the heavy casualties of the Thirtysixth Wisconsin, I have taken from that elaborate and carefully compiled book, "Regimental Losses In the Civil War," by Colonel W. F. Fox, U. S. Vols., from the "Three hundred fighting regiments," for comparison. First, the Second Ver mont Infantry of the noted Vermont brigade of the Sixth Corps, in which I had four brothers. It was the first regiment raised in Vermont for three years. Then I take the Second Wisconsin, which sustained the greatest percentage of loss of any in the entire Union Army, who had such commanders as Governor Lucius Fairchild-S. Park Corn was its first colonel; and last, the Sixth Wisconsin, of which our colonel, Frank A. Haskell, was adjutant, and whose commanders were Colonel Lysander Cutler, who was breveted brigadier-general and of whom it is said could stand before bis command and call every man by name, and afterwards it was commanded by that little fighter, Edward S. Bragg, who "loved President Cleveland for the enemies he had made," and was Minister to Mexico under his (Cleveland's) administration and at this writing is president of the Iron Brigade Society. He also was made brigadier-general and commanded the Iron Brigade. After him came Colonel Rufus R. Dawes, who was breveted brigadiergeneral. General Dawes is father of Mr. Charles R. Dawes, comptroller of the currency under President McKinley. Colonel J. A. Watrous, now a major and paymaster in the regular army, was of this regiment. All three of these regiments were in the service three years, the Thirty-sixth Wisconsin but one. Therefore, the time of service must be taken into consideration in the comparison. In other words, our casualties were made in one, while those of the three regiments were three years. I take the tables from "Fox's reports," considering them the most reliable, where I find some slight difference between his and mine as regards the Thirtysixty regiment. The cause is that the losses are differently credited in the engagements. Mr. George Smith of Racine, Wisconsin, has favored me with some valuable statistics on the regiment, which I use. He has gone very thoroughly into the records of Wisconsin regiments. Colonel Fox wrote in the Century of 1888, an interesting study, "The Chances of Being Hit in Battle," "A Study of Regimental Losses in the Civil War," from which I copy. SECOND WISCONSIN INFANTRY. Iron Brigade. Wadsworth Division. First Corps. Killed and Died of Wounds. Col. Lucius Fairchild. (killed). Col. John Mansfield. Died of Disease, Accident, Prison, etc. Total Enrollment. 77 77 1203 238 killed-19.7 per cent. Total of killed and wounded, 753; of missing and captured, 132; died in Confederate prison, 17. This regiment sustained the greatest percentage of loss of any in the entire Union Army. It was a fine regiment and well officered. Leaving the state in June, 1861. Mustered out about June 11th, 1864. SIXTH WISCONSIN INFANTRY. Iron Brigade. Wadsworth Division. First Corps. |