Wednesday, February 25, 1863

Garrison duty in Memphis gave the soldiers from the 130th Illinois Infantry an opportunity to enjoy the city.  As the beautiful spring weather continued to improve, the Illinoisans would spend their leisure time taking enjoyable walks throughout the city.

Charles Johnson described one of his favorite Memphis destinations:

Nowhere was the soft spring air more pleasure-giving than in a little park near the business part of the city, name forgotten. In this was a statue of General Jackson, having engraved upon the marble pedestal the hero's well-known words: "The Federal Union it must and shall be preserved!" This patriotic sentiment was too much for the eyes of some miserable vandal, and the word "Federal" had been obliterated with a chisel or other sharp tool.

From the Wisconsin Historical Society (http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/diary/003890.asp) we can learn more about the Monument of Jackson: 

Andrew Jackson, President of the United States from 1829 to 1837, was one of the founders of Memphis in 1819. To commemorate him, the citizens of Memphis erected a marble bust in 1859 which bore the words, "The federal union: It must and shall be preserved" on its pedestal. Jackson uttered the phrase during the Nullification Crisis of 1828-1832, when South Carolina declared any state's right to nullify federal laws that ran contrary to its interest. President Jackson firmly opposed this view and threatened to send troops to South Carolina to ensure that federal law prevailed. He spoke these words as a toast during the Democratic Party's Jefferson Day dinner in 1830 and they were later engraved on the pedestal of his statue. The monument became an unintentional symbol of Union sentiment after the city's occupation in July 1862, and a Confederate sympathizer had gained national notoriety for trying to chip away the offensive quote.

www.civilwarliterature.com/ListOfIllustrations/JacksonsMonumentAtMemphisTennBI.htm

Tuesday, February 24, 1863

Two more soldiers from the 130th Illinois Infantry died today in Memphis:  Private William E. Leisure from Blueville was part of Company D;  Private Delembert Cully from Cairo was part of Company C.

Monday, February 23, 1863

Private Thomas J. Darden from Sangamon County died today in Memphis.  He was assigned to Company B.  

Sunday, February 22, 1863

Henry W. Miller, a new recruit assigned to Company E, died today in Memphis.  He was from Dudleyville.  

Thursday, February 19, 1863

Private Stephen White, an unassigned recruit, died today in Memphis.

Wednesday, February 18, 1863

Private Ephraim Milsaps deserted today.  He was from Baden and a member of Company E.

The Company C musician, William M. Jackson died today at Memphis.  He was from Cairo.

Tuesday, February 17, 1863

In the middle of February Charles Johnson witnessed the destruction of Hopedale, Arkansas, apparently from the comfort of a rocking chair.

Sitting on the upper front porch one day and looking toward the river, not many rods away, two or three gunboats were seen to approach the little village of Hopedale, just opposite Memphis, on the Arkansas shore; they did not land, but pretty soon turned away and took position in the middle of the river, from which point a number of shells were thrown into the village and soon Hopedale was in flames. It seemed this place had been a sort of rallying point for guerillas, bushwhackers and other irregular Confederate soldiers and to stop their incursions Hopedale had been ordered burned, after, of course, first warning the inhabitants. 

Monday, February 16, 1863

Today First Lieutenant William Harlan died.  He was from Bond County and part of Company E.

Sunday, February 15, 1863

Private John Christian, from Company C, died today.  He was from Cairo.

Saturday, February 14, 1863

Corporal Anderson Kenard, Company H, from Mt. Carmel, died today at Memphis.

Thursday, February 12, 1863

The weather in Memphis began to improve.  Charles Johnson described the change:

About the middle of February signs of spring began to show themselves in that genial climate. Grass became green, peach trees blossomed, bees came out and birds came around.

Sunday, February 8, 1863

Two more men from the 130th Illinois Infantry died today:  Corporal William L. Curry, Company G, from Fuller’s Point; and, Corporal Harlow M. Street, Company F from Pocahontas, who died at Memphis.

Monday, February 2, 1863

Private William Jackson, from Donelson and Company G, died yesterday in Memphis.

Today, Sergeant Jacob A. Cook, Company D, from Blueville, was reported as a deserter. 

Thursday, January 29, 1863

Private Thomas N. Dickson, from Blueville and Company D deserted today.  His desertion was likely related to the large group that left 3 days earlier.

Also today, two more men from the 130th died:  Private Elijah Gardner, Company B, from Sangamon County and Corporal John H. Covert, Company G, from Fuller’s Point.

Monday, January 26, 1863

Company E Musician John H. Beanblossom died today at Memphis.  

Also today there were five desertions, all Company D.  Corporal William T. Hill, Blueville; Private Rufus D. Langley, Blueville; Wagoneer Rufus D. Langley, Blueville; Private Isaac Bishop, Taylorville; and Private Charles Hildebrand, from Buckhart.  The first four were from Christian County, while Buckhart is in adjacent Sangamon County.  However, Buckhart and Blueville are only about 8 miles apart.

Wednesday, January 21, 1863

Private Eliphas Prater from Blueville, died at Memphis today.  He was part of Company D.

Tuesday, January 20, 1863

Two soldiers from Company B died today in Memphis.  Private William H. Hickman and Private Frederick Rutenberg.  They were both from Sangamon County.

Friday, January 16, 1863

Two more soldiers from the 130th Illinois Infantry died today in Memphis:  Corporal William J. Sapp (Co. F) from Greenville, and Private Francis M. Kessell (Co. G) from Milton Station.

Thursday, January 15, 1863

Two soldiers from Company H died today in Memphis:  Private Benjamin W. Bunn from Richland, and Private Philip Winters from Claremont.

Wednesday, January 14, 1863

Private John A. Davis (Co. D) from Blueville died today at Memphis.

Also, 1st Lieutenant Charles Ives (Co. F) from Upper Alton died today.


Charles Johnson described the sicknesses and disease faced by the soldiers

Erysipelas prevailed as an epidemic, and many suffered terribly from this disease. When it attacked the face, its favorite site, the features were horribly swollen and distorted, the eyes closed, and when all was painted over with iodine, a frequent local remedy, the sufferer's countenance was as inhuman-like as can be imagined.

Erysipelas, measles, rheumatism, typhoid fever, dysentery and other fatal troubles carried off many men during the winter. For a time scarce a day passed but one or more men died at our regimental hospital. As one poor fellow after another was carried out in his pine coffin I remember thinking of the sad news the next outgoing mail would convey to friends away up North.  Some wife, mother or sister; would, for a time, lead a sadder life and carry a heavier heart. Before death, in the great majority of cases, the sufferer seemed to pass into a listless condition, wherein indifference was manifested for everything about him; the past and the future seemed alike to be ignored. The mind appeared, in all cases, to fail with the body, and sensation became blunted, so that the so-called "agony of death" was never seen. 

Tuesday, January 13, 1863

Two soldiers from Company F died today.  Private Thomas Franklin and Private Nathaniel C. Jones were both from Bond County and died today in Memphis.

The regimental hospital was on one of the main streets in Memphis.  Through the front window, several times each day, could be seen a slow-moving ambulance carrying a pine coffin containing the dead body of a soldier.  Ahead of the ambulance was a small military band playing a dirge, and behind the ambulance was a squad of soldiers with reversed arms.

The parade ended out in the suburbs, where there was a soldier's cemetery.

Monday, January 12, 1863

Private John W. Edwards (Co. D) from Taylorville died at Memphis today.

Charles Johnson describes the fate of one of his friends about this time:

A comrade of mine, a warm friend, was taken seriously sick and had to be removed to our regimental hospital. That he might have special care and be made as comfortable as possible, I accompanied him thither and remained with him some weeks, till his friends came from the North and took him home to die.  

Sunday, January 11, 1863

Private William R. Higgins (Company F) from Greenville died today in Memphis.

It wasn't just the soldiers in Memphis who were dying from disease.  An unusual amount of serious illness spread throughout all the armies that winter. One reason was the great amount of rainfall, particularly in the western and southwestern theaters of operations.

Another was the very large build-up of new troops.  Charles Johnson looked at it this way:

For six months after enlistment a new regiment has to pass through a sort of winnowing process, in which the chaff, so to speak, is separated from the wheat; when the weaklings, the soft, tender, susceptible ones, either die, or, becoming unfit for duty, are discharged, leaving the command with a lot of tried men, as it were a veritable "survival of the fittest."

Friday, January 9, 1863

Private John P. Craft (Co. G) from Fuller's Point died today in Memphis.

Thursday, January 8, 1863

Private John R. Halford (Co. D) from Blueville died today in Memphis.

The winter of 1862-63 was discouraging to the Union effort.  Besides soldiers succumbing to disease, the battles had not gone their way.  The Army of the Potomac, under General Burnside, met with terrible disaster on the battlefield at Fredericksburg, Virginia in December.  That same month, General Sherman was turned away and suffered great losses at Vicksburg.

On January 1, 1863 the bloody battle of Stone's River, or Murfreesboro, was fought between the Union forces under General Rosecrans and the Confederates under General Bragg.  Both sides lost eight to ten thousand men in killed and wounded, and neither could claim a decisive victory.

Wednesday, January 7, 1863

Private William H. Sinclair (Co. C) from Naples deserted today.

Tuesday, January 6, 1863

Corporal Jacob Berlin from Claremont died today in Memphis.  He was assigned to Company H.

There was much sickness and many deaths in Memphis this winter.  All of the regiments were affected, not just the 130th Illinois Infantry.

The most fatal disease was measles.  A large percentage of the newly enlisted men had never had measles.  Given the close quarters, the winter weather, and the lack of immunity, the disease spread quickly and easily.  Many young, strong, healthy soldiers were brought down by the disease.

Some died, and others became permanently disabled and were discharged.  A few lost their voices or suffered damaged eyesight or hearing.

Sunday, January 4, 1863

Private John Morgan (Co. C) died in Memphis today.  He was from Cairo and assigned to Company C.  Also today there was another desertion, Corporal George P. Nation (Co. G) from Mattoon.

Friday, January 2, 1863

While the men of the 130th had not yet seen battle, they continued to lose men.  Today Private William W. Burton (Co H) from Mt. Carmel died at Memphis.  

Thursday, January 1, 1863

Three soldiers deserted the 130th Illinois Infantry today.  Private Orrin P. Baker (Co. G) from Baldwinsville, Private Patrick Fitzgerald (Co. C) from Cairo, and Private Alexander Havens, also from Cairo and Company C.

These were not the first deserters.  At least two men deserted from Camp Butler and were never mustered in.  But these were the first desertions from the ranks for the 130th since their arrival in Memphis.  They would not be the last.

Given the conditions the soldiers faced, it should not be a surprise that desertion was fairly common throughout the entire Union army - even more extensive than in the Confederate ranks.