On the Road to Appomatox: The Boys of Kewaunee County

Gravelly Run, east of Petersburg, Virginia, was one of the more obscure battles of the Civil War, however the fight - also known as  Hatcher’s Run, Boydton Road and White Oak Ridge - was not. Gravelly Run, on March 31, 1865 was part of the campaign that finally ended the war with Lee's April 9th surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.

Wisconsin's 6th, 7th and 36th Infantry regiments saw action in the battle where the Union losses of 1,900 men were about 2 1/2 times greater than those of the Confederacy. Pierce Town Private Franz Geneva, 6th Wis. Co. D, was killed during the battle. Eugene Delwich of Lincoln was taken prisoner and then badly wounded. Francis Francee of Red River as also wounded. Both were Privates in Co. B, 6th Wis. and the wounds kept both absent when the company was mustered out.

There were other Kewaunee County men at Gravelly Run. Lincoln's Corporal John Andre and Private Carl Schneider of Ahnepee* of Co. B. saw action. Private Carlton Hall of Montpelier served in Co. E, and Ahnepee Privates William Fagg, August Baumann and William Barrand, Co. G, H and K, respectively, saw action. Private Julius Bernhart, Co. B, 7th Inf., and Private William Graham, Co. C, were other Ahnepee men in the battle. Private Christian Peters  from Coryville was another in Co. C. Casco Private Adolphe Gouchee and  Private James Marshaw from Carlton served in Co. I. Frank Zivney came from Pierce Town.

During the closing battles of the war, the Iron Brigade, which included the 6th and 7th Wisconsin, was under the command of General U.S. Grant. The Brigade saw some of the heaviest fighting and saw the heaviest casualties of the war. At Gravelly Run, when the men were ordered to fall back, it was the Iron Brigade which was the last to leave the field. Men of the Iron Brigade served primarily in the south and were discharged on July 18, 1865, three months after Appomattox. When they returned to Milwaukee, the men were provided a dinner on the street given by the women of the city.

Kewaunee's George Froney appears to have held General Grant and General Philip Sheridan in high esteem. He named his twins Grant and Sheridan.

Wikipedia tells us that 13.4% of the Iron Brigade's total enlistment died. Three thousand seven hundred ninety four were killed in action or mortally wounded, 8,022 died of disease and 400 died accidental deaths. In total, the Brigade lost 12,216 men.

*Ahnepee was changed to Ahnapee when the Village of Ahnapee was chartered in 1873. Proper names have been taken from records and often do not reflect the spelling of the same in 2012.



 

 

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