1900: Algoma & the Reunion of the 14th Wisconsin Vol. Inf.

The Civil War was a 25-year old memory when Algoma was the site of a three-day reunion of 14^th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Algoma spared no pains and gave a royal welcome to all those arriving on the afternoon train that June 1900 day.  The city band and school children who met the train led the parade to Perry’s hall where visitors registered and were assigned their quarters.

During the evening there were reminisces, speeches and plenty of music. When more veterans came the following morning, they were as enthusiastically met as their comrades the previous day. Throngs gathered in the street as the men marched through. St. Paul’s male choir sang and its pastor delivered a short address. When Rev. Eppling made reference to Algoma State Senator DeWayne Stebbins as Wisconsin’s next governor, the audience broke into thunderous applause. Stebbins was a veteran, however he served in the Navy..

It was such a grand event that Col. Ward, who filled in for one who failed to appear, asked participants to give a rousing cheer to the people of Algoma. The paper said that cheer rocked Perry’s hall to its foundations. Attendees were pleased  and participated in all the festivities while Algoma residents basked in the glow.

Kewaunee and Manitowoc County men forming Company E were among those who made up the 14^th Wisconsin V.I. The unit was formed at Fond du Lac where they were trained at a camp renamed for Col. David Wood* who led them. The 14^th went into service on January 30, 1862 and mustered out oat Mobile, Alabama on October 9, 1865.  Four of its members received the Medal of Honor for the Battle of Corinth.

The 14^th was at Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta and more.  One hundred sixteen men were killed in action and another 194 died of disease. Nine officers also died. A plaque at Camp Randall in Madison bears the name of the 27 who were killed at Shiloh in April 1962, among them men from Ahnepee.*.

Over 91,000 Wisconsin men served in the Union Army. 3,794 were either killed in action or mortally wounded. Just about twice that number died of disease. Others died from accidents. Of the total enlistments, 13.4% of the men lost their lives. Kewaunee Co., with its population of 7,039, gave 1 of every 17 residents to the war. Of the 408 men, 65, or 13%, were dead at the war’s end. Wisconsin gave 1 of 9 residents to the war, prompting one to wonder why Kewaunee County gave a lesser percentage of men. Kewaunee Co. was split off from Door in 1852. The county was still young with young families. If the number of young children weren’t counted, the county’s men would have looked like far greater numbers.

The men of Co. E, 14th Wisconsin were in evidence at the celebration. In those intervening years many had died, but they and their fallen comrades were remembered. Algoma men thought of those with whom they served, men recruited primarily by William Henry. Ezra Austin was severely wounded at Corinth where Alfred Vibber was killed. William Herring was wounded at Vicksburg and William Wheeler, Julius  Wintermayer and John Lovell were wounded at Shiloh/Pittsburg Landing.. Maruice VanDoozer and William Clark died in action and William Sabine died there of disease. John Gonyou came home and was incarcerated when he set fire to the Kewaunee jail. He died in the fire he set. Other county men died or were injured, however, the above list rpresents only those of Co. E with ties to what became Algoma.

There were other Civil War reunions over the year throughout Wisconsin. By 1930, the veterans were growing fewer and fewer. On Memorial Day that year, Frank Gregor of Lincoln, Eugene Heald of Forestville and I. W. Elliott of Algoma gathered for a photo during the festivities. Elliott's brothers Park and David were killed  during the Civil War, and when I.W. died in December 1941, he was 95 years old and Algoma's - and Kewaunee County's - last Civil War veteran. The popular "Dad" Elliott was living with in Milwaukee with his son Frank at the time of death. He was also Milwaukee's last Civil War veteran.

Gregor, Elliott and Heald, Memorial Day 1930, Record Herald photo

*Ahnepee was spelled as such until the village was chartered as Ahnapee in 1873.
Note: Elliott, Gregor and Heald were not members of Co. E. Others in the company were killed, died of disease or were wounded, but they do not appear to have been Ahnepee/Algoma residents.

Sources: An-An-api-sebe: Where is the River? c. 2001; Algoma Record, Algoma Record Herald; Wisconsin Roster of Civil War Volunteers; Blogger's personal notes and databases. The the exception of the Record Herald photo, photos have been taken by the Blogger.

				Ahnapee