WE WERE THERE
More than three million men fought in the Civil War and two percent of the population at that time-more than 620,000-died in it. Wisconsin had a great many who served; by the time the war ended, 91,000 soldiers had served in 56 Wisconsin regiments. Many Wisconsin men did not return-nearly 12,000 died, and thousands more were wounded or held captive in southern prison camps. Among those who died were 48 from Wood County.

We were barely a state, much less a county back in 1861 when the trouble started. Our entire 1860 county population was 2,425, so considering the losses suffered during the war, Wood County lost a large percentage.

The first of our soldiers to die on the battlefield was Capt. John Compton, who listed his residence as Grand Rapids. On the 1860 census, he is listed as a 'merchant' who moved here from New York State. He was married with two children. Compton was commissioned as a captain in Company G, 18th Infantry Regiment, Wisconsin on December 5, 1861. He died fighting with that same company on April 6, 1862 at Shiloh, Tennessee, shot through the head and dying instantly.

In two days at Shiloh on the banks of the Tennessee River, more Americans fell than in all previous American wars combined. Of the 23,746 who died during those two days, two were from Grand Rapids, Wood County--Capt. Compton and Private Joseph Gill, both of Wisconsin's 18th Infantry Regiment. Both died on April 6th, but although Compton lost his life on the battlefield, Gill was taken prisoner before he died of his wounds. We were there at Shiloh.

On September 17, 1862, David Creavy and John Topping were both killed in action at Antietam, Maryland, and are buried in the National Cemetery there. During the one day battle of Antietam, 12,401 union men were killed, missing, or wounded---double the casualities of D-Day, 82 years later. With a total of 23,000 casualties on both sides, it was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War. We were there.

In three days at Gettysburg, PA, more that 51,000 died, including Peter M Oleson of Grand Rapids, who fell the first day of the battle, July 1, 1863 and is buried there. So we were at Gettsyburg also.

Edward A Smith, Adam Dutcher and Francis Harkness all died of disease in the summer at Vicksburg, MS, after fighting there for days. We were there too.

Disease was the chief killer during the war, taking two men for every one who died of battle wounds. Of the 48 from Wood County who did not return, 20 died of disease; 13 were killed in action; five died of wounds received in battle; five were taken prisoners of war and died at POW camps; two were missing in action; one died from an accident; and the cause of death of one is unknown. Our men were in many battles.

The dead from our County came from Centralia and Grand Rapids, Dexterville, Rudolph, Marshfield, Pittsville and Saratoga. They ranged from teenagers, like Adoplhus E. Whitrock, who was captured on May 27th 1864,and who was just 18 when he died in the infamous Andersonville prison camp, to older men who left wives, children and livelihoods to fight for the Union.

The names of some of the dead are familiar as area residents, like Wakeley, Sparks, Murphy, Barker, Bennett, Jackson and Coon. Others like Cattra, Creavy, Dolle and Hovey either left no family, or descendants have long since moved, the names seeming foreign to us now.

None of these men were native to the area, all having moved here from somewhere else: New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island. This was not even the country of birth for many. Edward Smith, a carpenter and farmer, came from England; Jacob Benson, a farmer, came from Norway; William Granger was from Scotland.

Some soldiers came home to Wood county for burial, but many others were buried where they fell. Their obituaries speak to their dedication and loyalty as in the case of Chauncey C. Barker, who served under General Grant and died in Rhode Island, "peacefull and hopeful to the last, and ready for the messenger of death."

Although many more brave men from Wood County went to war as well and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their service, these 48 who never returned hold a special place in our hearts and minds. Through them, and their bravery, we were also there.

And through this memorial, they are now here...back to the last home they knew--Wood County.

c:Rhonda Whetstone Neibauer Author