Pages 359 thru 363

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

CHAPTER LXIV

WAR WITH SPAIN - NATIONAL GUARD
 

_WHEN the fury of an entire nation was aroused over the sinking of the United States battleship Maine in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, Feb. 15, 1898, and the cry for vengeance was heard, Illinois was the first state in the union to assure the head of the nation its support in whatever action was taken to maintain the honor of the country.

It did not take long to mete out punishment for the indignity.  For quick action and early successful conclusion, the war with Spain is unparalleled in history.  Uncle Sam gave a spanking which hurt.

The call from the secretary of war for the National Guard or State Militia brought Company H, I, N, G., of Decatur into the fray.  The call for troops came to Governor John R. Tanner April 25.  By April 27 seven regiments of infantry and one of cavalry were mobilized at Springfield.

Decatur men who were on the staff of the Fifth Regiment, of which Company H was a part, were as follows:

Lieutenant Colonel - Frank P. Wells
Major - Walter F. Colladay
Assistant Surgeon - James L. Bevans
Battalion Adjutant - Arthur J. Gallagher
Musicians - Henry L. Roberts, Joseph W. Franks
Hospital Stewards - Bruce Chenoweth, William Housum
Band - Louis B. Cassell, Alfred D. Shawl, Hubert C. Wilkin.

IN CAMP

The regiment was mustered in at Camp Tanner, Springfield, May 7, 1898.  From there it went by rail to Chickamauga, Ga., arriving May 16.  It remained there until July 27, when it marched to Rossville, six miles, returning the same day to camp.  Camp was broken on Aug. 3, and the regiment marched to Ringgold, where it boarded cars for Newport News, Va.  There it went into camp and remained until Aug. 10 when it boarded the transport Obdam for Porto Rico.

GENERAL FRANK P. WELLS

On Aug. 11, however it was ordered to disembark and go into camp again at Newport News.  It remained at Newport News until Aug. 18, when it left for Lexington, Ky. where it went into camp and remained until Sept. 5 when it left for Springfield where it went into camp at Camp Lincoln.  The regiment was mustered out at Springfield Oct. 16, 1898.

Company H was composed of (names taken from Adjutant General's Report):

Men from Macon county who were members of other companies were:
George C. Carvard, Company B, transferred from Company K
Louis Lester, Company C, transferred from Company D.
John M. Bayly, Company D, transferred to Company B.
Clinton D. Maddox, Company D, transferred to Company B.
Abner Orr, Company D, transferred from Company B.
William W. Soule, Company D, transferred to Company C.
Fred J. McDonald, Company F, transferred from Company K.
Amos H. Burton, Company F
Hubert C. Wilkin, Company F, appointed musician, transferred to band
Joseph Franke, Company G. transferred to band, R. O. No. 53.
John B. Reynolds, Company I, transferred to Company K.
Frank Boone, Company K. transferred to Company H.
Charles Cole, Company K. transferred to Company B.
George Francis, Company K.
John C. Stoy, Company K, transferred to Company B.

Men from this county who were in other regiments were:
Second Regiment, Company B - William Bogle, Maroa
Third Regiment, Company I - James E. Goodwin, Macon
Fourth Regiment, Company K - William I. Robinson, Decatur
Sixth Regiment, Company I = David A. Donovan, Alonzo L. Kirk,
   Chester N. May, Decatur.
Eighth Regiment, Company A - William Landis (enlisted at York, Pa.).
Eighth Regiment, Company G - Noble D. Lamb, Albert Butler,
   John H. H. Hawkin, Cassidy Jacobs, Joe Stipes
Ninth Regiment, Company E - Alonzo Gibson, Frank E. Lefever;
   Company F - Richard S. Brown, Warrensburg
First Cavalry - Dr. Alfred E. Mowry, Forsyth, hospital steward,
   promoted to assistant surgeon.
First Cavalry, Troop D - W. J. Armstrong

Men of the Fifth Regiment were greatly disappointed over the change in order which kept them in the states.  The reason offered by the adjutant-general was to give justice to the state of Indiana.  Three Illinois regiments had already been ordered into active service, when it was noted that Indiana had none, hence orders were given to substitute an Indiana regiment for the Fifth Illinois, which had previously been ordered to Porto Rico.

TO PHILIPPINES

Following the war there was need for more troops, when insurrection arose in the Philippines, which had been ceded to the United States through the treaty with Spain.

Company H did not have the opportunity to go to the Philippines as a body, so many of the boys, having had a taste of army life and wanting more, enlisted singly or in pairs in various regiments, as they had the opportunity.

Among the Decatur and Macon county men in the volunteer or regular army who were in service either in the islands or stationed in Cuba or at points in this country were Dr. James L. Bevans, surgeon; Robert Eckles, Ed Eckles, Arthur Fullmer, Lewis Fullmer, Frank Wise, William Bair, Charles Hopping, Sam Pegram, John Reguer, George Mackordes, Oscar Johnson, Charles Virgils, all former members of Company H.

Others recruited were Henry McCauley, Charles C. Cole, Claude Day, Charles BA. McClure, Charles W. Nichols, Bert W. Smith, Stephen H. Cory, S. Busby, Press Waggoner, Calvin S. Clark, Charles B. Houston, William S. Swegle, James Davis, Andrew F. Worley, Curtis H. Hoffhein, Arthur M. Duggan, Oscar L. Bunker, Robert L. Ferris, James C. Barnes, Claude G. Young, Henry E. Kitch, William I. Fagan, Bert Damon, all of Decatur; Charles A. Thrift of Emery, Berry E. Turner, Orlando Pierce and William O. Clinger of Warrensburg, William O. McWilliams, Carl M. Shatzer, William Ryan and L. A. Crawford of Harristown.

VETERANS ORGANIZE

The veterans of the Spanish-American war living in Decatur organized a local body of the United Spanish War Veterans in 1911, naming the camp after Scott Wilson, a member of Company H, who died June 17, 1905.  It was successful in securing one of the bronze tablets made out of metal from the battleship Maine.  The tablet is 13 by 18 inches in size, and contains a figure of Liberty extending a wreath over a harbor.

The camp has been active in the work of the state organization and in 1925 entertained the state encampment.  In 1912 an auxiliary was formed by the wives of veterans.

NATIONAL GUARD

Company H, Illinois National Guard, was organized in July, 1877, at the time of the big railroad strike, I. D. Walker leading in the move to organize.  Previous to that time Decatur had a Company G and a Company K, of the Fifth Regiment.¹  Andrew Goodman was first captain of Company H.  Other officers at the time of the organization were:  Frank H. Hall, first lieutenant;  Henry W. Elwood, second lieutenant; and Ben F. Dillehunt, orderly sergeant.  The company was reorganized in 1880 with W. W. Foster as captain, W. H. Elwood as first lieutenant, and Fred W. Wismer as second lieutenant.

Up to the time of the Spanish-American war the company was called out a number of times on strike duty, in 1878 at East St. Louis, in 1886 at East St. Louis, in 1894 at Pana and Danville and in 1898 at Pana.  In 1889 Company H won highest honors in the Fifth Regiment, and the Regiment won state honors.  In 1899 the company furnished the guard of honor at the funeral of Former Governor Richard J. Oglesby.

This company came into prominence in 1903 when Frank P. Wells was elected colonel of the regiment, and J. Frank Cassell was promoted to major.  Decatur then became the regimental and battalion headquarters.  In 1907 Colonel Wells was made brigadier-general of the Second Brigade.  In 1918 he became brigadier-general of the Illinois Reserve Militia.  That same year Charles P. Summers, also of Decatur, was made colonel of the Fifth Regiment, Illinois Reserve Militia.

Company H was mustered out in 1913, and a new company, known as Company L., was organized.  This company became the nucleus for Company A, 124th Machine Gun battalion, when the United States entered the World war in 1917.

After this country became involved in the World war, and it appeared as if all the military forces would be called, leaving no protection at home, three new regiments were organized in Illinois for service in the state.²  Decatur organized a company which became Company H of the Tenth Regiment.³  The Tenth Regiment was mustered into service July 21, 1917.  Company H served several times on riot duty, at Springfield in 1917, in Chicago and Peoria in 1919, and at West Frankfort in 1920.

After the war was over, the military forces of the country were re-created under the new Army Reorganization act, and have since include Headquarters company, band and Service company, One Hundred Thirtieth infantry, and Non-Divisional units of Organized Reserves.  A chapter of Reserve Officers was organized in 1924.  Both U. S. army and navy recruiting stations are maintained in Decatur.

Plans have been drawn for a new armory to be erected in Decatur, at the corner of Jackson and Eldorado streets.  Appropriations of $212,000 have been made for this building.
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¹Company K (Decatur Grenadiers) started out with the idea of having a good sized men only as members.  Five feet, ten inches, was set as the minimum height.  First officers of the company were George Zeiss, captain; Charles Durfee, first lieutenant; Ben McReynolds, second lieutenant.  Durfee later became captain, and when he was promoted to major, O. B. Gorin became captain.  This company was mustered out Jan. 1, 1884.

²The three new regiments were the 9th, 10th and 11th.  The man named to assume command of the 11th regiment was a former Decatur man, Brigadier-General Frank S. Dickson.  Dickson, who is a graduate of the Decatur high school, was named adjutant-general in 1910, and held that office until 1922.

3Decatur also had a company in the Illinois Reserve Militia.  Company G, 5th Regiment, was sworn into service in November, 1917, and was mustered out in October, 1920.  Howard Krigbaum was captain.  The Reserve Militia was composed mostly of men who could not go to war, but were available for service within the state.  Company G was never called upon for duty, but it met regularly for drill.

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