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diately following this call several prominent citizens of county, including Henry Davis, G. G. Dunn, L. Q. Hoggatt, Cyrus Dunham, George Carr, John C. Cavins, E. W. Rice and James Carothers began an effort to raise a company at Leesville, war meetings being held in that town and at Bedford, Springville and in other localities.  The work progressed rapidly and within a week a full company was raised and their service offered to the governor of the state.  The personnel and organization of the ocmpany were very satisfactory, and they were accepted and ordered to report at New Albany and be assigned to the Second Regiment.  Henry Davis was chosen captain of the company, L. Q. Hoggatt, first lieutenant, Josiah S. Foster, second lieutenant, and Edmund W. Rice, third lieutenant.  The old court house was used for a time as a barracks, while the formation of the organization was completed.
     On June 19, 1846, the company was drawn up on the public square to say farewell to those left at home, and preparatory to their departure for New Albany to join their regiment.  The time was in the early morning, to avoid, as history records, one of the hottest days of the summer.  George g. Dunn spoke the farewell for the townspeople, and at the conclusion of his address each man in the company was presented with a Testament.  The sorrow of the leave-takings was somewhat softened by the cheers and strains of martial music which were accorded the boys.  Upon their arrival at New Albany the men were assigned to the Second Regiment as Company F, and later became known as the "Lawrence Grays," and bore a reputation for bravery and fortitude unsurpassed in the American army.
     In July, 1846, the Second Regiment was taken to the city of New Orleans, and thence across the gulf of Mexico to the mouth of the Rio Grande river.  In this position the regiment remained until February, 1847, in the meantime losing several men by death, and growing more impatient every day for a movement against the "greasers."  On the above date, they were assigned to a division of five thousand men under the command of Gen. Zachary Taylor, and placed in the Buena Vista pass to await the advance of the Mexican army of twenty thousand men under Santa Anna.  Buena Vista means "beautiful view," and indeed the spot justified the description.  The pass was narrow and ridged by numerous ravines across the sides, and running across it was a broad plateau about two hundred feet above the level.  General Taylor threw his line of battle across this plateau, and the Second Regiment was designated to the extreme left of the line, near the side of the mountain.  The Mexicans soon appeared at the head of the pass in solid column, and an imposing sight it was.  The flags and pennants waved, their carbines and accoutrements glittered in the bright sun, and their gaudy uni-

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forms made bright splotches of color against the horizon. They endeavored to carry the pass by solid formation at first, but the Washington Battery, on an elevation to the right, threw canister and shrapnel into the thickly crowded ranks so rapidly that they were compelled to fall back in confusion, strewing the ground with their dead.  Their next move was to flank the American forces on the left, and in this maneuver they were successful.  The Indiana and Kentucky regiments received the weight of hundreds of mounted and foot soldiers, and the Mexican lancers, on ponies, stormed the rear, capturing several pieces of ordnance of Bragg's battery.  The Second Regiment fired twenty-one rounds, and then the bugle sounded the retreat.  Unfortunately, the correct tactics of retreat had been omitted from their training, and when they made the effort their flight became a rout, and they were literally crowded down off the plateau.  In the fork made by the convergence of two ravines, the Americans halted, and, once at bay, poured a terrific storm of lead into the oncoming Mexicans, and stopped them completely.  This encouraged the Indiana and Kentucky men, and they reformed their battle line.  Until night the Americans resisted every charge of the Mexican infantry and cavalry, and stubbornly contested every minute of the time.  When night came the Mexicans drew off, and thus the Americans won a glorious victory from defeat.  This was practically all of the fighting for the Second Regiment, and, after serving in various way, part of the time in doing guard duty, they were ordered home, their year of enlistment having expired.
     The people of Lawrence county were greatly excited when the news came of the battle of Buena Vista, but were frightened by the first report that the Lawrence county boys had been among those who fled before the Mexicans.  All refused to blame the fact to cowardice, and waited anxiously for further details of the battle.  These were brought by W. A. Gorman, of Bloomington, Monroe county, who had been a member of the regiment, but who came home in advance of the others.  He tarried at Bedford and delivered a public speech, wherein he detailed the events of Buena Vista; how the boys, having used their ammunition, were ordered three times by their commanders to retreat.  The people rested easier when they learned that their men were not cowards.
     On the 30th of June, 1847, the Bedford troops returned home.  The citizens, with the Bedford band, met them at White river, and escorted them into town.  On account of the brilliant victory a large barbecue was held on July 6th in Foote's woods, north of town, and it was estimated that fully six thousand people were present.  The procession formed in town and marched to the grounds, where a large ox was roasted in a pit.  Dr. Benedict delivered

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the principal address of welcome and Captain Davis and Lieutenants Hoggatt and Lewis made the responses.  The soldiers from Leesville were also give a barbecue similar to that of Bedford.
     The brave fellows who fought for the States during the war with Mexico are ofttimes forgotten in the blaze of glory which surrounds the later heroes in the war for the Union.  This should not be true.  Their patriotism was just as high, their courage as great, and their willingness to sacrifice life and home was just as sincere.  The graves of the Civil war men far outnumber those of the Mexican, but the honors to be accorded the honored dead should be distributed equally among the silent mounds, whether of '46 or '61.
     The muster roll of Company F included the officers already mentioned, and the following:

    Two boys of the Winegar family were called by death by disease, and Harrison Wilson, N. W. Irwin and Harvey Mathis were killed at Buena Vista, on Feb. 22, 1847.
The following men were discharged during their period of service on account of disability:
Oscar Foote, John McCoy, William Purcell, George Tyler, H. N. Brown, John Woody, Joseph Dayton, Davis Harrison, J. H. Boyd, Robert Brown, John Woody, Joseph Dayton, Davis Harrison, J. H. Boyd, Robert Brown, William McPike, Josephus Talbot, E. C. Lytton, Charles Myers and Oscar Templeton. 
     Robert Mitchell was a quartermaster of the Second Regiment, and he died at Matamoras, Mexico.  The Fourth Indiana Regiment had in its complement William H. Bivens and BEnjamin F. Brinegar, and they were a part of the company under command of Jesse Alexander.  Ebenezer S. Thompson, Oscar Foote, James C. Carlton, William Purcell, Thomas Purcell and James

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Purcell were members of Company F, Fifth Regiment, under Capt. John S. McDougall; Jerry E. Dean, afterwards captain in Company F, Fifteenth Indiana, Absalom Veach, James Hughes, Ralph G. Norvell, Samuel Reynolds, John Wallace, Phelps Reed, Charles Burkley, Seymour Cobb and James Rupert were members of Company I, Sixteenth United States Regulars, under Capt. Thomas F. Bethel.  McHenry Dizier, formerly deputy clerk under Robert Mitchell, joined the company of Captain Rousseau at Bloomfield, and was killed at the battle of Buena Vista.  His death is described as brutal murder by Mexican lancers, while he was lying, wounded, in an ambulance.  Samuel Mitchell and Rice M. Brown were both in the service, the latter in the capacity of officers' cook, being unfit for active service on account of a crippled leg.

THE UTAH WAR.

     After the Mexican war the next military activity was in 1858, when Brigham Young and his Mormons were creating disturbance in the state of Utah.  Albert Sydney Johnston, a regular army officer, had received orders from the President to start for the scene and subdue the bigamists.  On Mar. 30, 1858, the young men of Bedford met at the court house, to make preparations for the raising of a company of volunteers for the so-called "Utah war."  Their military aspirations were short-lived, however, for no sooner had they organized a company and elected officers than the following notice appeared in the Lawrence Democrat:  "Attention Company!  The company of officers lately organized in this place for the Utah war are hereby notified, that they need not meet again until President Buchanan is heard from; there is some doubt yet whether he needs them.  They are still expected, however, to keep on in their drilling exercises on stove boxes and grindstones."  This bit of sarcasm ended the affair in Lawrence county.

THE CIVIL WAR.

     In the early sixties the question of politics was largely based upon the paramount topic of states' rights.  The secession of South Carolina from the union had brought matters to a near issue, and the controversy in Lawrence county was as hot as any place in the Hoosier state.  The truth of the matter was that many of the thinking class of people were in doubt as to which side of the question they really did favor.  Many adopted the view that the confederation of states was at the beginning a voluntary act on the part of each individual state, and that any or all of them had the right to withdraw

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from this union if thereby she saw the opportunity to better herself.  Notwithstanding, these same people hated to see the prosperous Union broken, and they questioned the constitutional legality of the course.  Those opposed to coercive measures by the North, saw in that course the destruction of the institution which had made the South the rich country it was at the time, namely, slavery.  Without that class of people, they argued, the rich sugar, rice, cotton and tobacco plantations would be lost to the country.  Then, on the other hand, the people in favor of coercion declared that the existence of the Union was of greater advantage to the country than a few plantations.  As in Monroe county, these two factions were ever at sword's points, and the discussion was not always confined to words.  The Southern families were well represented in Lawrence county, as in the adjacent counties, and consequently they hesitated on the question of combative measures.  President Buchanan's dilatory tactics were not popular with the majority of Lawrence people, and his refusal to quell the secession by force on the grounds of violating the Constitution was not favored very strongly by the Union adherents.  When Abraham Lincoln took the presidential chair, there was an added effort to settle the state difficulty by peaceful methods, and there was a subsequent feeling of despair in the hearts of those who wanted war.  The outlook was indeed forbidding and doubtful, when instantly the solution arrived.  Sumter was bombarded and had surrendered to the Confederate forces.  The call to arms followed immediately from Washington.
     Bedford received the news of the fall of Fort Sumter on Monday morning, Apr. 15, 1861, and great excitement and anxiety were caused in the town.  The people of the county gathered in the streets of Bedford and awaited breathlessly for further details.  The ordinary business of the day was forgotten in the general turmoil, and the preparations begun for the raising of troops to fill the quota of the county.  George J. Brown, Robert McAfee and Samuel W. Short took the initiative in the soliciting of names preparatory to enlistment, and in a very few hours a full company was on hand.  The town of Mitchell was also very successful in these first enlistments.
     The first call for men from Lincoln, after the fall of Sumter, was for seventy-five thousand men.  Nearly two hundred left Lawrence county shortly afterward, on April 22d, most of them going to the city of Indianapolis, in hopes of getting in the three-months service.  In this, however, they were disappointed, as the first enlistments had been so heavy that the quota was more than filled.  They remained in the capital city, thinking to get into the one-year service, and in this they would have been successful had it not been for the calls in July and August for three-year men, the total asked for being

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close to five hundred thousand.  These men, now reaching a total of about three hundred, accordingly joined this longer service.  The Fifteenth Regiment received almost a full company from this number.  About twenty-five men from Lawrence county were in the regiment, and they were assigned the letter F, with the following officers: Frank White, Greencastle, captain, and afterward succeeded by Jeremiah E. Dean.  Dean was, at the beginning, first lieutenant, but was succeeded by Alfred F. Berry, once second lieutenant.  Lycurgus Irwin became second lieutenant.  The Fifteenth Regiment assembled at Lafayette for the one-year state service, but was reorganized and mustered into the three-year service on the 14th of June, t86i, with George D. Wagner as the colonel.
     Perhaps no regiment in the Civil war saw harder service or suffered more loss than the gallant Fifteenth.  From beginning to end they were in the maelstrom of warfare, and the men who fell before the rebel bullets were many and constituted the flower of the regiment.  On July 1, 1861, the regiment entrained at Indianapolis, and were transported to western Virginia.  On the 11th, while the battle of Rich Mountain was in progress, the regiment reached the spot, but were too late to participate, except in the pursuit and capture of prisoners.  Until November 19th the regiment occupied Elk Water valley, and engaged in the meantime in the battle of Greenbrier, which resulted in the repulse of Lee.  In the latter part of November tlie regiment joined the division commanded by Buell at Louisville, Kentucky.  As Buell's campaign was a strenuous one, including the sanguinary struggle at Shiloh, the siege of Corinth and the battle at Perrysville, the boys underwent a rigorous life during those days; the regiment was also among the troops which pursued the army under Bragg to Cumberland Gap.  In the month of November, 1862, it was at Nashville, where Gustavus A. Wood became colonel.  It engaged at Stone River on Dec. 31, 1861, and January 1 and 2, 1863, and out of the four hundred and forty men engaged, the loss by death and disability by wounds was one hundred and ninety-seven.  Until June 24th the regiment quartered around Murfreesboro, participating in several small expeditions.  The next step of any importance was in the movement on Tullahoma, then encampment at Pelham, Tennessee, and on the 17th of August began the advance toward Chattanooga.  The routine here was monotonous, and the boys failed to get a taste of battle until the bloody combat at Mission Ridge, when the regiment suffered frightfully, losing by death and wounds two hundred and two men out of the three hundred and thirty-four engaged.  The next day the regiment marched to the relief of General Burnside at Knoxville, and they made the remarkable record of covering the one hundred miles in six

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     One of the chief reasons for the success of the great Northern armies is the fact that in the homes and towns where the brave fellows hailed from there were preparations constantly being made for relief and aid.  Mothers and sisters and sweethearts sewed and collected sundry articles to be sent to the field, entertainments of all kinds were given and the proceeds invested in supplies, and many a helping hand was extended to the soldiers' families who were destitute, their support at the front risking his life for the country.  Pleasures were sacrificed, luxuries forgotten, and just the necessities were spent by the Northern people, in order that the hardships of the men in the field might be lessened and a measure of comfort given the battlefield and camp.  In the adjutant general's report on the amount of bounty and relief furnished by Lawrence county during the war, the following figures will be interesting: The county, bounty, $61,700, relief, $2,815; Flinn township: bounty, $4,600, relief, $500; Pleasant Run township: bounty, $1,000, relief, $300; Perry township: bounty, $1,650, relief, $500; Indian Creek township: bounty, $8,400, relief, $1,500; Spice Valley township: bounty, $1,426, relief, $650; Marion township: $5,000, relief, $1,000; Bono township: bounty, $3,200, relief, $1,000; Shawswick township: bounty, $3,125, relief, $4,000; and Marshall township: bounty, $2,600, relief, $300.  Making a total of bounty, $92,701 and relief, $12,565.
     In a county history of the scope and importance of this volume, there are a thousand and one little incidents of war-time public meetings, celebrations, societies, supplies furnished, mass meetings, eulogies, speeches, and personal notes which can be gained through but one source, the newspaper files.  Past historians have discovered that such a file is absent in the county of Lawrence, due to a theft or accidental destruction.  These interesting parts of the chapter on the military history are consequently lost for all time.

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.

     When the Spanish-American war broke out in 1898, there was a great amount of excitement in the city of Bedford and the surrounding country.  The young bloods prepared to enlist immediately, and, as there was no regularly organized company in Bedford, the most of the recruits went to Indianapolis and Louisville, where they joined the National Guard being rendezvoused at those points.  With a few exceptions, these men saw little service, for their regiments were transported to Camp Thomas at Chickamauga, Camp Alger, and other places, and there kept during the summer without receiving

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opportunity to get to the tiring line in Cuba.  Certain men enlisted in the regular army, and thus were able to participate in the fighting.
     After the peace between the two countries, many other men enlisted in the regular United States army, and were sent to the Philippines, to quell the insurrection there.  The Thirty-fifth United States Regiment, the Fortieth, and the Second United States Artillery received most of these men.  All together, during the war period, approximately three hundred men joined the American forces from Lawrence county.