GALLANT BLACK SHEEP
COMPANY D
81ST INDIANA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
[CONTINUED BELOW]
Dec 30, 1864. VERY BRIEF BATTLE REPORT SUBMITTED BY MAJOR MATHEY. Maj Mathey, probably under orders, forwarded a very brief account of the participation of his regiment in the Battle of Nashville. Considering the importance of the part the Regiment played in the outcome, being in the center of the first line for the Brigade, it is obvious that his mind, and probably his heart, were on other matters. His career and his reputation were on the line--this after putting his life in jeopardy and leading the Regiment successfully through two major battles.
Jan 10, 1865. LETTER SUPPORTING ANDERSON FOR LT-COLONEL. A letter signed by several officers in the Regiment supporting the muster of Anderson as Lt-Colonel was sent to Division Headquarters. This letter was endorsed at all levels without comment.
Jan 14, 1865. COURT-MARTIAL OF MAJOR MATHEY. Maj Edward G. Mathey was court-martialed at Bridgeport, Alabama. The charges were as follows: 1. Disloyalty; 2. Contemptuous, disrespectful language against the President of the United States; 3. Stricken from the record; 4. Holding correspondence with the enemy.
It was alleged that on several occasions during the Atlanta Campaign, which also happened to be during the presidential election campaign of 1864 between Lincoln and McClellan, Maj Mathey vehemently voiced his displeasure at fighting an "abolitionist war." Mathey was probably a Democrat, and thus an enemy of Gov Morton and the Republicans, and he was obviously against Lincoln and for McClellan and voiced his views freely, apparently to anyone who would listen, including several Rebel officers under a flag of truce at Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia. He referred to President Lincoln as a "damned old fool", he threatened to resign and "go into the French Army", and he stated that "no one but a damned Negro could have justice done in this war." Apparently Lt-Col Wheeler, Capt Anderson, and others in the Regiment had different views regarding the relative merits of President Lincoln and the Republicans. They also were looking for a way to ensure that Anderson would be mustered as Lt-Colonel over Mathey. It should be noted that Mathey had been promoted to Major September 12, 1864, and had led the Regiment in battle at Franklin and Nashville, demonstrating that he was an effective battle leader and not lacking in loyalty or valor. The results of the court-martial may have been a reflection of the views of the Division Commander, Brig-Gen Kimball, a fellow Hoosier from southern Indiana and a Democrat. These were that Mathey was acquitted, reprimanded by Kimball, and returned to his unit.
Jan 18, 1865. ANDERSON MUSTER ENQUIRY RESULTS. Orders were issued from Brig-Gen Kimball that Capt Anderson be mustered Lt-Colonel and that all expressions of negative feeling toward Anderson detrimental to the good of the service must cease. Officers were reminded that it is the first duty of an officer to obey his superiors in a respectful manner. Anderson, who was junior to Mathey in rank, who had never led a regiment in battle, and who had apparently worked behind Mathey's back to prevent his promotion, basically used his own political influence and Mathey's indiscreet remarks to get himself promoted against the wishes of the majority of the officers in the Regiment.
Feb 7, 1865. LT-COL ANDERSON COMPLAINED in an endorsement to a letter that 2ND LT JOHN SCHWALLIER, COMPANY I, had been passed over for promotion while detached from the Regiment. Schwallier had signed the counter-petition backing Anderson over Mathey.
Apr 14, 1865. SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO SOUTHERN SYMPATHIZERS CAUSING TROUBLE AT HOME. In a letter from Lick Creek, East Tennessee, 1st-Lt Harvey Crabb of Company A, 81st Indiana, stated in his letter of resignation that his father was old and unable to work as a clergyman, his mother had been an invalid for several years, southern sympathizers in the neighborhood had threatened to assassinate his father and had torn down fences, carried off gates, and "persecuted him otherwise, on account of his loyalty to the government." His aged father and mother and his wife and four small children at home needed his protection and support. Crabb was from Pekin, Washington County. There was violent disagreement in southern Indiana on the question of slavery, and many documented instances of violence between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups, including this incident in the regimental record of the 81st.
Apr, 1865. THE REGIMENT WAS ORDERED TO NASHVILLE.
May 30, 1865. ONE LAST SHOT BY MAJOR MATHEY. Capt James M. Graham was detailed on the request of Maj Mathey, commanding the Regiment, to go to Orange County, Indiana to retrieve a flag belonging to the Regiment that was allegedly "secretly carried off" by William C. Wheeler, former Lt-Colonel and commander of the Regiment. Wheeler had resigned the previous November 14. Endorsements were signed without comment and Capt Graham was granted 10 days leave to accomplish his mission. An item that appeared in the New Albany Daily Ledger around this time, probably passed on by Rambler, requested that Wheeler return the flag to the Regiment. Wheeler sent a letter to the Ledger saying that he had never intended to keep the flag. Apparently Capt Graham's mission to return the flag to the possession of the Regiment was a success, primarily due to the coercive Power of the Press. Graham had of course supported Mathey in the recent controversy. This occurred barely two weeks before the Regiment was mustered out of the service. The discord among the officers, that exhibited itself throughout the Regiment's existence, continued unabated and was probably taken home to civilian life in southern Indiana.
Jun 11, 1865. TRANSPORTATION REQUEST FOR THE REGIMENT. A letter was forwarded requesting transportation to Indianapolis, Indiana, the rendezvous place, for the following:
23 commissioned officers
240 enlisted men
9 private horses
4 wall tents
14 field, staff, and company desks
14 field, staff, and company mess chests
Personal baggage for 23 commissioned officers
10 private servants
It seems rather astounding that a regiment from southern Indiana would bring home "10 private servants." They very likely did not have this baggage when they mustered in. They were probably freed Negro slaves acquired while campaigning through the South, perhaps during the Atlanta Campaign. Note that there were more servants than horses.
Jun 13, 1865. PLEASANT MONROE AND THE 81ST INDIANA MUSTERED OUT. The Regiment mustered out at Camp Harker, Tennessee after participating in every major campaign in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia during its career and opposing and eventually destroying the primary Rebel army in the Western Theater of the War. Pleasant was paid $25.00 on enlistment and was due $75.00 when he mustered out.
LOSSES OF THE 81ST INDIANA THROUGHOUT THE WAR.
Killed or mortally wounded:
4 officers;
52 enlisted men.
Died of disease or other non-battlefield causes:
1 officer;
188 enlisted men.
Total dead:
245 out of 939 mustered in.
LOSSES IN PLEASANT MONROE'S COMPANY (CO. D).
Total mustered in: 85
Mustered out at termination of service: 30 (including Private Pleasant Monroe)
Died: 23
Killed in action - 1
Died of wounds - 2
Taken prisoner, died - 4
Died of illness - 14
Killed by accident - 2
Separated because of disability: 31
Deserted: 1 (an unusually low number--Scott County boys stuck it out)
These in the robings of glory,
Those in the gloom of defeat,
All with the battle-blood gory,
In the dusk of eternity meet:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Under the laurel, the Blue,
Under the willow, the Gray.
No more shall the war cry sever,
Or the winding rivers be red;
They banish our anger forever
When they laurel the graves of our dead!
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Love and tears for the Blue,
Tears and love for the Gray.
FROM THE BLUE AND THE GRAY--BY FRANCIS MILES FINCH
Jul 23, 1866. PLEASANT MONROE MARRIED MARTHA ELIZABETH CONNETTE. He was 21 and she was 18. They were married by Justice of the Peace John Bickler at Cannelton, Perry County, Indiana. The license was issued two days before by the Perry County Circuit Court. Cannelton is about three counties over and 60 miles away from Scott County, their home county, so they may have eloped. Based on the order of the families in the census records the Connettes and Monroes were probably next door neighbors.
Sep 8, 1868. SON, WILLIAM S. WAS BORN to Pleasant and Martha.
Oct 1, 1872. CLARENCE C. WAS BORN.
Feb 12, 1875. WALTER H. WAS BORN.
Jun 8, 1876. PLEASANT AND HIS FAMILY SETTLED ON A HOMESTEAD IN KANSAS. Sometime before this date (the exact date is unknown) The Pleasant Monroe family moved to a tract of land near Raymond, Rice County, Kansas. Many Civil War veterans received land grants in the West after the war free of charge. The only requirement was to work the land. Raymond is in central Kansas near what was then Indian Territory. A note in the 1870 census indicates that the process of taking the census was slowed because of the necessity of the census-taker requiring a military escort for protection from the Indians.
Aug, 1877. GRASSHOPPER PLAGUE CAUSED THE MONROE'S TO RETURN TO INDIANA. Sometime after this date (the exact date is unknown) the crops of the Monroe farm in Kansas were destroyed by a plague of grasshoppers. There were several outbreaks of grasshoppers in this period that caused serious damage to the farmers and numerous farm failures. According to a later statement regarding his Civil War disability pension, Pleasant and his family had moved to Tell City and Jeffersonville, Indiana between 1877 and 1880.
Jan 7, 1878. DAUGHTER, LAURA E. WAS BORN.
1880 - 1890. PLEASANT AND HIS FAMILY LIVED IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY FOR 10 OR 12 YEARS.
Mar 18, 1880. EDWARD PLEASANT, MY GRANDFATHER, WAS BORN. He was probably named after his father and Martha's brother, Edward G. Connette.
Oct 25, 1882. ROBERT I. WAS BORN.
Jun 20, 1883. PLEASANT MONROE RECEIVED A $3.00/MONTH DISABILITY PENSION.
Oct 29, 1885. JACOB W. WAS BORN. This was "Uncle Jake" to whom my father and grandfather were very close in later years.
Jan 26, 1887. PLEASANT WAS EXAMINED FOR A PENSION INCREASE BY HIS EX-REGIMENTAL SURGEON. He complained of pain in the jaw and neck, partial deafness in the left ear, and swelling and inflammation in the left eye. The Chief Examiner was Dr William D. Fouts, ex-Regimental Surgeon of the 81st Indiana, who could no doubt be expected to give a favorable report. He decided that Pleasant was entitled to one-half disability and included in his report a detailed description of the wounds based on the scar tissue that remained. Pleasant's pension was raised to $12.00/month.
Jan 13, 1888. ANNA I. WAS BORN.
1890 - 1904. PLEASANT MOVED TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. He was employed by the Nashville Railway and Light Company as a mechanic, and he stayed in Nashville about 14 years. His brother-in-law, Edward G. Connette, was General Manager of the company. Pleasant had previously spent time in Nashville as part of an occupying army and as a patient after he was wounded, so the city was not totally unknown to him.
1904. PLEASANT MOVED BACK TO LOUISVILLE.
Jul, 1909. DAUGHTER, ANNA I. DIED. She died of influenza, known later as “the flu.”
Jan 23, 1911. PLEASANT WORKED AS A MACHINE HAND IN LOUISVILLE. He was 65 years old and worked at a tin ware manufactory. In a statement to the pension authorities he said that both he and his wife were married only once and that he had ten children only six of whom "are living."
Dec 29, 1915. PLEASANT'S PENSION WAS $24.00/MONTH AT THE AGE OF 71.
Feb, 1917. PLEASANT MOVED BACK TO A FARM NEAR AUSTIN, INDIANA. At the age of 72, after a long, eventful, and sometimes turbulent life, he moved back to the land of his roots and his childhood. My Father had fond memories of taking the Inter-urban train from Louisville to Austin with his Father to visit his Grandfather when he was a child. He spent many happy times visiting his Grandfather, and he remembered him as a kindly and loving old man who always enjoyed their visits and who was always ready with a story to entertain his Grandson.
Dec 29, 1920. PENSION $30.00/MONTH.
Feb 25, 1921. PLEASANT MONROE DIED. He died of bronchial pneumonia at the age of 76. His occupation was listed as laborer and farmer. He was listed as married. My Grandfather went to the funeral in Austin and remembered that it rained so hard the day of the burial that they had to bail out the grave before they buried him. It was a cold and wet and dismal day when they laid him to rest.
Apr 6, 1929. MARTHA DIED. She died in Louisville, and at her death she was receiving a $40.00/month Civil War pension.
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CAPT JOHN L. HUCKEBY
Captain, Company K, from Perry County, at muster-out.
CAPT LEONARD H. TUTTLE
Captain, Company B, from Clark County, at muster out.
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