One Hundred and Twenty Third Illinois Infantry
To this regiment
Cumberland County contributed more men than to any other one in the
service, save, perhaps the Fifth Cavalry. Company B was the one formed
entirely in this county, and was enlisted by Capt. Talbott in the
latter part of June, 1862. Mr. Talbott, while a democrat and
sympathizer to some extent with the general sentiment opposed to the
war, still felt that the cause of republican form of government was at
stake in the issue, and deemed this the paramount interest. He was
deeply engaged in business which commanded his whole time and attention
and had no thought of going to the war. Enlistments were languid;
recruiting officers were drumming up a man here and there, but there
was no general disposition to join the army. But during this time, men
frequently said to Mr. Talbott, you would take out a company I would
enlist.” So frequently was this said that the Captain one Sunday gave
out that if a company could be organized promptly he would undertake it
and go to the field, On the Sunday following he reached camp at Mattoon
with 101 men, and all were mustered. This became Company B of the One
Hundred and Twenty Third Infantry.
The officers of the company were: Captains Edward Talbott, till April,
1864; Mahlon Votaw, till mustered out; First Lieutenants Lemnel
Leggett, till August, 1863; Marlin Votaw, till April, 1864; B. C.
Talbott, till mustered out; Second Lieutenants Charles Conzet, till
September, 1864. This regiment was enlisted principally in Coles,
Cumberland and Clark counties, and was mustered into service September
6, 1862. At this time Bragg was making his famous raid through Kentucky
to reach Indiana, and the Illinois regiments were hurried to
Louisville as fast as practicable. The One Hundred and Twenty
Third was ordered to this point as soon as mustered in, and was
assigned to the Thirty Third Brigade, Tenth Division, Army of the Ohio,
Gen.. Terrell commanding the brigade, Jackson the division, and McCook
the corps. Here the regiment remained until Gen. Buell, on the 1st of
October, began the pursuit of Bragg, who began to retire after being
foiled of his main object. In the operations thus begun the regiment
marched through Taylorville, Bloomfield and Mackville, and engaged in
the battle of Perryville- The One Hundred and Twenty Third virtually
opened the fight. McCook, supposing from certain movements of the rebel
cavalry that the enemy was retreating and did not mean to fight,
instructed Gen. Terrell to move his brigade cautiously toward the
creek, and if no enemy was found to allow the men to stack arms and
supply themselves with water, for the want of which they were suffering
greatly. The One Hundred and Twenty Third was then in the lead, but,
deploying in line of battle with bayonets fixed, the brigade cautiously
advanced, only to discover that the cavalry movement was only a ruse on
the part of the enemy, and to be met by a terrible destructive fire
from the heavy line of the enemy's infantry. Gen. Terrell was riding
near the left of this regiment, and near by a new battery advancing
with the general line. The first fire demoralized the battery,
slaughtering the horses and stampeding the men. Terrell feeling the
emergency, but forgetting the duties of his position, dismounted from
his horse, and with the aid of one or two battery men and six men
detailed from Company B, seized one of the abandoned guns and brought
it into position, the General sighting and firing the gun some four
rounds over the prostrate Company B. At this point the General ordered
a charge, and Companies B and D sprang forward to obey the command. The
right of the regiment failed to get the word, and Company D noticing
the failure halted before reaching the enemy and retired. Company B,
however, rushed right on over the intervening space of some 200 yards,
cleared the fence of the enemy and pushed some thirty yards beyond
before it delivered its first fire. Here, finding itself enfolded by
the enemy's fire and unsupported, the company rapidly retired,
preserving its order, however. Aiming at its original position it found
the brigade broken and gone. Continuing its retreat the company formed
behind some other troops and did not see much further engagement in
that fight, but losing in this short fight twenty one men in killed,
wounded and missing. Here Generals Terrell and Jackson were both
killed. From this point the regiment moved with the army, passing
through Danville, Lebanon and New Market to Mumfordsville, where
it remained several weeks guarding the construction of a bridge which
had been destroyed. The regiment then proceeded to the Cumberland
River, going into camp at Ludlow Creek, about eight miles above
Nashville. In December, under command of Gen. Reynolds, the One
Hundred and Twenty Third took part in the expedition after Gen. Morgan,
returning to within a short distance of Mumfordsville when the pursuit
was abandoned, and a return was made by forced marches to Nashville,
arriving in the early part of January, 1863. The regiment was at once
moved to the front, a little south and east of Murfreesboro, where it
remained until the general advance in June. In the meanwhile the One
Hundred and twenty-third was mounted and armed with Spencer rifles, and
scarcely an interval of ten days elapsed between the various
expeditions in which the regiment was engaged. These lead to the towns
of Lebanon, McMinnville, Liberty, Alexandria, etc., and involved heavy
skirmishes. The One Hundred and Twenty Third was here assigned to Gen..
Wilder’s Brigade of Thomas’ Corps, and in the general advance of the
army in the latter part of June, led the advance of its brigade. Alight
force of the enemy was driven rapidly back to Hoover’s Gap, where
followed a brisk skirmish, and pressing on, the regiment captured a
company of the rear guard of the enemy at Manchester. From June 24 to
28, the brigade moved on the flank of the Fourth Division, cutting the
railroad at Dechard, and driving the enemy from the stockade. In this
vicinity the brigade remained until August 16, engaged in collecting
horses and mules. Company B was detached on one occasion, and found one
hundred mules gathered, which they captured and brought in with safety.
On another raid towards Columbia the Seventeenth Indiana and the One
Hundred and Twenty Third captured 1100 head of horses.
On the 16th of August the regiment with its brigade
crossed the Cumberland Mountains and Waldron’s Ridge to Poe’s tavern,
forded the Tennessee River, and moved in advance of Crittenden’s Corps
towards Riuggold; on the 11th struck the enemy at Tunnel Hill and on
the following day moved back towards Gordon’s Mills. Two days of light
skirmishing were followed by two days of quiet, and and on the 17th the
enemy began to feel the line of the Union forces. On the 18th the One
Hundred and Twenty Third was engaged at times pretty heavily. By a
flank movement of the army the regiment was placed on the extreme right
and was pretty severely handled. On the 19th and 20th though placed in
reserve it was brought into the fight several times and heavily
engaged. On the retreat of the army toward Chattanooga, the One Hundred
and Twenty Third made a halt in the gorge of the mountain commanding
the valley and Company B picketed the point that night. After this
fight the One Hundred and Twenty Third with Wilder’s Brigade proceeded
to Friar’s Ford. On October 1, in company with the First and Second
Brigades of Cavalry, the One Hundred and Twenty Third and its brigade,
under command of Gen. Crook, started in pursuit of Wheeler. Crossing
Walden’s Bridge the regiment moved through Sequatchie to the summit of
the Cumberland Mountains on to McMinnville and Farmington. Here the One
Hundred and Twenty— Third came upon the enemy strongly posted and had a
determined fight, driving the enemy from the field at last. From this
point the expedition pursued Wheeler until he crossed the Tennessee
River, when the pursuit was abandoned. The regiment then went into camp
at Maysville, and remained several weeks. From this point, the regiment
moved to Pulaski, Tenn., and thence to Moresville, where it served the
army in collecting stores for the army at Chattanooga. In the last
of March, 1854 the regiment was ordered to Columbia, Tenn., to get the
advantage of the fine grazing in that country for their horses, Captain
Talbott commanding the regiment while there.
In April, the regiment rejoined the army at the
front and took part in the Atlanta campaign. The regiment proceeded to
Lafayette, Ga., thence through a series of movements and
skirmishes to Dallas; thence to Marietta, on July 3, to Cross Keys on
the 17th, to Decatur, and Atlanta. In September, it took part in the
cavalry movements about Atlanta, and in October, was engaged in
watching the movements of Hood. In the spring of 1865, the regiment was
assigned to Gen. Wilson’s command, and, on the 2d of April, took part
in the capture of Selma, Ala.; on the 9th, crossed the Alabama River
and marched through Montgomery, Columbus, and entered Macon, Ga. In the
latter part of May, it was ordered to Chattanooga, and thence to
Nashville, and on June 28, 1865, was mustered out of the service.
One Hundred and Thirty Fifth
Illinois Infantry
Company I of this regiment was
composed principally of men from Cumberland County. Its officers were:
M. A. Ewing, Captain; J. T. Ewing, First Lieutenant; T. J. -Matthews,
Second Lieutenant. This regiment was mustered into the service for one
hundred days on June 6, 1864, and was mustered out September 28, 1864.
This regiment was ordered to Little Rock, Ark., and served its term on
duty there.
