189th Regiment of the Civil War Co I
Taken from the book by William H. Rogers of Wellsville, NY, 15 Aug 1865.
Re-typed by Annette Campbell
Part of the Steuben Co., NY GenWeb - Judy Allen Cwiklinski coordinator
[Placed here as some of the men could be from Steuben County NY as this Allegany County township borders West Union Steuben Co., NY is very close to our county line. -AC (I see surnames that I know that lived in Potter Co., PA -JAC)]
Company I was raised principally from Allegany County, by the patriotic devotion and honorable enterprise of Messrs. Elias Horton, Lewis H. Ackerman, and Leonard Briggs. Of course, the Town Supervisors and others interested lent their assistance, but the three just named are most praiseworthy for their self-sacrificing zeal for the good of the cause. Indeed, some towns, such as Willing and Independence, would probably not have escaped the draft had their quotas been filled by volunteers for Compny I. Let the generous fellow-citizens, not only of these officers, but of all those who throughout the land stepped forward at the right time and devoted themselves to the public service, see to it that those who have returned from the deadly conflict, receive a just, ay, generous reward. They bear the marks--let them hereafter also have the deserved honors of their hard service. Organized and mustered at Elmira into the United States service, as an independent company, it afterward joined the 189th with Professor Elias Horton, Captain; Lewis H. Ackerman, Esq., First Lieutenant; and Mr. Leonard Briggs, Second Lieutenant. Few companies show a better record than this.
Captain Elias Horton was born August 20th, 1836, at Spring Mills, Allegany County, NY. Living with his parents till he was twenty-one, he enjoyed opportunities for an excellent education, not only at the first-class common school, but also at Spring Mills Select School, subsequently Spring Mills Academy, Rev. William H. Rogers, A.M., Principal, which it was then the pride and honor of the enterprising New-England inhabitants of his native village to maintain. Having graduated at Poughkeepsie Commercial College, he went to Kansas in the spring of 1857, but attacked by the ague and fever, he returned in the fall of 1858. On the sixteenth day of August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the 130th New-York Volunteers, and was promoted Second Lieutenant of his Company at its organization. While his regiment was at Suffolk, Virginia, he was taken sick with typhoid fever, and confined to the hospital three months. Recovering sufficiently, he resigned and returned home. May sixteenth, 1863, he was married to Miss Ada M. Walker, of Wellsville, Allegany County, NY, and his wife, a graduate of Alfred University, assisted him in the instruction of Spring Mills Academy, of which he had previously been elected Principal. They continued in this important position till the spring of 1864. On the twenty-second day of August, receiving authority from Governor Seymour to organize a company of Infantry, he engaged in recruiting the men. By the thirtieth of September, with the maximum number of troops for a company, he was mustered as their Captain. Never absent from his post, he was an officer of decided ability and popularity. From boyhood leading a moral life, he was converted at the age of twenty-four, and has since maintained his Christian faith and character.
First Lieutenant Lewis H. Ackerman received a good education at the common, select, and academic schools within his reach. He was always characterized by energy and enterprise. Moving West in 1860, he engaged in teaching. Prospering successfully as an instructor, he was, however, one of the first to enlist when the war broke out. Going immediately into active service with the Indiana cavalry regiment, he was made First Lieutenant. At the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, his Captain was disabled, and Lieutenant Ackerman assumed command. This was the place for his abilities to find exercise, and he won an enviable reputation for gallant military ability. But his arduous exertions and constant exposures prostrated his health and forced him to turn his face homeward, just as well-earned promotion was about rewarding his valor and worth. He recovered, after a protracted and dangerous sickness, sufficiently to do his full share of recruiting for Company I, 189th NY Volunteers. To him much is due, for unswerving fidelity in service. He drilled and everywhere conducted with true military promptness and exactitude. One incident fitly illustrates his soldierly life. Just after the battle of Lewis' Farm was over, and our forces were establishing their lines of defense, General Gregory called for a volunteer commissioned officer and twenty men to drive the rebel sharp-shooters from an old house which stood between our lines and those of the enemy. Lieutenant Ackerman stepped forward, saying: "I'll go, with twenty volunteers from my company." They went. The anoying rebels were dispersed, but volley after volley was showered upon Company I's little heroic band. They fought like little tigers, but soon the Lieutenant discovered a strong force of rebels deploying to capture them, and retreated without the loss of a man.
Second Lieutenant Leonard Briggs aquired a common-school education at his native place, Spring Mills, Allegany Co, NY. He was born August twenty-fourth, 1833. His parents were farmers. In the lumber forest of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, he worked for a time, at twenty-one years of age, after which he emigrated to California. But few have experienced more of genuine pioneer life than he. Mining and lumbering was his business. On one occasion, he helped capture and hang two Indians for the murder of two Chinamen who were mining in his neighborhood. In the spring of 1855, he was chased by a grizzly bear, from which he barely escaped by climbing a tree and remaining in its top over night, the ferocious animal meanwhile prowling and gnawing at the roots of the tree. On the organization of the California Vigilance Committee in the spring of 1856, he was elected a member, and assisted in purging the State of theives, cut-throats, gamblers and robbers.
He was at Panama during the summer of 1856, at the time of the great riot by the natives upon the Transit passengers, whom they robbed of everything valuable; sixty men, women, and children being killed and wounded. Having traveled through most of the Western States, Mexico, and Island of Cuba, he enlisted in the United States service in August , 1861, and served with the 46th Pennsylvania Volunteers, with distinguished valor, for two years. Having assisted to raise Company I, 189th NY, he was elected Second Lieutenant, and served faithfully till severely wounded in the right leg, below the knee, March 24, 1864. Recovering from this wound, after much suffering, he was discharged some time after his regiment, having deserved, in all his services, well of his country.
Non-Commissioned Officers' and Privates' Memorial--Co I
Sergeants:
Corporals:
Privates:
Note: No attempt has been made to correct spellings--AC.
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