Another 33rd Wisconsin relation

[CPT Ted Behncke]

My great-great-great-great grandfather, Sgt. John Leighton, was with D Co., 33rd Wisconsin from April 1862 until he was transferred due to wounds to a military hospital in Louisiana in April 1865 where he subsequently died. My family has little on him, short of all his wartime related documentation and a marriage certificate. Although his name is on a stone in Wisconsin, he still has a grave at Chalmette Cemetery in Louisiana, so we presume he is still buried there.

I would like to add, that it would seem that a number of the men in D Co., at least from around the immediate vicinity around Bloomington, were all kin with origins in Scotland. I know of two other men, one John Leighton's brother-in-law, a Thornton and another man with the last name Black, of whom I'm also related. Does anyone know how much, if any, these ties impacted the character of the company?

Lastly, does anyone know of any correspondence from D Co. that discusses the individual soldiers or of a photo of the company? Any help would be appreciated.

Ted Behncke

[Robert Braun]

Ted said:

My great-great-great-great grandfather, Sgt. John Leighton, was with D Co., 33rd Wisconsin from April 1862 until he was transferred due to wounds to a military hospital in Louisiana in April 1865 where he subsequently died. My family has little on him, short of all his wartime related documentation and a marriage certificate. Although his name is on a stone in Wisconsin, he still has a grave at Chalmette Cemetery in Louisiana, so we presume he is still buried there.

I would like to add, that it would seem that a number of the men in D Co., at least from around the immediate vicinity around Bloomington, were all kin with origins in Scotland. I know of two other men, one John Leighton's brother-in-law, a Thornton and another man with the last name Black, of whom I'm also related. Does anyone know how much, if any, these ties impacted the character of the company?

Lastly, does anyone know of any correspondence from D Co. that discusses the individual soldiers or of a photo of the company? Any help would be appreciated.

Ted Behncke

Mr. Behncke... thank you for writing!

As you already know, John Leighton enlisted at Beetown, Grant County Wisconsin on August 11, 1863 in a company being raised by Captain William S. Earnhart at Tafton (now Bloomington) Wisconsin. Leighton drilled with other soon-to-be Company "D" men on pastureland owned by Horace Lord, near the District No. 14 Schoolhouse ("Red Schoolhouse") which served as Earnhart's headquarters. Both the fields where Leighton and his comrades drilled remains today, as does what is left of "Red Schoolhouse"-- converted to a farm storage shed sheathed in corrugated aluminum.

Leighton rose to the rank of Corporal and finally Sergeant. He was mortally wounded in an arm and both legs as a result of artillery fire from Lumsden's Battery on March 30, 1865--the fourth day of the Union siege of Spanish Fort, near Mobile, Alabama. Co. "D"'s orderly sergeant James T. Delaware and Private Richard Lander were likewise wounded in this action.

He and other wounded men were sent by steamer to the general army hospital at New Orleans, where Leighton died on April 15. He was most probably interred at Chalmette National Cemetery, Section 81, grave 6595; his family erected a cenotaph in his honor at Blake's Prairie-Sargent Cemetery near present day Bloomington, Wisconsin ( which was a fairly common practice, I have learned.) I visited Sergeant Leighton's cenotaph as recently as a year ago.

While a few Company "D" letters have survived, none thus far appear to have mentioned Sergeant Leighton. Likewise with the images of Company "D" men. I will check the photographic images I do have.

Regards, Bob Braun.

[CPT Ted Behncke]

Hello. I just wanted to post a follow up on John Leighton. I recently moved from Fort Benning, Georgia to Fort Richardson, Alaska, but during the move I made an intentional detour on the way home through the South, almost roughly backtracking the wartime route of the 33rd down the Mississippi River Valley all the way up to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. I made my first stop at Spanish Fort, which some of you may have visited recently. Unfortunately almost the entire site has been developed to the point that there is almost nothing left to even indicate the 33rd Wisconsin or any other unit short of the 8th Iowa and to quote the historical markers "other units from Ohio" fought there. Personally, I was tremendously saddened by the fact that where my grandfather had fought and ultimately sustained wounds that would be fatal 140 years to the month had been turned into a housing development. The trip was not for naught however as I also stopped at Chalmette National Cemetery near New Orleans that same day. Sgt. John Leighton remains buried there in Section 81, Plot 6595 among thousands of his comrades in arms, 2000 of whom are not even as fortunate to have a name for posterity. I have been to Arlington and numerous other national military cemeteries, but realizing the earthly remains of my grandfather and a fellow soldier buried so far from home were just under where I stood was something very moving. Having sought out the story of a man who has so little to speak for his short 26 years for more than half my life, I was left with few words. What I did experience was a very strong and profound feeling of pride, respect and gratitude for the sacrifice his simple stone marker represents. As an aside, when I arrived at Chalmette I drove right through the gate, and forgetting I would have to find his marker among thousands, did not look up his information before I arrived. However, as I drove along I stopped for a moment right there at section 81 about 20 feet directly in front of where he is buried and said to myself, "he's here." I was shocked to find out after returning to the caretaker's house to talk with a park ranger that the feeling I had at precisely section 81 was not just a hunch.
After stopping to visit my parents at Fort Leavenworth, I also had the opportunity to ask my father to dig up a series of photocopied war records pertaining to John Leighton that he had retrieved from the National Archives. Although I did not happen to stumble across anything I did not already know, I can add a few details that I could not precisely recall about John Leighton's time in the 33rd. He apparently was promoted to the position of fifth sergeant (obviously related to the still current tradition of a company first sergeant or "top kick") from corporal although I am not sure what this might entail as far as his role within the company. Additionally, it would seem given his stops that he returned home on furlough during the war. I would have to look again at the precise route but it would seem he took a series of packets up river, although how he would have gone from the river to his home is not specifically described. The final stop listed, although I'm not convinced it would have been his last, is in Illinois. However, having run a quick check of several maps, I could not locate the stop. At any rate, I did not see anything listed as a final stop, although I assume if his final destination was indeed home somewhere there would be something stating he had returned. Perhaps in an old newspaper or something of local interest, there would be a mention of such a return, but time will tell if this is the case. Being on Temporary Duty-Enroute while PCSing to Alaska at the time, I found the recording of the exact amounts of his travel expenses while on furlough a bit humorous since it would seem even after 140 years, the Army still accounts for very penny while a soldier is on the move.
Ultimately his records had little more to say except to describe him as a heavily built man of 5'10", with a dark complexion, brown hair, blue eyes, and although one record states he was 29 at the time of his death, most seem to say he was 26. The description of his wounds leave no doubt he was hit by an artillery round and given the extent of his wounds, it was a small miracle that he even survived for the two weeks that he did. He passed away on April 15, 1865, the same day as Lincoln. Having read the history of the 33rd is it possible given their location around that same time and the fact he had relations by marriage, if not many close friends and neighbors in the company there would have been some of his comrades present at his burial? I would hope, given the way he died, so far from home in Louisiana instead of in Wisconsin with his family, that at least someone that knew him was there to see him off for the final time.
I know you probably have many vingettes and stories of soldiers from the 33rd and even D Company, but I hope in some small part this can add to their collective story. I also hope this also reaffirms the connection of these men from small towns in places like Grant County to their descendants and kin who still call the area home and have not forgotten about them despite the time and distance that separate us.

[Robert Braun]

Lieutenant, you have provided us with an excellent discussion on your g.g.g.g. grandfather, a Thirty-third Wisconsin veteran. Thank you!

I suspect, although do not know for sure, that John Leighton was promoted to fifth sergeant from first corporal. the Thirty-third seemed almost anal in preserving the step-wise lineal ascent for promotions among its enlisted men. They rarely jumped rank unless there was a crying need, which did occur from time to time. (Promotion among the officers was somewhat diferent. In the early days, it least, you just needed to be a pal of Col. Moore!)

Regarding your thoughts on Sgt. Leighton's last hours, while it might be pleasant to wish him surrounded by family and friends from the regiment, my strong suspicion was that he probably was not. The Thirty-third remained on active campaign during the time of his passing, with no men to spare nursing casualties from their unit (as they did in its earliest campaign.) The only soldiers that would have most likely occupied the New Orleans hospital would have been fellow wounded soldiers from his regiment... of which there were some.

You are quite right that the one bright note in the sad passing of Sgt. Leighton was that his name, rank, regiment, and identity remains preserved forever at Chalmette. Perhaps it was through the efforts of his wounded fellows, or even good hospital or mortuary records, that Sgt. Leighton's final resting place came to be appropriately identified.

Thank you again for your post!

Bob Braun.

[Mike Thorson]

Was it most likely a shell from a Confederate gunboat that landed squarely in the 33rd's trenches that caused so many casualties?

[Robert Braun]

Mike said:

Was it most likely a shell from a Confederate gunboat that landed squarely in the 33rd's trenches that caused so many casualties?

Not this time...

The casualties were cause by shelling from Lumsden's Battery opposite the brigade position at Spanish Fort.

Regards, Bob.

[CPT Ted Behncke]

As I was going through some additional family information, I came across a rather convoluted web of family relations, most with ties to Scotland all in Grant County during the late 1850s and Civil War period. Of these, a number were D Company men, including an uncle Peter Thornton. One other name of interest, John Morrow, who married John Leighton's widow Helen after the war came up. I have not been to the cemetery in a few years, but I seem to recall mention that he too was a member of D Company on his headstone. I seem to have a lot of relations in Grant County even now, but as a current member of the military, it is hard to imagine a unit with as many direct relations or ones by marriage, but I suppose this was fairly commonplace during the period.
Separately, I passed through Bloomington while home on leave recently and things were very much as I remembered them as a kid, having all the flavor of an mid-19th century town from that corner of Wisconsin or even northwestern Illinois. Having deployed to Iraq in 2006, it is still a marvel to think of the kind of adventure and life changing experience that the men from such a small corner of America were departing for in 1862.