Eugen Osborn, 13th Michigan Infantry / Sold
Eugene Osborn - Inventory Number: CDV 380 / Sold
13th Michigan Infantry, Eugene Osborn
Died of Disease
No backmark present, pencil identification on reverse.
Eugene Osborn:
Enlisted on 8/26/1864 at Paw Paw, MI as a Private, at 18 years of age.
On 8/31/1864 he mustered into "H" Co. MI 13th Infantry
He died of disease (date not stated)
(On march through GA.)
Other Information:
Buried: Beaufort National Cemetery, Beaufort, SC
Gravesite: 41-4645
MICHIGAN Thirteenth Infantry. (Three Years)
The Thirteenth was organized at Kalamazoo under the direction of Colonel Charles E. Stuart of that city, and was mustered into service January 17, 1862, with an enrollment of 935 officers and men.
The field, staff, and line officers at organization were as follows:
Charles E. Stuart, Kalamazoo, Colonel. Orlando H. Moore, Schoolcraft (Captain U. S. army), Lieutenant Colonel. Frederick W. Worden, Grand Rapids, Major. Alexander Ewing, Dexter, Surgeon. Foster Pratt, Kalamazoo, Assistant Surgeon. John B. Culver, Paw Paw, Adjutant. George F. Kidder, Kalamazoo, Quartermaster.
The regiment was made up of the following companies, and was recruited in the western portion of the State:
A. Captain, Bernard Vosburg, Galesburg. First Lieutenant, Ezekiel B. VanVleet, Ridgeway. Second Lieutenant, Abram Pelham, Galesburg.
B. Captain, George B. Force, Gun Plain. First Lieutenant, William B. McLaughlin, Sturgis. Second Lieutenant, Jacob G. Fry, Ganges.
C. Captain, Theodoric R. Palmer, Kalamazoo. First Lieutenant, Samuel Tower, Oakfield. Second Lieutenant, Silas E. Yerkes, Lowell.
D. Captain, Loren Chadwick, Battle Creek. First Lieutenant, Henry C. Hall, Battle Creek. Second Lieutenant, Jerome S. Bigelow, Battle Creek.
E. Captain, Clement C. Webb, Kalamazoo. First Lieutenant, Ashael G. Hopkins, Comstock. Second Lieutenant, Benjamin F. Broadwell, Comstock.
F. Captain, Van Rensselaer W. Sunderlin, Pewamo. First Lieutenant, Joshua Slayton, Jackson. Second Lieutenant, James R. Slayton, Jackson.
G. Captain, Arad C. Balch, Kalamazoo. First Lieutenant James E. White, Kalamazoo. Second Lieutenant, John E. Woodruff, Jackson.
H. Captain, Ezra Carpenter, Portage. First Lieutenant, Horace Phelps, Kalamazoo. Second Lieutenant, Daniel Jones, Kalamazoo.
I. Captain, Henry C. Stoughton, Otsego. First Lieutenant, Willard G. Eaton, Otsego. Second Lieutenant, Peter VanArsdale, Saugatuck.
K. Captain, DeWitt C. Fitch, Mattawan. First Lieutenant, Joseph Barton, Battle Creek. Second Lieutenant, Harrison Balfour, Mattawan.
The regiment left the state Feb. 12, under command of Colonel Michael Shoemaker, who was commissioned in place of Colonel Stuart, resigned, and proceeded to Nashville, Tenn. It was assigned to Wood's division of General Buell's army, and marched to Pittsburg Landing to reinforce General Grant, and arrived at the close of the two days' battle.
After the occupation of Corinth, Miss., General Buell's army marched east along the Memphis and Charleston R. R., to repair it. The Thirteenth arrived at Stevenson, Ala., the 18th of July, where it helped to build strong fortifications, as that place was then a depot of supplies and contained vast stores for the army.
General Buell moved his headquarters to Dechard, north of Stevenson, on the line of the Nashville and Chattanooga R. R. and left the Thirteenth with a small garrison to hold Stevenson. Here Colonel Shoemaker received a series of orders, one day to evacuate the post and fall back to Dechard, and the next to remain and defend the place to the last extremity. Bridgeport, Ala., south of Stevenson, was abandoned on the 25th and the small force there joined the garrison at Stevenson.
Huntsville, Ala., was also abandoned, and upon the arrival of the trains containing the stores from that place and the Tenth Wisconsin Infantry the whole command was ordered to withdraw and proceed to join the army at Dechard.
The enemy attacked before the Union forces left Stevenson, but were repulsed, and then a long march continued night and day over horrible roads across the mountains until Cowan was reached, where Colonel Shoemaker learned the army had left Dechard. He pressed forward and reached Tullahoma September 2nd, where he joined General Smith's division of Buell's army. Colonel Shoemaker was highly complimented by the commanding General for bringing in all his forces, artillery, and baggage without loss of either men or equipment. The Thirteenth, with the balance of the army, then fell back to Nashville and joined in the pursuit of General Bragg's army to Louisville, Ky. In December the regiment belonged to the Third Brigade, First Division, General Thomas' corps, and joined the army commanded by General Rosecrans on his advance upon Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The regiment was engaged at Stone River the 30th and 31st of December, 1862, and in January, 1863, where it distinguished itself by its desperate valor and was most warmly commended for the heroic work that checked the onward rush of the confederate forces.
The brigade of which the Thirteenth formed a part was commanded by Colonel Charles G. Harker, and was detached from its division and sent to the extreme right of the Union line, where the enemy had crushed that wing, when it formed a line in the immediate front of the confederates and a desperate conflict commenced. The Union forces were steadily pressed back by the enemy, but the Thirteenth held its position until nearly surrounded, when it fell back a short distance and reformed, continually showing a bold front to the enemy. Colonel Shoemaker ordered a bayonet charge and the Thirteenth sprang forward with a yell, driving the enemy from the field in confusion and capturing a large number of prisoners. The regiment lost nearly one third of its strength in killed and wounded in the action on this part of the field. It recaptured two pieces of artillery of the Sixth Ohio Battery, which had been abandoned when the Union forces were driven back by the furious onslaught of the enemy.
The Thirteenth commenced its advance toward Chattanooga in August and marched over the Cumberland Mountains, crossed the Tennessee River at Shell Mound and was one of the first regiments to march into Chattanooga on the morning of the 13th of September. It proceeded almost at once to Chickamauga, where it was engaged the 19th and 20th of September, coming in contact with the enemy near Lee and Gordon's Mills, and before the close of the battle, lost 107 killed, wounded and missing out of a total of 217, the number of officers and men the regiment carried into action. Such a record tells how the Thirteenth sustained its part in this historic engagement far more eloquently than words can describe.
After the battle of Chickamauga the regiment was in the trenches about Chattanooga and took part in the movements about Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge.
In November, 1863, the Thirteenth was organized with other regiments into a brigade of Engineers and was attached to the headquarters of the Army of the Cumberland.
In January, 1864, the regiment veteranized, 173 re-enlisting, and returned to Kalamazoo, where it arrived the 12th and was furloughed for thirty days.
It returned to Chattanooga the 20th of April with a large number of recruits, and was soon actively engaged in the construction of military hospitals on Lookout Mountain, and in the pursuit of General Forest, until November, when it joined the army under General Sherman and was assigned to the Second Brigade, First Division, Fourteenth corps. It marched with Sherman to the sea and reached Savannah the 16th of December. After the city surrendered, the Thirteenth marched with Sherman's army through South and North Carolina, meeting the enemy at several points and fighting a pitched battle with General Johnson and Hardee's forces at Bentonville, N. C., the 19th of March, where the regiment sustained heavy loss, the last battle of importance fought by Sherman's army.
After General Johnson's surrender the Thirteenth marched to Richmond, Va., and thence to Washington, D. C., where it took part in the grand review the 24th.
On the 9th of June the regiment proceeded to Louisville, Ky., where it was mustered out of service July 25, and arrived in Jackson, Mich., July 27, 1865, where it was paid off and disbanded.
The engagements of the 13th were at Shiloh, Tenn., April 7, 1862; Farmington, Miss., May 9, 1862; Owl Creek, Miss., May 17, 1862; Corinth, Miss., May 27, 1862; siege of Corinth, Miss., May 10 to 31, 1862; Stevenson, Ala., Aug. 31 1862; Munfordsville, Ky., September 14, 1862; Perryville, Ky., October 8, 1862; Danville, Ky., October 17, 1862; Gallatin, Tenn., December 5, 1862; Mill Creek, Tenn., December 15, 1862; Lavergne, Tenn., December 27 1862; Stewart's Creek, Tenn., December 29, 1862; Stone River, Tenn., December 29, 31, 1862, January 2, 3, 1863; Eagleville, Tenn., January 20, 1863; Pelham, Tenn., July 2, 1863; Lookout Valley, Tenn., September 7, 1863; Lookout Mountain, Tenn., September 10, 1863; Chickamauga, Ga., September 12, 18, 19, 1863; Chattanooga,
Tenn., October 6, 1863; Mission Ridge, Tenn., November 26, 1863; Florence, Ala., October 8, 1864; Savannah, Ga., December 17, 18, 20, 21, 1864; Catawba River, S. C., February 28, 1865; Averysboro, N. C., March 16, 1865; Bentonville, N. C., March 19, 1865.
Total enrollment...........................................2092
Killed in action.............................................47
Died of wounds...............................................33
Died in confederate prisons...................................7
Died of disease.............................................253
Discharged for disability (wounds and disease)..............216
Inventory Number: CDV 380 / Sold