The Federal unit primarily involved with the action at Rowlett’s Station was the Thirty-Second Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, ably served on the field of battle by Lieutenant Colonel Henry (Heinrich) Von Trebra. The ten companies of the Thirty-Second Indiana were raised in communities and counties within the Hoosier State, mostly along the Ohio River. However, one company, Company F, was largely made up of German men from Cincinnati.[1] These men were eager to serve and preserve the Union but due to overwhelming turnout of German volunteers in Cincinnati were unable to join the mostly German Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which had formed as a three-month, then later a three-year regiment.[2]
The Thirty-Second Indiana was organized in Indianapolis during the summer of 1861. The regiment would be mustered into service on August 24th, to serve for three years. The colonel of the regiment was August Willich, who had experience serving in the Prussian army before becoming a revolutionary and fighting during the various 1848 conflicts that engulfed much of Europe. After coming to the United States, he settled in Cincinnati. Willich, at the start of the Civil War, served in the Ninth Ohio as regimental adjutant and helped train the men into an effective organization. When Indiana wanted to raise its own German regiment, Governor Oliver Morton, to avoid the political ramifications of appointing one Indiana German over another, commissioned an outsider, in this case the respected Willich, as the Thirty-Second’s colonel. It was a fortuitous decision as Willich was not only an experienced military mind, but also had the mental disposition to treat the men as men, not as automatons.[3] It was said of Willich when he served in the Ninth that “Adjutant Willich became the real drillmaster of the organization. He not only taught the Prussian system of tactics and drill, but also commanded in the German language.” These same methods were used in the Thirty-Second Indiana.
The regiment was ordered to Kentucky in early October, arriving in the Bluegrass at Louisville. Shortly after arriving in Louisville the men would move to New Haven for several days before being sent to Camp Nevin on October 15th.[4] During their movements and various camps the Thirty-Second would be engaged in drill, honing their skills with commands in German and bugle calls. The regiment saw no fighting during this period, but there were drownings, desertions, disability discharges, and deaths due to disease in the regiment. Fortunately, none had occurred in Company F. However, December would see a change in Company F’s fortunes as the regiment was assigned to guard the Green River Bridge at Munfordville. On December 9th the brigade in which the Thirty-Second was a part was ordered to leave Camp Nevin and march south towards Bowling Green, leaving the morning of the 10th. Passing along the way Bacon Creek in northern Hart County, two companies of the Thirty-Second, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Von Trebra, would be sent ahead of the marching column to secure the town of Munfordville and the important railroad bridge across the Green River. However, the bridge had been partially dismantled and upon the arrival of the rest of the regiment on the morning of December 12th, the regiment was put to work repairing the bridge as well as constructing a pontoon bridge across the Green River. To guard against any Confederate forces operating south of the river, the Thirty-Second would rotate two companies at a time to protect the repair parties, these companies being stationed on the south side of the river.
On December 14th the Indiana pickets of the Thirty-Second had their first encounter with Terry’s Texas Rangers. As a result of this encounter and with the completion of the pontoon bridge, Willich would increase the troops stationed on the south side of the river to four companies. Hence the stage was set for the Battle of Rowlett’s Station that took place on December 17th.
Near noon on the 17th another encounter with Confederate troops took place near the station. Troops from Companies B and C moved forward to engage the enemy, but the force being brought to bear was far larger than just the Rangers they met on the 14th. In the area was Thomas C. Hindman’s brigade, which consisted of two infantry regiments, one infantry battalion, an artillery battery, and a few companies of cavalry, including the Rangers. This force was too strong for Companies B and C to face alone. Reinforcements were soon on their way, being led by Von Trebra as Willich was at the time at divisional headquarters.
Company F was ordered by Lieutenant Colonel Von Trebra to support Company B on the right (west) side of the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike. Gripping their Enfields tighter, the men of Company F deployed in skirmish order, the left of the company guiding on the pike, and to the company’s right aligning with Companies B and K. Company F used a fence as part of their defensive position. To their rear in a supporting role and formed in column was Company G. The Texans approached the fence line, coming as close as fifteen yards, firing their shotguns and revolvers. Willich would write, “Our skirmishers made great havoc among them, but finally retreated behind the square formed by Company G, Captain Welschbilling [commanding].” Company F had retired from the fence line and moved north behind Company G’s square. This square, or carrére, looked to be an easy target for the Texans, who outnumbered Company G by three or four to one. However, to the detriment of the Texans, Company G would hold its position, supported by the now reformed skirmish companies, including Cincinnati men of Company F. The Texans would charge three times before fleeing the field in “wild disorder.” An Arkansas regiment of Confederate infantry, supported by artillery, took the Texans’ place, and Company G fell back. At this time Willich came onto the field, taking command of the right wing while Von Trebra took direct control of the companies on the left of the turnpike. The Confederate infantry made little headway against the Germans, and the artillery battery being outflanked, had to retire to avoid being captured. The fighting petered out, with both sides falling back. However, fresh Federal units were crossing the river, and the Union claimed victory as Hindman retreated south.
Company F, having “seen the elephant,” suffered casualties in their fight with Terry’s Texans. Four men were killed outright, and a fifth was mortally wounded.[5] Three men were also taken prisoner.[6] It is unknown how many others in the company were wounded but not reported.[7]
Officers of Company F at Rowlett’s Station
Frederick August Mueller – It is unknown when or where Muller was born but he was living in Indianapolis when he enlisted on August 24, 1861, as the company captain. On September 19th he would be commissioned into Company F. He would be killed in action on April 7, 1862, at Shiloh. His burial location is purported to be the Fort Laurens Cemetery in Bolivar, Ohio, but it is unclear why Muller (listed on the tombstone as Miller) would be buried in a location two hundred miles from Cincinnati or Indianapolis.
Peter Cappell – Born in 1828 in Germany, he would arrive in the United States in 1848. He married Margaret Sinddorff (or Zundorff) in 1851. He became a second lieutenant in the First Ohio Infantry (three-month regiment). According to the roster of the Thirty-Second the thirty-three-year-old Cappell was living in Indianapolis when he enlisted as the company’s first lieutenant on August 24, 1861, although I believe he was actually residing in Cincinnati. On September 19th he would be commissioned into Company F. After Rowlett’s Station he would be promoted to captain (April 10, 1862) and then serve as major (promoted on November 26, 1863). After the war he lived in Cincinnati and was a letter carrier according to the 1880 census. By 1900 Cappell was living in Fort Thomas in northern Kentucky. Cappell would die on the first day of 1903 and is buried in Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery (Section 71).
William F. Borck, Sr. (Wilhelm Frederick) – Born in 1828 in Posen, Prussia. Prior to the war he would marry his wife Wilhelmina who would give birth to three sons. According to the roster of the Thirty-Second the thirty-three-year-old Borck was living in Indianapolis when he enlisted on August 24, 1861, as the company’s second lieutenant, although again I believe he was actually residing in Cincinnati. On September 19th he would be commissioned into Company F. After Rowlett’s Station he would be transferred to Company E and promoted to first lieutenant. On September 12, 1862, he would be made captain of Company G. After the war he lived in Cincinnati, dying on December 16, 1883. He is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery (Section 101).
Sources:
American Civil War Research Database - civilwardata.com
“Carolus” – “The Thirty-Second Indiana at Rowlett’s Station.” The National Tribune, April 1, 1882.
Dixon, David – Radical Warrior: August Willich’s Journey from German Revolutionary to Union General. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee, 2020.
Dodge, William S. – History of the Old Second Division, Army of the Cumberland. Church & Goodman, Chicago, Illinois, 1864.
Find A Grave - findagrave.com
Giles, L. B. – Terry’s Texas Rangers – N.P., 1911. Giles was a member of Terry’s command and was wounded at Rowlett’s Station.
Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War, Volume VII. Norwood, Massachusetts, 1933.
Peake, Michael A. – Blood Shed in This War: Civil War Illustrations by Captain Adolph Metzner, 32nd Indiana. Indiana Historical Society Press, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2010.
Peake, Michael A. – Indiana’s German Sons: A History of the 1st German, 32nd Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry – Baptism of Fire: Rowlett’s Station 1861. NCSA Literatur, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1995.
Terrell, W. H. H. – Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, Volume II. W. R. Holloway, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1865.
Terrell, W. H. H. – Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, Volume V. Samuel M. Douglass, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1866.
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume VII. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1882.
Footnotes:
[1] In most German regiments companies were designated numerically, so Company F was known within the regiment as the Sixth Company. Cincinnati men also helped to fill the ranks of several of the other companies of the Thirty-Second. Lastly, two companies of the Thirty Second came from just across the Indiana state line from Cincinnati, thus giving the greater Cincinnati region a strong representation in the regiment.
[2] Known as “Die Neuner,” the regiment was formed by native Germans and a small smattering of non-Germans, from Cincinnati. However, half of Company B (the Second Company) came from neighboring Butler County, Ohio.
[3] Willich believed that “an individual was first a man, then a citizen, and then a soldier.”
[4] The location of Camp Nevin was along the Nolin River near the village of Nolin in Hardin County.
[5] Garri Kiefer (44) – Born on February 18, 1817. He enlisted and was mustered into service on September 11, 1861, as a private. Initially buried in Munfordville, then reinterred at Cave Hill National Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky.
Christopher Reuter (43) – Born in Markstedt, Bavaria on January 1, 1818. He enlisted and was mustered into service on September 9, 1861, as a private. Initially buried in Munfordville, then reinterred at Cave Hill National Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky. Burial location 2355.
Ernst Schrieman (on roster as Schimann) – Born in 1826. He enlisted and was mustered into service on September 16, 1861, as a private. Initially buried in Munfordville, then reinterred at Cave Hill National Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky. Burial location 2351.
Theodore Schmidt (22) – Born on September 15, 1839, in Germany. He enlisted and was mustered into service on September 20, 1861, as a private. Buried on December 20th at Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio.
William Staats (41) – Born on May 16, 1820, in Koblenz, Rhineland-Pfalz. He enlisted and was mustered into service on August 29, 1861, as a sergeant. Was mortally wounded and died on December 19th. Initially buried in Munfordville, then reinterred at Cave Hill National Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky.
[6] Privates Phillip Bleistien and John Wiesinger, and First Sergeant John G. Helmkamp. The two privates were trying to help the wounded Helmkamp from the field when all three were captured. Bleistein would be released on May 15, 1862, and after returning to the regiment would desert five months later. Wiesinger and Helmkamp would also be released and returned to the Thirty-Second, the sergeant being promoted to second lieutenant and transferred to Company I on July 24, 1863.
[7] For example, it is possible that Musician Anton Barie (Berri on the roster) was wounded at Rowlett’s Station as he would be discharged on December 26th. And it is possible that Private John Zolley was also wounded and succumbed to his wounds on February 8, 1862. Anton Weigle would be transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps on February 15, 1862. Men who served in the VRC were typically those who either were wounded and transferred directly to the VRC to complete their term, or men who had been discharged from the service but were able to perform light duty and thus could enlist in the Corps. As Weigle was transferred directly to the VRC before the end of his term of service, he must have been wounded, most likely at Rowlett’s Station.
Comentarios