born was 495. It was truly a cosmopolitan regiment, the birthplaces of whose members represented 25 states and 13 foreign countries. There were but 97 natives of Wisconsin, whose first territorial government began in 1836-only twenty-five years before the Civil War.1

Turning to the age at enlistment, 137 were between the ages of 15 and 18; 345 between 18 and 20; 1264 between 20 and 30; 663 between 30 and 40; 132 between 40 and 50. The two oldest men were each 50 and the two youngest each 15. The average age was 23, a sturdy bunch, full of life and vigor, well fitted for the strenuous campaigns and incessant, active service which was their lot from March, 1862 to July, 1865.

The shortest soldier was Bernard Schultheis of Company M, who was born at Port Washington, Wisconsin. He came to us in May, 1862, by transfer from the Ninth Wisconsin Infantry, where he had already served six months. He was then fifteen years old, four feet nine inches in height, and served through three years, the youngest of us all. The honor of being the tallest in the regiment goes to two men, each of whom is recorded as being six feet four inches. One of these was Sergeant George Smith of Company L; the other was Captain Wallace La Grange, a brother of our colonel, Oscar La Grange. In July, 1862, in Arkansas, when a small detachment escorting an ambulance train of sick and wounded men was suddenly attacked and overwhelmed by greatly superior numbers of Texan Rangers, Captain La Grange (then Sergeant) saved many disabled men. He swam across the deep, swift L'Anguille River thirteen times, towing behind him a little skiff loaded with disabled comrades. That was an athletic feat of heroism rarely equaled. There were in the regiment 268 men who were over six feet in heightmore than ten per cent of the total enrollment.

There were six different Smiths in Company L. Three of these were sergeants one born in Germany, one in Ireland, and one in New York.

The population of Wisconsin in 1840 was, in round numbers, 30,000; in 1850, 805,000; in 1860, 775,000. It follows that in 1861 less than half the population of the state had been resident as much as ten years, and practically none of it as much as twenty. These figures show fully why so large a proportion of Wisconsin's soldiers were natives of other states and foreign lands.-Editor.

One hundred and twenty-eight men were promoted from the ranks to be commissioned officers, one of them being our beloved General Henry Harnden. Six were promoted to commissions in other regiments.

During the three and one-fourth years of constant service, two hundred and forty-five of the regiment were taken prisoners, at different times and places, in fifty-four battles and countless daily skirmishes, from Missouri to Georgia. Of these, thirtythree died prisoners in Andersonville, and ten others at Little Rock, Florence, Millen, Richmond, and other Southern prisons. Others were paroled or exchanged, many of whom were discharged for disability and died at home later from prison hardships. There is no complete record of Confederates captured by the regiment, but General La Grange once said the regiment had captured many more than its own total enrollment. Steve Nichols, Bristol Farnsworth, Frank Lavine, and Horatio Foote each had credit for more than twenty prisoners captured singlehanded.

We had fifty-six men killed in action, and sixteen who died of wounds. Others were wounded and recovered, more or less completely, to the number of 132. There were three hundred and twenty-two who died from disease; the larger part of these died from the unwholesome drinking water of southeastern Missouri in 1862.

The regiment during its service traveled 2182 miles by rail and 2540 miles by steamer on the Mississippi, St. Francis, Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee rivers. Our marches on horseback would cover 20,000 miles, incessant service covering large sections of Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. If to these figures were added the distance covered in daily scouting and foraging parties, the total would be more than doubled.

The city of Ripon furnished the regiment 110 men during the four years the largest number from any one town. Beaver Dam gave 80 men, Kenosha 80, Waukesha 65, Milwaukee 60, Madison 35, Sheboygan 40, Appleton 30, Green Bay 20, Prairie du Chien 20, Menomonie 30, Oshkosh, Fort Atkinson, Waupun, and Berlin 15 each. The remainder came from smaller towns and

from the farms of southern and central Wisconsin. The total enrollment (2541) was larger than that of any other Wisconsin regiment, because of the constant stream of recruits coming all through the four years. The regiment is officially credited with fifty-four battles and actions, some of which lasted several days. In addition, there were numerous skirmishes with the enemy which were not counted in the records. The long service of the regiment was fittingly terminated by its participation in the capture of Jefferson Davis near Irwinsville, Georgia, on May 10, 1865.

STANLEY E. LATHROP

DOCUMENTS

SOME WAR-TIME LETTERS1

SOMEWHERE IN SUNNY FRANCE,
Aug. 18, 1918.

MY DEAR MRS. PIERSON: I feel as though I were dreaming, and am afraid I will wake up and find that instead of being back here in this charming spot, that I am still at the "front"! We were relieved a few days ago and came back here for a well earned and much needed rest. I did not realize that I was so completely worn out until we came here and I had a chance to rest-I want to sleep twenty-four hours out of the day!

We are camped in a beautiful and picturesque valley, and on the banks of a large river-the water is very clear and deepRed Cross hospital boats, and others are carrying supplies, etc.! Needless to say, I have been practically living in the water, ever since we got here! Oh Boy! but it feels good to get in the water once more, and to swim! But I must tell you a joke on me-I had a chance to rent a room and sleep in one of these wonderful French beds, with a mattress about four feet thick! So I took it and thought I'd sleep swell, but to my disgust, I couldn't sleep-the room felt hot and stuffy-even though I had the big French window open, and two doors wide open-the bed was too soft! I have been living out doors and in the open so long that a room, no matter how well ventilated, seems stuffy. And I have had only the ground for a bed so that I feel as though I were going to fall out when I sleep in a real bed.

I am writing this letter in a schoolhouse and carved in the stone over the door is the date it was built, etc. It was built in 1754 and was founded by a Mademoiselle Therese Wills. It is a private school for little girls. The walls are covered with maps and pictures and drawings that the little girls have madesome of them are very good, too. The desks and benches are here too, and have the children's school books in them-a good

The first installment of these letters, written home by Eldon J. Canright, appeared in the December, 1921, issue of this Magazine.

chance for me to study French-eh? It brings back memories of the days when I was a kid in school.

As I sit here I can look out of the window and see the peasants working out in the fields cutting and shocking the grain, and across the valley the steep, almost mountainous hills rising on either side of the valley, and the little villages dotting the sides of the valley and looking as though they were just stuck on the side of the steep slope and you wonder how they ever built them there much less live in them-if a man ever slipped in his backyard, he would never stop until he rolled down into the valley! And you can see the white stone cliffs standing out above and below the trees. And away up on the very top is a high cliff of solid rock, and away up on that cliff, the Romans away back in the time of Julius Caesar, built a fort and that fort is still standing there to-day, having stood the wear and tear of centuries! When I look at that and think of the hundreds of years that fort has stood there, it makes one feel as though life was pretty short and of little consequence! However, those old Romans knew a good place for a fort, all right, because even to-day I doubt if with all our huge guns and modern equipment, we could destroy that fort-it is just cut right in the solid rock.

Everything is so quiet and peaceful here though it is hard to realize that just a few kilometers away the guns are roaring and crashing but when I shut my eyes I can see it all very plain and can hear the whine and shriek of the shells and all the other horrors of war. And probably by the time this reaches you I will be back on the job again.

You ask me when I think the war will end-well, when we are at the front we do not think about peace, our only thought and desire is to kill as many Germans as we can-when you hear the shells whining over head and bursting around you, you do not think of peace, you think only of giving them back as good as they send, and then some! So I really can't say just when I think it will end-it might be anywhere from one to five years more you see we have got to make the Huns pay for all the suffering they have caused the people of France and Belgium— why right here in this school-room is a tablet with the names of