42nd Indiana Co. F Monument
MONUMENT
OF COMPANY F
42ND INDIANA
Note: This monument is located in
Oakland City, Indiana (Gibson County) in front of the American Legion Post # 256,
211 E. Washington Street. This monument is directly across the street from the Oakland City city hall/police station on Washington
Street and is near the intersection of Washington and Broadway Streets. It is believed
to have been moved to its present location around 1991. The previous
location of this monument, in Oakland City, was believed to have been situated
along the railroad tracks at the corner of Clay and Oak Streets.
DIED AT ANDERSONVILLE
A. E. CANNON
A. C. COLEMAN
C. P. DILL
A. FARMER
H. H. HUNTER
J. M. HUNTER
J. W. MARTIN
A. H. MARRINER
W. W. OLIVER
W. A REAVIS
JAC. STRICKLAND
Company
Commissioned Officers
LIEUT.
COl. W. M. COCKRUM
Capt. S. C. BARRETT
Capt. J. D. SKELTON
1st LIEUTENANTS
J. W. SKELTON
J. Q. A. STEELE
A. A. KEYS
2nd LIEUT. J. C. WHITE
KILLED AT STONES RIVER, TENN.
A. H. STEEL
J. W. McCLEARY
J. GUEST R. M. MARTIN
D. KRUSE
?(Unreadable)
J. K. McGREGOR
J. ? KILPATRICK
CO. F. 42. REG. IND. VOL.
Wording on Front Lower
Base:
ENTERED THE U.S. SERVICE OCT 7, 1861
DISCHARGED JULY 21, 1865
(very worn)
J. W. ALLMAN
W. ADAMS
A. H. BALDWIN
W. J. BALDWIN SR.
W. J. BALDWIN JR.
D. W. BARNES
J. W. BRYANT
W. H. BASS
J. BASS
J. T. BELL
F. BRASELTON
A. CANNON
J. W. CRISWELL
A. C. CLIFFORD
H. C. COCKRUM
J. W. CORDER
WM. CRISWELL
J. A. COLEMAN
J. C. CAIN
J. DILL
A. J. DILL
J. H. FRENCH
W. GILLUM
G. GARRISON
H. G. GILLUM
M. GEORGE
ORIGINAL FIELD & STAFF
OFFICERS
COl. J. G. JONES
LT. COl. C. DENBY
MAJ. J. M. SHANKLIN
ADJT. DeWITT C. EVANS
Q. M. J. L. ORR
CHAP. W. ATCHESON
SURG. W. D. TAYLOR
ASST. SURG. J. MAGENISS
KILLED AT ATLANTA GA.
D. W. WALN D. W. JOHNSON JNO. WARRICK
JAS. WILSON(?)
B. COMPTON
R. COMPTON
J. FINN
J. L. HOLCOMB
J. HANNAH
J. M. HARPER
C. HOPKINS
J. W. HARGROVE
J. INGRAM
H. J. KESTNER
H. V. KEYS
J. K. McGREGGOR
J. C. McGREGGOR
G. W. McGREGGOR
J. L. McCLEARY
J. C. MINNIS
JNO. W. McCLEARY
J. McDOWELL
W. M. MARRINER
J. D. McCULLOUCH
GEO. MANNING
W. H. MEAD
G. C. McGREW
ZAD. McCLEARY
J. H. SIMPSON
J. P. SIMPSON
WM. SELBY
H. H. SHUBARD
J. D. SPENCER
JOS. SKELTON
J. M. STEPHENS
J. SOVERCOOL
N. H. WATSON
L. WOODS
C. H. WILLIAMS
H. H. WALLACE
J. A. WILLIAMS
GEO. WAITE
WASH. STRICKLAND
BATTLES ENGAGED IN
FLINT RIVER ALA. STEPHENSON ALA.
PERRYVILLE KY.
MURFREESBORO TENN.
Wording on Back Lower Base (continuation of list of battles):
????? GA. LOOKOUT MT. GA.
MISSION RIDGE GA.
??????? BUZZARD ROOST GA. ??????? GA.
KENNESAW MT. GA
BIG SHANTY GA. SNAKE CREEK GAP(?) GA.
CHATTAHOOCHIE RIVER
????????? GA. JONESBORO(?) GA.
ATLANTA GA. ??????????
BENTONVILLE NC.
J. C. MARTIN
J. CAMERON MARTIN
M. S. McKANE
D. MASON
A. MASON
W. H. MASON
A. McGREGGOR
J. J. MANNING
W. NUNN
W. W. OWENS
D. O'NEAL
C. OHNING
J. PROCTOR
GEO. PARKE
W. L. ROWE
J. ROE
J. R. REAVIS
E. SKELTON
R. SKELTON
J. SKELTON
JNO. STRICKLAND
JAS. STRICKLAND
WM. STEEL
S. J. SAUNDERS
SERGEANTS
1ST W. H. McCLEARY
2 " A. D. REAVIS
3 " A. HOLCOMB
4 " J. KILLPATRICK
5 " W. SANDERS
CORPORALS
1ST J. S. WALLACE
2 " J. MARTIN
3 " J. KENNEDY
4 " G. J. E. CLIFFORD
5 " J. R. McMILLAN
6 " R. A. JENKINS
7 " N. S. MARTIN
8 " J. N. WHEELER
MUSICIANS
ABNER B. CRISWELL
A. D. COMBS
WAGONER
J. R. KILLPATRICK
KILLED AT PERRYVILLE, KY.
WM. M. HUNTER
JAS. SKELTON
KILLED AT CHICKAMAUGA, GA. S.E. WARD
KILLED AT BENTONVILLE, N.C.
LIEUT. J.Q.A. STEEL
J. KRONMILLER
COMPANY
F, FORTY-SECOND INDIANA, MONUMENT
Source: History
of Gibson County, Her People, Industries and Institutions, by Gil R.
Stormont.
B. F. Bowen & Co., Inc., 1915. pp
268-270.
Note: The following history by Stormont records the date of the monument
dedication as September 1893.
This is incorrect. The actual date of the dedication was on October 13,
1894
On a little triangular piece of ground near the
track of the Southern railroad, in Oakland City, there stands a modest appearing
shaft which attracts the attention of people passing by on the train. If these
passing people are interested enough and inquisitive enough to ask someone what
this modest shaft represents, the information will probably be that this is a
monument erected by the surviving members of Company F, Forty-second Indiana
Regiment, as a loving tribute to the memory of their comrades who gave up their
lives in defense of the flag during the Civil war.
The monument was erected during the summer of
1893 and was dedicated in September of that year. The initial steps were taken
at a reunion of the company a year prior to that time, when a committee was
appointed to raise the necessary funds. This committee was composed of Col. W.
M. Cockrum, John W. Corder, James T. Bell, John P. Simpson and Washington
Strickland. Dr. George C. Mason acted as an advisory member and gave much
financial and advisory aid which was greatly appreciated by the company. Col. W.
M. Cockrum executed a deed to Gibson county for the lot on which the monument
stands.
The contract for the monument was awarded to
William Kelley of Oakland City at a cost of near one thousand dollars. The
material used was oolitic limestone. The monument stands on a base seven feet
square and is twenty-eight feet in height. On the top is the figure of a soldier
carved in stone. On the several sides of the dies are the names of all the
original members of the company and the recruits, one hundred and forty-three in
number.
On a panel for that purpose are the names of
the original field and staff officers of the regiment. On another side of the
shaft there is a scroll in which is inscribed, "Starved to Death at
Andersonville," and underneath are the names of eleven members of the
company who gave this supreme test of their devotion to their country. Following
are the names: Chesterfield P. Dill, Alford Farmer, J. M. Hunter, H. H. Hunter,
John H. Martin, Adam Canon, William A. Reavis, W. W. Oliver, A. H. Mariner,
Jacob Strickland and A. C. Coleman. These all were taken prisoners at the battle
of Chickamauga and died at Andersonville.
In appropriate places on the shaft appear the
names of battles in which the company participated. There are as follows:
Perryville, Stone's River, Stevenson, Flint River, Chickamauga, Lookout
Mountain, Mission Ridge, Ringgold, Buzzard Roost, Big Shanty, Snake Creek Gap,
Chattahoochie River, Bentonville.
As stated, this monument was dedicated in
September, 1893. At the dedication there was a large assemblage of the surviving
members of the company and regiment, soldiers from other regiments, citizens and
friends. These all gathered around the monument where an appropriate address was
delivered by Capt. A. J. McCutchan, of Company A, Forty-second Regiment. It was
a proud day for the veterans of this company when they could look upon the
completion of this Monument as the crowning triumph of the cause for which they fought, even though this
rejoicing was mingled with tears in memory of those whose names were inscribed
on the monument who had given up their lives for that cause.
"For their cause was the
cause of the races,
That languished in slavery's night,
And the death that was pale on their faces,
Has filled the whole world with its light."
The following article is believed
to be from a newspaper in Gibson County, Indiana. Date unknown.
Special thanks to Barbara
Hunter who submitted this article.
Monument in
O.C. Recalls Civil War
By Alvin Hammons
One afternoon, in September of 1893 (Actually October 13, 1894) members of the Grand Army of the
Republic gathered on the corner of Clay & Oak Sts. in Oakland City for the
dedication of a monument to Co. "F", 42nd Regiment, Indiana
Volunteers.
The now weather-worn monument stands today, almost forgotten even by those whose
grandfathers names appear thereon.
The $1,000 limestone monument has recorded on its shaft, the history of the
regiment.
The Oakland City area company entered the service on October 7, 1861, and was
discharged on July 21, 1865, compiling a string of battles which reads like a
list of the bloodiest campaigns of the Civil War; Bentonville, Chattahoochie
River, Lookout Mountain, Perryville, Stone's River, Big Shanty, Chickamauga and
many others.
When the company entered the battle of Chickamauga, 11 men were destined to have
their names carved on the monument under the heading of "Died at
Andersonville." The men, Wm. Cannon, A.G. Coleman, C.P. Dill, A.
Farmer, H.H. Hunter, J.M. Hunter, J.H. Martin, A.H. Marrimer, W.W. Oliver, W.A.
Reavis and J.A.G. Strickland were captured by the confederate forces during the
battle and later starved to death at the infamous Andersonville prison camp.
According to existing records, these men were the only prisoners ever
taken from the 143 men of the 42nd (the writer must mean from Co. F
only).
Worn, but still visible, are the names of all the men of the regiment. Many
from one family joined the company, with three McGregors, Skeltons, and
Stricklands being carved on the monument.
The monument grew out of a company reunion in 1892, when the surviving members
of the 42nd were beginning to dwindle. The committee headed by Col. W.M.
Cockrum, who deeded the triangular strip of land, contracted William Kelley of
Oakland City to construct the monument.
Miller, an Oakland City stone mason, carved the gray limestone soldier atop the
monument. Miller's
mastery of carving is witnessed today by the clarity and
perfection of the rifle the stone on which the soldier stands, his inspection
perfect uniform and even facial features.
The book "A History of Gibson County" states, "It was a proud day
for the veterans of this company when they could look upon the completion of the
monument as the crowning triumph of the cause for which they fought, even though
this rejoicing was mingled with tears in memory of those whose names were
inscribed on the monument who had given up their lives for that cause."
COMPANY F, 42nd INDIANA
MONUMENT DEDICATION
Source: The Oakland City, Indiana Journal,
October 17, 1894
Article Submitted by Bill Marshall
CO. F, 42ND IND. MONUMENT
----------------
Dedicated with Appropriate Exercises
Last Saturday
---------------
The beautiful monument erected in this city by the members
of Co. F, 42nd Ind. Vol. Infantry was dedicated last Saturday
afternoon in the presence of a large audience of comrades and friends of the
company. The ceremony consisted of
patriotic music by the Oakland City band, calling the roll of the company, to
which about 25 answered the “present,” and the remainder were accounted for
either as “dead” or residing in some remote part of the country. John W. Corder, president of the monument association then
stepped forward and in a neat little speech stated that the monument was
completed and fully paid for at a cost of about $410 and thanked the people for
their kind assistance in building it. He
then turned the monument over to Capt. A. J. McCutchan of Evansville, to be
dedicated to the memory of the dead heroes whose names were inscribed upon it.
Capt. McCutchan was greeted with a round of applause when he mounted the
platform and delivered a most excellent and touching oration that pleased
everybody present. The Capt. Was a
member of the 42nd, belonging to a company that touched elbows with
Co. F, where he was in a position to see and be with the men and was personally
acquainted with most of them, which made his talk all the more interesting.
Hugh Carlisle, editor of the Princeton Leader, was
next introduced and made a very pleasing short address, and when he had
concluded the audience was dismissed.
The monument is an elegant structure located on a
triangular lot at the corner of Oak and Clay streets, near the Columbia Mill.
It is constructed of Green river limestone which is bleached almost white
and is very pretty. The monument
stands 25 ½ feet high and is surmounted by the statue of a soldier uniformed
and equipped with all of the accoutrements of war, standing at “parade
rest.” There are in all about 160
names engraved on the monument, including the original field and staff officers,
the company officers and the privates, together with the name of every
engagement in which Co. F participated with the names of those killed in each
engagement.
On the front of the shaft is a scroll on which is
inscribed “died at Andersonville,” and underneath this are the names of the
brave men that were starved to death in that foulest of prisons.
The monument is one that reflects credit upon the company
that built it and is quite a distinction for Oakland City, being the only
company monument in the state, and every citizen should be proud that our city
has been favored by being the chosen site for such a structure.
Among the distinguished visitors present were Jas. L. Orr,
quartermaster of the regiment and whose name occupies a position upon the
monument. Mrs. J. M. Shanklin and George Shanklin, editor of the
Evansville Courier. The last
two mentioned are the wife and brother of Maj. J. M. Shanklin, one of the
original officers of the regiment and whose name is inscribed on the monument.
All of the above are of Evansville.
The G.A.R. post of Princeton came over in a body on a special train,
about 40 members in all. There were also many visitors from other points.
Dale, Indiana Weekly Reporter, October 12, 1894
The monument of Company F. Forty-Second Indiana Volunteers
will be dedicated at Oakland City tomorrow, Capt. A. J. McCutchan
delivering the oration on the occasion.
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