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On August 9, 1862, Wesley Smith Poulson and his brother John Poulson joined the 98th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Wesley was twenty years old when he enlisted in the regiment and promoted to corporal. Before the war, he was a school teacher in Cadiz. Duncan Milner was born on March 10, 1841, in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. He enlisted in the 98th Ohio and soon after enlistment, was appointed sergeant major. On August 23, the regiment marched out to Covington, Kentucky and on September 3, Corporal Wesley Poulson wrote from his regiment’s camp near Louisville about the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky, which was fought on August 29th and August 30th. Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith had an overwhelming victory over Union General William “Bull” Nelson’s forces, which were defending the town. Poulson wrote that the regiment “was ordered to rise and prepare to march to Richmond, Ky. At 12 o’clock we started as we were told, to reinforce Gen. Nelson who had been fighting all day Saturday. On the way, we met all the baggage wagons of Nelson’s brigade, but scarcely any two agreed as to the result. They were much excited and said we should march the other way which proved to be true…We traveled thirteen miles and then we could see the Rebels plan enough marching toward us. The brigade was then turned into an orchard to rest a little, and in a few minutes we could plainly see the Rebels trying to surround us. The men were told to eat something and prepare to march.. . .All got back to camp during the night and next day. None were taken prisoners.
On August 27, the regiment marched out to Lexington, Kentucky. Poulson wrote that when the regiment arrived in Lexington, “the people were astonished to see us back having been told by the stragglers we met in the morning that were cut to pieces and taken prisoners... Monday evening we got orders to march again.” On August 30, the regiment fell back to Louisville, Kentucky. On October 1, the regiment left Louisville and marched thirty miles southeast of Louisville and twenty miles from where the Confederates were said to be located. On October 7, at about daybreak, according to Poulson, the regiment was “roused from slumbers by the beat of the drum in order to be ready for marching in 40 minutes. Breakfast consisted of crackers, fresh beef, and coffee, which was made by taking some water from a goose pond near (which was the only water we could get there).” The night before Lieutenant Colonel John Pearce told the men to fill their canteens with water. After breakfast, the regiment marched to Perryville around sunrise. At 1 p.m., the brigade arrived at the battlefield and Colonel Webster assigned the regiments their positions. The 19th Indiana Battery, commanded by Captain Samuel Harris, occupied the crest of a hill. The 98th Ohio, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Christian Poorman, was ordered to move into position to the right of the 19th Indiana Battery to support the battery. Because of the nature of the ground, the 98th Ohio could not form a line of battle, so Webster modified the order and the left wing was formed in the rear of the right wing. The 80th Indiana, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Brooks, occupied a position immediately to the rear and left of the 19th Indiana Battery and to the left of the 98th Ohio. The 50th Ohio was formed in the rear and to the left of the 19th Indiana Battery, but remained in their position for only a short time, when Colonel Webster reformed the regiment three hundred yards farther to the left, advancing to the crest of the hill in the woods near a small log cabin, with the exception of two companies, which remained during the battle, lying to the left of the 98th Ohio. i. Corporal Wesley Poulson wrote: “Between 12 and 1 o’clock we came in sight of our battery which was at that time engaged. I looked in the direction they were firing but could see no rebels. I could see the smoke of their battery rising above the trees but the leaves were so thick we could not see a man. Their battery was nearly a mile from ours at that time.”
The 50th Ohio Infantry was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Strickland. Colonel Webster ordered the 121st Ohio to form in the rear of the 19th Indiana Battery and to the left of the 98th Ohio, but was ordered to support Lieutenant Charles Parson’s battery, but before the regiment could arrived to support the battery, the battery had already been taken by Confederate General George Maney’s men. The 121st Ohio abandoned their position and were partially reformed some distance to the rear.
At 3 pm, the left wing of the 98th Ohio was ordered to the left to support Lieutenant Charles Parson’s Independent Battery, but when they arrived they were ordered back to their original position. A Confederate battery, posted on a hill half a mile away to the right of Harris’s battery, occupied a position nearly enfilading the 98th Ohio and 80th Indiana regiments. Both regiments lost a considerable amount of men. Captain Harris fired a well-directed shot from his battery and the shell exploded directly over the Rebel battery and silenced the guns. Sergeant Major Milner wrote that he was lying fifteen feet from the right gun of the battery and watched the artillerymen. He wrote that “cannon balls were flying over us, and shells were bursting near us and shot were singing over our heads, though in our position all we had to do was to lie still. One of our men of the left wing was injured by a cannon ball rolling over his leg. I saw a gunner just as he was aiming his gun near me, struck by a cannon ball and knocked back ten or twelve feet and no doubt was instantly killed.” ii. The 50th Ohio drove the Confederates back as they attempted to gain the summit of the hill and the woods to the left of the 19th Battery. The 80th Indiana, while occupying the position on the hill to the left of the 19th Indiana Battery, poured a “steady and deadly fire upon the enemy, but the 2nd Ohio Infantry had fallen back upon the line of the 80th Indiana and marched over them. Colonel Webster changed the position of the 80th Ohio from the front to the right flank, with their left resting where the right had rested on the battery. They were ordered to take a position some two hundred yards in the rear of the position they first occupied. The regiment changed position several times under heavy fire. iii.
After the return of the left wing of the 98th Ohio from the position they had been assigned to take in support of Parson’s battery, they formed in line to meet the oncoming Confederates, who had already gained a position to the right of the 19th Indiana Battery in a corn field. Corporal Poulson wrote: “The ridge which upon our line was being extended nearly north and south. The Rebels were east of us on another ridge. When we got to the top of the ridge we were ordered to file right and we went southward along the ridge some two or three hundred yards when we filed left into a piece of woodland. There we received orders to pile our haversacks and set a guard over them. We were then taken back nearly to the road we had come up and there filed left into a cornfield. . . . After loading our pieces we were ordered to rest. While we were in this cornfield the firing became more rapid-several other batteries were opened on each side and it seemed that the Rebels were trying to get up farther north so as to turn our left flank.” At 2:30 pm, Webster ordered the regiment to support Harris battery. The 98th Ohio and 19th Indiana opened fire on the Rebels and in a few minutes the field was covered with the Rebel dead. The 98th Ohio changed position several times under a “murderous fire.”
In the meantime, two of the guns of the 19th Indiana had been taken off the field by the artillerists, and only four guns were left. Men of the 98th Ohio fired the four cannons after they had been abandoned. Poulon wrote that “five other companies of our regiment were put to the right and five to the left of this battery, which consisted of four rifled 12 pounders. We were then ordered to lie close to the ground until we got further orders. . . We saw before we had been lying long in that position, a swarm of rebels come out of the woods about half a mile in front of us. When they got into open land and lines dressed they started on double quick shouting and hollering like wild men, thinking I suppose to scare us and make us run, but it had the opposite effect and only made us grasp our rifles more firmly. About this time the musketry was brought into action by both sides by regiments that were coming into contact. Our battery kept them back from us for a considerable while, and during this time the shells, solid shot, and rifle balls were flying over us.” He wrote that one shell burst in the air thirty feet above the men and a piece of the shell and the contents went into the ground about fifteen inches from Poulson’s head. He wrote that a cannonball “passed over my back which I’m quite sure would have struck me had I been standing up. I thought when I heard it coming that it would strike my head. I shut my eyes expecting to feel it, but had the pleasure of hearing it whistle over me and afterwards saw the dust fly to the rear of our company some distance.” Poulson wrote that the Confederates tried to set a barn on fire with a torch, but the Confederates were mortally wounded in their attempts.
A Rebel artillery shell finally caught the barn on fire and the men of the 10th Ohio Regiment, who were partly on each side of the barn maintained their position, until their faces were scorched by the heat and were finally forced to fall back. The 98th Ohio was lying on the ground, when the Rebels made a charge towards the guns. Their sharpshooters were deployed in advance of the column some fifty yards in order to take out the commanding officers. The Confederates sent a flanking move to the right. The flanking regiment were behind a hill and the 98th Ohio did not see the movement until they were opposite the right wing of the 98th Ohio. When Lieutenant Colonel Poorman saw the Confederate flanking regiment, he called for the men of the 98th Ohio to “attention.” The 98th Ohio was facing east towards the advancing Rebels. The 98th Ohio was ordered to “right face, forward march,” then “file right.” The 98th had their left flank towards the advancing Rebels, which ascended the hill on which the 19th Indiana had been placed. Firing began on both sides. Poulson wrote that one soldier in Company F was struck in the first fire with a bullet striking him just below the left eye. The Confederates got to within eighty yards of the 98th Ohio. Poulson wrote that he shot three times from his position and then moved to where the company had gone, which was some fifty yards. They received orders to move on the double quick. The 98th Ohio was formed into a line having been thrown into confusion by the excitement of the movement. Orders were given to march forward. Poulson had marched thirty yards when his right leg was struck about three inches above the knee joint with a large rifle ball which instantly shattered both bones. Poulson laid down near a stump. The 98th Ohio passed over him. Rebels were all around him. An Illinois regiment pushed the Confederates back. Poulson cut the string off his canteen and used the material as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. A few minutes later, the Union line was driven back and he was again among the Rebels.
During this time, the 80th Indiana was ordered to the rear and left upon a hill some four hundred yards away and once they reached the new position, they formed into line. Webster had been mortally wounded. Sergeant Major Duncan C. Milner of the 98th Ohio was going through a dead soldier’s cartridge box when Webster collapsed about twenty feet from Milner to the rear of the firing line. Milner dropped his musket and went to Webster’s side. He told Milner that he was mortally wounded and “prayed for God to have mercy on his soul.” He also said: “Tell my dear wife and children they were last in my thoughts.” Milner and several other soldiers carried Webster to the rear and laid him beside a tree. The minie ball had entered Webster’s right hip and the Colonel was bleeding profusely. He was carried to the rear to a field hospital. iv.
During the battle, the 98th Ohio lost 35 killed, 162 wounded, and 32 missing; the 50th Ohio lost 22 killed, 32 wounded, and 79 missing; the 80th Ohio lost 25 killed, 116 wounded, and 16 missing, 121st Ohio lost 3 killed, 23 wounded, and 16 missing, and the 19th Indiana Battery lost two killed, 13 wounded, and 3 missing. The brigade total was 579 men.
After the battle, Corporal Wesley Poulson was still wounded on the battlefield. He wrote that night came and the battle ceased, but he could still hear the noise made by the wounded on both sides. Shortly after sunset some of the rebels were gathering up rifles, revolvers, watches, Bowie knifes, and other weapons of war, when they came to where Poulson laid and asked him where he was from, what regiment he belonged too, how long the regiment had been service, along with other questions. The Confederates took his gun and carried the weapons about ten yards and set the rifle up against a fence with several other rifles, intending to haul them away, but the Rebels left during the night in such a hurry that they were not able to take the guns with them.
One Rebel asked Poulson when was the last time he had any water to drink. Poulson stated not since noon. The Rebel said he would give him his canteen which was full of water for mine without the strap since he used the strap as a tourniquet. Poulson told the Confederate he was willing and they exchanged the canteens. Darkness had fallen and the Rebels stated they would be back in a short time with a wagon to take Poulson to a hospital. He told them just to leave him, not bother about moving him. The Rebels told him that there would be more fighting the next day and Poulson would get hurt, so the promised to come back and get him.
The rebels came with a wagon with four small mules. The Confederates took him prisoner. Poulson asked the Confederates how far away was the hospital. They answered the hospital was three quarters of a mile. Two men lifted me him so that two who were in the wagon could reach him and take him. There were four men in the wagon and he told one of the Union soldiers in the wagon to hold Poulson’s foot and keep his leg straight so as to keep the pieces of bone from cutting the flesh so as not to give him any pain. The wagon had traveled for about two miles, when they stopped to see if the hospital was full. The surgeon stated that they had as many men and more than could attended to that night and the next day. The driver stopped at every hospital until they had gone five and a half miles, and the house and yard was full nearly of wounded rebels. The house the wagon stopped at was the only one for Union soldiers. Poulson was taken to the porch and laid on the wooden planks of the porch. The rebels formed a circle around Poulson and quizzed him for two hours.
The surgeon tried to make Poulson drink a half pint of whiskey but the surgeons were not able to since Poulson was too anxious to see and know what was going on. Poulson told them he was a temperance man and intended to be one until he died. Poulson did not sleep very much that night. He was suffering all night with his leg. The surgeons furnished him plenty of water and he kept the wounded as wet and cool as possible. In the morning his leg was swollen badly and the Rebel surgeon said the leg would have to be taken off. The surgeons were preparing to amputate his leg after breakfast, but when they were about to begin, the hospital received orders to move out in a few minutes. A Confederate colonel intended to parole the Union soldiers in the makeshift hospital. Poulson along with two other Union soldiers were paroled on one paper and the parole was written with a lead pencil. At 10 o'clock, the Rebels had left.
After the Rebels left the house, the house was quiet for a short time, when the owner of the house, who had been forced to leave his home during the battle, came back and said he would to wait on the Union soldiers. He brought the five soldiers food, supplied the men with water, and tried to make the men comfortable. The owner stated he was a Union man. He said he owned no slaves and was opposed to the institution of slavery.
Soon after the rebels left, the advance guard of the Union Army came along. The home owner went outside and told a lieutenant of the cavalry that there were five wounded men who needed attention. The lieutenant came inside and took Poulson’s name, regiment, company, etc., and sent back word for a surgeon. The day passed. Poulson and the four other men had another restless night, and in the morning some ladies came with a nice breakfast. The ladies said they were Union folks and that they would do all they could to make the men comfortable.
Sometime before noon three surgeons came to the house, and Poulson being on the porch was noticed first. They soon decided his leg must be taken off or he would die. They gave him chloroform, amputated his leg about an inch and a half above the knee joint. He was then taken in an ambulance back to Perryville, where he was taken to the Methodist Church, which became Hospital No.5, where he remained until February 17, 1863. Poulson left Perryville for home, where he arrived the February 22, 1863. In the Methodist hospital there were during the first week about ninety wounded men. Poulson wrote that there “were almost every description of wounds to be found there, men struck in so many different places, from the top of the head to the end of the toes.”
Poulson wrote that the Union soldiers were laid the first night on the floor. Next day they were provided with some straw and in two days they had bed ticks and bunks. At first, the Union soldiers fare was “at first very coarse and rather scarce also, but when ”Uncle Sam" got things rightly arranged we faired as well as could be expected knowing that Uncle has so many to feed.” He wrote that the ladies of Perryville visited them daily and brought the soldiers something nice to eat and brought them papers, books, and magazines to read.
At first three surgeons were kept in Hospital #5 and had plenty to do. After three weeks two surgeons were left to care for the wounded and at the end of two months only one surgeon was necessary. Surgeon J.L. Stockdale stayed with the wounded Union soldiers. Poulson wrote that Stockdale “was a native of Kentucky and previous to his entering the hospital had been at the head of a home guard of about seventy men; but when Bragg came through where they could not protect their home and were compelled to go into the woods to save their lives. Here they stayed and bushwhacked the rebels until October 8th when they were no longer kept in the woods. He was a kind, attentive, and successful Surgeon and won the respect of all his patients. I shall ever remember him with heartfelt gratitude.” Poulson wrote that while in the Methodist church hospital, he saw twenty-two soldiers carried out lifeless. Some of the men died of wounds and others had sickness and wounds both.
After the war, Wesley Poulson became a teacher. He later founded the Western Iowa College, later renamed to Boyles College. After his retirement from the college, he became county superintendent. He lived with his daughter Mrs. George Ward and died in Iowa on December 31, 1930 at the age of eighty-nine. He was survived by four sons, William, Wesley, J. DeWitt, George, and one daughter Mrs. George Ward. He was the last Civil War veteran in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Duncan Milner was commissioned a First Lieutenant and appointed adjutant. On September 20, at the battle of Chickamauga he was severely wounded by a ball passing through the large bone of the forearm. He was honorably discharged. His arm was permanently crippled from the wound.
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