The Making of a Civil War Soldier: Colwert K. Pier of Fond du Lac
by Rick Hamacher

Colwert Pier in 1858

The Civil War in popular memory conjures up images of famous battles, great speeches, and a country that was torn apart for four years. To the people who lived through the Civil War, it had a much greater immediacy. For soldiers, it might be the experience of camping on cold lonely nights, filled with thoughts of when, or whether, one might go home. For civilians, it could be horror that lay in the unexpected message, bearing news of a family tragedy. For one man from Fond du Lac, Colwert K. Pier, the war began as a youthful adventure and an opportunity to establish a political career. But Pier’s Civil War experience also became an occasion to prove his courage and leadership ability. ¹

Colwert K. Pier’s Civil War experience was unusual among soldiers who fought in that conflict in several respects. He first served as a private in the ranks, but he later rejoined the conflict, as a colonel who commanded regiments from two different states. Locally, following the fall of Fort Sumter in April 1861, he gained the distinction of being the first person from Fond du Lac to enlist in President Lincoln’s new volunteer army. ² Pier’s wartime service also was not continuous. After an initial enlistment of three months, he returned home to Fond du Lac. As the years of war dragged on, Pier’s brief and largely uneventful service must have seemed increasingly trivial, and he evidently decided it would be very beneficial to his budding political aspirations if he were to return to the army. He organized a militia unit and eventually received an appointment as a lieutenant colonel in the Union Army. Thus, the ex-private rejoined the military as a regimental commander for the last year of the war.

Colwert K. Pier made history as soon as he was born on June 7, 1841, for he and his twin sister Carrie were the first children born to settlers of European origin in Fond du Lac. As a child growing up on his parents’ forty-one-acre farm, Colwert Pier learned the value of hard work, a lesson that paid off later in life. He was expected to help around the farm when school was not in session, planting crops in the spring and harvesting them in the fall. In the winter months, young Pier could be found in the district school, where he was an excellent student who always wanted to find out more. He excelled in mathematics, composition, and elocution. Pier attended the district school, where he became interested in public speaking and participated in the debating club and the “speaking schools.” These extracurricular activities were turned into good use in Pier’s later years, for he prospered as a local attorney after the Civil War.³

As a teenager, Pier became interested in entrepreneurship, and he sought ways to make money to pay for his studies. It was customary in early Fond du Lac for young children to make use of anything and everything they could sell to make money. When the county fair rolled around every year, or the circus came to town, Colwert Pier could be found on the streets of Fond du Lac selling candy, popcorn, and anything he thought people would be interested in buying.⁴

Following graduation from the district school in 1857 at the age of sixteen, Pier was ready to move into a larger world. He left home for the first time and traveled to Galesburg, Illinois, where he studied at Lombard College. ⁵ This was certainly an eye-opening experience for a young adult from rural Wisconsin. There appears to be no extant record of his studies, but one may surmise that Pier fit in well at school, and he certainly became interested in the field of law while enrolled there. During his summer vacations, Pier returned to Fond du Lac where he interned in the office of Judge Robert Flint. ⁶

Pier was at home and working for Judge Flint when Fort Sumter fell to South Carolina troops. This dramatic event, the illegal seizure of Federal property by forces of a State government, touched off a warlike surge of enthusiasm for war against the ‘secessionists’ throughout the North, and Fond du Lac was no exception to this mood. The news of the conflict reached Fond du Lac rather quickly, for Pier first heard the news that Fort Sumter had fallen early in the evening of Saturday, April 13, 1861. ⁷

His immediate reaction was to decide that he would volunteer to join the army. Patriotism apart, Pier probably also saw an opportunity to make a name for himself in the community. That Saturday evening was probably filled with little sleep and plenty of discussion between Pier and Christian Klock, his boyhood friend and neighbor. They spent the evening talking over the recent events at Fort Sumter and decided that it was in their best interest to fulfill their duty, sign up to serve in the Union army, and participate in putting down the rebellion, a resolution to the conflict that almost everyone outside the South believed would happen very quickly. The first thing on Monday morning, the two young men walked to the office of Colonel S.E. Lefferts and signed their names to the muster roll. Pier took the pen first and signed his name on the list, thus becoming the first person from Fond du Lac to offer his services to the cause of the Union. Pier and Klock were assigned to Company “I” 1st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, a unit that was nicknamed “the Badger Boys.” ⁸

Following the fall of Fort Sumter President Abraham Lincoln had issued an appeal for 75,000 ninety-day militiamen, and Pier and Klock became part of this group. ⁹ Almost everyone, including Lincoln, expected the contest would be a short war, although, General Winfield Scott, commander of the Union army at the beginning of the conflict, believed “ninety-day regiments [were] raw and useless.” ¹⁰ He calculated they would need many months of training and preparation before they would be ready to see action in battle, and only just as their enlistment came to an end would they be ready to fight. This was a problem that hobbled the United States Army’s early efforts in the war, and it certainly was characteristic of Pier’s own initial experience of war.

Colwert Pier’s regiment consisted mainly of men recruited from the Fond du Lac area, as was customary at the time. Residents from a single town or city were organized into companies. Companies from nearby towns were grouped together to form a regiment, each of which received a numerical designation in the order it was formed. The standard complement of a regiment in the Union army was a thousand men, formed from ten companies. ¹¹ Pier’s “Badger Boys” numbered considerably fewer, however, for the entire company was composed of a total of only seventy-seven men. ¹²

On Tuesday evening, April 16, 1861, Colwert K. Pier was sworn in as a member of the “Badger Boys” volunteers. At eight p.m. inside Amory Hall, located in the Amory block, the members of the 1st Wisconsin volunteers marched in and arranged themselves in double file facing the platform to take their oath of allegiance. Roll call was taken, followed by a short prayer for the safe return of the men, given by Reverend George Eastman. ¹³ Following this blessing, the oath was administered to the men, after which the audience, by its own request, was also given the same oath. The ladies presented the soldiers with a basket of Union rosettes. District Attorney Edward Bragg gave the main address. ¹⁴ Bragg sought to rally the young men to the cause, and the address was reported to have been “rousing.” Following Bragg’s speech, the regimental colors were presented to Captain McCall, commander of the regiment, who promised to protect the colors and let nothing happen to them throughout the battles to come. ¹⁵

A bit more than two weeks later, on May 2, 1861, Colwert Pier, along with the rest of the “Badger Boys,” headed to the Fond du Lac railroad depot. Friends, parents, wives, children, brothers, and Sisters said their good-byes to the men as they boarded the train for a short ride to Milwaukee. The men then marched to the St. Charles Hotel, where they were treated to a feast. Then it was time to get measured for uniforms, following which the troops marched about a mile and a half to Camp Scott (located on what is today Wisconsin Avenue, near Wells Street and Kilbourn Avenues), the place they would call home for the next several weeks. ¹⁶

Camp life was routine for the volunteers. Every morning at five the men received a wake up call and formed into ranks to answer roll call. They then returned to their tents, where they shook out and folded the bedding, swept the camp street, which was known as McCall Street, clean of debris, and washed up. At eight they formed into ranks once more and marched to breakfast. Drilling commenced at ten and continued for three hours. At two, the men reassembled for dinner. At three p.m., there was a parade of regiments. At five or six the men were free to do what they wished, except for individuals assigned to stand guard duty. At eight the men again formed into ranks and marched to supper. At ten, the camp lights were doused, and the men settled down for the night. However, they were to remain at the ready throughout the night, since they could be called out at any time, on three minutes’ notice. ¹⁷ When the men were not on duty, they took part in a wide range of activities to keep them busy. Some wrote letters home to loved ones or, in Pier’s case, to the Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter. Pier had evidently made an agreement with the local newspaper to write a series of accounts detailing the “Badger Boys’” experiences. ¹⁸ Pier likely had personal motives in undertaking this assignment, as he thereby had an opportunity to distinguish himself in Fond du Lac in a way that its citizens would remember what he had done after the war concluded. He signed all the letters with the transparent pseudonym “Trowloc,” except for the final letter, which he signed “Colwort.” According to Pier, other men in camp could be found during their free time “reading, running, singing, dancing, talking, laughing almost constantly.” Pier wrote, “we are provided with music from the violin, banjo, and guitar. We are generally in good spirits and heartily join in the chorus oh! ain’t you glad you joined the Badgers.” ¹⁹ From this account, it appears that Pier and his fellow soldiers enjoyed their time together at Camp Scott.

Notwithstanding this description, the new recruits had some grounds for complaint. The uniforms the men were given were not made from the best materials, according to Pier. He thought they were quickly thrown together with whatever cloth could be found. The uniforms were neither matching in style, nor did they fit. During the early part of the war, commanders often looked to their state to provide the uniforms necessary to outfit the men. This, together with personal idiosyncrasies, produced a great diversity in garb among Northern troops. Nearly every color and shade was represented, and the color of choice for the uniforms of many Union companies, including Pier’s, was gray. This ultimately led to near-disaster in early battles, as the Northern armies often misidentified troops wearing variously colored uniforms, mistaking friend for foe and vice versa. Pier wrote of his uniform, “the cloth is gray of various shades. Most of it is a poor quality and will not stand hard service. The pants have a black cord down the sides; the coats have brass buttons and standing collars. We have small gray caps of Zouave pattern." ²⁰ Pier’s company appears to have been the victim of an example of war profiteering. The poor quality of the uniforms could be blamed on the textile factories. They had obtained massive contracts from the Federal Government to provide uniforms for the new volunteer army. In order to fulfill these contracts for hundreds of thousands of uniforms at maximum profit, textile manufactures compressed fibers of recycled woolen goods into a material called “shoddy.” The practice was so common that this technical term entered the English language as a standard word to describe poor workmanship. “The blankets disintegrated, the uniforms did not stand the test of battle, and shoes fell apart on the men, leaving them shoeless and forced to march great distances barefoot.” ²¹

To supply the troops, the army employed the Quartermaster Bureau, whose job was to provide the men with everything except weapons and food. This organization provided “uniforms, overcoats, shoes, knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, mess gear, blankets, tents, camp equipage, barracks, horses, mules, forage, harnesses, horseshoes, and portable blacksmith shops, [and] supply wagons.” It took a lot of equipment and haulage to supply a Union army in the field. When in battle, a Union army of 100,000 men required 2,500 supply wagons and at least 35,000 animals to carry supplies. The weight of all this equipment took a toll on the individual soldiers, too. ²² Pier wrote of an experience in Maryland, “I do not think it was the walk that used us up, (the distance there and back being only about 16 miles,) so much as the heavy load we had to carry, each having a haversack filled with provisions, canteens of water, cartridge box containing 40 rounds, knapsacks weighing from 10 to 80 pounds and a 9 pound musket.” ²³

Pier’s unit was well fed at Camp Scott, according to his account. The soldiers took turns waiting on tables at meals. Usually six soldiers from each company acted as waiters. Four hundred pounds of meat were cooked for dinner, but the meat was not spread equally through the companies. By the time the last companies took their turn to eat, there was no meat left. These men were forced to eat boiled potatoes, bread, and drink cold water. Otherwise, they went hungry. Soldiers were provided with spoon, knife, and fork, utensils for which they were individually respnsible. ²⁴

Once the men headed east, the rations changed, and the men were not so lucky. After they reached their destination in Maryland, rations consisted of “sea biscuit, meat, beans, and rice,” although Pier noted that “thanks to the kindness of Company I, 4th Connecticut, we have been supplied with potatoes, which were really a luxury and relished well.” ²⁵ The once-despised potato had by that time become more appealing.

The most important piece of equipment the men were issued was their primary weapon. Pier’s company was outfitted with cumbersome muzzle-loading rifled muskets. Not all companies had the old muzzle-loading rifled muskets, as one of Pier’s neighboring companies, from Connecticut, was outfitted with the Sharp’s rifle. The Sharp’s was a simple, yet very reliable weapon, which could inflict serious injury on the enemy:

A lever which also acted as a trigger guard was pulled down, which also lowered a block at the breech, exposing the open barrel. The soldier simply inserted a linen-wrapped cartridge into the barrel, and the act of raising the lever and block once more clipped off the back of the lined, exposing the powder. A cap placed on the nipple readied it for firing. ²⁶

It was amazing that so many inexperienced men handling unfamiliar and often clumsy weapons did not cause many serious injuries, although there were cases of men shooting themselves or others in their companies. Pier mentions in one of his letters how a Connecticut soldier discharged his Sharp’s rifle, and the ball shattered his leg below the knee. On another occasion, a rifle ball passed through one of the company’s tents. Therefore, the colonel of Pier’s regiment made special orders pertaining to their weapons, namely, forbidding them to be loaded in camp. ²⁷ Battle would bring even more trials for these novice soldiers. After a fight, Pier wrote of how one soldier bragged that he had loaded his musket six times and fired, each time killing the targeted man. He told this story to every one he met until, on going up to his captain and relating the tale to him, he was told by that officer to put his ram rod down the barrel of the musket to see whether his gun was loaded. He found the rod would not go to the bottom by nearly a foot. A ball screw was obtained, and six cartridges were drawn from the musket. Pier summed up the raucous conclusion of the crestfallen braggart’s commander: “The young man cracked six caps.” This embarrassed soldier was also a fortunate one, for the repeatedly loaded and misfired gun had not exploded in his face. ²⁸

From what can be determined from Pier’s letters to the newspaper, discipline in the 1st Wisconsin seems not to have been the major problem that it was in other units of the Union Army. Pier’s company, however, had its share of problems. In one letter, Pier wrote about two men from Company H who took two horses from a Virginia pasture. The culprits were criticized, as their act of theft reflected badly on the rest of the company. The colonel ordered the horses returned. This story, with its moral of concern for the private property of people who were presumably supporters of the Confederacy, suggests the naiveté of this early period of the war, for there soon would be frequent “requisitioning” of enemy civilian property by both sides. Pier also wrote about events that took place when his company was stationed across the Potomac River from a Confederate force. Pier’s friend Christian Klock and another “Badger Boy,” Charles Kimball, waded into the river and shook hands with Confederate soldiers in the middle. The two sides exchanged greetings and made promises to be friends following the war. ²⁹ This fraternization would have been cause for serious disciplinary action if any officers had witnessed it.

Discipline within volunteer units could be a serious problem, partly because these regiments selected their captains, and the newly elected captains often were afraid of upsetting subordinates who had elected them and who would return to the same community after the war ended. In the early part of the war, the captain’s duties were limited to assembling the men on ceremonial occasions and leading them in parades. Most of these men had relatively little if any military experience before the war. ³⁰

By May, Colwert Pier and his company were becoming restless and could not wait for the opportunity to move out and take part in the action. The news the company had been waiting for finally arrived on May 29. As Company “I” was marching in battalion drill in the afternoon, a young boy stepped up and handed a sealed envelope to Colonel Starkweather. The Colonel

opened, read and swinging his cap he shouted ‘Boys we won’t be here 48 hours’ simultaneously our boys pulled off their caps and ‘hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!’ rung wildly out from one end of the regiment to the other – when he drew us in line of battle, read to us the telegram, which was to hold the 1st regiment ready to march in two hours. ³¹

Yet even after receipt of the telegram, the “Badger Boys” faced a considerable wait. Pier’s regiment stayed in camp as the second and third regiments headed east, and a rumor began to spread throughout the camp that their regiment would be disbanded in two days, unless the men agreed to extend their enlistments for three more years. Pier figured the regiment would be disbanded, as they would never get enough men to reenlist. Pier was one of these men and stated in his letters to the Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter that many of the men were not satisfied with their present officers. The rumor, however, turned out to be unfounded, for the regiment stayed intact during the remainder of Pier’s ninety-day enlistment period. ³² Pier’s letters include a description of one episode that surely spread resentment of an officer through the ranks. He describes an incident when the company was drilling in pouring rain, during which the Colonel

gave orders to march for the tents, and the ‘double quick at will,’ into which the boys fell rapidly in the rear, and the Colonel to set back in his saddle and with much merriment exclaim ‘what gallant soldiers.’ All the difference there was, the Col. had a dry suit to put on, while we did not. ³³

Perhaps Pier remembered episodes like this when he himself became an officer. In any event, one noteworthy event that occurred at this time was that Colwert Pier received his first monthly pay as a soldier, the sum of $10.26. ³⁴

On Sunday, June 9, the orders finally came for the 1st Wisconsin “Badger Boys” to head east and join the campaign then being organized along the Potomac. That Sunday, after receiving the news, the men quickly struck camp and marched to the depot, where again they said their good-byes to all the friends who came to see them off. Each man carried a knapsack filled with clothes, a haversack containing rations to last for three days, a canteen full of water, and his weapon. From Milwaukee the troops headed south, stopping in Kenosha for a meeting with the local citizens. From Pier’s description, it must have seemed to the troops that the war was already won. On arrival the company marched to a city park where the citizens of Kenosha treated them to a terrific dinner, and paid attention to every little word the men had to say. The civilians were full of questions about what it was like to be a soldier and what they expected to find in the east. Such dinners were an effort by the army to stimulate a sense of patriotism among the citizenry and to drum up support for the war effort. After the meal, the company marched back to the depot and boarded the train once more, this time heading south to Chicago. After changing trains in Chicago, the soldiers headed through the countryside of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, arriving in Toledo, Ohio on Monday, June 10. Once more, the men changed cars and continued their journey to Columbus, Ohio. There they once again marched through the streets of Columbus to cheering crowds. The parade through the streets of Columbus was, of course, another attempt to stimulate recruitment. Then it was back on the train for another journey, this time to Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, the troops changed trains before departing for Harrisburg and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where they arrived early Wednesday morning. All along the route, the men had been greeted by cheering people; at every place, the women furnished the soldiers cold water and, in some cases, hot coffee, which was much appreciated.

On arrival in Chambersburg, the regiment made camp and was joined by other units. Pier mentions “the 4th Conn. Regiment, and Penn. 11th came in this morning – encamped with us. Wilson’s N.Y. Zouaves will be here this noon. These four form a brigade, which our regiments leads.” ³⁵

Sunday, June 16, the Pier’s unit received orders to break camp and head south to Hagerstown, Maryland, where they again encamped, this time closer to the front. The move into Maryland provided an opportunity for the soldiers to see what life was like below the Mason-Dixon Line. The men were cautioned to be careful, as they were among the “secessionists,” although Maryland had not seceded, and they were to be careful of what they ate and drank. Pier mentions that there were plenty of Negroes on the streets, along with an equal number of mules. ³⁶ Both presumably were novel to his experience. Pier also mentioned camp followers, “girls who are constantly during the day, in our streets, selling bread, pies, cakes, tobacco, writing material &c, &c, and their numbers seem to increase daily. The prices are from 50 to 100 per cent above those in Fond du Lac.” ³⁷ It must have been an impressive change in culture for a young man from small-town Wisconsin.

The men were anxious to get into combat. The first few days at Hagerstown were filled with rumors of possible marches and possible action. Nothing came of these rumors, except that at midnight, Monday, June 17, the drums sounded, and the company was ordered to cross the Potomac River at Washington D.C. and head to Williamsport, Virginia to confront a group of secessionists. The men received an allotment of ammunition, knapsacks were slung over their backs, and they headed out on a clear night to march the ten miles to Williamsport. Arriving just after dawn, the company was disappointed to learn that the rebels had retreated before the Union troops arrived. After resting all afternoon, the men headed back to their camp at Hagerstown to wait for their next orders. ³⁸

As the 1st Wisconsin continued to wait at Hagerstown, they filled their time by drilling five hours a day. Drill was divided into two periods early in the morning and in the evening, in order to avoid having the men outside all day in the hot sun, wasting their energy for no real reason. But this training was different from the close order drills they had experienced at Camp Scott. Now the men were training for work as skirmishers. It appears the troops liked this new type of drill, as it involved a lot of quick movements and provided the soldiers the opportunity to move on their own without orders from their commander. ³⁹ On June 29, the men were told to pack up once more, as they were to be repositioned nearer the Potomac River. Three days later, on July 1, the Colonel ordered the troops to move out, this time into the interior of Virginia. The men had to maintain guard at all times, as the enemy was known to be nearby and appeared to be in strength.

The 1st Wisconsin reached Virginia on July 2. Colwert Pier’s regiment was attached to a division under the command of Major General Robert Patterson. Patterson’s division crossed the Potomac River near Williamsport and was marching on the main road toward Martinsburg, Virginia when Brigadier General Thomas (soon to be christened “Stonewall”) Jackson’s Confederate division confronted the larger body of Union troops near Hoke’s Run, located in present-day West Virginia. General Patterson ordered the men forward, with Pennsylvania troops flanking Pier’s unit’s right. Patterson’s men continued forward, and the fighting became more general as the men came close enough to see the enemy. Soldiers stood in wheat fields firing, using sheaves of grain for cover while they reloaded. The artillery followed the men, firing towards the enemy. Pier reported the bullets flying right overhead and getting closer. He saw several wounded soldiers carried from the field. Pier’s regiment was ordered to deploy as skirmishers, and they extended out their front about three miles in all directions looking for the enemy. ⁴⁰ As a result of this small skirmish at Falling Waters, Virginia, the Confederacy was left with ninety-one casualties and the Union army with twenty-three. A member of the 1st Wisconsin’s Company A who had predicted to his friends before the battle that he was going to be the first to fall indeed became the first Wisconsin soldier to die in the Civil War. ⁴¹ Following this skirmish, the Union army occupied Martinsburg and remained there until July 15, when Patterson withdrew his command to Harper’s Ferry. ⁴²

Jackson’s Confederates had fulfilled their assignment, withdrawing slowly as planned before Patterson’s larger force. Unbeknownst to Pier, Patterson’s inactivity played a major role in the Union defeat at the Battle of First Manassas, or Bull Run, on July 21. Patterson’s failure to move against the Shenandoah Valley released Confederate troops who arrived by rail to reinforce General P. G. T. Beauregard at Bull Run, precipitating a rout of General Irwin McDowell’s Union army by the Southerners. This defeat ensured that the war would not be ended by the termination date of Colwert Pier’s ninety-day enlistment.

Pier’s action at the Battle of Falling Waters was only a small taste of a battle, but to the men who had fought there, it seemed at the time that they had won the war. Pier, excited by the battle, wrote home that he saw a couple of dead Confederate soldiers lying in a wheat field. ⁴³ Perhaps a growing realization of the trivial character of this battle helped motivate Colwert Pier to reenlist later in the war, for Falling Waters became increasingly less credible as a platform for his post war plans. A year later, the skirmish was considered a joke among veterans.

A majority of the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Falling Waters were inexperienced ninety-day volunteers whose terms of enlistment were rapidly coming to an end. Pier described how efforts were made to encourage the men to extend their enlistments, but there were few takers, despite these soldiers’ earlier enthusiasm for war.

The encamped men at Martinsburg waited for more orders to come, but Patterson remained inactive. They experienced several false alarms, including being called out in the middle of the night because a guard saw something move in the bushes and fired a shot. On another occasion, the 1st Wisconsin was supposed to form as skirmishers to find the enemy, but at the last minute this order was countermanded. Therefore, the 1st Wisconsin had nothing to do but sit in the hot Virginia summer sun and wait anxiously for the big battle that was rumored to be coming. The men even had an opportunity to do some sightseeing in Charlestown, Virginia, where they viewed John Brown’s courthouse, prison, and place of execution. ⁴⁴

After remaining for twenty-three days in enemy territory, Pier’s unit recrossed the Potomac without further incident. The troops camped on the north bank, overlooking the river, where they could see every movement that was made by nearby Confederate troops, and vice versa. The men were on strict alert; no one could leave camp without a permit, and half the camp was on guard duty every twenty-four hours. Pickets of both armies were stationed opposite each other. At first they tried to stay out of sight, hiding behind fences and trees. Occasionally the sentries would exchange volleys. Wisconsin soldiers eventually took the initiative to show themselves to the enemy repeatedly, and after a short time the two sides stopped shooting and agreed to talk. This informal truce allowed Pier’s friend, Christian Klock, and another “Badger Boy” to meet their enemies in the middle of the river. ⁴⁵

Sunday, August 11, the men were informed of the route that they expected to follow during their return trip to Milwaukee, as their ninety-day enlistment was finally completed. They expected to arrive in Milwaukee Thursday evening, August 15, 1861. If they received their final army pay on time, a disbursement scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, they expected they would be back in Fond du Lac on Saturday. ⁴⁶ The trip actually took a week longer, for the group did not reach home until August 23. As their train pulled into the depot in Fond du Lac, a huge crowd of cheering friends, family, and loved ones greeted them. The Northwestern Band escorted the Company to Amory Hall, where the Honorable C.A. Eldridge, Republican state senator from Fond du Lac, delivered the address to welcome home the soldiers. ⁴⁷ Following his remarks, Captain McCall addressed the group for the last time, thanking them for their service. The boys then broke ranks and headed home for the first time in four months, their duty to the Union war effort now over. ⁴⁸ The troops that went out with the expectation that they would end the rebellion had returned home with a sense of accomplishment but without success; Pier himself, already the politician, now styled the “Badger Boys” as an “emergency army” that had been formed to hold until the “real” army could be readied.

Once the 1st Wisconsin reached home safely, Colwert Pier resumed his study of law at the office of James M. Gillett and Judge W.D. Conklin. ⁴⁹ While Pier lived at home, he must have had a hard time getting the war out of his mind, for he kept an active interest in the war effort. He participated in every recruiting rally that was held in the Fond du Lac area. Since Pier already had served a brief tour, he was presumably asked to say a few words to stir up the crowd and encourage them to enlist. Pier also kept a deep interest in the formation of new companies, as he considered reenlisting himself, under the right conditions.

During the later part of 1862 or early 1863, Pier began to form his own militia company, and the men he recruited elected him captain. This allowed Pier the opportunity to petition the governor for a commission as a militia officer and consequently gave him an opportunity to reenter the war, this time as an officer. At this point Pier’s request was purely political in nature, and he was no doubt positioning himself for a possible political career. The Pier family evidently had its share of enemies, however, for opposition to his request was strong. “Violent political opponents of the captain joined in a written protest to Governor Harvey to withhold his commission. The contest became excessively bitter[,] but the governor sent him his commission.” ⁵⁰ With his commission in hand, Pier worked to form nine more companies so he could command a regiment. The commissioned officers then proceeded to elect him colonel at the youthful age of twenty-one. The governor commissioned Pier as colonel of the militia regiment, and the new colonel duly forwarded a request to the Federal Government for activation of his fledgling militia regiment.

The War Department in Washington was typically skeptical of such untrained political officers, and it initially declined the offer. Pier subsequently explained this reluctance with a strange tale that the war was nearly over and that the government needed no more new troops. This rebuff evidently was a huge disappointment for Pier, and as time went by with still no call to duty, he became depressed. ⁵¹ In 1864 General Ulysses S. Grant took command of the entire Union army, and his plans required major expansion of the army, including three new regiments to be raised in Wisconsin. ⁵² Governor Lewis ordered the formation of three new regiments, the 36th, 37th, and 38th. Pier’s unit became the 38th Wisconsin regiment. ⁵³

Twenty-five years later, the story of Colwert Pier’s reenlistment was embroidered with a tale of filial devotion that included many characteristic mid-Victorian sentiments and embellishments of domestic drama. According to this version, one evening Pier was sitting at home, when a messenger approached with an urgent message from Madison: “will you accept a commission as lieutenant-colonel of the thirty-eighth regiment? Answer immediately.” ⁵⁴ According to the story, Pier went in search of his father and showed him the telegram. His father told him to ask his mother. Pier went to his ailing mother’s bedside, and he read her the telegram from the governor. “Her eyes filled with tears. With a trembling voice she said, ‘Do as you think best my boy; I will be satisfied with your decision.’” ⁵⁵ Within six days, Pier was on his way to Madison for training. Of course this tale rings rather false in the context of Pier’s many efforts to obtain his commission, but it must have played well to local audiences after the war, particularly those in Milwaukee who may not have known the real story. ⁵⁶

Pier had asked his friends from his old regiment to join him, and many enthusiastically accepted his invitation. The new soldiers were sent to Camp Randall in Madison to train. Named for Governor Alexander Randall, Camp Randall was located on the campus of the present day University of Wisconsin. Its 42 acres extended from University Avenue to Monroe Street between Breeze Terrace and Randall Avenue. The land had been donated to the state legislature by the State Agricultural Society. ⁵⁷

At Camp Randall, Colwert Pier faced a handicap in efforts to bring his regiment up to strength. Despite the existence of a military draft, conscription was not of much use in bringing soldiers into Pier’s particular unit, and persuasion was still necessary to get men to join the new Wisconsin regiment. Wisconsin’s German Catholics, many of whom had left Europe in order to avoid military service, were a particularly poor source of drafted manpower for the Union, and there were even anti-draft riots in Wisconsin. Other ethnic groups in the state had already responded strongly to the call for volunteers, and this meant that the draft might not be applied to those communities.

In general, conscription proved rather ineffective, save as an incentive to voluntary recruitment. By 1863, it had become clear that some form of compulsion would be necessary in order to maintain adequate Union forces in the field. Conscription was instituted as a means to stimulate enlistment through encouraging states to offer enlistment bonuses and bounties in order to avoid the distasteful alternative of having to draft their citizens. Congress authorized a Provost Marshal Bureau to oversee the draft, and the Bureau sent marshals to each congressional district to enroll all men between the ages of twenty to forty-five. In the first draft held by the Government in July 1863, twenty per cent of those enrolled were called up. In 1864, the Federal Government issued recruiting quotas for each district, and those districts that did not meet the quota held drafts to produce the required number of soldiers. Only about 50,000 men were actually drafted, while 120,000 substitutes were procured. ⁵⁸

Potential draftees had several ways to avoid the military. Nearly one fifth of all those drafted in the four military drafts of 1864 fled to Canada or to the Western territories. Those who did report to the Provost Marshal office were sent home if the district had already reached its quota. Several thousand men were dismissed after failing physicals or successfully pleading that they were sole providers for families that would face economic hardship if they served. Even soldiers who passed their physicals still had a few options to avoid service. Wealthy draftees hired substitutes, which gave permanent exemption. Alternatively, they paid a commutation fee of $300, which exempted an individual from only the present draft but not subsequent calls, although this mechanism was soon limited to conscientious objectors. Substitutes were drawn from young men not old enough to be drafted and immigrants who were not citizens and therefore not liable to the draft. ⁵⁹

One mechanism used to recruit Wisconsin men in 1864 was to raise a force of three regiments composed of short-term volunteers who would serve 100 days. The theory was that these short terms of enlistment would be more attractive, and these troops could protect lines of communication and maintain order, thus freeing longer-term soldiers for the actual field armies. ⁶⁰ This recruitment feature, however, did Pier no good in augmenting his regiment, for he was seeking a group of men willing to undertake long-term service with the fighting army. If anything, the existence of these units made his recruiting job harder.

The war was no longer the happy-go-lucky camping trip that Pier had described in 1861. People had heard horror stories of bloody battles, seen the long casualty lists from the 1862 battles at Shiloh, Antietam, and Fredericksburg, and had heard from soldiers who already returned. Not many were interested in fighting and the attendant dangers of military life. To fill his regiment, Pier therefore relied on his friends and other local recruits who might still be looking for the thrill of the fight. From these sources, only four companies could be mustered into service in the 38th Wisconsin by April 15, 1864.

Pier, along with regimental commander Colonel James Bintliff, spent the next several weeks drilling the under-strength regiment into shape and providing the men with the basic rudiments of military skills in order to prepare them to fight. ⁶¹ On May 3, orders arrived that Lieutenant Colonel Colwert Pier should lead the four companies of the 38th Wisconsin east to serve in the Army of the Potomac under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant.

Arriving in Washington on May 7, Pier’s four companies quickly marched to Arlington, Virginia, where they set up camp and resumed drilling, waiting for new orders to arrive. For the time being, the 38th was attached to Casey’s Provisional Brigade, XXII Army Corps. The men remained in this camp until May 30, when they moved to White House, Virginia and temporarily joined the 1st Minnesota regiment.

At this time, the Army of the Potomac was maneuvering against the Confederate capital of Richmond. The 38th Regiment, as a new and green unit, was assigned responsibility for guarding the army’s supply train at Cold Harbor, just as a fierce and bloody battle was commencing. ⁶²

On June 3, the Army of the Potomac moved forward. General Grant called for a three-pronged attack by II, XVIII, and IX Corps directed against vague and widely spaced objectives. This frontal assault against the Confederates entrenched on the Bethesda-Cold Harbor line proved to be disastrous. As they approached the Rebels, the men were exposed to direct fire and were picked off one by one. The attackers, realizing they were in trouble, huddled together, searching for any cover they could find. The attack lasted roughly eight minutes, but it proved to be a deadly mistake by Grant. His command lost over 7,000 men in one day, a majority of the casualties in those first eight minutes. Of all General Grant’s military decisions, this was the one that he regretted the most.⁶³ The inconclusive fighting at Cold Harbor lasted until June 12, when the Army of the Potomac’s II Corps, under General Winfield Scott Hancock, moved across the James River and toward Petersburg, Virginia, followed by the rest of the army on June 15. Pier’s unit was engaged only in minor actions during the final few days of Cold Harbor, and the regiment came through this fighting with the loss of only a few men, but Cold Harbor finally provided Colwert Pier and the 38th Wisconsin regiment with a taste of serious fighting. ⁶⁴

The Union army’s move on Petersburg was an effort to isolate Richmond by seizing its railroad supply lines, most of which funneled through the city of Petersburg, some 25 miles to the south. Initial efforts to assault the poorly defended Confederate line on June 15 failed through lack of coordination. Consequently, the Army of the Potomac settled in for a long siege in which the Union forces attempted to break the Confederate entrenchments. Because the Union forces were not large enough to completely invest Petersburg, assaults were punctuated with flanking moves designed to sever the more westerly railroads leading into Petersburg that were still under Southern control.

At Petersburg, Pier’s 38th regiment was assigned to General Ambrose Burnside’s IX Army Corps, 1st Division, which was led by Brevet Major General Orlando B. Willcox. ⁶⁵ His unit played a role in the early, inconclusive attacks that attempted to break the Confederate line. On the evening of June 16, Pier’s unit took up a position in front of the enemy works along Baxter Road east of Petersburg, on the left of II Corps, in support of their attack. A short time later, under cover of dark, the Federals broke through the Confederate line, but they suffered severe casualties. ⁶⁶ During the early morning hours of June 17, the IX Corps sneaked quietly into a ravine deep within the Confederate position. Men of Pier’s 1st Division supported the attack by the 2nd Division. The “men burst forward at 3:00 a.m. and took four guns, five flags, 600 prisoners, and 1,500 stands of arms,” a great tactical success. ⁶⁷ At two that afternoon the IX Corps led another charge on the Confederate position. This time, the Confederates were waiting, the Union attack was mismanaged, and it only succeeded in wrecking one of the Union brigades, while little ground was gained. A third attack by IX Corps’ 3rd Division commenced at 6:00 p.m. The Federals broke through briefly but were unsupported and were driven back by an evening counterattack. ⁶⁸ The inconclusive fighting had cost the Army of the Potomac 11,000 casualties during June 15-18.

During each of three days (June 16-18), Colwert Pier was injured in battle. “He was grazed by a bullet on the forehead, was shot in the fleshy part of the leg, and an ugly fragment of a shell hit him on the instep, the latter giving him much pain. But all three failed to drive him from the field, despite greatly weakening him through the loss of blood.” ⁶⁹ Pier wrote of his siege that his unit “shot days and worked nights: it was dangerous to be safe anywhere, as the opposing lines were within a stones-throw of each other: the rebels shot to kill and killed by the thousands. We returned their compliments and probably threw two pounds of lead and iron to their one.” ⁷⁰

Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia now belatedly moved southward to reinforce General P. G. T. Beauregard’s handful of Petersburg defenders. By June 18, it appeared that the IX Corps would dig in for the long term, as they crossed the shallow Poor Creek and settled on a sloping hill west of the creek. This position gave the Corps a prime view of the Confederate front line. ⁷¹ They stayed there a few days, and this allowed the men to fire a few rounds at the enemy forces in order to keep them occupied while plans to develop the siege unfolded.

Within a few weeks, engineers of the 48th Pennsylvania regiment dug a mine in the IX Corps sector where the two sides’ positions ran only 400 feet apart. The Federal troops planned to explode the mine under the Confederate position. Their tunnel was about four and a half feet high, nearly as many feet wide at the bottom and two feet wide at the top, and the tunnel stretched for nearly five hundred feet in length. By July 17, the main gallery leading to the Confederate lines was completed. The Union miners continued to branch out left and right, “running lateral galleries nearly forty feet each way, parallel to and slightly to the rear of the main Confederate trench line.” The mine was completed by July 23 and was ready to be loaded with explosives. ⁷²

On July 17, Pier’s regiment moved into the front line trenches to get ready for the battle. Here Pier suffered another minor injury as a shell fragment wounded him. On July 30, Pier’s Company B was stationed on the extreme front on the flank of the attack, with the remaining three companies of his regiment occupying positions along the second line in support. The attack was spearheaded by James Ledlie’s 1st Division, flanked by the 2nd (Robert Potter) and 3rd (Orlando Willcox) Divisions, including Pier’s undersized regiment. These latter units, it was planned, would seize trenches along the flanks of the crater, while the 1st Division penetrated the crater itself. Upon hearing the first explosion of the mine, Companies B and E of Pier’s command led the charge. The two companies numbered less than one hundred men as they started to advance upon the enemy. They took enfilading artillery fire from batteries that had been placed by alert Confederates who suspected the presence of a mine, but they advanced to occupy the enemy trench line, a position they held until 3:00 p.m., when they were ordered to return to their previous trenches, a movement executed under heavy fire. About this action, Pier wrote, “my decimated command used 5 thousand rounds of ball cartridges every 24 hours: the graveyard behind the hill hourly increased its membership, and if a man left his position or stood upright, he did so at the peril of his life.” ⁷³ The attack had been broken up by artillery and mortar fire, but the fiasco had been poorly conceived, plagued by animosity between the Army Commander, George Meade, and his erstwhile commander, now turned subordinate, Ambrose Burnside, and doomed when the key leadership role was assigned by Burnside to a drunken incompetent, General James Ledlie. ⁷⁴ Both Burnside and Ledlie were stripped of their commands as a result of the fiasco. Pier’s unit was fortunate not to be destroyed in the slaughter of Union soldiers within the crater.

Pier suffered four minor injuries at the Siege of Petersburg, and he was lucky that he was not wounded severely enough to require medical attention. Soldiers were often better off if they did not go to the field hospital. Dangers of infection were not well understood. In order to avoid gangrene, the standard practice was to amputate injured limbs, and the resulting shock killed many. Soldiers injured on the battlefield were collected “by untrained and haphazardly controlled volunteers who frequently were shirkers. Wounded soldiers were taken to field hospitals, where they were met by a surgeon. The most serious cases were dealt with first, normally by amputation.” ⁷⁵ Surgery in the Union army was painful and barbarous. Men sometimes totally lacking in skill commonly undertook the most serious operations. A patient was lucky if an anesthetic was available, for in many cases it was not. Soldiers were forced to go through major operations with only a little whiskey to dull the pain produced by knife and saw. ⁷⁶

Following the disaster of the Crater, during the month of August, the task of IX Corps was to seize and protect the Weldon Railroad line in order to cut off the supply lines south of Petersburg. The IX Corps was stationed west of the Jerusalem Plank Road, south of Petersburg. Pier’s men were held in reserve, next to the Globe Tavern, as the Confederates launched a quick raid designed to recover the railroad. As the line held by Brigadier General Samuel Crawford’s V Army Corps, 3rd Division collapsed under heavy fire on August 19, Pier’s division was ordered to attack and did so with an enthusiastic shout. Brevet General Orlando Willcox led the 1st Division. The Confederates had not expected the IX Corps’ attack, as Pier’s group ran through Crawford’s collapsing line toward the Rebels. ⁷⁷ August 20 saw more action along the Jerusalem Plank Road, where Pier’s division was located. The fighting continued indecisively. Around midmorning, as the Confederates opened fire along Vaughn Road, the Union infantrymen ducked for cover and regrouped. Federal pickets drove forward, and this allowed the rest of the Union army the opportunity to check the Confederate advance and to reinforce the lines. The Confederates tried to turn and find an open Union flank, but they found no gap. ⁷⁸ This left the Confederates with few options: They could continue to march forward into an onslaught of Union fire, turn and retreat, or surrender. A majority of the Rebels turned and retreated, and this gave the Union a victory at Weldon, the main line running south from Petersburg. The Union troops, however, let the Rebels retreat and failed to pursue them. Following the successful lodgment at Weldon Station, Pier’s division, along with others, had the responsibility to destroy the railroad. This destruction continued for some time. Wrecking this line cut the rail link between Richmond and the last seaport in Confederate hands, Wilmington, North Carolina. Loss of this route forced the Confederates to unload railroad cars and bring supplies to the Petersburg garrison by wagon up the Boydton Plank road, a distance of 30 miles.

While, Pier’s men rested at Weldon Station, the Confederates launched a surprise attack on the Union forces down the road at Reams Station. They drove the Federals off the railroad, winning a temporary victory. General Meade ordered Pier’s division to “double step” to Reams Station and help turn back the Confederate troops. ⁷⁹ Pier’s unit was several miles and a few hours from General Hancock’s II Corps, which consequently was forced to defend itself, unsupported. After putting up a stiff resistance, Hancock’s men retreated before the IX Corps could intervene. ⁸⁰ This Confederate success thwarted further damage to the railroad, keeping the supply line intact.

Pier’s regiment continued to see minor engagements during the rest of 1864. One such fight took place at Poplar Springs Church. The Union forces made repeated efforts to drive westward in order to cut off remaining roads and railroads leading to Petersburg from the west and south. The IX Corps, along with several divisions of the V Corps, marched south of Petersburg. The IX Corps’ responsibility was to clear the roadway and take up a supporting position on the V Corps’ left. Once Pier’s division was in place, the order to charge was given, and the men moved forward quickly. The bullets and shells from the Rebel position had no effect as the lines pressed forward. The Confederates had no choice but to turn and run, as they were severely outnumbered. ⁸¹

Overall, however, the Union’s autumn efforts to cut Petersburg’s last supply lines to the interior failed. Thursday, October 26, Pier and his division marched towards Boydton Plank Road, further to the west, where they waited for an attack on the Rebels that was soon to commence (the Battle of Burgess Mill). This was one of the few times, in which Pier’s men had to march through wooded and rocky terrain to reach the battlefield. ⁸² After an early advance by the Union forces on October 27 that gained a portion of Boydton Plank Road, the Confederates counter-attacked that same afternoon and drove the Federal forces back across the road in yet another Confederate tactical victory. ⁸³

Pier’s division stayed in this area throughout the winter, waiting to resume the campaign in early spring. During this time, Colwert Pier received some startling news. In a deadly battle at Fort Stedman on March 25, 1865 the 109th New York infantry, regiment had seen all its officers killed in action as this unit fought to recapture a fort taken by a surprise Confederate assault. Lieutenant Colonel Colwert Pier was now assigned to command this leaderless regiment. James Bintliff, Colonel of the 38th Wisconsin, had by this time joined the regiment, rendering Pier redundant in command of the 38th. This was an appointment that Pier did not want, for it would separate him from friends and companions. Pier was not a trained officer, but he had seen some significant soldiering and had doubtless learned a lot. Presumably, his bravery and effective leadership at Petersburg had led him to be singled out for this command. He reluctantly accepted the appointment and vowed he would do his best. Just as Pier did not want the appointment, neither did the men of the 109th New York. They thought it was an insult to have a young kid from Wisconsin who appeared to be a “political soldier” take command of their seasoned, veteran regiment. One of Pier’s first orders as leader of his new regiment was to command a dress parade in full view of the enemy, while taking fire from the Rebels. One of the members of the 109th, speaking of this event, said; “The Adjutant read the order and, Col. Pier advancing to his side said to the officers in line ‘this Order is as objectionable to me as to you and I will have it revoked as soon as I can; in the meantime, we must remember we are soldiers. You expect me to do my duty as I know you will do yours.’” ⁸⁴ Apparently, this honest statement helped cement a better relationship between the new regimental commander and the New Yorkers.

On March 25, in his first leadership role as commander of the 109th, Pier led his new unit into battle at Fort Stedman, located in a salient near the east end of the Confederate Petersburg fortifications. The fort had fallen into the hands of the Confederacy again, and the Union was busy making plans to attack once more. The Union forces made their way around the Fort and opened fire on the enemy. After a short time, the fort was taken by the Union troops, and the fight moved to nearby Fort Haskell. The Confederates tried to attack this fort in the dark, but they were surprised by the strength of the opposition and were driven back. The Federal force extended eastward to outflank the advancing Confederate line. Under a heavy barrage of fire, the Confederates were forced to retreat once more. ⁸⁵ During this battle, Pier earned the respect of his men, as he helped to lead the capture of Fort Stedman. This battle resulted in the capture of 2,000 prisoners and badly depleted Confederate reserves. ⁸⁶ From this point on, Pier faced no difficulties with the New York regiment, and they were willing to do whatever it took to please him. As a parting gift, he received a new horse and saddle from the New Yorkers, and he ended the war having been promoted to colonel. ⁸⁷

Pier and his New Yorkers also played a role in the final battle for Petersburg on April 2. Pier and his men, together with the rest of the IX Corps, surrounded Fort Mahone, but under intense pressure from the Rebels, the North was forced to retreat a little. This minor retreat gave the South a false hope of success. The IX Corps was in trouble, some regiments seemed to lose control, and others were running low on ammunition. Soldiers tried to restock their ammunition supplies, but to do this they needed to cross the dangerous no-man’s land. Many of those who attempted the crossing were killed. The Confederates counterattacked, and this assault started to drive the Union soldiers back from the Fort. Just in the nick of time, they were reinforced by a brigade from VI Corps and the Army Provost brigade, whereupon a deadly fight broke out between the two sides. The North continued the push through no-man’s land in pursuit of the Confederates, many paying with their lives, but the Confederates’ final push of the war was stalemated. The Confederates considered another counterattack, but before they could get organized General Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, ordered a retreat, due to VI Corps’ breakthrough on the Boydton Plank Road west of Petersburg. Under cover of darkness in the early morning hours of April 3, General Lee led his men out of Petersburg, and the siege was finally over. ⁸⁸ Pier and the 109th continued to chase General Lee and the Rebel army until they reached Appomattox Court House, where General Lee surrendered to General Grant, ending America’s bloodiest war.

Following Lee’s surrender, Pier continued to lead the 109th New York regiment, marching them to the nation’s capital. There, despite the insistence of his men that he lead them back to their home state of New York, Pier relinquished command of the 109th. After an emotional farewell, he accepted command once more of his old regiment, the 38th Wisconsin, and he led his men down Pennsylvania Avenue in the Army of the Potomac’s victory parade. ⁸⁹ Following his discharge from service in August 1865, Pier led his regiment home. A year and a half earlier, he had left the state with a group of young inexperienced men. Now he commanded a veteran unit.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Colwert Pier had seen an opportunity to make a name for himself in his community. While he came from a distinguished family in Fond du Lac, he wanted to do something worthy of recognition. This led him to sign up for his ninety-day enlistment with the 1st Wisconsin. During his few months in the service, Pier sought public recognition through the letters he wrote to the local newspaper under the transparent pseudonym “Trowloc.” After returning home, and as the war continued, Pier probably soon realized that his first efforts had not done much to further his political aspirations. He formed a militia unit, while petitioning the governor to give him a commission as an officer. Eventually surmounting political opposition, he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the 38th Wisconsin Regiment and headed east once more to take part in the final year of the war.

In combat at Petersburg, the young man who went to war in the spring of 1861 as a result of a combination of patriotic enthusiasm, youthful adventure, and personal ambition became a real soldier and a leader. Pier served the 38th Wisconsin regiment bravely and with honor, refusing to leave battle even after being repeatedly wounded and losing much blood. The most significant indication of his growth and success as a leader was his assignment to command the 109th New York regiment after their officers were killed in battle. This new command was not an easy one for him, for he was no longer among friends and supporters from home, but he earned the respect of the men of the 109th through his cool, calm nature in battle. Pier’s experiences came full circle during the war. Entering the conflict as a callow youth off on a summer lark, he emerged as a veteran warrior and a respected leader of men, one who would play a major role in Wisconsin veterans’ affairs for years to come.

Following the war, Pier continued to stay active in military reunions and became commander of the Fond du Lac post of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.). Pier played a pivotal role in developing the idea of a reunion for Civil War veterans. In 1881, his idea was realized in a meeting of thousands of former soldiers in Milwaukee. This reunion, which was attended by Generals Grant and Sheridan, served as an impetus for a great expansion of membership in the G.A.R., which increased from 6,000 to 500,000 after the reunion. The organization became an important force in national politics, lobbying Congress on behalf of pensions for veterans. ⁹⁰

Pier became president of the Wisconsin Soldiers’ Reunion association and played a key role in bringing a large Civil War soldiers reunion to Fond du Lac. In 1889, Pier was elected secretary of the executive board for the National G.A.R., which held an encampment in Fond du Lac that summer. Even after he moved to Milwaukee in 1888, Pier continued to stay active in veterans’ affairs, as he served as trustee of the E.B. Wolcott post in that city.

Colwert Pier worked as a successful lawyer in Fond du Lac until 1873, when his father died. He then inherited the family bank. He also owned a part interest in the Fond du Lac Commonwealth and wrote editorials for the newspaper during the early 1870s. In addition he managed the family farm, real estate, and businesses. In the 1880s, his wife, Kate, and their daughters, Kate Hamilton, Caroline, and Harriet, who all became attorneys, joined him in his legal practice.⁹¹

But his plans for a political career never were realized outside the realm of his beloved veterans’ organizations. He was active in Republican politics on the state level, and he ran for public office once, in 1884, but he was defeated in the primary in a bid to become a state senator.

After the family law practice was transferred to the larger city, Pier remained in Milwaukee until his death from apoplexy in 1895. He was buried with military honors at the Pier Cemetery on Pioneer Road in Fond du Lac, not far from the cabin in which he had been born. ⁹²

1 - There appear to have been two different spellings of the name “Colwert.” While the published letters Pier wrote in 1861 used the spelling “Colwort,” the family, according to Colwert Pier’s great grandson, spelled the name “Colwert,” and the latter is the spelling used in this essay. return

2 - Michael Mentzer, Fond du Lac County: A Gift of the Glacier, (Fond du Lac: Fond du Lac County Historical Society, 1991), 49. return

3 - History of Fond du Lac County 1880 (Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880), 845. return

4 - Ibid. return

5 - Chartered as a university, Lombard College was founded as Illinois Liberal Institute in 1851, sponsored by the Universalist Church. The name was changed to Lombard in 1855 in response to a gift of $20,000 by Benjamin Lombard, a prominent Universalist, for the purpose of replacing the school’s building, which had been destroyed by fire. The school closed in 1930, and its records were transferred to nearby Knox College. www.thezephyr.com (link no longer functioning 02/12/2008) (Galesburg, Illinois). return

6 - Robert Flint was elected county judge in 1860, before his election Flint had worked as a lawyer in Fond du Lac, earning a good reputation as a counselor and pleader. return

7 - History of Fond du Lac County, 1880, 788. return

8 - Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph, April 25, 1861. return

9 - James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc, 1988), 322. return

10 - McPherson, 335. return

11 - McPherson, 326. return

12 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, May 4, 1861. return

13 - Reverend Eastman, an Episcopalian minister, was rector at St. Paul’s parish 1854-1866. return

14 - Bragg was district attorney for Fond du Lac at the start of the war. He entered the army in 1862 as a captain and eventually became a general. History of Fond du Lac County, 1880, 788. return

15 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, May 4, 1861. return

16 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter I (C. Pier to Reporter), May 11, 1861. return

17 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter I, May 11, 1861. return

18 - Fifteen letters appeared in the newspaper, and a sixteenth may have been written. The “missing” letter, however, is number thirteen, and that number may have been skipped for superstitious reasons. As letter XIV is dated only five days after XII, this explanation seems plausible. return

19 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter I, May 11, 1861. return

20 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter II, May 16, 1861. Zouaves were French light infantry, originally recruited from France’s North African colonies. Gaining fame during the Crimean War, Zouaves exercised a fascination for many Americans at this time, and military uniforms were frequently modeled on their exotic styling. return

21 - McPherson, 324. return

22 - McPherson, 325. return

23 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter IX, June 29, 1861. return

24 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter II, May 16, 1861. return

25 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter X, July 6, 1861. return

26 - William Davis, The Fighting Men of the Civil War, (London: Salamander Books Limited, 1990), 62. return

27 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter IX, June 29,1861. return

28 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter XII, July 20, 1861. return

29 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter XV, August 1, 1861. return

30 - Bell Wiley, The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union, (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1952), 128. return

31 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter IV, June 1, 1861. return

32 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter V, June 8, 1861. return

33 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter X, July 6, 1861. return

34 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter V, June 8, 1861. return

35 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter VII, June 22, 1861. return

36 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter VII, June 22, 1861. return

37 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter X, July 6, 1861. return

38 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter IX, June 29, 1861. return

39 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter X, July 6, 1861. return

40 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter XI, July 13, 1861. return

41 - C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 Newsletter, December, 1995. return

42 - Shelby Foote, The Civil War a Narrative: Fort Sumter to Perryville, (New York: Random House Inc. 1974) 57. return

43 - C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 Newsletter, December 1995. return

44 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter XIV, August 3, 1861. An ardent abolitionist, John Brown launched a raid against the Federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry in order to trigger a slave rebellion in October 1859. He was captured, tried, convicted, and hanged for the crime, thereby becoming a martyr to the cause of freeing the slaves. return

45 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter XV, August 10, 1861. return

46 - Fond du Lac Saturday Reporter, Letter XIV, August 16,1861. return

47 - History of Fond du Lac County, 1880, 801-802. return

48 - Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, August 24, 1861. return

49 - Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph, April 25, 1880. Judge Conklin served one term as County Judge in Fond du Lac, two terms as alderman, and six years as municipal judge. History of Fond du Lac County 1880, 791. James M. Gillett moved to Fond du Lac in 1846 from New York. He founded a Whig newspaper, forerunner to The Commonwealth. After winning an important case, he became Fond du Lac’s top lawyer for more than thirty years. History of Fond du Lac County 1880, 481. return

50 - Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph, April 25,1880. return

51- Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph, April 25, 1880. return

52 - General U. S. Grant was commander of the Union Army during 1864-1865 and later served as President of the United States, 1869-1877. return

53 - Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph, April 25, 1880. return

54 - Ibid. return

55 - C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 Newsletter, July 1996. return

56 - This was the last time Pier saw his mother, for she died August 21, 1864, while Pier was participating in the Siege of Petersburg. return

57 - Roberts, Robert B. Encyclopedia of Historic Forts, (MacMillan Publishing Company, 1988). http://secondwi.com/wisconsin_civil_war_campscamp_ba.htm. (06 Apr. 2002) return

58 - Dictionary of American History, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1940), I, 112. return

59 - McPherson, 600-601. return

60 - Frank Klement, Wisconsin in the Civil War, (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1997), 98. return

61 - C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 Newsletter, December, 1995. Colonel James Bintliff, from Monroe, Wisconsin, served with the 22nd and 38th Wisconsin regiments. Klement, 105. return

62 - National Park Service: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. http://www.itd.nps.gov//cwss/regiments.htm (link no longer functioning 11/20/2006) (March 18, 2002). return

63 - Shelby Foote, The Civil War A Narrative: Red River to Appamattox, (New York: Random House Inc, 1974), 190-191; National Park Service: American Battlefield Protection Program, Heritage Preservation Services. http://www.2cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/va062.htm (link no longer functioning 11/20/2006) (March 18, 2002). return

64 - Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph, April 25, 1880. return

65 - Noah Trudeau, The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia June 1864-April 1865, (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1991), 49. return

66 - Trudeau, 47. return

67 - Trudeau, 49. return

68 - Trudeau, 50. return

69 - C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 Newsletter, December 1995. return

70 - William Love, Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion, (Madison: Church & Goodman, 1866). return

71 - Trudeau, 99. return

72 - Trudeau, 105. return

73 - Love, 947. return

74 - Jim Epperson, “Siege of Petersburg: The Crater,” www.members.aol.com/siege1864/ (link no longer functioning 12/23/2008). return

75 - Wiley, 142. return

76 - Wiley, 147. return

77 - Trudeau, 166-167. return

78 - C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 Newsletter, July 1995. return

79 - General George Meade was commander of the Army of the Potomac under General Grant. return

80 - Trudeau, 186. return

81 - Trudeau, 212. return

82 - Trudeau, 230. return

83 - National Park Service National Park Service, Heritage Protection Services. http://www2cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/va079.htm (link no longer functioning 11/20/2006). return

84 - C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 Newsletter, July 1996. return

85 - Trudeau, 346. return

86 - C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1Newsletter, February 1996. return

87 - David Olsky, “The Pier Family: Wisconsin Pioneers,” available at www.stanford.edu/group/WLHP/profiles/PierColwert.shtml (link no longer functioning 11/20/2006). return

88 - Trudeau, 364-365. return

89 - C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1, newsletter, February 1996. return

90 - Milwaukee Telegraph, April 20, 1895. return

91 - Olsky, 1-2. return

92 - Fond du Lac Daily Commonwealth, April 15, 1895. return

Copyright Clarence B. Davis 2005. Marian College Press, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 2005.
Electronic publication by Fond du Lac Public Library has been approved by Clarence B. Davis.

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