Jessica Narlock
Professor Coronado
English 328
October 31st,
2016
The
Patriotism of Rufus Dawes and the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers
The American Civil War was obviously a time of major
conflict and hardship for the people involved, yet it also brought forth
something else within certain individuals.
Patriotism, bravery, and commitment to one’s country and its people were
major elements that some carried with them during this dark time in America’s
history. One young man in particular who
exhibited these traits to the extreme was that of Rufus Dawes. He was responsible for putting together a
first class volunteer army in order to aid the Union’s cause. He, and the brave men that fought with him,
served a great purpose and left a bold mark on the history of the war, and of
the country. Not only did Dawes do these
things, but he wonderfully documented the experiences of him and his men
through his personal journal and letters written to people such as his sister,
other generals and colonels, etcetera.
These documents provide an interesting inside look into the life at war
that they lived, and what this meant on both the large scale, and even the
smaller, day-to-day scale. By
documenting their experiences in such a way, we are provided with a unique
inside look at life at war, the workings of the volunteer armies, and how big
of an impact these band of patriots had on the overall outcome of the war.
Rufus Dawes was born in Malta, Ohio on July 4th,
1838. This is where he resided with his
family until the age of fifteen when Dawes moved to Mauston, Wisconsin with his
father and brother. Here, he later
attended the University of Wisconsin for a time, but eventually found himself
back in Ohio and ended up graduating from Marietta College in 1860. After he acquired his degree, he returned to
Wisconsin. This is where he was when the
war began, and this is where he began his army of patriots. During this time, “when the war broke out in
April 1861, 22-year-old Dawes raised a volunteer company of lumberjacks in
Juneau County” (wisconsinhistory.org).
This band of volunteer soldiers were known as “the Lemonweir Minute
Men. They were officially brought into
Dawes’ camp in June of that year at Camp Randall, and they became part of the
Sixth Wisconsin Infantry. After gaining
enough men and the permissions from the right officials, Dawes and his men
became a notable part of the war efforts for a number of years. Due to his efforts and his expertise, Dawes
later became a leader in the famous Iron Brigade, and was assigned the role of
“brigadier general for meritorious service in March, 1865” (wisconsinhistory.org).
When Dawes had completed his extended service in 1864 and was released from the
military, he retuned home to Marietta, Ohio.
Here, he became a small, but successful, business owner, as well as a
trustee of Marietta College. It wasn’t
until 1875 that he began converting his letters and diary entries into his
memoir of the Civil War and his life during that time. As he did this, within the few years that
followed, he started to become ill.
However, it would be about a decade or so before his health began to
fail. He grew weaker and weaker until he
died at him home in Marietta on August 1st, 1899.
When putting together these band of volunteer soldiers,
there are a few very interesting things to draw attention to. While most of the soldiers that joined the
war efforts only signed themselves up for the mandatory 90 days of service,
Dawes and his men signed themselves up for the entirety of the war
(wisconsinhistory.org). They did this in
order to provide the Union efforts with as many men as possible, and to fully
commit to the cause. This would come in
handy as the war progressed, due to the fact that these men became excellent
soldiers, as well as becoming quite close to one another, and therefore being
able to fight alongside each other with ease.
Another stipulation that Dawes put into place, as mentioned in his
memoir, he mainly wanted young men with no families (Dawes 6). Dawes argues that this will promote a sense
of purpose for the men, and will limit their inhibitions, as they have less to
lose essentially. He made exceptions to
this rule however, if certain men would prove beneficial to the war efforts,
and also exhibited the same level of commitment as the other men. By taking into account the commitment that
Dawes expected of his men, one can begin to understand how the Sixth Wisconsin
Volunteers provided such a necessary service to the Union army.
The memoir itself has a sense of urgency and loyalty
throughout, and does an incredible job of proving just how eager Dawes and his
men were to see battle and do anything they could to help with the war
efforts. In the earlier parts of the
narrative, Dawes expresses an extreme want to see battle. He expresses this repeatedly, saying things
such as, “The question of getting into active service now absorbed the minds of
all, and great anxiety and impatience was displayed…” (8). Dawes maintains this sense of urgency
throughout the narrative via his actions.
He repeatedly writes to higher officials expressing his want for the
opportunity to provide assistance to infantry units that have seen battle. Eventually, this pays off, as he and his men
would go on to fight at South Mountain, Antietam, Second Bull Run, Gettysburg,
as well as many others battles. His
eagerness to fight for a cause that he believed in so strongly adds an
additional element of importance to Civil War narratives. The audience can feel the passion that he has
for his country, as well as for the men fighting beside him, which adds a
personal feeling to the narrative. The
intimacy in Dawes’ narrative gives the reader a sense of greater understanding
behind the motivations and actions of this man and his army.
Dawes’ memoir additionally provides a window into the
lives of him and his men while on the war path.
One of the situations they encounter along the way are interactions from
the local civilians. In one such example, Dawes recalls in detail how he and
his men were given dinner by the local women of Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and
Chicago (16). As they would pass through
the Union states, the locals would come forward and do what they could to
provide aid to the soldiers that came through their towns and cities. Another such instance of local participation
was when the armed police personally escorted the army through town (17). All kinds of people would come forward for a
number of reasons to help the army as they journeyed on to the next battle.
These accounts of civilian participation add an element of togetherness to the
narrative, whereas in other narratives, the author may focus heavily on the
work of the military itself. Dawes’
memoir provides a refreshing view on the local efforts during the war, and how
the civilians played their own roles respectively.
That being said, not all of Dawes’ work has a focus on
the relationship between his soldiers and civilians. He goes into a great deal of detail when
describing the day-to-day life at camp and at war as well. Through his diary entries and letters, he
provides the reader with knowledge of the rules and inner workings of the
military camp. For instance, there were
certain expectations of soldiers to not leave the camp without explicit
permission from the colonel (18). He
also speaks of the food, sleeping conditions, and uniforms of his volunteer
army. When Dawes’ and his men were first
permitted to join the war efforts, they were given uniforms by the state of
Wisconsin that were actually the color of the Confederacy (gray) (14). This caused some turmoil and confusion among
the locals, as well as other units upon first meeting the volunteer army. It wasn’t until some time had passed that
they actually received the correct, blue uniforms (15). Little details such as this provide the
reader with an extended knowledge of the smaller, yet important, details of
their daily life.
While providing his audience with an understanding of the
workings of day-to-day life at war, Dawes also must shine a light on the darker
topics of said life at war. He gives
detailed examples of being attacked by rebels at their camp in the middle of
the night as they slept (18), the sicknesses that spread throughout the camp,
and the overall emotions of men who would lose friends and brothers in the
battles they fought. One of the more
famous accounts that Dawes’ provides in his memoir is the act of his men
burying their fallen in mass graves after a particularly defeating battle (179). He describes the constant sad enthusiasm with
which his men dug the ditch that would become the mass grave of his fallen men,
and how it was admirable and heartbreaking.
He also speaks of his fallen men with love and extreme sadness that he
and his surviving men are forced to leave them in such conditions when they
deserve the best. It is moments like
this that sets this narrative apart from others of its kind. The emotion and detail that Dawes speaks with
is admirable, and draws the reader in far deeper than any standard memoir of
battle. The bond that Dawes had with his
men was one of the reasons that they fought so successfully, and why Dawes was
promoted to such a high position during his service with the Union army.
The importance of Dawes’ firsthand account is that it not
only adds to the greater narrative of the nature of the volunteers in the Civil
War, but it also increases the knowledge of daily living and the general wellbeing
of the soldiers. It also adds different
perspectives of famous battles and events, and it would shed some light on the
individual feelings and thoughts regarding said events. The amount of detail that Dawes pours into
this narrative, with aid from his diary and letters written during his time at
war, is extremely helpful when trying to understand the actions of the
soldiers, and the emotions that were felt by the men during such a terrible
time in American history. Although this
was a dark time for America, this narrative sheds some light on the brave men
that had the upmost loyalty to their country, and would go above and beyond to
voluntarily give up their lives to see to it that their country is brought into
a better time.
Works
Cited
Dawes,
Rufus. “Service With the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers.” wisconsinhistory.org. Wisconsin Historical Society. Web. 2011.
“Dawes,
Col. Rufus R (1838-1899).” wisconsinhistory.org.
Wisconsin Historical Society. Web.
“Fond
du Lac’s Civil War Camp.” ironbrigade.net.
Web. 2007.
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