October 20, 2011 at 2:05 p.m.
Civil War Scrapbook
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My Great-Great-Great Uncle Mark Smith
Member of Company H, 7th Regiment of Wisconsin
Volunteer Infantry
By Brian Krueger as told by Lori Caygill
As a child I was mesmerized by my Grandmother Fern Jewell Caygill's stories about her Uncle Mark. Grandma Caygill remembered her Great-Uncle Mark Smith fondly and vividly, his flowing raven colored hair, his visits to Linden (by train from Madison to Edmund, and then by foot the three miles or so to the Jewell Farm just north of Linden on what is now Highway 39). She remembered his peg leg and most of all, his kind, caring and fun-loving nature. Grandma Caygill would retell the stories she had heard first-hand from Uncle Mark of his exploits in the Civil War, where he fought in many battles, was wounded and lost a leg in the Battle of the Wilderness; of his experiences as the keeper of "Old Abe" the famous eagle mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry; of serving as a member of Wisconsin Governor Jeremiah Rusk's bodyguard; and his many Civil War reunion adventures.
Mark "Peg Leg" Smith, as he came to be known, was born in Peddlers Creek, now known as Linden, Wisconsin on June 14, 1839, where he spent his boyhood and early youth on his father's farm. On August 29, 1861, when he was 22 years old, he enlisted at Linden in the U.S. Service as a private in Company H, Seventh Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry under Captain Mark Finnicum and Col. James Van Dar. On March 10, 1863, Uncle Mark was promoted to corporal and later to sergeant. His regiment was assigned to the Iron Brigade, First Division, First Corps, Army of the Potomac, and took part in many battles.
The war experiences which Uncle Mark took much pride and pleasure in describing to his family and friends were gleaned from the many battles he took part in. In 1862, he fought in the battles of Beaver Dam Station, Virginia; Cedar Mountain, Virginia; Rappahannock, Virginia; Sulphur Springs, Virginia; Gainesville, Virginia; Second Battle of Bull Run, Virginia; South Mountain, Maryland; Antietam, Maryland; and Fredericksburg, Virginia. In 1863, he took part in the battles of Fitzhugh Crossing, Virginia; Chancellorsville, Virginia; Brandy Station, Virginia; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Funkstown, Maryland; Bristoe Station, Virginia; Mine Run, Virginia; and finally, the 1864 battles of Morton's Ford, Virginia and the Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia.
On May 5, 1864, in the Battle of the Wilderness, Uncle Mark was wounded above the right ankle with a 45 caliber ball, which he saved as souvenir of his experience. For five weeks, he was in the hospital at Robinson*s farm, about 3 miles from the Wilderness. The hospital was in the hands of the Confederate Army, and the story of how he nursed his own wound at this time was always a favorite of Uncle Mark*s On June 15, the hospital was recaptured by the Union Army, but by that time gangrene had set in and Uncle Mark's leg was amputated below the knee. He was discharged January 19, 1865 at the Judiciary Square Hospital in Washington D.C.
To share your story, write it up and drop it off at the Iowa County Historical Society Museum 1-4 p.m. any weekday or E-MAIL it to IowaCountyScrapbook@gmail.com. If you would rather, you can call the Iowa County Historical Society at 935-7694.
