- JESSE COLLINS, farmer and stone-mason; P.O. Lima Center,
born in Oneida Co., N.Y., in
- 1839; came to Wisconsin in 1846, locating in Lima. He married
Miss Rebecca HOUGHTON in 1858; they have eight children - William,
Mary, Mira, Rosie, Jessie, Lewis, Benjamin and Nelson; Mr. C.
enlisted, April 22, 1861, in the 3d Wis. V.I.; the regiment captured
the rebel legislature of Maryland, at Frederick City, Md., as
their first exploit; the first battle was at Bolivar Heights;
they then joined the force which pursued the rebels down the
Shenandoah Valley; owing to the withdrawal of a large part of
the union army, the rebels were enabled to turn and drive the
boys out of the valley in a series of sharp running fights, soon
followed by the desperate battles of Cedar Mountain, Antietam,
Chancellorsville and Beverly's Ford; the regiment lost 400 killed
and wounded at Antietam, and lost terribly at Cedar Mountain
by being drawn between masked batteries and deserted by their
supports, a Pennsylvania regiment; Col. Ruger gave the Pennsylvania
Colonel a magnificent invective on his cowardly conduct; the
regiment took a prominent part in the bloody and decisive battle
of Gettysburg, where Mr. COLLINS was twice wounded, having been
shot through the right knee and left thigh; he partly recovered
from his wounds, and was mustered out of the service Aug. 14,
1864, and looks back with pride to his record, in company with
his historic regiment, which was known throughout the army as
one of reckless courage.
-
- Taken from "The History of Rock County, Wis."
(c)1879, p. 790.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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