NORMAN V.
KELLY
By the time the war started and America tore itself in
half, Peoria was ready to do its part. There were Southern Sympathizers in
Peoria County, few in the city, but they existed. Out in some of the townships
there were people that simply were not for the war. They were called
‘Copperheads,’ and some of them suffered for their beliefs. It was not so much
they were against the Union or for the South,
they just did not want war.
Some men in this town rose up against those people
here in the county and attacked their homes at night. They would bring up a
wagon or two, extract the folks from their homes, and take them out of the
county. I did not see any record of these people being killed but it must have
scared the hell out of them.
Peoria was always a patriotic town and it all began
during the Civil War. Young men from here immediately volunteered and several hundreds went off to War. Wealthy
men like Robert Ingersoll, a Peoria attorney, formed their own ‘army’. The potential officer contacted the Secretary
of War and got permission to raise an army, which was called the Illinois 11th. At that time men were given as much as
$300.00 to sign up and it was a time when
a man could pay another man to take his place. I feel
certain that when I mentioned Robert Ingersoll, you thought, “Agnostic.” Sad,
that’s just how we got our reputation, people using a word or two to describe
Peoria, Illinois. Ingersoll was the most famous product Peoria, Illinois ever
produced. (Even as big as Richard Prior.) Ingersoll was a great orator and
famous all over the world where he debated men of learning and spoke before
crowned heads.
Here in Peoria he gathered together men from this area
and gave himself the title of Colonel. Now the man had no military training,
and as far as I can tell, he never fired a gun. Yet, he was a colonel and he
raised the Illinois 11th.
They encamped out at Birkette’s Hollow, what we now call Glen Oak Park. The
men would gather there, muster at CAMP LYONS and wait until the group was ordered to a
real army camp for training. They wound up at Camp Roberts in Davenport, Iowa.
Most of the men had nothing but the clothes on their
backs and some brought their own rifles. When the men left the camp they often
walked up to what we call the Peoria Heights. They always had their army
blanket wrapped about their necks. A reporter asked them why. One man said, “It
shows we are loyal Union men and that we are in the army.” One man, closer to the Peorian that I know,
said, “ Well, if we left them back at camp, why they are apt to get
stole.” The truth is somewhere in both
of these statements. Colonel Bob, as he
was called led his troops into battle some months later and was promptly taken
prisoner. Thirty of his men were captured with him as well. Well, about a month
later old Bob comes marching home…alone. He told the press that the colonel at
the camp
paroled him.
No comments:
Post a Comment