The Life and Brief
Civil War Service of Colonel William McMurtry
A few miles north of Galesburg, Illinois,
in a rural cemetery accessible only by a rough pasture road, rests William
McMurtry, a man who had all the
qualities for greatness save for one character flaw.
Born in Mercer
County, Kentucky, on February 20th, 1801, a descendant of a
grandfather who was an pioneer in
Kentucky along with Daniel Boone and its earliest settlers, and was killed in a
fight with Indians there in 1790. Young
William travelled with his family to Indiana in 1818, and his parents settled
in Crawford County. Young William grew
up there and met Ruth Champion there, whom he married in 1826. In 1829 William and Ruth travelled to Knox
County, Illinois, along with his father, and his brother James and his
wife. The family settled in what would
become Henderson Township. They purchased a farm of one hundred sixty acres, upon which
was a small log cabin. Seeing to their
safety immediately, the McMurtrys and their neighbors erected a small fort, a
block house that could be used as a refuge and defensive position to protect
themselves from raids by hostile Indians; fortunately, the uprisings they
feared and often heard rumors about, never materialized.
During the
short-lived Black Hawk War, the families that lived in the area raised a
company of Rangers to help assist in quelling the Indian uprising. William McMurtry was chiefly responsible for
assembling the force, and was elected its Captain. His brother James, along with two of his
neighbors, Thomas McKee and F. Freeman, went to Rock Island to procure weapons
for the settlers in their little community, returning with a hundred rifles,
which they distributed upon their return.
The company of mounted Rangers pursued rumors mostly, never actually
engaging any of the enemy in battle.
Still, it was a testament to their high regard for William McMurtry that
they elected him to lead them as Captain.
His brother James held a Sergeant’s rank in the same company.
William McMurtry,
as described in the 1899 Historical Encyclopedia of Knox County, was “one of the most remarkable men of his
time. He was strong intellectually, and
was a thorough student of human nature,
and was an adept in the art of leading and controlling men.” He quickly rose politically, as his neighbors
recognized these virtues. In 1830 he was
appointed in Knox County’s first ever election the responsibility of being
foreman of the grand-jury of the Circuit Court.
In 1832 he was elected as the County’s first School Commissioner. This post entailed selling the school section
in each township, and distributing interest money to the teachers from the
school fund. From 1836 to 1840 he served in the state’s
House of Representatives, and in 1842 he moved up into the Illinois State
Senate, where he remained until 1849. At
that time, the current Lieutenant-Governor, Joseph Wells, decided that he would
not run again, so William McMurtry was added to the Democratic ticket to fill
that post, with Augustus French serving as governor. McMurtry held this post into 1853.
According to the
Knox County Historical Encyclopedia, “McMurtry
was an uncompromising Democrat, and a particular friend of Stephen A Douglas…He
was one of the most conspicuous political figures in Illinois, and on account
of his tenacity of opinion and firm adherence to democratic principles, he was
regarded as a “wheel horse’ in his party.
His natural powers were great. He
was a great reader and had a well-stored mind.
He was entertaining and agreeable in conversation, a good neighbor and a
constant friend. He performed the duties
of citizenship faithfully, and was regarded by everyone as a conscientious and
upright citizen.” These attributes
he attained through his own intellectual persistence since, like so many men of
his time, he had little formal education.
During his tenure
as Lieutenant-Governor, a new State Constitution was adopted and the
construction of the Galena and Chicago Union railroad was completed. He also took an active part in the
organization of Henderson Township, in 1853.
In 1854, his term
as Lieutenant-Governor having ended, he
ran for United States Congress, but was defeated by Opposition/Republican party
candidate James Knox. This defeat
signaled the end of William McMurty’s attempts to seek elective office, but he
remained a prominent voice in the State’s Democratic Party up to the beginning
of the Civil War.
After the onset
of the Rebellion and the bloody battles of Shiloh and the fighting around
Richmond, it became apparent that the war would not be over quickly. President Lincoln called for an additional
300,000 men to quell the rebellion.
William McMurtry asked for and received permission to recruit a regiment
from men of Rock Island, Knox and Mercer and Warren Counties. The respect that
he had earned over the decades won him election to Colonel of the newly formed
102nd Illinois Infantry. By
this time he was 61 years old. Soon the
newly formed regiment was on its way to Kentucky.
Heavy drinking
was prevalent at that time, and some politicians such as Stephen A. Douglas
were as noted for their attachment to alcohol as for their oratory. Colonel McMurtry was no exception. The conviviality and good fellowship expected
of a politician led many of them to become too acquainted with liquid
solace. Soon rumblings of discontent
were heard coming from some of the men about their venerable Colonel. Heavy drinking no doubt took its toll on his
health as well. In a November letter
home, one of the 102nd soldiers, Stephen Fleharty, addressed the Colonel’s resignation.
“You have no doubt heard of the resignation
of Colonel McMurty. It is possible that
the Colonel has been, to some extent, the victim of jealousy; but, independent
of any such influence, both officers and privates had become convinced that the
interests of the regiment required a change; and that the resignation was tendered
only after the will of the regiment had been publically expressed. That the colonel is brave, no one can doubt,
but there are other qualities essential to a good commander. He must be able to command himself. Alas, how many of our best officers have
ruined their best prospects by being subject to a domineering vice! And how
much our poor soldiers have suffered from that worst of all commanders, Mr.
Double-barreled Canteen!”
The argument that
this was a long-standing problem of William McMurtry’s is buttressed by a
reference to his drinking in an otherwise praise-laden tribute that the Galesburg Republican-Register ran on
April 17th, 1875.
“Governor McMurtry was a genial,
large-hearted man; and; like too many men of generous impulses and public
prominence, was not free from the besetting social curse of intemperance.” The same obituary went on to say that one
of the Colonel’s oldest friends had observed sadly that “had it not been for this habit he might have today have held a place
in the hearts of the people of the entire nation.”
Colonel McMurtry
was honorably discharged in 1863 from the service for reasons of poor health
(“in consequence of long continued disease of the liver, lungs and the organs
of digestion”) attributable to his advanced age. His discharge was dated October of 1862 when
he left the regiment to undertake recruiting duties. It was a kind way to release a man whose
decades of service deserved such consideration. Franklin C. Smith took over leadership of the
regiment and survived charges of drunkenness levelled against him as well to
lead the regiment ably and emerge the war with a fine reputation. The elderly patriot, William McMurtry, lived
on until April of 1875. He rests, almost
forgotten now, in the rural Rice-Blue Cemetery referenced at the beginning of
this article. He cannot help but remind
one of a chapter from Plutarch’s Lives, a man who could
have attained greatness save for the character defect that kept him from it.
Bibliography
William McMurtry Wikipedia
“Jottings from Dixie” the Civil War Dispatches of Sergeant
Major Stephen F. Fleharty, U.S.A, Edited by Phillip J. Reyburn and Terry L.
Wilson LSU Press, 1999
“Colonels in Blue:
“Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin” Roger D. Hunt, McFarland Press, 2017
William McMurtry
Find A Grave online site
Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and Knox County, 1899
