One of the many stones you’ll encounter while walking through Galesburg’s Hope Cemetery is that of Captain Charles F. Matteson. Upon seeing his stone, let your mind take you back to April of 1861, just after the rebels fired upon Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, forcing the Fort’s surrender on April 14th. This act of war prompted President Lincoln to call for 75.000 men to help to put down the Rebellion.
Illinois patriotic fervor was at a white heat, and Knox County wanted to send their share of brave young men to the front. On the morning of April 18th a meeting was held at Dunn’s Hall to arrange for the formation of one or more companies. Charles Matteson was one of the men chosen to draw up enlistment papers. This was more difficult than was anticipated, since the committee had no models of such papers to draw on. Finally coming up with a form that satisfied the members of the committee as meeting its needs, the members of the committee, including Charles, were the first subscribers to the document, with the exception of one member, a Mr. Delano, who was deemed too old to serve.
Once a group of men were signed up, they were taken to the Police Magistrate’s office where they were administered the oath that bound them to serve as volunteers. By one in the afternoon more than 125 men had enlisted, and a meeting was held at Gordon’s Hall at 114 East Main Street, where the company was organized and elections were held for officers. Francis M. Smith was elected Captain. Charles F. Matteson, 3rd Sergeant.
Charles Matteson at this time was a blue-eyed, 5’9” 26 year old blonde-haired gentleman who was single, and worked as a clerk. He had been born in Floyd, in Oneida County, New York, in 1835. His parents moved to Warren County, Illinois in 1837, and eventually settled in Galesburg in 1850.
A telegram was immediately sent to Governor Yates stating that a company had been organized and that they were waiting for orders. Word came back that Illinois had filled its quota, and that they were to wait for another call for troops. Arrangements were made to in the meantime quarter the members of the company that didn’t live in town in an old barn on Kellogg Street, between Tompkins and South Street. The citizens of Galesburg provided blankets and other necessities.
The company remained there until May 1st when it was moved to the fairgrounds at Knoxville. They made comfortable billets out of the horse stalls, and took their meals in the “Floral Hall,” with R. M. Hale acting as caterer. The company remained there until May 7th, when Governor Yates ordered the several companies that had been formed in the 5th Congressional District to assemble in Peoria and be organized into the 17th Regiment of Illinois Infantry. On the morning of May 13th they met at the Galesburg Depot and took the train to Peoria. At 4 pm they were sworn in. Leonard F. Ross of Lewistown was elected Colonel of the newly formed regiment, and Charles Matteson 2nd Sergeant of his company.
On May 27th Sergeant Matteson was again part of a committee. This one drafted a resolution from his company, calling themselves “The Galesburg Invincibles,” thanking the citizens of Galesburg for the many kindnesses that they showed the men while they were quartered there, and for the flag bestowed upon them. They pledged that
“The flag, the gift of our lady friends, shall be our rallying point, the remembrance of its fair donors our encouragement, and the principles it suggests our incentive to fight, and sooner than surrender it in disgrace to the enemies of our country, we will wall it about with the bodies of the dead and pour out our last blood in its defense.
The 17th first travelled to Missouri, where Charles Matteson participated in a battle in Fredrickson, Missouri, on October 21st, then the assault on Fort Donelson from February 13th – 16th, and in the heavy fighting near Shiloh Church in Tennessee on April 6th and 7th, where he was twice wounded. He stayed with the army for the siege of Corinth, but then was ordered north to help recruit and train a new regiment.
During the stay in Missouri, the 17th was stationed at Cape Girardeau during the winter of 861-62, before the move into Tennessee. Washington Davis, in his book Campfire Chats of the Civil War, recounts a story that Charles Matteson related to him.
During the winter many of the boys fell sick with that greatest scourge of the army, the measles. Among the sick was one “Bob,” full of the driest wit imaginable. Bob was very sick, so much so, that we thought he was going to “turn his toes to the daisies” – a poetic form of saying that one was going to the Great Hereafter. I was a sergeant in his company, and as such it was one of my duties to visit the boys, and in cases like his to learn, if possible, what disposition they wished made of their personal property; also to take any last message for their friends at home, and to say to those friends that johnnie or Jimmy was the “best, most faithful, honest and obedient soldier in the company,” and that since he was gone we did not know how we should get along without him, etc. etc. As Mark Twain says, “It soothed them” and did not hurt us at all. Well, I had received Bob’s “Last Will and Testament,” what I was to say to the boys for him, bade him goodbye, telling him to keep a stiff upper lip, that I would have the whole company come down when we “planted” him, which should be done up in the best style, and started for the door, when the nurse called me back, saying “Bob wants to tell you something else.” I returned to the cot and inquired,
“Well, Bob, what is it? Is there anything else?
“Yes, Charlie, I wish”—and he spoke very slow and labored, with a pause after almost every word;--“I wish—you would tell—one more thing for me.”
“Of course I will,” I said; “what is it?”
“I wish you would tell ‘em, when they plant me, to place me with my face down, my head to the east, and a clam shell in each hand.”
“All right,” said I, “I’ll do it.” Now I knew if I did not ask him why he wanted to be buried so, it would be the death of him in less than an hour, as there is nothing more fatal than an undeveloped joke. “But why so, Bob?” I asked.
“Well, I think, Charlie, if old Gabe would put off that horn business of his a reasonable length of time, I could tunnel through under the Mississippi, and come up from Illinois, for I’d hate like hell to rise from Missouri.”
The relieved and satisfied smile that crept over his tired face, and the merry twinkle of his eye, satisfied me that Bob’s request would not be complied with then. He served out his full term of enlistment, and still lives in the state that he was so anxious to rise from. I think the effort saved his life.”
Leaving Bolivar, Tennessee about the 27th of July, he reported to Canton, Illinois with Lieutenant Stockdale. They were both ordered to drill the companies of the 103rd that had gathered there until they were ready to move to Peoria. He and Stockdale were then ordered to Peoria to continue working with the regiment. On October 2nd of 1862 he was elected 1st Lieutenant of Company G of the 103rd, and moved out with the regiment when they were ordered to Mississippi. He served with the company on the M. & C. Railroad, then with the 1st Division at the rear of Vicksburg and at the siege of Jackson, Mississippi.
Charles Wills, by this time, had formed a favorable opinion of his 1st Lieutenant, and wrote admiringly of him in a letter home.
“I think I have an excellent company, though I have but few men that I ever knew before. Charley Mattison is my first lieutenant, and John Dorrance my second. The 1st lieutenant is able, willing and industrious.”
He continued to see action, rejoining his regiment, he participated in the Chattanooga Campaign and the Missionary Ridge assault. Then he served on Colonel Dickerman’s staff during the Dalton Campaign.
Continuing to accompany Sherman’s army as it moved toward Atlanta, he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster of the 4th Division of the 15th A. C. This made him responsible for procuring clothing for the men of that division, and placed him for much of the time in charge of the division’s advance ordinance train.
When the 4th Division was broken up, Lieutenant Matteson’s ability to handle logistical assignments earned him the responsibility of being placed in charge of all the hospitals of the Army of Tennessee at Marietta as Assistant Quartermaster A.C. Then he was ordered to take charge of the trains of that Corps until the army reached Savannah in December and Fort McAllister was taken. Then his responsibilities increased again. He was named Assistant Quartermaster of the Military Division of the Mississippi and Master of Marine Transportation at Savannah. In this capacity he received all of the supplies that came in from the North, and also overseeing the Marine Machine shops and all captured property of the marine nature, Savannah being a major seaport. He also re-pressed and shipped some 32,000 bales of captured cotton north under the direction of Samuel Draper, the Collector of the Port of New York.
On March 14th of 1865 he was sent to Morehead City, North Carolina, where he performed similar duties, with the addition of railroad transportation to the front at Goldsboro and Raleigh. After Joe Johnston’s surrender he was ordered to Alexandria, Virginia to accept similar responsibilities. After he was finally relieved of those duties, he took a ten day leave, then joined his regiment at its encampment north of Washington D. C., finishing the war in command of his company. He travelled with them to Louisville, Kentucky, where on June 6th, 1865 he received his promotion to Captain. Later that June he was mustered out with the rest of his regiment. The Union had no further need for their services. During his four years of service, Captain Matteson had fought in 28 battles and many other skirmishes.
Captain Matteson was proud of his war record. He was a member of the George H. Thomas Post No. 5, Grand Army of the Republic of Illinois, and served as its commander for a year. He made a point to attend the annual Veteran’s Encampments, both State and National, whenever he could, despite the expenses he incurred in order to travel to them. He also was part of a committee again. This time in 1904 to help compile a book of Reminiscences of the Civil War from Diaries of Members of the 103rd Illinois Infantry.
In 1908, in Chicago, at the home of his brother, Dr. Arthur E. Matteson, nephritis did what Rebel bullets failed to do, and fell the gallant veteran. His illness had been a long and debilitating one. He had been confined to his room for the past two years, and during the last year he had been unable to lie down. When he could sleep, he slept in a chair, and throughout that time he had to endure constant physical pain. His brother arranged to have him cremated, and his ashes buried in the family plot in Galesburg.
The Military Order of the Loyal Legion published his obituary, and in it paid tribute to the man.
The Military Order of the Loyal Legion published his obituary, and in it paid tribute to the man.
“It matters little to society when some men die; men who have added nothing to the benefit of their fellow man: when they are gone we feel no sense of loss. But there are other men, and companion Matteson was one, by whose living the world has been the gainer. He was endowed with a rare personality. He had a large and generous nature and was ideal in his friendship. He was of a positive and insistent character; his honesty and well-sustained self- respect was in evidence in all times and under all circumstances.
Companion Matteson’s unfailing loyalty and his pride in his country presented itself in such a confident and forceful manner as to make him an inspiration to others.”
Sources
Campfire Chats of the Civil War Washington Davis, 1884
Army Life of an Illinois Soldier Letters and Diary of Charles W. Wills
Memorials of Deceased Companions Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 1912
Reminiscences of the Civil War from diaries of the members of the 103rd Illinois Inf. Illinoiscivilwar.org
Charles F. Matteson Papers Galesburg Public Library Special Collections
Illinois Civil War Detail Report Civil War Soldiers and Sailors system search/ Illinois.gov/genealogy
Peoria Daily transcript 5/28/1861
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