Civil War Id’d Handmade Game Box with Clay Marbles, Bone Dice, Poker Chips – Lt. Martin Wilcox Co. A 11^th Michigan Infantry and Cos. B and E USCT Infantry – This handcrafted, elongated box is constructed of light poplar; the corners are not dovetailed, but appear to be nailed. On the underside of the box is inked the following:

“Fathers box

used in

? …….

*

Lt Martin Wilcox”

There is a sliding, hand carved lid that glides to cover the interior of the box through routed grooves on either side of the upper interior. Contained in the box are the following: 14 clay marbles of assorted sizes and colors; 8 bone or ivory poker chips of assorted sizes and colors; 3 pairs of bone dice and 1 single die. All pieces, as well as the box, remain in excellent condition.

Martin Wilcox enlisted, at age 30, into Co. A of the 11^th Michigan Infantry, in August 1861. He would serve with that regiment until being discharged, at the rank of Corporal, for promotion to the rank of 2^nd Lieutenant, in August 1861, thereafter being assigned to Co. B 15^th USCT Infantry and later promoted to 1^st Lieutenant in Co. E of the 15^th USCT, in December 1865, ultimately mustering out in April 1866. Wilcox, with the 11^th Michigan, would see significant action in multiple engagements – *see history of the regiment below; his service with the 15^th USCT principally involved guard and garrison duty at Nashville, Columbia and Pulaski, Tennessee.

Measurements: L – 7”; W – 2.5”; H – 2”

Martin Van Buren Wilcox

Residence St Joseph County, MI; 30 years old.
Enlisted on 8/24/1861 at Centreville, MI as a Priv.

On 8/24/1861, he mustered into “A” Co. Michigan 11th Infantry.
He was discharged for promotion on 8/18/1864 at Nashville, TN

On 8/18/1864, he was commissioned into “B” Co. US Colored Troops 15th Infantry.
He was Mustered Out on 4/7/1866

Promotions:

• 2nd Lieut 8/18/1864 (As of Co. B 15th USCT Infantry)
• 1st Lieut 12/9/1865 (As of Co. E)

Intra-regimental company transfers

• From company B to company E

Martin Van Buren Wilcox

Birth

1829

Rhode Island, USA

Death

Jun 1903 (aged 73–74)

Oakland Beach, Kent County, Rhode Island, USA

Burial

Oakland Cemetery

Cranston, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA

11th MI Infantry

Organized: White Pigeon, MI on 9/24/1861

Mustered out: 9/30/1864

MICHIGAN Eleventh Infantry. (Three Years) The Eleventh was recruited at White Pigeon, the several companies being mustered into service at different dates, but the organization was completed Sept. 24, 1861, with an enrollment of 1,000 officers and men. The field, staff and line officers at organization were as follows: Colonel, William J. May, White Pigeon. Lieutenant Colonel, William L. Stoughton, Sturgis. Major, Benjamin F. Doughty, Sturgis. Surgeon, William N. Elliott, White Pigeon. Assistant Surgeon, Justin C. Elliott, White Pigeon. Adjutant, Samuel Chadwick, Three Rivers. Quartermaster, Addison I. Drake, Sturgis. Chaplain, Holmes A. Pattison, Colon. A. Captain, David Oaks, Jr., Centerville. First Lieutenant, Christopher Haight, Leonidas. Second Lieutenant, Henry S. Fisher, Mendon. B. Captain, Melvin Mudge, Quincy. First Lieutenant, Jerome Bowen, Quincy. Second Lieutenant, Miles Warren, Quincy. C. Captain, Calvin Hood, Sturgis. First Lieutenant, Matthias M. Faulkner, Sturgis. Second Lieutenant, Loren H. Howard, LaGrange, Ind. D. Captain, Benjamin G. Bennett, Burr Oak. First Lieutenant, John R. Keeler, Burr Oak. Second Lieutenant, Theodore P. Kesler, Bronson. E. Captain, Henry N. Spencer, Three Rivers. First Lieutenant, Thomas Flynn, Three Rivers. Second Lieutenant, Charles W. Newberry, Three Rivers. F. Captain, Sylvester B. Smith, Morenci. First Lieutenant, Joseph Wilson, Hudson. Second Lieutenant, Abraham Harper, Hudson. G. Captain, Charles Moase, Bronson. First Lieutenant, Thomas H. Briggs, Schoolcraft. Second Lieutenant, Silas G. Comstock, Three Rivers. H. Captain, John L. Hackstaff, Coldwater. First Lieutenant, Samuel C. Mills, Coldwater. Second Lieutenant, Leonidas E. Mills, Coldwater. I. Captain, Nelson Chamberlain, London. First Lieutenant, Lewis E. Childs, Ypsilanti. Second Lieutenant, Benjamin Riesdorf, Monroe. K. Captain, William W. Phillips, Adrian. First Lieutenant, Patrick H. Keegan, Deerfield. Second Lieutenant, Ephriam L. French, Adrian. The regiment left its rendezvous Dec. 9 for Kentucky and remained during the winter at Bardstown. During the spring of 1862 the Eleventh was occupied in guarding the Louisville and Nashville railroad, and in July made a series of long marches in pursuit of the Confederate raider John Morgan, and was a part of the force that defeated Morgan at Gallatin, Tenn., the 13th of August. Upon its return to Nashville it was assigned to Negley’s Division and rendered valuable assistance in fortifying that city so it was impregnable to the attack of the enemy. Colonel May resigned April 1, 1862, and Lieutenant Colonel Stoughton was commissioned Colonel at the same date. The regiment under his command was assigned to the Second Brigade, Second Division, Fourteenth Corps. The Eleventh participated in the advance upon Murfreesboro and was in the fiercest fighting at Stone River. Negley’s Division, the Second, was in the center of the Union line and was stoutly assailed by the enemy in such overwhelming numbers as to force it back toward the Murfreesboro pike. The Eleventh fought gallantly and the many casualties of the regiment attested the severity of the contest. The Eleventh was one of the first regiments to cross Stone river, and was among the troops that captured a Confederate battery which had been abandoned when the Confederates were driven from the field. During January, 1863, the Eleventh was detached from its Division and placed upon provost duty at Murfreesboro, and remained there until the following June, when the advance was made upon Tullahoma. In September the Eleventh left its camp at Dechard, Tenn., and made a toilsome march over the mountains and reached the battlefield of Chickamauga in time to participate in two days of the fiercest fighting of the war. The regiment was under command of Lieutenant Colonel Mudge during the battle as Colonel Stoughton was then in command of the Second Brigade. Colonel Stoughton, after the battle of Chickamauga, withdrew his Brigade to Rossville by command of General Thomas and held that position until the Union army had passed to Chattanooga, and on the morning of the 22d returned to Chattanooga, being the last of the Union troops to leave the field. The Eleventh was in the Second Brigade, commanded by General Stoughton November 25, 1863, when the famous charge was made by General Grant’s troops up the steep and difficult side of Mission Ridge. The Eleventh sprang up the almost impassable barrier with the enemy on the crest of the Ridge pouring a murderous fire of musketry and artillery into the faces of the Union troops, but step by step, clinging to the trees and shrubs, to help them in their advance, finally reached the summit and drove the Confederates in confusion down the other side of the mountain. The Eleventh was one of the first regiments to gain the crest of the Ridge. Major Benjamin G. Bennett led the regiment, but was killed before reaching the crest and Captain P. H. Keegan assumed command. The regiment suffered severely in this charge. The Eleventh, with the Second Brigade, followed the retreating Confederates and captured a Confederate battery which was sent back to Chattanooga in charge of the regiment. The following May the regiment entered upon the Georgia Campaign with the army under General Sherman and fought its way steadily to the Chattahoochee river, which it crossed July 17, and then took part in the siege of Atlanta. A few miles from Marietta, Ga., the Confederates had entrenched and the Eleventh charged the enemy’s works, but met with considerable loss and Colonel Stoughton was so severely wounded in the leg as to cause amputation. While in front of Atlanta, the Eleventh was in a number of charges, losing many in killed and wounded. The term of service for which the regiment enlisted, expired while in the trenches before Atlanta and the regiment was sent back to Chattanooga, and from there to Sturgis, Mich., where it was mustered out of service Sept. 30, 1864. The regiment took part in engagements at Gallatin, Tenn., August 13 1862; Fort Riley, Tenn., Sept. 1, 1862; Stone River, Tenn., December 29-31 1862 and January 2, 3, 1863; Elk River, Tenn., July 1, 1863; Davis Cross Roads, Tenn. September 11, 1863; Chickamauga, Ga., September 19, 20, 1863; Mission Ridge, Tenn., November 25, 1863; Graysville, Ga., November 26, 1863; Buzzard’s Roost, Ga., May 10, 1864; Resaca, Ga., May 14, 1864; New Hope Church, Ga., May 27, 1864; Kenesaw, Ga., June 22-27, 1864; Rough’s Station, Ga., July 3, 4, 1864; Peach Tree Creek, Ga., July 20, 1864; Atlanta, Ga., August 7, 1864; siege of Atlanta, Ga., July 22 to August 27, 1864. Total enrollment 1,323 Killed in action 61 Died of wounds 31 Died in Confederate prisons 9 Died of disease 178 Discharged for disability (wounds and disease) 265

11th Regiment, Michigan Infantry (1st organization)

Overview:

Organized at White Pigeon, Mich., and mustered in September 24, 1861. Left State for Bardstown, Ky., December 9, and duty there till March, 1862. Attached to Railroad Guard, Unattached, Dept. of the Ohio, to September, 1862. 29th Brigade, 8th Division, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Center 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 14th Army Corps, to September, 1864.

Service:

Guard duty along Louisville & Nashville Railroad March to July, 1862. Operations against Morgan July 4-28. Paris, Ky., July 19. Action with Morgan at Gallatin, Tenn., August 13. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., August, and duty there till December 26. Siege of Nashville September 12-November 7. Neeley’s Bend, Cumberland River, October 5. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26-30. Battle of Stone’s River December 26-30, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. Duty at Murfreesboro till June. Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Occupation of Middle Tennessee, and at Dechard, Ala., till August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22. Davis Cross Roads near Dug Gap September 11. Battle of Chickamauga September 19-21. Rossville Gap September 21. Siege of Chattanooga, Tenn., September 24-November 23. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Lookout Mountain November 24. Mission Ridge November 25. Pea Vine Valley and Graysville November 26. Outpost duty at Rossville till March 15, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1-August 27. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8-11. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Advance on Dallas May 18-25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Pickett’s Mills May 27. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Ruff’s Station July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5-17. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Utoy Creek August 5-7. Ordered to Chattanooga August 27. Pursuit of Wheeler to Huntsville, Ala., August 30-September 13. Moved to Michigan September 18-25. Mustered out September 30, 1864. Recruits formed into a detachment and transferred to 11th Regiment reorganized.

11th Michigan Infantry Regiment

The 11th Michigan Infantry Regiment, initially known as Colonel May’s Independent Regiment, was a unit in the Union army during the American Civil War. The regiment fought with the Army of the Cumberland in numerous battles, including Stones River, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge.

Regimental history

The regiment was recruited in southern Michigan between April and September 1861, with the majority of the soldiers coming from St. Joseph County. The unit formally mustered into the Union army between August 24 and September 11. It formed independent from the state government, as allowed for by the War Department, but fell under Michigan’s control when the Federal authorization for independent units was revoked. The regiment received its formal designation as the 11th regiment on October 11. The soldiers elected their officers, selecting William J. May, the former proprietor of the White Pigeon Railroad Dining Hall, as colonel. U.S. district attorney William Lewis Stoughton, a rising star in the Republican Party, was elected lieutenant colonel.

The 11th Michigan trained at White Pigeon before deploying to Kentucky on December 9, 1861, with 1,004 men and officers. Far from the front lines, the unit saw little active service, but suffered dearly from smallpox and measles at Bardstown, Kentucky that winter, losing more than seventy men to disease. Colonel May, suffering from poor health, resigned effective April 1, raising Stoughton to colonel in his place. Melvin Mudge was promoted to fill the vacancy at lieutenant colonel.

The Michiganders went on railroad guard duty in March 1862 as the Union army advanced into Tennessee following Ulysses S. Grant’s captures of Forts Henry and Donelson. The regiment’s first taste of active military operations came when Confederate cavalryman John Hunt Morgan launched a raid through Tennessee and Kentucky in July. The 11th regiment, in conjunction with other Federal units, was dispatched on a wild goose chase that culminated in a narrow miss at surrounding Morgan’s entire force at Paris, Kentucky. The regiment, in conjunction with other units, later caught up with a detachment of Morgan’s troopers at Gallatin, Tennessee, on August 13, 1862, firing the first volleys in the regiment’s history. The Michiganders claimed to have inflicted numerous casualties on Morgan’s force, though Morgan’s subordinate Basil Duke (who was not present) later denied any Confederate losses. The Michiganders and their Federal counterparts pillaged Gallatin while there, embittering Morgan and hardening his attitude toward Union civilians.

Braxton Bragg’s Confederate invasion of Kentucky in August 1862 left the 11th Michigan among the Federal units stranded in isolation at Nashville under the command of James Scott Negley. The 11th was finally brigaded at this time, joining the 19th Illinois Infantry, the 18th Ohio Infantry, and the 69th Ohio under the command of Colonel Timothy Robbins Stanley, former commander of the 18th Ohio. Stanley’s brigade was part of Negley’s division of the 14th Army Corps, which came to be known as the Army of the Cumberland. The Michiganders came under fire again on October 5, 1862, when they repelled a guerrilla ambush near Fort Riley while out on a foraging expedition.

After Bragg’s invasion was repulsed at Perryville, the 11th Michigan joined the Army of the Cumberland’s advance under Major General William Starke Rosecrans in late December, and was heavily engaged at the Battle of Stones River. The green Michiganders fought bravely despite absorbing severe casualties (140 killed, wounded, or missing—a 32 percent loss), and helped stall Bragg’s powerful opening assault shy of Rosecrans’s supply artery, the Nashville Pike. The unit took part in the decisive charge across Stones River on January 2, 1863, participating in the rout of John C. Breckinridge‘s division.

After months of recuperation in Murfreesboro, Rosecrans advanced again in the Tullahoma Campaign on June 23, 1863, turning Bragg’s army out of its position, and repeated this feat to force his retreat from Chattanooga. When Rosecrans pushed too aggressively in pursuit, Negley’s division, the 11th Michigan included, was nearly cut off and captured, but fought a successful delaying action against a vastly superior Confederate force at the Battle of Davis’s Cross Roads. The 11th was the most heavily engaged unit in the battle, losing 3 dead, 11 wounded, and 3 missing (the missing soldiers later perished at Andersonville). A week later, the adversaries clashed again at the Battle of Chickamauga, where the 11th Michigan on September 20, 1863, helped parry a Rebel attempt to flank George H. Thomas’s corps and cut the Union army off from its line of retreat. The Michiganders participated in the ambush of Brigadier General Daniel Weisiger Adams’s brigade, inflicting severe losses on the Confederates and capturing Adams in the process. Later that day—with Stanley wounded, Stoughton raised to brigade command, and Mudge leading the regiment—the 11th Michigan participated in the legendary defense of Snodgrass Hill (also known as Horseshoe Ridge), inflicting catastrophic casualties on the Confederate brigade of Archibald Gracie. Confederate general Joseph Kershaw, witnessing the attack, declared it “one of the heaviest assaults of the war on a single point.” Michigan sergeant William G. Whitney earned the Medal of Honor for gathering desperately needed ammunition from downed Rebels between the lines—while under fire from Rebel sharpshooters—during a brief lull in the assault. Overall casualties for the 11th Michigan at Chickamauga amounted to 66 men, with Mudge among the wounded.

The Union defeat at Chickamauga left the Army of the Cumberland virtually under siege in Chattanooga, but the arrival of reinforcements under Ulysses S. Grant turned the tables several weeks later, and the 11th Michigan joined in the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. Stoughton was again in command of the brigade, and Major Benjamin G. Bennett led the regiment with Mudge still recovering from his Chickamauga wound. The Michiganders, despite having Bennett and Color Bearer John Day killed, successfully charged uphill against the entrenched Rebels of Otho F. Strahl’s brigade, with lead elements of the Michigan regiment penetrating a gap between Strahl’s troops and the neighboring brigade of Randall Gibson. Quartermaster Sergeant James Wood King, who entered the battle outside his line of duty, was among the first soldiers to reach the summit and fight to pry open the breach in the Rebel line. King was later nominated for the Medal of Honor. Bragg’s siege was broken by the Federal assault, and the Confederates were hurtled into a precipitous retreat. Stoughton’s troops participated in the pursuit of Bragg’s army the next day, launching a night assault in pitch darkness near Graysville, Georgia, and capturing the Confederate artillery battery of Thomas B. Ferguson without the loss of a single soldier.

After wintering at Rossville and Graysville, Georgia, the 11th Michigan joined in William Tecumseh Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign. The Michiganders were present, but only lightly engaged, at Buzzard Roost Gap and the Battle of Resaca. At the Battle of Pickett’s Mill, the unit came under artillery fire, followed by its first taste of prolonged trench warfare. With the resumption of Sherman’s advance, the Michiganders again dug in, at Kennesaw Mountain, where they traded constant sniping with the Rebels but were mercifully excluded from the bloody Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27. In pursuit of the subsequent Confederate retreat, the Michiganders were engaged at Battle of Ruff’s Station, where Colonel Stoughton suffered a severe shell wound that necessitated the amputation of his leg. Five companies from the 11th Michigan participated in a successful but costly assault against Rebel entrenchments near the railroad, losing three dead and ten wounded.

The 11th Michigan was again lightly engaged at Peachtree Creek on July 20, where the unit rushed the length of the Union line under artillery fire to plug a gap with John Newton’s 4th Corps division. In the ensuing actions against Atlanta, the regiment was again called upon to charge entrenched Rebels, this time at the Battle of Utoy Creek on August 7. The Michiganders seized the first line of Confederate trenches at the cost of fifteen dead and fifteen wounded. With the regiment’s three-year enlistment period about to expire, the soldiers nearly mutinied when ordered to charge across the open field, but a timely speech by Mudge convinced the bluecoats to do their duty under fire one last time.

The regiment was relieved from front line duty on August 27, but a Rebel cavalry raid by Joseph Wheeler necessitated their involvement in another infantry-cavalry chase. After helping to drive Wheeler off, the unit finally embarked for home via railroad on September 19. Stopping at Sidney, Ohio, on the 24th, the Michiganders stumbled across Copperhead Clement L. Vallandigham and democratic vice presidential candidate George H. Pendleton, both of whom were reviled by the soldiers for their antiwar stances. Mudge narrowly restrained his soldiers from killing the politicians, who were chased off but still delivered speeches in town later that day. Upon departing Sidney, Mudge’s troops made off with a cannon used by Vallandhigham’s supporters to fire off salutes in his honor. The 11th Michigan returned home safely, and was mustered out on October 11, 1864.

Total Strength and casualties

The 11th Michigan had a total enrollment of about 1,323 men. (Precise figures are unavailable due to lax recordkeeping, and the numbers vary by source.) Approximately 279 of the Michiganders died in the service (97 in battle). About 265 were discharged for disability.

Commanders

• Colonel William J. May – resigned April 1, 1862
• Colonel William Lewis Stoughton – resigned August 1864
• Lieutenant Colonel Melvin B. Mudge – commanded at Chickamauga

 15th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry

Overview:

Organized at Nashville, Tenn., December 2, 1863, to March 11, 1864. Attached to Post and District of Nashville, Dept. of the Cumberland, to August, 1864. Post of Springfield, District of Nashville, Dept. of the Camberland, to March, 1865. 5th Sub-District, District of Middle Tennessee, Dept. of the Cumberland, to April, 1866.

Service:

Garrison and guard duty at Nashville, Columbia and Pulaski, Tenn., till June, 1864. Post duty at Springfield, Tenn., and in District of Middle Tennessee till April, 1866. Mustered out April 7, 1866.

15th United States Colored Infantry Regiment

The 15th United States Colored Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was composed of African American enlisted men commanded by white officers and was authorized by the Bureau of Colored Troops which was created by the United States War Department on May 22, 1863.

Service

The 15th U.S. Colored Infantry was organized in Nashville, Tennessee beginning December 2, 1863 and mustered in for three-year service. The regiment was attached to Post and District of Nashville, Department of the Cumberland, to August 1864. Post of Springfield, District of Nashville, Department of the Cumberland, to March 1865. 5th Sub-District, District of Middle Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to April 1866. Garrison and guard duty at Nashville, Columbia, and Pulaski, Tennessee, until June 1864. Post duty at Springfield, Tennessee, and in District of Middle Tennessee until April 1866.The 15th U.S. Colored Infantry mustered out of service April 7, 1866.