A
dedication ceremony was held May 13, 2006
honoring the Last Civil War Veteran of
Collinsville, Illinois, Pvt. William N. Stibbens,
Co. G, 18th Indiana Infantry. Gene Beals was
instrumental in organizing the event. Beals is a
member of the Col. Friedrich Hecker Camp #443,
Department of Illinois. Greg Zelinske, Hecker
Camp commander, members of the 17th Missouri
Infantry and descendants of the honored soldier
were present as well. William N. Stibbens was born August
1, 1843 in Salem, Washington County, Indiana. He
was of Irish ancestry and the eldest of five
children born to William Henry Harrison Stibbens
and Sarah Ann (Kavanaugh) Stibbens.
William enlisted
as a Private in Company G, 18th Indiana Volunteer
Infantry on September 19, 1862 at Salem,
Washington County, Indiana. He was mustered in on
October 2, 1862 at Salem. The muster roll states
he was 18 years old, 4 foot 10 inches high, dark
hair, gray eyes, dark complexion and occupation
farmer. William recalled his troubles getting
into the army in later years. Stibbens declared,
“ I come close to not gettin’ in the
army. Five times I tried to enlist, on Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. And five
times they turned me down, because I was too
small, only four feet ten. But then on Saturday
they examined me all over again and called off my
name.” He further stated, “ I come
there a whooping and loping like a young colt.
And there the officer says to me, “Say,
you’re rarin’ to go, ain’t you?
And when I answers “Yessir,’ they
signed me up.” Stibbens was so small he had
to spend three hours sifting through piles of
uniforms to find any piece of clothing that would
come close to fitting. His uniform was a
combination of civilian clothing mixed with bits
of cavalry, infantry and artillery uniforms.
The 18th Indiana
was under the overall command of General U.S.
Grant at the time of his enlistment. His first 6
months of service the regiment participated in
operations in southwest Missouri. Stibbens first
taste of battle came at Grand Gulf on April 25
–30 1863, followed by a fierce engagement at
Fort Gibson on May 1.
The unit saw
further action at Champion Hill on May 16, Black
River Bridge on May 17, and at the siege of
Vicksburg from May 18 until its fall on July 4,
1863. Stibbens recalled “ The hottest
battles I was in was at Vicksburg,” he
further stated, “where we was three months
at one crack, and all the dust and dirt and
cannons going all the time.”
Following the fall
of Vicksburg the 18th Indiana advanced on
Jackson, Mississippi and participated in the
siege of Jackson from July 19 to the 22. The unit
returned to Vicksburg following the capture of
Jackson and remained there until August 20. The
unit was ordered to New Orleans at this time and
participated in several engagements in western
Louisiana during the fall and moved into Texas in
November.
The unit was
engaged at Mustang Island on November 12 and took
part in the attack on Fort Esperanza beginning on
November 27 and ending on the 30. Veterans
reenlisted at Indianola, Texas on January 1, 1864
and were furloughed home to Indiana from June 4
until July 16.
The 18th Indiana
was ordered to Virginia on July 16th. The unit
linked up with General Benjamin Butler’s
forces at Bermuda Hundred, and saw action in
several skirmishes at Deep Bottom. It was then
transferred to Washington D.C, August 5. It was
here in the nation’s capital President
Lincoln shook Stibbens hand. He described the
encounter as follows, “ When we left
Washington, D.C., to come out to Pilot Knob to
stop the rebels in Missouri, old Abe shook hands
with lots of the boys and one of them was mine. I
almost heard old Abe speak once, but I was in the
woolen mills, that was before the war, and I was
too tired to go to the meeting after working all
day.” Stibbens and his fellow soldiers did
not go to Missouri as originally planned. On
August 10 the regiment left Washington to join
Sheridan’s army in Virginia and participate
in the Valley Campaign. Stibbens unit fought in
the battles of Opequan, Fisher’s Hill and
Winchester. The unit was engaged at Cedar Creek
on October 19. He witnessed the finish of
“Sheridan’s Ride” at Winchester.
Stibbens said, “His horse was wet with
foam.”
The regiment
remained in the Shenandoah Valley until January
1865 and then moved to Baltimore and boarded
transports to Savannah, Georgia. At Savannah the
unit spent three months building fortifications.
It was detached May 3, 1865 and sent to Augusta,
Georgia. Here the 18th Indiana had the privilege
of raising “Old Glory” over the arsenal
for the first time since the beginning of the
war. It returned to Savannah on June 7, 1865,
later moved to Darien, Georgia and was mustered
out on August 28, 1865.
William returned
to Indiana following his discharge from the army.
He took a job working at a stone quarry in Salem.
William married Caroline West on February 25,
1866. Caroline died of pneumonia in 1867. He
married Angeline Fletcher on September 26, 1869.
The marriage was blessed with three children He
remained in Salem until the mid 1880’s. He
then moved his family to Richmond, Missouri
taking a job as miner at the local mines. He was
a member of the G.A.R. Post at Richmond. In 1890
his health had deteriorated and he sought
assistance by filing for a soldiers pension.
William moved to Lebanon, Illinois around 1912.
He lived in Lebanon for a period of time until
health problems placed him in the Soldiers and
Sailors Home in Quincy, Illinois in 1915. He
moved a final time around 1920 to Collinsville,
Illinois.
On April 16, 1938
William died at his son’s home on East Park
in Collinsville. He was buried in the St. John
Cemetery with full military honors. The
Leighton-Evatt Post No. 365, American Legion,
Collinsville provided the color guard and rifle
salute. His final resting place is marked with a
new government issue headstone and a bronze
plaque designating him a “Last Soldier of
the Civil War.”
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