Wartime Decatur: 1832-1945
By Dan Guillory
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About this ebook
Dan Guillory
Dan Guillory is professor emeritus of English at Millikin University in Decatur. He is the author of four books, including Living With Lincoln: Life and Art in the Heartland and Images of America: Decatur. He resides in rural Shelby County.
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Wartime Decatur - Dan Guillory
105).
INTRODUCTION
To the casual motorist, approaching the city of Decatur from the south on U.S. 51, there are few visual cues relating to Decatur’s rich and varied wartime connections. A keen driver might spot the small green sign over the Lake Decatur bridge honoring the Korean War veterans, or the red granite marker at the northeast corner of Central Park, paying homage to all of Decatur’s prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action. Further exploration would reveal a stately bronze statue of three Civil War soldiers erected in 1904 at the northwest corner of Central Park, a bronze tablet of Civil War dead erected by the Grand Army of the Republic in Fairview Park, and the Korean War veterans memorial in Graceland Cemetery. That inventory generally sums up the signage and statuary that hearken back to wartime experiences. Plans are underway to erect a World War II memorial, fueled in part by the success of the new World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. and the famous Vietnam Memorial. Why, however, should we remember the men, women, and children who are linked to these special moments in the past of Decatur? Is Decatur special in this regard? Does its history deserve recognition, as in the form of this book? Can we better understand our own world by revisiting these experiences of long ago? The answer to all these questions is a dramatic yes.
In spite of its stature as a medium-sized city, Decatur has had a heroic share of American wartime culture and history, including participation in the following military campaigns: the Black Hawk War (1832), the Mexican-American War (1846–1848), the Civil War (1861–1865), the Spanish-American War (1898), the Philippine War (1899–1902), the Great War or World War I (1914–1918), World War II (1941–1945), the Korean War (1950–1953), the Vietnam War (1964–1975), the Persian Gulf War (1991), the war in Afghanistan (which began in 2002), and the present war in Iraq (which began in 2003). Of course, other mid-western and eastern cities might claim even longer records of involvement, but Decatur can proudly boast of many unique accomplishments, beginning with its connections to Lincoln, which tie the city to the Civil War in special ways—five Civil War generals hailed from Decatur and surrounding Macon County, including Richard J. Oglesby who was the last person to touch Lincoln while he was alive and who later spearheaded the work on the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield. A Decatur native, Richard Gatling, invented the machine gun during that conflict, a tool that would change history and the whole pattern of warfare forever. After the Civil War, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was founded in Decatur, and it provided a model for subsequent organizations like the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Veterans Administration.
Because Decatur was situated at the crossroads of the Illinois Central and Wabash Railroads, it became a natural hub for soldiers returning from the South during the Civil War or passing through during World Wars I and II. In all three wars, Decatur initiated a canteen service that provided food, medical aid, and other services to the troops. This home front
service began during the Civil War and continued until the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945. In both World Wars, Decatur consistently exceeded its quota for every single Liberty Loan or War Bond campaign. The city shipped out tons of wheat, corn, and hominy to aid the war effort. Decatur citizenry—men, women, and children—did such a good job of collecting scrap metal and old cars that in 1943 the War Department produced a 12-minute film entitled Jalopies on Parade that was shot in Decatur and concluded with high praise for this typical American city
that contributed heroically to the wartime effort.
Decatur has a unique story to tell because its Mueller valves kept the submarines diving and surfacing properly. Its factory workers contributed to the Manhattan Project, while victory gardens grew everywhere and even schoolchildren bought War Savings Bonds. So the story of wartime Decatur is not merely a tale of soldiers, sailors, and marines, but an enduring parable of total community involvement. The women who rolled bandages and served coffee and biscuits to the soldiers passing through the Decatur station and the families who ate war cake and war bread and rode on old tires were just as much a part of the wartime culture as the machine-gunners and bombardiers. They all deserve to be celebrated, and that is the burden of this book.
One
THE EARLY WARS 1832–1865
Long before the World Wars of the 20th century, Decatur soldiers saw action in three critical campaigns. In 1832, for example, when the city was just established, Sac and Fox Indians under Chief Black Hawk left the Iowa Territory and returned to their native Illinois, threatening settlers in the northwestern part of the state. Militias formed up immediately, including Capt. Abraham Lincoln’s company from New Salem and Capt. James Johnson’s Fifth Regiment, including 44 Decatur men. William Warnick, Macon County’s first sheriff, and Lincoln’s neighbor from the spring of 1830 to the spring of 1831, served as first lieutenant. Warnick’s Tavern became a familiar stop for Lincoln in his later years on the Eighth Judicial Circuit, but in 1832 Warnick rallied the Decatur troops by brandishing his whip and shouting, I can whip every Indian with this whip that comes down the Sangamon River.
Lincoln’s relatives, John and William Hanks, were also part of the regiment. Isaac C. Pugh served as second lieutenant. Chief Black Hawk was defeated at the Battle of Bad Axe on the Mississippi River in Wisconsin. Lincoln quipped that he lost more blood from mosquitoes than from actual combat with the Indians.
The name of Isaac C. Pugh surfaced