Planned Du Quoin Civil War Memorial Honors Those Who Fought in a Nation Divided

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The numbers are sobering. 364,511 Union troops killed. Another 281,881 wounded. 260,000 Confederate troops killed. Thousands more wounded.

By Joe Stephens' estimates 2-in-5 who fought in the war were killed, maimed or were missing in action.

He knows there were at least 93 from the City of Du Quoin--a town barely eight years old when the Civil War broke out--who were killed in the war that divided a nation.

Research put together by Perry County Sheriff's Department investigator Tim Russell--an avid Civil War historian--pointed to 326 soldiers killed from Perry County by war's end.

As the war began in 1861 Southern Illinois' Deep South could just as easily have been part of the Confederacy. There are both Union and Confederate troops buried in the IOOF cemetery in Du Quoin.

The Illinois Central Railroad mainline that had already been constructed through Du Quoin at the outbreak of the war trafficked troops, munitions and supplies through the war torn Heartland.

Among the hundreds who served from here there were heroes.

One stands out.

He was Capt. Guy Carlton Ward from Du Quoin, who fought in the Battle of Shiloh and died in the Battle of Corinth (Mississippi) "at the moment of victory" on October 4, 1862.

It is all of these things that has inspired the Civil War research on Du Quoin's involvement in the war by Du Quoin resident Joe Stephens.

On Monday night, he approached the Du Quoin City Council with his belief that these men should be honored with a monument in Keyes Park. Years ago we had a much smaller marker--and a cannon--that honored these men. According to Stephens they were taken out during a World War II "scrap drive."

The cost is small--only $1,500 and $400 of that has already been donated. The new Volunteer Foundation, Inc. of Du Quoin has already fully embraced the project.

At Monday's meeting, Joe proposed an inscription that would read something like: "This monument is dedicated to the men of Du Quoin who fought in the Civil War and to the more than 90 men who gave their lives to preserve the union and in the cause of freedom on this 150th anniversary of the war."

Below that in smaller lettering the last three lines from the Gettysburg address:

"...That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain and that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth."

Powerful words for a nation divided and a town whose losses were huge--far larger than in the world wars, Korea and Vietnam.

There is a book called "The Martyrs and Heroes of Illinois in the Great Rebellion" that contains a biography of the life of Captain Guy Carlton Ward.

It's a biography of a true hero, whose body was returned to Du Quoin from Mississippi by his father and is buried in the southeast corner of the IOOF Cemetery following his death in the Battle of Corinth.

Ward was actually born in New York state in 1831 and described as "faithful, truthful and manly in all his actions." He was raised in Ohio and became a house mason.

He was in a business partnership that failed in the first five years and moved from Cincinnati to Du Quoin. He held responsible positions in the Royal Arch Chapter established here. In the Grand Lodge his learning and talents as a bright and intelligent mason were brought into requisition by his appointment as a member of important committees.

Capt. Ward settled in Du Quoin just as this thriving was starting into existence. "His deportment was so praiseworthy in all the relations of life that he at once won the confidence and esteem of the leading citizens here. He was elected town trustee and was president of the town board. He attended the Presbyterian Church to which a William S. Post, chaplain of the 81st Illinois Infantry, belonged and was pastor," to continue quoting from the biography.

Capt. Ward married Miss Lizzie Bell Robinson in Ohio and returned to Du Quoin. Their first child, Anna Cora, died in the summer of 1859 at the age of eight months. Mrs. Ward died of the disease consumption a year later.

When the Civil War began, Capt. Ward answered the first call of the president for 75,000 men. The company was soon raised. C.H. Brookings, who fell bravely in the siege of Vicksburg in May 1863, was chosen Captain; S.R. Wetmore was elected 1st Lieutenant and Guy Ward 2nd Lieutenant. This was the first company raised for service south of Ohio and after its organization became Co. G. 12th Illinois Infantry.

The company was named by the ladies the "Du Quoin Braves." They left Perry County on April 28 and was mustered into the service on May 3 at Springfield.

During the three months of their enlistment the regiment was stationed most of the time at Cairo. When the regiment was reorganized and enlisted for three years or during the war, Lt. Ward was unanimously elected captain.

He recruited his company in a short time and they were ordered to Paducah. The division landed three miles below Fort Heiman and moed o the assault at once. The enemy fled and left everything in the Union's possession. From here Capt. Ward and his men marched to Fort Donelson.

He fought in the Battle of Shiloh and in the Battle of Corinth. The 12th Regiment, then in command of Capt. Ward, was held with the rest of the brigade to which it belonged as a body of reserve. One of the batteries was captured by the Rebels, but before they had time to turn the guns on Ward's men, the 12th Regiment was ordered to charge upon the enemy and retake the battery. In leading his men to this charge, waving his sword in his hand while rallying his "Du Quoin Braves" shouting in a clear, shrill voice, which was distinctly heard above the thunder of battle, "Onward men, onward," Captain Ward fell pierced through the head with a mini ball. He fell just at the moment "victory was perching upon their banners--not only those of the 12th Regiment, but also of the whole Union army. No many fell in that bloody contest more conspicuous for heroic daring than Captain Ward."

His remains were brought back to Du Quoin by father and much of the town attended the funeral. He was buried with Masonic honors in the southeast corner of the IOOF Cemetery beside his beloved wife and child. The beautiful obelisk still stands out there and reads: "How sleep the brave, who sink to rest. With all their country's honors blest."