Published April 1, 2024
By Phil Reyburn
This illustration of Theodore Letton in his role as Adjutant is from the 50th Illinois Infantry Regimental History.
(Illustration Courtesy of the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County.)
This illustration of Theodore Letton in his role as Adjutant is from the 50th Illinois Infantry Regimental History.
(Illustration Courtesy of the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County.)
In 1860, Elmer Ellsworth’s United States Zouave Cadets, a short-lived military drill team, toured the Eastern United States, inspiring the formation of similar units. The Quincy Cadets were one of them. Under Captain Theodore Letton’s leadership the Cadets gained a reputation as a well-organized and drilled company. Quincy’s 1861 Fourth of July parade led off with 14th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, followed by the Quincy City Guard, the National Rifle Guards, the Quincy Mounted Guards, and the Quincy Cadets. The three local militia units were undoubtedly loosely organized and ill-trained outfits. The men were good for a parade but not for a fight. As for the Cadets, close-order drill is not the same as the exchange of fire.
The Quincy Cadets’ leader, Theodore Willis Letton, was born January 23, 1840, in Le Claire, Iowa. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Quincy, where his father, Raphael, established himself as a “teacher of and dealer in music.” By the time of his death in 1903, Raphael Letton was considered “one of the oldest piano dealers in the United States.”
The 21-year-old Theodore Letton was teaching music when he and fifteen of the Cadets answered Lincoln’s 1861 call for three-year volunteers. The Cadets, “mere lads yet in their teens,” were part of a large contingent of Quincy men mustered into United States service on September 12, 1861, as the 50th Illinois Infantry. Letton was elected First Lieutenant in Co. C.
On October 9th, the 50th left Quincy for Missouri where they remained until January 21, 1862, when the regiment was ordered to Cairo, Illinois. Here, Grant was assembling a force to attack and capture Forts Henry and Donelson. The February 26th Quincy Daily Herald published a dispatch covering the fighting at Fort Donelson. “The 50th . . . held its own all the way through; returned the enemy’s [fire] when an opportunity was afforded and supported the Iowa 2d in its charge upon the enemy’s batteries, which determined the result of the battle in a great measure; finally came out without a man killed as far as we have been able to ascertain, and only eight or nine wounded.”
After Fort Donelson’s surrendered the 50th moved up the Cumberland River, occupying Clarksville, Tennessee, where the regiment remained until ordered to Pittsburg Landing with the 50th arriving on March 31st.
Thirty-one years later Letton recalled: “It was a beautiful Sunday morning in April . . . when we answered the call ’fall in’ and marched forth to do our part. . ..” His letter home, written after the battle and published in the Daily Whig and Republican described what he saw and partook in that day. He began: “We have been through another great fight. Friday evening the enemy made a reconnaissance in force, but we drove them back. Early Sunday morning they surprised and came near taking us all prisoners.”
After a lengthy delay the 50th got underway, leaving “camp about ten o’clock, and marched two miles to the scene of action.” In the move the 50th became separated from the rest of the brigade. Now temporarily attached to McArthur’s brigade, the 50th was positioned alone at the end battleline with no orders or any other troops near.
Confused and determined to find what was in front of the 50th, Colonel Bane ordered Sergeant Major Hughes and Lieut. Col. Swarthout forward to reconnoiter. Within minutes shots were heard and Hughes’ riderless horse came dshing back.” Lt. Letton wrote: “I was on the side of a hill, but thirty or forty feet above where the sergeant major lay, [and] I could not tell for the smoke what kind of troops those across the hollow were.” One of Letton’s men, “who had been standing behind a tree some distance in front of the company” shouted that “he could see a flag coming over the brow of the hill.” Focusing on the flag bearer, Letton wrote the man “was holding it around the staff, and I could not tell whether it was the stars and striped or the stars bars.” Time was in slow motion, “but at last the flag was above the brow of the hill, and as the breeze caught it, it gradually unfolded, showing it to be the rebel ensign.”
Identifying the flag, Lt. Letton, in command of Co. C, ran back to his men, “and as soon as the rebels came in sight ordered them to fire.” The rebel advance, however, outnumbered the 50th to the point it almost surrounded the regiment. They “opened fire upon us in front and on both flanks, and soon threw us into confusion,” Letton penned. The lieutenant ordered his men “to take to the trees and load and fire at will. In this manner a great many of the rebels were killed.”
After retreating “for some distance, we at last succeeded in partly reforming the regiment,” Letton explained. The 50th, like most of the Union army that day, realized that they had fallen back as far as they could. They were now backed up to the Tennessee River and came across Capt. Stone with the 1st Missouri Battery. “He requested us to remain with the battery to protect it, while he tried to drive the rebels back.”
“About five o’clock the victorious army which had driven our entire left wing and routed them, approached the position where the 1st and 2d Missouri Batteries and Captain Maddison’s siege guns were stationed. As soon as they reached the top of the hill, the batteries opened upon them, such cannonading I never heard before. It completely checked the rebels.”
Lt. Letton continued: “By the next morning Gen. Buell had crossed and commenced the fight, and by three o’clock the rebels were routed. Our regimented guarded the battery all Sunday night and all-day Monday.”
On April 28, 1862, Lieutenant Letton was promoted Adjutant of the 50th Illinois Infantry. After November 16, 1862, he would spend the rest of his three years term of enlistment as a staff officer.
Captain Letton left Quincy after the war and settled into the fire insurance industry where he was quite successful. He died in Chicago on October 8, 1908.
Sources
“Another Glorious Victory!!” Quincy Daily Herald, February 26, 1862, 2.
“Celebration of the Fourth of July.” Quincy Daily Herald, July 3, 1861, 2.
“From the 50th Regiment.” Quincy Daily Whig and Republican, April 14, 1862, 2.
Hurbert, Charles F. History of the Fiftieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Union.
Kansas City, Mo.: Western Veteran Publishing Company, 1894.
Memorials of Deceased Companions of the Commandery of the State of Illinois. Vol. 7,
pp. 567-571. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
“Obituary.” Chicago Tribune, October 11, 1908, 6.
“Pioneer Dead.” Quincy Daily Journal, May 25, 1903, 7.
Portraits and Biographers of the Fire Underwriters of the City of Chicago. Chicago: Charles
T. Rothermel & Co., 1895.
Proceedings of the Fortieth Annual Meeting of the Fire Underwriters’ Association of the
Northwest Chicago, Illinois October 6-7, 1919. “Report of the Committee on the
Death of Theodore Willis Letton,” pp. 163-164, Printed by the Association, 1909.
“R. E. Letton.” Quincy Daily Whig and Republican, September 11, 1861, 3.
“Theo. Letton Is No More.” Quincy Daily Herald, October 9, 1908, 9.
“Was Veteran of Civil War,” Quincy Daily Herald, October 10, 1908, 6.
