FRANK
VUAGNIAUX
My great grandfather came
to this country from Switzerland about 1855 and lived in Greenville, and
Dudleyville, Illinois. Both towns are close to one another. He was a farmer. He met Adele Pahud there prior to the Civil War. The Pahud family was also
from Switzerland and from the same locality as the Vuagniaux family. Frank
enlisted and fought in the War, was captured and spent a year in prison in
Texas. After the war he married Adele on Valentines day 1866. Frank's former
Captain during the war married them. They lived in Ill. until 1873 when the
family moved to Missouri. In 1877 the family moved by wagon to Council Bluffs,
Iowa. The family was transported across the Missouri River on a raft piloted
by two men. My grandfather and his two brothers were the only children in the
family at that time. The family were faithful members of the Plymouth Brethren
Church for many years. Ten children were born to the marriage, three of these
died in infancy.
Frank’s military service
was one of honor and hardship. He enlisted on the 12th of August
1862 as a private in Co. E of the 130th Ill Infantry Volunteers at
Springfield. He also served some time in Co. G of the 77th Ill.
Vol. At the time of his enlistment he was 5 foot 7 inches tall, light
complexion, hazel eyes, and had auburn colored hair. He listed his occupation
as farmer. The following documents describe his military service. they are
from his Civil War service record from the National Archives and from
published literature on the Civil War.
This information was
obtained from an official history of the Civil War at a local library.
BATTLE OF SABINE CROSSROADS, LOUISANA
On the morning of April 8,
1864, the 130th Ill. Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the
4th Division of the 13th Army Corp commanded by Brig.
Gen. Thomas Ranson, the 4th Div. commanded by Col. William J
Landram and the 2nd Brigade commanded by Col. Joseph Vance and the
130th Ill Reg. commanded by Major John Reid (Frank was in Co. E of
the 130th Ill) set out at 5 am walked 19 miles through rather rough
country bounded by a pine forest along a road near where the battle occurred.
It had rained hard the night before and the troops were wet and the ground was
very soft. The heavy equipment was hard to move. By 1 PM they had set up a
line at a place called Pleasant Hill, a hill next to the pine forest. At 4
p.m. the firing became heavy and the 130th Ill. was in the center
of the battle line and ordered to charge through the thick forest and against
the rebel line. It appears from the record of the engagement that about
20,000-30,000 troops of both sides were engaged in battle area at some time or
other. The rebels outflanked the Union Armies and the fighting was fierce and
Major Reid, commander of the 130th Ill., was killed while rallying
his men. On April 12th, four days later, the 130th Ill.
had only three officers a
Great grandfather was
captured during the battle and was interred as a prisoner of war at Tyler
Texas at a place known as Camp Ford. There he remained for 13 months and 19
days.
Pictures
of Tyler TX prison
(click here)
More about the battle
is described in Omaha World Herald Newspaper story published fifty years to
the day of the battle and with personal notes on article by Frank Vuagniaux as
to being within 16 feet of Union general when he was shot from his horse.
(Click here to read article)
Frank and Adele Pahud Vuagniaux
The Frank and Adele Vuagniaux family in this photo taken about
1895 is from your left, Ulysses. Adele, Ira, Emily, Frank. In the back
row from your left is Alfred Emile, Hortense, John Frederick and Paul Louis.
Ira, the young boy in this picture, disappeared as an adult. He
was last known to be in Cheyenne, Wyoming and may have gone to Montana.
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