Cpl. Noah Van Buren Ness

Ness County, Kan., is named for Cpl. Noah Van Buren Ness, the only corporal to be so honored. His statue was unveiled in 2000, the first Civil War statue in Kansas for 60 years. Ness, who served with the Seventh Kansas Cavalry, died in 1864 of battle wounds received in Mississippi.

I could find no actual photograph or other contemporary image of Cpl. Ness in my Google image search, so have no way of comparing his sculpted face to his actual face. I often wonder how artists determine someone’s face with no evidence. I’d love to see any contemporary image of him if anyone has one.

Ness County Courthouse’s signature architectural feature is shown through the statue’s sword handle. More about that tomorrow.

The cost of freedom

Tintype is likely of Daniel Q. or his eventual brother-in-law Daniel D.

Daniel Q. served in the 36th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which saw a great deal of action, including the Battles of Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, the Siege of Chattanooga, the Battles of Resaca and Atlanta. Daniel Q. was captured somewhere in Georgia or Alabama.

He died Jan. 31, 1864, while a prisoner of war. Family originally believed that he had died in Andersonville Prison, the most notorious of the Confederacy’s prisoner-of-war camps, but War Department files showed that he had died in Danville [Va.] Prison, another terrible place.

Daniel D. enlisted near the end of the war and served for about three months.

Excerpt of poem below was written by Union soldier Andrew A. Wright at Murfreesboro, Tenn., May 17, 1863. Daniel Q., who was in Wright's company, sent home a copy to his sister Annie, my great-great-aunt. She had it published in her local newspaper.

Who Wouldn’t Be a Soldier?

“ … Wherever the Cumberland Army shall go
They are brave soldiers of freedom, the world shall e’er know
The Butternuts [Confederates] find us too much for their mettle;
When brave Rosy [Gen. Rosecrans] moves on, they are sure to skedaddle.
And we’ll closely pursue them with [illegible]
Till the last Reb is vanquished and peace is restored
And the Stars and Stripes fly triumphant again
O’er a land that is purged of disloyal men,

Then ’tis homeward we’ll turn and we’ll sing as we go:
Ho! Friends, we are coming, we have conquered the foe,
The rebellion has ended; secession’s played out!

But oh! There are those who will shed bitter tears,
For the loss in this struggle of brave volunteers;
How many there are who in anguish will mourn
For the bold soldier boys who will never return,

Should it be in my lot in this struggle to fall,
Dear friends in the North, I would say to you all;
Mourn not at the fate which may take me from you;
The patriot’s grave with no terrors, I view.
He who tempers the wind to the lamb that is shorn
Will guide, guard and protect you when I’m dead and gone.

But we hope for the best and sad thoughts dispel,
And trust to the end that all will be well,
That the day will soon come when our friends we will greet,
And that circle of loved ones again we shall meet,

Then keep up your courage ’till rebellion is crushed;
[Illegible, illegible] for our cause it is just.
The above are my thoughts and I send them to thee,
From your ever-true brother now in old Tennessee.