John Wesley CODDINGTON ⁶²

  General Notes:

John Wesley and his wife, Abraham, and William Smith came west to farm, first to Wisconsin, then Iowa, then Michigan.
He was a farmer and resided at Otterville, IA from 1868 to 1869, then moved to Jesup. He lived in Argyle, WI, from 1870 to 1873, and at Adair, IA, from 1873 on. He enlisted in company 'F', 37th Regiment of Wisconsin, in 1862, and was wounded at the Battle of Petersburg and sent to the hospital from which he was discharged at the end of the Civil War.

37th Wisconsin....fact...."This distinguished regiment is included as one of William F. Fox's (circa 1889) top 300 Union Fighting Regiments."

37th Infantry
The 37th Regiment was organize pursuant to the President's call of February 1, 1864, under the superintendence of Col. Sam Harriman. Six companies - A, B, C, D, E and F were mustered into service in the latter part of March, and there being immediate need of their services, were sent forward under the command of Major Kershaw, to report at Washington, where they arrived on the first of May.
Col. Harriman remained at Camp Randall to fill up the other four companies. the six companies went into camp on Arlington Heights, in the neighborhood of the Long Bridge. Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle joined regiment at Chicago, and took command. On the 17th, Companies H and I joined the regiment, here they were engaged in drilling. On the 30th, they embarked at Alexandria, and proceeded by way of fortress Monroe and York River to White House, Virginia, which was at that time the base of supplies for the Army of the Potomac, on the 2d of June. Here they remained, guarding prisoners and picketing the line of the Richmond Railroad, until the 10th of June, when they marched as guard to a supply train, under the charge of Captain Samuels, of the 5th Wisconsin, reached Cold Harbor on the 11th, and were assigned to the First Brigade, General Hartrufth. Third division, Brigade General Wilcox, Ninth Army Corps, General Burnside. On the 12th, they took position in the first line of works, from the whence, on the evening of that day, they took part in the general movement of Grant's army across the James River, to Petersburg, before which place they arrived on the afternoon of the 16th. They were immediately ordered to move to the support of a charge of the Fourth Division against the enemy's works, which were taken, and the Thirty-seventh occupied them during the night. On the next day, the brigade formed in line of battle in a ravine, preparatory to another charge on the works of the enemy. These were situated in the middle of a cornfield, on the crest of a slight elevation. The position was a strong one, with rifle pits and batteries to the right and left, which could pour in an enfilading fire. In the afternoon, the order was given to charge, and the brigade rushed forward, under a perfect storm of shot, shell and canister. when about halfway across the intervening space, and were was given by some one to "half-wheel to the right," which produced confusion in the movements of the brigade, and exposed the left to an enfilading fire from the batteries, which made terrible havoc in the ranks of the Thirty-seventh. The brigade fell back, and the regiment return to the ravine, where they remained till towards night, when they went to the support of the Second Division, and completed and strengthened a line of breastworks on the edge of the ravine, where they rested until morning. Early next morning, line of battle was formed, and the brigade advanced over the scene of yesterday's battle.
The rebel rifle pits were found vacated, and the command advanced beyond them and through a piece of woods, the edge of an oat field. Here they threw up a light line of breastworks, and awaited the arrival of additional forces. An order was given to move forward, and the command, under a sharp fire of cannon and musketry, pressed on across the field, towards a line of works, about half a mile in advance. The line moved forward as steadily as the uneven ground would permit, and the enemy's skirmishers fell back to their main lines. They soon came to a deep cut of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, and there were met by a terrible fire, which swept the top of the cut. An attempt to charge up the opposite side was met by the same sweeping fire, and soon the rebel sharpshooters obtained a position on the right, where they could fire along the whole length of the cut. Under cover of an artillery fire, two charges beyond the railroad cut were attempted in the afternoon, but the men were obliged to return to the cut, where they remained until nearly night, when they were relieved by fresh troops, and the brigade returned to the works in the rear.
In these engagements, of June 17th and 18th, the Thirty-seventh suffered severely. Major Kershaw was shot through both legs, Captain Stevens, of Company A, and Lieutenant W. H. Earl, of Company B, were mortally wounded, and Second Lieutenant Freeman B. Riddle of Company C, was killed.
The Thirty-Seventh behaved with great gallantry, and General Grant issued a complimentary order, praising the division for their endurance and success, after a march of twenty-two miles on the night of the 16th.
The casualties show the manner in which the Thirty-seventh stood up under a heavy fire, at the first battle in which they were engaged. Killed or died of wounds, 65; wounded, 93.
Lieutenant Prutzman, of Company D, was shot through the head, on the 28th of June, while the regiment was on picket.
On the 22d of June, the regiment returned to its old position near the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, where it remained under heavy fire of artillery and sharpshooters. The duty in the trenches tried the physical powers of the men, and many of them were sent to the hospitals. Company G joined the regiment at this time. Enjoying a week's respite from duty in the trenches, on the 17th, the regiment returned again to the front line of rifle pits, where they remained until the 30th of July. On the 23d, Company K joined the regiment making its organization complete and Colonel Harriman assumed command.
The explosion of the mine under the enemy's fort on the 30th of July, 1864, and the disastrous defeat of the whole scheme, has become a matter of history. Its results live in the memory of those who were present at the grand display of warlike operations, and in the hearts of those who mourn fathers, brothers and sons, who fell in the desperate charge. The Third Division was a portion of the Ninth Corps, to make the charge on that fatal morning. Accompanying the movement, the Thirty-seventh, led by Colonel Harriman, as soon as possible after the explosion, and under a severe fire from the surrounding batteries, occupied the ruined fort, which had been so leveled as to afford but little protection to the troops therein. The affair has been before described. Colonel Harriman and Adjutant Miltimore assisted in disinterring two of the enemy's guns, which were used in silencing a rebel fort in the vicinity. The Third Division repelled all attempts of the enemy to dislodge them, until about four o'clock in the afternoon, when, finding no chance of receiving support, they fell back to the line they had left in the morning. Out of 250 men who went out in the morning, but ninety-five answered at roll call that evening.
Captain A. A. Burnett, of Company K, and Captain Frank A. Cole, were both mortally wounded. Lieutenants Atwell, Company G, L. U. Beall, Company E, and George D. McDill, received wounds which incapacitated them from further service, Lieutenant Atwell having his leg amputated. Lieutenants Munger, of Company D, and Holmes, of Company G, were taken prisoners.
The casualties were 57 killed or died of wounds and 53 wounded.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He appeared on the census on 31 Jul 1850 in New York, New York Co., New York, USA. ¹³²³

• He worked as a farmer on 4 Aug 1870 in Perry Twp., Buchanan Co., Iowa, USA. ²⁷⁷⁹ Realty $2500; personalty $725.

• He worked as a farmer in 1880 in Victoria Twp., Cass Co., Iowa, USA. ²⁷⁸⁰

• He appeared on the census in 1880 in Victoria Twp., Cass Co., Iowa, USA. ²⁷⁸⁰

John married Martha Elizabeth MASON on 1 Dec 1868 in Wiota, Lafayette Co., Wisconsin, USA. (Martha Elizabeth MASON was born on 22 Aug 1848 in , Crawford Co., Pennsylvania, USA, died on 14 Jun 1921 in Tekamah, Burt Co., Nebraska, USA and was buried in Sunny Hill Cmty, Adair, Guthrie Co., Iowa, USA ²⁷⁷⁸.)