Experiences of One of Benton's Best Citizens in the Great Conflict
Robert Parker Miles, Blairstown Record:
The Hon. Justus H. Kimm is a true blue Republican, embracing the
teachings not only of the father of the Republican party, by obeying
the call to arms of the great emancipator, Abe Lincoln, but also
obeying the instruction of the latest exponent of the Republican party,
Theodore Roosevelt, in the anti-race suicide theory, for the subject of
this sketch is the father of seventeen sons and daughters, all worthy
young men and women, of whom any father might be justly proud.
GERMAN BORN
Mr. Kimm was born in Sand, Germany, in 1839, and as soon as he had
reached his fifteenth year packed up his worldy [sic] goods and turned
his face toward the setting sun. The glowing accounts that young
Kimm sent home of the land of his adoption so influenced his parents
that they followed their ambitious son to Cedarville, N. Y., the same
year.
Farming in the new country was just to Kimm's liking and his youthful
years were spent in western New York. The spirit that filled the
soul of all youthful America, was in the heart of this German-American
lad and at twenty-two, just three days after the shot at Fort Sumpter
had echoed into every nook and vale of inhabited Columbia, the lad
enlisted under Capt. Brown at Herkimer, N.Y., in the 34th regiment of
New York in the second army corps.
WITHIN THE SOUND OF BULL RUN
They drilled from April to July 4th in the old town of Herkimer, then a
respectable looking regiment started out to do camp and guard duty at
the nation's capital. Here young Kimm while on duty heard the
rumbling and the cannonading of the great battle of Bull Run, thirty
miles away. The regiment was then ordered up the Potomac as far
as Edward's Ferry where they were again in camp.
ON THE EVE OF A FEAST
While stationed here, awaiting orders for the real service at the
front, some of the boys had been foraging and had brought in a nice fat
pig that they had stolen somewhere. The boys were cutting up
about the camp fire as the pig was slowly being roasted to a turn, when
out of a clear sky on the eve of the feasting, a big shell whizzed over
the group of soldiers. This was the first time Kimm and his
comrades had been fired upon. There was a shuffle and a sharp
skirmish, in the bushes, a retreating bunch of greys and the whole
matter was straightened out, and the boys returned to camp to find
their feat of pig a lot of burned bones.
AT HARPERS' FERRY
Kimm was in the left wing of McClellan's army and how had been ordered to advance cautiously up the north bank of the Potomac.
Harper's Ferry is little more than a ravine or gorge with three steep
mountains about it, a regular trap. To this place which now holds
a famous niche in the annals of American History you Kimm was
ordered. It was here that General Miles had opened the eyes of
the union to his insincerity, for at such a ferry, a commander who was
neither a fool nor traitor, on seeing any army approach would have
evacuated in haste or concentrated his men on one of the steep
mountains and have awaited till relief came, but General Miles did
neither. The stay was not long at Harper's Ferry, for the New
Yorkers were ordered to Fortress Monroe.
A GLIMPSE OF THE MONITOR.
Here Kimm saw the famous ironclad Monitor, that seemed to him like a
cheese box on a raft. This was after the heroic encounter with
the giant Merrimac. The turret of the Monitor had been struck
nine times, her pilot house twice. She showed the dents in her
ironclad sides, as Kimm looked upon her.
Kimm was under the doughty General McClellan, who had an army of 58,000
men and a hundred guns with him, and as many more on the way.
Gen. Sumner commanded the 2d corps.
Gen. McClellan had been for a month in front of Yorktown and was
expecting to open the siege but McGrager had left his works the night
before and was now flying somewhere up the peninsular.
Kimm and his boys were sent up the York river to head off
McGrader. This pursuit was full of energy and suffering, men fell
by the wayside from toil and hardship and disease but McGrader had too
big a start and got away safe.
AT FAIR OAKS
Mr. Kimm was in the battle of Fair Oaks on May 31. The
battlefield was a mudhole. The Checkahoma had overflowed its
banks. The rebel army was on the field beating down the Federals,
when Gen. Sumner's boys, among whom was Kimm, burst upon the field and
saved the day. The rebels retreated in dismay. After this
battle Kimm slept that night on the muddy field. When the
excitement was hushed and Kimm had time to look himself over, he had
been wounded in the face, a bullet had whizzed past, taking a little of
the face skin with it. At Fair oaks or Seven Pines, just on the
road to Richmond, our hero had a hard time was under file the entire
engagement.
Toward the end of this engagement he ran out of ammunition and he knew
the hell of being under fire without the powder to send back his answer.
IN THE SEVEN DAYS BATTLE.
He was in the seven days battles at Peach Orchard, Savage Station and
Melvern Hill. How they fought those seven awful days.
McClellan with a third of the army and Lee with his brilliant generals
and his host of followers fought on the swamp, tug of war now charging,
then retreating over 1,500 killed 8,000 wounded 9,000 missing, 16,000
in all of our men suffered during that seven days struggle. It
was at Melvern Hill that Capt. Brown of Kimm's company fell, and Capt.
J. E. Johnson was appointed to the place.
AT ANTIETAM
Kimm can tell his children and to their children, the grim story of
Antietam, where hell broke loose, and blood watered the soil of
Maryland, where 100,000 greys under Lee showed their teeth to 110,000
boys in blue under Gen. McClellan. Young Kimm seemed to bear a
charmed life in that fight, bullets flew over head, by his cheeks,
through his coat twice. He fought about five yards from the
historic Dunkard church and fought through it all. The scenes he
witnessed, as did his comrades, makes the blood boil. Men fell by
his side, praying and crying for loved ones at home, boys whispering
the name of mother.
A little fellow near Kimm fell with a shattered leg, the member hung by
the skin, the shell had blown the leg completely off. Young Kimm
tore his blanket in to strips and helped the lad the best he could.
FREDERICKSBURG
In the winter of '62 Kimm camped in Fredericksburg, till they engaged
in the bloody battle in that camp about November, when the army of the
Potomac went under the command of Gens. Burnside and
Hooker. Down the Rappahannock to Fredericksburg on the line
between the capitols of the two armies, Washington and Richmond.
Lee had 80,000 strong men stretched along and behind the southern bluff
of the river a mile above the camp, with Jackson on the right and
Longstreet on the left, with guns poked on every hill that overlooked
our boys.
It was a cold November day and the ground was frozen hard.
A SCARLET DAY
A braver set of warriors never smiled at death. The blues never
flinched as they accepted the fire of the rebs as the shot tore through
the ranks and mowed them down like wheat. Never fought men
better. And they bore it all till night and death stopped their
hand, and when night stopped this fruitless massacre the hill slopes
which led to the rebels works, were covered with dead and disabled
men. Kimm's boys had charged, fell and died. Young Kimm
with a tired, white face, was covered with tattered clothes saturated
with the blood of the battle on that day at Fredericksburg.
Fifteen thousand boys in blue were sacrificed. After the battle
that tired mens souls, Kimm was ordered out on picket duty all night in
the rain and sleet of that November night. They promoted him to
corporal and color guard.
MUSTERED OUT
J. H. Kimm was mustered out on June 29, 1863, at Albany, N. Y. It
was only for a little over a year that he enlisted, but how frought
with action and history. It was a busy year, something doing all
the time. They needed him on the farm at home, his brothers were
at the front.
Mr. Kimm came to Benton county in 1865 and has loved here ever
since. He was married in 1866, and has a family of seventeen
children, sixteen of whom are living.
For two years he was member of the board of supervisors and during this
time he unearthed one of the greatest financial scandals that Benton
county has known during its existence and caused the perpetrator of the
theft to be incarcerated in the state penitentiary.
SUPERVISOR
Mr. Kimm is responsible for many improvements in the way of bridge
building, etc. throughout the county and the offices of the county have
been more rigidly inspected by reason of his energy and devotion to
public duty.
He has been hated by the criminal classes of the county, and honored and respected by all law abiding citizens.
He is now approaching the allotted time of life, reverenced and honored by all who know him.
He is owner of one of the very best farms in Benton county, well
stocked with choice animals, and his granaries are filled to abundance
with the fruits of his labors. Benton county has not been large
enough for his farming energy and he has reached out into the Dakota's
and how owns about 1,000 acres of the choicest land there.
Vinton Eagle
August 28, 1906
