Thomas and Mary Jane on Fiftieth Anniversary
Thomas and Mary Jane on Fiftieth Anniversary
Thomas Henry Clipperton was born in Paston, England, on May 19, 1836. He came to America in 1854, stopping in Canada a few months and settling in Wabasha, MN. There he met and married Mary Jane Perrine Terry (11/14/1837-10/30/1925), a widow with a three year old daughter. When the call to arms came for more Minnesotans, Thomas enlisted on Aug 15, 1862, in Wabasha. He was assigned to Company C of the Tenth Minnesota Regiment that had been organized on August 12, 1862, at Ft. Snelling.
The regiment was about to embark for the south when the Dakota Indians rose up, demanding fulfillment of the treaty obligations on August 18 (the Sioux Uprising). The regiment was reassigned to put down the rebellion. Company C was assigned to Ft. Ridgeley. Other companies of the Tenth took part in the Mankato Hangings of Dakota and Winnebago Indians in 1863. In June, Company C was repositioned to Camp Pope on the Redwood River. July 4, 1863, found them on the Cheyenne River (Valley City, ND) and engaged in the Big Mounds Battle (near Crystal Springs, ND) on July 24-28. Company C saw little action until the 28th when they left camp at 3:30 a.m. alone and engaged approximately 4-5,000 Teton Dakota. Fortunately, the artillery company and one other were not far behind and came in support. The Dakota retreated. When the rest of the Regiment was readied, they pursued the Dakota westward to the Missouri River (Bismark, ND). The regiment was then returned to Ft. Snelling by steamboat and furloughed until October 5th.
October 23rd found them in Schofield Barracks in St. Louis, MO, on garrison and provost duty, a task for which they received high commendations. On April 22, 1864, they were garrisoned at Columbus, KY, from which they attempted to capture Confederate General Forrest in a raid near Maysville, KY. On June 20th they were in Memphis, July 11th in Pontotoc, and on July 13th were engaged by General Forrest while enroute to Tupelo, MS. Company C suffered 1 killed and 21 wounded before driving off Forrest. The Tenth pursued Forrest to the Tallahatchie River and Hurricane Creek, stopping at Oxford, MS. On September 8th they marched from Devalls Bluff through Pocohantas to Cape Girardeau where they caught steamboats back to St. Louis.
From St. Louis they took the War Eagle Steamboat up-river to Jefferson City. On October 18th they took the railroad to LaMine bridge to intercept CSA General Price. They pursued Price through Sedalia, Lexington and Independence before defeating him in Kansas. The Tenth then marched back to St. Louis.
Under new orders, the Tenth arrived in Nashville, TN, on November 30th as reserves for a battle already underway. Even as reserves, they were under constant threat of being struck by errant projectiles. At this time, the Tenth had only 301 musketmen in the ranks, less than half their original force in 1862. On December 15th, they attacked General Hood’s salient point, sneaking to within eight yards of the Confederate lines before being discovered. They were raked with cross-fire, especially Companies C and F, but still captured 2000 Confederates and 16 cannon. The Tenth suffered the loss of their two commanders along with 20-25 enlisted men, the wounding of six other officers, and the wounding of 60 enlistees. Company C had suffered five killed and seven wounded.
January 7, 1865, found the Regiment at Eastport, MS and February 7th in New Orleans where they set up camp on the famous War of 1812 battlefield (General Andrew Jackson). Shortly they were posted to Dauphine Island and the mouth of the Fish River, thirty miles from Spanish Fort, Mobile, Alabama. After a two day bombardment of the fort, the Tenth captured several thousand rebels on April 9th. They were then marched to Montgomery, Alabama, through Meridian, MS, to Vicksburg where they caught a steamboat back to St. Paul, arriving August 7th. The Regiment was mustered out at Ft. Snelling on August 18th. Of the 106 men who had been assigned to Company C, 15 had lost their lives, 33 had been discharged because of sustained injuries, and 10 had deserted.
Thomas Henry Clipperton had served three full years, marching God only knows how many miles, and so far as we know suffering no battlefield wounds. The musket and powder horn he carried throughout are in the possession of one of his great-grandsons.
While Thomas was in the army, Mary Jane and the three children lived in Plainview until the Sioux Uprising was over. To protect their horses, she would patrol around the barn with their dogs on leash. This protected the dogs from the poisoned meat thieves would use to neutralize them. After he returned, Thomas and Mary Jane proved up their homestead in Enterprise Township, Jackson County, MN in 1870. He later disposed of this and acquired another under the Timber Act, made available to Civil War veterans. There they reared Mary Jane’s daughter Dolly and their seven children: Mittie Alice (1861-1943), Mary Elizabeth (1863-1903), Francis Thomas (1867-1946), John Henry (1869-1956), Ella Nora (1873-1961), Myrtle Helen (1875-1898), and Ira Charles (1877-1954). On the farm, Thomas built a wind-powered flour mill for grinding grain and a horse-powered sugar cane press for making sorgum. He also had a blacksmith forge.
It should not come as a surprise that Thomas was not a stay-at-home person. He would go the ten miles to Jackson by horse several times a week, was active in Republican Party politics and the Grand Army of the Republic, traveled to the World Expositions, and visited friends and relatives from Oregon to New York. In 1910, Thomas and Mary Jane celebrated their Golden Anniversary. Thomas was killed in a run-away accident on September 22, 1912. Mary Jane received a pension of $12 a month from the U.S. government because of Thomas’ service.
Thomas and Mary are the two adults on the right.
PHOTOS AND ARTICLE PROVIDED BY JULIAN GREV
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