Fitzhugh Crossing, April 29th, 1863. The 24th Michigan and 6th Wisconsin cross the Rappahannock in boats and assault the enemy on the opposite side.
Sketch by H. J. Brown of the Regiment -- Taken from (Curtis, p. 126)
John Tait was born on September 25, 1826 in the county of Northumberland, England. John grew up in this part of Northeast England, and served his apprenticeship to become a blacksmith there. He was twenty years old, when on May 30, 1847, he married nineteen year old Ann Thompson (born April 28, 1828). The wedding was held in the town of Alnwick, Northumberland County, just six miles from the North Sea. The ceremony was performed a Presbyterian minister named John Thompson, possibly a relative of Ann's.
The couple's first child, John Tait Jr. was born on July 15th, 1848. Sadly, John junior died on September 5, 1849. The next child, Margaret Thompson Tait, was born on July 28, 1850. This child lived less than two years and died on June 11, 1852. The final child to be born in England, Elizabeth, arrived on April 9, 1853.
John made the decision to emigrate to America and try and make a better life for his family. In 1854, he received a debenture emigrate and practice his trade in this country. John settled in Detroit, Michigan with his wife, infant daughter Elizabeth, and his twelve year old brother Thomas that same year.
The Taits established a household on Harrison Avenue in Detroit. A fourth child, Jane Ann Tait, was born on June 14, 1855. Family lore has it that the baby was born before John could return home with a physician. Two years later, another girl was born to the family, Jessie Fremont Tait, on July 21, 1857. On September 10, 1859, a sixth child was born, William John Tait.
After living in Detroit for five years, John Tait moved his family, including his younger brother Thomas (who John was training as a blacksmith), to the small town of Cherry Hill, located in Canton Township in western Wayne County. In the 1860 Census, John Tait's real-estate was valued at $800, and his personal estate was valued at $244. Thomas Tait was still listed as living under John's roof.
When the 24th Michigan was organized, John Tait Answered the call. He traveled south from
Cherry Hill to Belleville, in the township of Van Buren, Wayne County. There he attended a
large open air recruiting meeting on Friday, the 8th of August 1862. One of fifteen men to
enlist in Belleville that day, he became volunteer number 81 in Captain William A. Owen's
Company G. The Company Muster Rolls describe him as having brown eyes, brown hair and a
height of 5ft. 9 in. John volunteered to serve his country for three years after only
having lived in it for eight! John Tait's names is occasionally spelled "Tate"
and he is thus listed in the State Adjutant General's records.
John had little time to spend with his family before leaving for the war. Part of Captain Owen's Company G was already in training at Camp Barnes (the old State Fair Grounds). In the afternoon of Wednesday, August 13, 1863, he was mustered into federal service. He was appointed one of the eight corporals in Company G, perhaps due partly to his age and "stability". The average age of the recruits in Company G was only 23 years 5 months. In fact, John was twice the age of 23 of the "boys". When the regiment was mustered, each man received an advance of one month's pay ($13 for both privates and corporals!) plus the initial $25 of a $100 federal bounty being offered to men who enlisted for at least 2 years.
After this point, John's history becomes the history of the Regiment. He was wounded in
the shoulder during the Regiment's first action at Fredericksburg, Virginia. John Tait was
promoted to the rank of Sergeant on January 1, 1863. After the ineffectual "Mud
March", the Regiment went into winter quarters. Abraham Lincoln reviewed the I Corps,
including the Iron Brigade and the 24th Michigan on April 9, 1863. John Tait was killed in
action April 30, 1863 near Fredericksburg, Virginia during the Chancellorsville Campaign.
Fitzhugh Crossing, April 29th, 1863. The 24th Michigan and 6th Wisconsin cross the Rappahannock in boats and assault the enemy on the opposite side. |
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Sketch by H. J. Brown of the Regiment -- Taken from (Curtis, p. 126) |
"The Next day, April 30, the men hastily threw up breastworks as a protection against musketry, putting in all the farming implements on the plantation - mowers, reapers, plows, drags, fanning mills, etc. Everything went. While so engaged, the enemy kept up a lively shelling from 5 to 7 p.m. which was vigorously replied to by our batteries across the river A solid shot killed Sergeant Asa Brindle of B, and Sergeant John Tait of G, and wounded two others. As soon as night came, the men went out to work in good earnest and by daylight Friday morning, May 1st, had a line of entrenchment's strong enough to resist solid shot and shell. The two Sergeants that were killed, were buried within the lines of the entrenchment's with appropriate religious services, conducted by Private William R. Graves, a "local preacher" of the Methodist Church"(Curtis, p. 127)
On May 16, 1863, the Detroit Free Press printed the story, "From the Twenty-Fourth, Correct List of Killed and Wounded", sent by its field correspondent on May 9th. A paragraph from that story states: "Sergeants Brindle and Tait were killed and privates Connors and Robinson, wounded by a single solid shot, about six o'clock in the evening of Thursday, April 30th, during the enemy's fire upon us. Companies B and G were on the extreme left, upon the river bank, where our breastworks [were] not as yet completed, and after the firing began, Company G was ordered to lie down in the ditch in front of the unfinished work, while Company B lay in the rear. Scarcely had the men crouched down in their places when a solid shot crashed through the breast-work after striking Company G, and finishing its deadly work in Company B, it bounded down the height, and buried itself in the dark waters of the Rappahannock, hissing and seething as if it came from the hot bowels of the earth."
Family history indicates that John's head was taken off by the cannonball. This make some sense as the two privates were hit by the same shot were also wounded in the head. Sergeant Brindle was also killed by the same ball. In a letter to Brindle's aunt, Emily Ward, Chaplain Way wrote "The ball struck him on the head and passed directly through his body coming out the left thigh." (Smith p. 94-95).
The 95th Article of War (U.S. Army Regulations of 1861) required an "Inventory of Effects" of deceased non-commissioned officers and soldiers. Sergeant Tait's inventory of personal items is on file at the National Archives. It was written May 10, 1863 at White Oak Church, Virginia and lists: "one memorandum book, one silver watch, one housewife (sewing kit), one silver pen holder, his Sergeant's Warrant (certificate of promotion), and one pocketbook containing $5 in notes. Sadly, none of these items were passed down through the family.
Pension records show that Anne Tait was granted a widows pension and that all of John's children were granted minor's pensions of $8 per month until they reached the age of 16. By act of Congress, from July 25, 1866 minor's pensions were raised to $10 per month. In the 1880's John's children, Elizabeth, Grace, Jessie, and William and their families migrated to the townships of Essex and Lebanon in Clinton County, Michigan. Jane remain with her family in Canton township. Sergeant Tait and his comrades who were killed near Fredericksburg, Virginia were buried in well marked graves. Colonel Morrow is know to have won the cooperation of the local landowners to watch over the graves.
I saw also the graves of Sergeant Brindle and Corporal [Sergeant] Tait who were killed on the 30th of April, 1863. I said to the ploughman, "My good man, in these graves sleep brave soldiers who fought for the best and holiest of causes, and gave up their lives that their country might live. Respect their graves or in the silent watches of the night, their sheetless shall harrow thy soul with fear. He promised to respect them and we bade adieu to the resting place of the first martyrs of the "Twenty-fourth." Letter from Morrow to Adjutant Chamberlain, May 19, 1865, cited from Curtis p. 309-310)
This was instrumental, when in later years, the government began moving remains to the Fredericksburg National Cemetery. John's grave is marked by a small marble stone with the number 2162 across the top and the simple inscription "Sgt. J. Tait". Although John Tait is buried in Virginia, there is an empty grave in Michigan to honor his memory. John's widow Anne died on June 7, 1909. She lived the last 23 years of her life near her children in Clinton County, but her wish was to be buried near the home that she shared with her husband. Her children laid her to rest in Cherry Hill Cemetery and erected a stone honoring both father and mother. "Tait" appears in large letters on a sloped top and the face reads:
JOHN TAIT
1826-1863
A MEMBER OF THE 24TH MICH. INF. LOST
LIFE, FITZHUGH CROSSING, VA.
-----------------
ANNE TAIT
1828-1909
Last Updated: 08/01/99
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