His grandfather died in the Revolutionary War. His father served in the War of 1812. He grew up to be a general in the Civil War.
Two hundred years ago this month – Dec. 16, 1812 – William Grose was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, near Dayton. A place called New Castle, Indiana, had its own birth just ten years later. And in 1829, a teenage Grose came to live here six miles south of town, his family creating a home in the midst of a wilderness.
Our town, our state and our nation was blessed by his life.
Sunday, Dec. 9, the Henry County Historical Society will pay tribute to this remarkable American who was, is and continues to be an inspiration.
The public is invited and encouraged to come help celebrate the general’s life during its annual Christmas tea, which starts at 2 p.m. We will review his many contributions and turn back the clock to hear from William Fentress, a soldier who served in his command, courtesy of local dramatist and musician Kevin Stonerock. We will also explore the origins of some timeless Christmas songs.
The stately home constructed for Grose in 1870 at 606 S. 14th St. was a just reward for someone who worked hard, fought for what was right and loved his country dearly.
He had humble beginnings, laboring on a farm for $8 a month and in a brickyard for $6 a month. The work ethic served him well, especially where his studies were concerned. He was admitted to the bar in 1843 and quickly rose to prominence in the legal fraternity, earning a license to practice in the Indiana Supreme Court by 1846.
Active in political circles, Grose was a Democrat until 1854, but changed allegiance because of the Democrat attitude toward slavery. In fact, he was among those who, during a Feb. 22, 1856 meeting in Pittsburgh, helped organize the Republican party. That same year, he was elected to the state legislature as senator. And in 1860, he was elected as judge of the Court of Common Pleas, but later resigned after the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter.
In July, 1861, he received a commission to colonel of the 36th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry. It certainly was much more than a ceremonial role. Here’s what The Civil War Journal said about Grose:
“The 36th was the only Indiana regiment of Gen. Don Carlos Buell to take part in the bloody battles at Shiloh, where Grose received his orders from Gen. Buell personally. At Shiloh, Grose was wounded in the shoulder and his horse was killed under him. He would suffer pain from that injury for the rest of his life.
“He was then made commander of the 10th brigade and advanced with Buell’s army, taking part in the siege at Corinth. Grose saw action at Stone River, where he had another horse shot out from under him, and was ‘always seen where the bullets flew thickest.’ In the battle of Chickamauga, he was wounded in the neck.”
In fact, rumors spread in 1863 that Grose had actually been killed during the bloody Chickamauga battle.
“The news sent the town into deep mourning and gloom which lifted only when Gen. Grose sent word he was safe,” a New Castle paper reported. On Oct. 2, Adolphus, one of the general’s five sons, came to New Castle to update citizens on the war.
The dedication and bravery shown by Grose was rewarded, yet put him in even more danger as the war raged on.
His sacrifice and national duty became personal in the summer of 1864. One of his two daughters, Sallie was due to be married in New Castle and Grose had received permission to take a leave so he could attend the wedding. Before he could get away, however, orders were issued for the summer-long and crucial Atlanta campaign. So, instead of walking his daughter down the aisle, he led a brigade in the decisive invasion of Georgia.
“On July 30th, 1864, while under fire in front of Atlanta, Grose was promoted to brigadier general and commanded a brigade in Nathan Kimball’s division of Thomas J. Wood’s IV Corps at Franklin and Nashville in defeat of John B. Hood’s Confederate troops.”
Because of his character, Grose earned the respect of many, many people – from military personnel to state leaders and everyday residents on New Castle streets.
A quote found from newspaper files at the museum summed it up.
“It has been said by one of his brother officers that, as an officer, a soldier and a man, not one word could be said against Gen. Grose. He returned to his home uncontaminated by any of the vices of intemperance and immorality for which army life offers such strong temptations.”
New Castle writer and legislator Benjamin Parker – a friend of famed poet James Whitcomb Riley – tried to give poetic justice to Grose with these lines:
“And what shall we write to his glory,
What monuments build to his fame?
Keep silence! He wrote his own story
‘Tis signed with his own deathless name.”
(Darrel Radford is a staff writer for The Courier-Times and executive director of The Henry County Historical Society. For more information about the tea and other museum activities, call 529-4028 or visit www.henrycountyhs.org)