Contributed by Charlene Saunders:
MARCELLUS RAWLES, engaged in agricultural pursuits on section 35, Wabash
Township, was born on the homestead farm in Tippecanoe County, November
21, 1841, a son of JOHN and MATILDA (NEWELL) RAWLES, old and honored
pioneers of the county. The subject of this sketch was reared to the
vocation of a farmer, which he has followed principally through life.
He enlisted in the war of the Rebellion, August 12, 1862, in Company C,
Seventy-second Indiana Infantry, and was assigneed to Wilder's Brigade
at Lebanon, Kentucky. He participated in the battle of Hoover's Gap,
and then after that engagement he went with his brigade on a raid around
in the rear of Bragg's army and destroyed the railroad bridge, and they
were kept surrounded on the mountain for a day and a night. They bade
their friends good-by before starting on this expedition, never
expecting to return alive, and on their return they were greeted with
loud cheers. This was the first brigade to cross the Tennessee River
above Chattanooga, and after crossing they soon found themselves in very
close quarters, having withdrawn during the night under a false camp
fire. Their next engagement was near La Fayette, Georgia, where four
companies were under the command of Colonel Kirkpatrick. From La
Fayette they took a norhwesterly course, sending a scout ahead, who
reported that the rebels were in their vicinity. They again turned
their course, and soon found themselves between two rebel armies, when
they were again compelled to build false camp fires, which deceived the
enemy and saved the brigade. They proceeded thence to Gordon's Mill,
and were soon after engaged in a skirmish on Chickamauga Creek while
guarding bridges. Their next battle was at Chickamauga, on the 19th and
20th of September, 1863, where they were placed in the rear of General
Davis' division to support him.
During the forenoon of the first day Davis was forced from the field by
Longstreet's corps who had always been victorious in every charge.
After several attempts to win the battle they were finally forced to
retreat. After this battle the Seventy-second Brigade marched in line
of battle through the woods, and guarded the army train of Rosecran's
army safely into Chattanooga, then recrossed the Tennessee River, after
General Wheeler, being sent out with five days' rations. They followed
him up closely to Murfreesboro, thence to Shelbyville, overtaking him at
Farmington, Tennessee, where they had a pitched battle and captured all
his artillery, consisiting of four pieces.
General Wheeler made his escape, but a number of his men were taken
prisoners by the Union brigade to which the subject of this sketch
belonged. The regiment then started on a scouting expedition through
west Tennessee, and captured a good many guerrillas. On their way to
Black Swamps and West Point they destroyed an immense amount of cotton
and corn belonging to the Confederate Government. At the latter place
they were attacked by an overwhelming force of the rebel army and
retreated for three days and nights, being under constant fire, and not
having time to eat or sleep for three days and nights. On the evening
of the third day of the retreat the rebels were crowding so close that
General Smith called on the Seventy-second to hold them in check. The
Seventy-second soon opened fire upon them, and in a few minutes not a
rebel could be seen.
MR. RAWLES was with Sherman on his famous march to Atlanta, and on this
march was under constant fire about 100 days. Before the fall of
Atlanta they destroyed a railroad near Decatur. They were ordered to
make a raid in the rear of Atlanta, and while thus engaged were
surrounded by the enemy and ordered to surrender, but Miller took the
Seventy-second and went out, followed by the balance of the brigade.
After the fall of Atlanta the members of the Seventy-second were ordered
to turn over their horses to General Kirkpatrick's Cavalry, and they
went to Louisville, where they were remounted, January 1, 1865, they
again started South, and the following March reached Gravelly Springs,
where they were placed in General James Wilson's command, after which
they started on a raid through Alabama, and were in the battle at Selma,
that State, where they made a most famous charge during the whole
service, capturing 2,700 prisoners and destroying vast stores of rebel
supplies. From that point they proceeded across the Alabama River;
marched to Montgomery, thence to Columbus, Georgia, where they took some
2,000 or 3,000 prisoners.
While on their way, subsequently, to Macon, Georgia, they were met by a
rebel commander with a flag of truce. The regiment started home from
Macon, and were mustered out at Indianapolis, July 12, 1865. MR. RAWLES
served eighteen months as a scout for Wilder's brigade, and several
times his horse was shot from under him, but he returned home safely.
Since the war he has lived in Washington and Shelby townships with the
exception of about three years spent in Tennessee. He was married in
1861 to MISS SARAH J. FULTS, a native of Virginia, and they have two
children, named FRANK M. and FLORENCE M. Politically MR. RAWLES is a
Republican. He is a member of Marsh B. Taylor Post, No. 475, G.A.R.
Biographical Record and Portrait Album of Tippecanoe County, Indiana
pp. 532-535