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This post is part of the Donohoo Descendancy Project. Marsh B. Taylor was the husband of Sudie Bishop, the daughter of Sarah Ann (Donohoo) Bishop, and the granddaughter of Patrick and Sarah (Thornbury) Donohoo.


Read Part I here

Read Part II here

Read Part III here


Marsh’s official promotion to Colonel of the 10th came 21 September 1863. He continued in that position for a year before the regiment was mustered out on 20 September 1864. He led the infantry through the Siege of Chattanooga and through the Atlanta campaign. [1, page 104, 321] The following is the official report from the Siege of Chattanooga:

“Report of Lieut. Colonel Marsh B. Taylor.

Tenth Indiana Infantry.
Chattanooga. Tenn., December 1, 1863.
Sir: I have the honor of making herewith my official report of the late battle.


On the morning of the 23rd of November, 1863, I received orders to hold my Command in readiness to move at a moment’s notice, with two days’ rations and 100 rounds of cartridges to the man. About 4 p. m. I joined the brigade in front of Fort Negley, and closed en masse, my position being in reserve with the Fourteenth Ohio, the Tenth Kentucky, Fourth Kentucky. Thiry-eighth Ohio and Seventy-fourth Indiana being in the advance. We remained in this position until the morning of the 24th when the brigade was ordered to the left and front. After formng our line of battle, pickets were posted and remained until relieved on the morning of the 25th. Immediately the four left companies were ordered out as skirmishers, but were soon withdrawn. We were then ordered to the left next to the river and marching and counter-marching we were formed in line of battle about 2 p. m., my regiment being in reserve of the brigade with the Fourteenth Ohio. After remaining in this position about two hours, we were ordered forward to storm the ridge, and in so doing were exposed to a raking fire from commanding positions on the top of the ridge. We succeeded in taking the ridge. My command lost 11 wounded. We remained in this position until next morning, November 26, when we were ordered to Ringgold, Ga. The officers and men of the regiment behaved with great gallantry.
Hoping this report will meet with your approbation, I am very respectfully,

Marsh B. Taylor.

Lieut. Col. Commanding 10th Indiana.” [1, page 276]


Within two months of his mustering out, Marsh was back in Bardstown, Kentucky, marrying his sweetheart of three years, Sudie Bishop [16, 17, 18]:
“When the regiment was first sent to Bardstown. Ky, a romance began and continued under the exacting and uncertain conditions of the first three years of the war, but happily culminating in his marriage to Miss Sadie Bishop, November 28, 1864, at her home in Bardstown. During the ceremony the house was surrounded by a guard of soldiers sent from Louisville by his commanding officer. He was shot at several times on his way to the house, so that it was deemed necessary to also guard the train which bore the gallant young officer and his girl bride to Louisville, but nothing deterred, nothing daunted this brave, fearless heart, he had fought for his wife and had won her.” [1, page 321-322]

A few months after the wedding, Marsh sought to get back in the action of the war:
“When the regiment was mustered out he returned to this city, but was not content with the life of a civilian and applied to Governor Morton for service in the field. The Governor commissioned him to recruit the One Hundred Fiftieth Indiana, which he did in a very short time, and he took it to the field in Virginia. The war closed, however, before the regiment saw any active service, and when it was mustered out he again came back to this city.” [1, page 322-323]
The 150th Indiana Infantry Regiment served from March 9- August 5, 1865.
Went back to Lafayette (according to life sketch)

Marsh returned to Lafayette and soon thereafter opened a recruiting office in that city for the Fenian war. On April 30, 1866, the Evansville Journal reported:
“Colonel Marsh B. Taylor, of Lafayette, recruiting officer of the Nineteenth Regiment of Fenian Volunteers, announces that there are not less than 5,400 men ready in Indiana for marching orders, and anxious to join the great Fenian movement.” [19]
Marsh, his wife Sudie, and their son, William, live in St. Louis, Missouri in 1870. Their household also includes his sister-in-law, Mary Bishop, mother-in-law, Sarah Ann Bishop, two of his wife’s aunts. [20] While in St. Louis, Marsh engages in real estate for a time. He then joined with the Shote brothers of St. Louis in a shoe and boot business venture in Omaha, Nebraska. After a short time, he left this venture for a career trading in the West and South, then in Texas, where he met an untimely accidental death on July 20, 1879. [1, page 323]

The Lafayette Daily Courier of 20 September 1879, published a tribute from those who served with him:
“A HERO’S LAST SLEEP.

Like the distant chiming of vesper bells, which recalls us to our God, or like the booming sound of the far off minute gun at sea, reminding us of enternity, (sic) comes to us from a distant hamlet in Texas the sad news of a comrade’s death. One who stood dauntless and brave amidst the bravest; one who has laughed at death upon a dozen battle fields, but who wept like a child at the bed-side of a dying comrade, has gasped his life away at last. Colonel Marsh B Taylor died at Hegansport, Texas on July 20th. These are cold, calm words, but they fall like clods upon a coffin lid. Before all the world we are proud to say: that man was our friend! and our strong, warm love for him shall be a shield behind which all his faults can hide. He was our Captain, then our Colonel always our friend, and in his friendships he never faltered. We have heard his cheery laugh in the camp and followed his ringing commands upon the battle-field. We have slept under the same blanket and shared the same haversack and never knew a warmer-hearted or a braver man.
“On his unembarrassed brow

Nature had written ‘GENTLEMAN!'”
Side by side we have sat upon the silent picket and watched the shadows fall and lengthen, and have seen together the sentinel stars steal quietly out and change their watches for the night; we have seen the morning sun push back the mantle of grey and paint our banner in the sky as we have stood with hand-shaded eyes peering for the advance of the wiIy foe; together have we cheered and clasped hands after victory; But he’s dead now

“His spirit is rust,

His good stood dust;

His soul is with the saints, we trust”
Such is the man whom living we loved; whom dead we would honor.” [21]
By the time of his death, Marsh’s family lived in Chicago, Illinois. [22] His widow and children were invited to travel to Lafayette, Indiana for a regiment reunion held in October 1879. The account of the emotional reunion follows:

“An Affecting Scene.

_________

Among the most successful soldier reunions yet held was that at Lebanon.

Among the striking incidents there was the following, graphically related

By the Patriot:

Among those on the stand were the daughter and son of the late Marsh B. Taylor, of Lafayette, the late commander of the old Tenth, and a man whose memory is warmly cherished by his old comrades. These children, the daughter seven and the son ten years of age, with their widowed mother, had come all the way from Chicago to see and greet the brave men who had gone through the bloody battles of the war with Colonel Taylor. During the whole day these little children, with their mother, had sought the company of the soldiers, and every man who wore the badge of the gallant Tenth Regiment received some mark of recognition and affection from their late Commander’s family. In response to the opening speech, General Manson delivered an address to the immense throng present. He recounted many incidents of the war and spoke feelings and tenderly of the heroic dead. In referring to Colonel Taylor, he said no truer, braver man had ever lived. In the course of his eulogy General Manson took the little children by the hands and led them to the front of the platform. Their little heads were bowed with emotion as was their mother’s who sat before them. All who know General Manson know him to be a brave and sturdy man, with nerves of steel, and one who knows no fear. But this was a scene so solemn and so sad that no human heart could withstand. The big-hearted General, still holding the little ones by the hands, said: “Boys, these are Colonel Taylor’s children. It is our duty to adopt them as the children of the regiment.”

He endeavored to proceed, but could not. The strong man’s head was bowed down; his words were lost in his struggle with emotion; his eyes were filled with tears and he wept like a child. No pen can ever describe the scene. Men who had bared their breasts to lead and steel and cannon’s mouths, buried their faces in their hands, and every heart was filled with sadness and every eye was wet with tears. –Seymour (Ind.) Republican.” [23]


Images used in this post:

Lieut. Marsh B. Taylor. Shaw, James Birney. History of the Tenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry: Three Months and Three Years Organizations. Lafayette, Indiana: 1912. Accessed on 25 November 2015 at ­https­://­archive­.­org­/­stream­/­historyoftenthre00inshaw­. Also accessed on 25 November 2015 at ­https­://­books­.­google­.­com­/­books­?­id­=­7K1xAAAAMAAJ­&­num­=­9­. Page 123.

Battle of Chattanooga–Gen. Thomas’ charge near Orchard Knob, Nov. 24′ 1863–parts A.O.T. Potomac, Tenne. & Cumbd. engaged. Kurz & Allison. c1888. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Catalog Number 91482116. Accessed at loc.gov on 3 January 2016.

Sources & Research Notes:

[1] Shaw, James Birney. History of the Tenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry: Three Months and Three Years Organizations. Lafayette, Indiana: 1912. Accessed on 25 November 2015 at ­https­://­archive­.­org­/­stream­/­historyoftenthre00inshaw­. Also accessed on 25 November 2015 at ­https­://­books­.­google­.­com­/­books­?­id­=­7K1xAAAAMAAJ­&­num­=­9­. Page 104, 123, 153, 156, 176, 177, 186-187, 202, 229-235, 263-264, 275, 276, 298-299, 321-323.
[2] For more information and documentation on the Taylor family, please see my public Ancestry.com tree at http://person.ancestry.com/tree/42516833/person/28884429415/facts.
[3] John Taylor household. US Census Year: 1850; Census Place: Lafayette Ward 5, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Roll: M432_175; Page: 102B; Image: 209. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census ‎[database on-line]‎. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; ‎(National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls)‎; Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
[4] John Taylor household. US Census Year: 1860; Census Place: Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Roll: M653_300; Page: 901; Image: 573; Family History Library Film: 803300. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census ‎[database on-line]‎. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
[5] MB Taylor in the household of Geo H Hoy. US Census Year: 1850; Census Place: Calaveras District, Calaveras, California; Roll: M432_33; Page: 162B; Image: 328. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census ‎[database on-line]‎. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; ‎(National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls)‎; Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
[6] Marsh B. Taylor. National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 ‎[database on-line]‎. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, online <http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/>, acquired 2007.
[7] Marsh B. Taylor. Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 ‎[database on-line]‎. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA from the following list of works. Copyright 1997-2009 Historical Data Systems, Inc. PO Box 35 Duxbury, MA 02331.
[8] Marsh B. Taylor. Ancestry.com. Web: Indiana, Civil War Soldier Database Index, 1861-1865 ‎[database on-line]‎. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Civil War. Indiana State Digital Archives. https://secure.in.gov/apps/iara/search/: accessed 2 February 2015.
[9] “Battle of Mills Springs.” Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mill_Springs. Accessed on 2 January 2016.
[10] “The Louisville Journal contains…” The Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, February 12, 1862, Image 1. Image provided by Indiana State Library. Accessed at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov on 28 December 2015.
[11] “The Times dispatch says…” Daily Ohio statesman. (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, April 05, 1862, Image 3. Image provided by Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, OH. Accessed at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov on 28 December 2015.
[12] “Credited for Bravery.” Madison Dollar Weekly Star (Madison, Indiana). 5 August 1879. Page 1. Accessed at newspaperarchive.com via myheritage.com on 30 December 2015.
[13] Marsh B. Taylor, WCL Taylor, RJ Taylor. National Archives and Records Administration ‎(NARA)‎; Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records ‎(Provost Marshal General’s Bureau; Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865)‎; Record Group: 110, Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau ‎(Civil War)‎; Collection Name: Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865 ‎(Civil War Union Draft Records)‎; ARC Identifier: 4213514; Archive Volume Number: 4 of 4. Ancestry.com. U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 ‎[database on-line]‎. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registrations, 1863-1865. NM-65, entry 172, 620 volumes. ARC ID: 4213514. Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Archives at Washington D.C.
[14] “Battle of Chickamauga”. Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chickamauga. Accessed on 2 January 2016.
[15] Letters Received by the Commission of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1863-1870. NARA Publication M1064. Marsh B. Taylor. 10 November 1863. File Number T266. State: Tennessee. Original data from The National Archives. Accessed at Fold3.com (https://www.fold3.com/image/304774024) on 30 December 2015.
[16] “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” index and images, FamilySearch ‎(­https­://­familysearch­.­org­/­pal­:/­MM9­.­1­.­1­/­V657­-­T7N­ : accessed 19 Oct 2014)‎, M. B. Taylor and Susan Bishop, 29 Nov 1864; citing p. , Nelson, Kentucky, United States, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond; FHL microfilm 000481488.
[17] “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” database with images, FamilySearch ‎(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5PF-8N6 : accessed 28 December 2015)‎, M B Taylor and Sudie W Bishop, 29 Nov 1864; citing p. 436, Nelson, Kentucky, United States, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond; FHL microfilm 481,491.
[18] “Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979,” database, FamilySearch ‎(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FW1J-XQG : accessed 28 December 2015)‎, M. B. Taylor and Susan Bishop, 29 Nov 1864; citing Bardstown, Nelson, Kentucky, reference P525; FHL microfilm 1,929,414.
[19] “Colonel Marsh B. Taylor.” The Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, April 30, 1866, Page 6, Image 6. Image provided by Indiana State Library. Accessed at

on 28 December 2015.
[20] Sarah Bishop household. US Census Year: 1870; Census Place: St Louis Ward 6, St Louis, Missouri; Roll: M593_816; Page: 173A; Image: 7; Family History Library Film: 552315. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census ‎[database on-line]‎. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
[21] A Hero’s Last Sleep.” Madison Dollar Weekly Star (Madison, Indiana). 5 August 1879. Accessed at newspaperarchive.com via myheritage.com on 30 December 2015.
[22] Sarah Bishop household. U.S. Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 194; Family History Film: 1254194; Page: 204D; Enumeration District: 117; Image: 0150. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
[23] “An Affecting Scene.” The Elyria Republican. ‎(Elyria, Ohio)‎. Thursday, October 30, 1879. Page 3. Accessed at newspapers.com on 24 November 2015.


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