RIDDELLS OF MONSON, MASSACHUSETTS.
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more infantry service. He re-enlisted, in the Third Indiana Battery,
Aug. 11, 1862, to serve three years; was married on the 14th of the
same month, and went immediately to Missouri to serve under General
Curtis. In November, 1863, his battery was sent to Tennessee to serve
with Gen. A. J. Smith against General Forrest; after two months of
very severe winter campaign here, the battery was ordered to Vicksburg,
to join General Sherman in a great raid on the Mobile* & Ohio Railroad,
at Meridian, Miss.; returning, his battery embarked for Red River, to
assist General Banks in the capture of Shreveport; was engaged in the
battles at Fort De Russey, Pleasant Hill, Yellow Bayou, and several
skirmishes; returned to Memphis in July, 1864, and with Gen. A. J.
Smith retrieved the losses of Sturgis, at Guntown, in the battle of Lupello,
July 14th, and two days later at the battle of "Old Town Creek." In Sep-
tember he went to Missouri, under General Smith, to assist in repelling
the Price invasion. Assisted General Thomas at Nashville, Dec. 15th and
16th, in the overthrow of General Hood. In February, 1865, went to
New Orleans to assist General Canby in the reduction of Mobile; was
engaged in the siege of Fort Spanish, April 1st to 13th, 1865, and en-
gaged in the storming of Fort Blakely, Alabama, late in the evening of
April 9, 1865, the very last battle of the war. Although he was most of
the time on detached service as provost marshal's and adjutant-general's
clerk, he never missed an opportunity to stand with his comrades on the
bloody field. He returned to his home, and to his wife, who had not
seen him since the wedding night,— Aug. 14, 1862. He followed the occu-
pation of a farmer for five years. In 1870 he and his family left Indiana
for Washington County, Kan., where he purchased three hundred and
twenty acres of land, which he cultivated till 1874, when he purchased
property in the city of Blue Rapids, Marshall County, Kan., in which city
he has since lived, devoting most of his time in teaching; and is now
recognized as a leading educator in Marshall County, one of the most
enterprising in the State. Mr. Riddle is a man of fine personal appearance.
Almaria-Melinda Riddle (1), eldest daughter of Almon³ (1), was
born in Wabash County, Ind., July 3, 1841; married Sept. 3, 1871, to
Charles-Frederick Hetmonsperger (German), and lives on her father's
farm.
Darius-Almon Riddle¹ (1), second son of Almon (1), was born in
Wabash County, Ind., June 2, 1843. In June, 1862, he enlisted in Com-
pany F, Sixteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry; was at the bat-
tle of Richmond, Ky., Haines' Bluff, Miss., and Arkansas Post, in Arkansas.
He died of typhoid pneumonia, at Point Pleasant on the Mississippi River,
April 8, 1863. A brave soldier and promising young man.
Elmer Riddle (1), eldest son of Jose (1) and his wife, Caroline
Hayden, was born at Newbury, Geauga County, O., Jan. 10, 1837; learned
the carpenters' trade, and moved with his parents to Thetford, Mich., in
1845. He returned to Ohio in 1858, and married, Feb. 6, 1862, to Laura
While Mr. Riddle was engaged in the siege of Mobile, during the late war, he
was one day strolling about Dauphine Island, near Fort Gains, where his depart-
ment was stationed, when he was suddenly brought face to face with a most beau-
tiful monument of white marble. He read the inscription, which was as follows:
"In memory of Francis M. Riddle, First Confederate Regiment, Georgia Cavalry,"
- his own name in full. This singular incident deeply impressed Mr. Riddle at the
time, and he still looks back to it as something remarkably strange.
