Hello Terry and Tony - Tony, you had contacted me a while back in regard to your project of transcribing Civil War letters, and sent me two articles (IDJ February 12, 1862, page 2, col. 2-3 and February 28, 1862, page 2, col. 1-2) written by H. B. Hibben. And Terry, I assume that James Colgrove, Adjunct of the 44th Indiana Infantry is an ancestor of yours. On behalf of the Hibben family I tardily apologize to the Colgrove family and the members of the 44th Indiana for the apparent omission of the information about the brave and forceful participation of other Indiana regiments at the battle for Donelson. However, I do wish to take exception to the thought that the author intentionally made misstatements and concealed the facts. I presume that his view of the battlefield was limited his own and flanking regiments. H. B. Hibben was not a reporter. He was Chaplain Henry Bascom Hibben of the 11th Indiana Infantry who closely observed the battles of Fort Henry and Donelson as fought by his regiment and who tended to the physical and emotional injuries of his men after both battles. For his participation he received these comments from his commanding officer: Every officer and man engaged in the battle did his duty to my entire satisfaction, and I have no special mention to make of any. Of the non-combatants, Chaplain H. B. Hibben deserves especial notice for valuable assistance to Surgeon Thompson, which was cheerfully rendered until all of our wounded were cared for and made as comfortable as the circumstances would admit. . . I herewith enclose a correct list of our killed and wounded: Respectfully, GEORGE F. McGINNIS, Colonel Eleventh Indiana. For a biography of Rev. H. B. Hibben please visit my Hibben family web site www.hibbengenealogy.org and click on Chapter III, Generation 4.4. Hopefully you will learn that he was somewhat of a romantic and prone to only see and emphasize (sometimes in poetry) the 'glory' of warfare, not military strategy and the horror of war. This is quite obvious in the two IDJ articles Tony sent me. I would agree that his rather verbose literary style was not as professional as that of a newspaper war reporter. This month the Indiana Historical Society publication - The Hoosier Genealogist, Connections - is publishing a brief biography of Rev. H. B. Hibben, excerpted from the my book. Thank you, Tony, for sharing your research project with us. Isn't it wonderful that two families have the privilege to question the actions and motives of long gone relatives. And, Terry, I hope this information will finally allow James Colgrove to rest more peacefully in his hero's grave. George Hibben in MA In a message dated 04/13/08 21:14:04 Eastern Daylight Time, tcolegrove1@msn.com writes: ===================================================================== A result of your requested PML search. To refine or cancel this search, please visit http://pml.rootsweb.com/ ===================================================================== Source: COLEGROVE@rootsweb.com Subject: [COLEGROVE] FW: RootsWeb World Connect James Colegrove 44th Indiana was sent to me. From: tony_meeks@msn.comTo: tcolegrove1@msn.comSubject: RootsWeb World Connect James Colegrove 44th Indiana InfantryDate: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:46:17 -0400 Terry, For the past few years I have been transcribing Civil War letters from the Indianapolis Daily Journal. I then research the writer of the letter and then post the letter on various message boards on the internet. I have included a copy of the letter written by James below while he was serving with the 44th Indiana Infantry. I also have his pension file from the National Archives and his military service record from the National Archives that I would be happy to share. Tony Meeks Fairfax Virginia This letter appeared in the Indianapolis Daily Journal on March 11, 1862 on page 2 columns 2 and 3. The spelling and punctuation are unchanged from the original publication. The 31st and 44th Indiana at the Cumberland Battle. Fort Henry, Tenn., March 4, 1862. Ed. Journal:--A writer, in your issue of February 28, signing himself “H. B. Hibben,” in his account of the part taken by the 11th Indiana in the capture of Fort Donelson, does great injustice to two gallant regiments from his own State by his misstatements and concealment of facts. It will be seen, by referring to his letter, that, following the example of the Illinois reporters, (who only report the part take by the Illinois troops,) he claims all the credit of the last charge upon the enemy’s left flank, in the afternoon of Saturday, for his regiment—the 11th Indiana—and the 8th Missouri; leaving it to be inferred that no other troops were engaged on our side.

Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:39:30 -0400From: ghibben@aol.comSubject: H. B. HibbenTo: tcolegrove1@msn.com; tony_meeks@msn.com; colegrove@rootsweb.com Hello Terry and Tony - Tony, you had contacted me a while back in regard to your project of transcribing Civil War letters, and sent me two articles (IDJ February 12, 1862, page 2, col. 2-3 and February 28, 1862, page 2, col. 1-2) written by H. B. Hibben. And Terry, I assume that James Colgrove, Adjunct of the 44th Indiana Infantry is an ancestor of yours. On behalf of the Hibben family I tardily apologize to the Colgrove family and the members of the 44th Indiana for the apparent omission of the information about the brave and forceful participation of other Indiana regiments at the battle for Donelson. However, I do wish to take exception to the thought that the author intentionally made misstatements and concealed the facts. I presume that his view of the battlefield was limited his own and flanking regiments. H. B. Hibben was not a reporter. He was Chaplain Henry Bascom Hibben of the 11th Indiana Infantry who closely observed the battles of Fort Henry and Donelson as fought by his regiment and who tended to the physical and emotional injuries of his men after both battles. For his participation he received these comments from his commanding officer: Every officer and man engaged in the battle did his duty to my entire satisfaction, and I have no special mention to make of any. Of the non-combatants, Chaplain H. B. Hibben deserves especial notice for valuable assistance to Surgeon Thompson, which was cheerfully rendered until all of our wounded were cared for and made as comfortable as the circumstances would admit. . . I herewith enclose a correct list of our killed and wounded: Respectfully, GEORGE F. McGINNIS, Colonel Eleventh Indiana. For a biography of Rev. H. B. Hibben please visit my Hibben family web site www.hibbengenealogy.org and click on Chapter III, Generation 4.4. Hopefully you will learn that he was somewhat of a romantic and prone to only see and emphasize (sometimes in poetry) the 'glory' of warfare, not military strategy and the horror of war. This is quite obvious in the two IDJ articles Tony sent me. I would agree that his rather verbose literary style was not as professional as that of a newspaper war reporter. This month the Indiana Historical Society publication - The Hoosier Genealogist, Connections - is publishing a brief biography of Rev. H. B. Hibben, excerpted from the my book. Thank you, Tony, for sharing your research project with us. Isn't it wonderful that two families have the privilege to question the actions and motives of long gone relatives. And, Terry, I hope this information will finally allow James Colgrove to rest more peacefully in his hero's grave. George Hibben in MA In a message dated 04/13/08 21:14:04 Eastern Daylight Time, tcolegrove1@msn.com writes: ===================================================================== A result of your requested PML search. To refine or cancel this search, please visit http://pml.rootsweb.com/ ===================================================================== Source: COLEGROVE@rootsweb.com Subject: [COLEGROVE] FW: RootsWeb World Connect James Colegrove 44th Indiana was sent to me. From: tony_meeks@msn.comTo: tcolegrove1@msn.comSubject: RootsWeb World Connect James Colegrove 44th Indiana InfantryDate: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:46:17 -0400 Terry, For the past few years I have been transcribing Civil War letters from the Indianapolis Daily Journal. I then research the writer of the letter and then post the letter on various message boards on the internet. I have included a copy of the letter written by James below while he was serving with the 44th Indiana Infantry. I also have his pension file from the National Archives and his military service record from the National Archives that I would be happy to share. Tony Meeks Fairfax Virginia This letter appeared in the Indianapolis Daily Journal on March 11, 1862 on page 2 columns 2 and 3. The spelling and punctuation are unchanged from the original publication. The 31st and 44th Indiana at the Cumberland Battle. Fort Henry, Tenn., March 4, 1862. Ed. Journal:--A writer, in your issue of February 28, signing himself “H. B. Hibben,” in his account of the part taken by the 11th Indiana in the capture of Fort Donelson, does great injustice to two gallant regiments from his own State by his misstatements and concealment of facts. It will be seen, by referring to his letter, that, following the example of the Illinois reporters, (who only report the part take by the Illinois troops,) he claims all the credit of the last charge upon the enemy’s left flank, in the afternoon of Saturday, for his regiment—the 11th Indiana—and the 8th Missouri; leaving it to be inferred that no other troops were engaged on our side. Get the MapQuest Toolbar, Maps, Traffic, Directions & More!