Biographical History of La Crosse, Trempealeau and Buffalo Co., 1892 
Page 635, 636, 637.

FRANK HARE

Frank Hare, a well-known citizen of Trempealeau county, and a gallant soldier in the war 
of the Rebellion, resides in section 6, in the town of Caledonia. He was born in Clinton 
county, New York, in 1830, and is of Spanish extraction, his paternal grandfather having 
been a Spaniard by birth, and for many years a resident of New York State, where he died.  
The father of our subject, Joseph Hare, was a native of New York, and was married to 
Elsie Irish.  In 1851 he removed to Pierce county, and in 1865 to Trempealeau county, where 
he died in 1870. His wife died December 26, 1885, the day following her eighty-fifth birthday. 
Joseph Hare and wife had seven children, four sons and three daughters, and three sons and 
two daughters are still living. The eldest, Mary Ann, still lives in New York; Lemuel, the 
eldest son, resides in Trempealeau; Avis not resides in Pierce county; Huldah Jane was twice 
married, and died in Carson City, Nevada; Merrill, also a member of the Eight Wisconsin, died 
after the war, of disease contracted in the army.
	Frank Hare, the youngest of his father's family, enlisted at Prescott, Pierce county, 
Wisconsin, in June, 1861, in Company B, Sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and has the honor 
of being the first man who put his name on the company roll.  He was, however, at once followed 
by fifty others. His army experience was a most thrilling one, and proves him to have been a 
daring soldier. He followed the fortunes of the Sixth Wisconsin, which formed a part of the 
Iron Brigade, and no military organization in the war of the Rebellion did more heroic service. 
We shall endeavor to give a condensed record of Mr. Hare's military service. After enlistment 
he drilled with his company at Prescott for about three weeks, when they were ordered to 
Madison, where they went into camp.

Page 636

and drilled until after the battle of Bull Run. They then started for Washington, arriving in 
Baltimore in time to have a skirmish with the secessionists of that city, and after arriving 
in the Capital city they went into camp at Arlington Heights, and there received muskets and 
drilled. They went thence to Camp Lyons, where they were witnesses of the first punishment of 
desertion, and were drawn up to see the soldier shot for that crime. They returned to Arlington 
Heights, and there engaged in drilling and picket duty and also assisted in building the forts 
about that place. The first battle in which Mr. hare took part was that of the second battle 
of Bull Run, under General Pope, after which he went to South Mountain, and was detailed, to 
assist in burying the dead, burying the first member of his company that was killed in battle, 
A. B. Wilson. The next conflict in which he was engaged was the terrible battle of Antietam, 
where he received a wound in the left thigh. This required his confinement in the hospital, 
first at Hagerstown, then at Washington, and thence at the New York City Hospital, where he 
remained two months. He went then to Fort Hamilton, and a week later took steamer to Alexandria, 
where he entered the convalescent hospital.
	There Mr. hare took steamer for Bell Plain, and after landing in Chesapeake Bay he 
rejoined his regiment, and the following day started on the march to Fredericksburg, taking 
part in the battle at that place under Burside.  His regiment made the celebrated charge at 
Fitzhugh's Crossing and covered the retreat of Burnside.  They then returned to Bell Plain 
Landing, fought at Chancellorsville under Hooker, and took part in the great battle of 
Gettysburg, where he fought as a member of the Iron Brigade for three days. Joining the forces 
of General Grant, they took part in the terrible battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, and 
he was shot through the left leg by a minie ball and fell into the hands of the enemy, by whose 
surgeon his leg was amputated on the field.  he lay on the field of battle until June 6, when 
he was removed to Gordonsville. His experience in the battle of the Wilderness, both before and 
after he was wounded, was the most thrilling.  General John A. Kellogg, in an oration on 
Decoration Day at Faribault, Minnesota, May 30, 1974, gave a graphic account of the battle of 
the Wilderness fought May 5, 1864.  A month other things he says: "I had the misfortune to be 
slightly wounded and taken prisoner. On being taken to the rear, I happened to be temporarily 
confined near the Rebel hospital. Under a high tree I noticed two wounded men wearing the blue, 
and soon discovered them to be Captain Rollin P. Converse and Corporal Frank hare. The corporal 
had been wounded in the leg, and had just suffered an amputation above the knee. The captain 
had been shot through the body and also through the thigh, and the rebel surgeons had decided 
to experiment on him by what is know as a hip amputation. Converse knew that his wound was 
mortal, and was desirous of avoiding unnecessary suffering. Whispering to hare, he told him 
that in his inside coat pocket was a small Colt's revolver, which had escaped the notice of 
the enemy, and he desired Hare to get this and prevent if possible his being disturbed before 
he died. Corporal Hare obeyed the order, and when the attendants attempted to remove the 
captain to the amputating table, he cocked his revolver and in a quiet way commanded them to 
desist, saying he would shot the first man who laid hands on the captain. A guard was brought 
up, and with cocked muskets aimed at Hare's breast, ordered him to drop the pistol. He only 
laughed at them, saying: 'What do you suppose I care for my life

Page 637

With my leg gone?  Kill me if you will, but that man is my captain. He has ordered me not to 
permit him to be moved, and I shall obey his orders to the best of my ability and as long as 
I live and have strength to shoot it will be dangerous for any man to touch him while he lives. 
Struck with admiration at his coolness, the guard was ordered to leave them, and one rebel 
officer, looking admiringly at Hare remarked, 'I would like a regiment of such men.' This 
aroused the dying captain, who replied; 'I had the honor to command a hundred such men; the 
North is full of them, and sooner or later we shall triumph, and your rebel flag will be 
trailed in the dust.' These were his last words, which having been uttered, he fell back dead.
	Mr. Hare was taken from the battlefield of the Wilderness by his captors to Gordonville, 
where he suffered a second amputation of his limb. While at that city the Rebels, fearing an 
attack by the Union troops, placed Mr. Hare and other prisoners on flat cars and ran into a 
swamp, where they remained three days without food or water. They were then taken to the 
stockade at Andersonville, where they stayed fourteen days, and thence to Castle Thunder, 
Richmond. From there they were taken to Libby prison, and in September 1864, came out on what 
is knows as the "Ten Thousand Exchange."  After having been a prisoner four months and fourteen 
days, and all of this time in a severely wounded condition. Mr. Hare was taken to city Point 
and thence to Annapolis, Maryland, where the third amputation of his limb was performed. At the 
latter city he obtained his discharge and returned to Prescott, Wisconsin, and there, in 1866, 
the fourth operation was performed, which consisted in removing the bone to within an inch of 
the hip socket. When his wound had sufficiently healed the came to Trempealeau county, where he 
has since lived.
	It would seem impossible after the long and intense suffering that he endured that 
Mr. Hare should be able to perform much manual labor, or realize in any way much enjoyment in 
life, but on the contrary he started out determined to make for himself a home. He has improved 
a farm, and has a pleasant home and surroundings, located about two miles southeast of 
Galesville.  His farm contains 140 acres, on which he ahs made all the improvements, but even 
his iron constitution and determined well cannot wholly prevail against the sufferings he has 
endured, and as the years pass by he fells more and more the effects of his experience as a 
soldier. As he was a brave soldier in the cause of the Union, so he is a respected and esteemed 
citizen.
	He was married, march 13, 1869, to Miss Sophrona Terpna, and they have one son. Cortez.