Josiah R. Dartt

Josiah R. Dartt Biography and Civil War Narrative

Josiah R. Dartt was born in Vermont (Weathersfield, Windsor County?) about 1828, perhaps the son of Erastus and Rebecca (Jackman) Dartt. In 1860 he was a physician in the Village of Mantorville, Dodge County, Minnesota -- the first physician in Dodge County. He lived with his wife Philomelia (born about 1830 in Massachusetts), his daughter Ellen (born about 1854 in Wisconsin), and his son George (born about 1856 in Minnesota).

On February 5, 1862, Josiah Dartt enlisted in Company A of the Fifth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, starting his service as Second Lieutenant. When Captain Lucius F. Hubbard was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment on March 24, 1862, Second Lieutenant Dartt was promoted to Captain. William Arkins was promoted to fill the vacant position of Second Lieutenant.

Captain Dartt led Company A for about a year, including the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi (May 26-30, 1862); the Battle of Iuka (September 19, 1862); the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi (October 3-4, 1862), and Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign (November 1862 to January 1863). Following the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, on October 3-4, 1862, Colonel Hubbard reported on the actions of the 5th Minnesota in the battle. Hubbard described the opening of the second day of battle at Corinth:

We were aroused before dawn on the morning of the 4th by the discharges of the enemy's guns and the bursting of his shells in the immediate vicinity of where we lay. One man of my regiment was quite severely wounded here by a fragment of a shell. At about 9 a. m. I was ordered by General Stanley to deploy one company as skirmishers into the edge of the timber toward the front and right, in obedience to which Company A was sent forward, under command of Captain J. R. Dartt.

Captain Josiah R. Dartt resigned his position on April 12, 1863, perhaps at Duckport, Louisiana. Second Lieutenant William Arkins was again promoted, this time to serve as Captain of Company A.

After the war, Josiah returned to his family in Mantorville. He also served as Captain of Company C in the Third Battalion Minnesota National Guards. According to a history of Dodge County, Minnesota, when Dr. Josiah R. Dartt died, twelve hundred persons attended his funeral on September 11, 1874, in Mantorville. Philomelia continued to live in Mantorville -- the 1880 U. S. Census lists her living with her son, George. The 1883 Veterans Census also lists her as a widow in Mantorville.

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This page is maintained by Tim Bode (timbode@juno.com ). Last modified on 4/21/21.