Colonel Sion Bass

30^th Regiment Indiana Volunteers

Colonel Bass was born in Salem, Kentucky, on January 6, 1827. He was descended from a line of early setters in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Kentucky.

After his gradation from Bartlett's College of Commerce in Cincinnati in February 1849, Sion followed his mother's advice and came to Fort Wayne, where he found work with the great western fur traders, Ewing, Chute, and Company.

While there is little material to be found concerning his private life in Fort Wayne, it is recorded that he married Eliza Bayles, and that they were the parents of two daughters, Georgia and Beverly. And we do know that the young man was a devout member of the Episcopal Church.

In 1861 the Confederate opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor signaling the outbreak of bitter civil strife. Drafting of men for military service was not practiced in the United States at that time; both sides relied upon volunteers to fill their fighting ranks. Sion Bass found himself in a dilemma; he was torn between his fond attachment for the South, where he had spent his childhood and early youth, and his loyalty to the North. But his firm conviction of the moral wrong of slavery and his desire to fight for the Union overcame all his reservations. In response to President Lincoln's call for volunteers, he enlisted in the Union Army.

On September 12, 1861, Sion Bass received his appointment as colonel of the Thirtieth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, which was then being recruited. By September 24, the quota for the regiment had been filled, and the Thirtieth was organized at Camp Allen in Fort Wayne. Although he was himself untrained for military service, Colonel Bass entered upon the task of disciplining and training his raw recruits with such energy and devotion to duty that he soon won the praise of his superior officers. On October 2, the Thirtieth Indiana left Camp Allen and traveled to Indianapolis. The Thirtieth remained in camp at Indianapolis only for a few days

The unit was then ordered to proceed to Kentucky. On October 13, 1861, the regiment was assigned to the Fifth Brigade, Second Division in General Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio. For the next few months Colonel Bass and his Thirtieth Indiana Regiment marched with Buell's army but saw little action. 


. The anxiety which his family felt for him is shown in the following letter written by his mother to her younger son John:
 
Salem, Lexington County, Kentucky November 29, 1861

It is with great pleasure I write you hoping to hear from you soon, as I have not heard from you in months. I know not where your brother is. I hope he is not in Columbus. We hear the firing of cannons every day at Cairo, Columbus, Belmont, and several other places. We have had no FORT WAYNE TIMES for two weeks till yesterday. It gave an account of his being in Nevin, about the center of the state, where I think he will be killed. John, could you have no influence over him? Why did he go? What will become of his little children? Buckner and he will come in contact with eachother soon, and what will be the event? God only knows. I never expect to see him again. Richard M. Ford was killed in the Battle of Belmont, six miles from Columbus. I expect his wife is in Texas. Ford Sterling was killed at Bowling Green. Mr. Pippen died the nineteenth of November, and you heard of the death of Mr. Barker. Beverly was here yesterday and says they are all well. Every person has left Salem except for a few families. Your Pa says, "I have done nothing in no way"; and he expects to stay at his home and do the best he can. All the ferryboats are sunk, and there is no way to cross the river. The troops pass through Salem -- the Northerners and the Southerners. I am afraid of their meeting sometime in Salem. I expect the mail will stop. Give my respects to Eliza and the children, and write often. Let me hear from your brother if you ever hear again.

I close by saying, Your ever affectionate mother,
Jane Bass 




The Battle of Shiloh
In February 1862, Buell attempted to march his army northward to reinforce General Grant's Army of the Tennessee in the attack on Fort Donelson. Adverse weather conditions and impassable roads forced the men to return to camp after an advance of only fourteen miles. In March General Buell received orders from General Halleck to join Grant and the Army of the Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing near Shiloh. General Grant and his forces were to remain in camp at Pittsburg Landing while awaiting Buell's arrival. It was planned that the two armies would join forces and then advance on Corinth.

The delay thus necessitated in the Union advance afforded the scattered Confederate forces an opportunity to consolidate their strength. On the sixth of April, under the able leadership of General Albert Sidney Johnson, the Confederate troops launched a surprise attack against Grant's encampment. 

The roar of cannon could be heard by the men of Buell's advancing army although there were still many miles distant from the battlefield. Hour after hour, the men of the Thirtieth followed their commander southward through swampland to Savannah, Tennessee. Boats ferried them from that city across the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing.

On the morning of the seventh, the Fifth Brigade, which included Colonel Bass's regiment, was ordered into battle as a replacement for General Rousseau's brigade, which had undergone murderous fire in defense of the road leading from the landing to the battlefield. The Thirtieth was engaged in mortal combat with the enemy. Confederate artillery to the right, left, and center maintained a continuous fire, which inflicted heavy casualties. Colonel Bass led his regiment into battle and encouraged the men by his presence. Three times he led them impetuously against the foe; thrice his men were repelled. Yet at each command of its gallant Colonel, the Thirtieth again moved forward.

Suddenly, the Colonel's horse was wounded and became almost unmanageable. Colonel Bass dismounted to examine the wound. Just as he reached the ground, he was struck in the upper thigh by a musket ball. Nevertheless, he soothed his horse, remounted, and continued to fight. He rode calmly among his men and exhorted them to still greater efforts. Soon he became faint and could no longer sit in the saddle.

Colonel Bass was carried from the battlefield to a Tennessee River steamer and transported to Paducah, Kentucky. The wound proved mortal and he passed away at St. Mark's Hospital in that city a week after the battle. His wife, mother, and brother were present at his bedside. 




Colonel Bass had won the confidence, love, and admiration of the people of his adopted city. The tragedy of his death was felt by the entire populace. An excerpt from DAWSON'S DAILY TIMES AND UNION, published on April 18, 1862, describes the arrival of the funeral train in the city: "The remains of Colonel Sion S. Bass reached here today at eleven o'clock over the Toledo and Western Railway. The committee in charge was sent from here and met the train at Huntington. A large concourse of people was at the depot to pay that mark of respect due their late fellow citizen. The coffin and hearse were properly decorated with the national colors. When the funeral cortege moved, guns were fired, bells tolled, and drums beat. The procession came down Calhoun Street to Wayne Street, and then turned in the direction of his residence." 


He was interred in Lindenwood Cemetery on the following day. His final resting-place is marked by a sandstone monument, which bears the following inscription:
 

 
IN MEMORY OF SION S. BASS COL.
OF 30TH REG'T. IND. VOL. BORN AT SALEM, LIVINGSTON CO. KY. JAN'Y 6, 1827: DIED AT PADUCAH, KENTUCKY, APRIL 14,1862, OF WOUNDS RECEIVED WHILE GALLANTLY LEADING HIS REGIMENT AT THE BATTLE OF SHILOH, APRIL 7,1862
 ERECTED BY HIS REGIMENT AND FRIENDS