George Mero Annis

Name: George Mero Annis Company: B, F Veteran; Wagoner; transferred from Company B to Company F June 1-2, 1864; died September 22, 1864, at Memphis, Tennessee
Birth Date: July 28, 1826 Place: Searsmont, Maine	Mustered In Date: January 17, 1862 Rank: Private Age: 36 Residence prior to military service: Searsmont, Maine; Chatfield, Fillmore County, Minnesota Vocation prior to military service: Farmer
Death Date: September 22, 1864 Place: Memphis, Tennessee Burial: National Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee, Section 1, Grave #75

George Mero Annis Biography and Civil War Narrative

George Mero Annis was born on July 28, 1826, at Searsmont, Maine, a few miles inland from Penobscot Bay of the Atlantic coast. His parents were Elleson and Catherine (Mero) Annis. As a young man, George moved to Chatfield, Fillmore County, Minnesota, where he farmed.

George Annis enlisted in Company B of the 5th Minnesota Regiment on January 17, 1862, serving as a Wagoner. The first order of duty for Company B was to report to Fort Ridgley, near the Minnesota River. They left Fort Snelling at noon on March 22, 1862, under the command of First Sergeant Thomas P. Gere. Through the snow they traveled up the Minnesota Valley, stopping at the Scott County cour house at Shakopee the evening of the 22nd, passing throughBelle Plaine, and Le Sueur, Minnesota on the 23rd. They crossed the Minnesota River on the ice at Traverse de Sioux after dark and spent the night of the 23rd at the Nicollet County court house at St. Peter. The company reached La Fayette, Minnesota, on the 24th--18 miles from their destination. They arrived at Fort Ridgley at noon on March 25th, serving garrison duty and continuing their military instruction and drills. The company was especially well-trained in skirmishing and received additional training in artillery.

On August 18th, word was received at Fort Ridgley that a massacre of whites was taking place at the Lower Sioux Agency. Company B's Captain John S. Marsh, who had joined the Company on April 16, immediately led a rescue party of 46 men and an interpreter to the Lower Sioux Agency. About three miles out of Fort Ridgley, the party was overtaken by following wagon teams--possibly with George Annis as one of the wagon drivers--carrying extra ammunition and otherwise empty wagons. Picking up the marching rescue party, the wagons continued on toward their destination, passing fleeing citizens, burning houses, and mutilated corpses. About six miles out of Fort Ridgley, the rescue team continued on by foot. When the rescue party reached a ferry crossing on the Minnesota River, the Indians ambushed them from all sides. In the ensuing battle, 24 men died and five were wounded. The survivors found their way back to Fort Ridgley after dark.

George Annis continued with Company B as they returned to Fort Snelling, escorting captive Indians, on November 9. The company finally rejoined the rest of the 5th Minnesota Regiment near Oxford, Mississippi, on December 12. Annis re-enlisted as a veteran in January 1864. On June 1 of that year Annis was transfered out of Company B to join Company F. Contracting an illness, he died in Memphis, Tennessee, on September 22, 1864. George M. Annis was buried in National Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee, Section 1, Grave #75.

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