Articles by Josh Lange

Published July 11, 2024

While the Civil War ended 159 years ago, there are people still alive today that may have met Civil War veterans. The last Civil War veteran who died in St. Joseph County, passed away on October 26, 1941 and his name was Meltire Morss. Meltire was born in southern Indiana on October 5, 1843. His family moved to the county when he was still growing up. He enlisted in the Union Army on his birthday in 1862 at the age of 19, roughly a year after the war had commenced. He was placed in Company F of the 63rd Indiana Infantry, which was originally tasked with guarding prisoners. By 1864, he and his regiment were sent down south, where they participated in the dismantling and destruction of the Tennessee & Virginia Railroad tracks to cut off Confederate supply lines. Afterward, the 63rd joined the Atlanta Campaign headed by General Sherman.

One of the first battles that Pvt. Meltire fought in while his regiment was engaged in the Atlanta Campaign was the Battle of Resaca, occurring between May 13-15, 1864. Fought 75 miles north of Atlanta, the Resaca region was a crucial location that contributed to the success of capturing the major city of Atlanta, Georgia. Many famous Hoosiers fought in the Battle of Resaca, such as Colonel Benjamin Harrison who would later become the 23rd President. On May 14th, Pvt. Meltire Morss was badly wounded in the battle during Union advancements, one of 5,550 causalities of the battle. Pvt. Morss had laid wounded in the field for hours until medics were able to safely get to him. He was initially taken to a makeshift field hospital in a house near the battlefield, and was later transported back to Indiana via hospital boat.

Back in Indiana and still recovering, Meltire was quoted as saying “I received furlough from the Indianapolis hospital the fall of the election campaign and came home long enough to vote for Abraham Lincoln in both the primary and final elections.” After the war, he became an active member of the community and joined the Auten Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), where he served multiple times as post commander. The G.A.R. was a social organization founded in the aftermath of the Civil War for former Union soldiers, which engaged in advocacy, politics, and charity. Meltire Morss peacefully passed away at the age of 98 in 1941, 76 years after the conclusion of the war. He is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in St. Joseph County, right outside of South Bend city limits.