Companies  C,  G  and  H,  Twenty-third  Regiment

Companies  C.  G  and  II,  Twenty-third  Regiment,  were  all  organized
in  Columbia  County.  C  was  raised  in  Portage,  with  Edgar  F.  Hill  as
captain;  G  was  from  Columbus.  James  E.  Hazelton  captain,  and  II  from
Lodi.  with  E.  Howard  Irwin  captain.  J.  J.  Guppey,  promoted  from  the
Tenth,  was  colonel  of  the  Twenty-third  during  its  entire  service  II. ■
was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at  Carrion  Crow  Bayou,  La..  Novem-


HISTORY  OP  COLUMBIA  COUNTY  177

ber  3,  1863,  and  exchanged  in  December,  1864.     Captain  Hill,  of  Com-
pany C,  became  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  regiment  in  August,  1863

General  and  Judge  J.  J.  Guppey

Joshua  J.  Guppey,  of  Portage,  colonel  of  the  Twenty-third  for  nearly
three  years,  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  Columbia
County.  He  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  while  a  student  at
Dartmouth  College  was  captain  of  its  military  company,  showing  even
in  his  early  youth  one  of  the  strong  tendencies  of  his  life.  Admitted  to
the  bar  of  the  Granite  State  in  1846,  when  twenty-six  years  of  age,  he
located  at  Columbus,  Columbia  County,  in  the  same  year.  In  the  follow-
ing year  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  county  militia,  and  held  the
office  of  judge  of  probate  and  county  judge  from  the  fall  of  1849  to
January  1,  1858;  was  superintendent  of  the  public  schools  of  Portage
city  from  1858  to  1861,  and  on  September  13th  of  the  last  named  year
was  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Tenth  Wisconsin  Volunteer
Infantry.  He  was  in  active  service  as  such  until  July  25,  1862,  when  he
was  promoted  to  colonel  of  the  Twenty-third,  and  held  that  position  with
high  honor  to  the  end  of  the  war.  He  was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner
at  the  engagement  at  Carrion  Crow  Bayou,  La.,  and  in  March,  1865,  was
brevetted  brigadier-general  "for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  during
the  war. ' '

In  April,  1865,  while  absent  in  the  service  General  Guppey  was  re-
elected county  judge  for  four  years  from  January  1,  1866,  and  held  that
office  by  successive  elections  until  1882.  In  1866  he  was  again  elected
superintendent  of  city  schools,  serving  thus  until  1873.  Whether  in  mili-
tary or  civil  activities,  Judge  Guppey  acquited  himself  as  a  man  of
unusual  ability  and  conscientiousness.
