The 187th Regiment was one of the last full regiments recruited to serve one year under the call of President Lin-

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coln in July, 1864.  One company of this regiment was recruited in Union County by Captain William P. Welsh and was the last company recruited in the county for Civil War service.  It was composed largely of farmers, strong of body and lithe of limb, and there were great discrepancies in their ages.  Many of the members were mere boys of twelve or thirteen years of age when the war commenced.  They had remained at home to do the farm work and care for the families while the older brothers had enlisted, and many of them had fallen on the battle line or died of disease.
     The boys who had been left at home had now grown to manhood and went forth to take the places of their fathers or brothers who had fallen.  Then there were men of more mature years who had served in other organizations and were true and tried veterans.  This was very fortunate, as the young boys, profiting by the experience and instructions of the veterans in the ranks, soon learned to care for their wants, both in camp and on the march, and were ready for campaigning in a few weeks, whereas if the regiment had been composed of all raw recruits, it would have taken months.  Fourteen Jerome Township boys served in Company B of this regiment.
     The regiment was mustered in at Camp Chase, Ohio, March 1st, 1864, under Colonel R. Z. Dawson and Lieut. Col. L. R. Davis, both veterans of service in other organizations.  On the 3rd of March the regiment received orders to report at Nashville and on to Dalton, Ga., where they went into camp, and through the months of March and April were employed in drilling and guard duty, and were brought to a high state of efficiency in discipline by their veteran officers.  At one time the regiment was ordered out on a scout and made a hard night march down through Sugar Valley, south of Chattanooga, which was considered a hard introductory campaign, even by the veterans.  The regiment marched to Kingston, Ga., where 2,000 soldiers of the Confederate army of Lee and Johnson surrendered and were paroled, after which they returned to Dalton.  When the railroads had been repaired the regiment was ordered to Macon by rail.

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     During the summer and fall of 1865 the regiment was on garrison duty at Macon.  As the Confederate soldiers were returning to their homes and the citizens were necessarily requesting many favors by reason of the fact that both the Union and Confederate armies, having passed through that section in the fall of 1864, had stripped the country very largely of both forage and provisions, the duties of the regiment were complicated and arduous.
     The war having ended, the discipline among the troops outside the garrison was very lax and caused a great deal of trouble to the Provost Guard, as they had to make many arrests.  During the service of the regiment as Provost Guards they were very highly commended for discipline and soldierly bearing at all times as one of the best regiments in the service of that department.
     The losses in the regiment by death were fifty-four.  The regiment was mustered out at Macon, Ga., January 20th, 1866, and was discharged and paid off at Camp Chase, Ohio, January 23rd.