Many of the pioneers of Auglaize county served in the War of 1812, and a few in the American Revolution.  The names of these gallant men appear in the roster that follows.
     The soldiers of Auglaize county who served in the Civil War were distributed among the 37th, 45th, 71st, 99th, and 118th Regiments of Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
     The 37th Ohio Regiment was recruited in part from the counties of Auglaize, Mercer and Wyandot.  It was the third German regiment organized in the state, and was mustered into service Oct. 2, 1852.  Colonel E. Siber, an accomplished German officer, was selected as the commanding officer of the regiment; L. Von Blessingh, of Toledo, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Charles Ankele, of Cleveland, Major.
     "It participated in the campaigns of the Kanawha Valley, Arkansas, and the Yazoo River, and again in the investment of Vicksburg.  Here the Lieutenant-Colonel was severely wounded, and the command during the next month devolved upon Major Hipp, now of St. Marys.  After the fall of Vicksburg, the regiment participated in the capture of Jackson, and returned to Cherokee Station, via Memphis and Corinth.  It next appeared at Chattanooga, operating in Sugar Creek Valley, and in the march to Kingston, again in command of Major Hipp  It afterward engaged in the movements on the Chattahoochee River, but moved rapidly from here against Atlanta.  After the fall of that city, forced marches were made across Georgia and Alabama in pursuit of Hood's cavalry.  On Nov. 13, 1864, the regiment entered Atlanta to obtain outfits for the 'grand march to the sea' under Sherman.  The history of this march is known and at its close the regiment camped at Goldsboro, North Carolina, during the capitulations of Lee and Johnson.  IT then marched to Washington, Was reviews by the president and Cabinet, and then transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas, and lastly to Cleveland, Ohio, where the men were discharged, Aug. 12, 1865."

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     The 45th Regiment was organized at Camp Chase, Aug. 19th, 1862.  In this regiment there were seventy-five recruits from Auglaize county.  The regiment entered upon active duty as soon as it was mustered into service.  It operated about Danville, and with Woolford's and the Second Ohio Cavalry pursued the forces of John Morgan on his Ohio raid.  Again it pursued the command of Colonel Scott as far as Winchester, Kentucky.  The regiment now operated in Kentucky and Tennessee until it took part in the battle of Resaca, after which it participated in the Atlanta campaign, including the engagements at New Hope Church, Lost Mountain, and Kenesaw Mountain.  It then returned to Middle Tennessee and took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, which broke the strength of General Hood. The regiment returned to Nashville toward the end of April, and was then mustered out of service, on the 15th of June, having at that time two months to serve to complete its term of enlistment.

FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.

     This regiment was recruited at Findlay, Ohio, from the following counties:  Company A, from Putnam county; B, from Hancock, Seneca and Wood; C, from Auglaize, Mercer, and Sandusky; K, in Logan and Sandusky.
     The regiment was partially organized at Camp Vance, near Findlay, Ohio, from where it was moved on the 22nd of January, 1862, to Camp Chase, where it was completed on the 10th of February, numbering nine hundred and fifty-six men and thirty-eight commissioned officers.
     The regiment left Camp Chase on the 18th of February, 1862, under orders to report at Fort Donaldson.  When it arrived at Smithland, Kentucky, the order was changed, and it reported at Paducah, Kentucky.  Here the regiment was assigned to the Third Brigade, Fifth Division of the Army of the Tennessee.  After moving rapidly from point to point they arrived at Pittsburg Landing in the 16th of March.  On the 19th the regiment went into camp at Shiloh Chapel and participated in the battle at that point on the sixth of April.
     The official list of battles in which this regiment bore an honorable part is as follows:

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     Shiloh, Tennessee, April 6-7, 1862
     Morning Sun, Tennessee, July 1, 1862
     Wolf Creek Bridge, Mississippi, Sept. 23, 1862.
      Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi, Dec. 28-29, 1862.
     Arkansas Post, Arkansas, Jan. 11, 1863.
     Vicksburg, Mississippi, (Siege of and Assaults), May 18 to July 4, 1863.
     Jackson, Mississippi, July 9-16, 1863.
     Mission Ridge, Tennessee, Nov. 25, 1863.
     Snake Creek Gap, Georgia, May 8, 1864.
     Resaca, Georgia, May 13-16, 1864.
     Dallas, Georgia, May 25 to June 4, 1864.
     Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, June 9-30, 1864.
     Atlanta, Georgia, (Hood's First Sortie), July 22, 1864.
     Atlanta, Georgia, (Siege of), July 28, to Sept. 2, 1864.
     Jonesboro, Georgia, Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, 1864.
     Statesboro, Georgia, Dec. 4, 1864.
     Fort McAllister, Georgia, Dec. 13, 1864.
     Fayetteville, North Carolina, Mar. 13, 1865.
     Bentonville, North Carolina, Mar. 19-21, 1865.

     The 71st Ohio was recruited mainly in the counties of Auglaize, Mercer and Miami, under the superintendence of B. S. Kyle, of Troy and  G. W. Andrews, of Wapakoneta.  Recruits began to rendezvous at Troy in the latter part of October, 1861, and about the first of February, 1862, the organization was completed.  Rodney Mason, of Springfield, Ohio, was appointed Colonel, George W. Andrews Lieutenant-Colonel, and Barton S. Kyle, Major.  The regiment received marching orders on the 10th of February, and four days later encamped at Paducah.  On the 25th, the regiment moved to Columbus, and found that the enemy had evacuated the place.  It then returned to Paducah to advance up the Tennessee river.  The regiment landed at Pittsburg Landing and participated in the engagements at that point.  In the engagements the regiment lost one hundred and thirty men in killed and wounded.  On the 18th of April the regiment was ordered to the Cumberland river to hold the posts of Fort Donaldson and Clarksville.  Sunday, August 17th, the regiment made an attack on the confederate garrison at Clarksville, when they met with a repulse and owing to the superior force of the enemy were compelled to surrender.  The surrender was censured by the superior authorities and the line officers were dismissed, and Colonel Mason was cashiered.  Whitelaw Reid in his "Ohio in

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the War," says that "after the facts connected with the surrender became fully known, the War Department finally revoked the order, and the officers were all honorably discharged.
     After the regiment was exchanged, four companies, on the 25th of August, 1862, engaged and defeated Woodward's force at Fort Donaldson.  On the 3d of February, 1863, the regiment was sent on an expedition against the combined forces of Wheeler and Forrest, but the enemy retired and the Seventy-first was not brought into action.  During the latter part of 1863, the regiment was stationed along the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, with headquarters at Gallatin, and was actively engaged in dispersing guerrillas.
     In 1864 the regiment moved south, and took an active and effective pat in the battle of Nashville, displaying great bravery and courage, and losing one-third of its number in killed and wounded
     The regiment, decimated as it was, still retained its zeal and energy, and shortly after the battle was ordered to Texas, where it remained through the summer of 1865.  Late in that year the regiment was ordered to return to Camp Chase, where it was mustered out and discharged in January, 1866.

*       *       *

     The 99th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was organized at Camp Lima, Allen county, Ohio, and was mustered into service on the 26th of August, 1862.  It was composed of two companies from Allen county, two from Shelby, two from Hancock, and one each from Auglaize, Mercer, Putnam, and Van Wert.  Seventeen hundred men were recruited for the regiment, but seven hundred were transferred to the One Hundred and Eighteenth Ohio.  The regiment left Lima on the 31st of August, and proceeded as far as Paris, Kentucky, where they were ordered back to Cynthiana.  After moving about from place to place for a few weeks of regiment returned to Covington.  On the 17th of September it embarked on steamers for Louisville and encamped on the Indiana side of the river.  After moving from place to place covering a period of several weeks the regiment encamped at Silver Springs, where it remained until the 26th of December.  On that date the regiment received orders to advance toward Murfreesboro.  Dur-

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ing the march it was under the fire of the Rebel artillery, but it sustained no loss.
     The official list of battles in which this regiment bore an honorable part is as follows:

     Stone River, Tennessee, Dec. 31, 1862 to Jan. 2, 1863.
     Chickamauga, Georgia, Sept. 19-20, 1863.
     Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, Nov. 24, 1863.
     Mission Ridge, Tennessee, Nov. 25, 1863.
     Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia, Mar. 7, 1864.
     Resaca, Georgia, May 13-14, 1864.
     Dallas, Georgia, May 25 to June 4, 1864.
     Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, June 9-30, 1864.
     Pine Mountain, Georgia, June 14, 1864.
     Atlanta, Georgia, July 28, to Sept. 2, 1864.
     Jonesboro, Georgia, Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, 1864.
     Lovejoy Station, Georgia, Sept. 2-6, 1864.
     Nashville, Tennessee, Dec. 15-16, 1864.

     After pursuing Hood as far as Columbia, the remnant of the Ninety-ninth regiment was consolidated with the Fifth Ohio and thereby ceased to be an organization.

*       *       *

     The 118th Ohio Volunteer Infantry went into camp at Lima, Ohio, in August, 1862, and in September was sent to Cincinnati then threatened by Kirby Smith.  In the latter part of September it moved under General A. J. Smith toward Lexington, Kentucky, ant at Cynthiana was detached to guard the railroad.  On the 8th of August, 1863, it proceeded to Lebanon, Kentucky, and on the 20th set out on the march for East Tennessee.  This march over the mountains occupied seventeen days and was very severe, the men suffering greatly from dust and heat.  On the 10th of November it reached Kingston, and a few days after the Rebels cut the communication between that point and Knoxville.  The picket duty became very heavy, in order to prevent surprise from Wheeler's cavalry.  The victories at Knoxville and Chattanooga relieved the garrison at Kingston, and on the 9th of December the regiment reached Nashville, and moved from there to Blaine's Cross Roads, and from there to Mossy Creek to support Elliott's cavalry.

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     The following summary is an exhibit of the number of engagements in which this regiment participated:

     Mossy Creek, Tennessee, Dec. 29, 1863.
     Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia, May 5-9, 1864.
     Resaca, Georgia, May 13-16, 1864.
     Dallas, Georgia, May 25 to June 4, 1864.
     Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, (General Assault), June 27, 1864.
     Atlanta, Georgia, (Siege of), July 28 to Sept. 2, 1864.
     Waynesboro, Georgia, Nov. 27-29, 1864.
     Franklin, Tennessee, Nov. 30, 1864.
     Nashville, Tennessee, Dec. 15-16, 1864.
     Fort Anderson, North Carolina, Feb. 18, 1865.
     Town Creek, North Carolina, Feb. 20, 1865.
     Mosely Hall, North Carolina, Apr. 9, 1865.

     Soon after the news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached the county the work of enlisting men and the organization of companies was commenced.  Recruiting officers from Camps Vance, Cleveland, Chase, Troy and Lima opened offices in different localities in the county and by the fall of 1865 recruited over eleven hundred men.  During those years the war was the all-absorbing subject of thought and conversation.  The following from the Auglaize Democrat of Apr. 22, 1861, exhibits the war feeling at the time:

THE UNION FOREVER.

AUGLAIZE RESPONDS.

     "Our usually quiet village presents quite a warlike appearance.  On Saturday last notice was given that a meeting would be held on Monday evening (April 22), for the purpose of raising a company of volunteers.  Early MOnday morning the cannon began to boom, and by ten o'clock our town was one solid mass of people.  Court being in session, Judge Metcalf, after opening - made a patriotic speech - and adjourned until May 22.  The crowd then proceeded to the Depot and gave the Lima company, who passed through, a parting salute.
     "In the evening the meeting was held at the court house, and speeches were made by Messrs. Andrews, Walkup, Craig, and others, and the call was then made for volunteers.  The call was nobly responded to - some sixty coming forward and signing the roll and taking the oath.

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     "Auglaize is nobly responding to the call for volunteers.  She is turning out the best of her sons - men who will stand by the flag of their country to the last.  They are men who we look upon with pride."
     In April, 1861, Thomas K. Jacobs, a member of the State Legislature from Allen county, introduced a bill to provide a fund for the support of soldiers' families, by authorizing the county commissioners to levy a tax of half a mill.  On Apr. 23, Representative Jesse Baldwin, of Mahoning county, introduced a more elaborate bill, which was accepted.  It embraced the principal features of the Jacobs bill.  Under the provision of this bill $31,800 was collected and paid to the families of soldiers in the service.
     In June, 1861, a levy of half a mill on the taxable property of the county was placed upon the duplicate, to meet the necessary relief expenditures - the commissioners, in the meantime, borrowed from the banks a sufficient amount of money to last until the tax collections could be made.
     On the Commissioners; Journal of June 18th, 1861, we find the following record:
     "The Board this day appointed A. H. Trimble and M. W. Smith a central committee for the county to receive reports, and to disburse funds to the different township committees, appropriated for the relief of families of volunteers.
     "The Board also appointed the following township committees:

     Salem township, A. J. Pickerell
     Noble township, Nicholas Brewer.
     St. Marys township, A. H. Dieker.
     German township, Christian Smith,
     Jackson township, J. P. Schmeider
     Logan township, Russel Berryman
     Moulton township, N. A. Murdock
     Washington township, Jesse Roberts.
     Duchouquet township, J. B. Craig
     Pusheta township, Lawrence Sametinger
     Clay township, Arthur Bitler.
     Wayne Township, Harris Wells.
     Goshen township, Sampson Buffenberger.

     "The County Central Committee were further ordered to ap-

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portion the relief funds to the different townships, proportionate to the number of famlies in each requiring aid."
     Since the close of the war there has been a relief tax collected and apportioned to the families of soldiers who served in the Civil War, amounting, in the aggregate, to $37,800, or about $1,050 per year.