HISTORY OF HOCKING COUNTY,
OHIO
Source:
History of Hocking Valley, Ohio -
Published Chicago: by Inter-State Publishing Co.
1883
CHAPTER
XXXII.
WAR HISTORY of HOCKING COUNTY -
The GLORIOUS RECORD of the GALLANT SONS of HOCKING.
Pgs. 862 - 883
The following full,
impartial and succinct war history of Hocking County is from
the pen of Captain William M. Bowen. It is a
graphic recital of the patriotism, courage and endurance of
Hocking's noble sons, a record that dates almost from her
organization, and in every demand of the country for strong
hearts and willing hands and deeds of noble daring the sons
of Hocking were never found wanting. The record is a
noble one.
THEY WERE BORN SO.
The first settlers
of the county of Hocking were a fearless, hardy, honorable
race of men. Coming from the East and South, the sons
of Revolutionary sires and heroes of the War of 1812, they
begat a generation brave and ever ready to respond to the
call of their common country. Inbued with a patriotism
that was even heroic, from the first day the county was
organized as such the inhabitants thereof were regarded and
proved themselves to be truly patriotic. The tocsin of
war never sounded to call a liberty-loving people together
but that the response from "Little Hocking" was loud, long
and hearty.
MICHIGAN AND OHIO BOUNDARY WAR.
The county,
organized as it was in the year 1818, formed from territory
ceded by the counties of Ross, Fairfield and Athens, had by
the census of 1820 a population of 2,130 souls; in 1830 the
population by the Federal census had increased to 4,008, and
in
[Pg. 862]
Wm. M. Bowen
[Pg. 863]
1840 to 9,741. In the year 1832 to Hon. Robert
Lucas was elected Governor of Ohio and re-elected in
1834. It was during the administration of Governor
Lucas that a dispute between the State of Ohio and the
Territorial Government of Michigan arose as regarded the
southern boundary of the latter, the Territorial Government
claiming a meridianal that would run from five to eight
miles south of Lake Erie, encroaching on lands of the
Connecticut Company, a land grant from the General
Government at Washington, Governor Lucas, in
endeavoring to protect citizens of Ohio living north of the
disputed line, was defied and the citizens thereof declared
outlaws by the Government of Michigan. The rulers of
each sovereignty flew to arms, calling for volunteers to
defend their respective rights and sustain the dignity of
each as guaranteed them by the General Government.
At a general muster held in Logan in September,
1835, a call for volunteers was made for the above purpose,
and a response came promptly by more than a score of the
horny-handed yeomanry shouldering their trusty rifles and
declaring their readiness to start instanter; but before
hostilities actually commenced agents from the city of
Washington arrived on the ground, the dispute was amicably
settled and the collected troops sent home.
"LITTLE HOCKING" IN THE MEXICAN WAR.
[Pg. 865]
original company but four are now living, to-wit; General
Tom Worthington, Captain Wilford Stiers, Grafton Eckart
and Samuel Stivison.
WHAT OHIO DID.
During the war of
the Rebellion the State of Ohio furnished 230 regiments of
soldiers, besides twenty-six independent batteries of
artillery, five or six independent companies of cavalry,
several compannies of sharp-shooters, a good portion of five
regiments credited to Virginia, two credited to Kentucky,
two transferred to the United States colored troops,
innumerable squirrel-hunters and thousands of emergency men.
Hocking County, as one of the smaller of the eighty-eight
complete county organizations of this great State, responded
to the respective calls of the General Government promptly,
and during the continuance of this unpleasantness furnished
the following companies, parts of companies an detachments.
The second call of the President on Ohio for twenty-three
regiments found two companies of volunteers in camp on the
fair grounds near Lancaster, in the adjoining county of
Fairfield; they at once formed the nucleus of the
Seventeenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for the three
months’ service. In a very short time a company of
ninety-one men, rank and file, under command of Captain
Charles A. Barker, arrived from Hocking County,
officered as follows: Captain, Charles A. Barker;
First Lieutenant, Samuel H. Baker; Second Lieutenant,
Charles H. Rippey; Orderly, Charles L, Jennings;
Sergeants, Daniel Nunemaker, David Angle
and Joseph Fox.
THE MARCHES OF THE GALLANT SEVENTEENTH
REGIMENT.
The regiment being
promptly filled an organization was effected by electing the
following field officers: Colonel, John M. Connell;
Lieutenant-Colonel, Francis B. Pond; Major,
Clement F. Steel; Surgeon, John G. S. Kile;
Assistant Surgeon, T. G. Cleveland. In ranking,
the company from Hocking was called Company D.
On the 20th of April, 1861, the regiment took the cars
at Zanesville for Bellaire, and arriving, found at Benwood,
on the Ohio opposite Bellaire, a large fleet of boats
waiting to receive troops. On the twenty-third, all
the troops and baggage being aboard, the fleet steamed down
the river to Marietta, stopped over Sunday and on Monday
started for Parkersburg, and in a few hours were on Virginia
soil. The Seventeenth was brigaded with the Ninth
[Pg. 866]
and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, General W. S.
Rosecrans commanding the brigade. Its first duty
was to guard trains to Clarksburg, Va., and return.
Companies A and B were detailed as guard to General
McClellan. It soon becoming evident that the hills
of Jackson County, Va., were full of guerrillas, carrying on
their nefarious
warfare, Company D, Captain Barker, and Company F,
Captain Stinchecomb, proceeded down to Ripley
Landing, and across the country to Ripley, the county seat
of Jackson County, with orders to operate against the
aforesaid guerrillas wherever found in that locality.
The two Wises, father and son, were then commanding
Confederate troops in that section of the State, and had
given out how they would “annihilate the Yankees on sight,”
but, signally failing in their precarious undertaking,
retired from that vicinity. A part of the Seventeenth
Regiment remained at Ravenswood and did garrison duty until
the 10th of July, when they were ordered to join their
regiment at Buckhannon, Upshur Co., Va. On the 14th of July
five companies, under command of Colonel Connell,
marched from Petroleum, via Glenwood, at which place they
were, on the 4th day of July, surrounded by about 1,500
rebels, but beat them back until reinforcements arrived
under command of the late General Lytle. The
regiment, after consolidating at Buckhannon, partook, with
other troops, in occupying and fortifying Sutton. On
the 3d of August, the regiment, having then overserved their
time, started home, arriving on the 13th day of August in
Zanesville, O., and were mustered out on the 15th.
NEW ORGANIZATION.
The officers of the
regiment immediately set to work to reorganize the
Seventeenth for the three years' service, and in September,
1861, we find the regiment as reorganized, in Camp Dennison,
near Cincinnati, O., still with one company (Company D),
from Hocking County, under the following organization:
Captain, Charles H. Rippey; First Lieutenant,
Gilrath M. Webb; Second Lieutenant, Henry C. Dewar;
Orderly, Joseph W. Fox SErgeants, Wm. H. Baker,
Isaac Coakley, Francis A. Sanderson, Jonathan Sterling;
eight corporals and eighty-seven privates. The
regimental organization was: Colonel, John M. Connell;
Lieutenant, Marshall F. Moore; Major, Durbin Ward;
Surgeon, Washington L. Schenck; Assistant Surgeon,
E. Sinnett.
[Pg. 867]
A SERIES OF MARCHES.
In October, 1861,
the regiment under orders reported at Camp Dick
Robinson, Garrard County, Ky., for duty. From
there it moved to Wild Cat, where, with Colonel Garrard
for the First Kentucky, they whipped the rebels after a
severe fight, the Seventeenth having seven men wounded.
The regiment was then brigaded with the Thirty-first and
Thirty-eighth Ohio, General Albin Schoepf commanding.
The regiment participated in the battle of Mill Springs on
the 19th of January, 1862, where the rebel General
Zollicoffer was killed, and the rebel army put to rout;
was one of the first regiments to enter the enemy's
fortifications next day, the enemy badly demoralized having
evacuated the works during the night, leaving twelve cannons
and caissons, with horses harnessed and hitched up, 1,500
horses corraled along the bank of the Cumberland River, a
number of large siege guns, thousands of shot-guns, bowie
knives, military stores, Quartermaster's stores, etc., etc.,
behind. From here the regiment marched to Louisville,
Ky., and took boat for Nashville, Tenn., arriving there on
the 3d day of March, 1862; thence across the country to
Shiloh with the grand army, commanded by General Buell,
but did not arrive in time to participate in the "Pittsburg
Landing" fight, but took a hand in the siege of Corinth;
marched to Boonville, Miss.; to Tuscumbia, Ala.; from this
place marched with General Buell's army back
Louisville, Ky., and was at the battle of Perryville.
From Danville, and Lebanon, the army commenced its backward
march, and the Seventeenth participated in the battle of
Stone River. On the night of the 29th of December,
their brigade marched from Nolinsville to the Murfreesboro
Pike, had a skirmish with Wheeler's Cavalry at
LaVergne, recaptured all the mules Wheeler had taken
from our train, and saved some 200 wagons form being burned.
The regiment with its brigade went into battle line of the
Stone River field at one o'clock, Dec. 31, charged the rebel
General Hanson's brigade, drove them in confusion,
killing their General, and some 150, rank and file; the loss
of the Seventeenth Regiment was twenty wounded. In
July, 1863, at Hoover's Gap, the Seventeenth, under command
of Lieutenant-Colonel Durbins Ward in connection with
the Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, charged the
Seventeenth Tennessee rebel regiment, and a rebel brigade,
strongly posted in a belt of woods, although the Seventeenth
being exposed in making a charge to a flanking fire from
[Pg. 868]
a rebel brigade and battery, yet the troops pushed steadily
on, drove the Seventeenth Tennessee and occupied their
position. The charge was executed with such coolness
as to draw the particular attention General Thomas.
At the battle of Chickamauga the regiment was on the extreme
right of the center, attached to the corps commanded by
General Thomas. When General Wood's
division was withdrawn from the line, the Seventeenth was
exposed to a galling fire from front and right flank,
causing it to lose heavily and fall back; some 300 yards
from where they had been driven they halted, gave three
cheers, sounded the rally for the Seventeenth Ohio, gathered
some 200 men together, and charged back on the enemy, but to
little purpose, as the rebels outnumbered them ten to one.
Falling back again, now numbering but about 100 strong to a
given point, they there remained and fought through that
memorable day. The loss of the Seventeenth in this
battle, killed, wounded and missing, was over 200.
This was the severest engagement the regiment ever
participated in. Lieutenant-Colonel Ward,
commanding, fell about the middle of the forenoon badly
wounded.
During the siege of Chattanooga, the Seventeenth
engaged in several severe skirmishes, and at Brown's Ferry
was, along with its brigade, honorably mentioned. At
Mission Ridge it charged, captured a rebel battery, and
turned the guns on the retreating enemy. On the 22d of
January, 1864, having veteranized, the regiment started home
on thirty days' furlough. On the 7th of March it
returned to the field, bringing with them some 400 recruits,
the regiment then soon started on the Atlanta campaign.
They took part in heavy skirmishing at Rocky Face Ridge, and
bore its full share of the battle of Resaca, its losses
being quite heavy. Skirmishing partaking of the nature
of battles continued almost daily. At New Hope,
Pumpkin Vine Creek and various other places, the Seventeenth
was actively engaged. At Kennesaw Mountain the
regiment suffered greatly from heat, many men being carried
off the field from sun-stroke. They were engaged at
the battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 20, 1864, moving with
General Jeff C. Davis’s corps to the rear of Atlanta;
the Seventeenth was among the claimants as having first
struck the railroad, and on the next day was in at the
assault on Jonesboro. The Seventeenth followed
Sherman “down to the sea” through the Carolinas; took
part in the battle of Bentonville, passed in review before
the President at Washington, and was mustered out at
Louisville, Ky., in
[Pg. 869]
July, 1865. The Seventeenth was in service almost from
the beginning of the war, and Company D from the Hocking
Hills kept recruited up, and followed the fortunes of war
under its gallant commanders.
The records of wounded that convelesced not
being on file in the archives of the State, we can give but
those that were killed, and died during the war.
THE RECORD OF THE SLAIN.
The following are
the killed and those that died from wounds and disease of
Company D, the Hocking County company of the Seventeenth
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as recorded:
Samuel R. Tilton, Corporal, killed, Chickamauga;
Amos Richards private, killed, Chickamauga;
John Red, private, killed, Mission Ridge;
Elias V. Ramey, private, killed July 9, 1864,
near Chattanooga;
Francis W. Sanderson, Sergeant, killed July 9,
1864, near Chattanooga.
DIED.
Jacob George,
February, 1862, disease;
Washington Lehman, May 4, 1862, disease.
Marvel Mills, Feb. 24, 1862, disease;
Peter Frick, Oct. 19, 1863, wounds;
Littlejohn Westlake, July 4, 1864, disease,
Chattanooga;
Levi Burgoon, Apr. 10, 1864, disease, Ringgold,
Ga.;
John Call, June 1, 1864, wounds, Big Shanty;
Peter Kepler, Mar. 18, 1864, disease,
Chattanooga;
Elisha E. Standiford, Aug. 9, 1864, wounds.
THE GLORIOUS RECORD OF THE THIRTY-FIRST
REGIMENT.
July 21, 1861, the
Union and rebel forces met on the battle-field for the first
time and communities north of Mason and Dixson's line were
startled next day to hear clicking over the wires the
account of a disastrous defeat, assuming the proportions of
a shameful rout of the Union forces. Then followed,
July 22, 1861 the President's call for 500,000 three-years'
volunteers, and in two weeks' time Hocking County responded
to the call; 113 men marched into Camp Chase the first week
in August from this county under command of Captain W. M.
Bowen, and on the 9th day of August, 1861, a maximum
company, 103 men rank and file, were mustered in the United
States service for three years and assigned as Company B to
the Thirty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, the
company organization being:
[Pg. 870]
Captain, William M. Bowen;
First Lieutenant, John L. Williams;
Second Lieutenant, James K. Rochester;
Orderly, Albert M. Aplin;
Sergeants, Jonathan A. Gibbons, Samuel Feighley, Wesley
S. Tucker, John J. Martin, eight corporals and eighty
seven privates.
REGIMENTAL ORGANIZATION.
Colonel, Moses
B. Walker;
Lieutenant-Colonel, Cyrus Grant;
Major, SAmuel L. Leffingwell;
Surgeon, John R. Arter;
Assistant-Surgeon, J. L. Mount;
Chaplain, L. F. Drake.
ORDERED TO TRAVEL.
The Thirty-first
Regiment received marching orders Sept. 27, 1861, and
reported to Brigadier-General O. M. Mitchell, at
Cincinnati, Ohio, Companies A and B having been detached
some time previous for extra duty at Gallipolis and up the
Kanawha Valley, joined the regiment at Cincinnati.
Leaving Cincinnati the regiment crossed over the Ohio River
into Kentucky, passing through Kenton, Pendleton, Harrison,
Bourbon, Fayette and Jessamine counties, arriving at Camp
Dick Robinson, Garrard County, Oct. 2, 1861. Here a
regular course of company and regimental drill began, which
rendered the regiment so efficient in after service.
Dec. 12, 1861, the regiment moved to Somerset, Ky., partook
in several reconnoisances, and on the 19th day of Ky.,
partook in several reconnoisance, and on the 19th day of
January, 1862, it marched to the assistance of General
Thomas at the battle of Mill Springs. After the
battle the regiment was assigned to the First Brigade, First
Division, Army of the Ohio. The regiment, with
Hewitt's Kentucky Battery, was ordered to pursue the
retreating rebels. They crossed the Cumberland River
on flat boats at Waitsboro, Pulaski Co., Ky., passed up the
Cumberland River Hills, a day's march, and were then ordered
back, the campaign plans having been changed. They
then took up their line of march through Kentucky by way of
Danville and Lebanon to Louisville; there they embarked on
the steamer Magnolia for Nashville, Tenn. The regiment
with Buell's army, marched across Tennessee for
Pittsburg Landing, but did not arrive in time to participate
in the battle of Shiloh. From thence it advanced with
the army toward Corinth, and during the march engaged in
frequently skirmishing with the rebels, and in the siege was
marched toward Iuka, had quite an engagement, took pos-
[Pg. 871]
session of the town, and on the 26th marched for Tuscumbia;
arrived there the 28th; there the regiment engaged in
expeditions against rebel troops that were being organized
in that vicinity. From Tuscumbia the regiment marched
to Huntsville, Ala., by way of Decatur, crossing the river
on a small ferry boat constructed, manned and run by the men
of Company K. The Thirty-first Regiment was noted for
the number of mechanics of every calling in their ranks, at
all times being able to perform any kind of duty that might
devolve upon them. A detachment of twenty-eight men
having been left at Trinity on guard duty, information was
received here that they had been attacked by a rebel force
of two or three hundred rebels. The rebels were
repulsed, but one half of the detachment were killed or
wounded.
The regiment moved with the army to Dechard, Tenn.,
thence with Buell's army in the campaign against
Bragg in Kentucky, marching through Murfreesboro and
Nashville to Louisville. The regiment was actively
engaged at the battle of Perryville, and after the fight
moved with the army south again to Tennessee. Word
coming that the rebels were pillaging the train at LaVergne,
the Thirty-first, with two other regiments, marched rapidly
back, engaged the enemy and drove them off, killing,
wounding and capturing quite a number of them. At the
battle of Stone River the regiment was actively engaged and
acquitted itself nobly. In the Hoover's Gap fight, in
connection with the Seventeenth Ohio, they carried a
position defended by two rebel brigades; again at the battle
of Chickamauga the noble old Thirty-first was in both days,
suffered severely, and covered itself with additional glory.
Its next engagement was Brown's Ferry, then Mission Ridge,
where the Thirty-first was among the foremost regiments to
plant the flag of victory over the enemy's works, and where
the gallant Lieutenant James K. Rochester fell.
About this time the regiment veteranized, receiving a
furlough for thirty days. When they returned to the
field they took with them 374 new recruits, increasing the
regiment's effective strength to over 800 men. The
army then marched on the Atlanta campaign. On the 14th
day of May, 1864, the regiment engaged in an assault on the
enemy's lines in front of Resaca, and suffered terribly; it
was in all the engagements of the campaign except the battle
of Jonesboro.
The Thirty-first moved with Sherman's army "down
to the sea," leaving Atlanta, Nov. 16; it passed through
Decatur and Monticello to Milledgeville, Ga., where they
destroyed an arsenal with
[Pg. 872]
a considerable amount of arms and ammunition; pushing on
they reached Savannah on the 12th day of December, 1864.
On the 20th day of February, 1865, with the army, the
Thirty-first moved on the campaign of the Carolinas, thence
on to Washington City, participating in the grand review.
The regiment was then transferred to Louisville, Ky., and
mustered out July 20, 1865.
THE GALLANT DEAD.
The
Thirty-first Ohio held an honorable position from its first
start in the noted corps, General Thomas's
Fourteenth, and was never driven from the field, only
retired when ordered and then fighting if necessary.
The following is a list of the killed in battle and those
dying during the war of Company B:
Captain James A. Cahill (third Captain), June
23, 1864, at Kennesaw Mountain;
First Lieuteant, James K. Rochester, Nov.
25, 1863, at Mission Ridge;
Sergeant Daniel H,. Woodard,
Private Wm. H. Smock,
Private John L. Snider, Sept. 21, 1863, at
Chickamauga;
Private Gotleib F. Dishley, Nov. 24, 1864,
at Milledgeville, Ga.;
Private John F. Knapp, Sept 21, 1863, at
Chickamauga.
DIED.
Thomas Barnes,
Andersonville Prison;
Lorenzo D. Skiver, October, Chickamauga, wounds;
Jacob Cookley, Oct. 12, 1862, Nashville, Tenn.;
George W. Davis, Jan. 3, 1862,
Henry S. Hutchins, Feb. 11, 1862, Somerset, Ky.;
James Hammon, Oct. 8, 1862, Nashville, Tenn.;
Stephen A. Kennard, unknown;
William Legget, unknown, Mississippi;
Samuel D. Mills, Mar. 14, 1862, Lebanon, Ky.;
James Root, Logan, O.;
Robert Saunderson, Dec. 13, 1861, Camp Dick
Robinson;
Nicholas Sharshall, date unknown;
Wm. H. McBroom, Aug. 8, 1864, wounds;
George Call, July 30, 1864, Kingston, Ga.;
Henry J. Hedrick, Apr. 6, 1864, Nashville,
Tenn.;
Robert Oldfield, Apr. 6, 1864, Tullahoma;
Nathan S. Payne, Aug. 19, 1864, Lookout
Mountain, wounds;
Wm. B. Rouse, July 17, 1864, Nashville, Tenn.,
wounds;
Andrew J. Shell, Sept. 4, 1864, Nashville,
Tenn.;
Jonathan Smith, July 4,
1865, Division Hospital;
James T. Nelson, July 12, 1865, Nashville, Tenn.
[Pg. 873]
THE GRAND OLD FIFTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
As the struggle
between the Union forces and rebels continued there were
camps of instruction established, recruiting head-quarters
everywhere, the sound of bugle and tap of drum were to be
heard at all hours. More troops still wanted was the
cry, and once more Hocking County responded by sending
Companies F, H and K to the front in the Fifty-eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry organization, January, 1862.
Company F. - Captain,
John Bunz; First Lieutenant,
Wilford Stiers; Second Lieutenant,
Frederick Tensher; Orderly, Samuel
Kepler; Sergeants, Thomas Taylor, Peter
Leonard, Henry Harmony, Jacob
Wooly; eight Corporals and seventy-three privates, in
all eighty-nine men, rank and file.
Company H. - Captain, Ezra P. Jackson;
First Lieutenant, Christopher Kinser; Second
Lieutenant, William H. Huls; Orderly, Thaddeus H.
Ream; Sergeants, Elias L. Doddson, John Hanson,
Oliver Coonrod, George Barclay; eight Corporals and
seventy-five privates, in all ninety one men, rank and file.
Company K. - Captain, Charles A. Barker; First
Lieutenant, Wm. S. Friesner; Second Lieutenant,
Leander E. Hodge; Orderly Daniel Nunemaker;
Sergeants, Emile E. Parrish, Benoni B. Sloper, David
Haimlton, William Nail; eight Corporals and seventy-five
privates, in all ninety one men, rank and file.
Company K. - Captain Charles A. Barker; First
Lieutenant, Wm. S. Friesner; Second Lieutenant,
Leander E. Hodge; Orderly, Daniel Nunemaker;
Sergeants, Emile E. Parrish, Benoni B. Sloper,
David Hamilton, William Nail; eight Corporals and
seventy privates, in all eighty-six men, rank and file.
The regimental organization was as follows:
Colonel, Val. Bausenwein; Lieutenant-Colonel,
Ferdinand F. Rempel; Major, Peter Dister;
Surgeon, Rainer Shalern; assistant Surgeon, Eugene
Ringler.
ITS BAPTISM OF FIRE.
Who has not heard
of the gallant Fifty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry that
received its baptism of fire on the hotly contested field in
front of Fort Donelson, Tenn.?
The Fifty-eighth was placed under orders and reported
for duty at Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 11, 1862, and embarking
on the steamers Tigress and Dictator the regiment left the
same day for Fort Donelson, arriving there on the morning of
the 13th of February, 1862. Disembarking and taking a
hasty meal the regiment was formed and pushed forward,
impelled by the sounds of the conflict reverberating through
the woods. Taking a circuitous route, in order to get
in proper position, the regiment traveled twelve miles.
[Pg. 874]
over rough hills and unmade roads, and went in camp late in
the evening in sight of the fort. The regiment was
here assigned to Thayer's brigade, of General Lew
Wallace's division. The next morning the men were
awakened from their slumbers to find everything covered with
snow, yet nothing deterred them; immediately after partaking
of a hasty breakfast they formed in line of battle ready for
the fray. We can do no better right here than to give
"Reid's" description, as is found in his history of
"Ohio in the War" of their advance movement:
"The Colonel (V. Bausenwein) being ill, the
second officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Ferd. Rempel took
command. This officer led the regiment at once toward
the enemy. After moving a short distance a furious
attack was made by the enemy, but the shock was met with
coolness, and ended in the rebels being hurled back into
their intrenchments. This ended the active work of the
day, although the regiment remained in line of battle until
late in the evening, when it returned to camp. Early
in the morning of the 16th the regiment was marched to the
center of the line where it remained until the announcement
of the surrender of the fort. The Fifty-eighth was
immediately marched into the fort, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Rempel, with his own hands, hauled down the first rebel
flag the members of the regiment had ever gazed upon."
SOME MORE HOT WORK.
The regiment left
Fort Donelson March 7, and went into camp at Crump's
Landing, on the Tennessee River. The regiment
participated in the fight at Pittsburg Landing, and was
under fire until four o'clock, P. M., Apr. 7, 1862.
Its losses in this battle were nine killed and forty-three
wounded. From here the regiment with the army moved on
toward Corinth, took part in the siege; from here they were
ordered to Memphis, Tenn., thence to Helena, Ark.
During the stay of the regiment at this point it engaged in
several reconnoisances down the Mississippi on transports,
in one of these capturing a rebel steamer, 5,000 stand of
arms and two pieces of artillery; also met and defeated the
Thirty-first Louisiana Regiment, capturing forty of their
number and all their camp eqipage. From Helena they
went up the Yazoo on steamers, acting as sharp-shooters.
At Haines's Bluff, Aug. 20, they captured three heavy siege
guns, two brass field pieces, one thirty-pound Parrott gun,
and a large amount of ord-
[Pg. 875]
nance stores. They skirmished with the enemy at
Greenville, Miss., fought them at Bolivar Landing and again
returned to Helena on the 27th day of August.
From Helena, Oct. 6, the regiment embarked for St.
Genevieve, Mo.; arriving there they marched to Pilot Knob,
but returned to St. Genevieve in November, and embarked for
Camp Steel, State of Mississippi; thence in December to
Johnston's Landing, Yazoo River. Dec. 27 the regiment
took part in a heavy skirmish, losing several men, and on
the next day they were ordered to charge the enemy's works,
the Fifty-eighth being the first regiment in the works.
Not being able to hold what they had so nobly gained the
troops were ordered to fall back, which was done. The
regiment lost heavily both in officers and men in this
fight. In January, 1863, the regiment embarked on
transports for Arkansas Post, where it arrived Jan. 9, and
took part in the capture of the place; from thence to
Young's Point, La., and there into camp. The fifty
eighth at this time received orders to serve as marines on
board the iron clads of the Mississippi flotilla, and was
distributed by companies to the different steamers.
On the 16th of April the iron clads and transports ran
the gauntlet of the Vicksburg batteries, losing but one man
belonging to the Fifty-eighth. On the 29th of April
the battle of Grand Gulf was fought, the Fifty-eighth
participating and losing heavily. In September the
Fifty-eighth was ordered to join the land forces at
Vicksburg. The regiment remained at Vicksburg until
Dec. 24, 1864, when it was ordered to report at Columbus,
Ohio, for discharge and muster out.
ITS WORK AND ITS TERRIBLE LOSS.
The Fifty-eighth
Regiment saw work from the day they were ordered to the
front, passed through almost all kinds of disaster and
hardships that at this day would appall the strongest heart,
yet they faltered not, but always did their duty as true
soldiers and patriots.
The following is the list of the killed and those that
died during the war in Companys F, H and K, Hocking County
soldiers.
COMPANY F - KILLED.
John W. Coffin,
private;
Joseph Wiseiver, private, Dec. 29, 1862,
Chickasaw Bayou;
Henry Harning, Sergeant, Henry Bashen,
Sergeant, Jacob Wooly, Sergeant, Riley Suttels,
private, April 29, 1863, Grand Gulf.
[Pg. 876]
DIED.
Sergeant
Samuel Kepler, April, 1862, near Shiloh, wounds;
Private Kennedy Linn, June 22, 1862, Logan,
Ohio, disease;
Private Jacob Burgoon, Dec. 17, 1863, Vicksburg,
disease;
William Chapman, Apr. 13, 1862, Crump's Landing,
disease;
Private Michael Conkle, Nov. 22, 1862, disease,
Vicksburg;
Private George Cupp, Dec. 8, 1862, disease, St.
Louis;
Private Thomas Dillon, July 30, 1862, disease,
Logan, O.;
Private Samuel Cheshire, June 15, 1862, disease,
Union Station, Tenn.;
Private Elijah Grimes, April 26, 1862, wounds,
William Krentz, May 21, 1862, wounds, Pittsburg
Landing;
Henry Kulp, Nov. 24, 1862, disease,
William Kitchen, Nov. 19, 1862, disease,
Alex McDonald, Feb. 22, 1863, disease, Steamer
Red Rover;
Robert Redman Oct. 28, 1862, disease, Logan, O.;
John Statger, Aug. 12, 1863, disease, Vicksburg;
James Taylor, May 11, 1862, disease, Camp
Donelson;
George Taylor, July 3, 1862, disease, Logan, O.;
Thomas Whtcraft, Apr. 2, 1862, disease;
Isaac Whitcraft, Nov. 25, 1862, disease, St.
Louis, Mo.;
Luman Warner, May 5, 1862, wounds, Pittsburg
Landing.
COMPANY H - KILLED.
Captain
Christopher Kinser,
Sergeant Elias L. Dodd,
Corporal Amos L. Borden,
Private George W. Moss,
Private Samuel Sleiner, Dec. 29, 1862, Fort
Morgan;
Private Absalom Leffler, Gottleib Stinger,
William Stringer, Apr. 29, 1863, Grand Gulf;
John Mowry, Christ Kinser, Jr., John Hawkin,
blew up with Steamer Sultana.
DIED.
George Agner,
Feb. 13, 1863, disease, Paducah, Ky;
Robert Burgoon, no record, 1863, disease, home,
Ohio;
Joseph A. Fartig, Apr. 29, 1863, wounds, Grand
Gulf;
Daniel A. Gordon, November, 1862, disease, St.
Louis;
Joseph Geiser, May 8, 1862, disease, Shiloh;
Charles Hansen, Dec. 29, 1862, wounds, Fort
Morgan;
Samuel Klinger, July 21, 1862, disease, Memphis;
John Kregg, no Record, 1862, disease, Sugar
Grove, O.;
Isaiah F. Norris, July 7, 1862, disease,
Monterey, Tenn.;
[Pg. 877]
John H. Peterson, Nov. 16, 1864, disease,
Vicksburg;
Asa E. Scoville, ____, 1862, disease, hospital;
Charles Strocke, June 12, 1862, disease,
Memphis;
Thomas B. Smith, Feb. 26, 1864, disease,
William Seibert, Aug. 27, 1864, disease,
Vicksburg;
Joseph White, Apr. 16, 1862, wounds,
Jeremiah Westenburger, May 12, 1862, wounds,
Shiloh;
Wm. J. Wooden, May 5, 1863, disease, St. Louis.
COMPANY K - KILLED.
Private
Leonard Bond, Apr. 7, 1862, Pittsburg Landing.
DIED.
Sergeant
David Hamilton, May 13, 1862,
Corporal Joseph W. Parish, April 9, 1862,
Private Abraham H. Shirk, May 4, 1862,
Private Baltzler Zeigler, Aug. 22, 1862,
Abram Lecrone, Apr. 23, 1862, disease, no place named;
Samuel Brown, June 16, 1862, disease, Bolivar;
Private John S. Bryan, May 9, 1862, disease, Pittsburg
Landing;
Private Bennoni Blosser, Dec. 16, 1864, disease,
Vicksburg;
Private Isaac Cane, Oct. 20, 1862,
Private Jacob Cofflan, Oct. 14, 1862, disease, St.
Louis;
Private John Gilpin, Feb. 2, 1863, wounds, Memphis;
Private Fred Helber, May 21, 1862, disease, Pittsburg
Landing;
Private Caleb F. Heisen, Mar. 16, 1863, disease, U. S.
gunboat;
Private Robert A. Jones, Mar. 22, disease, Evansville;
Private Jacob McFadden, May 10, 1864, disease,
Vicksburg;
Private Frank Red, Oct. 24, 1862, disease, St. Lousi;
Private Aaron Roby, Feb. 10, 1863, disease, Helena;
Private G. W. Sanderson, Apr. 26, 1862, disease,
Pittsburg Landing;
Private John L. Shultz, no date, disease, home;
Private David Stroble, Oct. 23, 1862, disease, St.
Louis;
Private William Stallen, no report of date or place;
Private Fred Stallen, May 13, 1863, disease, Memphis;
Private John Woltz, Oct. 26, 1862, disease, St. Louis.
THE BRAVE SIXTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
[Pg. 878]
Chaplain, Benjamin St. James Fry; ninety-three men,
rank and file.
The history of the Sixty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry
is but a repetition of heroisms, bravery, and battles.
The regiment moved from Marietta, Feb. 18, 1862, and
reported at Paducah, Ky.; thence at New Madrid, via
Commerce, Mo., and reported to Major-General John Pope,
and took part in the reconnoissance March 3, being
brought under fire for the first time.
The New Madrid they were brigaded with the
Twenty-seventh, Thirty-ninth and Forty-third Ohio regiments,
under command of Brigadier-General David S. Stanley,
and was known as the Ohio Brigade. The sixty-third
partook in all the movements resulting in the surrender of
Island No. 10; afterward joined Halleck's engagement
at Farmington, sustaining severe loss; was in the reserved
at the battle of Iuka, and engaged in the battle of Corinth,
again losing heavily. The regiment left Corinth and
joined Grant in Mississippi, near Grand Junction,
thence march to Oxford, to Jackson, Tenn., and at Parker's
Cross Roads engaged in battle; repulsed the enemy and
returned to Corinth, Jan. 9, 1863, going into winter
quarters. In May it marched to Memphis, and did
garrison duty with the brigade. From Memphis it
marched to Eastport on to Elk River.
The regiment veteranized in January, 1864, and returned
North on a thirty-days' furlough. Recruited, returned
South and reported to General Dodge at Decatur
Junction, Ala.; marched from Decatur via Huntsville to
Woodville; thence to Chattanooga; thence though Rossville
across Mission Ridge and Chickamauga Creek to Snake Creek
Gap; took part in the battle of Resaca, afterward at Dallas,
losing heavily again, and thence to Jonesboro, participating
in the engagement at that place. The regiment moved
with the grand army across and through the Southern
Confederacy to the sea. From Savannah the regiment
embarked for Beanford, S. C.; thence north through
Bentonville and Goldsboro to Petersburg, and marched through
Richmond on to Washington, passing in review with the grand
army before the President and General Grant moved
west, and on the 17th and 18th days of July, at Camp
Dennison, Ohio, were paid off and discharged.
THE NOBLE DEAD.
The list of killed
and those dying while in service belonging to Company H
(Hocking County Company), Sixty-third Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, as found on record (the records of many
[Pg. 879]
companies, detachments, etc., seem to be quite incomplete,
but it is all that can be had from the Adjutant-General's
office of the State of Ohio):
KILLED.
Private
Weston Ray, Private George Milligan, July 24,
1864, Decatur.
DIED.
Samuel S.
Alexander, Mar. 23, 1864, disease, Decatur;
Wesley Biggins, Dec. 16, 1864, disease, Hospital
near Savannah;
Wm. T. Duffie, Mar. 11, 1864, disease, Hospital
Decatur Junction;
Shadrack O'Connor, Aug. 5, 1864, disease,
Hospital Marietta;
Solomon Spilter, Aug. 9, 1864, wounds, Decatur;
John Frost, Aug. 26, 1864, wounds, Decatur;
Henry Zeigler, July, 1865, drowned in the Ohio
River near Madison.
THE GLORIOUS SEVENTY-FIFTH.
Hocking County seat
to the front Company H, Seventy-fifty Regiment, Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, officered as follows: Captain,
Thomas M. D. Pilcher; First Lieutenant, Abram
W. Thomas; Second Lieutenant, James W. Whaley;
Orderly, Richard L. Sullivan; Sergeants, Allen T.
Garretson, David A. Miller, Benj. E. Cave, Conrad Brian;
eight Corporals and eighty-five privates, in all 101 men,
rank and file.
The regimental organization was as follows:
Colonel, Nat. C. McLean; Lieutenant-Colonel, R. A.
Constable; Major, Robert Reily; Surgeon,
Samuel Hart; Assistant Surgeon, Charles L. Wilson;
Chaplain, John W. Weakley.
This regiment first saw service
in the mountains of West Virginia under General Milroy,
joining the brigade at Huttonsville at the foot of Cheat
Mountain, thence over the Cheat and Allegheny mountains,
toward Staunton, Va., sustained the brunt of the enemy's
attack at Montery C. H., clearing the rebels out in two
hours' fighting, thus establishing the character of the
regiment for pluck and staying qualities. From here
the army crossed over the Shenandoah Mountains, and at
Buffalo Gap was met by the rebel General Stonewall
Jackson with a large force and compelled to fall back
over the mountains to McDowell. May 8, 1862,
Jackson appeared in force on the highland overlooking
the Union camp with a much superior force. Milroy
brought about the battle by advancing the Seventy-fifth
and Twenty-fifth Ohio Infantry. The fight lasted from
three o'clock, P. M. until dark, the Union forces holding
their ground. When under cover of night
[Pg. 880]
Milroy retreated in the direction of Franklin.
In this battle the Seventy-fifth added new laurels to its
already hard-earned good name. From Franklin, under
command of General Fremont, crossed the Shenandoah at
Strasburg, on to Cross Keys, where a battle was fought June
10, 1862, the Seventy-fifth being in reserve.
THROUGH THE VALLEY OF DEATH.
The next affair was
at Cedar Mountain, Va., and at Freeman's Ford, where
it lost heavily; then at Groveton, near the old Bull Run
battle-field, Aug. 28, 1862, where the regiment lost
twenty-one men killed and ninety-one wounded,, the killed
and wounded falling into the hands of the enemy; from thence
back to Washington city. It was present at the battle
of Fredericksburg, then Chancellorsville, here losing 150
men killed and wounded; again at Gettysburg, where out of
292 enlisted men 63 were killed and 106 wounded; from here
down South, at the siege of Forts Wagner and Gregg; thence
to Faly Island, where the regiment remained until the 22d of
February, 1864. It then went to Jacksonville, Fla.,
and shortly thereafter mounted and called the Seventy-fifth
mounted Infantry, and operated along the Indian River.
Returning to Jacksonville, on the 17th of August fought the
enemy at Gainesville, Fla., tried to cut their way through a
superior force of the enemy, but only partially succeeded,
losing in the affair fourteen men killed and two
commissioned officers, about thirty men wounded and sixty
men and twelve officers taken prisoners, nearly all of whom
were held by the enemy until the spring of 1865.
THE CLOSING ACT.
In August, 1865,
the regiment was mustered out. We cannot give the
names and number of men killed and died during the war of
Company H, from the fact that they have not been kept
district and separate on the regimental books. We
have, however, from Lieutenant David A. Miller, the
following killed of his knowledge, while with the army; he
being severely wounded was retired after the battle of
Gettysburg:
Private Simon Pierson, Private W. Isler,
Apr. 12, 1862, at Monterey Court-House; Private George
Parker, Aug. 28, 1862, second Bull Run fight. Also
from another comrade: Private Elias Thompson August,
1864, Gainesville, Fla.; Privates William Phillips, David
Alexander, ___ Reddick, George Murphy May, 1863,
Chancellorsville. Private Charles Kruger, died
Florence Prison; Privates Felix McBride, John Armstrong,
killed, May, 1863, Chancellorsville; Private Sol.
Jones, Aug. 8, second Bull Run.
[Pg. 881
NEARING THE END - THE GALLANT ONE
HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIRST.
Under the call by the
President, Apr. 22, 1864, for 100 days' men, Hocking County
formed the Fifty-seventh Battalion, Ohio National Guards,
Volunteer Infantry, consisting of six companies, but by a
consolidation with the Thirty-third Regiment, O. N. G.,
Volunteer Infantry, numbering eight companies, they formed
what was known as the One Hundred and Fifty-first Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, numbering eight companies, they formed
what was known as the One Hundred and Fifty-first Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, N. G., reducing the Fifty-seventh
Battalion to four companies and the Thirty-third to six
companies, making a regiment of ten companies numbering 846
men, rank and file.
The One Hundred and Fifty-first was mastered into
service May 13, 1864. The regiment left Camp Chase for
Washington City May 14, and arrived there on the 21st, where
it reported for duty to General Augur, and was
assigned to the Second Brigade, General Haskin's
Division, Twenty-second Army Corps. The brigade was
afterward with the First Brigade of General Hardin's
division, in which it continues during its term of service.
The regiment was stationed in forts defending the city of
Washington, and during the operations of the rebels on the
11th and 12th of July a large part of these troops were
under file.
The picket lines were kept up by details from the One
Hundred and Fifty-first. On the 17th of August the
regiment concentrated at Fort Simmons, and from this place
they moved by way of Baltimore to Camp Chase, at Columbus,
Ohio, arriving on the 23d, and was mustered out. The
Hocking boys lost but one man, William Collins, who
died in hospital at Washington.
The regimental organization of the One Hundred and
Fifty-first was as follows:
Colonel John M. C. Marble;
Lieutenant-Colonel, Richard
S. Hughes;
Major, John L. Williams;
Surgeon, William H. Harper;
Assistant Surgeon, Augustus
G. Halloway.
The companies from Hocking County were G, H, I, K,
and officered as follows:
Company G. - Captain, Uriah Guess; First
Lieutenant, Manchester H. Duval; Second Lieutenant,
George G. Moore.
Company H. - Captain, John Oaks;
First Lieutenant, James Johnson; Second Lieutenant,
Joshua Chilcote.
Company I. - Captain, Joseph Chaney;
First Lieutenant, G. W. Wiggins; Second Lieutenant,
E. B. Clowe.
Company K. - Captain, G. M. Webb;
First Lieutenant, Anthony B. Walker; Second
Lieutenant, Edward P. Strong.
[Pg. 882]
"LITTLE HOCKING" DID HER DUTY.
Hocking County not
only furnished the foregoing organizations for service
during the war, but was constantly sending men forward to
replenish the ranks as battles and disease reduced the
strength of the army. She also furnished troops in
squads of from five to twenty-five men for the Ninetieth,
the Sixty-first, the Sixty-second, the forty-sixth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, the Eighteenth Regulars, the Fifth and
Sixth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, two Wet Virginia
organizations, the navy and other departments of the army.
From the ranks were furnished Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels,
Majors, Captains and all minor officers.
The Morgan raiders, as they passed through the
south corner of our county, were promptly followed by our
citizen soldiery and prevented from taking the back track
when they had reached the Muskingum River, not, however,
without the loss of life. Henry Kelley, a
citizen of Logan, was killed at Eagleport on the Muskingum
while reconnoitering the enemy's position.
Although recruiting was constantly going on, yet in
September, 1864, an exhibit of the number of men in the
service failed to show up enough to exempt Hocking entirely
from the draft.
RECORD IN BLACK AND WHITE:
The following is
the table furnished by the Marshal:
TOWNSHIPS |
IN THE
SERVICE |
AT
HOME |
TOTAL
ENROLL'T |
NO. TO BE
DRAFTED. |
Falls |
317 |
440 |
757 |
12 |
Green |
137 |
135 |
271 |
3 |
Ward |
120 |
114 |
234 |
1 |
Starr |
157 |
178 |
335 |
6 |
Washington |
78 |
156 |
234 |
32 |
Benton |
117 |
143 |
260 |
21 |
Salt Creek |
77 |
84 |
171 |
15 |
Perry |
99 |
163 |
262 |
30 |
Laurel |
81 |
149 |
230 |
26 |
Good Hope |
74 |
111 |
195 |
7 |
Marion |
101 |
202 |
303 |
38 |
Total |
1,358 |
1,875 |
3,252 |
191 |
[Pg. 883]
The number here
shown to be in the service is undoubtedly incorrect, owing
to the impossibility to get at the true inwardness of those
who had actually enlisted and that should have been credited
to the county; yet the number of men claimed was gracefully
accepted, and nearly all the townships filled their quota by
paying increased local bounties, as was the practice all
over the State. The various enactments of the Ohio
Legislature, providing for the levying of taxes for the
relief of soldiers' families, passed 1862, '63 and '64, were
observed, taxes collected and distributed according to law
without cost. The ladies of the county formed relief
and aid societies with an earnest purpose to do whatsoever a
woman's hands might find to do in furtherance of our
country's cause; and after the war was ended, the last shot
fired, and those that survived the ravages of war returned
to their homes they were proudly welcomed, feasted and
honored; and with a promise to ever revere and cherish the
memory of the martyrs, those who died that their country
might live, the heroes resumed their places in society, beat
their swords into plowshares, and peace and plenty once more
reigned, and our community of States became as one nation
again.
END OF CHAPTER.
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