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CHAPTER XV
NOBLE COUNTY IN THE WAR
HOSKINVILLE REBELLION
The early part of the year 1863 was the gloomiest period of the
war. Distrust and doubt filled the public mind; loss and
suffering had long attended the Federal armies, and many who at
first had been confident of a speedy and triumphant victory for
the Union cause, now began to waver and adopt the opinions of
those favoring peace at any price. This sentiment was
strengthened and fostered by the busy tongues of ambitious,
stay-at-home orators, who, in Ohio as elsewhere, sought to take
advantage of the situation and pose as leaders of public
opinion. In Ohio the year is memorable for its exciting
political campaign, in which C. L. Vallandigham, whose public
utterances had caused his arrest and banishment from the North,
was one of the candidates for the office of governor; also for
organized resistance to the government, which was attempted in
three instances — in Noble, Montgomery and Holmes Counties. The
arrest of Vallandigham in May 1863, in Dayton, led to
disturbances on account of which martial law was proclaimed in
Montgomery County. The Holmes County outbreak was occasioned by
an attempt to resist the draft. The Noble County "rebellion
"—the only disgraceful blot upon the military record of the
county—preceded all the other occurrences mentioned, taking
place several weeks before the arrest of Vallandigham. The
following account of the affair is gleaned from Whitelaw Reid's
"Ohio in the War," the names of the participants in the
rebellion being suppressed :
In February 1863, Flamen Ball, then United States district
attorney for Southern Ohio, came into possession of a letter
written by a school-teacher in Hoskinsville to a private soldier
in Company G, Seventy-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which
he denounced the administration, expressed opposition to the
war, and advised the soldier to desert. The advice was taken,
and the deserter found refuge and concealment near Hoskinsville.
A deputy United States marshal and a corporal's guard
from the One Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, were thereupon sent from Cincinnati with orders to
arrest the deserter and his friend who had counseled desertion.
This force returned with the report that they had found the men
they sought under the protection of nearly a hundred citizens of
Hoskinsville and vicinity, armed with shotguns, rifles and
muskets, and regularly organized and officered. "The captain
pleasantly proposed to the deputy United States marshal and
squad that they surrender and be paroled as prisoners of the
Southern Confederacy!"
March 16, Lieutenant-Colonel Eastman, post commandant
at Cincinnati. issued an order to Captain L. T, Hake, to report
with companies B and H, of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio,
with ten days' rations and forty rounds of ammunition, to United
States Marshal A. C. Sands, to serve as his posse in making
arrests in Noble County. They reached Cambridge on the evening
of the 18th, and were given all possible aid and information by
the inhabitants. Leaving the railroad and marching across the
country toward Hoskinsville, they were informed while en route
that the people were still in arms and determined to continue
their resistance. But on their arrival on the afternoon of the
20th, they found that the valiant rebels had deserted the
village and concealed themselves in the woods, leaving only a
few frightened women and children to welcome the soldiers.
The expedition remained three days, making arrests and searching
for those who had been concerned in the previous resistance to
the deputy marshal. Moses D. Hardy made an affidavit before
United States Commissioner Halliday giving the names of
sixty-five of those participating in the rebellion. Leaving
Hoskinsville, the troops marched to Sharon, then to Caldwell,
and thence to Point Pleasant, halting for the night and making
arrests at each place. Having thus covered the disaffected
district, they returned to Cambridge, where they were welcomed
at a public banquet. Subsequently thirty-five prisoners, thus
arrested, were brought before the United States court in
Cincinnati, presided over by Judges Sway lie and Leavitt, and
arraigned on indictment for obstructing process. Nine of the
accused pleaded guilty and were fined and imprisoned.
Indictments for conspiracy were found against ten of those
concerned in the demonstration, and three of them were
convicted, sentenced and fined $500 each. The instigator of the
trouble —the teacher who had written the letter which caused the
soldier to desert—escaped, as did also many others, making their
way to parts unknown.
The Noble County Republican stated that at a meeting
held by the men engaged in the protection of the deserter,
resolutions had been passed, declaring, first, that they were in
favor of the Union as it was, and the constitution as it is;
second, that they would oppose all arbitrary arrests on the part
of the Government; third, opposition to the enforcement of the
conscription act; fourth, recommending the raising of money by
contribution for the purchase of arms to enable them
successfully to resist a draft, should another be ordered;
fifth, the assassination of an obnoxious person.
"How these brave words ended has been told. Quiet was
restored in the county, and the healthy influence of the
punishments inflicted was soon manifest in the tone of the
community."
There is no doubt that the newspaper accounts published
at the time were full of error and exaggeration. The "rebellion"
was magnified and its extent over-estimated, so much so, in
fact, that even now many people in Noble County and elsewhere
have very erroneous ideas concerning it. Mr. Reid's account of
the affair is perhaps as correct as could be expected.
One of those concerned in the so-called "rebellion," a
reputable and prominent citizen of Noble Township, states his
knowledge of the affair as follows:
" T. W. Brown was not a school teacher, but a pupil at
Hoskinsville. The letter which he wrote was to his cousin and
never reached him. His cousin had reached home before the letter
arrived at his address. The first alleged attempt at an arrest
was at a spelling school at Hoskinsville. Brown was not there.
The soldiers burst open the door and frightened those present
who went home with reports that soldiers were in search of.
Brown, and that he would be killed if found. The next morning,
in company with some of my neighbors I went to Hoskinsville.
Arrived there, we found several men with guns. There was snow on
the ground and they said they had taken their guns to shoot
rabbits. More than half of those present had no guns. "We waited
around the stores and blacksmith shop. A stranger rode through
on horseback, going north. I did not see' him halt or hear him
speak to any one. This man afterwards proved to be the Deputy
United States Marshal. "While he was passing a small squad of
soldiers — about five, as nearly as I can remember — were
marching armed about three hundred yards distant, along the*"
stream east of the town. Thus ended, so far as I know, the
demonstration at this time. I knew of no organization or
officers. The statement that there was an organization and a
captain, and that they demanded a surrender to the Southern
Confederacy, contains not a word of truth. • The newspaper
extract is likewise fictitious." Our informant also states that
he can bring many other credible wit-
278
HISTOBY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
nesses acquainted with the affair, who would make oath to the
same essential statements. |
