CHAPTER XV
NOBLE COUNTY IN THE WAR

36th REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
pg. 228

     The Thirty-sixth Ohio was organized at Camp Putnam, Marietta', in August, 1861. Its first officers were Melvin Clarke, Esq., of Marietta, lieutenant-colonel, and Prof. E. B. Andrews, major. For colonel, an effort was made to secure a man of extensive military knowledge, and such an officer was at last secured in George Crook, then, a captain in the regular army. He assumed command September 12, 1861. Prior to that time six companies in charge of Major A. J. Slemmer, then of General Rosecrans' staff, had marched through several counties of Western Virginia to stop the depreciations of guerrillas. The other four companies remained at Parkersburg, uniting with the rest under Colonel Crook, at Summerville. There the regiment remained and drilled through the winter, and during their expeditions had several skirmishes with the guerrillas. The regiment suffered much from sickness during this period.
May 12, 1862, the regiment started for Lewisburg, Green brier County, and was there brigaded with the Forty-fourth Ohio and a battalion of the Second West Virginia cavalry. From Lewisburg, Colonel Crook and his brigade made an expedition through, returning to Lewisburg. Then on the 23d General Heth, with from two thousand five hundred to three thousand men attacked the brigade, shelling their camp. The Thirty-sixth and the Forty-fourth, containing in the aggregate not more than one thousand two hundred effective men, were ordered to repel the attack, and did so so successfully that the rebels left upon the field sixty killed, one hundred and seventy-five prisoners, four pieces of artillery and three hundred stand of small arms. The Thirty-sixth lost seven killed, forty-four wounded and five captured on picket. This victory, won without artillery or the aid of the cavalry, was quickly and gloriously won. Moving back to Meadow Bluffs on the 29th of May, the brigade was there joined by the Forty-seventh Ohio, and went in pursuit of General Heth, but did not find him. The regiment remained with the brigade in Western and Eastern Virginia until September. On the 12th of that month it reached Frederick, Md., in advance of the rest of McClellan's army, had a skirmish with Stewart's cavalry and on the 14th the brigade was actively engaged at South Mountain, making a memorable bayonet charge, scattering and routing the enemy from that part of the field. The Thirty-sixth lost several men, being for a time exposed to an enfilading fire. Three days later the regiment was in the battle of Antietam, forming a part of Burnside's force on the left. Here Colonel Clarke was instantly killed by a ten-pound shell, and Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews succeeded in command.
After the battle the regiment remained in Maryland for a time, and in October was ordered with the brigade to West Virginia. Encamping at Charleston November 16, it remained there nearly three months. Jan. 23,1863, the Thirty-sixth embarked for Nashville, to join the army of Gen. Rosecrans. A few days after its arrival, the Thirty-sixth, together with the Eleventh and Ninety-second Ohio, all under Gen. Crook, was ordered up the Cumberland River to Carthage. In June the brigade inarched for Murfreesboro, and was there attached to Major-General Reynold's division. Proceeding South with the army, it was in the fight at Chickamauga, where the Thirty-sixth sustained the loss of seventy gallant soldiers, among them Colonel W. G. Jones, who had succeeded Colonel Andrews in command. The regiment was concerned in the operations about Chattanooga, including the capture of Brown's Ferry, and on the 25th of November was in the battle of Mission Ridge, when it lost, eighty-three men.
Re-enlisting in March, 1864, after the expiration of the furlough, the Thirty-sixth returned to its old camping ground at Charleston, W. Va. Thence the brigade, in command of General Crook, made a successful raid to Dublin. Depot, during which occurred an engagement at Cloyd's Mountain. After destroying a large amount of railroad and rebel government property, the expedition turned back to Meadow Bluff, and soon after arriving there was ordered to join General Hunter in the Shenandoah. Valley. In the ensuing months the regiment experienced a good deal of hard marching, did some skirmishing, and burned and destroyed much rebel property. Retreating from Lynchburg before Early, the expedition arrived back at Charleston on the Kanawha in July, in a badly demoralized condition— half starved and broken down. From Charleston to Parkersburg by boat and thence by rail the troops again returned to the Shenandoah Valley. July 19th at Kernstown, near Winchester, the division encountered the enemy and lost one hundred and fifty men. Then, for the first and only time in its history, the Thirty-sixth turned its back to the enemy, and, with the rest of the division, retreated in disorder. It had retreated before, but always in good order. Subsequent operations in the Valley in which the Thirty-sixth had a conspicuous part were engagements at Berryville, September 3; Opequon, September 19; and a surprise at Cedar Creek in which the Nationals were first routed, then the Confederates. The Thirty-sixth remained in the Valley until December. It was then ordered to Cumberland, McL, and there consolidated with the Thirty-fourth Ohio. In April,1865, the consolidated regiment was ordered back to Winchester, and thence to Staunton.

In June it proceeded to Cumberland, thence to Wheeling, where it was mustered out of the service July 27, 1865.

COMPANY E.

Mustered in Aug. 21, 1861, at Marietta, Ohio, for three years. Mustered out July 27,1865, at Wheeling, W.Va.

OFFICERS.

Isaac C. Phillips, 26, e. Aug. 26, 1861; as. first sergt.; pro. second lieut. Co. F, Jan. 18, 1863; wd. Sept. 3, 1864, in battle of Berryville, Va.; pro. first lieut. Dec. 30, 1864; capt. Jan. 20, 1865; dis. Jan. 23, 1865, by o. w. d.
Stephen Spencer, 19, e. Aug. 13, 1861, as private; appd. first sergt.; died Aug. 12, 1864, of wds. received July 24, 1864, in battle of Kernstown, Va.

SERGEANT.

Alfred R. Phillips, 22, e. Sept. 12, 1861; m. o. Oct. 20, 1864, one. t. s.

CORPORAL.

Henry McElroy, 28, e. Aug. 13, 1861; m. o. Sept. 4, 1864, one. t. s.
Edward McElroy, 21, e. Aug. 13, 1861; in. o. Sept. 4, 1864, on e. t. s.

PRIVATES.

Bell, Benjamin F., 24, e. Aug. 13, 1861; m. o. c.; vet.
Barker, William, 18, e. Aug. 13, 1861; m. o. c; vet.
Bass, Henry, 28, e. Aug. 13, 1861; killed July 24, 1864, in battle of Kernstown, Va.; vet.
Dolman, John W., 20, e. Aug. 13, 1861; m. o. c; vet.
Hiddleston, William, 21, e. Aug. 13, 1861; m. o. c; vet.
Hiddleston, Liberty, 18, e. Oct. 1, 1861; died March 13, 1862, at Summerville, W. Va.
Hesson, John, 35, e. Aug. 13, 1861; dis. Dec. 19, 1864, at Gallipolis, 0., on s. c. d.
Hupp, Elijah, 26, e. Sept. 12, 1861; m. o. Sept. 18, 1864, on e. t. s. . Holland, Thomas G., 24, e. Aug. 13, 1861; m. o. Nov. 10, 1864, on e. t. s.
King, Joseph H., 25, e. Sept. 2, 1861; m. o. Sept. 16, 1864, one. t. s.
King, Shepard P., 20, e. Aug. 13, 1861.
Kirkman, Nicholas, 28, e. Aug. 13, 1861; m. o. c; vet.
McCoy, Robert, 23, e. Aug. 13, 1861; dis. Sept. 13, 1863, on s. c. d.
McCarty, Henry, 19, e. Aug. 13, 1861; dis. June 19, 1865, by o. w. d.; vet.
Phillips, James, 20, e. Aug. 13, 1861; dis. Jan. 24, 1863, by o. w. d.
White, , 18, e. Sept. 12, 1861; died Summerville, W. Va., January, 1862, in reg. hospl.