OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS

 

Welcome to
Preble County, Ohio
Genealogy & History

CHAPTER XIII.

PREBLE IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION

20TH OHIO INFANTRY	93RD OHIO INFANTRY
22ND OHIO INFANTRY	112TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
35TH OHIO INFANTRY	191ST OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
39TH OHIO INFANTRY	5TH INDEPENDENT CO. OF SHARP-SHOOTERS
47TH OHIO INFANTRY	5TH INDEPENDENT CO SHARP SHOOTERS
50TH OHIO INFANTRY	156TH OHIO NATIONAL GUARD
54TH OHIO INFANTRY	2ND OHIO VOLUNTEER CAVALRY
69TH OHIO INFANTRY	5TH OHIO CAVALRY
73RD OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY	1ST REGIMENT OHIO HEAVY ARTILLERY
75TH OHIO INFANTRY	2ND REGIMENT OHIO HEAVY ARTILLERY
81ST OHIO INFANTRY	8TH OHIO BATTERY
81ST OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY	5TH REGIMENT U. S. COLORED TROOPS
86TH OHIO INFANTRY	27TH REGIMENT U. S. COLORED TROOPS
87TH OHIO INFANTRY	THE SQUIRREL HUNTERS

SEVENTY-FIFTY OHIO INFANTRY.

     The organization of this regiment was completed at Camp John McLean, near Cincinnati, December 18, 1861.  By the first day of spring a prolonged march in West Virginia fairly initiated the men into the hardships of the soldier's life.
     On the twelfth of April, at Monterey Court House, they received a spirited attack form the enemy.  The Seventy-fifth, being in the advance, stood its ground manfully, and the enemy finally gave way.  Shortly after this, is an attempt to guard the stores accumulated at McDowell, a little village at the foot of Bull Pasture mountain, a severe battle occurred with the rebel General Jackson.  At the close, so severe was the loss of the enemy, that he reported it as "the bloodiest of the war for the number engaged."  No prisoners were taken on either side.  The Seventy-fifty gained especial laurels to its name under the immediate eye of General Milroy, who warmly congratulated Colonel McLean on the gallantry of his regiment.
     Following a number of engagements which our space will not permit us to describe, came the relieving of General Fremont, when Major General Pope took command; and the next affair in which the Seventy-fifth faced the enemy was at Cedar Mountain, Virginia, on the eighth of August, 1862.  During the week that followed, there were frequent engagements, and at Freeman's Ford there was a heavy loss.
     Jackson finally flanked Pope, got in his rear, burnt his wagon-trains and three trains of cars, and was again attacked by General Pope at Groveton, near the old Bull Run battle-field, August 28, 1862.  For a time the fighting was bloody in the extreme, and the Seventy-fifth lost one hundred and fifteen in killed and wounded.  It was observed, as an evidence of the severity of the fire, that ninety shots took effect on the colors of this one regiment, during the battle.
     Nothing of importance now occurred in the history of the regiment until the second of May, 1863, at Chancellorsville.  The history of that battle is well known.  The Eleventh corps, surprised and overwhelmed by the impetuous rebels, fell back in almost complete demoralization.  Yet McLean's Ohio brigade, a part of that corps, merited the highest praise for the cool, steady manner in which it received the enemy under the most trying circumstances.  In the short space of one-half hour, one hundred and fifty men were killed or wounded.
     After this battle, the Seventy-fifth returned to its old camp near Brook's station, when it became a part of the force that confronted the enemy at Gettysburgh, on the first of July, 1863.  The regiment was under fire every day of the battle until its termination.  Of sixteen officers that went into the engagement, three were killed, seven dangerously or fatally wounded, and four taken prisoners.  Of two hundred and ninety-two enlisted men, sixty-three were killed, one hundred and six wounded, and thirty-four taken prisoners.
     On the sixth of August, Colonel McLean, with the Ohio brigade, consisting of the Fifty-fifth, Seventy-third, Seventy-fifth, and Eighty-second infantry regiments, was sent to Charleston, South Carolina, and on the eighteenth went into the trenches on Morris Island.  The duty here was severe in the extreme, owing to the intense heat and the impossibility of getting even temporary relief.  More men died from disease than were killed by the enemy's shells.
     Early in the ear 1864, the regiment was mounted and was afterward known as the Seventy-fifth mounted infantry, performing all the duties of a regular cavalry regiment.  Immediately after this, we hear of it, broken into sections, being sent in different directions to hinder blockade running, to bring cattle needed by the National army that had been driven away by their owners, to protect the unionists from rebel persecutions, and to repel threatened attacks.  Frequent skirmishing with the Second Florida cavalry was ended, on the tenth of August, 1864, by General Birney being relieved of his command by General Hatch.  The expedition that followed, into the interior of Florida, ended disastrously in the capture of about half the command. 
     In October the November of the same year, six companies were sent to Columbus, to be mustered out, their term of service having expired.
     After the fall of Savannah of the same year, six companies were sent to Columbus, to be mustered out, their term of service having expired.  This was accomplished on the fifteenth of January, 1865.  In August, 1865, it retired from service with honor to its members and to their State.
     The colonel of this regiment during a large part of its service - Andrew L. Harris, originally captain of company C, from Preble county, now auditor of said county - was specially distinguished for his bravery and efficiency in service, and received particular notice for his daring in leading a desperate charge during the service of the regiment in Florida.

FIELD OFFICER.

Colonel Andrew L. Harris

COMPANY C.

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

Captain A. L. Harris
First Lieutenant Oscar Minor
Second Lieutenant James Mulharen

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

Sergeant David C. Balentine
Sergeant Thomas Mulharen
Sergeant Benjamin F. Storer
Sergeant William C. Seibert
Sergeant Henry C. Lockwood
Corporal Isaac N. Love
Corporal William V. Freeman
Corporal Levi P. Harvey
Corporal William Griffin
Corporal Leander R. Brazier
Corporal Jesse D. Lincoln
Corporal David D. Murray
Corporal John W. Murray

PRIVATES.

COMPANY G.

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

First Lieutenant Franklin F. Raikes
Second Lieutenant Henry L. Mosey

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

Serteant Alphonso C. Davis
Sergeant William H. Dunmore
Corporal William H. Patterson
Corporal Samuel W. Pottinger
Corporal John Fowler
Corporal John A. Loop
Drummer John P. Jennings
Fifer Isaac Kail

PRIVATES.