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Chapter VIII.
MILITARY HISTORY
Pg. 25
"Cease to consult the time, for action
calls;
War, dreadful war, approaches to our walls."
THE
part taken by Paulding county in the late Civil war is a
particularly bright one, and may go upon the pages of this
volume as on an escutcheon garnished with glory. With
pride will it be cherished in the memories of her citizens, and
by them proudly handed down to posterity, even as is being done.
When, on that dark April morning, in 1861, the lightning flashed
the startling news over the world that Fort Sumter had fallen
before the bombs of the rebel Beauregard, it aroused a throb in
the pulse of little Paulding which beat in unison with that of
the patriotic north; and in a few days a company of her gallant
sons had responded to the president's call for 75,000 three
months' men. This was company G, of the fourteenth
regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry. It was recruited from
all parts of the county and rendezvoused at Antwerp about the
22d of April, 1861. Its commissioned officers were:
John S. Snook, captain; Alfred M. Russell, first
lieutenant; and John Crosson, second lieutenant. A
member of the company says: "At Antwerp we were drawn up
in line preparatory to being mustered into the United States
service. Before being mustered in we were told that all
who did not wish to muster with the company might step two paces
to the front. Only one man stepped out. * * * * Old Mr.
Lewis Ward was thre with us blowing the fife. He must
have been sixty years old. I never shall forget how badly
the old gentleman felt when told that his age prohibited his
going with us. Tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks, and
his every expression showed how intense was his desire to march
to the front with the boys and do battle for his country."
The company joined the regiment at Toledo, and with it was sent
to Camp Taylor, at Cleveland, where, after a few weeks' drill,
it received orders to join McClellan's forces, and go
forth to the stern realities of war. The company with its
regiment was the first organized force to invade the rebel soil
at Parkersburg, Virginia, which it did on the 24th of May, a day
made memorable by the death of the gallant young Colonel
Ellsworth at Alexandria. The company served in West
Virginia, took part in the engagements at Philippi and Carrick's
Ford, and was mustered out of service Aug. 13th, having served
its term of enlistment.
The first company to be organized in the county under
the three years' call was company F of the Thirty-eighth Ohio
volunteer infantry. It was recruited, during the summer of
1861, in the eastern part of the county, mostly in Brown
township, and when not more than twelve or fifteen men had been
enrolled, they met on Saturdays at old Fort Brown - historical
ground - for drill. Its election of officers resulted in
John H. Adams being chosen captain; John Crosson,
first lieutenant, and Elias W. Gleason, second
lieutenant. Webster Jones, a soldier of the Mexican
war, who had been largely instrumental in the recruiting
service, was chosen orderly sergeant, and soon after arose to a
lieutenancy in the company, and afterward to a captaincy in the
regiment. In the latter part of August, the company joined
its regiment at Camp Trimble, Defiance, Ohio, and on the 8th day
of September started for Camp Dennison, where, after a few weeks
spent in drilling, the regiment was ordered to join the forces
under Gen. Buell in Kentucky, and spent the winter of
1861-2 in that state, participating in the battle of Mill
Spring. The company veteranized with its regiment in 1863,
came home on a thirty days' furlough, recruited its depleted
ranks, and returning took part in many of the bloody engagements
fought by the western army; marched with Sherman to the
sea and through the Carolinas, passed in the grand review at
Washington city and was mustered out of the service at
Louisville, Ky., July 21, 1865. Capt. Adams
contracted disease soon after entering the service, came home
and died, and was succeeded by Capt. Crosson, who was
killed in the terrible charge which the regiment made at the
battle of Jonesboro, Sept. 1, 1864. This was the severest
engagement in which the company participated during the war, and
its loss in killed and wounded numbered nearly one-half of the
officers and men engaged in the terrific hand-to-hand struggle.
Paris tucker received eleven wounds, two of them bayonet
thrusts, and yet lived many years after the war. Capt.
Jones was severely wounded in the face in this battle, but
is yet living.
Company G, of the Fourteenth regiment, was at home only
about two weeks from the three months' service when it began
organizing for the three years' service, the date of enlistment
being Aug. 26, 1861. W. H. Eckels was commissioned
captain; Crawford C. Adams, first-lieutenant, and
Henry B. Fergerson, second lieutenant. It served again
in the "Old Fourteenth," James B. Steedman commanding.
It took part in the campaigns of Kentucky and Tennessee, and at
the battle of Chickamauga suffered terrible loss; out of
forty-seven men, eight were killed, nineteen wounded, and three
taken prisoners; a total of thirty, or more than sixty per cent.
the loss of the entire regiment was one-third greater per cent,
than that of the English light brigade in its famous charge at
the battle of Balaklava. After the fight at Chickamauga,
the company, with the army, fell back to Chattanooga, and after
a siege of about two months took part in the celebrated and
successful charge on Missionary Ridge. On the 14th of
December, 1863, it veteranized and came home on a thirty-days'
furlough. After this the company served in the Georgia
campaign, and went with Sherman to the sea across the
Carolinas to Raleigh, and was present when the surrender of
General Johnston took place. It then marched through
Richmond, Va., thence to Washington, D. C., and from there to
Louisville, Ky., where it was mustered out, receiving final
discharge at Cleveland, Ohio, July 11, 1865. The company
served in all from Apr. 22, 1861, to July 11, 1865, a period of
four years, two months and nineteen days. The following
graphic history of company C, Sixty-eighth Ohio veteran
volunteer infantry, is furnished by Captain Patrick H. Mooney,
of Antwerp:
"Organized Nov. 25, 1861, with the following officers:
Captain P. H. Mooney; first lieutenant, J. C. Banks;
second lieutenant, George W. Kniss, the company mustering
101 men, rank and file Mustered into service by P. H.
Mooney, captain and organizer of said company; attached to
the sixty-eighth regiment Ohio veteran volunteer infantry,
second brigade, third division, seventeenth army corps, army of
the Tennessee. Division commanded by John A. logan;
corps commanded by Brig. Gen. McPherson, who was killed
July 22, 1864, before Atlanta. Nov. 25, 1861, the company
went from Antwerp, Ohio, to Camp Latty, at Napoleon, Ohio, the
place of rendezvous. Jan. 21, 1862, ordered to Camp Chase,
Ohio; Feb. 29, ordered to fort Donelson, Tenn.; March 7, ordered
to Metal Landing, Tenn.; April 6 and 7, took part in the battle
of Shiloh, Tenn.; April 17, ordered to Pittsburgh Landing,
Tenn.; 29th, to Corinth, Miss.; June 2d, ordered to Bolivar,
Tenn., under division commander, Gen. Lew Wallace; June
28, marched to Grand Junction, Tenn., after Jackson's
guerrillas; July 25, returned to Bolivar, where we remained
constructing fortifications, company C occupying Fort Anaca,
until September 22, when we were ordered to Iuka, Miss., via
Corinth. This company skirmished with the enemy under
Van Dorn and Price with good effect; the enemy being
driven out we returned to Bolivar September 26. Oct. 3,
1862, were ordered to Pocahontas, on the Hatchee river, to
intercept rebel forces under Van Dorn and Price
retreating from Corinth after a anguinary battle with Gen.
Rosecrans. Our forces, including company C, met the
retreating enemy at Hatchee river, where a severe battle took
place, in which company C took an active part with the regiment,
receiving praise for gallant conduct under Gen. ____.
We returned to Bolivar, October 7, guarding thirty-six
prisoners. This company was on the march through central
Mississippi, and was with the regiment during the expedition and
siege of Vicksburg; crossed the Mississippi river below Grand
Gulf; marched to the battle of Thompson
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