THE SIGNAL GIVEN AT SUMTER.
At the first call of the President for volunteers, and
immediately after the firing upon Fort Sumter by the
rebels, to wit, on the 17th day of April, 1861, six
young men of Pike County enrolled themselves as
volunteers in Company G, First Regiment Ohio Volunteer
Infantry. Their names were John R. T. Barnes,
John Vulmer, Frank Lauman, Joseph Hinson, Abisha Downing
and Asa Couch. Of these Barnes was
killed at Vienna, near the city of Washington, in the
reconnaissance made by General Schenck, and
Vulmer and Lauman were wounded, the former
losing his right arm. Shortly after the term of
their enlistment had expired, Joseph Hinson
enlisted in the Thirty-third Ohio Infantry and from the
rank of Captain, rose to that of Colonel of the
regiment. He was wounded at the battle of
Chickamauga, losing his right arm. He was noted
for gallantry in action, and when mustered out of the
army at the close of the war was respected and beloved
by those in his command. Abisha Downing
enlisted in Company D, Seventy-third Ohio Infantry, and
was mustered as Second Lieutenant of the company Nov. 4,
1861. He served from that time on until the close
of the war, having in the meantime been commissioned a
Major of the regiment. His record as a soldier is
without a blemish. Young Barnes was the
first of the Pike County volunteers to offer up his life
on the altar of his country, and in his honor the post
of the Grand Army of the Republic organized at Waverly
is named Barnes Post. It is fitting that the names
of these six young men should be preserved in the
history of the county as the first to respond to the
call of their country when its overthrow was threatened
by an armed rebellion.
THE COUNTRY CALLS AGAIN.
In the early part of June,
1861, when it became apparent that the 75,000 men first
called for by President Lincoln would not be
sufficient to put down the rebellion, and after an
additional call had been made for volunteers, seven
young men of Waverly enlisted in Company B, Sixth
Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, commonly known as the
"Guthrie Grays," a regiment organized at Cincinnati,
Ohio. The names of these young men were: John
Helfenbine, Philip B. Helfenbine, Benjamin Lewis, James
Warren, Anson Clapper, John Boerst and
David Schreiber. The Sixth Regiment was first
ordered into West Virginia where, under General
McClelland and afterward under General Rosecrans,
it took part in the battles of Carrick's Ford, Cheat
Mountain, Beverly, etc. Late in November of 1861
the Sixth Regiment was ordered to Louisville, Ky., and
at once became a part of the Army of the Ohio, and was
assigned to the Fifteenth Brigade of the Fourth
Division, commanded by Brigadier William Nelson.
The part taken by this reg-
[Page 723]
iment in the marches and
battles which preceeded the fall of Atlanta reflects
great credit upon its officers and men.
Of the seven young men of Pike County who formed a part
of Company B of that regiment, it may be said that each
honorably discharged his duty and contributed by his
soldierly conduct to the high character and standing
that the regiment maintained for the three years that it
was an active service; nor did these seven young
patriots escape the casualties of war. John
Boerst was killed at the battle of Stone River, and
in the same battle Jas. Warren, Anson Clapper, David
Schreiber and John Helfenbine were severely
wounded, both Warren and Clapper
subsequently dying of their wounds. Philip B.
Helfenbine was killed at the battle of Chickamauga,
and Benjamin Lewis was taken prisoner and was
kept a prisoner at Richmond, Va., for seventeen months.
Brief as this history is of the military career of these
seven young men, yet the reader cannot fail to admire
the patriotism that led them at that early period of the
war to leave their homes to volunteer in a regiment, so
remote from where they lived, and in which all were
strangers to them. They deserve to be enrolled
among the true patriots of the war and to have their
names preserved in the history of their county.
At the October election in 1861 the voters of Pike
County were to decide the question as to whether the
county seat should be removed to Waverly or not.
This local question was of absorbing interest to the
people and the canvass was an exciting one, and
notwithstanding the fact that a civil war had broken
out, yet many young men decided to remain at home until
after the election before volunteering into the army to
maintain the Union. Immediately after the October
election T. W. Higgins, who had taken a prominent
part in the canvass for removal, obtained a recruiting
commission to raise a company for the Seventy-third
Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and notwithstanding
the fact that his was the thirteenth commission issued
to different persons to raise companies for the same
regiment, he was the second officer to fill his company,
and to be mustered into said regiment. The
regiment was to rendezvous at Chillicothe, Ohio.
Mr. Higgins was appointed a Second Lieutenant
Oct. 13, 1861, and was promoted to Captain, Company B,
Nov. 20, of the same year. This company was mostly
recruited in Pike County, and when organized George
Lauman was elected First Lieutenant, and Henry
Hinson Second Lieutenant. It remained with the
regiment to the close of the war, having veteranized
Jan. 1, 1864. The following are the names of its
officers from the commencement to the close of the
service, with the dates of promotion, etc.:
T. W. Higgins, appointed Second Lieutenant, Oct.
13, 1861; promoted to Captain of Company B, Nov. 20,
1861; promoted to Major, June 27, 1864; commissioned
Lieutenant-Colonel, July 10, 1864, not mustered;
appointed Lieutenant-Colonel by brevet, with rank dating
March 13, 1865; served full term.
George Lauman, appointed First Lieutenant, Dec.
18, 1861; resigned Mar. 8, 1862.
Henry Hinson, appointed Second Lieutenant Nov.
20, 1861; promoted to First Lieutenant, May 22, 1862;
promoted to Captain, Mar. 1, 1864; resigned on account
of wounds Oct. 20, 1864.
John H. Martin, enlisted Oct. 15, 1861;
appointed First Lieutenant, May 20, 1864; promoted to
Captain, June 22, 1865; served full term.
Joshua A. Davis, enlisted Oct. 15, 1861;
appointed Second Lieutenant, May 12, 1862; promoted to
First Lieutenant, Mar. 1, 1864; discharged on account of
wounds received in battle of New Hope Church, Ga.
Part of another company (D) of same regiment was
recruited in Pike County. Of this
[Page 724]
company the
following named persons were mustered as officers:
James Q. Barnes, enlisted November, 1861;
appointed First Lieutenant, Dec. 30, 1861; promoted to
Captain, Sept. 22, 1862; mustered out Dec. 29, 1864, by
reason of expiration of term of service.
Abisha Downing, appointed Second Lieutenant,
Dec. 30, 1861; promoted to First Lieutenant, Dec. 30,
1861; promoted to First Lieutenant, Sept. 22, 1862;
promoted to Captain, Mar. 29, 1864; commissioned as
Mayor, July 18, 1865, not mustered; served full term.
Prestey T. Talbott, enlisted Oct. 15, 1861;
appointed Captain, Apr. 18, 1864; resigned June 25,
1865.
Joseph P. Talbott, enlisted Oct. 15, 1861;
appointed Second Lieutenant, Jan. 1, 1863; promoted to
First Lieutenant, Mar. 30, 1864; resigned June 18, 1864.
The following is a list of those belonging to Company
B, of the Seventy-third Regiment Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, who were killed in battle, died of their
wounds, or of disease:
First Sergeant Charles Shepherd, killed in
battle at second Bull Run;
Sergeant Benjamin Morrison, killed in battle at
Second Bull Run;
Sergeant Johnson Pryor, killed in battle at
Gettysburg;
Sergeant Thos. F. Rice, died of wounds at
Gettysburg;
Corporal Wm. E. Haines, killed in battle at
Gettysburg;
Corporal James H. Smith, killed in battle of
Second Bull Run;
Corporal Samuel Turner, killed in battle of Gettysburg;
William R. Call, died of wounds received at
Gettysburg;
John Couch, died at Aquia Creek, Jan. 1863;
John H. Donhee, died at Clarksburg, Va., Mar.,
1862;
George Haines, died at Clarksburg, Va., 1862;
Daniel Kirkendall, died of wounds at
Chattanooga;
David R. Lee, died at Clarksburg, Va., 1862;
William Labor, killed in battle of Cross Keys,
Va., 1862;
David D. Milton, died at Clarksburg, Va., 1862;
William May, killed in battle at Peach-Tree
Creek;
Isaiah McCandles, died at Weston, Va., 1862;
George Dixon, died of wounds received at
Gettsburg;
Jeremiah Price, died at home, 1865;
Joseph T. Shade, died at Clarksburg, Va., 1862;
Absalom Hisey, killed in battle of Kenesaw
Mountain;
William Linton, died at Washington, D. C., 1863;
William McLuens, killed in battle at Gettsyburg;
James H. McCoy, died at Chattanooga, 1864;
David M. Junkins, died at Nashville, 1864.
The names of those of
Company D, that were killed in battle, and those who
died of wounds or of disease, are as follows:
Corporal John Durham,
died of wounds received at Second Bull Run;
Corporal Frank H. Watkins, died at Clarksburg,
Va., 1862;
Corporal Abner Taylor, killed in battle of
Resaca;
William Ackerman, killed accidentally at
Gettysburg,
William Cochenorer, died at Petersburg, Va., in
1862;
Joseph Chesser, died at Falmouth, Va., in 1863;
John W. Cattrell, died
at Clarksburg, Va., in 1862;
Francis W. Crabtree, drowned while sailing near
Cape Hatteras;
Frederick Kunthe, killed in battle of Resaca;
John McKee, killed in battle of Second Bull Run;
Henry J. Martin, died at Clarksburg, Va., in
1862;
Albert Moots, died at Lookout Valley, Tenn., in
1863;
Isaac Martin, died at Falmouth, Va.;
John Swift, killed in battle at Lookout Valley,
Tenn., in 1863;
Thomas Swift, died at Clarksburg, Va., in 1862;
Dennis Drake, killed in battle at Lookout
Valley, Tenn.;
Isaac Miller, killed in battle of Lookout
Valley, in 1863;
James H. Russell, died
of wounds received at Kenesaw Mountain;
Samuel R. Bishop, died at home, in 1864;
Robert H. Grubb, killed in battle at New Hope
Church;
William Nichols, died of wounds in July, 1864;
James R. Rinehart, died at Chattanooga, Tenn.
Some of those whose names
are here written, in both Companies B and D, were not
residents of Pike County but most were.
The officers of the Seventy-third Regiment
[Page 725]
Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, when first organized, were:
Colonel, Orland Smith;
Lieutenant-Colonel, Jacob Hyer;
Major, Richard Long
Adjutant, Frederick C. Smith;
Surgeon, Jonas P. Safford;
Quartermaster, William D. Wesson.
Jan. 24, 1862, the regiment was ordered to report to
General Rosecrans (then commanding the
department of West Virginia), and proceeded immediately
to New Creek, W. Va. It marched from there to
Romney, and, returning, again marched to Moorefield with
the Fifty-fifth Ohio Infantry, where, after a slight
skirmish, it entered the town. Returning
immediately to New Creek, the regiment was ordered back
to Clarksburg on the 18th of February, and arrived there
on the 19th. Measles had broken out in the
regiment and in two weeks time 300 men were sick in
hospital and one or more died almost every day.
The records of death was given above will show the
reader how fatal this disease was to Companies B and D;
and the deaths in the other companies were in about the
same proportion.
From Clarksburg the regiment, on the 20th of March,
1862, moved to Weston, and after a three weeks'
encampment commenced its march across the mountains by
way of Buchanan, Beverly, Huttonsville and Cheat
Mountain, 120 miles, to Monterey, where the
Seventy-third lost several men who had been sent on a
foraging party, having been surprised by rebel cavalry
near Williamsville.
May 8, the regiment participated in the battle of
McDowell, General Milroy commanding the Union forces,
about 4,000 strong, and being reinforced during the
battle with General Schenck's command of about
2,000. It was soon learned that Stonewall
Jackson had united his forces with those of
General Johnson, and our army retreated upon
Franklin, arriving there May 10, being closely pursued
by the rebel forces. On the 13th of May General
Freemont with an army of about 10,000 men marched
into Franklin, and the enemy learning of this fact
immediately withdrew toward the valley of the
Shenandoah. The forces at Franklin were organized
into an army under the command of General
Fremont and was called the Army of the Mountain.
The Seventy-third Regiment was now for the first time
brigaded, being placed in the brigade commanded by
General Schenck. May 25 the Army of the
Mountain, under command of General Fremont,
left Franklin for the Shenandoah Valley, where, June 1,
it again encountered Stonewall Jackson's forces,
on their return up the valley, after having suddenly
fallen upon General Banks at Strasburg and
driven him back through Winchester to Harper's Ferry.
Sharp skirmishing between the two armies was engaged in,
but Jackson continued to move up the valley and
Fremont followed him, engaging his rear guard from time
to time until his arrival at Cross Keys, where Jackson
made a stand and where a determined and sanguinary
battle was not decisive, but on the morning of the 9th
it was discovered that Jackson had retreated
through Port Republic.
In this engagement the Seventy-third Regiment lost
eight men in killed and wounded. It was here that
William Labor, of Company B, was killed
while on the skirmish line. General
Fremont decided not to follow Jackson, and
immediately moved his army back to Strasburg, where it
remained a few days and then retired of Middletown.
While here General Fremont was superseded by
General Sigel, and the Army of the Mountain became
the First Corps of the Army of Virginia. The
Seventy-third Regiment was placed in a division
commanded by General Schenck and in a brigade
commanded by Colonel N. C. McLean, of the
Seventy-fifty Ohio. The brigade was composed of
the Fifty-fifth, Seventy-third, Seventy-fifth and
Twenty-fifth Ohio regiments.
On the 7th of July the First Corps of the Army of
Virginia left Middletown and moved through Front Royal,
and along the
[Page 726]
main stream of the Shenandoah and up the valley of
Luray, and then after a few days' rest crossed the Blue
Ridge and encamped at Sperryville, at the foot of the
mountain, where it remained for nearly a month. On
the 16th of July the Seventy-third with a force of
cavalry and a section of artillery was sent on the reconnoisance
to Madison Court-House, in which a few prisoners were
taken. While at Sperryville, General Pope
arrived and assumed command of the Army of Virginia.
On the 8th of August the army broke camp and moved
forward to join the forces of General Banks, then
encamped at Culpeper, and who was being threatened by
Stonewall Jackson who was crossing the Rapidan near
Orange Court-House. The Seventy-third marched all
night and arrived at Culpeper at noon on the 9th.
On arrival heavy and continuous wars of musketry and
artillery could be distinctly heard in the direction of
Cedar Mountain where General Banks was engaging
the enemy. The smoke from the batteries and
bursting shells was plainly visible to those at
Culpeper. At sunset the brigade is moved forward,
passing on toward Cedar Mountain, meeting many
ambulances loaded with wounded men, and groups of men
walking, and wounded men on foot and on horseback,
passing to the rear, and all telling of a bloody battle.
The brigade moves on four miles and turns into a field
and forms of line of battle and the men rest on their
arms. Night comes and there is a lull in the sound
of artillery and musketry, with occasional outbreaks
that indicate a continuous struggle for the mastery.
A little after midnight the brigade is roused up and
moved to the front, passing many stragglers and parks of
ambulances and artillery and reserves of cavalry and
infantry, when it again files into a field with only
pickets in front and the men lay down to await the
coming day and, as was thought by all, a coming death
struggle, but no engagement took place that day nor on
the next, as the enemy had fallen back. Two days
later Sigel's Corps moved forward to the Rapidan on the
Orange Court-House road, and remained there about a
week, when it having been reported that Jackson was
moving down the right bank of the Rapidan, with intent
of getting between the city of Washington and the Army
of Virginia, orders were given to fall back, and
Sigel's Corps moved slowly back through Culpeper to
the Warrenton and White Sulpher Springs. The next
morning Schenck's division was moved up to
Freedmans Ford. At this ford a lively
artillery engagement was kept up during most of the day,
while McLean's brigade was massed near the ford.
From here the whole corps moved rapidly toward White
Sulphur Springs. The enemy had possession
of the ford at the Springs, and had thrown a
considerable force across and was fighting for a
foothold on the north side of artillery in this
engagement, and with it the regiment stood picket during
the night, half a mile out on the flank of the corps,
and in the morning the whole corps swept around the
Springs and occupied the hills for a mile up the river,
at which place a spirited artillery engagement was kept
up for two hours. At about noon the corps moved up
to the village and ford of Waterloo, where the artillery
again continued their duel. On the next evening
the corps moved to Warrenton. On the next morning,
Aug. 26, the corps moved out on the Alexandria pike,
passed through New Baltimore and Buckland, and arrived
during the afternoon in the vicinity of Gainesville,
where the enemy again appeared in front. The
advance of Sigels corps found the enemy at
Gainesville, and fell back until the column came up.
Here there was some artillery fighting, and it was
afterward learned that Jackson, with his whole
army, was there, moving through Gainesville, on
[Page 727]
[Page 728]
[Page 729]
[Page 730]
[Page 731]
[Page 732]
THE SIXTY-THIRD INFANTRY
was organized by the consolidation of two battalions
of recruits known as the Twenty-second and Sixty-third
Infantry, which was effected in January, 1862. It
moved from Marietta Feb. 18, proceeding to Paducah, Ky.,
and thence to Commerce, Mo., to join the Army of the
Mississippi, under General Pope and participated
in all the operations against New Madrid and Island No.
10. Next it fought under Halleck in the
siege of Corinth, sustaining severe loss in the
engagement at Farmington. In the battle of Oct. 3,
at Corinth, the Sixty-third lost forty-eight per cent,
of officers and men, in killed and wounded. In
November it joined Grant in Mississippi, and moved first
to Jackson, Tenn., then to Bolivar, Tenn., and on the
31st of December fought Forrest at Parker's Cross Roads.
After this victory the regiment went into winter
quarters at Corinth.
Apr. 20, 1863, it moved beyond Tuscumbia, Ala., and
then returned to Corinth. From May to October it
was on garrison duty at Memphis, and then it joined
Sherman, marching to Eastport, and thence to
Prospect, Tenn. Here it re-enlisted as a veteran
regiment and proceeded home on its furlough. In
February, 1864, it took the field again in Alabama,
assisting in the capture of Decatur. Thence it
proceeded to Chattanooga, Rossville and
[Page 733]
WHAT OHIO DID FOR THE UNION.
[Page 734]
the final campaign against Richmond they stood in
undaunted courage and endurance, until the closing of
the final scene under the historic apple-tree.
Their bones can be found upon every battlefield, either
lost or won. A people thus rallying en masse
to the call of duty gives an undying pledge of their
patriotism, and that this Union of States, as long as
she can rally a man, shall never be severed. Thus
Ohio stands foremost in the sisterhood of States in all
that manhood, honor and patriotism claims, and is as
ready now as then to meet the enemies of our country,
either domestic or foreign, and "welcome them with
bloody hands to hospital graves."
Aug. 16, 1862. - "Resolved, That the
commissioners of Pike County do hereby guarantee to
every able-bodied man who has or shall volunteer in the
United States service under the last two calls for
volunteers in any company or part of company raised in
Pike County, the sum of $25 to be paid upon the
acceptance of said volunteer into the service of the
United States."
Feb. 20, 1864, a bounty of $100 was given to volunteers
who would enlist for the war, the auditor being
authorized to draw a warrant in favor of each soldier
who volunteered as a bounty by the county on or before
Mar. 7, 1853.
The county renewed the offer extending the time to Apr.
1, 1864. The townships also contributed a quota to
the general fund, or a part of them, as follows:
Jackson, $550; Union, $280; Seal, $642; Pebble, $180.
|