Seven Jerome
Township soldiers served in this regiment, two of
whom. Corporal Delmore Robinson
and David Shineman, died in the
service.
The Sixty-sixth Ohio was organized at Camp McArthur,
Urbana, Ohio, October 1st, 1861, under Colonel
Charles Candy, and on the 17th of January,
1862, moved to West Virginia and reported to
General Lander at New Creek, where the
first field camp was made. General Shields
soon succeeded General Lander, and the
Sixty-sixth, for a few weeks, was stationed as
provost guard at Martinsburg, Winchester and
Strasburg; then crossed the Blue Ridge to
Fredericksburg, where it was assigned to the Third
Brigade under General E. B. Tyler.
Orders were soon received to countermarch for the
relief of General Banks in the
Shenandoah Valley and for the protection of
Washington, then threatened by Stonewall
Jackson.
In the battle of Port Republic, June 9th, the regiment
took an active and prominent part in defending a
battery of seven guns. The enemy had
possession of these guns at three different times,
and as many times were compelled to abandon them by
the regiment. After fighting for five hours
against overwhelming numbers, General
Tyler withdrew his command. The regiment
lost on this occasion 196 of the 400 men
engaged.
The Second Division, under command of General
Banks, opened the battle at Cedar Mountain, and
in the desperate struggle which ensued the regiment
lost eighty-seven killed and wounded of the 200 men
in arms. Its battleflag had one shell and
nineteen bullet holes made through it, and one Ser-
Pg. 113 -
geant and five Corporals were shot down in
succession while carrying it. The regiment was again
actively engaged at Antietam on the 17th and 18th of
September. On the 27th of December, 1862, General
Stewart, with 2,000 rebel cavalry, made an
attack on Dumfries, a small town garrisoned by the
Fifty-seventh and Sixty-sixth Ohio Regiments, about
700 troops in all. After fighting fiercely for
several hours, the enemy was forced to retreat.
After participating in the battle of Gettysburg, the
Sixty-sixth pursued Lee to the Rappahonnock; and in
August, 1863, proceeded to New York to enforce the
draft. In September it was transferred to the Army
of the Cumberland, near Chattanooga, and in November
took part in the battles of Lookout Mountain,
Mission Ridge, and Ringgold. On the 15th of
December the regiment reenlisted, and at the end of
veteran furlough returned to Bridgeport, Ala., where
it remained in camp about three months. In
May, 1864, it moved with the First Brigade, Second
Division, Twentieth Corps, on the Atlanta campaign.
At Resaca the Sixty-sixth was actively engaged, but
with slight loss. On the 25th of May it took
part in the engagement near Pumpkin Vine Creek, and
for eight days kept up a continuous musketry fire
with the enemy. On the 15th of June the
regiment led the advance on Pine Mountain, and in
the battles of Kenesaw, Marietta and Peach Tree
Creek fought with conspicuous gallantry. After the
capture of Atlanta the Sixty-sixth remained on duty
in that city until Sherman started on his
"march to the sea." From Savannah it moved
northward through the Carolinas and on to
Washington, passing over the old battlefield of
Chancellorsville, thus making the entire circuit of
the Southern States.
The regiment marched and was transported by rail upward
of 11,000 miles; participated in sixteen hard-fought
battles, a score of fights and skirmishes, and
served in twelve States. The losses in killed,
died of wounds and disease were two hundred and
forty-five, and the total casualties were upward
Pg. 114 -
of five hundred. The regiment was discharged at
Columbus, Ohio, July 19th, 1865.
Company F, organized in Union County, and the one in
which the Jerome Township soldiers served, lost
forty-one by death, thirty-four wounded, and eight
were taken prisoners of war. To have served in
this regiment, participating in its marches,
campaigns and many battles, is sufficient honor for
any soldier who served in the armies of the Union.
But a remnant of that fighting regiment survives to
tell the story of Gettysburg and of the many other
bloody fields on which they fought. |
