USA > Ohio > Four years in the saddle. History of the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 > Part 1
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Gc 973.74 0h3cu 1643446
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00824 2395
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
http://www.archive.org/details/fouryearsinsaddl00curr
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Charge of the First Ohio Cavalry, at the Battle of Stone's River, Dec. 31st, 1802 .-- Page 270. Sketched by N. Finnegan, Co. D.
FOUR YEARS IN THE SADDLE.
History of the First Regiment Ohio Volunteer~
Cavalry.
WAR OF THE REBELLION --- 1861-1865.
.
Compiled by W. L. CURRY, Columbus, O.
.
CHAMPLIN PRINTING CO. COLUMBUS, O. 1993.
1643446
Badge of Cavalry Corps, Army of the Cumberland.
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TO OUR COMRADES OF THE FIRST OHIO VOLUNTEER CAV- ALRY, WHO SLEEP ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF THE REPUBLIC THIS FEEBLE TRIBUTE IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDI- CATED BY THE AUTHOR.
.
1
August, 1861.
Fine. .
Reveille .. Quick.
D. C.
Reveille.
.
FORWARD.
·
Contents.
Official List of Battles. 13-14
Organizing our Army in 1861 15-19 Organization First O. V. C. 20-34 From Columbia to Pittsburg Landing 34-40
Battle of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh. 53-59
From Pittsburg Landing to Corinth
From Corinth to Decherd, Tenn .. 60-64
65-70
Battle of Perryville
Stone River Campaign
81-86
Battle of Stone River. 87-96
After the Battle of Stone River 97-102
From Murfreesboro to Chattanooga. 103-114
Chickamauga Campaign 116-133
Wheeler's Raid through Tennessee. 134-147
Campaign of Missionary Ridge and Knoxville. By L.
F. Knoderer 148-162
Remounting and drilling after re-enlisting as veterans 163-168
Atlanta Campaign 168-173
Kilpatrick's Raid around Atlanta 174-208
The Nashville Campaign
209-212
Wilson's Raid through Alabama and Georgia. By Cap- tain J. A. O. Yeoman. 212-232
History of Companies A and C. 233-246
The capture of Jefferson Davis. By Captain J. A. O.
Yeoman 247-269
Charge of the First O. V. C., Battle of Stone River 269
Cavalry Raids 269-275
Camp Life. By Sergeant-Major C. M. Riggs. 275-279 Captain William H. Scott. By Captain John P. Rea 279-282 At Chickamauga. By Sergeant John W. Chapin 282-289 Extracts from the Cavalier. 289-291
A Perilous Night Ride during the Advance upon Cor- inth. By Sergeant-Major J. S. Dollinger. 291-293
41-52
Campaign from Northern Alabama 10 Louisville, Ky .. Perryville Campaign 71-74 75-80
Contents. ii
Flags of Truce. 293-296
War Reminiscences. By M. T. Van Pelt. . 296-298
The Troopers' Wreath. Poem by T. C. Harbaugh. 298-300
Recollections of the Battle at Stone's River, Tenp. By
John S. Dollinger. 301-304
Horses and Horse-racing 304-307
Colored men in the Regiment.
309-310
Well-known characters in the First Ohio.
311-319
Sergeant J. W. Johnson, Company C. - Death and burial in South Carolina 319
Regimental Reunions
319-320
The Army Mule
The Cavalier
326
"Turchins got your Mule." Song
327
An Incident of the Tullahoma Campaign
327-332
A visit to Chickamauga Thirty Years after the Battle. ..
332-338
Prisoners of War. 338-341
Captured. By Sergeant George W. Speelman 341-346
Taken prisoner at Courtland, Ala.
346-357
Reminiscences of the Battle of Chickamauga
357-359
Field Service in the Hospitals in Camp and on the Bat- tlefield. By Surgeon Rudolph Wirth 359-370
The Courier Line.
370-371
Marches 395
396-397
Losses 397-400
. Taps .
402
Roster of the Regiment
403
Biographies.
Colonel Minor Millikin.
372
Brigadier-General B. B. Eggleston.
374
Lieutenant-Colonel Valentine Cupp
375
Brigadier-General T. C. H. Smith
376
Lieutenant-Colonel T. J. Pattin.
376
Major D. A. B. Moore.
377
Major J. C. Frankeberger
378
Major Martin Buck.
379
Major J. N. Scott.
379
Captain Lafayette Pickering
380
Captain H. H. Siverd ..
381
Lieutenant Frank P. Allen
381
Lieutenant A. D. Lieb. 382
Lieutenant Harvey Ferguson
383
Lieutenant Charles Goodrich
383
Lieutenant John M. Rennick.
384
!
Total number of Enlistments
321-326
Old Shady - Song 307-311
iii
Contents.
General Eli Long. 384
General David S. Stanley 387
General J. H. Wilson 388
General George Crook 389
General Emory Upton 390
General A. J. Alexander 390
Major J. H. Robinson. 391
General Judson Kilpatrick.
392
Illustrations.
Charge of the First O. V. C. at the Battle of Stone's River. - Frontispiece.
Badge of Cavalry Corps, Army of the Cumberland.
4
Forward
5
Reveille
5
Guidon, Company H.
74
Movements in Mclemore's Cove. 103
Monument of the First Ohio Cavalry at Chickamauga. 114
Crawfish Spring - The Old Wheel. 119
The National Park and its Approaches
123
Front of the Snodgrass House
127
Map of Wheeler's Raid.
135
Bloody Pond - Widow Glenn's, looking east.
147
Kelly Field, looking north, where Breckinridge gained. the Union rear.
162
First O .. V. C. watering in Chattanooga Valley, Tenn. . .
175
Map of Kilpatrick's Raid around Atlanta
187
Piece of the Gun of Chicago Board of Trade Battery,
193
which exploded at Lovejoy, Ga., August 20, 1864. .. The Courier Line.
370
Going to the Front. 402
Portraits.
Colonel B. B. Eggleston.
14
Lieutenant-Colonel Valentine Cupp
14
General T. C. H. Smith
14
Major D. A. B. Moore.
14
Colonel Minor Millikin.
14
Colonel T. J. Pattin
14
Major Martin Buck.
14
Major James N. Scott. .
14
Major J. C. Franke berger
14
Captain Lafayette Pickering
34
Captain George F. Conn
34
Major John H. Robinson 34
Lieutenant A. D. Lieb
34
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1
Contents.
iv
.
Captain H. HI. Siverd.
34
Lieutenant Harvey Ferguson.
34
Lieutenant Frank P. Allen.
34
Lieutenant Charles H. Goodrich
34
Sergeant L. F. Knoderer
40
Lieutenant Robert Johns.
40
Sergeant Daniel W. B. Evans
40
Sergeant J. W. Chapin.
40
Sergeant-Major J. S. Dollinger
40
Corporal A. A. Hill
W. L. Hoy.
40 40
Lieutenant Samuel Putnam
52
C. A. Webber.
52
Corporal Samuel Robertson
52
Tazwell Hizey
52
Corporal P. R. Egolph
52
D. M. Robbins.
52
Corporal William Schwartz
64
Captain J. A. O. Yeoman
64
Captain W. L. Curry.
64 64
Captain Leonard Irwin.
64
Surgeon Rudolph Wirth
64
Captain James Cutler
64
Adjutant M. H. Neil.
64
Major-General Emory Upton.
74 74
Captain Samuel Hamilton.
74 80
Major-General D. S. Stanley .
96
Major-General Eli Long.
102
Major-General William S. Rosecrans
102
Major-General George H. Thomas
102
General Braxton Bragg, C. S. A.
102
General James Longstreet, C. S. A
116
Major-General Judson Kilpatrick.
175
Lieutenant-General N. B. Forrest, C. S. A.
193
Lieutenant-General Joseph Wheeler, C. S. A
193
Major-General James H. Wilson.
20S
Brigadier-General A. J. Alexander.
223
Captain Wm. H. Scott.
279
Captain S. W. Fordyce
279
Quartermaster-Sergeant R. H. Barton
52
Corporal M. B. Kennedy
52
Sergeant T. V. Harper
52
Captain J. W. Kirkendall.
Captain J. P. Rea.
64
Lieutenant Robert K. Reese
Major-General Kennar Garrard.
Major-General George Crook.
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40
Sergeant-Major Carter M. Riggs
40
E
Preface.
For a number of years short sketches of some of the cam- paigns of the regiment, written by comrades, have been read at our reunions and afterwards were published in the proceedings.
As these articles proved interesting to the survivors, the matter of writing a history of the campaigns of the regiment was suggested and discussed at the reunions and W. L. Curry, who had been elected historian for several years, was urged to begin the work at once. At the reunion held at Galloway, Ohio, September 15, 1892, the plan was outlined and J. W. Chapin was appointed to assist in compiling the history, and other com- rades volunteered their services to give all the aid possible in the good work. A large amount of material had already been accumulated and a systematic effort was then made to correct the roster by writing letters to comrades of every company and by sending copies of the company roster to them for examination, and many corrections in names and dates were made by them.
The diary kept by W. L. Curry during his services has been depended on very largely for data, as the distance of our daily marches with names of towns and rivers were noted, as well as dates of battles and skirmishes and many incidents of historic interest.
Neither time nor pains have been spared to get information on all points of interest; many months have been devoted to the preparation of the manuscript. After careful corrections the manuscript was all typewritten before it was placed in the hands of the publisher.
More than one hundred volumes of the "Records of the Rebellion" published by the War Department have been care- fully examined, and all orders, reports of officers of the regiment, brigade and division have been copied, and many of them are published in the history. From this mass of material the story has been written without any attempt to embellish the history with high flown language or graphie and romantic descriptions that in so many histories have a tinge of fiction, -it is only the plain story of the regiment.
4
Preface.
Official reports and statistics may seem a little dry in some instances, but it is the history of our campaigns recorded on the field, and cannot be refuted; and the fact that our history is fortified by these reports made at the time, is what adds to its value.
From the time the regiment entered Kentucky in the fall of 1861 until the battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862, we were not brigaded as cavalry, but were attached to brigades or divi- sions of infantry, temporarily. After that date the cavalry was organized into brigades and divisions and acted independent of the infantry, and for the last three years of the war the history of the regiment must necessarily be blended with that of the brigade and division. We are greatly indebted to many of the comrades, who responded to every call, for intelligent assistance in all parts of the work, and in the chapter of "Incidents and Reminiscences" they are given full credit for their contributions.
The roster of the regiment, published in the back part of the book, was purchased from the firm that published the cavalry roster of the state for the Adjutant-General's Department. In this roster many errors in spelling names, also in dates and cas- ualties, appear. Many of these mistakes have been corrected, and are published on a separate page; but no doubt errors have crept in, notwithstanding every effort has been made to make the roster correct. During the month of March, 1898, alone, nearly one hundred letters were written to members of the regi- ment to correct dates of enlistment, discharge, etc. We have studiously avoided indulging in fulsome praise of any officer or soldier now living, and have only tried to give credit where credit was due; but to those who died on the field too much praise cannot be given. In addition to the story of the regi- ment, the history has been somewhat widened by short histories of battles in which the regiment participated, with losses in the two armies, which cannot fail to be of absorbing interest to every reader. Biographies of deceased officers, published in the history, were furnished by their families, and all cuts for por- traits were paid for by the families of these officers, and cuts for portraits of surviving soldiers were paid for by the soldiers them- selves. All other cuts, maps and illustrations were furnished and paid for by the author. We are under obligations to the following gentlemen for the use of cuts kindly loaned: General H. V. Boynton, for several cuts made for his book. "The Chick- amanga National Military Park," and also for giving us per- mission to copy from his book the strength and losses of the Union and Confederate armies at the battle of Chickamauga; Colonel N. D. Preston, of the Tenth N. Y. Volunteer Cavalry, for cut of Cavalryman, "Going to the Front" and "Forward"; and to Captain C. T. Clark, of Columbus, and Major J. C. McElroy for the use of cuts.
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Preface.
And now, when the story of the regiment is completed, writ- ten as it was in the intervals of pressing business and official duties, the pen is laid aside, regretting that the history could not have been written by some other member of the regiment better qualified to wield the pen, and who could have devoted more time to the work. If the brief history of the services of the regiment meets with the approval of the boys with whom we have "marched many a weary day and watched many a frosty night," the author will feel amply repaid for the time devoted to preparing the manuscript for publication.
W. L. CURRY, J. W. CHAPIN, Committee.
1
1.
i.
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First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry.
The first notice of the organization of the First Ohio Cav- alry, is found in a report of the Adjutant-General of Ohio for 1861.
In his report for that year the Adjutant-General states that, "on July 21, 1861, after earnest solicitation, authority was re- ceived from Washington for raising eight companies, or a regi- ment of cavalry, directly for the service of the Federal Govern- ment. It was determined that this regiment should be one of maximum size, to consist of twelve companies .- This was raised without difficulty, and rendezvoused at Camp Chase, in July, August and September."
OFFICIAL LIST OF BATTLES.
Liberty, Ky., Co. B. .November, 1861
Siege of Corinth April and May, 1862
Farmington, Miss May 28, 1862
Booneville, Miss May 30, 1862 Blackland, Miss .June 4, 1862 Russellville, Ala July 1, 1862
Courtland, Ala July 25, 1862 Bardstown, Ky
October 4, 1862 Perryville, Ky . October S, 1862 Franklin, Tenn
December 12, 1862 Nolensville, Tenn December 26, 1862 Stone's River, Tenn.
. December 31, 1862; January 1, 2, 3, 1863 Tullahoma, Tenn
July 1, 1863
Elk River, Tenn . July 2, 1863 Alpine, Ga September 11, 1863
Chickamauga, Ga September 19 and 20, 1863
Wheeler's Raid through Tennessee. October 1 to 9, 1863
Cotton Port, Tenn. September 30, 1863
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McMinnville, Tenn
October 4, 1863
Murfreesboro, Tenn October 5, 1863
Shelbyville, Tenn
October 7, 1863
Farmington, Tenn October 7, 1863
October 9, 1863
Sugar Creek, Tenn
Paint Rock, Ala. . October 30, 1863
Missionary Ridge, Tenn November 25, 1863
Cleveland, Tenn
November 27, 1863
Charleston and Calhoun, Tenn December 28, 1863
Tunnel Hill, Ga. February 25, 1864
Buzzard Roost, Ga February 27, 1864
Decatur, Ala . May 26, 1864
Moulton, Ala . May 29, 1864
McAfees Cross Roads, Ga June 12, 1864
Noon Day Creek, Ga. June 15, 1864
Kenesaw Mountain, Ga . June 21, 1864
Chattahoochie River .July 12, 1864
Peach Tree Creek, Ga July 19 and 20, 1864
Atlanta, Ga July and August, 1864
Kilpatrick's Raid around Atlanta. . August 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 1864 Fairburn, Ga
Jonesboro, Ga
August 19, 1864 Lovejoy Station, Ga
August 20, 1864
Rome, Ga
October 13, 1864
Snake Creek Gap.
October 15, 1864
Little River, Ga. . October 20, 1864
Coosa River, Ga. October 25, 1864
THE WILSON RAID THROUGH ALABAMA AND GEORGIA. .
March and April, 1865.
Montevallo, Ala March 20, 1865
Ebenezer Church, Ala April 1, 1865
Selma, Ala
April 2, 1865
Montgomery, Ala
Columbus, Ga . April 12, 1865
April 16, 1865
West Point, Ga.
'April 16, 1865
Surrender - Macon, Ga
April 20, 1865
Irwinsville, Ga. - Capture of Jeff Davis.
May 10, 1865
Every battle in the above table is published in the official 1
list of battles by the War Department excepting Cotton Port, Tenn., October 1, 1863, and Farmington, Tenn., October 7, 1863. The fight at Cotton Port was the day Wheeler crossed the Ten- nessee River and we had several soldier : wounded and captured. October 7, 1863, we drove the rebel cavalry from Shelbyville to Farmington, and in the official list it is given as Shelbyville, but it was always known in the regiment as Farmington, as we cap- tured a battery at that place.
August 19, 1864
Our Heroic Dead.
Col. B. B. Eggleston.
Lieu't. Col. Valentine Cupp.
Gen'l. T. C. II. Smith.
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Maj. D. A. B. Moore.
Col. T. J. Pattin.
Col. Minor Millikin.
.
Maj. Martin Buck.
Maj. James N. Scott.
Maj. J. C. Frankeberger. 1
1
Organizing Our Army in 1861.
It was no ordinary task to organize an army, either north or south, from raw citizens that had absolutely no knowledge of military affairs at the beginning of the war in 1861.
The war came like a thunder clap in the North and the Union army at the beginning was but a crowd of brave and pa- triotic citizens. The officers and men all stood on a common level so far as knowledge of military affairs went, for not one 'in a hundred knew the difference between a Corporal and a Brigadier-General and hardly knew a right face from a left face.
One instance is recalled of an Ohio regiment that had a noted lawyer for their first Colonel, and the members of the regiment and their friends predicted a brilliant military career for this promising officer. But he proved to be a dismal failure, as he was too lazy to drill or even study the tactics. In time the regiment took the field and was soon in front of the enemy. This Colonel was ordered to take a certain position on the line. He marched his regiment out in columns of fours, and was ordered to "feel the enemy carefully," which he proceeded to do in the most approved military style - in favor of the enemy, as it was soon demonstrated. As the regiment neared the battle line, they passed an old veteran regiment, supporting a battery, and this veteran regiment was hugging the ground closely, ex- pecting an attack every moment. Some of the members of the new regiment sung out, "Where are the rebels? Just show them to us!" And the response from the veterans, hugging the ground still more closely, was: "You will find them on the other side of that cornfield." And into the cornfield the brave, but new recruits marched, and as one of the boys afterwards stated, they went in "slaunch ways." In a few moments the rebel line raised up and gave them one enfilading volley, and the regiment was soon in full retreat, for no veterans could have stood such a withering fire in an open field. As they passed back through the lines of the veterans still hugging the ground, some of the
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boys could not refrain from asking them if "they found the rebels."
This is referred to as one instance of scores in which some of our best regiments were in the beginning commanded by incompetent officers who were appointed by political influence. The regiment referred to proved to be one of the fighting regi- ments and had a long and honorable record in the field.
The first year's service tested the qualities of the rank and file. A few months' exposure and hardship sent the physically incapable to hospital to die or be discharged for disability, while in that time those who had the physique but not the spirit of soldiers found means to be detached from their commands and, though still carried on the muster rolls, to be detailed as clerks in bureaus or headquarters, hospital nurses, or in some other non-combatant capacity. Those soldiers, who after a year's ser- vice, were still in the field with their commands were really the "army" that fought the war. They were physically, at least, the flower of the American people.
During the months of May, June and July, 1861, the appear- ance of the camps of instruction would look grotesque to the militia of to-day where thousands of soldiers were encamped without arms or uniforms. Think of a regiment maneuvering almost like clock-work and yet no two men dressed alike; for many regiments were well drilled in company and battalion drill before arms and clothing were issued. It was common to see a sentinel walking his beat with a stick at a "support," and the officer of the guard in making his rounds would return the salute of the sentinel with a flourish of his wooden sword. Though not soldiers, they were actually "playing soldier," and played it seriously. This was the situation in 1861, and out of this rustic mob in a few months was moulded an army of boys as brave as the old Guard that followed the eagles of Napoleon.
The regiments that were so fortunate as to get a regular officer for a Colonel were usually well organized, and that was the case in the First Ohio. We had a great contempt for our Colonel in the beginning, as he was a regular martinett, but when we got into the field, we had a very high regard for him, as he at once inaugurated strict military discipline, and, as the boys said, "brought the officers to time," organized an officers' school, and looked after the smallest details of clothing, rations and all things that pertained to the comfort of his men, syste- matically examined for himself all clothing, equipments and food before allowing them to be issued, and whatever was poor in quality or short in quantity, he rejected with good round oaths and with a savage threat of arrest to the quartermaster or commissary. It was amusing to observe that the company officers soon adopted his careful system of looking out for his men's rights and even imitated his oaths.
47
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When we were at Camp Chase, Ohio, in the fall of 1861, I remember of being down at the Quartermaster's tent when we had just received an invoice of blankets, and was opening up the boxes, and it proved that the blankets were of all kinds and colors, some red, some gray, and others striped. Just then the Colonel, an officer of the regular army, as before mentioned, stepped in, and, taking a survey of the situation, commenced swearing, and in a moment the blankets and air were all of the same color - "blue." Said he, "Box them up, send them back, for I'll be d-d if I propose to have my regiment decked out in blankets with as many different colors as 'Joseph's Coat.'"
It struck me, a raw, verdant country boy, as being extremely funny and ridiculous, and I never forgot it. I presume the blank- ets were sent back. The writer was orderly sergeant at that time, and when the orderly's call would sound in the morning, I remember we always went up to headquarters with our morn- ing reports with "fear and trembling," for if there was anything in the least degree wrong, he would always send us back to our quarters to correct it, and some of us can testify to-day that we were sent back at least three times in one morning. He never reprimanded the Sergeants, but would say: "Tell your Captain so and so"; and it was not an unusual thing for the Captain to be summoned into his presence, where he usually got a scoring.
At the beginning of the war the Cavalry arm of the service had no separate organization as an army. Yet raw and undis- ciplined as they were, they were of the same blood and had the same soldierly qualities of dash, vim and independence of all other arms of the service, and never failed to respond to any and every duty they were called upon to perform.
The tramp of their triumphant steeds shook the ground all along the line, and their bugle calls rang out alike from every valley and mountain that marked the great battles of the war.
Under the military regime of the old army during the in- terval between the war with Mexico and the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, the esprit de corps of the Cavalry arm of the servie had been sadly neglected.
In the campaigns of the Revolution, the war of 1812, and more especially, the war with Mexico, which consisted very largely in the besieging of fortifications, and the country be- ing so unfavorable to successful cavalry operations, hence the importance of a well mounted and well equipped cavalry force was not fully realized by General Scott and his lieutenants.
We had very few regiments of cavalry at the beginning of the war, and they were broken up in squadrons and companies, and were scattered along our western frontier fighting Indians, patrolling and doing courier duty between the outposts. But
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in the first battles of the war the importance of raising and equipping a strong cavalry force, and placing them under com- mand of dashing young leaders, was fully demonstrated to the officers of the old army.
In the early part of the war, our cavalry was badly handled by the officers in command. While the volunteer officers knew nothing more of the service than the rank and file of their com- mands, it seemed that the officers assigned to duty in the cavalry service from the regular army did not understand that cavalry to be effective must be kept on the move, and should never receive an attack from the enemy at a halt. Not until the battle of Stone's River was the effectiveness of the cavalry demonstrated in the army of the Cumberland, when the First Ohio, led by their intrepid young commander, Colonel Minor Millikin, made their first saber charge, holding at bay a large force of the left wing of the rebel army by their bold charge.
As will be remembered by all members of the regiment, in the early part of our service it was usual to halt to receive the attack of the enemy, and attempt to fire from our horses, instead of dismounting to fight on foot, or drawing saber and charging him; all of which we learned before the close of the war. During the siege of Corinth, in 1862, the regiment did picket duty in front of the infantry lines during the greater part of that siege of two months; and it was no unusual cecur- rence to have from a half dozen to a dozen alarms during each night, and at each alarm the reserve was mounted with "advance carbine" ready to receive the attack.
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