USA > Ohio > Butler County > A history and biographical cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio, with illustrations and sketches of its representative men and pioneers. Vol. 1 > Part 56
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Company H.
Captains .- Edward R. Black, second lieutenant, January 21, 1862; first lieutenant, March 23, 1862; captain, June 22, 1863. Leonard C. Councellor, March 3, 1862; killed, Jan- uary 22, 1863.
First Lieutenants .- David P. Reed, promoted to captain Company G, July 29, 1863. Frederick E. Wilson, resigned, September 10, 1864.
Second Lieutenant .- Frederick Pickering, March 3, 1962; dismissed, May 7, 1863.
Sergeants .- Levi A. Boysel, first. sergeant. John Parsels. Marens Eaton. John O'Connell. Frederick Hetenhouser.
Corporals .- Irwin T. Jones. George Bowers. Isaac N. Fonst. James Justice. George W. Weaver. John Young. Gunen P. Young. Rufus R. Hurdle.
Died .-- John HIpiry, sergeant, killed in action, May 14, 1864, at Resaca, Ga. Benjamin Roling, killed at Resaca. Thomas Johnson, killed at Resaca. Henry Frankford, killed in action in front of Atlanta, Ga., July 4, 1864. William Scott, died in hospital August 7, 1864, from gunshot wound received in action near Atlanta, Ga.
Deserted .- Henry Fritz, April 22, 1864.
Company I.
Captains .- L. E. Chenoweth, quartermaster's sergeant, February 28, 1864; first lieutenant, February #, 1865; cap- tin, June 16, 1865.
First Lieutenants .- Augustus Mizener, sergeant, September 1, 1964; first lieutenant, June 16, 1865. James G. Elrick, March 21, 1862; resigned September 18, 1862.
Second Lieutenant .- Thomas B. Hoffman, March 21, 1862, promoted to first lieutenant.
Sergeants .- James W. Clark, first sergeant ; Adam Sturtz, John McAllister. David A. Sayre, Rufus R. Wells, reduced to ranks April 14, 1865; reappointed sergeant May 1, 1865.
Corporals .- Henry F. McEndree, John B. Kildow, John K. Eddy, Riley Wiggins, Jolin Turbett, George R. Breck- inridge.
Died .- John H. Jolinson, first sergeant, September 2, 1864, of wounds received at the battle of Jonesboro. John W. Brooks, first sergeant, died April 4, 1864, of wounds received in a railway accident. William H. Hill, June 5, 1864, of wounds received in action at Pumpkin Vine Creek, Ga. Jobn Munson, October 1, 1864, from wounds received at battle of Jonesboro.
Transferred .- Oliver Wilkison, to the Veteran Reserve Corps.
Company K.
Captains .- Zenas S. Ponlson, first sergeant, February 15, 1864; first lieutenant Company D, April 9, 1865; captain Company K, June 15, 1865; John V. Heslip, March 21, 1862; resigned April 11, 1863.
First Lieutenants .- James Wharry, first sergeant, Deceraber 16, 1861 ; first lieutenant, June 18, 1863; captain Compauy D, June 15, 1865. William J. Porter, first sergeant, August 31, 1864; first lieutenant, June 16, 1865. William Cody, March 25, 1862; mustered out, December 25, 1802.
Second Lieutenant .- William C. Barnett, January 7, 1862, promoted to first lieutenant.
Sergeants .- James W. Worstell, George M. Jones, William H. Harris, George W. Tipton.
Corporals .- Ephraim H. Johnson, James W. McCurdy, John Lisle, George W. Moore, William Cass.
The Fifth Ohio Cavalry went out the first year, and among its companies was I, from this neighborhood. It was at Shiloh, siege of Corinth, Missionary Ridge, all the battles of the Army of the Tennessee during the Atlanta campaign, and marched with Sherman down to the sca, afterwards going up through North Carolina. Company I was commanded by Captain Clem. Murphy; C. H. Murray was first lieutenant, and A. C. Rossman second lieutenant. Captain Murphy was dishonorably discharged before the expiration of his term of service, and Ross- man became a captain, and was transferred to Company E; Charles E. Giffen became first lieutenant. During the latter portion of its service it received many recruits, but few from Hamilton. Among the non-commissioned officers who can now be remembered are: M. G. Morris, orderly ; Fred. Reigel, Joe Kuecht, Joe Cox, Loammi R. Dunwoodie, William H. Paullin, S. C. Henderson, Eli Long, Charles Richter, and Emanuel Richter, ser- geants; and John Eberhart and Conrad Maybrush, cor- porals. Sergeant Samuel Stephenson and privates Her- man Zegeler and William Ledwell were killed.
The enterprise of forming a new regiment in this congressional district was entered upon in the early part of July, 1862, and, with general accord, Colonel Charles Anderson was chosen to comnnand it.
The military committees of the several counties met in Hamilton on the 16th of July, and selected Hiram
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Strong, of Daytou, as lieutenant-colonel; A. A. Phillips, of Hamilton, as major; D. P. Thurston, of Dayton, as adjutant; and John Eastman, of Eaton, as quartermaster.
On the 17th of the same month the line officers were recommended by the military committees, and on the next day most of them were mustered into the service and recruiting commenced in earnest, the work being greatly facilitated by the patriotic people who contrib- uted to pay the necessary expenses of the campaign.
On the afternoon of the 14th of August Companies A and B, having filled their quotas, went into quarters at "Camp Dayton." On the 19th of the same month the mustering of the regiment by companies was com- menced, and by the middle of the afternoon of the 21st the whole regiment had been mustered into service and armed.
The regiment broke camp on the 23d of August, 1862, and got aboard the cars en route for Lexington, Ken- tucky, where they arrived on the evening of the 24th.
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The regiment soon plunged into the strife and made for itself a record that fully entitles it to the lasting gratitude of the nation. Those grand historic names, Stone River, Chickamauga, Orchard Knob, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Franklin, and Nashville, are all of blood right emblazoned on the war-worn and battle rent banner of the regiment. Then there are the names Strong, Eastman, Birch, Payne, Richards, Patterson, Arnold, Burkett, Mason, and a host of others, patriots who fell on so many well-stricken fields, all attest the severity of the confliets through which the regiment passed.
The companies from this county were as follows:
Company D .- Captain, Daniel Bowman; first lieu- tenant, Timothy Regan ; second lieutenant, Charles Sut- phin ; first sergeant, Dan. V. Bonnell.
Company C .- Captain, H. H. Wallace; first lientenant, John E. Chatten ; second lieutenant, Bennett C. Wilcox; first sergeant, Alex. Scott.
Company F .- Captain, Robert Joyce ; first lieutenant, Henry Richards; second lieutenant, Arthur C. Morgan; first sergeant, Alexander Johnson.
D was reeruited in Middletown and vicinity ; C at Hamilton, Oxford, Darrtown, and Seven Mile; F at Venice.
The following contains a list of the killed and a few nantes of the wounded of the Ninety-third in the fights at Chattanooga :
Killed .- Major Will Birch; Company A, Privates David Moss, John D. Funk, -- Prutsman ; Company B, Andrew Lukenben, J. Speelman ; Company F, Amos McNiel; Company G, Wesley Cassell, John Murphy ; Company H, J. Schnerf; Company K, James Harris, John Blair, James Baird.
Wounded .- Lieutenant Will Brown, Captain Bow- man, Sergeant Major Oscar Gottshall, Privates Oscar Moodie, Charles Anderson, James Fitzpatrick.
This list is derived from Leroy Davies, who was not a member of the Ninety-third, but, to use his own words, was anxious to see the fight. S5, when the ball opened, he engaged a partner (a Spencer rifle), and was lucky enough to be one in the taking of a rebel battery, when he received notice to quit in the shape of a minie ball. The letter speaks of the death of Jacob Wetsel, of the Sixty-ninth, and of the severe wound of Jacob Rees, who was seriously injured.
Alfred A. Phillips, the major of this regiment, was born in Orange County, Indiana, May 5, 1825. He was the son of Albert H. Phillips, who was born March 1, 1795, and died in July, 1872, and Mary Hollowell, who died in June, 1845, aged forty-five years. He was married December 20, 1855, in Hamilton, to Miss Emma C. Rush, who was born in Addison County, Ver- mont, August 2, 1832. She is the daughter of Horatio S. Rush, who died in October, 1875, and Caroline De Long, who is still living .. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips had six children. Nellie was born August 31, 1857; Alice, June 8, 1859; Bertha, September 4, 1861; Lottie, February 9, 1865; Alfred, September 9, 1866, and Josephine, April 11, 1869. Mr. Phillips was sheriff of Butler County from 1860 to 1864, and deputy sheriff for seven years prior to that time. At the outbreak of the Mexican war, being then only about twenty-one years of age, he enlisted, and went out as a member of Company I, First Ohio Regiment, under Colonel Mitchell, serving one year. During the late war he was the major of his regiment, staying in the field, however, only one year, as he was called back by his official duties in Butler County. Major Phillips during life followed different pursuits. He spent three years in Arkansas, owning and having control of saw, grist, and shingle mills, together with a large plantation containing over four thousand acres. In 1863 he owned a third interest in a distillery at tlas place, and in 1866 he purchased the other two-thirds, which he carried on tili 1869, when he sold. He carried. on a distillery one year at Lawrenceburg. After that he was the proprietor of the Phillips House, now known as the Central House, at the corner of High and Front Streets. At the time of his death, which happened trom sunstroke in July, 1881, he was condueting another place of the same name, being the house now occupied by Judge Hume.
Captain Leflar, of the Eighty-third Regiment, wrote in the middle of February, 1863:
"The country down here is low and flat, but I think it is a great cotton region. We can see Vicksburg plainly from our camp, and the gunboats very often of a morning wake the people up in Vicksburg for breakfast by sending a few shell among them. We are still work- ing away at the canal, which is already eight or ten feet wide, and from four to six feet deep. If we shoukl succeed it will eat Vicksburg off from the river entirely, making a new channel for the river. Many doubt as to
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the success (and I confess I am one of that number) from the fact that they failed to dig down to the sand so as to give it a chance to wash. The present bot- tom is of smooth black mud. The river is rising very fast, and is just over the banks.
"The health of the soldiers is any thing but good. We have but twenty-five men for duty, though I must say my company has not been reduced altogether by sickness; there have been five desertions from my com- pany to the enemy. I will give you a list of them : Corporal John R. Hancock, Oxford ; Jerome B. Bennett, Hamilton ; George Popp, Oxford; David Ramsey, Pleas- ant Run; Jeremiah Robbins, Mt. Pleasant. There were only two of these men that left the boat the evening pre- vious to the fight, and they were not seen during the engagememt. The company fought nobly for three hours and forty-five minutes, at which time the fort was sur- rendered. The following are the names of those who were wounded in the engagement : Hiram Smith, thigh ; William H. Hall, ankle; Jacob Straub, foot; Bryan McGillan, shot through left cheek and came out at the right ear; Angus Hine, slightly in head, not disabled ยท from duty ; Erastus Martin, cheek slightly, not disabled for duty.
"We have lost one man since we left Memphis, Ser- geant David Thompson, who died from disease of the throat. Sergeant Thompson was a worthy man and a good soldier, and was universally liked by his comrades. We buried him at Millikin's Bend, on the Mississippi River. Our hearts went with him to the grave.
"The soldiers are dying off very fast here. In a short walk to-day I counted thirty-four newly made graves at our hospital. I am still in good health, as usual."
James P. Clark, aged nineteen, enlisted into the service at Amanda; was wounded at Arkansas Post, and died in hospital at Memphis.
Jolin T. Negus, aged twenty-eight, enlisted into the service at Middletown; was detailed as commissary-ser- geant at Camp Dayton. Having been relieved from duty there, he started to rejoin his company. He died March 11th at the post hospital, at Lake Providence, Louisiana, of small-pos.
Richard V. Hanna enlisted at Westchester; died in hospital boat D. A. January March 15, 1863.
At a meeting of Company H, Eighty-third Regiment, at Smith's plantation, April 25, 1863, Captain Leflar was appointed chairman, and J. A. Witmer, orderly ser- geant, secretary. Resolutions were reported by a com- miittee for the purpose, and unanimously adopted, saying that as it had pleased Almighty God to remove from their ranks Sergeants David Thompson and Jacob C. Strobridge ; Corporal Erastus M. Martin; Privates Louis Suider, John Bridge, William Bonnele, Aaron Frcame, and Timothy Sedwell, as a token of respect and esteem for the deceased they would wear the usual badge of mourning on parade and review for the next thirty days.
They died martyrs in the cause of their country, and under the folds of the proud and glorious old flag of their forefathers. The soldiers deeply and sincerely sympa- thized with the families and friends of their deceased brothers in arms, '
A letter from a member of Company H, when quar- tered near Vicksburg, in the latter part of June, 1863, says:
"We are now encamped on the line of the Jackson and Vicksburg Railroad, about two miles from the court house, and within a few hundred yards of the enemy's works. Our tents are pitelied in a hollow jast deep enough to escape the enemy's bullets and cannon balls. We are crowded almost one tent upon another, just cut of reach of any breath of air which may be stirring the favored regions above, and consequently almost insutfer- ably hot; with this proviso, the regiment is quite healthy, and never was in better spirits. Every body feels con- tented and satisfied of a speedy and successful termina- tion of the siege. We have been before this place so long (ever since last December), thinning our ranks by disease and the bullet, that it will be a happy moment for us when we can reach the goal we bave so long tried for. In-our present camp, though in no great danger, we are still never safe. Bullets and cannon balls .are whistling above and around us continually, and never a day passes but what several poor fellows are brought by from the hills above us wounded or dead. Our line approaches in front of this brigade have been carried almost immediately under the enemy's works. They eon- sist of three lines of rifle-pits or parallels, two of which are completed, and the third one, bringing us within a stone's-throw of the enemy's fortification, or nearly so. Squads from the negro regiments being raised in this vicinity assist in digging the trenches and help toward the progress of the work materially; they seem to hold very light the danger from the enemy's missiles, and work with a steadiness and perseverance greatly to be commended. Picketing in the advanced positions is get- ting to be very dangerous work. Members of our com- pany on picket in the advance riffe-pits had some very . narrow escapes day before yesterday, as we had four men seriously wounded, two of them mortally. Being $0 near their works the rebels can use percussion shells, in lieu of hand grenades, with great efficiency, and they give our men considerable trouble. Conversations often ensue between our men and the enemy's pickets, some- times ending with a friendly 'good night,' and at other times with a volley of musketry.
"The camp to-day is very quiet, more so than it has been before since the commencement of the siege; but I am afraid it is the calin before the storm. Osterhans has telegraphed from Black River to General Grant that Johnson is near by, and a report is going the rounds of the camp that a heavy battle was fought last night. in which Osterhaus was victorious, but I can not voneh for
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
its authenticity. Heavy re-enforcements have been sent to him, and they are trying to entice Jolinson within our lines by obstructing all roads but one, so that they can flank him on either side. . The Fiftieth Tudiana, from this brigade, left for Black River last evening, and at midnight the Eighty-third received orders to have two days' cooked rations in their haversacks, and to be ready to move at any moment to support General Sherman in case the rebels should attempt to break through on our right, so you can judge somewhat of our position. It is evident the siege is drawing to a close, and probably before this reaches you you will have intelligence of the final result.
".Since leaving the Mississippi we have all lost many and true friends, and our country honest and tried pa- triots. John Witmer, Orderly Sergeant Company H, was killed while gallantly leading his company in the charge on the 22d; with him friendship and love for his country were traits whose influence will never, cease. Out of eighty-six men with which the company crossed the Ohio River at the memorable siege of Cincinnati, only twenty how are left for duty, and of its officers, that unflinching patriot, Captain F. M. Leffar, is the only one that now remains. With but little or no assistance from his ex- lieutenants, he has always been present with his com- pany, and always ready to do any duty which it may fall to his lot to perform, and as a friend and faithful soldier he will be always remembered by those who knew him."
In the Summer of 1862, about the time Cincinnati was threatened by the rebels, who were in arms close at hand, Robert Christy, of this city, a prominent lawyer, who now lives in Washington, D. C., was at the head of a movement for establishing a military force here. It had been authorized by the County Democratic Conven- tion, and had for its ostensible reason the necessity of opposing the Confederate forces, should they come on this side of the line. Governor Tod, who was in a pa -- triotic way doing all in his power to serve his country, lad some fears that the force might be used against the Uniou, rather than for it, and refused to give his consent to its anthorization. "Whether it was intended," he said in this letter, "by this proceeding to interfere with the voluntary enlistments now being made over all the State, in response to the President's recent calls for troops, is now immaterial. Believing such to be the effect, I feel it my imperative duty to direct that you, and all asso- ciated with you in the effort to raise said regiment, at once desist. It is hoped that you and your associates will give cheerful obedience to this order, and join all loyal citizens of the State in their efforts to suppress the unholy rebellion in the manner designated by the national authorities."
David Beckett, major in the Sixty-first regiment, -was born in the year 1838, in Butler County, Ohio, His par- ents being Robert and Mary Crawford Beckett. He was educated at the Miami University, where he gradu-
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ated in 1860. In the year of 1861, on the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, he entered the Union army as a private soldier. In 1862 he was made a captain, and in 1863 was promoted to the rank of major. He participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Lookont Mountain, and Kenesaw Mountain. At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain he was killed, leaving behind him a reputa- tion for gallantry and manliness which all might envy. He left a wife, but no children to bear his name.
Colonel Robert Reily, of the Seventy-fifth Ohio, was a native of this county, and in his death the people of this region montned another martyr to the cause of free- dom. He fell, his right knee being badly shattered by a minie ball, at the battle of Chancellorsville, on Satur- day, May 2d, in a gallant effort to check the rout of the Eleventh Corps of Hooker's army, before the overwhelm- ing advance of the rebels nuder Jackson.
The retreat of our right wing left him in the hands of the enemy. His thigh was amputated the next morn- ing, the 3d, but he survived the operation only a few hours.
Robert Reily was born in Hamilton, June 1, 1820, and was the third son of that well known citizen, the late John Reily. He commenced active life in the store of W. P. H. Hulbert, of Cincinnati, as a clerk in 1836, and in 1843 became a partner in the establishment. The financial success of the firm was remarkable-inch of it being due to the popular manners and efficient industry of Mr. Reuty. In 1852 he retired to a beautiful farm near Lockland, on the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Day- ton Railroad. When this rebellion broke out, his glow- ing patriotism led him at once to throw all his influence and energy upon the side of his country, and from the first echo of rebel cannon fired against Fort Sumter, until the Autumn of that year, he did every thing which, as a civilian, was in his power to strengthen the hands of the government in the mighty struggle before it. In September, 1861, he entered with Colonel MeLean and others, with his characteristic ardor, into the effort to raise the Seventy-fifth regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, lo- cating the regimental rendezvous near his residence. The success of the undertaking was largely owing to bis per- sonal popularity and liberal energy. He voluntarily chose the lowest rank of the field officers; was commis- sioned major of the regiment, accompanied it into Vir- ginia, where, under Milroy, Schenck, Fremont, Sigel, Burnside, and Hooker, successively, it was continuously engaged in hard marching and hard fighting. Colonel MeLean was soon appointed brigadier, and Lientenant- colonel Constable having been taken prisoner, Major Reily became commander of the regiment, and led it in acarly all the battles, receiving, in 1862, his commission as colonel.
Although by nature modest, gentle, and averse to all violence, yet no sooner had he entered the army and
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taken upon himself the character of a soldier, than he showed himself, as have many other men of his elass in this war, to possess the characteristics of a hero. In battle he was ever at the post of danger, riding fearlessly" up and down the lines where the men needed either his voice or his example. He never asked a soldier to go where he was not willing to lead.
Among the last words uttered to his faithful attending surgeon were these: "I did not run from the rebels, nor did my regiment flinch under my command." But bravery was not the most valuable of his qualifications as an officer. He earefully and constantly sought and cared for the highest interests of his men, temporal and spiritual, sympathized with them in their hardships and sufferings, and to the utmost of his power provided for their wants, physical and moral. As a natural eonse- quence, the soldiers idolized him. The adjutant-general of his division, in a letter to a friend, says: "This is the saddest of our misfortunes since the division has been in the army. We have lost many brave and good officers, but none so universally known and respected. He was admired by all, both as an officer and a Christian."
Colonel Reily was firm in discipline. He allowed no drunkenness, profanity, or vulgarity, which he could pre- vent. Observance of the Sabbath, where practicable, was one of his unfailing requirements. He was a man eminent for piety, generosity, and conscientiousness. He never united with any Church, but was in every sphere a "professor of religion." He had no fondness for a soldier's life. His eyes were turned with longing to his home and family.
Company K, Eighty-sixth Ohio, whose term of service expired in February, 1864, passed through Hamilton, on the way to their homes at Oxford and vicinity. The company was raised by Captain McFarland, who upon the organization of the regiment was elected lieutenant- colonel, a position he continued to hold, being most of the time in command of the regiment. The Eighty- sixth had a hard time of it their last Winter, leing at Cumberland Gap through all the severe weather, and kept on the alert by the proximity of the enemy. Col- onel MeFarland, after coming home, resumed his duties as professor of mathematics in Miami University.
The agent sent to Annapolis, in November, 1863, to relieve the wants of the Union soldiers lately from Rich- mond, mentioned the following men from this county :
John Brooks, Thirty-fifth, Company D, from: Hamil- ton, wounded in left arm, doing well. Alfred W. Har- rison, Ninety-third, Company F, from Venice, a Chicka- manga prisoner, confined on Belle Island, where, after being robbed of blankets and all private property, with half rations of bread and a little meat, he was left to make his bed upon the damp sand, with the sky for a eovering. He was very weak, but was then slowly gaining.
Captain Thompson, of the Seventy-second, wrote home to his father in February, 1863:
" In my last you had an account of our march down into Mississippi and back, since which we marched from Moscow, by way of Bolivar and Purdy, to Corinth, nearly one hundred miles, in six days, over miserable roads, and through incessant rain. Arriving in Corinth during the storm, we encamped in an open field, nearly a half mile from the woods, to which we must go for tent poles, as well as fire wood, and this, too, in one of the coldest rain-storms I ever witnessed. That night it snowed an inch, and froze hard enough to bear a man. Many of us nearly froze in our wet clothes, and we eonld neither get warm bor dry, as it rained out our fires, and we could have none in our tents, as we had no stoves. I had nothing but a tent-fly, which I have used since we left Memphis, and which is like spreading a sheet over a pole to shed the rain, as it is open at both ends, and the wind drives the rain through from end to end. Finding I could not live thus, I found shelter with Dr. Metcalf, of the Seventh Illinois, who kindly com- pelled me to stay with him while we remained at Corinth.
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