Historical sketch of the 56th Ohio volunteer infantry during the great Civil War from 1861 to 1866, Part 10

Author: Williams, Thomas J
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [Columbus, Ohio, Lawrence Pr.]
Number of Pages: 418


USA > Ohio > Historical sketch of the 56th Ohio volunteer infantry during the great Civil War from 1861 to 1866 > Part 10


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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56TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.


the bottom of his heart. It was a fortunate thing for Sam that the guard was along, for the elastic rogue pretended to be in command of the party, issued orders for not marching to suit him, and when in the Iowa camp made a mock presentation speech, which gave both amusement and offense to the recipients. He claimed he had raised the money by subscription to buy the mess-chest presented, and wound up with the remark that whenever, during our marches yet to come, he should see sitting by the roadside tender-hearted stragglers of this regiment, with the 24 on their caps, it would cheer him, for he would know that there wasn't an enemy or a par- ticle of danger within 24 miles. It is more akin to a sorrowful duty than in any spirit of mere fun, that I have evoked from the eventful past, with its distant sounds of drums and marching, this remem- brance of Sam. It was thrust upon me the other day by the follow- ing item in the Ohio State Journal. It is headed, 'Instantly killed. Nelsonville, O. Today Samuel Irick of Harrisonburg, Va., while painting the newly erected schoolhouse, fell from a ladder 50 feet, killing him instantly.' And so he met his fate at last. In the great hereafter we know not who shall be advanced nor who shall outrank the other. The Colonel may be the last and the 'pirooter' lead the van. And it is around the humblest and weakest of our fellow soldiers who helped us to save a great republic that we need to stand firmest."


"How fast they fall! the men who saved The nation in its hour of strife; Where battle in its fury raved, With death and bloody carnage rife!"


On November 27 a sad message was received by the writer, saying your comrade, Henry D. Allison, died suddenly on Sunday morning, November 26, 1899, and will be buried on Tuesday, No- vember 28, and on that beautiful fall day all that was mortal of our noble and brave comrade was laid to final rest at the old Emery church in Jackson county, O., and the high esteem in which he was held was clearly shown by the large number who attended his funeral. Six of the Fifty-sixth Ohio comrades bore his remains to the grave. The largest number of the Fifty-sixth boys that prob-


سجاد


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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE


ably ever attended a comrade's funeral since the war attended this burial. There were present C. Gillilan, David W. Jones, Thomas Stafford, G. A. Ewing and Wm. A. Louks of Company A; R. W. Thomas, James Rees, John C. Gross, Dennis Jones, Thomas J. Wil- liams, Thomas Jenkins, Evan E. Evans, Robert M. Fulton and W. W. Hughes of Company E, and Evan Edwards and T. J. Williams of Company C. And it was well said by one of the four ministers who participated in the service that he was a loyal man-loyal to his God, loyal to his country, his family and his friends, and it can be truthfully said of him he was indeed and in truth one of God's noblemen.


And we can from our hearts exclaim in the language of Com- rade F. C. Searl's noble poem : -


"O comrades, who have gone before, We watched you glide o'er death's dark tide


And camp upon that brighter shore. We soon shall hear our last tattoo, . And, one by one, at minute gun, Fold up our tents and camp with you."


All here tonight. Our Grand Commander call thou the roll. And may all survivors of the Fifty-sixth Ohio at least answer one by one, with hand on heart, in the grand salute of salvation, "Here! Here!"


All old soldiers of the Union army who are spared should be thankful that they have been permitted to see a thoroughly re united country, as proved by our late war with Spain. We have seen with what alacrity the men of the south, who during the great civil war fought our forces on hundreds of battlefields, in this late contest vied with those of the north in rushing to the defense of the stars and stripes. General Lee and General Wheeler, two dis- tinguished officers of the old Confederate armies, have in this late war gained additional honors and are still continuing to do so. The nation's standing has been highly exalted among the nations and rulers of the earth. Never before has it seemed so proud a thing to be an American citizen, and for all this we should be duly thankful to the Giver of all good.


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56TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.


And in conclusion, if my comrades find some pleasure in this brief account of the long and dangerous service performed by the regiment, in which I have endeavored not to dwell too much upon the dangers encountered and hardships endured, I shall consider myself well repaid. But I have failed to get far from the dark side of the picture, as there are so many sad scenes painted on our mem- ories that time can not erase. And it is a matter of pride that the regiment never faltered or failed when called on, but promptly as- sumed the duty assigned, and whether in camp, on the march, on the picket line or the deadly battlefield, the Fifty-sixth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry looks back with satisfaction to duty well done.


Though now there is snow in the hair of all of us, and rust in our joints, and wrinkles in our faces, may it never be truthfully said of this dear land:


"When danger's rife and war is nigh,


God and the soldier is all the cry;


When danger's o'er and wrong is righted, God is forgot, the soldier slighted!"


POSTOFFICE ADDRESS AND NAMES OF SURVIVORS OF THE FIFTY-SIXTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.


Colonel William H. Raynor Toledo, Ohio


Chaplain J. E. Thomas Orpheus, Ohio


Captain M. Manring McFall, Mo.


Captain W. B. Williams. Portsmouth, Ohio


Captain J. H. Evans. . Topeka, Kan.


Captain George Wilhelm Greenville, Miss.


Captain Edwin Kinney


Chillicothe, Ohio


Captain William G. Snyder . Bement, Ill.


Captain Thomas W. Kinney Portsmouth, Ohio


Captain Benjamin Roberts Covington, Ky.


Lieutenant C. Gillilan Portsmouth, Ohio


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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE


Lieutenant J. J. Markham Partridge, Kan.


Lieutenant E. W. Veach Kingston, Ohio


Lieutenant Henry Lantz Scioto P. O., Ohio


Lieutenant O. J. DeWolf. Fostoria, Ohio


Lieutenant H. C. Shump. Ashland, Ky.


Lieutenant Thomas J. Williams Jackson, Ohio


George Grindley Washington, D. C.


Abraham Hibbens Kinderhook, Ohio


John E. Bevan. Mendon, Ohio


David Boring Erin, Tenn.


Fred Held Lilly P. O., Ohio


William H. Wait. Iowa City, Iowa


John C. Gross, Rio Grande, Ohio


John L. Jones.


Rio Grande, Ohio


Daniel L. Bondurant.


Wellmansville, Kan.


Lewis Phillips.


Springfield, Ohio


George M. Salliday Sciotoville, Ohio


George L. Steele


Wellston, Ohio


James C. Hall


Portsmouth, Ohio


James Benner Portsmouth, Ohio


William H. Lair Lilly, Ohio


Fred Gram Ironton, Ohio Engelbert Nagle Sciotoville, Ohio


Morgan Clifford Dennis, Ohio David W. Jones Thurman, Ohio


George J. Reiniger Camba, Ohio


Gillem Crabtree Lois, Ohio


Jacob Scheely


Wheelersburg, Ohio


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56TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY .. 127


John G. Brown Beaver, Ohio


Henry Kuglemen Portsmouth, Ohio


John C. Titus Indian Run, Ohio


Hiram Martin Portsmouth, Ohio


· Charles Eagan Jasper, Ohio


John Norman Portsmouth, Ohio


Gilbert A. Ewing Jackson, Ohio


John D. Jones. Portsmouth, Ohio


Martin G. Allen


Rushtown, Ohio


Evan Edwards


. Gallia, Ohio


Eli Hartley .Wait, Ohio


. Joseph Hill


Sciotoville, Ohio


Jonathan Davis Wellston, Ohio


Ben Wood Portsmouth, Ohio


George Jones


Jackson, Ohio


George Meixner Portsmouth, Ohio


Charles Cooper Pond Run, Ohio


Azariah C. Arthur Oak Hill, Ohio


Dustan Jones Portsmouth, Ohio


James Odle Friendship, Ohio


John Q. Winterstein


Blue Creek, Ohio


B. F. Bennett . Grenup, Ky.


John Brooks Jackson, Ohio


Robert Bowles Stuce P. P., Ohio


Nate Brown


Scioto P. O. Ohio


Robert B. Crawford . Ashland, Ky.


John Dimler Portsmouth, Ohio


Edward A. Dibble Celina, Ohio


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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE


John Fullerton Ryan P. O., Ohio


William W. Hughes


Oak Hill, Ohio


Fred Hedgmyer Abashia, Ohio


F. M. Hudson Wellston, Ohio


John Henry Pedro P. O., Ohio .


Aaron Hammon Peniel P. O., Ohio


Thomas D. Jenkins Holcomb P. O., Ohio


Thomas S. Jones


Oak Hill, Ohio


Nathan M. Kent.


Scioto P. O., Ohio


George Myers


Wakefield, Ohio


Nate McGowan


. Abashia, Ohio


John McGarney


Muff P. O., Ohio


James Rees


Wales P. O., Ohio


John Rockwell


Galford, Ohio


Rees W. Thomas


Jackson, Ohio


George Phillipi.


Portsmouth, Ohio


Joseph Truman


Rushtown, Ohio


R. H. Slavens


Flat, P. O., Ohio


Richard Wells . Galford, Ohio


Thurman, Ohio


Samuel L. Hanes


Thomas J. Williams Portsmouth, Ohio


John Pfuhler Portsmouth, Ohio


C. C. Schlichter


Portsmouth, Ohio


Oliver Wirtz


Portsmouth, Ohio


Samuel Nickel


Portsmouth, Ohio


Rees Griffith Glen Roy, Ohio John Oney Cadmus, Ohio


James B. Sanders Lucasville, Ohio


Henry Cline Powellsville, Ohio


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56TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.


James J. Jolly Gallipolis, Ohio


Martin Roush Sarahville, Ohio


Evan E. Evans Thurman, Ohio


Smith Dalrymple New Orleans, La.


Moses Roberts


Chase, P. O., Kan.


James B. Dement


West Union, Ohio


Dennis Jones


Esop P. O., Ohio


Wm. A. Louks


Vinton, Ohio


Thomas White


Pine Grove, Ohio


Joseph White®


Pine Grove, Ohio


John E. Evans Kitchen, Ohio


. Hiram Lodge


Wellston, Ohio


Charles Martin


Vinton, Ohio


Daniel Jones


Venedocia, Ohio


Robert M. Fulton


Bulaville, Ohio


Evan O. Evans Thurman, Ohio


George Hughes Jackson, Ohio


James Hughes Oak Hill, Ohio


Hiram McCarley Bidwell, Ohio


Wm. W. Mauring Byer, P. O., Ohio


Andrew J. McPhail Los Angeles, Cal.


Thomas Sims Mongula, Mont.


John Daniels Pine Grove, Ohio


John Stockham Arkansas City, Kan.


Robert H. Jackson Hersey P. O., Wis.


Philip Carey Fairfield, Iowa


Frank Hammon Portsmouth, Ohio


William Fastinau


Portsmouth, Ohio


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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE


Lafayette Sickles Portsmouth, Ohio John Cline Powellsville, Ohio


Ben Yeley Wait P. O., Ohio


Oliver Nurse Friendship, Ohio


Aaron Hamilton Friendship, Ohio


H. G. Blakeman Friendship, Ohio


John Biggs Grayson, Ky.


Henry Dunlap Ashland, Ky.


James Perry Argentum; Ky.


Lewis Myers Ironton, Ohio


Samuel Johnson Bridgeport, Ohio


Thomas Eagan Jasper. Ohio


Lodwick D. Davis Columbus, Ohio


Joshua Lewis Columbus, Ohio


. Thomas D. Davis Columbus, Ohio


S. S. Montgomery Wapakoneta, Ohio


R. W. Montgomery Wapakoneta, Ohio


F. M. Lowry Los Angeles, Cal.


George Lowry Los Angeles, Cal.


Wm. A. Stephenson Jackson, Ohio


William Lesser Beaver, Ohio


Jacob White. Jackson, Ohio


Benjamin Byers Vigo P. O., Ohio


Philander Bennett Coalton, Ohio


Thomas Stafford Gallia, P. O., Ohio


Rees Davis Tracy P. O., Minn.


Thomas E. Davis Rio Grande, Ohio


George W. Graves Washington, Ohio


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56TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.


Peter Petry Portsmouth, Ohio


William Samuel Columbus, Ohio


Ashley R. Williams . Goffs P. O., Kan.


John Lasley Plymouth, Mo.


Arza Gudgeon Otter Vale, Mo.


Henry Kinker


Bloom P. O., Ohio


George Claar Jackson, Ohio


Thomas D. Thomas Niles, Ohio


William H. Cool Summitville, Ohio


Joseph Aduddle Beaver, Ohio


Albert Brown Chester, Pa.


Hiram W. Dewitt Aid P. O., Ohio


David W. James National Military Home, Ohio


John Barrett


National Military Home, Ohio


Edward Phillips


National Military Home, Ohio


Edward Goudy


National Military Home, Ohio


George M. Gordy


National Military Home, Ohio


Timothy Sullivan National Military Home, Ohio


Mike Joyce National Military Home, Ohio


Resin Furgeson National Military Home, Ohio


Martin Powers


National Military Home, Ohio


John Lodge Ironton, Wis.


Martin J. Adams


Silverton, Ore.


John G. Siebert Reinbeck, Iowa.


Bartholomy Hauser Chillicothe, Ohio David Storer Alexandria, Ohio'


John Coffman Dundas, Ohio


Peter Scott Glen Roy, Ohio


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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE


William H. Nearman Oak Hill, Ohio


John Roush Aid P. O., Ohio


William T. Saxton Dunlap, Kan.


William H. Brady Glen Roy, Ohio


Benjamin Rockwell Kniffin, Iowa


James H. Woolm Richland, Iowa


David H. Wood


Rooney, Carter County, Ky.


John W. Davis


Elizabeth P. O., Miss.


Nick. Barnhart


Cavendish, Mo.


John Shaw Carrollton, Mo.


Emanuel Russell Coalton, Ohio


Benjamin Sanders


Steece P. O., Ohio


Geo. W. Harshbarger Buckland, Ohio


John F. McGrew Johnstown, Ohio


George M. Tripp Shelbyville, Ill.


W. H. A. Tripp Shelbyville, Ill.


Fred Steinmeyer Wilber, Neb.


David Daniels Santa Monica, Cal.


Joseph M. Bing New Orleans, La.


Daniel J. Evans Pittsburg, Pa.


James Farrar Sterling, Kan.


Thomas J. Jones Hiawatha, Kan.


Stephen R. Ellis Industry, Kan.


Charles H. Bing Wilmot, Kan.


Frank M. Seth .. Parkersville, Kan.


W. C. Bradfield Augusta, Kan.


William Hahn Burlington, Kan.


James M. Halliday Crescent, Oklahoma


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SOTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.


William McJunkin Liberty, Kan.


Ephraim Phillips Salina, Kan.


William H. Mclaughlin Wichita, Kan.


William Roberts Carlisle P. O., Ark. :


See page 140


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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE


CHAPTER XV.


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.


William H. Raynor, the son of William and Mary Raynor, was born in Portsmouth, Scioto county, Ohio. In this city he lived during the early years of his life. At the age of 14 he left school and engaged in the mercantile business. At the age of 21 he married Rhoda O. Kendall, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and soon thereafter engaged in the banking business with the late Philander Kinney, and was so engaged when the Civil War began in 1861.


He was at that time Lieutenant in a Portsmouth company of the State militia. The company was under command of Captain Geo. B. Bailey. When the news of the firing on Fort Sumter came Captain Bailey was out of the city. Lieutenant Raynor immedi- ately telegraphed to the Governor of Ohio, offering the services of the company. This message was approved by the Captain.


The next day brought the President's call for troops, and the Portsmouth company was ordered to report at Columbus promptly. Within forty-eight hours the company was in Columbus, and with nine other companies of the State militia was organized into a regiment known as the First Ohio Three Months Volunteers, the Portsmouth company designated as Company G.


The First and Second Ohio started at once for Washington, D. C., and were; with the Second New York Volunteers, assigned to a brigade commanded by General Robert C. Schenck, and Lieu- tenant Raynor was detached to act as the General's aide. In this capacity he was engaged at the Vienna affair, June 17, 1861, in which Company, G of the First Ohio had six killed and four wounded.


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56TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.


At his request, Lieutenant Raynor was returned to his com- pany, and with them was engaged on July 21, 1861, in the first Battle of Bull Run. Here he was slightly wounded in the right instep, was left on the field and became a prisoner; was taken to Richmond and confined in one of the tobacco warehouses on Main street of that city. When his wound bad healed so he could walk fairly well he, with two fellow prisoners, Colonel John R. Hurd of Ohio and Colonel Chas. J. Murphy of New York, escaped from the prison, and after thirteen days in the woods and swamps of Virginia they reached the Potomac river, and soon arrived at Washington. As soon as the escape was known the Governor of Ohio offered him a commission as Lieutenant Colonel in a regi- ment about to be organized at Portsmouth by Colonel Peter Kin- ney, which was the Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This offer was accepted and Colonel Raynor at once engaged energet- ically in organizing and drilling the regiment, and with it he served full three years.


With the Fifty-sixth Ohio he was present in every engage- ment, and every important battle they fought was under his com- mand. He was with them in every march they made, with the single exception of the advance on Corinth, at which time he was seriously ill with typhoid fever.


Colonel Kinney resigned April 2, 1863. Lieutenant Colonel Raynor was promoted to Colonel from that date. From Novem- ber, 1863, until May; 1864, he was in command of the brigade of which the Fifty-sixth formed a part, although there was in the brigade at least one Colonel who, by date of commission, was his superior officer; but the division and corps commanders ordered Colonel Raynor to take the command. C


Colonel Raynor was severely wounded at Snaggy Point, La., May 5, 1864, once by a bullet and twice by fragments of shell. The rebel bullet shattered the small bone of his left leg, from which wound he still suffers. At this place he again became a prisoner. and remained in the enemy's hands about six weeks, when he was released on parole. His recovery he aseribes to the unremitting


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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE


care and attention of Surgeon Williams and his nurse, John Phuller of the Fifty-sixth, both of whom became voluntary pris- oners that they might care for our wounded men in the enemy's hands.


Colonel Raynor was commissioned Brigadier General by brevet, to rank as such from March 13, 1865, by the President of the United States for distinguished and gallant service.


After the war Colonel Raynor engaged in commercial and manufacturing business, and at this writing he is the assistant manager of the Lozier Manufacturing Company, at Toledo, Ohio. No regiment in the army had a more competent commander than Colonel Raynor, and the Fifty-sixth Ohio, under him, was equal to any similar body of men anywhere, and any good work that they performed was due largely to his ability as commander; and he still holds the esteem of every member of the regiment.


A few years ago, at one of our reunions, a veteran of the Fourth West Virginia Infantry, in a talk he gave us, told where he first saw the Fifty-sixth Ohio. As General Grant's army was. closing in around Vicksburg he stated that a large number of different commands were near a road watching the troops coming in, when one regiment attracted the attention of all as they marched along. From the fine looking Colonel to the private in the ranks, every man seemed to understand his business, and he felt like shouting when a slight breeze unfolded the flag, displaying upon its folds Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a regiment from his native state.


Rev. J. E. Thomas, the son of Enoch and Jane (James) Thomas, was born in Carmarthenshire, Wales, December 25, 1816. He- attended college to be educated for the ministry. He began preaching when 16 years of age. In 1835 a number of the brethren came to the United States, and he accompanied them as their pastor. They located in St. Louis, Mo.


In 1846 he came to Jackson county, Ohio, where he has since- resided. In 1862 he enlisted in Company C, Fifty-sixth Ohio In- fantry, and, after serving nine months as a private, was elected.


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56TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.


Chaplain. Three months later he was detailed by General Prentiss as Superintendent of the Freedmen at Helena, Ark., and was in charge of their farm until the summer of 1865. He sent a small bale of cotton to President Lincoln as the first fruits of the labor of the race he had emancipated. He still lives at his home in Jackson County, Ohio., honored and respected by all.


Lieutenant Coleman Gillilan was born in Jackson county, Onio, November 19, 1837. He received a good common school edu- cation, and in schools of a higher grade, thus qualifying himself for the noble work of a teacher; and, notwithstanding his attach- ment to his profession, he responded to the second call of President Lincoln, and during August and September, 1861, he and Captain M. Manring recruited Company A of the Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteers Infantry, and on October 8, 1861, he was mustered in as Second Lieutenant and served faithfully until about May 1, 1862, when he was taken very sick at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. He was sent home with little expectation that he would ever recover, and was mustered out of the service.


The summer of 1863 he spent with the Army in West Virginia. In July, 1864, he recruited a company for the One Hundred and Seventy-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which he was Captain, and served about one year. He has been engaged as a commercial traveler in the shoe trade the greater part of the time since the war. No man is better known or more highly respected in South- ern Ohio, and he is worthy of it. He was with the Fifty-sixth but a short time, but no member of the regiment takes a better interest or does more to keep up interest in our annual reunions.


Parker M. McFarland, M. D., Assistant Surgeon of the Fifty- sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, passed on to the life beyond in 1890 or 1891, at Centralia, Illinois, and a letter addressed there failed to reach any of his family. This good man was a gentleman in every sense of the word. No other man exerted so much influ- ence for good upon the young men of the regiment. He was a worthy member of the M. E. Church, and well deserved the name of the "beloved physician," who went about doing good in the footsteps of his gracious Master.


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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE


Corporal David Evans of Company C, the son of David and Ann Evans, was born in Wales in 1837. The family emigated to the United States when he was quite young. This comrade was a close friend of the writer, and we were attending school at a dis- tance from each other in 1861, but the war spirit was strong in the land, and on September 9, 1861, we started for Portsmouth, Ohio, to enlist; and at a railway station we met, and on Septem- ber 10 we volunteered, and were never separated until the catas- trophe at Champion's Hill, where he was mortally wounded on May 16, 1863, from which he died July 14, 1863. He was a very strong man physically, and few would have survived as long as he did with such a terrible wound.


John Henry Williams, the son of John T. and Elizabeth Wil- . liams, was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1843. He vol- unteered before he was 18 years of age, and was instantly killed at Champion's Hill, Miss., May 16, 1863, a high private in the front rank of Company C. Though young in years, he was an entire stranger to fear. He was an expert forager, and would often make hazardous trips into the enemy's lines.


George Grindley was born March 20, 1841, at Landilo Fawr, Carmarthenshire, Wales. His father was of Scotch lineage and his mother of a very old Welsh family. He arrived in this country with his parents when about 10 years of age. His parents died in 1851, at Cincinnati, Ohio.


When the war commenced he was a farmer boy in Raccoon township, Gallia county, Ohio. He enlisted in Company E, of which company he was a Corporal and a Sergeant, and was trans- ferred to Company B, but never served with it, being on detached service, headquarters, defenses of New Orleans; headquarters, Department of the Gulf; headquarters, Military Division of the Mississippi. He was in all actions and movements of the regi- ment except from about May 10, 1862, to July 1, 1862, when he was absent sick in the hospital. He served fifty-two months, being mustered out February 7, 1866, as a non-commissioned officer, his services being no longer required.


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56TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.


Comrade Grindley developed into one of the most talented men ever connected with the regiment. He was happily married to a lady of French descent in New Orleans, and now holds an im- portant position in the Pension Bureau at Washington, D. C.


James Cranston Bingham, the son of Royal and. Catherine Bingham, was born in Athens county, Ohio, October 4, 1842. At the age of 14 he was thrown upon his own resources. On October 8, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteer In- fantrty, for three years. He was promoted Sergeant August 11, 1863; re-enlisted as a veteran early in 1864, and mustered out April 25, 1866.


In this service he contracted a disease that caused his death. He was with the Fifty-sixth Ohio in all its marches and battles, and in charge of his wounded comrades of Company D, he marvel- ously escaped when completely surrounded by the enemy on Red river. After the war he attended school for a short time. He moved to Russell, Ky., in 1877, and engaged in the business of florist, etc. He served as Postmaster here for 14 years; was a worthy member of the M. E. Church, holding various official posi- tions, and was Superintendent of the Sunday School for 18 years.


He served as a Lieutenant in the Ohio National Guard while living at Ironton, Ohio. He was a charter member of Russell Castel No. 28, K. G. E., and served as an officer in the order. He was married September 9, 1867, to Rachel Alida Gray, and she, with their eight children, survive him. He passed on to the higher life February 16, 1899. With the love and esteem of all who ever formed his acquaintance, and with "Life's work well done, life's crown well won," he has but passed a little while before us, and family, friends and comrades "know where to find him."


Colonel Henry Ewing Jones was born in Nashville, Tenn., Sep- tember 28, 1836. His father, David D. Jones, moved to Ports- mouth, Ohio, when Henry was but seven months old. He received a common school education at home, and then attended Dennison College at Granville, Ohio, where he graduated with honor about


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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE


1860. Returning to his native city, he began the study of law with Hon. Wells A. Hutchins.


At the beginning of the war he enlisted in Company G, First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was appointed Sergeant. Upon the expiration of his term of service he re-enlisted in the Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned Adjutant, in which position he served until February 6, 1863, when he was promoted to Captain, and on August 8, 1863, was detached on brigade and division staff, and served in that capacity until May 8, 1864, and on January 18, 1865, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, which rank he held until April 20, 1866, when he was appointed Colonel, but not mustered.




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