History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 53

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854

USA > Ohio > Coshocton County > History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881 > Part 53

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).

While these events were transpiring at the Mansfield frontier, the company of Captain Evans was engaged with the forces of General Harrison, who were constructing Fort Meigs. On the 28th of February, 1813, a large force of British and Indians under command of Proctor, Tecumseh, Walk-in-the-water, and other Indian chiefs, ap- peared on the Maumee in boats, and prepared for the attack. The effort to capture the fort, from the determined character of the defense, developed into a seige; which was prolonged ten weeks, and resulted in the final defeat of the British. The continued campaign in this section consisted in like attacks upon the various forts that had been erected along the frontier, with a result in all cases of victory for the forces of Gen- eral Harrison. The naval victories for Ameri- cans on the lakes and one or two victories on

land, finally terminated the struggle, and the Ohio troops returned to their homes; in which triumphant return Coshocton county had her share of rejoicings.

During the war, when our forces were defeated at the Michigan frontier, it was rumored that the Indians were coming to this section of country to massacre and burn. Word was sent all along the line of the Walhonding and Muskingum rivers to the homes of the scattered settlers; most of whom were left unprotected, the hus- bands and sons being at the frontier.

The alarm thus sounded caused great conster- nation and there was a hasty gathering of friends and families into the various block-houses that were scattered through the country, awaiting the approach of the enemy. The feeling that pre- vailed at that time, and the sensations of terror experienced, are better portrayed in the language of one of the ministers of that day, whose mission . it was to comfort and console the terror-stricken in the day of trouble, than by the pen of the his- torian of to-day. Rev. H. Calhoun writes of that period in a short historical sketch as follows:

The war of 1812 was severely felt upon our bor- der settlements in the west. Small and feeble vil- lages were deprived of nearly all their male inhabitants, and thus a few trembling wives and daughters and helpless boys, with here and there some decrepid and infirm old man, incapable of enduring the hardshipa of the camp, were exposed to all the cruelties of the merciless savages, mad- dened by British bounties and presents. In this situation, with many others, was Coshocton. At the cry of danger nearly every man, capable of bearing arms, volunteered for the army, bade. farewell to home and hurried away to the north- west, the scene of the greatest danger and expos- ure. There was, however, no general engage- ment in which the soldiers' valor could be tested.

As they lay encamped and inactive, perhaps dreaming of the dear ones left at home, and little knowing what might betide them, a scene occur- red of no little interest at this place, which we shall try to describe :

People left in such a defenseless state in a time of general danger, are alive to every alarm and susceptible of a thousand fears. Mothers start at every strange sound which disturbs their slumbers and hug their children closely in their embraces, and many a familiar object, at twilight, by an excited imagination, is transformed into the dark outline of a murderous savage, waiting I to spring upon his unsuspecting victim. In the

313

HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

midst of this prevalent state of suspense, the vil- lage was one day thrown into consternation by the arrival of a messenger, with terror marked in his countenance, and impatient to communi- eate the intelligence that the wilderness to the northwest, between the Tuscarawas and Wal- honding, was infested with Indians, whose mur- derous design could be nothing better than to pillage and burn. In turning attention to another part of this scene, enter a cabin and observe what is passing there. It stands far back from the river, among the thick hazel bushes which cov- ered the most of what is now the town. There might be seen the young mother, with her babe, born and bred amid the comforts of an Eastern home, now the lonely occupant of a rude cabin, her husband in a distant town, and no one to cheer her lonely hours but a poor invalid, the son of a clergyman in an eastern city, with a broken-down constitution, and he himself now suffering with the prevailing sickness of the country. Amid the general confusion and con- sternation they were forgotten, and neither heard the alarm, nor assembled with the rest at Colonel Charles Williams' at night, but slept as sweetly and safely as though nothing had occurred. The next day they heard what had been done, but thinking their own cabin as safe as any other, spent the second night as they had the first.

The day following the first alarm which we have endeavored to describe, in the afternoon, a traveler, on horseback, faint and weary, might have been seen, a little to the cast of where Newark now stands, making his way, in a road little better than an Indian trail, to Coshocton. He looked now at the declining sun, and now into the thick gloom of the forest before him, and seemed anxious to reach some fixed point cre nightfall. The time flew by, the way seemed long and the companion of his journey weary. It was late when he passed the place where Irville now stands, but he still pressed on, as though his point of destination was yet before him. Night came on and he felt he could go no farther, and alighted at a solitary cabin, in the midst of the wilderness. As he went in, a stranger, there for the night, recognized him and asked if he was not from Coshocton ? He re- plied that he was; upon which he told him the startling news; the alarms of Indians; the mo- mentary expectation of an attack, and that troops had been sent for, to Zanesville. The emotions of our traveler are better imagined than tokl. He thought no more of his own fatigue, or that of his horse; ordered him fed and, with as little delay as possible, was again on his way. It could not be expected that a father and a husband would sleep there, while his family were in such peril. No ordinary feelings agitated his heart, as he rode on through the dark, dense forest, and thought of his wife and

child as captives in the hands of the Indians, or the victims of the tomakawk.

A bright moon rode the heavens above him and enabled him to discern his way. Suddenly he emerged from the wood into a small clearing, which had been deserted by some unfortunate settler, and to his utter consternation as he sup- posed, found himself in the midst of Indians eneamped for the night. By the uncertain light of the moon, he could see one and another scat- tered thick over the clearing, startled from slun- ber by his unexpected appearance among them. In a moment, for there was no time to lose, he resolved not to return, but press his way through them and trust to the fleetness of his horse to make good his escape. To go back or forward seemed alike dangerous. Judge now of his sur- prise and joy, as he dashed into their midst, to find what his excited imagination had worked up into an encampment and the figures of dark and murderous savages, was only a herd of peaceful cattle that had been grazing in the woods, and had come out into the opening, as is their custom, to sleep at night. Recovering gradually from his fright, he now rode along, only taking the pre- caution to provide himself with a good hickory club, his only means of defense in case of emerg- eney. As he thought over his own alarm and the ease with which in the excited state of the public mind false alarms might be raised, he could not but hope that the Indians who had been reported as threatening ruin to his own home, might prove as harmless as those he had just encountered.

By noon of night, he arrived at a well-known place of entertainment, on the banks of the Mus- kingum some five miles above where Dresden now stands. Here he found his hopes more than re- alized. The kind host informed him that the alarm had all proved false; the troops had re- turned to Zanesville after committing various depredations upon the poultry and eattle by the way, and the inhabitants had returned to their homes. He accordingly, having fought his own battle with his imaginary foes, and feeling dis- posed to let the women and children defend them- selves from theirs; for the rest of the night at least, retired for the night.

The settlers of Coshocton county mainly con- gregated, during this seare, in the house of Charles Williams, except those in the far northwestern section of the county, who generally flocked to a large block house that had been built during the war at what is now the village of New Castle in New Castle township.

A small portion of the citizens of Coshocton county, among others, Levi and George Magness, were with the American army, on the Canadian side of the line, under Generals Scott and Brown.

314

HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

WAR WITH MEXICO.

Causes of the War-Muster Roll of Captain Meredith's Com- pany-The Third Ohio Regiment-Its Operations in the Field-The Fourth Ohio Regiment and its Services-Close of the War.

ITEXAS, when a province of Mexico, comprised all that section of country extending to the Indian Territory on the north, and from this line northwest to the line of Oregon Territory, on the Pacific coast, including what is now the States of California and Nevada, with the adjacent country, embraced in the territorial limits of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and part of Montana ; also a portion of what is now the State of Colorado. Texas had been largely populated by Americans even as a Mexican province, and the question of what was the western boundary of Texas, was a subject upon which this country became agitated early in its history.

The martial element that was developed by the successful issue of the Revolutionary war, and to which was given a fresh impetus by the magnifi- cent victories of the War of 1812; bred a host of adventurous spirits, who in times of peace rushed to the frontier borders of the country with such sensitive conceptions of what was due to the national honor, that the conflict hung like an impending cloud o'er the border land long be- fore the agitation culminated in what is known as the Mexican War. Texas had made herself an independent State by a successful rebellion against Mexico, as the United States had done against England. As a part of Mexico, those best versed in the merits of the case gave assur. ances that the Rio Grande was the original west- ern boundary of Texas; annexed to the United States in the year 1845 by virtue of her own pe- tition, the attempts of the Mexican government to ignore this legitimate western boundary, led · to the conflict, declaration of war, and a call for 50,000 volunteers. An appropriation by Con- gress of $10,000,000 was placed at the disposal of President James K. Polk to sustain the army and prosecute the war.

State, the call aroused that dormant warlike spirit of a generation that had been reared upon a fireside love for the tales of battles their sires had fought, and, consequently, the numbers of volunteers were far in excess of the requirements of the call.

The successful company from Coshocton county,

over 110 strong, was officered as follows:

Jesse Meredith, Captain.

J. M. Love, First Lieutenant (afterwards Cap- tain.

S. B. Crowley, Second Lieutenant.

J. B. Crowley, First Sergeant.

Corbin Darne, Second Sergeant.

Rolla Banks, Third Sergeant.

B. F. Sells, First Corporal.

Patterson, Second Corporal.

It left the Roscoe side of the river aboard of two canal boats on the 5th day of June, 1846.

Two days later it arrived at Zanesville and en- camped on Putnam Hill, and, on the 7th day of June, took steamboat via the Muskingum and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati, and cncamped at Camp Washington, five miles west of Cincinnati on the 10th of June. Here it remained until July 1 when it was mustered into service and became a part of the Third Regiment Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, and was known as company " B."

At the close of the first year of the war this reg- iment, with the First and Second Ohio, were mustered out of the service, as their term of en- listment had expired. On their return trip they met the second Coshocton company, which was then on its way to the seat of war. This company was recruited and organized by James Irvine, of Coshocton, who is now residing in Coshocton county, and an active member of its bar. He was promoted to a colonelcy during the late war of the rebellion. Captain James Irvine enlisted a portion only of his company in Coshocton county. He secured, by May, 1847, an organiza- tion, and marched his company to Zanesville, taking steamboat from thence to Cincinnati, where they were mustered into service, becom- ing part of the Fourth Ohio, commanded by Colonel Charles H. Brugh, and known as Com- pany "G."

In "Camp Washington," at the first call for

Ohio furnished 5,536 volunteers, and 2,321 reg- ulars. In Coshocton county, as elsewhere in the | volunteers, were large numbers of men, from

Jo, nicholas

817

HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

Cincinnati, determined to enlist, who, from the proximity of that city to this general rendez- vous for Ohio volunteers, were in camp and un- der drill a much longer period than many others; when the discovery was made that the number of volunteers far exceeded the requirements, these men mutinied, and for a time the unusual occur- rence was presented of men ready to fight for the privilege of being enrolled for the fatigues and dangers of war.

The Third Ohio, in whose record Coshocton county was a sharer, was placed aboard a steam- boat bound for New Orleans, July 3, 1846. Com- pany B suffered the first loss, by the death of one of their number, in the person of George Hitel- ens, who fell overboard and was drowned. On the Sth day of July a stop was made at Baton Rouge, where the regiment was equipped with arms and ammunition. Arriving at Camp Jack- son on the 10th, the troops encamped on the memorable battle-field of "Old Hickory," six miles below New Orleans.

The regiment was finally shipped on two old merchant vessels for Brazos Santiago, being eight days making the voyage, encountering very stormy weather, arriving safely, however, and going into camp with 3,000 regular and volun- teer troops. At this camp Company B lost an- other member, John Darne, who died on the 29th day of July. On the 30th, the Third Ohio took up the line of march for the Rio Grande, and on the 2d day of August arrived at Camp Bareto. At this point Company B was again unfortunate in the death of Samuel Miller, he being the third citizen of Coshocton county who had fallen ere the breath of battle had crowned the company. On the 4th of August the regiment embarked for Matamoras, and on the 5th entered and took possession of Camp " Paredes," on Mexican soil. On the 12th march was made to Camp MeCook, from which point the regiment garrisoned the city of Matamoras until September 3. During the interval from the 6th of August to February 2, 1847, Company B lost, by sickness and death, A. J. Darling, William Gardner, Henry Brown, Charles Wright and Joseph Parker. October 27, 1846, Captain Jesse Meredith resigned and left for home, and Lieutenant J. M. Love was pro- moted to the captainey.

February 2, 1847, the regiment was ordered for- ward, and on the 13th arrived at Camargo, situated on the bank of the San Joan river. At Fort Ca- margo the government kept and furnished sup- plies to General Taylor's army, having steamboat navigation from that point to the gulf. The regi- ment remained as garrison troops at this point until March 7, when they were relieved and or- dered to the front in the vicinity of Monterey. While on this march to Monterey, the Third Ohio had its first conflict with the enemy. The Mexi- cans, under General Urea, were skirmishing around them but not coming into close conflict until the 16th, when the regiment defeated and pursued them to Caderreda ; and on the 18th, after a forced march of forty miles, reached the camp at Walnut Springs, just outside the city limits of Monterey. The regiment here spent three days gazing upon the heights over which General Worth's gallant troops had swept, and upon Bish- op's Palace, which had been so heroically stormed when Monterey had been compelled to surrender to the valor of American sokliers. They were then ordered forward on the 21st to Saltillo, to join the forces of General Taylor. On the 24th the regiment joined General Taylor's forces and went into camp on the battle field of Buena Vis- ta. Here the regiment remained until May IS, when it was ordered to the gulf; while en route, Robert Harbison died and lies buried at a little town called Mear. On the 9th of June, it em- barked for New Orleans, arriving there on the 13th, and on the 20th was mustered out of service and arrived at home July 5, 1847.

While this regiment, with its Coshocton com- pany, was returning from the field of action, the Fourth Ohio, with another Coshocton company, left Cincinnati on steamboat for New Orleans, and at that point shipped on sailing vessels over the Gulf to Point Isabel. Point Isabel was the base of supplies first established by General Tay- lor in March, 1846, and was strengthened again in April and made a permanent point of opera- tions during the entire war. It was situated on Brazos Island, near the mouth of the Rio Grande. The regiment after debarkation marched imme- diately to the Rio Grande and re-embarked on steamboats for Matamoras, twenty-five miles by land from Point Isabel, but following the winding

318

HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

course of the Rio Grande was ninety miles. The regiment was retained at Matamoras, doing gar- rison duty, until September 7. During this en- tire time they were clamorous for removal and orders to the front, but the citizens of Matamo- ras were equally clamorous for the retention of the Ohio men, as they were fearful of being gar- risoned by Texan forces, who, influenced by the hatred developed by the border struggles, were less careful of the interests of the Mexican citi- zens than their more distant and Northern com- rades. September 7, orders were received to re- embark for Point Isabel, and on reaching there, to ship via the Gulf to Vera Cruz. Vera Cruz had been invested on the 9th of March, 1847, by the army of General Scott. It was defended on the water side by the castle of San Juan d' Ulloa, but after four days bombardment capitulated, and on the 27th surrendered, and from that time became the seaport avenue to the capital city of Mexico. The Fourth Ohio, at this point, was as- signed to General Joe Lane's brigade in the di- vision under command of General Robert Pat- terson, of Philadelphia. General Patterson is still living in the Quaker city; and General Lane, commander of the brigade, was afterwards Sena- tor Joseph Lane, of Oregon.

The brigade immediately took up the line of March for the City of Mexico. While en route, they came upon a small force of four hundred regulars, commanded by Major Lally, who were holding the National Bridge against a foree of several thousand Mexicans. The Fourth Ohio received orders, as advance guard, to assist Major Lally and, attacking the Mexicans in the rear, de- feated them, after a severe skirmish. This engage- ment was the "baptism of fire" for the Coshoc- ton boys of this regiment, and quite a number were severely wounded.

The march was resumed, and the next engage- ment was at Huamantla. In this conflict the Fourth Ohio was assigned the duty of rear guard, with control of prisoners. While in this position, Major Iturbide, the son of the old Em- peror of the Mexicans, with a large number of prisoners, was brought to the rear, and imme- diately inquired of Captain James Irvine, in whose hands they were placed, what forces had charge of the prisoners? When he answered,

the Fourth Ohio, he remarked they were safe, and gave further explanation in the statement that Captain Walker, the celebrated Texan ranger, had been killed in the engagement, and the Texan soldiers were so beside themselves with rage, that they gave no quarter, and even the prisoners would not be safe in their hands. Colonel Samuel H. Walker was a representative of an element that was not so much Americau as Texan; the commander of Texan rangers, he was at the head of a body of men who were noted for their absolute disregard of danger, and fully deserved his position as commandant, by virtue of deeds of daring and nerve that made even his brave comrades willing to follow him. It is written of him, by Lieutenant W. G. Moseley, Company G, Third United States Dragoons, that he performed the feat of climbing to the top of an almost inaccessable peak, and planted thereon the American flag, as follows:

On the right, in its silent and imposing gran- deur of repose, ever inaccessible by the frightful chasms and tottering glaciers which surround its summit, stands the eternal snow capped peak of Orizola, in its bleak and solitary pride, towering 17,500 feet in the blue vault of heaven; its snowy head is the first object the mariner sees on ap- proaching; grateful, cool and refreshing it ever seems whether at sea or on land. And still to the right where the cyclopean demon of Mexican mythology writhes in his agony and wrath, belch- ing forth huge volumes of fire, stone and lava, stands the "Coffre de Perote." Though much more insignificant than his more august neigh- bor, yet the peak of Perote is more remarkable and interesting in history and romance. It was there the gallant and lamented Captain Samuel H. Walker, the famous quondam Texan scout, in a spirit of chivalry equal to the adventurous Balboa, clambered to its highest accessible point, even to the " hole in the rock," and there planted the starry banner of his country.

After the engagement at Huamantla, the brigade again took up the line of march for the capital city. Arriving at Jalapa, the brigade halted long enough to make a huge bonfire of all baggage that was not indispensable on the march from Jalapa to the capital city. A forced march was then made from this city to Pueblo, where Colonel Childs, with the small force of reg- ulars constituting the garrison, was defending the city and its hospitals, in which were 1,800

319

HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

sick and disabled soldiers, from a large besieging force of Mexicans, under General Santa Anna.

In order to fully comprehend the condition of affairs at this point, and to obtain the full meed of honor that crowned the Fourth Ohio and its Co- shoeton county boys, it will be well to review the stirring events that had been transpiring during the march of General Lane's brigade from the Gulf to Pueblo, just in time to strike the closing blow of this brilliant struggle. To reach the capital of the Mexican Empire, a military force could approach only by causeways which led over swampy marshes and across the beds of by-gone lakes. Each termination of a causeway was sur- mounted by a massive gateway strongly en- trenehed and defended; of this nature were the positions of Contreras, San Antonio and Molino del Rey on one side of the city, while in front of the city were the powerful defenses of Churubusco and Chapultepec. These various positions, the pride of the Mexican Empire, were not only thus strongly entrenched, but were held by a dis- tributed force of 30,000 Mexicans, under the com- mand of General Santa Anna. On the 20th of August the forces under General Scott com- menced the attack upon these various positions, and one after another fell; first, Contreras, from which, in seventeen minutes, 6,000 Mexicans were routed ; in a few hours later San Antonio fell, and then the heights of Churubusco, while finally the United States forces, under Generals Shields and Pierec, defeated Santa Anna's reserves. These victories were followed on the 8th of September by the storming and capture of Molino del Rey, Casa de Mata and the western defenses of Chapul- tepee, and on the 13th the citadel itself was carried by storm, and the conquering forces swept into the city. General Santa Anna fled by night from the city, with defeat and disaster enfolding him as the clouds of night. The character of these victories may be illustrated by a brief summary of one assault, that of Chapultepec, as set forth from portions of the official report of General John A. Quitman.

the hands of a pioneer storming party of select men, from the volunteer division. under com- mand of Captain RoynokIs, of the Marine Corps, to accompany the storming party of one hun- dred and twenty men, which had been selected from all corps of the same division, under com- mand of Major Twiggs, of the Marines. These storming parties, led by the gallant officers who Ind volunteered for this desperate service, rushed forward like a resistless tide.

The Mexicans, behind their batteries and breastworks, stood with more than usual firm- ness. For a short time the contest was hand to hand; swords and bayonets were crossed, and rifles clubbed. Resistance, however, was vain against the desperate valor of our brave troops. The batteries and strong works were carried, and the ascent of Chapultepec on that side laid open to an casy conquest. In these works were taken seven pieces of artillery, one thousand muskets, and two hundred and fifty prisoners, of whom one hundred were officers-among them one general and ten colonels.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 53

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co. Number of Pages: 854

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854