History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 56

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 56

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rain descended, the Federal commanders were busy in making preparations for resuming the contest. Colonel Ammen, of the Twenty-fourth, commanding a brigade, was placed on the ex- treme left.

communication, regarding the Twenty- fourth Ohio at this time, says :

On April 7, the Twenty-fourth Ohio was en- gaged all day in battle, and not only sustained its former reputation, but added " new laurels." A Coshocton boy, writing from the battlefield, re- ports :

" It was terrible. On Sunday our army was pushed from disaster to disaster, till we lost every division camp we had, and were driven within a half mile of the landing, when the approach of night, the timely aid of the gunboats, and the tremendous efforts of our artillery, with the timely arrival of Buell's forces, saved us. On Monday, after nine hours of hard fighting, we re- gained the ground we had lost on Sunday. Not a division advanced a half mile beyond our old old camp except Lew Wallace's. An officer of the New Orleans Creole Battalion, taken prisoner, says: 'Beauregard made a speech on Saturday, before the battle, in which he tokl them the re- sult was sure; they could not fail; they wouldl capture Grant's army and whip Buell and then hold their railroads. If they lost the day they might lay down their arms and go home.' Our forces were thirty-five thousand strong. A rebel quartermaster, who was taken prisoner, says that rations for ninety thousand men were issued be- fore they left Corinth."

The casualties to Company K, Twenty-fourth Ohio, as furnished from the report of Sergeant W. H. Knowlden, are as follows: Slightly wounded, Captain T. McClure, William Douglass, Samuel Decamp, Corporal A. D. Garven, Jacob Stricker, Matthew Campbell, David L. Norris, Chauncey Trimble; missing, John E. Waggoner and Joseph Wackerly. It is believed that none of the wounds are mortal, and the boys have every attention and comfort it is possible to be- stow.

The results were so dependent upon the per- formance of the Ohio troops in the field that Goy- ernor Tod sent a congratulatory address to them, and, as the Twenty-fourth Ohio was entitled to her share, it is hereby appended, as follows :

To the Ohio Troops engaged in the recent Battle of Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee :

In behalf of the loyal citizens of the State you love so much, I tender their profound thanks for

the gallantry, courage and endurance you have displayed. Thank God, from the best informa- tion in our possession, we are able to claim that Ohio soldiers all did their duty. Those yet in the field, we are sanguine, will avenge the deaths of their brave comrades who fell on the 6th and 7th. On, then, gallant volunteers of Ohio, and win new laurels for our State. With one heart the friends you left at home are caring, as Ohio mothers, wives, sisters, brothers and fathers, know how to care, for their sick and wounded husbands, sons and brothers.

The Twenty-fourth Ohio took part in most of the skirmishes between Pittsburgh Landing and Corinth, and was one of the first regiments that entered the latter place. It was with the army in the pursuit of the enemy in North Missis- sippi and North Alabama, and in July was en- camped at MeMinnville, Tennessee. It left that place September 3, 1862, and returned to Louis- ville, Kentucky, with the army, during General Bragg's invasion, having a long, dusty, and greatly dispiriting march. In October, 1862, it was assigned to the Fourth Division, Twenty-first Army Corps. It was at the battle of Perryville, but, being on the extreme right, did not take part in the general engagement. It then moved in pursuit of the retreating rebels, and on the abandonment of the chase in the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky, it marched to Nashville. When, in December, 1862, General Rosecrans ad- vanced from Nashville, the Twenty-fourth Ohio was reduced by sickness and desertion to thirteen officers and three hundred and forty men. Com- pany A, however, was on detached duty. With this strength it went into the battle of Stone River. Its loss was heavy, the regiment having been assigned an important position, and having held it faithfully. Tuesday, December 30, the corps commanders met at the headquarters of General Rosecrans, who explained to them his plan of battle. General McCook (commanding the right, with the divisions of Johnson, Davis, and Sheridan.) was to hold his position firmly, if attacked ; if not, he was to threaten the rebel left sufficiently to hold all the rebel forces in his front. General Thomas (commanding the center, with Rousseau's and Negley's divisions,) was to open the battle with skirmishing, pushing for- ward his forces toward the river. General Crit-

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tenden (commanding the left, with Van Cleve's, Woods' and Palmer's divisions,) was to cross at the ford, gain possession of the hill, and, followed up by General Thomas, with the center, push back the rebel right, gain their flank, and then advance on Murfreesboro. The Twenty-fourth Ohio was in Palmer's division.

General McCook's brigades failed to hold their position, and the brunt of the fight came upon the center and left, until General Rosecrans had formed a new line of battle. The Twenty-fourth Ohio lead the advance of Palmer's division, which fought with truly chivalrous courage. Palmer's position was on the Cedar Grove road. In front of him was an open field, in the center of which stood the remains of a brick house. This house formed the center of one of the most sanguinary conflicts of the field. General Palmer ordered an advance on the burnt house to be lead by Briga- dier General Cruft. Issuing from the woods, he drove the rebel skirmishers before him, and gained possession of a fence, which served as some protection to his line. The enemy imme- diately charged upon him with desperate, but, unavailing effort. Again and again they re- newed the charge. For half an hour these waves of battle swept the plain, each time checked by a volley which no flesh and blood could withstand. The rebels were finally repulsed. General Cruft followed up his success by charging in his turn and gaining possession of the brick house. This final charge has been pronounced the most dar- ing exploit of the day. The Twenty-fourth Ohio was in this entire struggle, losing one-fourth of the force of officers and men with which it went into battle.

enemy in the affair at Taylor's Ridge, near Ring- gold.

It was then assigned to the Second Division, Fourth Army Corps, and was in an engagement near Dalton, with a loss of two killed and eight wounded. In April, 1864, the Twenty-fourth was sent to Chattanooga to await orders for muster- ing out. June 15, it received orders to proceed to Columbus for that purpose ; and June 24 it was mustered out and discharged.

Company D, of the Twenty-fourth, re-enlisted as veteran volunteers, to serve during the war.

The colors of the regiment were presented to the State, to be placed in the archives for preser- vation, Colonel A. T. M. Cockerill turning them over with a few pertinent remarks. In response, Governor Brough said :

Colonel, officers and soldiers of Twenty-fourth, I thank you in behalf of the people of the State of Ohio, not only for the colors, but for having borne theni so nobly and gallantly as you have through- out the three years service. They come worn and tattered ; but there is not a rent in them that is not honorable, and an emblem of your bravery and gallantry. No regiment that has gone from Ohio has endured hardships with greater cheer- fulness or more nobly discharged its duties. I shall place these banners in the archives of the State as historie mementoes worthy of any peo- ple. Again, soldiers, I thank you.

These flags had been presented to the regiment -the regimental flag by General Jacob Ammen, then its colonel, and the national colors by the Sixth Ohio, better known as the "Guthrie Grays," of Cincinnati. The flag from the Sixth Ohio bears this inscription: "The Sixth Ohio to the Twenty-fourth Ohio; Shiloh, April 7, 1862," and was presented to the regiment during the siege of Corinth by the late lamented General Willian Nelson, then commmander of the Fourth Divi- sion Army of the Ohio (to which both regiments at that time belonged), in behalf of the officers and men of the Sixth.

Numerous promotions now occurred to fill the sad vacancies thus caused. The Twenty-fourth was next in the affair at Woodbury, Tennessee, January 24, 1863, but its loss here was small. After a long rest through the spring and sum- mer, it advanced with the army on Tullahoma, .and was on duty at Manchester, Tennessee, until These flags have passed through the bloody fields of Pittsburgh Landing and Stone River, where Colonel Fred Jones, Lieutenant Colonel Terry, Major Weller and Captain Harmon scaled their devotion to their country with their hearts' blood. They were in the brilliant dash at Wood- the advance on Chattanooga. It was in the en- gagement at Lookout Mountain ; also, in the bat- tle of Chickamauga, with a loss of Captains Wads- worth and Dryden killed, together with a large number of men. The regiment was next in the battle of Mission Ridge, and in the pursuit of the | bury ; in the terrible strife at Chickamauga, where

"Kisson-Dat.

RESIDENCE OF ISRAEL DILLIN, WALNUT STREET, COSHOCTON.

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

Wadsworth and Dryden fell in the nation's cause. They waved through the fierce struggle for the possession of Lookout Mountain, and the gallant charge on Mission Ridge. They were borne in the murderous assault on Taylor's Ridge at Ringgold ; and last, but not least, in the bold reconnoissance of the gallant Palmer, so stub- bornly resisted by the enemy, at Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Face Ridge. At Stone River, the battle-ax was shot from the staff, and two balls passed through the staff. The holes made by twenty-three distinct bullets at Stone River may be seen in the flag itself. Three color sergeants of the regiment were killed and seven severely wounded while bravely carrying their standards in the front line of battle. Two of them were killed at Stone River within five minutes of each other, and one at Chickamauga.

December 13, 1861, the Thirty-second, under command of Captain Hamilton, accompanied General Milroy in his advance on Camp Alle- gheny. In his report, General Milroy compli- mented the regiment very highly on its gallantry and good conduct in its charge into the camp of the enemy. They captured the provision depot of the rebel camp at Huntersville, which con- tained a large amount of provisions, and disposed of it in as speedy a manner as possible by burn- ing both provisions and town. The loss of the regiment in this affair was four killed and four- teen wounded, some severely. On the return from this expedition it was ordered to Beverly, where it remained the rest of that severe winter. The time was profitably'spent in still further dis- ciplining and organizing the regiment. Some changes took place in the official roster of the regiment, and also in the Coshocton company, K, from which Captain Stanley resigned, and First Lieutenant C. C. Nichols was promoted to the captaincy, while Adjutant Jack was made First Lieutenant. Still retained in General Milroy's command, the regiment took the advance of the expedition made about the Ist of May, 1862, to near Buffalo Gap, seven miles from Staunton, Virginia. The enemy was met at this point, and, after some severe fighting, the national forces fell back on the main army, camped at MeDow- ell, in the Bull Pasture valley, where Generals Schenck and Milroy had united their forces,

numbering about 7,000 men. The rebel general, Stonewall Jackson, advanced against the national forces on the 8th day of May, and was met on the side of the Bull Pasture mountain. A severe battle ensued, which lasted from 2 r. M. until dark, with varied success on either side. The national forces fell back on Franklin, West Vir- ginia, closely followed by the rebel army. In this battle the Thirty-second Ohio lost six killed and fifty-three wounded, some mortally. It was the last regiment to leave the field. Lieutenant C. Fugate, of Company E, a young officer of fine promise, was among the mortally wounded. He died at Franklin five days after the battle.

On the 12th of May Major General Fremont, commanding the mountain department, effected a junction with Generals Schenck and Milroy, bringing with him about twelve thousand men. Before this junction, however, the rebel General Jackson had retired from the national front. The combined national forces lay at Franklin inact- ive until the 25th of May when they were ordered to the support of General Banks, then operating in the Shenandoah valley against the rebel army under Jackson. While the army was in camp at Franklin the Thirty-second was transferred from Milroy's to Schenck's brigade, composed of the Thirty-second, Fifty-fifth, Seventy-third, Seventy- fifth and Eighty-second Ohio volunteer infantry. In Fremont's pursuit of Jackson up the Shenan- doah valley the Thirty-second bore its part, and participated in the battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic, on the 8th and 9th days of June, 1862. The regiment returned to Strausburg about the last of June, was transferred to Piatt's brigade and moved to Winchester, Virginia, July 5, 1862. It remained at Winchester doing garrison duty until the Ist of September, the day the place was evacuated by General White, when the regiment moved with the brigade to Harper's Ferry and assisted in the defense of that place. After mak- ing a hard fight and losing one hundred and fifty of its number, the regiment, with the whole com- mand was surrendered by the commanding offi- cer of the post to the enemy as prisoners of war. The history of this unaccountable affair is yet to be written. The Thirty-second was paroled and sent to Annapolis, Maryland, from whence it was transferred to Chicago, Illinois. In the defense of

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Harper's Ferry the regiment lost some gallant officers and brave men. At Chicago the regiment became almost completely demoralized.

It had not been paid for eight months, and many of the men took "French leave," and went home to look after their families. Captain B. F. Potts was sent to Columbus to ask Governor Tod to procure an order from the War Depart- ment transferring the regiment to Camp Taylor, near Cleveland. This application was successful, and the Thirty-second, or what was left of it, thirty-five men, arrived at Camp Taylor Decem- ber I, 1862. December 2, Captain B. F. Potts was appointed by Governor Tod, Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, and that energetic ofli- cer went immediately to work "reconstructing " the command. Within ten days, order pre- vailed, and eight hundred men had reported for duty, and Third Sergeant E. W. James was made captain of Company K. This happy result was not attained, however, without decisive action in the case of several officers who were charged with inciting dissaffection and revolt among the men. Secretary Stanton of the War Office, or- dered their instant dismissal, which was consu- mated on the 23d of December, 1862. The men were paid in full, and on the 12th of January, I863, declared to be exchanged.

January 18, orders were received to proceed to Memphis and report to Major General U. S. Grant, then commanding the Department of the Tennessee. January 25 the regiment reached Memphis, and was assiged to Logan's Division, Seventh Army Corps, commanded by Major General J. B. Mc Pherson.

February 20, the Thirty-second moved with the army to Lake Providence, Louisiana, and during the campaign against Vicksburg, took a prominent part in the gallant achievments of the Third Division, Seventeenth Army Corps. At the battle of Champion Hills, the Thirty-second made a bayonet charge and captured the First Mississippi rebel battery-men, guns and horses -with a loss of twenty-four men. For this gal- lant achievement, the captured battery was turned over to the regiment and manned by Company F, during the entire siege of Vieskburg. The total loss of the regiment, during the cam- paign around Vicksburg, was two hundred and

twenty-five, rank and file. It participated in the battles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson. Cham- pion Hills; was in the extreme front of Logan's division, when Vicksburg surrendered, and was assigned to post duty under General Logan.

In Angust, 1863, the regiment accompanied Stevenson's expedition to Monroe, Louisiana, and McPherson's expedition to Brownsville, Missis- sippi, in October of the same year. It was also with Sherman, in February, 1864, at Meridian, and lost twenty-two men at Boher's creek, Mis- sissippi, February 5, 1864, in which last affair Captain W. A. MeCallister was severely wounded, while gallantly leading the advance.

Colonel Potts had been assigned to the com- mand of the Second Brigade, Third Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, in the autumn of 1863, and was therefore but seldom in command of the regiment. In December and January, 1863-4, more than three-fourths of the regiment re- enlisted as veterans, and on the 4th of March, 1864, it was furloughed home. It rejoined the army at Cairo, Illinois, on the 21st of April, with its ranks largely augmented by recruits. April 27 the regiment embarked at Cairo, with its di- vision and corps, on transports, landing at Clifton. From thenee it marched to Acworth, Georgia, where it joined General Sherman, June 10, 1864. The Thirty-second was identified with the move- ments of the Seventeenth Army Corps in Sher- man's advance against Atlanta; participated in the assault on Kenesaw Mountain, June 27, 1864, and Nicojack Creek, near Howell's Ferry, on the Chattahoochee river, July 10, 1864.

In The Age, of July 23, the following letter from one of the Coshocton boys engaged in the above mentioned battles, is published :

CAMP NEAR CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER, GEORGIA, July 13, 1864.

EDITOR AGE :- I herewith transmit to you, for publication, the following copy of a highly com- plimentary order published to Third Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, on the occasion of the transfer of the Thirty-second Regiment O. V. I., to the Fourth Division of the same corps :

HEADQUARTERS THIRD DIVISION SEVENTEENTH ARMY CORPS, IN THE FIELD, GEORGIA, July 10, 186-4.

SPECIAL FIELD ORDER No. 44. - IV. The Thirty-second Veteran Volunteer Infantry, hay- Ting been transferred from this command, the

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

general commanding takes pleasure in express- ing to them and the command, his high apprecia- tion of their gallant conduct on many a hard- fought field, and soldierly conduct on the march. With such courageous men and brave officers it is only necessary to meet the enemy in order to add another to the long list of glorious vietories for the Union. Obeying the order as a good sol- dier, the general commanding parts with the fighting Thirty-second with regret.

By order of Brigadier-General Leggett.

J. C. DOUGLAS, 1. A. G.

The health of the regiment is good. Company K has not suffered very severely during this campaign, having lost but three men up to date. Yours, etc., J. İI. P., Company K. Thirty-second O. V. I.

July 20, 21, 22 and 28, the Thirty-second was engaged before Atlanta, and lost more than half its number in killed and wounded.

After the fall of Atlanta, the Thirty-second moved with the army in pursuit of Hood, after which it rejoined General Sherman, and accom- panied him on his "March to the Sea."

December 10, 1864, the Thirty-second was in advance of the army, and contributed its share toward driving the enemy into his works at Savannah. In this expedition the Savannah and Charleston railroad was cut, thus destroying the enemy's communication with Charleston. Deceni- ber 21, the regiment entered Savannah with the army, and went into camp near Fort Thunder- bolt. After the review, by General Sherman, of the whole army, the Seventeenth Army Corps went by transport to Beaufort, South Carolina; thence to Pocotaligo Station, on the Savannah and Charleston railroad. February 1, 1865, the regiment moved with the army through the Caro- linas, and, with the Thirteenth Iowa, was the first regiment to enter Columbia. Colonel Hibbetts, with a mounted detachment of the regiment, entered and captured Fayetteville, North Caro- lina, March 10, 1865, after a severe fight with Wade Hampton's Cavalry.

March 20 and 21, it was engaged with the enemy at Bentonville, North Carolina. The regi- ment came out of the woods to see their friends at Goldsboro, moved with the army to Raleigh, North Carolina, and was present at the surrender of Johnson's army, May 1, 1865. It marched | Crawford was appointed chairman of the meet-

with the army through Richmond, Virginia, to Washington City, where it participated in the grand review before President Johnson and Cabi- net.

The regiment remained in camp, near Wash- ington, until June 8, 1865, when it took the cars for Louisville. It lay there until July 20, when it was mustered out of the service, and proceeded to Columbus, Ohio, at which place the men re- ceived their final discharge, July 26, 1865. .

The Thirty-second entered the field September 15, 1861, 950 strong, and, during the war, received 1,600 recruits. Only five hundred and sixty-five remained at its muster out.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

WAR OF THE REBELLION-CONTINUED.

Fifty-first Regiment-Muster Rolls-Its Operations in the Field.

T THE return of the three months' men was the signal for an earnest canvass for three years troops, and many of the boys obtained eommis- sions to raise companies.

The Age says :

Captain John D. Nicholas is now engaged in re-organizing Company A, Sixteenth regiment, for three years serviee. D. W. Marshall, Adju- tant Sixteenth regiment, O. V. I., has been ap- pointed a captain, with power to raise a company for three years' service. He is now recruiting and can be found at the Tidball House, where his headquarters are located.

Public meetings were hehl all over the county, to assist and encourage enlistment.

The _Ige, August 22, 1861, says :

A rousing Union meeting was held at Chili on the 13th. There were nearly a thousand per- sons present. A large delegation of ladies, with their escorts, from Keene, was escorted into the village by Captain Joseph Shook's company. The ladies wore aprons representing our national colors, azure field and white stars covering the breast, and the graceful folls of the apron show- ing the stripes of white and red. The crowd re- paired to a beautiful grove near the village, where a table and seats had been prepared. Scott R.

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

ing, who introduced R. Lanning and A. J. Wil- kin, who made strong Union speeches and urged the boys to enlist.

In the same edition, the Age says:

At Bedford, at the same time, an immense meeting was held. The ladies had prepared a free dinner for the volunteers and all present; over a thousand people ate dinner upon the ground. Short speeches were made by Sandford McNeal (a volunteer). John D. Nicholas and M. B. Wood. They all breathed words of earnest patriotism, and urged the support of war meas- ures by enlistment.

The five companies that were raised in Coshoc- ton county by this general enthusiasm were all assigned to the Fifty-first Ohio. Their muster rolls are as follows :

Muster roll of Company C, Fifty-first Ohio. OFFICERS.

B. F. Heskett, Captain-

Allen Gaskill. First Lieutenant. James Stonehocker, Second Lieutenant. John Q. Winklepleck, First Sergeant. Lester P. Emmerson, Second Sergeant. William H. Lyons, Third Sergeant. Thomas Rodgers, Fourth Sergeant. Philip Everhart, Fifth Sergeant. Robert B. Ford, First Corporal. William Hawk, Second Corporal. Milton H. Holliday, Third Corporal. William Stonebrook, Fourth Corporal. William J. Norris, Fifth Corporal. Lewis M. Higbee, Sixth Corporal. Wesley Barge, Seventh Corporal. Albert Dent, Eighth Corporal.

James M. Emerson and Chapman Burr, Mu- sicians.

Isaac Norris, Wagoner.

Privates-T. Burkshire, J. W. Bremer, C. W. Burch, A. Babcock, M. Burr, J. P. Carr, J. A. Carr, S. M. Childs, D. Carnahan. J. Carruthers, E. Cutehall, W. Crogan, A. H. Cosgrave, T. Cosgrave, W. Davis, R. Dewalt, P. Dickey, W. Engle, J. Fer- rell, H. Ford, J. Ginther, A. Graham. J. Gray, J. Goodhue, E. Grewell, D. Grewell, J. J. Honn, J. H. Honn, J. A. Honald, W. H. Hardy, J. Har- bold, B. Hevalow, G. Hursley, G. Huston, G. W. [

Long, N. Landers, J. Long, L. Mowder, W. Mc- Fee, S. Miller, J. Miller, M. Norris, M. V. Narg- rey, J. W. Neighbor, J. B. Norris, W. Norris, J. Norris, D. Olinger, II. Powers, J. G. Rounbaugh, J. H. Ripley, A. M. Robinson, T. Shanon, A. Scott, T. Spakling, D. Souals, J. D. Stonehocker, F. Spalding, S. H. Spears, R. Stonchocker, M. Smith, W. Stonehocker, J. W. Sayers, G. W. Sells, J. T. Simmers, L J. Simmers, L. Steffy, C. Lonbry, C. Stewart, R. Scott, G. Snyder, W. H. Wolfe, F. Wolfe, D. L. C. Wood, M. Whellemore, G. Wise, E. Williamson and J. Wolfe.

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History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 56

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