USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 1 > Part 49
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February 6, 1864, the regiment moved to Mor- ton's Ford, on the Rapidan, crossed the river and had a skirmish with the enemy, in which seven- teen men were wounded. The next day, it returned to camp, near Stevensburg, where it
remained until the latter part of August, when it moved with the forces of Gen. Grant, participat- ing in the skirmishes and battles of that arduous campaign. In the early part of September, the term of service having expired, the main part of the regiment was mustered out. Those who had re-enlisted as veterans were retained and organ- ized into the " Fourth Ohio Battalion." To briefly sum up the movements of the Fourth Infan- try: "It marched 1,975 miles, and traveled by railroad and transport 2,279 miles, making an aggregate of 4,254 miles traveled. Through its entire career it maintained its reputation for disci- pline, efficiency in drill, and good conduct on the field of battle."* It was first brigaded with the Ninth Ohio and How's Battery, Fourth United States Artillery, in July, 1861, Col. Robert McCook commanding. In January, 1862, a new brigade was formed, consisting of the Fourth and Eighth Ohio Infantry, Clark's Battery, Fourth United States Artillery, Damm's First Virginia Battery, Robinson's and Huntington's First Ohio Batteries, known as the Artillery Brigade of Lander's Division, commanded by Col. J. S. Mason. When the division was re-organized (Gen. Shields assumed command after the death of Lander), the Fourth and Eighth Ohio, Fourteenth Indiana and Seventh Virginia Volunteers constituted the First Brigade of Shields' Division, Col. Kimball, of the Fourteenth Indiana, commanding. In 1862, Kim- ball's brigade was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac, where it was assigned to the Second Army Corps as an independent brigade. Gen. Kimball retained command of the brigade until he was wounded at Fredericksburg, where Col. Mason succeeded to the command. Gen. Mason was relieved in January, 1863, when Col. Brooks, of the Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, was assigned. In April, 1863, Col. S. S. Carroll, of the Eighth Ohio, relieved Col. Brooks, and retained command until the brigade was mustered out. Says the Delaware Gazette: " A contemporary thus remarks of the gallant Fourth : ' No better or braver regiment ever left the State to encounter the foe in this unholy rebellion than the Fourth Ohio.' Its proud record forms part of the history of the early operations in Western Virginia, and nearly all the sanguinary battle-fields upon which the Army of the Potomac has encountered the enemy. They went into the recent battles, under Grant, with 300 effective men, and came out with ninety-one." Two of the original officers of
* Reid.
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the Fourth, from this county, viz., Capt. Powell and Lieut. Jones, came out of the struggle Briga- dier Generals. The former, Gen. Powell, is more particularly noticed with the Sixty-sixth, of which regiment he was Lieutenant Colonel.
The Twentieth Infantry was the next regiment in which Delaware County was represented. Many facts pertaining to its history were contributed by Maj. C. H. McElroy, one of its original officers. The regiment was organized for the three years' service, at Camp Chase, in September, 1861. Charles Whittlesey, of Cleveland, was Colonel ; M. F. Force (now Judge), of Cincinnati, Lieutenant Colonel, and J. N. McElroy, of Delaware (now deceased), Major. Delaware County was repre- sented in the regiment by Company D, which was recruited in August, by C. H. McElroy, to the number of fifty men, with whom he reported to Col. Whittlesey, at Camp Chase, and was assigned as Company G, and mustered into the service. V. T. Hills was commissioned as Second Lieutenant, under which authority he returned to Delaware, and recruited the company to its full number, and the assignment was then made as Company D. At that time, the officers were elected by the com- panies, and, upon the organization of Company D, the officers were elected as follows : C. H. McElroy, Captain ; V. T. Hills, First Lieutenant, and Henry Sherman, Second Lieutenant.
The company soon became one of the best drilled and disciplined in the regiment. It was composed of fine material, and had the advantage possessed by but few companies in the county at that day, that of a captain who had sufficient practical military education to enable him to drill and discipline the company. When the colors were received by the regiment, the commandant designated Company D, as the best-disciplined company, to receive the colors and escort them to him, It was detailed at different times for hazard- ous and responsible duties, among them, that on board the steamer McGill with prisoners from Fort Donelson. The balance of the regiment left with prisoners on Sunday (the day of the surrender), and thus Company D was assigned to the McGill, which was the store boat, and laid alongside of Gen. Grant's boat, transferring stores and taking on prisoners, until Thursday, when, with 1,210 prisoners, including over ninety officers. and sixty- six of Company D, with its officers, without any escort or relief, the boat put down stream for Cairo. The General appreciated the risk, but could not do any better, and gave Capt. McElroy
sole command of the boat. One regiment of the prisoners had been recruited along the banks of the river, and it was believed possible to overcome the light guard, run the boat ashore, and the captives. become the captors. With a rebel pilot, and a steamboat captain in sympathy, they did succeed in running the boat ashore twice, but failed in the rest of the conspiracy, and were finally landed at Cairo. The company was relieved and ordered into quarters. While lying here, nearly the en- tire company was stricken down with diarrhoea, and some of them, among them Lieut. Hills, was seriously ill. In a few days, however, they com. menced to improve, and when Col. Force came, some ten days later, with five companies, Company D was able to join the regiment. Ambrose Cowan was the first death in the company, and died soon after the arrival at Crump's Landing ; Corporal Perfect died in camp at Pittsburg Land- ing. The company, with five other companies of the regiment, left Cairo, on board the Continental, for Pittsburg Landing, and was actively engaged there in the second day's battle. Early in the morning of the second day, Company D was sent to the point of a hill, in advance of the Federal lines, and ordered to hold the position at all hazards until the main army could come up. After the line had passed, Company D was ordered up and took its place in the ranks. From Pittsburg Landing, it, with its regiment, went to Bolivar, Tenn., and on the 30th of August, 1862, they had a severe fight there. The brigade, with a section of a battery, fought all day with fifteen regi- ments of cavalry, under the rebel Gens. Arm- strong and Jackson, and at sundown the enemy withdrew. In January, 1863, the Twentieth was in Memphis, where the Seventeenth Corps was organized under command of Gen. McPherson, and the Twentieth was in Gen. Logan's division of that corps. From there to Lake Providence, La., and thence to the rear of Vicksburg, having a severe battle at Raymond, where the Twentieth was engaged in a fire so close that muskets crossed, and many of the killed were burned with powder. L. C. Sherman was killed here, and several wounded. The regiment was constantly engaged in fights and skirmishes until the line investing Vicksburg was established. At Champion Hill, two regiments adjoining the Twentieth recoiled before a massed column of the enemy; the Twen- tieth, with ammunition nearly gone, fixed bayonets and held their ground, until the Sixty-eighth Ohio came np in support, bringing ammunition, and the
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enemy was repulsed. Capts. Hills and Virgil Williams were wounded here ; the latter afterward died from the wound. During the siege, the Twen- tieth accompanied Gen. Blair in a reconnaissance up the Yazoo River, and afterward formed a part of Gen. Sherman's army of observation, watching Gen. Johnston. After the siege, a gold medal was awarded Col. Force, and a silver medal to Private John Alexander, of Company D, for special acts of bravery. The latter was afterward wounded, and, at the same time, David W. Thomas was mortally wounded.
The regiment veteranized, and, after the expira- tion of the veteran furlough, experienced a varied service of several months, when it joined Sher- man's army on the 9th of June, 1864. On the 22d of July, the regiment was engaged in a desperate fight, being attacked in front and rear. They fought with fixed bayonets, clubbed guns, and the officers with their swords. Here McPherson fell, and Col. Force was shot in the face, and supposed at the time to be mortally wounded, but recovered. Chauncy Smith was taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville, and detained several months in that wretched hole. Although he lived until 1879, his death resulted from disease contracted there. The Twentieth was with Sherman on his march to the sea; its history from that time varying not from that of that army-some fighting, and a great deal of toil, especially through the lower part of South Carolina. With Sherman's army, the regiment marched home, passed in re- view at Washington, and was then sent to Louis- ville, Ky., and, on the 13th of July, 1865, left for Camp Chase for final muster-out. First Lieut. H. Wilson, of Company I, at the organization of the regiment, was mustered out as its Colonel. One of our best superior officers has said of this regiment : " The Twentieth Ohio was never taken by surprise, was never thrown into confusion, and never gave back under fire." It may be added, that it took every point that it was ordered to take, and held every position it was ordered to hold.
Of the field officers of the Twentieth-Col. Whittlesey resigned April 19, 1862; Lieut. Col. Force was promoted to Brigadier General for bravery in the field. Maj. J. W. McEiroy (now deceased) was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of Sixtieth Battalion, which command did distin- guished services in the battles of the Wilderness, and in front of Petersburg. After the war he was appointed Captain in the Eighth United States Cavalry, and brevetted Lieutenant Colonel for gal-
lant services in the North California Indian wars. Of the changes in the company from Delaware County-C. H. MeElroy was appointed Major in the Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteers, in August, 1862 : Lieut. V. T. Hills was promoted to Captain, and honorably discharged March 25, 1864; Sergt. J. L. Dunlevy was promoted to Second Lieutenant, and honorably discharged in April, 1864; Sergt. A. W. Humiston was appointed Sergeant Major of the regiment, promoted to Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and succeeded Capt. Hills as Captain of the company ; Corp. J. F. Curren, promoted to Sergeant Major, transferred and appointed Adjutant of the Sixtieth, and lost his right arm in front of Petersburg. He is now Postmaster of Delaware. Sergt. H. O. Dwight was promoted to Adjutant ; was tendered, but declined, further promotion. He was one of the youngest men of the company, but had no superior as a soldier. Lieut. Henry Sherman was honorably discharged March 5, 1862. The company lost, by disease, wounds, and killed in battle, 22; discharged on account of wounds and other disabilities (many of whom have since died), 31; and 5 promoted and transferred to other commands.
The Twenty-sixth Infantry contained some material from this county. Company C was a Delaware County Company, and was mustered into the three years' service in August, 1861, with the following commissioned officers: Jesse Meredith, Captain ; E. A. Hicks, First Lieutenant ; and Wm. Clark, Second Lieutenant.
The Twenty-sixth was organized at Camp Chase in the summer of 1861. As soon as its number was complete and its organization fully effected, it was ordered to the Upper Kanawha Valley, where its first active service was performed. The regiment remained in that valley until the next January, occupied most of the time in scouting duty. In the movement of Gen. Rosecrans on Sewell Mountain, the Twenty-sixth led the advance, and brought up the retreat from that point. In the early part of 1862, it was transferred from the Department of West Virginia to the Department of the Ohio, afterward the Department of the Cumberland. It was brigaded with the Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Fiftieth Indiana Regiments, un- der command of Col. M. S. Hascall (soon after made Brigadier General, and placed in Gen. Wood's division, of which it constituted a part until October, 1863.
After the capture of Fort Donelson, the Twenty-sixth Regiment formed a part of the col-
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umn of advance on Nashville, and shared in the forced marches, hardships and privations of Gen. Buell's army in its advance to Pittsburg Landing to relieve Gen. Grant. In the advance from Shiloh, through the swamps of Northern Missis- sippi, upon Corinth, the Twenty-sixth occupied the front line, and was among the first to enter the place. About the last of August, 1862, the regi- ment, together with the Seventeenth and Fifty- eighth Indiana, about fourteen hundred strong, commanded by Col. Fyffe, had a slight engage- ment near McMinnville, Tenn., with Forrest's brigade of cavalry. In the memorable forced marches of Buell and Bragg, from the Tennessee to the Ohio, and thence toward Cumberland Gap, in the fall of 1862, the Twenty-sixth performed its whole duty. On the 26th of December, 1862, during the advance of Gen. Rosecrans against Murfreesboro', and in the engagement which fol- lowed, the Twenty-sixth, under Maj. Squires, sup- ported in part by the Fifty-eighth Indiana, made a gallant and successful charge, storming and driv- ing from a strong position in the village of La Vergne a far larger force of the enemy, that for many hours had held the left wing of the army at bay, and seriously impeded the execution of the movements in progress. At the battle of Stone River, the regiment was one of several which stood firm against the charge of the rebels on the 26th, when three-fourths of the National forces on the right had given away and were in full re- treat. Although for many hours the columns of the enemy were hurled against it, yet it stood its ground, firm as a rock. It was this regiment which "formed the apex of that little convex line of battle that all Bragg's victorious army could not break or bend." In this sanguinary engage- ment it lost one-third of its number in killed and wounded.
The Twenty-sixth bore a conspicuous and honor- able part in the advance on Bragg's lines at Tulla- homa and Shelbyville, and at Chattanooga, in De- cember, 1863; it led the advance of Crittenden's corps (which first entered the place), Col. Young leading the regiment in skirmish line over the northern bluff of Lookout Mountain. At Chick- amaugua it was in the thickest and bloodiest of the fight, where it acquitted itself with honor, losing nearly three-fifths of its force engaged. "Col. Young's horse and equipments were badly. cut up with bullets. Capt. Ewing ( Acting Major) had his horse killed under him. and was himself wounded and captured. Capt. Ross, Lieuts. Will-
iams, Burbridge and Ruby, were killed, and Capts. Hamilton and Potter, and Lieuts. Platt, Hoye, Morrow and Shotwell, wounded. Company H lost all its officers, and twenty-one out of twenty- four men. At the storming of Mission Ridge, the gallant Twenty-sixth maintained its good rep- utation. It occupied nearly the center of the front line of assault, and was then called upon to sustain the concentrated fire of the rebel circular line, of forty cannon and thousands of muskets. Says a war chronicle: "The assault was made in the face of a terrible fire, and the column worked its way slowly and painfully, yet steadily and unfalter- ingly, up the long and rugged slope of that blaz- ing, smoking, jarring, blood-drenched and death- laden mountain, fighting its way step by step, every minute becoming weaker by the exhaustive outlay of strength in so prolonged a struggle, and thinner by the murderous fire of the foe from above, until, with less than half the command, with the entire color-guard disabled, the Colonel. bearing his own colors, spurred his foaming and bleeding horse over the enemy's works, and they threw down their arms, abandoned their guns, and gave themselves to precipitate flight." In this action the Twenty-sixth captured about fifty prisoners and two cannon. Later in the day, it, with the Fifteenth Indiana, under command of Col. Young, captured a six-gun battery the enemy were endeavoring to carry off in their retreat, and flanked and dislodged a strong body of the enemy, who with two heavy guns were attempting to hold in check the National forces until their train could be withdrawn. In this battle, the regiment lost about one-fourth of its strength in killed and wounded. It was now reduced from 1,000 men to less than 200, but with this handful, they moved with the Fourth Corps to the siege of Knoxville. None but those who participated know the hardships of that campaign. They marched barefoot over frozen ground, and camped without shelter in midwinter, and were half dressed and half fed. Yet, under all these discouraging circumstances, in January, 1864, the regiment (or what was left of it) re-enlisted almost to a man. It was the first regiment in the Fourth Army Corps to re-enlist, and the first to arrive home on veteran furlough.
On its return to the field, it was in Sherman's campaign against Atlanta ; also at Resaca, Kene- saw, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro, and all the minor engagements of that period. It participated in the battle of Franklin, Tenn., and in all these
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engagements maintained well its fighting reputa- tion. It also participated in the short Texas cam- paign in 1865, and endured considerable hardships in the long and severe march across the country, from Port Laraca to San Antonio. On the 21st of October, 1865, the regiment was mustered out of service.
Capt. Meredith, of the Delaware County com- pany, resigned in 1862; Lieut. Hicks, who suc- ceeded him as Captain, also resigned in 1862. William Clark, who went into the service as Sec- ond Lieutenant of the Delaware company, was mustered out as Colonel of the regiment.
Company E, of the Thirty-first Infantry, was partly recruited in this county. D. C. Rose went out as Captain of the company, and Milton B. Harmon, of Berlin Township, as Second Lieuten- ant. The latter officer was mustered out of the service at the close of the war, as Lieutenant Col- onel of the regiment.
The Thirty-first was organized at Camp Chase in the early part of the fall of 1861. On the 27th of September, it received marching orders, and re- ported to Brig. Gen. Mitchell at Cincinnati. On the 30th it left Cincinnati, and on the 2d of Octo- ber arrived at Camp Dick Robinson, Ky., where it underwent a thorough course of drill. It re- mained here until the 12th of December. when it moved to Somerset, and on the 19th of January, 1862, it marched to the assistance of Gen. Thomas, at Mill Springs, but arrived too late to take part in the fight. Here it was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division, Army of the Ohio, and embarked via the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers, for Nashville. Upon their arrival, there were but 500 effective men, the others being upon the sick list. The regiment participated in the battle of Corinth, and, after the evacuation, marched forty miles in pursuit of the rebels, then returned to camp near Corinth. It spent its Fourth of July in Tuscumbia, Ala., and celebrated it appropri- ately. It was here that the regiment was divided into detachments, two companies being sent to Decatur and one to Trinity. On the 22d it moved to Huntsville by way of Decatur. After the brigade, to which it belonged, had crossed the river, a. messenger arrived with the information that the detachment at Trinity, consisting of but twenty-eight men, had been attacked by between two and three hundred mounted rebels. The detachment succeeded in repulsing the rebels, but lost one-half of their number in killed and wounded.
The regiment was occupied principally on guard duty, until the campaign of Buell and Bragg, to Louisville, Ky., when it was attached to Buell's army, and participated in that memorable move- ment. At the battle of Perryville it was under fire, but not actively engaged. After the battle, the army continued its march to Nashville, whence it moved to Murfreesboro. The brigade to which the Thirty-first belonged was left near Stewart's Creek. While in camp at this point, it was reported that the rebels were pillaging the train at La Vergne. The Thirty-first, and two other regiments, marched back rapidly, attacked the rebels and drove them off, killing, wounding and capturing a large number. The Thirty-first was actively engaged in the battle of Stone River, where it acquitted itself with honor. On the 23d of June, 1863, it started on the Tullahoma cam- paign, and, on the 26th, in connection with the Seventeenth Ohio, was engaged at Hoover's Gap. The advance continued through Tullahoma to Chattanooga. The Thirty-first participated in both days' fight at Chickamauga, where it suffered severely. Its next engagement was at Brown's Ferry. Soon after this was the battle of Mission Ridge, where it was one of the foremost regiments to bear the loyal standard into the enemy's works.
About this, time the regiment re-enlisted, and returned home on a thirty days' furlough. While at home 374 recruits were obtained, again swell- ing the regiment to 800 effective men. It returned to the field upon the expiration of its furlough, and, on the 7th of May, 1864, engaged in the Atlanta campaign. On the 14th, it was in the battle of Resaca, where it lost heavily. After the fall of Atlanta, it marched in pursuit of Hood, but abandoned the pursuit at Gaylesville, Ala., where the troops rested a few days and then re- turned to Atlanta. It moved with Sherman's army toward the sea, and passed through Decatur, thence through Monticello to Milledgeville, where the arsenal, and considerable arms and ammunition, were destroyed. The march was continued until 12th of December, without note, when the works around Savannah were reached. After the sur- render of the city, the regiment remained in camp until the 20th of February, 1865, when it engaged in the campaign of the Carolinas. After the close of hostilities, it moved to Washington City and participated in the grand review. It was then transferred to Louisville, Ky., where, on the 20th of July, 1865, it was mustered out of the service.
D
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
The Thirty-second Infantry contained a company of Delaware County men, viz., Company I, Capt. Jay Dyer. The company was recruited in the summer of 1861. In April, 1862, Capt. Dyer resigned, and Elijah B. Adams, who entered as Second Lieutenant, became Captain. He was wounded at Harper's Ferry, and was honorably discharged January 30, 1864.
This was one of the first regiments raised in the State on the basis of the three years' service. It first rendezvoused at Camp Bartley, near Mansfield, but before completion was transferred to Camp Dennison, where it was fully organized, equipped, and sent to the field in command of Col. Thomas H. Ford, formerly Lieutenant Governor of the State. On the 15th of September it left Camp Dennison for West Virginia, and arrived at Bev- erly on the 22d of the same month. Col. Ford reported to Brig. Gen. Reynolds, then command- ing the district of Cheat Mountain, and was assigned to the forces stationed on Cheat Mountain Summit, with Col. Nathan Kimball, of the Fourteenth Indiana Volunteers, commanding the post. Here, upon the rugged heights of Cheat Mountain, it received its first lesson in the art of war. On the 3d of October, 1861, it led the advance of the army against Greenbrier, Va., through the mountains and pines of that region by midnight. The regiment remained at Green- brier during the fall of 1861, watching the move- ments of the enemy, commanded by the afterward renowned Confederate General, R. E. Lee. In Gen. Milroy's advance on Camp Alleghany, in December, the Thirty-second, under command of Capt. Hamilton, acquitted itself with honor. Its loss was four killed and fourteen wounded. It continued with Gen. Milroy's command, and moved in the advance of the expedition which resulted in ' the capture of Camp Alleghany, Huntersville, Monterey, and MeDowell. In the skirmishes with Stonewall Jackson, including the battle of Bull Pasture Mountain, the regiment lost six killed and fifty-three wounded -some mortally.
In Gen. Fremont's pursuit of Jackson up the Shenandoah Valley, the Thirty-second bore its part, and participated in the battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic, on the Sth and 9th of June, 1862. The last of June it was transferred to Piatt's brigade, and moved to Winchester, where it remained until the 1st of September, when it proceeded to Harper's Ferry, and assisted in the defense of that place. After making a hard tight and losing one hundred and fifty of its number, it, :
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