History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 50

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio > Part 50

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* The facts pertaining to this sketch were furnished mostly by Col. Humphrey.

Saunders was covering the retreat of Burnside's army from Lenore Station, toward Knoxville, hard pushed by Longstreet. The order was to hold the enemy in check as long as possible, so as to com- plete the defenses of Knoxville. The Union troops took position on a hill south of the town, where the enemy in force charged them, mortally wounding Gen. Saunders and Lieut. Fearns ; the latter was First Lieutenant of Company G. Dur- ing the siege of Knoxville, the Forty-fifth occupied a position south of the Holston River, and when the siege was raised by Sherman's advance, the regi- ment followed the retreating army toward Virginia.

In the spring of 1864, the regiment was dis- mounted and ordered to join Sherman at Dalton, Ga., and was then assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, Twenty-third Army Corps. It participated in the battle of Resaca, where it suf- fered severely. About the 1st of July it was transferred to the Fourth Army Corps, and served with that body until the close of the war. It par- ticipated in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain and all the battles from that time until the fall of Atlanta. The regiment came back with Gen. Thomas, and took part in the bloody battle of Franklin, Tenn., where the whole of Hood's army was hurled against the Twenty-third and Fourth Corps. This, considering the number of men engaged, was one of the most terrific battles of the war. It was in the two days' fighting in front of Nashville, when Thomas' army completely routed the enemy. After following Hood's army (or what was left of it) across the Tennessee River, the Forty-fifth went into camp at Huntsville, Ala., and, just before the surrender of Lee, it, with the Fourth Corps, was ordered to Bull's Gap, in East Tennessee, near the Virginia line, and was there when the surrender took place. The regiment returned to Nashville from Bull's Gap, and was there mustered out of the service on the 12th of June, 1865, the war having closed.

Of the original officers of Company G, Capt. Humphrey, who went out as its Captain, was with the regiment during its whole term of service, and was in command more than half of that time. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, October 12, 1864, and afterward to Colonel, and was in com- mand when the regiment was mustered out. Lieut. D. J. Jones was wounded at the battle of Dutton Hill, in the spring of 1863, and was discharged. First Lieut. Bansaman resigned early in the fall of 1862, and Second Lieut. D. J. Jones was pro- moted to the position thus made vacant. R. H.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

Humphrey, a brother of Col. Humphrey, who had originally enlisted in Company C, Fourth Infantry, in April, 1861, and had been appointed Quartermaster Sergeant of that regiment, was, on the resignation of Lieut. Bausaman, and the pro- motion of Second Lieut. Jones, transferred to Company G of the Forty-fifth as Second Lieuten- ant, and reached the regiment in December, 1862. His knowledge of the Quartermaster's Department was at once recognized, and he was appointed Brigade Acting Assistant Quartermaster, and from that to Division Quartermaster. When Gen. Sturgis assumed command of the cavalry of the Army of the Ohio, Lient. Humphrey was ap- pointed Chief Quartermaster, and served in that capacity on Brig. Gen. Sturges' and Maj. Gen. Stoneman's staffs, until the latter was captured in the summer of 1864, near Macon, Ga. , W. M. Williams, who enlisted as a private in Company G, was, for gallant services at the battle of Monti- cello, Ky., promoted to Second Lieutenant, after- ward to First Lieutenant, and later to Captain, and brevetted Major. After the close of the war, he was appointed Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, and is still in the service, having been promoted to First Lieutenant. A. G. Hen- derson, who entered the service as Orderly Sergeant of Company G, was promoted to Second Lieuten- ant, and afterward to First Lieutenant, then to Captain and came home with the regiment. Many members of Company G died prisoners of war, among them Robert A. McIlvaine, of Radnor, Jacob Stump, of Genoa, and Hiram McRaney, of Har- lem Township.

Company B, of the Forty-eighth Infantry, was recruited in the autumn of 1861, mostly in Dela- ware County, by William L. Warner and Joseph W. Lindsey, the latter of whom furnished us the lead- ing facts for this sketch. Messrs. Warner and Lind- sey had both enlisted at the outbreak of the war, in Company C. Capt. Crawford, Fourth Ohio Infantry, and served several months in West Vir- ginia, receiving their " baptism of fire " at Rich Mountain, the first battle of the war.

Company B, with the Forty-eighth Regiment, was mustered into the service of the United States at Camp Dennison in December, 1861, with the following commissioned officers : William L. War- Der, Captain ; Joseph W. Lindsey, First Lieuten- ant, and David W. Plyley, Second Lieutenant. Of the non-commissioned officers, a Sergeant and two Corporals, viz., Reed, Shannon and Reddick, were not of Delaware County, but represented about

twenty enlisted men from Brown County, recruited there to fill up the company. The regiment was completed and ordered to the field in February, 1862, descending the Ohio to Paducah, where it remained for a short time. On the 8th of March, it embarked on the steamer Empress and pro- ceeded up the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Land- ing, where it arrived on the 14th, and partici- pated in the great battle of Shiloh on the 6th aud 7th of April. Company B suffered severely in these engagements. In the first volley fired in the battle of the 6th, Private Aaron Sales was killed. During this day's fight, Privates E. J. Hill, L. Mallott and William James were mortally wounded ; the first two died on the field, and the latter a few days after on the hospital boat. Many others were wounded, among them, Lieuts. Lind- sey and Plyley, the latter severely. The company was again engaged on . Monday, the 7th, and, on the last charge on the retiring foe, Capt. Warner, who had escaped unhurt in the first day's fight, was shot through the head and killed. On Tues- day morning, the 8th of April, the Forty-eighth was ordered in pursuit of the retreating rebels, and, after a day of intense hardship, returned to camp. While remaining in camp here, the regi- ment suffered severe loss from sickness; at one time, an officer was detached from another com- pany to command Company B, which death and sickness had left without a commissioned officer. The Forty-eighth took an active part in the siege of Corinth, and after that went on the expedition to Holly Springs. After various marches through Northern Mississippi and Western Tennessee, it reached Memphis about the middle of summer (1862), where the officers of Company B-Capt. Lindsey (who had been promoted since the death of Capt. Warner), and Lieuts. Plyley and Nevins- joined it. The regiment remained here until late in December, doing provost duty, and was then ordered on the " Castor Oil expedition," down the Mississippi, and, early in January, found itself in the Yazoo Bottom, participating in the disastrous attack on Chickasaw Bluffs. Its next active serv- ice was at Arkansas Post and Fort Hyndman, where about seven thousand rebels were captured, on the 11th of January, 1863. It next went to Young's Point, La., where Capt. Lindsey com- manded the regiment, the field officers being ab- sent. Lieut. Plyley was detailed on the Signal Corps; Lieut. Nevins resigned, leaving Company B in command of Sergeant Reed, who was soon after promoted to Second Lieutenant.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

The next move of the regiment was to Milliken's Bend, about the end of February, where it re- mained until April, and then set out on the march, finally arriving at James' Plantation, below Vicks- burg, on the Mississippi River. Thence it moved, at midnight, on a rapid march, and the next day took part in the battle of Port Gibson. During the siege of Vicksburg it was engaged in various and arduous duties, and much of the time exposed to great danger. On the 22d of May, it suffered severely in the assault made upon the rebel works around the doomed city. The Colonel being absent, and the Lieutenant Colonel and the Major both being wounded, the command of the regiment again devolved on Capt. Lindsey. Early in Sep- tember, the Forty-eighth was transferred, with the Thirteenth Corps, to the Department of the Gulf, and for a while stationed at Carrolton, a suburb of New Orleans. While in this department, the reg- iment re-enlisted as veterans, under General Order 291, from the War Department. Under this order it was entitled to a thirty days' furlough in the State of Ohio, but this was refused by Gen. Banks on the pretext that the exigencies of the times would not permit it. It took part in the Red River expedition, and was at the battle of Sabine Cross Roads, on the 8th of April, 1864, where it suffered severe loss, and was finally cap- tured, thus going on a captivity of several months instead of a furlough to Ohio. In the following November it was exchanged, and granted a veteran furlough after its return to New Orleans. In January, 1865, the regiment, under orders from Gen. Canby, commanding the department, was con- solidated with the Eighty-third Ohio, a non-veteran regiment-which was heartily resented by the vet- erans. The consolidated regiment was at once sent to Florida, where it took part in the Mobile campaign, and was engaged in the battle of Fort Blakely, one of the last of the war. After tlie term of the Eighty-third had expired, the Forty- eighth Veterans were organized into the " Forty- eighth Ohio Veteran Battalion," consisting of four companies, under command of Lieut. Col. J. R. Lynch, formerly First Sergeant of Company B, and kept on provost duty in Texas, about Galves- ton, nearly a year after the close of the war, when they were finally mustered out and discharged, in the summer of 1866.

William L. Warner, the first Captain of Con- pany B (of the Forty-eighth), who was killed at the battle of Shiloh, was a son of Rev. Lorenzo Warner, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and

Chaplain of the Fourth Infantry, the first regiment which drew men from Delaware County. First Lieut. Lindsey, after the death of Capt. Warner, was promoted to Captain of Company B, and, in August, 1863, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. First Sergeant Lynch was promoted to Second Lieutenant, then to First Lieutenant and Captain, and mustered out as Lieutenant Colonel. Ser- geant Nevins was promoted to Second Lieutenant, and resigned in 1863. George L. Byers was pro- moted from Sergeant to First Lieutenant in November, 1864. Sergeant John K. Reed was promoted to Second and then to First Lieutenant. Jacob H. Smith was promoted from Corporal to Sergeant, and then to Lieutenant. There may have been other promotions which have escaped our attention.

The Sixty-sixth Infantry was the next regiment in which Delaware County was represented by any considerable number of men. Companies E and K were made up entirely in this county. The fol- lowing were the original officers of Company E : T. J. Buxton, Captain ; Llewellen Powell, First Lieutenant, and John W. Watkins, Second Lieu- tenant-and of Company K: J. H. Van Deman, Captain ; Wilson Martin, First Lieutenant, and W. A. Sampson, Second Lieutenant. At the organi- zation of the regiment, Eugene Powell, who had entered the service at the beginning of the war as Captain of Company I, Fourth Infantry, was appointed Major. In May, 1862, Maj. Powell was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, a position he held until March, 1865, when he was appointed Colonel of the One Hundred and Ninety-third Ohio. He was afterward made Brigadier General for merito- rious service. Referring to this latter promotion, the Delaware Gazette of July 14, 1865, says : "Col. Eugene Powell, of this city, formerly of the Six- ty-sixth Regiment, has been promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. No more deserving young man entered the service from our State, and none has better discharged his duties than he. We rejoice to know that his merit has been recognized and rewarded. The Brigadier's star is most worthily bestowed in his case, and he will wear it with honor to himself and to the service." In July, 1863, the same paper contains these flattering words: "The brigade composed of the Fifth, Seventh and Sixty-sixth Ohio, and Twenty-eighth Pennsyl- vania, in the late battle of the Rappahannock, was commanded . by Lieut. Col. Powell, who particularly distinguished himself." Lieut. Wat- kins, of this regiment, was promoted to Captain

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

in May, 1863, a position held until mustered out.

The Sixty-sixth was organized under the Presi- dent's second call for troops, and was mustered into the United States Service on the 17th of Decem- ber, 1861, with 850 men. On the 17th of Janu- ary, 1862, it left Camp McArthur, near Urbana, for West Virginia, and saw its first active service in the campaign against Romney, under Gen. Lan- der. Gen. Shields succeeded Gen. Lander, and the Sixty-sixthi followed his division to New Market, where it was assigned to the Second Bri- gade, commanded by Gen. O. S. Terry. After pro- ceeding to Harrisburg, the division was ordered to cross the Blue Ridge to Fredericksburg, on the Rap- pahannock. At Fredericksburg, the Sixty-sixth, the Fifth, Seventh and Twenty-ninth Ohio Regi- ments formed the Third Brigade, under command of Gen. E. B. Tyler. Remaining here. but a day, the regiment was ordered to countermarch for the relief of Gen. Banks, in the Shenandoah Valley, who was threatened by Stonewall Jackson. On the morning of the 9th of June, Gen. Tyler's brigade, with two regiments of the Fourth Bri- gade, were iu line of battle awaiting the attack of Gen. Jackson. At sunrise, the enemy opened with artillery and soon made a general attack. In this fight, the Sixty-sixth took an active part in defending a battery on the left of the line, which was three times in possession of the enemy, but each time recaptured by the regiment. When the retreat was ordered on the right, the whole line was compelled to pass a few rods behind the Sixty-sixth, while the enemy's force immediately in front consisted of a full brigade of Virginians and Wheat's battalion of Louisianians. The force under Gen. Tyler, numbering about twenty-seven hundred men, held Gen. Jackson's army in check for five hours. In this engagement, the regiment lost 109 men of the 400 engaged.

In July, the Sixty-sixth, with its brigade, was ordered to join Gen. Pope, and reported at Sper- ryville, where it was re-enforced by the Twenty- eighth Pennsylvania, and the whole commanded by Gen. Geary. It served in the corps of Gen. Banks at the battle of Cedar Mountain. After nightfall, the brigade to which the Sixty-sixth belonged moved forward with a handful of men, and, in a dense wood through which it passed, an ambuscade was discovered, but it was too late to retreat. In the fight which ensued, one-half of the brigade were killed and many wounded. To the Sixty-sixth, the loss was 87 killed and

wounded of the 200 engaged. After the defeat at Cedar Mountain, the regiment pursued its way with the corps to Antietam, and was actively engaged in that battle. In the attack on Dum- fries by Gen. Stuart, the regiment distinguished itself, and, in the battle of Chancellorsville, it held a position in front of Gen. Hooker's headquarters, and the repeated attacks made upon it were re- pelled with coolness and courage. In the battle of Gettysburg, it held a position near the right of the line, and, after the engagement, joined in the pursuit of Gen. Lee, which brought it again to the Rappahannock. About this time it was sent to New York to quell the riots consequent upon the draft in that State. On the 8th of September, it returned, and, shortly after, with Gen. Hooker's army, was transferred to the Army of the Cum- berland, in the vicinity of Chattanooga. In the battles of Lookout Mountain, Ringgold and Mis- sion Ridge, the Sixty-sixth took a prominent part. In the battle of Ringgold, the First Brigade of the Second Division charged up a steep and rough mountain in the face of a heavy fire from a large force of rebels, well posted. The Sixty-sixth, under Major Thomas McConnell, carried the crest of the mountain, and held it against the forces on the summit.

The regiment soon after returned to its camp near Chattanooga, where it became imbued with a high fever of enthusiasm for re-enlistment. On the 15th of December, 1863, the rolls were com- pleted, and the old organization changed into the " Sixty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Veteran Volun- teers." It was among the first regimental organi- zations in the whole army to which the term " veteran volunteer" was applied. After the expiration of its furlough, it was sent to Bridge- port, Ala., where it remained in camp for some time, experiencing little active service until the advance on Atlanta. The first fight of this ardu- ous campaign took place at Rocky Face Ridge. The corps of which it was a part charged the enemy on the summit, and was repulsed with slaughter. It was engaged in the battle of Re- saca, and acquitted itself with honor. During the fighting around Atlanta, the two opposing armies lay for eight days within a few rods of each other, and both lost heavily in the continuous musketry and cannonading. On the night of the 15th of June, the Sixty-sixth, while moving up a ravine, was opened upon with grape and canister. Under a galling fire, it moved within a hundred feet of the enemy's works, where it remained until

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

the next day, when it was relieved by a new regi- ment. At Culp's Farm, Kenesaw, Marietta and Peach Tree Creek, the regiment acted its part nobly. After the capture of Atlanta, it was placed on duty in that city, where it remained until the army of Sherman started on its famous march to the sea. It participated in the capture of Savan - nah, and accompanied Sherman into the Carolinas. After the surrender of Gen. Johnston, it pro- ceeded to Washington by way of Richmond. It was finally paid off, and mustered out of the serv- ice July 19, 1865, at Columbus.

The following is given as a brief summing-up of the service of this gallant regiment : It received recruits at various times to the number of 370 (it entered originally with 850 men), and the number of men mustered out at the close of the war was 272. It lost in killed 110, and in wounded over 350. It served in. 12 States, marched more than 11,000 miles, and participated in 18 battles.

The Eighty-second Infantry drew a company from Delaware County, viz., Company I, of which the following were the first officers : George H. Purdy, Captain; Alfred E. Lee, First Lieutenant, and H. M. Latzenberger, Second Lieutenant. These, its original officers-Capt. Purdy was killed at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863, and Lieut. Latzenberger, after being promoted to First Lieu- tenant, was killed August 29, 1863. Lieut. Lee was promoted to Captain of the company after the death of Capt. Purdy, and was mustered out with the regiment at the close of the war.

The Eighty-second was recruited in the fall of 1861, and, on the 31st of December, was mustered into the United States service, with an aggregate of 968 men. On the 25th of January following, it started for West Virginia, and, on the 27th, arrived at Grafton. It went into camp near the village of Fetterman, and there underwent a thorough system of training for the arduous duties before it. But few regiments from this State per- formed better service, or did more hard fighting, than the Eighty-second. On the 16th of March, it was assigned to Gen. Schenck's command, and sent to New Creek, and from there to Moorfield, where it arrived on the 23d. With Schenck's brigade, it moved up the South Branch Valley, and, on the 3d of May, crossed the Potomac at Petersburg. In the exciting movements about Monterey, Bull Pasture Mountain and Franklin, the Eighty-second took an active part. On the 8th of June, the army to which it belonged fought

the battle of Cross Keys, but without serious loss to the Eighty-second.

In the organization of the Army of Virginia, the Eighty-second was assigned to an independent brigade, under Gen. Milroy. The severe cam- paigning it had undergone had thinned its ranks, until it numbered but 300 men. On the 7th of August, Sigel's Corps, to which it belonged, moved toward Culpepper, and, on the following morning, halted in the woods south of the village, but was too late at Cedar Mountain to participate actively in the battle. During the fighting on the Rappahannock, Milroy's brigade (of which the Eighty-second was a part) was for ten days within hearing, and most of the time under fire of the enemy's guns. On the 21st and 22d, McDowell had severe engagements near Gainesville. In the fight of the 22d, Milroy's brigade led the advance. The Eighty-second and the Third Virginia were deployed, driving back the rebel skirmishers to their main force. In this battle the regiment suffered severely, Col. Cantwell, its commander, being killed, with the words of command and encouragement upon his lips. On the 3d of Sep- tember, Sigel's Corps arrived at Fairfax Court House, and the Eighty-second was detailed for provost guard duty. In the early part of 1863, at the request of its Colonel (Robinson), it was relieved from duty at headquarters, and ordered to report to its division commander, Gen. Schurz. By him it was designated as a battalion of sharp- shooters for the division, and held subject to his personal direction. The next engagement in which it participated was the sanguinary battle of Chan- cellorsville, on the 25th of May. It suffered terri- bly in this fight, at the close of which there were but 134 men with the colors. Among the dead was the gallant Capt. Purdy, of Company I. On the 10th of June, it moved with its brigade and division, on the Gettysburg campaign. In the battle which followed, the Eighty-second was placed in support of a battery. It went into action with 22 commissioned officers and 236 men ; of these, 19 officers and 147 men were killed, wounded and captured, leaving only 3 officers and 89 men. This little band brought off the colors of the regiment safely. On the 11th it was assigned to Gen. Tyndall's brigade, the First Brigade of the Third Division. The Eleventh Corps, to which the Eighty-second belonged, was transferred on the 25th of Septem- ber to the Army of the Cumberland, then com- manded hy Gen. Hooker. The next battle of

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

consequence, in which the regiment took part, was that of Mission Ridge. It was also engaged in the Knoxville campaign, and, in December follow- ing, re-enlisted as veterans. Out of 349 enlisted men present, 321 were mustered into the service as veteran volunteers, and at once started for home on furlough. It returned to the front with 200 new recruits. On the 3d of March, 1864, it joined its brigade at Bridgeport, Ala., and, in the consol- idation of the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps (thus forming the Twentieth), the Eighty-second was assigned to the Third Brigade of the First Division, of this corps. On the 30th of April, 1864, the regiment, with its brigade and division, started on the Atlanta campaign, and bore an active part in most of the battles and skirmishes which followed. It particularly distinguished itself at the battles of Resaca and Kenesaw Mountain. After the capt- ure of Atlanta, it remained in camp there until the 15th of November, when it started with Sherman's army to Savannah. It took part in the siege of Savannah, and, after its fall, moved with the army into the Carolinas.

While the army was at Goldsboro in April, 1865, the Eighty-second and Sixty-first Ohio were consolidated, and the new regiment thus formed denominated the Eighty-second. On the 10th, the troops moved to Raleigh, where they remained until after the surrender of Gen. Johnston. On the 30th of April, the corps marched for Wash- ington, by way of Richmond, and on the 19th of May, arrived at Alexandria. It took part in the grand review at Washington on the 24th of May, after which it started for Louisville, Ky. At Parkersburg, the troops embarked on transports, and, when they arrived at Cincinnati, the boats carrying Robinson's brigade, of which the Eighty- Second was still a part, stopped a short time, and Gen. Hooker came down to the wharf. He was greeted enthusiastically by his old soldiers, and made them a brief speech. On arriving at Louis- ville, the regiment went into camp on Speed's plantation, south of the city, where it remained until the 25th of July. It then proceeded to Columbus, and was paid off and discharged.

The Eighty-sixth Infantry was a three-months organization, and contained a company from Dela- ware County, which was mustered in with the following officers : A. N. Mead, Captain ; E. C. Vining, First Lieutenant, and H. S. Crawford, Second Lieutenant. The regiment was recruited under the President's call for 75,000 men, made in May, 1862, and so promptly was the call responded

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History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 50

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818