USA > Ohio > Logan County > History of Logan County and Ohio > Part 45
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means, he selected a camp and organized the first Zouave regiment in Ohio. 1Ie subsisted his regiment for one month and six days, and was then commissioned as Colonel, and or- dered to Camp Dennison. The regiment was designated as the Thirty-Fourth. He contin- ued recruiting, with permission from the State authorities, and a second regiment was subse- quently organized, and designated the Fifty- Fourth. This regiment was being rapidly filled up, and there is every reason to believe that the brigade would soon have been completed when Col. Piatt was ordered to report with the Thirty-Fourth to Gen. Rosecrans, then com- manding in Western Virginia. Ile proceeded as far as Camp Enyart, on the Kanawha River, where, for lack of transportation, he was com- pelled to remain. On the 23d of September he led a portion of his own regiment, and a detachment from a Kentucky regiment, across the Kanawha in search of an organized band of rebels, known to be encamped at some point south, and to be preparing to obstruct the navigation of the river. On the 24th the detachment from the Kentucky regiment was sent up Cole River, while Col. Piatt continued his march to Chapmansville, where he arrived at 3 o'clock r. M. on the 25th, and found the rebels strongly fortilied. He attacked and drove the enemy, in utter rout, from their po- sition, and wounded and captured the com- mander of the force, Col. J. W. Davis. Col. Piatt next attacked and defeated a rebel force at Hurricane, which was co-operating with Gen. Floyd, then at Cotton Hill; and on the 24th of October he went into winter-quarters at Barboursville. * * * While absent on sick leave he was commissioned Brigadier- General, and on his recovery, ordered to re- port to Gen. Fremont. He joined that officer at Harrisonburg, in the Shenandoah Valley, and was assigned a brigade in Gen. Schenck's division. When Gen. Siegel succeeded Gen.
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Fremont, Gen. Piatt was ordered with his brigade to Winchester, and was directed to fortify and to command that post. Ile en- joyed the satisfaction of having his works in- spected and approved by Gen. Sigel.
"On the 28th of July he was directed to report to Gen. Sturgis at Alexandria, and was assigned to a brigade in Gen. MeClellan's army, which was then returning from the Peninsula. Shortly after organizing his bri- gade Gen. Piatt received information from the Division Gen ral, that in the press for transportation he had succeeded in securing only twenty cars; that these should be at the disposal of the first regiments ready to take possession of them, and that they would thus be privileged to go to the front. Gen. Piatt immediately took possession of the track, and as soon as the cars arrived, ordered his men into them. He arrived at Warrenton June- tion at midnight, and the next day, August 26, he reported to Gen. Pope. On the evening of the 27th Gen. Piatt was ordered to march to Manassas Junction. He immediately put his troops in motion, and had proceeded three miles, when Gen. Sturgis ordered his return to Warrenton Junction, to protect that point from an expected attack. On the morning of the 20th he was again ordered to Manassas Junction. He reached the Junction at noon on the 29th, having been seriously delayed by trains and troops in his front. * * * On the morning of the 30th he received an order to report to Gen. Porter. Ile had proceeded but a few hundred yards when he met a brigade belonging to tien. Porter's corps, which was marching to join the command. Gen. Piatt followed the brigade, and found that it led him to Centreville. Here In halted his brigade, while the one in front marcbed on toward Washington. Gen. Piatt remarked to tien. Sturgis that he had gone far nongh in that direction in search of Gen.
Porter, and that with his permission he would march to the battlefiekl. He then ordered his men into the road, and, guided by the sound of the artillery, he arrived at the battle-ground of Bull Run at 2 o'clock p. M. The brigade went into action on the left, and acquitted itself with great courage. Gen. Pope, in his official report, complimented Gen. Piatt high- ly, for the 'soldierly feeling which prompted him, after being misled, and with the bad ex- ample of the other brigade before his eyes, to push forward with such zeal and alacrity to the field of battle.' * * * *
"Gen. Piatt entered the army with no in- tention of making it his profession, and now, that a large family of motherless children de- manded his attention and care, he tendered his resignation and retired from the service."
After the Thirteenth had served out its term of three months, it was re-organized, under the second call for troops, for three years. The Logan County company became Company F, in the re-organization, and was officered as fol- lows: Isaac R. Gardner, Captain; James D. Stover, First Lieutenant, and Frank J. Jones, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Gardner died May 31, 1862, of wounds received at Shiloh. Lient. Stover resigned Jannary 3, 1862, and became Captain of Company C, Forty-Fifth Ohio In- fantry, and was honorably discharged July 20, 1844. Lieut. Jones was promoted to First Lieutenant, January 21, 1862; promoted to Captain, January 1, 1863, and promoted by President, May 6, 1863. Robert L. Seig was promoted to Second Lieutenant, March 31, 1862; to First Lieutenant, September 11, 1862; to Captain, September 30, 1864, and was hon- orably discharged January 26, 1865. H. S. Leister was promoted to First Lieutenant, transferred to Company C, and resigned June 18, 1865.
I'pon the re-organization of the Thirteenth, Col. Piatt, as we have seen, declined coming
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before his old regiment as a candidate for the Coloneley, and W. S. Smith, an experienced officer of the regular army, became Colonel. The first service of the new regiment was in Western Virginia, and arrived at Parkersburg with 1,000 men, rank and file. Its first battle of any moment was at Carnifex Ferry, where it made a good record. The Tenth, Twelfth and Thirteenth regiments, with MeMullen's Battery, formed Benham's Brigade, and on the 12th of November it started in pursuit of Gen. Floyd. In this pursnit the Thirteenth held the post of honor. The first skirmish with the enemy occurred at Cotton IFill, in which the regiment lost one man killed and two wounded. The rebels were driven from Western Virginia, and the National forces were withdrawn and moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana, the Thirteenth going into camp at that place. On the 11th of December it re- ceived orders to join Buell, who was then watching the movements of Bragg in Southern Kentucky. It was ordered to march on the 10th of February, and proceeded to Bowling Green, where it took cars for Nashville, and reached Gallatin, forty miles from Nashville, on the 22nd. In the battle of Pittsburg Land- ing the Thirteenth took a prominent part. Composing a part of the Fifth Division, it formed on the right of Nelson's command, and about 8o'clock on the morning of the 6th of April moved forward to the attack. It came up- on the enemy, supported by the famous Wash- ington Battery, of New Orleans. This battery the Thirteenth captured after a desperate struggle, only to lose it again at the hands of a superior force of the enemy. In this affair Ben Runkle, Major of the Thirteenth, fell, severely wounded. In the last advance of the National forces, the regiment made one more effort to capture the famed Washington Battery, and succeeded. The Thirteenth par- ticipated in the advance on Corinth, and per- formed its share of picket duty in the vicinity
of that place. In June it accompanied Buell's army into Alabama, and on the 20th of Au- gust received marching orders. Bragg had left Chattanooga on his famous advance to Louisville, Ky. Then commenced a march that has few parallels in history. A writer of the time this speaks of it: "From the 21st of August to the 26th of September, a period of thirty-six days, the National soldiers pa- tiently toiled on after their exultant enemy, enduring the hot rays of the sun, almost un- bearable thirst, half rations, and the stifling dust. What soldier of the Thirteenth Ohio will ever forget this terrible march? On the 26th the troops reached Louisville, having outmarched and passed, on a parallel road, the rebel army." The pursuit of Bragg was resumed, after a rest until the 1st of October. In the battle of Perryville, which followed, the Thirteenthi did not participate. After the battle the enemy continued his retreat, and Crittenden's Division, to which the Thirteenth Regiment belonged, pursued as far as Mount Vernon. Gen. Buell was relieved on the 30th of October by Gen. Rosecrans, and on the 2nd of December the Fifth Division was re- viewed by the Commanding General, who paid a high compliment to the gallant Thir- teenth.
Foraging and picket duty filled up the time until the advance on Murfreesboro, December 26, 1862. In the advanec, Crittenden's divi- sion, in which was the Thirteenth, held the left wing, Thomas the centre, and MeCook the right. In the battle of Stone River, which followed on the 31st of December, the regi- ment was actively engaged. Among the losses sustained by the Thirteenth, was its Com- mander, Col. Hawkins, together with 14? officers and men killed, wounded and missing. In the battles of the succeeding days, before the evacuation of Murfreesboro by the rebels, the Thirteenth lost in addition to those already mentioned, 31 killed, 85 wounded, and 6
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missing; total, 185, which with its loss on the 31st of December makes a grand total of 327. Previous to the battle of Chick- amauga, when the concentration of the army began, the Thirteenth, with its re- maining troops of Van Cleve's division, took post on the southern spur of Mission Ridge. On the 19th of September, in the bat- tle of Chickamauga, the regiment maintained the reputation won at Stone River. During the series of battles of this period, it was commanded by its Lieut .- Col., E. M. Mast, the Colonel (Dwight Jarvis) being absent on duty. Lieut .- Col. Mast was killed, and the Major severely wounded, and the thinned ranks told the sad tale of the loss sustained by the rank and file. On the 22nd of Septem- ber the regiment had a skirmish with the enemy on Mission Ridge, which lasted dur- ing the forenoon. In the fighting which fol- lowed in October and November, the Thir- teenth bore itself bravely and suffered a severe loss.
Early in January, 1864, about three-fourths of the Thirteenth re-enlisted for another three years, and were sent home on furlough. At the expiration of thirty days they reported promptly for duty, and returned in a body to Chattanooga. May 1, 1861, the army rc- ceived orders to prepare for the Atlanta Campaign. Ringgold, Resaca and Dalton were captured, one after another. At Rocky Face Ridge quite a skirmish took place. In the battles around Atlanta the National forces lost heavily; that of the 27th alone cost the troops engaged nearly half their number killed and wounded. The Thirteenth fought like tigers. Capt. McCulloch was mortally woun led, and many killed. Their ammuni- tion became exhausted, and Maj. Snyder, m command of the handful of the Thirteenth still left, took from the cartridge-boxes of the killed and wounded their remaining car- tridges and distributed them among the men.
The Third Division (in which was the Thir- teenth) went into the engagement 4,100 strong, and came out with barely 2,500. The Thirteenth lost fifty in killed and wounded.
On the 21st of June the term of service of the non-veterans expired, and they were paid off and discharged, and the veterans formed into a battalion of four companies, known as the " Thirteen Ohio Veteran Volunteer In- fantry Battalion," under the command of Maj. J. T. Snyder. The old companies were consolidated into companies A, B, C, D, the first commanded by John II. Scott, the second by John F. Millett, the third by James II. Mer- rill and the fourth by E. C. Hawkins. The Thirteenth Battalion joined in the advance toward Kennesaw Mountain, and in that battle lost several men killed and wounded. In the battles and skirmishes of Sherman's Campaign the old war-worn Thirteenth took part with its accustomed bravery. It was at the battle of Franklin, Tenn., the last desperate struggle of the war. Soon afterward the news of Gen. Lee's surrender was received, and caused universal rejoicing in the National army.
On the 16th of June, 1865, the troops com- prising the Fourth Corps (including the Thir- teenth Battalion) was ordered to Texas, They remained on duty in that Stato until Decem- ber 5th, when they were mustered out of the United States service and sent home. On the Ifth of January, 1866, the old Thirteenth Bat- talion reached Columbus, where their arms and equipments were turned over to the proper authorities, and the few survivors were paid off and honorably discharged. But where were many of their comrades who went out with them nearly five years before?
"On Fame's eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread, And Glory guards with solemm round The bivouac of the dead."
The Seventeenth Infantry was indebted to
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Logan County for Company C. It was re- cruited mainly in the east part of the county; a majority of the company being from Zane and Perry Townships. It organized with the following commissioned officers : Joel Haines, Captain; Jacob Humphreys, First Lieutenant, and Joseph H. Pool, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Haines resigned June 6, 1862, and in 1864 was made Colonel of the One Hun- dred and Thirty-Second Regiment of the Ohio National Guard. First Lieutenant Hum- phreys died December 21, 1861. Second Lieutenant Pool was promoted to First Lieu- tenant, February 5, 1862, and afterward re- signed. John D. Inskeep was promoted to Second Lieutenant, June 6, 1862, and to Cap- tain September 9, 1863, and in that position was mustered out with the regiment at the close of the war.
The President's second call on Ohio for troops found two companies in camp on the Fair Grounds near Lancaster, Ohio, engaged in drilling, preparatory to entering the Uni- ted States service. These companies were made the nucleus of the Seventeenth Ohio Infantry, for the three months' service. It operated in Virginia during its term of ser- vice, and was mustered out at Zanesville, Ohio, on the 15th of August. Efforts were at once made to re-organize it for three years, and on the 30th of August it assembled at Camp Dennison, where Company C, Capt. Haines, joined it. On the 30th of September, the regiment was ordered to Kentucky, and re- ported at Camp Dick Robinson on the 2d of October, 1861. It moved from there to Wild Cat, and participated in that battle, in which it had seven men wounded. It was bri- gaded with the Thirty-First and Thirty-Eighth Ohio, Gen. Albin Schopp commanding.
In the battle of Mill Spring the Seven- teenth took part. The rebels, under Gen. Zollicoffer, were defeated. It next proceeded to Louisville, Ky., where it took boats and
went to Nashville, Tenn., arriving there on the 3d of March, 1862. From Nashville it proceeded across the country to Shiloh, but being detailed to guard a wagon train through, did not arrive in time for the battle. It par- ticipated in the seige of Corinth, and was in several skirmishes, in which it sustained some loss. It was in the race between Buell's and Bragg's armies from Tennessee to Louisville, and was at the battle of Perryville, though not actively engaged. At the battle of Stone River, the Seventeenth, with its brigade, was stationed on the extreme right of the National forces. It went into the battle on the 31st of December, and, with its brigade, charged the rebel Gen. Hanson's brigade, drove them in confusion, killing their General and some one hundred and fifty of the rank and file. The Seventeenth lost twenty men wounded.
The next active service of the regiment was in the Tullahoma campaign. At Hoover's Gap the Seventeenth, under command of Lieut .- Col. Durbin Ward, charged the Seven- teenth Tennessee Rebel Infantry, strongly posted. In the face of a heavy fire they drove the enemy and occupied their position. In the battle of Chickamauga the regiment was on the extreme right of the centre, attached to the corps commanded by Gen. Thomas. This was by far the hardest fighting in which the regiment had yet been engaged. Its loss in this battle was over 200 in killed and wounded, not counting those with slight flesh wounds. Capt. Rickets was killed in the early part of the fight; Lieut .- Col. Ward fell in the afternoon on the front line, badly wounded. During the siege of Chattanooga the Seventeenth was in several severe skir- mishes. At Mission Ridge, though in the rear of the line at the start, it was in front when the top of the hill was gained. In this bril- liant charge Maj. Butterfield was mortally wounded while leading the regiment. Capt. Benjamin Showers, next in rank, completed the
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charge, capturing a rebel battery, and turn- ing the guns upon the flying enemy.
January 1, 1864, the subject of re-enlisting as veterans was agitated, and 393 agreed to embark in another three years' campaign for the Union cause. On the 22d of January they started home on furlough, and at the ex- piration, returned to the field with over 400 recruits. Col. Ward, though still suffering from his wound, took command of the regi- ment, and in the skirmishing around Rocky Face Ridge it took but a subordinate part. In the battle of Resacca it bore its full share of the lighting, suffering a heavy loss. In the skirmishes which followed at New Hope Church, Pumpkin Vine Creek, and several other places, some of them considerable bat- tles, the Seventeenth was actively engaged. It took part in the battle of Kennesaw and Peach Tree Creek on the 20th of July, where it suffered extremely from the heat. In the battles around Atlanta, it did its share of the lighting. Lieut .- C'ol. Showers escaped from a rebel prison in time to take command of the regiment, and lead it with Sherman in his " March to the Sea." The expedition through the Carolinas closed the active service of the Seventeenth. It soon after went to Wash- ington, passed in review before the President, and in July, 1865, was mustered out at Louis- ville, Ky.
The regiment was in the service from the bo- ginning of the war; was always at the front, and never did a day's garrison duty. It served under MeCheHan, Buell, Rosecrans, Thomas, Grant, Halleck, Sherman and Scho- field. It was never driven before the enemy, save at t'hickamanga, and even then it only quit th . field under orders.
The Twenty - Third Infantry was the next regiment in which Logan County was repre- sented by an organized body of men. Com- pany F was raised in the county, and mus- tered into the service with the following
officers: Israel Canby, Captain; C. W. Fisher, First Lieutenant, and R. P. Kennedy, Second Lieutenant. Capt. C'anby was mustered out at the end of three years, not having re-en- listed as a veteran. Lieut. Fisher was pro- moted to Major of the Fifty-Fourth Ohio, October 31, 1861; Lieutenant-Colonel, No- vember 27, 1862, and was honorably dis- charged September 20, 1863. Second Lieut. Kennedy was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1862. The following sketch of this officer is from Reid's "Ohio in the War," and we give it in full: " R. P. Kennedy was at Col- lege in Connecticut at the commencement of the rebellion. He hastened to his home in Ohio, and joined the Twenty-Third Ohio, as Second Lieutenant, June 1, 1861. On Feb- ruary 9, 1862, he was promoted to First Lieu- tenant, and served as Assistant Adjutant-tien- eral on Gen. Scammon's staff at the battles of Cub Run, South Mountain and Antietam. On October 2, 1862, he was appointed Assist- ant Adjutant-General of United States Vol- unteers, with the rank of Captain, and as- signed to duty on Gen. Crook's staff. He served in this capacity during the campaign of the Army of the Cumberland, from imme- diately after the battle of Stone River until after the battle of Mission Ridge, in Novem- ber, 1863. Capt. Kennedy served on Gon. Garrard's staff through the Atlanta campaign, and at the close of it was ordered by Gon. Grant to the Department of West Virginia, and was made Adjutant-General of that de- partment.
On November 16, 1864, he was promoted to Major and Assistant Adjutant-General of Volunteers, and Lieutenant-Colonel by bre- vel, in which capacity he served on the staff of Gen. Crook, commanding the Department, until March, Is65, when, for gallant services, he was made Colonel of the One Hundred and Ninety-Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out of the service September
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10, 1865. His brevet rank of Brigadier-Gen- eral dates from March 13, 1865.
George Seaman was promoted to Second Lieutenant December 26, 1862, and killed May 9, 1864, at the battle of Floyd Mountain. At the time he was commanding Company D. Edward A. Abbott was promoted to Second Lieutenant of Company I; was afterwards promoted to Captain, and transferred to Com- pany F, and in that capacity mustered out with the regiment. Robert S. Gardner was promoted to Second Lieutenant September ?, 1861, and Assistant Quartermaster of the United States Army.
The Twenty-Third Infantry is memorable in that it had for its first Colonel, William Starke Rosecrans, an officer who, soon after his entrance into the service, became one of the most distinguished leaders of the National armies. The Lieutenant-Colonel, Scammon, and the Major, R. B. Hayes (now President), also became distinguished officers, and served with credit until the close of the war.
The Twenty-Third was organized at Camp Chase, and mustered into the United States service for three years, June 11, 1861. Before leaving for the field, Col. Rosecrans was pro- moted to Brigadier-General, and Col. E. P. Scammon succeeded to the command of the regiment. On the 25th of July it was ordered to West Virginia, where it at once entered upon the theatre of war. Its operations dur- ing the summer and autumn were confined to looking after bands of guerillas and de achi- ments of rebels prowling through the country. Orders were received on the 17th of April, 1862, to quit winter quarters, and on the 22nd the regiment moved in the direction of Prince- ton, under command of Lieut .- Col. Hayes, which place was reached on the 1st of May. On the morning of the Sth it was attacked by four regiments of the enemy, under command of Gen. Heath, and, after a determined re- sistance, were overwhelmed and forced to
retire, which was accomplished in good order. While lying at Green Meadows, orders were received on the 15th of August to hasten with all despatch to Camp Piatt, on the Great Kanawha, where it arrived on the morning of the 18th, having marched 104 miles in a little more than three days. Its officers claimed this to be the fastest marchi on record, as made by any considerable force. It proceeded to Parkersburg, and from thence to Washington City, where it arrived on the 24th of August. From Washington the regiment moved, with Gen. McClellan's army, to Frederick City, from which place the rebels were driven, after a slight skirmish. Middletown was reached September the 13th, where was commenced the battle of South Mountain, which culmi- nated in the great battle of Antietam, on the 17th. In both of these engagements the Twenty-Third participated. At South Moun- tain, Lieut .- Col. Hayes, Capt. Skiles, and Lieuts. Hood, Ritter and Smith, of the Twen- ty-Third, were badly wounded, while over 100 were killed and wounded out of 350 who went into action. The colors of the regiment were riddled, and the blue field almost carried away by shells and bullets.
The Twenty-Third received orders to return with the Kanawha Division to West Virginia on the 8th of October. While at Hagerstown a false report sent the division after Stuart, who it was said was raiding in Pennsylvania; but discovering the error, the troops returned, having breakfasted in Pennsylvania, eaten dinner in Maryland, and supper in Virginia. On the 15th of October the Twenty-Third ar- rived at Clarksburg, and on the 18th of No- vember it went into winter quarters at the falls of the Great Kanawha. During the sum- mer of 1863, the regiment was occupied most- ly in scouting and picking up guerilla bands, whenever opportunities offered. It was not until April 29, 1864, that a movement was made of greater importance than small scouting
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expeditions. This was a contemplated raid on the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad un- der Gen. Crook. On the 9th of May the battle of Floyd Mountain took place. This was one of the severest battles of the war, while it lasted, but was of short duration. Capt. Hunter, of Company K, Lieut. Seaman, commanding Company D, were killed; Capt. Rice, Company A, was slightly wounded, and Lieut. Abbott was severely wounded. The next day another battle took place, but in it artillery was mostly used. But little more fighting took place during the expedition, be- yond the usual amount of skirmishing along the march.
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