History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 104

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490

USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 104

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In response to the call of Governor Brough, the Forty-sixth Regiment, Ohio National Guard, numbering 654 men of Washington County, reported for duty at Marietta on the 2nd of May, 1864. Subsequently the Ninety- sixth Battalion, of Vinton County, was con- solidated with the Forty-sixth Regiment, form- ing the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The regi- ment was mustered into the service on the 17th and ISth of May. The officers were all Wash- ington County men, except Major Edmiston and Captains McDowell and McCormick. The colonel had been a captain in the Thirty-sixth Ohio; the lieutenant-colonel had been a lieu-

tenant in the Seventy-seventh Ohio; and the major had been a captain in the Eighteenth Ohio. Several of the line officers, also, had been in the service, and nearly the whole regi- ment had been tried, briefly but laboriously. during the Morgan raid of the previous year. Company A. in particular, had been called out repeatedly, and on two or three occasions had been sent to Virginia, when the border was threatened. An unusual proportion of the men in this company were students of Marietta College and merchants, and it is worthy of remark that during the 136 days' service it was the only company in the regiment that did not lose a man by sickness.

On the 23rd of May the regiment left Mari- etta for the field. Scarcely had the train passed out of sight of the town when an acci- dent occurred to it, on the Union branch of the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad, by which Jere- miah Stuckey, of Company A, was killed. John H. McKimm, of Athens County, and Alexander S. Nugent, of Franklin. Pennsyl- vania, students in the Preparatory Department of Marietta College, who were accompanying their friends in the regiment to Parkersburg. were killed. William Hildebrand. William Flemming, and First Lieutenant Gates were seriously injured. Lieutenant Gates went for- ward with the regiment, but he had received such internal injuries that, coupled with pneu- monia, it resulted in his death on the 31st, six days after the regiment had arrived at Har- per's Ferry. This accident, together with the subsequent death of Lieutenant Gates, cast a gloom over the regiment and throughout the community from which its members had been gathered. Although the youngest officer, and one of the youngest men in the regiment, no one was more generally known and more uni- versally beloved than Charles Beman Gates. The various testimonials of affection and re- gret from the college societies with which he was connected, and from the officers of his regiment, are evidences of the high esteem in which this youthful, Christian patriot was held by his associates.

After remaining about two days at Har-

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per's Ferry, the regiment moved to Washing- ton, and on the 9th of June left that city for White House, on the Pamunkey, On the 11th it left White House, arrived at Bermuda Hun- dred on the 12th, and on the 13th went into General Butler's intrenchments at the front. On the 16th seven companies, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Kinkead. left Bermuda Hundred for City Point, On the 9th of Au- gust, by the explosion of an ordnance boat at' City Point, three men of the regiment were killed-S. E. Graham, of Company H, Joseph H. Smith, of Company. D, and Joseph D. Clarke, of Company A. Young Clarke was only about 17 years old, was a member of the Preparatory Department in Marietta College, and was the oldest son of Col. Melvin Clarke, of the Thirty-sixth Ohio, who was killed while gallantly leading his regiment at the battle of Antietam. September, 1862. Sire and son, both offered upon the altar of their country, now lie side by side in the Marietta Mound Cemetery. The total loss of the regiment by death was 40. On the 29th of August the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Ohio left City Point and arrived at Marietta on the 5th of Sep- tember. On the 13th a public dinner was given to the regiment by the citizens of the county, and on the 14th it was mustered out of the service.

BIOGRAPHIES OF OFFICERS OF THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

MAJOR-GENERAL DON CARLOS BUELL, commander of one of the principal Union armies in the War of the Rebellion, son of Salmon D. and Eliza Buell, was born March 23, 1818, on a farm owned by his grandfather, Judge Salmon Buell, which has since become the site of the town of Lowell, on the Mus kingum River, 12 miles above Marietta. He was named after an uncle, Don Car- los Bnell, a young lawyer of Ithaca, New York, who entered the volun- teer service as a captain of artillery, and died on the Canada frontier, in the War of 1812. The lines of his progenitors on both

sides come together again in the sixth preced- ing generation in the person of Samuel Buell, born at Windsor, Connecticut, September 2, 1641. Judge Salmon Buell, on the grand- father's side, a lawyer by profession, was born in New York in 1764, served at the age of 10 in the Revolutionary War, and became a Sen- ator and Judge of the Court of Appeals of New York. He moved to Marietta about the year 1816, and in 1824 to Hamilton Coun- ty, where he died in 1828. Capt. Timothy Buell, the grandfather on the mother's side, was born in Connecticut in 1768, moved to Marietta in 1789, and died on his farm three miles above that place in 1837. Hle served in the War of 1812, represented Washington County in the Legislature, and was Sheriff of the county several years.

Soon after the death of his father, which occurred in August, 1823. the subject of this sketch was taken under the care of his uncle, George P. Buell, Esq., of Lawrenceburg, In- diana; and with an intermission of about five years, passed in Marietta under the roof of his stepfather, George W. Dunley, Esq., he re- mained with his relations at Lawrenceburg until 1837, when he was appointed to a cadet- ship at West Point. He was graduated and commissioned in the army in 1841, and served in the Florida War and in the West until the Mexican War. He served through that war from the beginning to the end; participating in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, the siege of Vera Cruz, and the battles of Contreras and Cherubusco, and re- ceived the brevet of captain and major. Ile was severely wounded in the battle of Cheru- busco. The following record of his grades up to 1850 is taken from Gardner's "Military Dictionary," published in that year :

Don Carlos Buell, cadet in 1837: second lieutenant Third Infantry ist of July, 1841; first lieutenant June, 1846; brevet captain for gallant and meritorious conduct in the several conflicts at Monterey, Mexico, 23rd of Septem- ber. 1846: distinguished in battle of Cerro Gordo: brevet major for gallant and meritori- ous conduct in the battles of Contreras and'

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Cherubusco, 20th August, 1847, and severe- ly wounded in the latter; assistant adjutant general, January, 1848.

He was on duty in Washington in 1848, and subsequently, up to the War of the Rebel- lion, served as assistant adjutant general at various department headquarters, in the East, West, South, and on the Pacific, and in the War Department at Washington. In Decem- ber, 1860, he was sent by Mr. Floyd, Secre- tary of War, to Charleston, South Carolina, with verbal instructions for Major Robert An- derson, who was in command of the Govern- ment troops in the harbor, under the critical circumstances which the movement of Seces- sion had already created. After inspecting the forts, and making some suggestions with reference to their preparation for defense, he communicated verbally to Major Anderson the instructions he had received, and then a writ- ten memorandum of them, foreseeing the re- sponsibility which coming events were likely to throw upon that officer. This memoran- dum, which is published in the Robinson rec- ord, has a historical interest, since it contains the authority upon which Major An- derson took the decisive step of abandoning Fort Moultrie, and concentrating his com- mand in Fort Sumter.

Memorandum of verbal instructions to Major Anderson, First AArtillery, command- ing Fort Moultrie, South Carolina :

FORT MOULTRIE, SOUTH CAROLINA. December II. 1860.

You are aware of the great anxiety of the Secre Hry of War that a collision of the troops with the People of this State shall be avoided, and of his studied determination to pursue a course with reference to the military force in this harbor which shall guard against such a collision. He has, therefore, carefully abstained from increasing the force at this point, or taking any measures which might add to the present excited state of the public mind, or which would throw any doubt on the confidence he feels that South Carolina will not attempt, by violence, to obtain possession of the public works, or interfere with their occupancy.

But as the counsel and acts of rash and impulsive persons may possibly disappoint these expectations of the government, he deems it proper that you should be prepared with instructions to meet so unhappy a contingency. He has, therefore, directed me, verbally. to give you such instructions

You are carefully to avoid every act which would

needlessly tend to provoke aggression; and for that reason you are not, without evident and imminent ne- cessity, to take up any position which could be con- struted into the assumption of a hostile attitude. But you are to hold possession of the forts in this harbor, and if attacked you are to defend yourself to the last extremity.

The smallness of your force will not permit you, perhaps, to occupy more than one of the three forts, lit an attack on. or attempt to take possession of. any one of them, will be regarded as an act of hostility, and you may then put your command into either of them which you may deem most proper to increase its power of resistance.

You are also authorized to take similar steps when- ever you have tangible evidence of a design to proceed to a hostile act.

D. C. BUELL. Assistant Adjutant General.

The commencement of the Civil War found General Buell a lieutenant-colonel, and a lit- tle later colonel, and the third officer in rank in the adjutant general's department of the regular army. He was under orders for duty on the Pacific Coast in April, 1861, and sailed for San Francisco a few days after the firing on Fort Sumter. Het was commissioned a brigadier-general and recalled to Washington in August. In September and October he or- ganized and disciplined a division in the Army of the Potomac, and on the 12th of November was assigned to the command of the "Depart- ment of the Ohio, composed of the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, that portion of Ken- tucky east of the Cumberland River, and the State of Tennessee, with headquarters at Lou- isville, Kentucky." Next to the department of the Potomac, this was regarded the most important command in the contest which was then opening. The condition of affairs in Kentucky was thought to be extremely critical. One-third of the State was in the possession of the Rebel forces, under whose protection a provisional government was inaugurated at Russellville ; while further invasion was threat- ened from East Tennessee by Zollicoffer through Cumberland Gap, and by Humphrey Marshall from Virginia through Pound Gap. It was affirmed that the Union element was confined in a great part to the old men, and that the mass of the young men were on the eve of joining the Rebel ranks ; and many persons

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believed that a strong and prudent hand was required to preserve the State from a condi- tion of practical, if not avowed, revolt. The government had in the State a new and im- perfectly organized force of about 25,000 men, while General Sherman, who had recently re- lieved General Anderson in the command, re- ported to the War Department that the occa- sion demanded 200,000 men. Under these circumstances General Buell assumed com- mand at Louisville on the 15th of November. relieving General Sherman, and entered upon the task before him. That task was to gather in the raw regiments that were forming in the different States of his department : organize. equip, and discipline an army; maintain the supremacy of the Union : control the secession element, and give confidence to the loyal citi- zens of Kentucky ; expel from its borders the armed forces of the Confederacy. and carry the arms and authority of the government into the States in rebellion. Those who fail to keep in mind the general state of confusion and excitement which pervaded the country at that time, the passion and energy of the insurrec- tion, the magnitude of the physical obstacles to be overcome, the total lack of military train- ing and experience among the people, and the scarcity of available officers for the various staff functions, will not appreciate the diffi- culty of the work to be performed or do jus- tice to the services of that carly period of the war, in comparison with those of a later date. when the military arm of the government had by practice grown strong and skillful, and the power and confidence of the Confederacy had received its first fatal shock. The army which General Buell then formed and put into the field, called the Army of the Ohio, after- wards the Army of the Cumberland, was the largest of the original army organizations ex- cept the Army of the Potomac, and it assumed from the first an efficiency and esprit de corps which gave it a marked prominence in the sub- sequent events of the war.

While the work of organization was going on, the aggressive attitude of the enemy had to be counteracted, and, as is usual under such

circumstances, the temper of the Southern peo- ple and the enthusiasm of revolution gave to their troops a sort of efficiency which had to be offset by the steadier methods of discipline in the Northern armies. The main Confed- erate line at Bowling Green, under Albert Sid- ney Johnston, menaced Louisville, and its par- . tisan cavalry, rendered exceptionally efficient for such service by the personal qualities of the material, and operating in a hot, unfriend- ly population, produced results which were altogether out of proportion to its numerical strength. To repel an invasion in Northeas- tern Kentucky under Gen. Humphrey Mar- shall, a brigade was organized and placed un- der the command of General Garfield, then colonel of the Forty-second Ohio infantry, who defeated Marshall in several engagements, and drove him out of the State.

In December, the Confederate general, George B. Crittenden, recently assigned to the command of General Zoalicoffer's column. crossed the Cumberland River nearly oppo- site Somerset, fortified himself at Mill Spring. and threatened Central Kentucky. On the 3Ist of December. Gen. George H. Thomas was sent with his division, to attack him. The battle of Mill Spring, with a signal victory to the Union arms, was the result of this ex- pedition. Various other expeditions and op- erations of minor importance, were also exe- cuted.

The subject of a general plan of campaign, to be executed as soon as the necessary force was prepared, received the early attention of the new commander, and in a letter, written 12 days after his arrival in Louisville, he sub- mitted tothe general-in-chief, General McClel- lan, his views on that subject. The same plan was, a little later, proposed to General Hal- leck, who commanded the adjoining depart- ment-Missouri. The main Confederate force in the West. under the command of Gen- eral Albert Sidney Johnston, with headquar- ters at Bowling Green, Kentucky, occupied Bowling Green, fortified behind Barren River. Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland ; Fort Hen- ry, on the Tennessee, and Columbus, on the

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Mississippi. General Buell's plans proposed. that Halleck, with a land and naval force. should attack the center of this line on the Cumberland and Tennessee, while we attacked or turned Bowling Green and moved directly on Nashville. This plan, substantially, was at length executed, though without the con- cert which, would perhaps, have given better results. General Halleck was not prepared to co-operate when invited, and finally moved without concert, having no idea of further progress than the capture of Fort Henry. But the prompt re-enforcements, amounting first and last to 24 regiments, with artillery, sent by Buell to the river expedition, and his move- ment upon Bowling Green and Nashville. brought about a more complete and extended success than Halleck contemplated.

The authorship of the general plan of these operations has been the subject of consider- able discussion, though it is difficult to see how there should be any doubt about the matter. It has been claimed by General Grant for him- self, and General Sherman claimed it for Gen- eral Halleck : the letter on which Grant's claim is based was dated the 29th of January, and only proposed to capture Forts Henry and Donelson, and the official records show that the subject was not broached by Halleck be- fore the 20th of January. The following are the letters in which the plan was proposed to Generals Mcclellan and Halleck, by General Buell, on the 27th of November and 3rd of January, respectively :

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, November 27, 1861. MY DEAR GENERAL :- I have not written you very frequently because I could not write definitely, and because such, perhaps, exaggerated importance do 1 attach to secrecy in these matters, that I have hesitated to put my own thoughts to paper. and I now ask you to keep them to yourself. It is certainly possible that in the end you may have to observe how far the con- summation will have fallen short of my plans.

1 hope you have not supposed that the introduction of the re-enforcement> through this point has had any reference to a defense of Louisville. That has not entered my mind at all. I assume that to be safe in any event. I do not place high estimate on Buckner's force at Bowling Green, and I have no such thought as that he will attempt to advance. His position is purely defensive, and he will he quite content if he can

maintain that. I have, therefore, thought of no such thing as fortifying Louisville. Sherman threw up a little work at the mouth of Salt River. It may have been judicious when he did it. I have not seen the necessity of it since. though it does no harm.

If you will look carefully at the map you will see that Louisville affords the best base that can be taken for land operations from the north upon any part of Tennessee. The railroad to Lebanon curves around to the northeast behind Salt River, giving, besides the Nashville Railroad, three good pike roads, which con- verge to a point of easy communication for three columns about Glasgow-one by the mouth of Salt River, coming into the railroad at Elizabethtown, one by Bardstown and New Ilaven, and coming into the direct pike road to Gallatin and Nashville, and one by Lehanon, Shepardsville, and Greensburgh into the same road. while Lebanon junction, New Haven and Lebanon form convenient points for the departure of as many columns. Lebanon also affords a point of de- parture for a column on East Tennessee as short as any route; for wagon transportation as short as the route from Cincinnati by Lexington, and shorter and Jess attended with delay by railroad. Nothing could be more convenient. This point has the further ad- vantage of bringing everything under my eye. 1 could know nothing of what would be done from a base at Cincinnati. These advantages will not fail to impress themselves upon you without going more into detail.

And now for a plan of campaign. Up to the or- ganization of columns behind Salt River. all the plans 1 have in view at present concur. Beyond that they diverge, and may be stated briefly thus: First, to estab- lish a sufficient force before Bowling Green to hold Buckner there, while a column moves into East Ten- nessee by Somerset, and the route we had in view ; second. to hold him in check while a column moves rapidly past him on Nashville by the turnpike via Gallatin : and third, holding him in check at Bowling Green and throwing in columns on both the Somerset and Nashville routes. The choice of these must de- pend on circumstances, which may vary in the mean- time. or which may not now be clearly perceived. In conjunction with either of these should be the move- ment of the flotilla columns un the Tennessee and Cumberland so as at least to land and winter near the State line. and cut off communication between Bowling Green and Columbus, and perhaps run directly into Nashville. . \ strong demonstration should. at the same time. be made on Columbus hy the Mississippi. The details of all this, such as the destruction of rail- roads, so as to cut off communication, and a thousand other details. 1 do not go into, nor is it necessary. You can imagine them all.

All this. I hone, you will at least say looks plaus- ible; more than that, I hope it is reasonable, and be- lieve it is practicable, though I would not like you to forget that circumstances not fully foreseen may mar it in part. For the water movements, means are neces- sary which I have not the control of : that is, gunboats aud transports. The troops which you promise from Missouri could be used for the purpose, and ought to move at my signal. I should take the troops from Paducah for one of them, and replace them by those

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which probably would not be as well disciplined and equipped.

Thus far I have studiously avoided any movements which to the enemy would have the appearance of activity or method. The points occupied are pretty much the same as when I arrived, except that a regi- ment has now and then been moved into position, and Thomas has gradually been closing in upon Lebanon. I shall in a couple of days, at most, complete the mat- ter of organizing brigades and divisions as the troops come in, and begin to get them into position. We are now "lying around somewhat loo-e." and I shall not care much if some of our fragments have to look sharply after themselves. We are at the mouth of Salt River. Elizabethtown, Nolin, Colum- bia, Campbellsville, at the points on the Lebanon Railroad, Somerset. London. Crab Orchard, and Dick Robinson, and on the Lower Green River. The lat ter force is composed mostly of Kentucky regiments, half organized. I shall probably keep them to make a demonstration on Russellville and Hopkinsville at the proper time. We have occasional stampedes at the outposts, but I do not allow myself to be much troubled about them. Such an one we have now on the lower Green River, where Breckenridge is said to be advancing with 8.000 men. He may have 2 500 or 3.000. Another at Somer-et, where Zollicoffer is said to be crossing with 10.000. He may have 4.000 or 5,000, and he may cross a regiment or two.

As the troops come they go into camp five miles from the city, under Mitchell, who is attentive and subordinate. and where they replenish their worn out clothes and outfit and go to drilling Nelson has been in camp a day, and, I am informed, has already got into a difficulty with Mitchell; and, if I am rightly in- formed, has behaved very absurdly. As he is a vet- eran, some allowance must be made for him.

There are at Indianapolis seven regiments ready for service. but demoralized by the proximity of friends and the want of discipline and instruction. I propose to form them into a reserve and camp of instruction at Bardstown, which is a convenient place in many re- spects. I can make no use of them in an advance. The Kentucky regiments are only partially organized. and can be but little used at present.

If I were to go into my affairs, I should have the appearance of complaining over difficulties. I am greatly in need of general and staff officers. My own staff force is entirely insufficient, hut I have no means of augmenting it with advantage. As for myself I should pay a very high compliment, if I hoped to come up to the expectations which you first formed. I am afraid I shall have to ask a little patience

Very truly yours, D. C. BUELL. (To) MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN,

Commanding United States Army.

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, December 10, 1861.

MY DEAR GENERAL :- As I informed you by tele- graph, I received your letters on the 3rd and 5th. } have by no means been unmindful of your wishes in regard to Fast Tennessee, and I think I can both ap preciate and write in your sympathy for a people who have shown so, much constancy. That constancy will

still sustain them until the hour of deliverance. I have no fear of their being crushed. The allegiance of such people to hated rulers, even if it could be enforced for the moment, will only make them the more determined and ready to resist when the hour of rescue comes.

The organizat on of the division at Lebanon has been with special reference to the object which you have so much at heart, though. fortunately. it is one which suits any contingences thuit can arise. I shall hasten its preparation with all the energy and indus- try I can bring to bear. The plans which I have in view embrace that fully ; hut the details and the final determination-while there is yet time to watch the progress of circumstances which might affect our plans vitally-I think I should lack that ordinary discretion by which I hope to retain your confidence, if I did not reserve. When the preparation of that division is com- plete, which I hope will be very soon. if } then see reasons why it should be merged into the general line of operations, I will give you the reasons and you shall be the judge of them; and, if you do not see force in them. I assure you I will pursue your views with as much zeal and hopefulness, and. perhans, more energy than if I entirely concurred in them. You do not know me well yet if you think I cannot do this. And now for the other side of the field. I feel more anxiety about it than any other. because I have less control over the means that ought to bear on it, and have less knowledge of their details if I had the control. I do not know well-scarcely at all-the description and ca- pacity of the gunboats and transpor . that are to be used. and I do not know anything about the quality of the troops and officers. I have rot seen Smith for seven years, and am afraid to judge him. I have never rated him as highly as some men. Th . expedition re- quires nothing more, as matters now stand. than or- dinary nerve and good judgment, and ability to com- mand men. The troops ought, of course, to be the best we can command. The object is not to fight great bat- tles and storm impregnable fortifications, but, by demon- strations and maneuvering, to prevent the enemy from concentrating his scattered forces. In doing this, it must be expected there will be some fighting; it may be pretty good fighting I suppose that 10,000 men, with two batteries, would not be too great an estimate for each of the river-, if the enemy should do all that he probably can do. The precise manner of conducting expeditions depend- so much on local knowledge that I can hardly venture on it- details; but, at least. the expeditions should go as rapidly as possible to the near- est point where the road crosses the peninsula ; that is, to Dover and Fort Henry And the first thing then to be done . to destroy th bridges and ferries then act momentarily on the defensive, unless the weakness of the enemy or a trepidation in his force should give a good opportunity to attack I think the first serious opposition will be found at Fort Henry, and at an island battery four or five mile- below Dover; but my infor- mation is not very comp'ete as to the strength of these works It would be probably necessary to stop there. Fort Henry is said by civibans to be strong. I cannot learn vet the number of guns. There have been some 7.000 troups there We will probably find that number there It is about six miles below the railroad bridge. I

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History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 104

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1490

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490