USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Four > Part 17
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With General Morgan's capture, the people of Ohio breathed a sigh of relief. The raid had been a matter of great expense and suspense to the State, and there was consequent rejoicing at the capture and destruction of the one of the most formidable cavalry forces of the Confederacy. The command had been a terror to the Union people of Kentucky and Tennessee for two years, and any sort of success would have prolonged its stay in Ohio. The chase after Morgan proved very costly to Ohio. Governor Tod called out the militia of thirty-eight counties, composed of 587 companies, aggregating 49,357 men. Some of these were very soon dismissed. For instance, of those that assembled at Camp Chase, one-half were dismissed two days after Morgan entered Ohio; those of the southwestern part of the State were dismissed early in the campaign and the remainder soon after the fight at Buffington's Island. The cost of the raid to the people of Ohio was over a million dollars, divided as follows: for the payment of the militia, $250,000; for their subsistence and transportation, $200,000, and the amount of
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damages referred to in this chapter, $576,255. Of the regular volunteer force of Ohio, the Forty-Fifth Infantry and the Second and Seventh Cavalry shared in the pursuit of Morgan. Although a brief, it was a hard campaign. The cavalry regiments rode for twenty-six days, twenty hours out of the twenty-four and through three states, and both were in the engagement at Buff- ington's Island.
On October Ist, General Morgan with a number of his officers and men, by order of the United States authorities, were confined in the Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus. Just after midnight, November 27th, he and six of his captains escaped. This was accomplished by tunneling beneath the wall of the prison. It was a bold and adroit feat and the State was amazed when it became known. Captain Thomas H. Hines, after- ward Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of Ken- tucky, was one of the seven fugitives, and left a memento to the Warden in a note addressed: "Hon. N. Merion, the Faithful, the Vigilant," and reading as follows:
"Castle Merion, Cell No. 20, "November 27, 1863.
"Commencement-November 4, 1863. Conclu- sion-November 20, 1863. Number of hours for labor per day-three. Tools-two small knives. La patience sit amer, mais son fruit est doux. [Patience may be bitter, but its fruit is sweet.]
"By order of my six honorable confederates.
"T. Henry Hines, "Captain C.S.A."
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Safe beyond the outer walls the fugitives divided. General Morgan and Captain Hines proceeded straight to the depot; the latter bought tickets to Cincinnati and they quietly boarded the train which had just come in from the East. General Morgan on entering the car saw a Federal officer sitting alone, and, politely addressing him, seated himself by his side. They were soon engaged in pleasant conversation. In a moment the train was speeding toward Cincinnati. The short acquaintance of the General was evidently satisfactory, and, producing a flask of brandy, he invited the officer to drink; the invitation was accepted gratefully and courteously. By this time the train was passing the Penitentiary and its gloomy form was outlined even in the darkness of the night. "That is the hotel at which Morgan stops, I believe," said the officer. "Yes," answered the General, "and will stop, it is to be hoped. He has given us his fair share of trouble, and he will not be released. I will drink to him: May he ever be as closely kept as he is now." From this time on the night passed between the twain in jovial converse.
In the gray dawn of the morning the suburbs of Cincinnati were reached. Morgan coolly pulled the bell rope, and moving to the front platform, while Captain Hines went to the back, they both pulled the brakes with their full strength. The train slackened in speed and they jumped off. It was but a few yards to the Ohio River, where they found a boy with a skiff, and soon they were in Kentucky on their way to the Confederate lines.
When the morning papers of November 28th an- nounced Morgan's escape, people of Ohio were stunned
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with the audacity and success of the feat. Then came the usual crop of rumors that follow sensational events. Charges were made of treachery inside the prison, of assistance by friends from the outside, and of money used to secure the escape. Governor Tod appointed a commission consisting of General George D. Wright, Quartermaster General, and B. F. Huffman, Private Secretary of the Governor, to make a full examination of the facts relative to the escape. Numerous affidavits and the testimony of many witnesses, together with their report, may be found in the "Messages and Reports to the General Assembly and Governor of the State of Ohio for the year 1863," Part I, pages 246-264. This report shows that although there was no evidence whatever of any collusion or corruption on the part of anyone, the escape could not have been made if there had been vigilance and strict discipline in the prison. Governor Tod in his communication dated December II, 1863, to Warden Merion, relieved him of any criminal responsibility, but he did say that "the sole reason for their escape is to be found in the misunderstanding between General Mason and yourself as to which of you should, after the third of November, be responsible for, and have the care of and inspection of the prison cells." The escape was also investigated by a committee of the House of Representatives appointed January 8, 1864. After taking testimony and making a full inquiry, the com- mittee reported that in view of all their knowledge they were of the opinion that the State authorities were in no way responsible for the escape.
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The closing days of Governor Tod's Administration were now at hand, and he was about to lay down his office conscious of an Administration that was full of usefulness to the State. To that end he had worked zealously and effectively. His state papers, as pre- served in the "Executive Documents," are evidence of this, and they make a complete and authoritative his- tory of the second war Administration of the State, as well as a faithful guide to the historian of that period. In these we find the details of his provisions for burial places for Ohio soldiers; his correspondence relating to stragglers and absentees; his orders concerning the raising of colored troops; letters and papers relative to the payment of Ohio soldiers; documents and legis- lation as to arming the militia; reports as to the burial of the dead and the care of the sick and wounded in the regiments in the field; the military correspondence relating to Morgan's raid, capture and escape, as well as the threatened raid on the eastern border-all indicating that fidelity and attention to the State at home, as well as to her soldiers in the field, were the controlling features of the close of Governor Tod's Administration. He had kept up his efforts in recruit- ing the army, so that up to December 31, 1863, the total number of Ohio troops that had engaged in the service of the United States was 200,452. In detail, the military force furnished up to that date consisted of one hundred and twenty-nine regiments of infantry, two companies of guards, eight companies of sharp- shooters, twelve regiments of cavalry, two battalions of six months' cavalry, one regiment and twenty-six batteries of light artillery and two regiments of heavy
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artillery. Besides these about eight thousand white and colored soldiers had been recruited in Ohio for other states.
John Brough was inaugurated as Governor January II, 1864. In his inaugural he reaffirmed in aggressive terms the principles on which he made his canvass in the summer before. He devoted his address to war matters, both State and National. He especially advocated caring for the families of the soldiers, and to that end he favored the increase of the war tax, and he urged that Ohio do everything in its power to aid the National Government in suppressing the Rebellion. Said he, "There are but two ways in which the restora- tion of peace and the Union is to be accomplished; first, the unconditional surrender of the leaders and the abandonment of the Rebellion; or, second, the continued progress and conquests of our arms until the military power of the Confederacy is broken, and the heart of the Rebellion is crushed. All intermediate plans or schemes are mere palliatives that, like our compromises of the past fifty years, will only serve to procrastinate existing evils; restoring peace that will require constant watch from us and concessions, and prosperity that will be dependent upon annual sacrifices to avoid future demands and insurrections. In view of the permanence of our Government and the integrity of our Union, there is no such thing as com- promise with rebels in arms against both. Turn from it as we may, the great truth is apparent to every reasoning mind that submission or subjugation for the leaders of the Rebellion are the only means of restoring peace and good government again."
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Governor Brough's Administration followed these ideas, and all through his term of office, until his death, he gave to the State and Nation untiring energy, great executive force and every patriotic endeavor to sustain the Union cause. His first measure was the enlistment of the State militia into the Ohio National Guard for one hundred days' service. This movement was originated by Governor Brough when he called the historic convention of "War Governors" of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. The conference was held at Washington, and on April 21, 1864, the Governors notified President Lincoln that they could furnish him 85,000 men for one hundred days, without a dollar of bounty or a single draft. Ohio's share of this array was 30,000 men. It was a great drain to make upon the State at that time, but it was loyally met. Under the management of Governor Brough's Adjutant General, Benjamin R. Cowen-a man of strong character, excellent judgment and great capability,-the entire quota was filled by the day of rendezvous. Then General Cowen proudly telegraphed the Secretary of War: "More than 30,000 National Guards are now in camp and ready to muster." As a matter of fact there were five or six regiments more than the number required, and when the Governor asked Secretary Stanton to accept them he replied: "I will accept all the troops you can raise. They may decide the war."
Under this arrangement Ohio organized forty-one regiments and one battalion for the hundred days' service, of the strength of 35,892 men. They are entitled to great credit, although their term was brief,
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for they performed the assigned duty with fidelity and patriotism. They garrisoned the defenses around Washington, thereby freeing the 30,000 veterans there who were transferred to Grant's army for the Wilder- ness campaign. In detail their distribution was as follows: One regiment and a battalion was attached to Johnson's Island, one to Camp Chase, one was sta- tioned at Gallipolis and two at Camp Dennison. The remaining thirty-six regiments, amounting to 31,051 men, went to Virginia, Maryland and about Washing- ton. Of these, six joined General B. F. Butler, two were in the battle of Monocacy, one was stationed at Martinsburg, West Virginia, and three went into Kentucky, where they met General John Morgan in his final raid.
As a whole, the service of the Ohio National Guard was appreciated by the veterans-both officers and men. It disappointed those at first that were inclined to sneer, as the regulars had sneered at the volunteers early in the war, but the Guard did its duty and General Grant, we are informed by General Cowen, recognized this when he said that the reinforcement of the forty- two regiments sent him at the opening of the battle in the summer of 1864, enabled him to make that cam- paign the prelude to the closing scene at Appomattox. "This," says General Cowen, "was expressed in a private letter written to Governor Brough by Grant about June 1, 1864, wherein he said that he had never seen a battery more promptly supported than he was supported by the National Guard of his native State in May, 1864."
5
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If this can be said of the Ohio National Guard, what of the veterans in the field? The answer is to be found in the record of the military movements of the Union Army in this year. In March, April and May the Forty-Eighth, Fifty-Sixth, and Ninety-Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry participated in the disastrous Red River Expedition under General Banks. Other Ohio troops were in the campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, the Army of the James, and with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. But the greatest glory of the year can be credited to Ohio for the participation of her soldiers in the battles around Atlanta and in Sherman's "March to the Sea." In all of these brilliant cam- paigns the men from Ohio figured conspicuously. In the operations of the armies of the Cumberland, the Tennessee and the Ohio, from Chattanooga to Atlanta, the State of Ohio contributed eighty-six regiments and sixteen batteries. Ohio commanders were the principal leaders in the battles of the Atlanta campaign. The roll is one, indeed, of honor and glory: Major General William T. Sherman was Commander-in-Chief; Major General J. B. McPherson was Commander of the Army of the Tennessee; Major General David S. Stanley, Commander of the Fourth Army Corps; Brigadier General Jacob D. Cox, Commander of the Twenty-Third Army Corps; Manning F. Force, John W. Fuller, William B. Hazen, Mortimer D. Leggett, Thomas J. Wood and Charles R. Woods were Division Commanders; R. N. Adams, Samuel Beatty, John R. Bond, P. E. Burke, John S. Casement, Charles Candy, George P. Este, William H. Gibson, C. G. Harker, Theodore Jones, Wells S. Jones, Isaac M. Kirby
JAMES BIRDSEYE McPHERSON
Born in Clyde, Ohio, November 14, 1808; graduated from the United States Military Academy, 1853; appointed Captain, August 6, 1861 ; Brigadier General of volunteers, May 15, 1862; Major General of volunteers, October 8, 1 862; Brigadier General of the United States army, August I, 1863; killed July 22, 1864, in the repulse of a sortie from Atlanta, Georgia.
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in the campaigns of the Army of 1. Poloque tia Army of the James, and with Sheridan the Silen wodosb Valley, But the greatest glory of Year cuz fre credited to Ohio for the participation of soldiers in the bartiet around Atlanta and in Sherman "March to the Sea." In all of these brilliant ca paigns the men from Ohio figured conspicuously. the operations of the armies of the Cumberland, Tennessee and thir Dino, from Chattanooga to Atla the State of OMa contributed eighty-six regin and sixtoes boirerie Ohio commanders were principal haber osbe fattles of the Atlanta cam The ml , of honor and glory: M Garru W / T. man was Commander-in-C MAJor Conu / B. Mulheron was Command the Amo : Major General Davi Stanley, Commander of the Fourth Army C Brigadier Acumul Jacob D. Cox, Commander n Twenty-Third Army Corps; Manning F. Force, W. Fuller, William B. Hazen, Mortimer D. L. Thomas J. Wood and Charles R. Woods were Dir Comuuanders; R. N. Adams, Samuel Beatty, Ju Bond. T. E Burke, John S. Casement, Charles George P. Este, William H. Gibson, C. G. H Theodore Jones, Wells S. Jones, Isaac M. I
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Daniel McCook, N. C. McLean, John G. Mitchell, Emerson Opdycke, Sidney Post, B. F. Potts, J. W. Reilly, James S. Robinson, Robert K. Scott, John R. Sprague, Silas A. Strickland, Jacob E. Taylor, F. Van Derveer, Charles C. Walcutt, G. F. Wiles and William B. Woods were Brigade Commanders.
When General Sherman set out on his historic march from Atlanta to the Sea and through the Carolinas the following Ohio regiments formed a part of his magnificent organization: Fifth, Eleventh, Fourteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, Twenty-First, Twenty-Seventh, Twenty-Ninth, Thirtieth, Thirty- First, Thirty-Second, Thirty-Third, Thirty-Seventh, Thirty-Eighth, Thirty-Ninth, Forty-Third, Forty-Sixth, Forty-Seventh, Fifty-Second, Fifty-Third, Fifty-Fourth, Fifty-Fifth, Fifty-Seventh, Sixty-First, Sixty-Third, Sixty-Sixth, Sixty-Eighth, Sixty-Ninth, Seventieth, Seventy-Third, Seventy-Fourth, Seventy-Sixth, Seven- ty-Eighth, Seventy-Ninth, Eightieth, Eighty-First, Eighty-Second, Eighty-Ninth, Ninety-Second, Ninety- Fourth, Ninety-Eighth, One Hundred and Fifth, One Hundred and Eighth, One Hundred and Thirteenth, One Hundred and Twenty-First, One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth, One Hundred and Seventy-Eighth, One Hundred and Eightieth, and One Hundred and Eighty-First Infantry; First Ohio Squadron, and Fifth, Ninth and Tenth Ohio Cavalry; First Ohio Light Artillery, Battery C, and Fifteenth Ohio Battery.
As we read of this vast number of men withdrawn from the population of the State, the inquiry naturally arises as to what effect it had upon the different com- munities at home. These regiments came from the
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colleges, the farms, the workshops and the counting- rooms. Did their absence severely affect the domestic condition of the State or restrict the usual produc- tion of labor and manufacture? A passing examina- tion of this question will be interesting and informing.
The effect of the war upon the schools of Ohio is fully set forth in the "Eighth Annual Report of the State Commissioner of Common Schools to the Gov- ernor of the State of Ohio for the Year Ending August 31, 1861." The Commissioner, after communicating with the various counties of the State, finds the condi- tion of National affairs has not diminished the interest in educational affairs, and beyond a reduction of the tax levies and the pay of teachers in a few counties, the schools maintained their accustomed prosperity. There was noticed by the school authorities everywhere an increasing patriotism among the pupils, and an increase in the spirit of obedience, doubtless due to the ever- prevailing and always-apparent military discipline. The appendices of the report contain numerous letters (Appendix A), on which the Commissioner bases his statements. And it is interesting to observe that this spirit was widespread, as the letters published (Appendix B) from fourteen states show. In no State, except Kentucky, was there any interruption of educa- tional progress.
In his annual report for 1862, the Commissioner devotes considerable space to the school-teacher in the army, and estimates that fully five thousand teach- ers were at the front. Among the most prominent teachers and professors he mentions, Major Generals O. M. Mitchel and J. D. Cox, Brigadier Generals
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Jacob Ammen and J. A. Garfield, Colonels Loren Andrews, E. B. Andrews and M. D. Leggett, Lieu- tenant Colonels W. H. Young, Z. M. Chandler and T. F. Wildes, Majors John M. McClenehan, D. F. DeWolf and M. W. Smith. This report also notes the effect of the war upon the colleges of the State. They were all materially affected. Ohio Wesleyan, Ohio, Antioch, Oberlin, Marietta, Kenyon, Western Reserve and Miami colleges all reported decreased attendance and many of their students in the army.
The effect of enlistments on the productive capacity of the State is wholly due to the deduction of able- bodied men from the general population. This, pro- portionately, is not as large as one would at first expect on reading the aggregate enrollment for the army. Edward D. Mansfield, who was Commissioner of Sta- tistics for Ohio from 1859 to 1868, discusses this subject in his annual report for 1863. Taking as the factor of production in the State the number of able-bodied men in Ohio in July, 1863, viz: 554,857, he says: "The Governor reported in his message that from the beginning of the war to January, 1864, there had been enrolled from Ohio in the army (at all times) 200,671. Of these, however, he reports 15,000 raised in the past year. In fact they were raised in July. Fifteen thou- sand three months' men were twice counted, so that from the aggregate thirty thousand, five hundred must be deducted to ascertain the number of those who volunteered for three years, or the war. This gives 170,171. At least thirty thousand have from one cause or another been discharged, so that there remain 140,000
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who are either absent with the army, dead or disabled. Taking the date of the first of July, 1863, as the one to estimate by, we have this result:
Whole number of able-bodied men 554,857 Whole number absent, dead or disabled 140,000
Number of able-bodied men remaining for service in the State. 414,857
"This is several thousand less than those who actually voted in October, 1863. But for the differ- ence, there are sufficient reasons: I. There were several thousands of soldiers in the State who voted; 2. There was a considerable number of those who are put under the head of disabled; and 3. There was an increase from July, 1863 (at which date the above calculation is made) and the October election. All these together will more than make the deficiency. In 1863, therefore, there were more than 400,000 able-bodied men at home in Ohio, employed in the usual avocations of life. That is one-sixth of the population, and more than two-thirds of the able- bodied men. This is ample enough, taking into view the great use of machinery now employed in agricul- tural purposes. With a population of 2,450,000 in 1863, and after all the drafts and losses of the war, 400,000 active, able-bodied laborers! Ohio has no longer anything to fear from the reduction of her industry."
Notwithstanding Mansfield's conclusion, there are facts collected in his reports for the next year-1864- that indicate a considerable reduction in the production
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dependent upon able-bodied men. For instance, agri- culture generally showed a continued decrease from 1861 to 1864 inclusive. The arable land cultivated for the food products and tobacco, showed the serious falling off in 1863, from the average of the three previous years, of twelve per cent. This was alto- gether due to the withdrawal of labor. One-third of those who plowed the land went into the army, according to Mansfield, which necessarily caused a reduction in the preparation and cultivation of farm land. The reduction in plowed land for this period was also stated to be 700,000 acres, which is equal to fourteen million bushels of grain. "The general con- clusion we must come to," says the report for 1864, "is, that in 1863 and 1864 the abstraction of so large a number of laborers for the army has begun to pro- duce a serious effect in the reduction of culture and productive crops. Probably, the war, if not entirely ended, will be so much reduced in magnitude that labor will be found in sufficient amount to carry on successfully and prosperously the farming operations of this great agricultural State."
One of the weakening effects of the war was the diminution of marriages. This became apparent, and was natural, from the start. While the population was steadily increasing from immigration and births, the aggregate number of marriages was being reduced. The total marriages in 1860 and 1861 were 45,357, and in 1862 and 1863, 38,840, a decrease in two years of 6,617. The annual average of marriages for two years before the war was 22,676, and during the first two years of the war it was 19,420. This information is more
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interesting in the light of subsequent statistics. The marriages of 1864 were 20,881; of 1865, 22,198 and of 1866, 30,479. Thus we see that in 1863, the very midst of the war, the number of marriages had fallen to 19,300, which is 6,000 below a previous maximum of 25,616 in 1857, and that in 1866 the number rose to 30,479-6,000 above the previous maximum and 8,000 above the year before, 1865. This condition was due wholly to the war. In the two years of 1863 and 1864, the State was drained of its able-bodied men to the highest point reached. The majority of these were unmarried and at the marrying age. Had they remained at home, thousands of them would have been married. The close of the war reversed this condition of society. A large number of able-bodied men returned to the State, all the conditions and motives favorable to marriage existed and we see the result in over 8,000 more marriages in 1865 than in 1864.
Another phase of the war period shows a trend in the direction of increase and progress. This was the better financial condition of the people of Ohio. From 1860 to 1863 the bank deposits in the State more than doubled. This was partly due to the fact that soon after war began, the process of paying off debts commenced. In two years-1862 and 1863-the mortgaged debt of the people of the State was reduced sixteen million dollars. This decrease of indebtedness was not confined to mortgaged debt, but it also extended to commercial indebtedness.
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