USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. I > Part 18
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Every man of the little American band of the defenders of the Alamo died at his post. Thermopylae had its messenger of defeat-the Alamo had none.
"Remember the Alamo," was the rallying cry of the Texan patriots when General Houston defeated Santa Anna at Jacinto, which victory as- sured the independence of Texas and its annexation to the American Union.
Governor Sam Houston, in after years, in a speech at San Antonio, said that, "Whatever state gave us birth, we have one native land and one flag." This patriotic sentiment struck a responsive cord in the vast audience before him, and as the American flag was displayed from the Alamo, thou- sands of smaller flags were waved-the greatest flag scene in American his- tory. The thunder of cannon was answered by the thunder of voices and the clapping of hands. In answer to this demonstration, Governor Houston said: "Far off, far off, yet louder than any noise on earth, I hear from the dead years and the dead heroes of the Alamo the hurrahing of spirit-voices and the clapping of unseen hands."
Patriotism has ages for its own, and the history of heroic deeds lives after nations perish. There was a law in ancient Greece that "He who receives his death while fighting in the front of battle shall have an annual oration spoken to his honor."
But Americans need no decree to honor their soldier dead. Prompted by the fullness of grateful hearts they decorate their graves each returning May-time. No matter if those graves are beneath the sweeping shadows of the pines or beneath the sun-kissed verdure of unsheltered sod, whether in
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the beautiful cemeteries of the North, or whether they are simply unmarked graves in the chastened South, or in the islands of the sea, whether the storms rage over them or whether the birds fill the slumberous air with the melody of their songs, the hallowed graves of American soldiers are everywhere honored and revered.
THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. ITS GENERAL AND LOCAL HISTORY.
"O, veteran band, our Army Grand, before our dreamy eyes ye stand Twisting with a firm, strong hand the three-fold cord of Unity-the Red, White and Blue."
The recent camp-fire held by Mclaughlin Post, inaugurates a new fea- ture in Grand Army work in Mansfield. The idea of holding such meetings was suggested by Comrade A. F. Nail, who has attended similar social gath- erings at Worcester, Massachusetts, and other places in the East. The initial meeting was so successful, both in the attendance, good fellowship and in- terest, that it was the concensus of opinion of the comrades that this social feature should be made a permanent affair. And it should be, for the Grand Army of the Republic is an association of soldiers of the civil war, who have participated in both victories and defeat, and who have the same convictions and hopes, common memories and mutual sympathies.
It is said that the American passion for "organizing" and "appointing a committee" manifests itself under all varieties of circumstances. Any phase of things is a sufficient pretext for the American citizen to call a meet- ing for some specific purpose not hitherto provided for. And that one might suppose that the severely methodical conditions of army life might have satisfied the yearning of the most enthusiastic "organizer" who had been subjected to its stern requirements; but fortunately, even under these con- ditions the national impulse to confer, deliberate and resolve, possesses the citizen-soldiers. During the later months of the civil war and for several years thereafter numerous societies were formed all from some commendable motive of cooperation of commemoration.
The Grand Army of the Republic was organized at Springfield, Illinois, February, 1866, by Major Stephenson and Chaplain Rutledge, assisted by Comrades Snyder, North, Phelps and others. That the order succeeded is an historical fact and it is a fine study in climax to note from year to year the persevering efforts of comrades to develop the organization in accordance with its motto of "fraternity, charity and loyalty," and to mark how, step by step, the order has marched steadily forward, out of the distrust that shadowed its beginnings into the confidence of the people who now believe, because it has been proved to them, that the Grand Army is patriotic and not partisan. It is also gratifying to note the steady growth of its mem- bership, despite the ever increasing roll of the departed, the growing balance in its treasury, notwithstanding the constantly widening scope of its charities ; and, finally, to reflect how a quarter of a century of culture in the sentiments
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of loyalty and brotherly kindness has raised the average of character in the citizenship of the nation, and proven the Grand Army of the Republic to be second to none among the civilizing forces at work in our day and generation.
Mclaughlin Post, No. 131, was so named for General William Mc- Laughlin, a veteran of both the Mexican and the civil wars. The post was organized September 6, 1881, with the following charter members: A. C. Cummins, W. S. Bradford, T. T. Dill, James S. Crall, Frank M. Rowe, W. S. Ward, G. F. Carpenter, Thomas E. Douglas, George Mitchell, M. E. Douglas, R. C. McFarland, W. M. Hahn, E. J. Potter, H. P. Roberts, F. W. Pierson, A. C. Armstrong, S. E. Bird, B. F. Crawford, J. L. Hott, Moses R. Dickey, W. H. Albach, P. P. Ford, W. C. Markward, A. F. Nail, John F. Mckinley, J. Y. Cantwell, James McCoy, A. J. Gilbert, B. F. Keiser. George L. Emminger, Abraham Oster, John F. Woods, R. Brinkerhoff, H. M. Alvord, W. W. Smith, W. H. Cockins, George W. Hunt, George B. Merchant, M. R. Doll, E. D. Hunt, J. V. Van Atta.
March 21, 1884, a corps of the/ W. R. C. was organized, auxiliary to the G. A. R., and it is auxiliary in fact as well as in name.
General John A. Logan said: "When the encampments that know us 'shall know us no more forever,' the feeling of fraternal regard we have nourished will shed its silent tear over our graves; the charity we have pro- moted will throw its mantle over our short-comings, and the spirit of loyalty we have cultivated will still rally round the flag we love."-Saturday's News.
SOLDIERS' COUNTY REUNION.
A reunion of Richland county soldiers was held at Bellville. Saturday, November 8, 1902, under the auspices of the comrades of Company I, Six- teenth O. V. T. There was a large attendance from Mansfield, and a generat attendance from various parts of the county. The use of the township building was given the comrades that day, in which the meetings were held in the townhall, and the courtroom on the first floor was used as a banquet room, and where two sumptuous meals were served during the day and eve- ning. The late Captain D. W. Wilson was the promoter of the reunion.
Company I was a Bellville company and was one of the first to respond to President Lincoln's first call for troops, and the Sixteenth Ohio infantry, of which Company I was a part, was the first to cross the Ohio river and enter the territory of the seceded states. After the noon-day banquet, a camp-fire was set ablaze in the town hall. After music and an invocation, O. H. Gurney, then mayor of Bellville, gave an address of welcome, to which Captain D. W. Wilson responded, as follows .:
"Mr. Mayor: In response to your cordial words of welcome to the. members of Company I, Sixteenth O. V. I., and all the soldiers of other com- mands present upon this occasion. As a member of that gallant old company I have been assigned the pleasant duty of responding.
"I thank you most cordially for your very kind words of welcome, and assure you that as we were among the first to respond to our country's call
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when it needed defenders, that you may be assured in turning your beautiful little city over to us for our day's enjoyment, that it will be in safe hands. Again thanking you very kindly for your hearty welcome, we will proceed to have a general good time."
Captain Wilson, who had been selected to respond to Mayor Gurney's address of welcome, and as toastmaster for the campfire, served as a soldier in the Civil war from the start to the finish. He was a member of Captain Moody's company and at the expiration of that term, he enlisted in the Thirty-second O. V. I. for three years, and during the service rose from the ranks to the captaincy of his company, and returned to Bellville at the close of the war, wearing a captain's bars.
Captain Wilson is now deceased. A fine monument marks the place in the cemetery at Bellville, where his remains repose. The monument was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies in the presence of the G. A. R. of Mansfield and Bellville and a large concourse of citizens. Following the unveiling, memorial services were held in the town hall.
Letters of regrets were read from Congressman W. W. Skiles and the Hon. W. S. Cappeller, that they were unable to attend the reunion and camp- fire.
The first regular number on the program was an address by A. J. Baughman, who had been a member of Captain Moody's First-call company, and also of Captain Wilson's company in three years' service. As the address gave interesting facts and figures it is copied here :
A. J. BAUGHMAN'S ADDRESS.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity of addressing this reunion, and also thank all the citizens of Bellville for the generous welcome that has been extended to us upon this occasion. I am reminded that this is but the third reunion of the surviving members of Captain Moody's com- pany in forty-one years, but I hope such gatherings will be held more frequently in the future.
Soldiers are favorably mentioned in sacred, as well as in secular history. It was a soldier of whom the Nazarene spoke in words of commendation, that He had not seen such faith in all Israel. It was a soldier who was so impressed by the awful tragedy upon Calvary as to exclaim "Truly this is the Son of God!" And Paul advised Timothy to "Endure hardships as a good soldier." The great apostle considered the soldier so worthy of imi- tation that He handed him down to all ages as an example to those who would follow the highest ideals.
Look at Rome, once the mistress of the world! Even in her decadence, after official corruption had taken hold of every branch of the civil govern- ment, the army maintained its integrity and honor to the last.
The soldier represents something independent of himself. In America he stands as the defender of representative government-a government of the people, for the people and by the people. It is for this reason that he has the respect and gratitude of all patriotic people. When we remember that our comrades fought for the perpetuity of the American Union and the
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upholding of the old flag, then we can understand why the generation of today holds in grateful regard the soldiers of the Civil War who are living, and feel that no flowers are too fragrant to enshrine the memory of those who are dead.
Ohio did her full part in the Civil War. She put 310,654 men into the field-4,334 more than her quota. Bellville not only furnished her full share, but more-for a company went out from your borders for the Fifty-ninth New York infantry, for which neither Jefferson township nor the state of Ohio got credit. If that number were added to her list it would be seen that Bellville furnished more men per capita for the war than did any other town in Ohio. Therefore, Bellville, in her patriotic devotion, stands preeminent in honor and transplendent in glory.
As a sample of the fatality of war, take the Thirty-second Ohio infantry, in which regiment my old-time friend, Captain D. W. Wilson, our toast- master today, was an officer, and in which a number of the comrades I see in this audience, also served. That regiment entered the field September 15, 1861, nine hundred and fifty strong. During its service it received more than sixteen hundred recruits, making a total of twenty-six hundred men, and of that number there were but five hundred and sixty-five left to be mustered out of the service at the close of the war. A loss of about two thou- sand men, some of whom were killed in battle; some died in hospitals and rebel prisons; others had been discharged on account of wounds and other disabilities. What an appalling record !
Each year the number of the survivors of the Civil war grows less. We who still live have gotten so far up the hill of time that it may be proper to stop and look back and down into the valleys of the years of our youth and recall the events of the most wonderful half-century in the history of the world.
In some respects we have been the most fortunate of all the generations of men, for while some have passed eventless lives, without incident or his- tory, the generation we represent has taken part in some of the greatest events in the annals of time. Ours has participated in the debates of the greatest questions which have ever agitated a people, and also took part in the bloody conflict that decided the fate of the American Republic-that decreed that we should have but one country and one flag.
Some time will come, Mr. Chairman, when there will be but a single survivor of Company "I." To him will descend our company flag-the flag given us by the ladies of Bellville and which we carried in triumph through our term of service and which we have ever since jealously guarded. ever remembering that notable Fourth of July, when it was hoisted on Cheat mountain, and how it waved in triumph from that almost cloud-capped summit, while at the base of the mountain the clear waters of the Cheat river flowed onward to the Potomac and to the sea.
And in conclusion, comrades, let us hope that we will have many more such reunions and that the star-spangled banner will continue to wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave.
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The Spayde martial band furnished fife and drum music for the occa- sion. A chorus of eight voices gave vocal selections.
The late Captain A. H. Condict gave some remarks relating incidents of the Rebellion, in which the honor of the flag was upheld. A. J. Baughman was again called upon, and briefly related incidents of the spring of 1861, outlining vivid scenes in Bellville, and stated that Richland county furnished over three thousand men with which to suppress the rebellion. He pro- nounced a fitting eulogy in which were interspersed some excellent thoughts in verse.
Among the soldiers who responded to calls were Samuel Eddleman, William Ritter, Robert McFarland, Samuel McFarland, Captain W. W. Cockley, W. H. Shoup, Frank Lantz, W. W. Smith and Judge Leidigh. General R. Brinkerhoff addressed the camp-fire, giving an account of the assassination of President Lincoln, of which he was an eye witness. His word picture of the tragedy held the audience in rapt attention. After a song by the choir, other comrades were called upon for remarks as follows: George Knofflock, J. B. Niman, J. N. Atherton, G. W. Zellner and Andrew Stevenson. The latter gave an historical sketch of the founding of the Grand Army of the Republic. Music by chorus and orchestra again was followed by Rev. J. W. Boyer, who told jokes, one of which was not appre- ciated by some of the comrades present.
The stage in the hall was very prettily decorated with flags and bunting and presented a handsome appearance. The meals furnished, of which over four hundred partook, were furnished free by the citizens of Bellville.
REUNION OF COMPANY I, SIXTEENTH O. V. I.
The reunion of Captain Miller Moody's Company I, Sixteenth O. V. I. First-call troops, was held in Bellville, Friday, August 5, 1904. Company I was one of the four companies that went from Richland county into the service under President Lincoln's first call for troops, made April 15, 1861. A member of the editorial staff of the Mansfield Daily Shield newspaper, attended the reunion and we herewith copy the report he made for his paper upon that occasion, and as the gentleman was a member of Captain Moody's company and assisted in its organization, he knew whereof he wrote. The following is his report:
While fragmentary sketches have been given from time to time of Captain Miller Moody's Company I, Sixteenth O. V. I., first-call troops, no history of that organization has ever been published. And this sketch is more cursory than complete, leaving to some future writer the honor of com- piling and revising what has already been written.
Without attempting any prefatory statement of the antecedent history of the war of the Rebellion, further than to state that the long-expected crisis came at last, when seven thousand armed Confederates attacked the seventy Union soldiers who garrisoned Fort Sumter, and forced Major Anderson to evacuate the fort the 13th of April, 1861, after withstanding the incessant fire of the rebels for thirty-four hours. Two days afterwards President
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Lincoln issued his proclamation, calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers "To maintain the honor, the integrity and the existence of our National Government, and to redress wrongs long endured." This proclamation was flashed over the wires throughout the northern states, and was everywhere received with patriotic fervor and was responded to by thousands of men offering their services to the Government under that "first call." The North proved itself ready for the emergency. The arguments of Daniel Webster and others against the right of secession had educated the public mind in the North upon lines of loyalty to the government and for the preservation of the Union, and the call for troops met with a prompt and hearty response. The raising of troops went forward with a bound, and the wildest excitement and enthusiasm attended the departure of companies for the seat of war. The seriousness of the situation was not overlooked, but high above that consideration rose the tide of patriotic feeling and swept all obstacles before it.
Ohio's quota under the call was 10,154. As double this number responded, all could not be accepted.
The president's call, made May 1, was for 42,000 volunteers for three years; for 22,000 for the regular army, and for 18,000 seamen. A number of regiments which organized, or partially organized, under the first call, reorganized under the president's second call. The infantry regiments were numbered from one to twenty-two, inclusive, and inasmuch as the Twenty-second got into the first-call service, some people imagine there were over twenty thousand troops in the service under the president's call of April 15. But such assumption is not sustained by facts, for the number accepted and mustered into the service in Ohio, under the first call, was 12,357.
Ohio being a border state and liable to invasion, additional troops were mustered into the State service in accordance with an act of the General Assembly to provide more effectively for the defense of the state against invasion, passed April 26, 1861.
At the outbreak of the Civil war there was no telegraph office at Bell- ville. Learning from the daily papers that Fort Sumter had been fired upon, and anticipating a declaration of war and a call for troops, the Hon. Miller Moody, one of the leading citizens of Bellville came to Mansfield, to be in telegraphic communication with Governor Dennison, who had been his class-mate in Kenyon college. On the morning of April 16, a large crowd gathered at the Bellville depot to await the arrival of the train from the north, anxious to get news, feeling assured that action had been taken by the government to avenge the firing upon the American flag at Fort Sum- ter. As the train came down the valley, the engineer opened wide the whistle-valve, and the engine came into town shrieking weirdly, which told as plainly as words could have expressed that war had been declared. And. soon the church bells rang with direful strains, and the occasion was one of awful portent.
As Captain Moody stepped from the train, he stated that a call for troops had been made, and that he was authorized to raise a company of men for the service. After the train left, men fell into line and followed
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Captain Moody uptown, marching in the middle of the street, and although no roll call was presented for signatures, it was understood that the majority of those who marched up and down the street to the music of the fife and drum intended to enlist, and later, when an opportunity was given, ninety- two men volunteered as fast as their names could be enrolled. Others were added later.
After a few days' preliminary drill, while awaiting marching orders, the volunteers went to Camp Jackson, Columbus. The company was then known as the Jefferson Guards, with the following officers: Captain, Miller Moody; first lieutenant, A. W. Loback; second lieutenant, James Riddle. Later, the Jefferson Guards became Company I, of the Sixteenth O. V. I., and after drill and equipment, was ordered to the front, and on May 27, the Sixteenth crossed the Ohio river from Bellaire to Benwood, and were the first troops to enter the so-called Southern Confederacy. From Benwood the regiment went east along the line of the B. & O. railroad, did a large amount of marching and guard duty, and rendered valuable service to the government in assisting to stay the progress of the rebels, who were endeav- oring to carry the war into the North. The official list of battles in which the regiment, or companies of it bore an honorable part, is as follows: Philippi, June 3; Laurel Hill, July 8; Carrick's Ford, July 14. To this list should be added the skirmish at Bowman's, June 29, in which N. O. Smith, of West Windsor, was killed. Mr. Smith was the first Richland county soldier who lost his life in the war of the Rebellion. His remains were brought home and buried in the Bostock cemetery. He was a member of Company H, Fifteenth O. V. I.
The Sixteenth got as far east as the Red House, West Virginia, and Cumberland, Maryland. The regiment entered the service April the 27th and was mustered out August the 18th.
Captain Miller Moody's company, the survivors of which held a re- union at Bellville, Wednesday, August 3, has the distinction of having not only been in the first-call service and the first troops that crossed the Ohio river, but of having taken part in the first battle of the Civil war. There is a distinctiveness in the first-call service conducive to patriotic retrospection which will be more appreciated in the future than it has been in the past.
Nearly all the members of the company I reenlisted later for the three years' service. Captain Moody raised a company and went into the Fifty- ninth New York, Colonel Tiball's regiment. The captain was wounded in the battle of Antietam, and died two weeks later, after having suffered five amputations. His remains were brought back and interred in the Bellville cemetery.
Lieutenant A. W. Loback recruited a company for and became a cap- tain in the One Hundred and Second O. V. I., and served through the war. Lieutenant James Riddle became a lieutenant in Captain Loback's com- pany. He was killed in a railroad accident near Woodville, Tennessee.
Three privates of Company I became officers in the three years' service. D. W. Wilson enlisted as a private in the Thirty-second Ohio and came out of the service at the close of the war wearing a captain's bars. J. P.
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Rummel was afterwards a captain in the One Hundred and Twentieth, and S. B. Donel was a lieutenant in the One Hundred and Second.
Captain Moody was a college graduate and was prominent in social and political circles, and had been a member of the Legislature. He was an aristocrat, but could be approached by the most humble citizen. He was dignified and courteous in his bearing and was faultless in his dress. He was kind to his men. as were also the other Bellville captains, Loback and Wilson.
A few of the members of Captain Moody's company are still living, and are grateful that we have a common country and a common flag.
HOME LIFE IN RICHLAND COUNTY DURING THE CIVIL WAR.
Much has been written, told and sung about the Civil war, about marches, camp incidents and battles, but this deals largely with the life at home, of the Richland county families left behind by the soldiers who went South at their country's call to put down the Rebellion. Within five days after President Lincoln's first call for troops Richland county sent over five hundred volunteers to camps of rendezvous and instruction. Perhaps half of these volunteers had families dependent upon them for support, and as they were largely of the employed class they had but little, if any, means at hand to use in providing for those left behind. To meet this condition funds were raised and appropriations voted from which weekly allowances were given to soldiers' families. The Bellville town council appropriated seven hundred dollars for this purpose, and similar funds at Mansfield, Shelby, Plymouth and other places were equally generous and liberal.
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