History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 54

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At a reorganization meeting September 22, the following officers were elected: Mrs. Nathan P. Birdseye, re-elected president; Mrs. Dr. Weaver, vice- president; Mrs. Colonel Faton, secretary; Mrs. Dr. Seeley, treasurer; Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Jackson, directors.

MRS. NATHAN BIRDSEYE, President. MRS. BRADLEY TUTTLE, Secretary.

These are mere specimens of what was

done, and by no means indicate the extent of shipments made during the four years of the war after the women's movement was inaugurated.

The women of Fremont did not limit their work to sending good things forward for the soldiers. As the hardships, exposure, and the bloody work on the fields of battle went on, during 1863, 1864, and part of 1865, thousands of men were discharged for disability and sent home. Such women as Mrs. John R. Pease, Mrs. R. P. Buckland, Mrs. Dr. Stillwell, Mrs. Grant, and probably others in concert with them, discovered these soldiers making their way homeward in destitute circumstances. They at once seized the opportunity for doing good, and rented a house and furnished it with comforts for needy, returning invalid sol- diers. They watched for these needy patriots and when one was found he was at once taken to their impromptu home for needy soldiers. They would place him there and, furnish him with medicine if needed, and food and lodging until he was refreshed and able to go on his journey; and if he had no means to travel with, the means also were furnished him through their efforts, and the thankful soldier, sick, wounded, or needy, was sent towards his home rejoicing. Such women need no words of praise; their acts praise them better, before God and man, than language can.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES,

GENERAL CHARLES GRANT EATON.

As a soldier, physician, and citizen, Col- onel Eaton is alike favorably and honorably remembered. He was one of those peculiar men whose ability commanded respect, and whose qualities ingratiated him into the affections of his companions. . Since people are naturally interested in .what is said of their friends, this sketch is sure to receive a general reading.

Charles Grant Eaton was a son of Abel and Julia Eaton, and was born at Lowell, Massachusetts, September 27, 1825. His parents removed to Ohio in 1828, and settled in Licking county. Charles worked on a farm and attended the common schools of that community until young manhood, when he began the study of medicine in Granville,. under the tutorage of Dr. Austin. He attended lectures at Cincinnati College of Medicine, where he graduated in the class of 1847.

Dr. Eaton began practice at Savannah, Athens county, Ohio. He married, May 15, 1.849, Mary H. Conant, who was born in, Worcester county, Massachusetts, July 8, 1825, Her parents, Lot and Mary Conant, settled in West Virginia in 1830.

In 1853 Dr. Eaton began the practice of his profession in Clyde. His tact and skill soon found favor, and a full share of the practice of the eastern part of the county came under his care. His professional career was uninterrupted until the opening of the Rebellion. The political storm had not been raging without his notice. He felt that patriotism demanded political activity, and responded heartily to the call.

When the country was aroused by the sound of battle, Dr. Eaton abandoned his practice and began recruiting troops for

the Seventy-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, then being formed mainly through the efforts of General Buckland. Dr. Eaton was complimented for his activity with the captaincy of company A, composed mostly of citizens of the east part of the county.

The biography of Dr. Eaton from now until the close of the war is closely interwoven with the history of the noble Seventy-second Although his commissioned rank in the service did not obtain higher than the lieutenant-colonelcy, he was in command of the regiment during many of its most perilous expeditions. The regiment, soon after enlistment, was ordered up the Tennessee River. At Shiloh Captain Eaton was quite sick, and in consequence was unable to participate actively in this engagement, in which the lieutenant-colonel was killed and the major captured .. The command then devolved upon Colonel Eaton, until the regiment reached Camp No. 6, in front of Corinth, when Colonel Buckland, Who had been in command of the brigade, reassumed command of the regiment.

Captain Eaton was promoted to major July 23, 1862. In November, 1862, Colonel Buckland being again called to the command of a brigade, Major Eaton was given command of the regiment on Grant's Mississippi campaign, and several independent expeditions, until the return of Lieutenant-Colonel Crockett in January, 1863. He served with credit through the Vicksburg campaign, and was soon after commissioned lieutenant-colonel. In the absence of the colonel he commanded the, regiment until it was mustered out, September 11, 1865.

Colonel Eaton commanded his regiment on McPherson's expedition to Canton, Mississippi, and in Sturgis' fight with Forrest near Tupelo, Mississippi, where his bravery and devotion saved many men

GENERAL CHARLES G. EATON

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from capture. In General A. J, Smith's fights with Forrest; on, Mower's raid through Arkansas into Missouri after the rebel General Price; at the battle of Nashville, December, 1864, where the Seventy-second won distinguished honor; in the attacks upon the forts around Mobile in the spring of 1865, he bore himself like a true soldier. When hostilities had finally ceased, lie marched with his command, by way of Montgomery and Selma, to Vicksburg, where the regiment was mustered out.

He came out of the service," says the memorial of the Army of the Tennessee, "without a blemish on his military record, and at the close of the war was brevetted brigadier-general for gallant and meritorious services."

Colonel Eaton was firmly attached to his regiment. He was a man of heart as well as. courage. While he was ambitious to honor: his regiment, he at the same time protected them so far as possible from rash and hazardous undertakings. An incident illustrating his character as a military commander occurred on the field of Nashville. The lines were drawn up in front of the enemy's position, the Seventy-second being placed before a strong point. Brigadier-General McMillen sent his aide to Colonel Eaton, ordering hint to lead the advance. Eaton saw at once that the execution of this order would be the certain destruction of the regiment: He told the officer to present General McMillen his compliments, and to tell him that he was not going to advance. The aide communicated Eaton's reply to McMillen, who rode in person to the front and repeated the order. Eaton, in his characteristic way, said, in effect: General, you can't see the situation. I am here in front where I can, and I tell you this regiment is not going to advance on that position." General McMillen com-

promised his order, and saved the regiment from foolish destruction.

Colonel Eaton, as it is popularly expressed, was "one of the boys"; always ready to join in their amusements, exert himself to relieve their suffering, and make the burdens of army life as light as possible. No body of men could help but, be attached to such an officer. Friendship, heightened into love, which has not yet been forgotten by comrades in arms. On one occasion, at a reunion, a veteran caught his old colonel by the hand, and, as he remembered the multiplied kindnesses shown the rank and file on the field, his eyes filled and tears drowned the words with which he wanted to express himself. A similar feeling of affection is cherished by his entire command.

After the war Dr. Eaton resumed the practice of his profession in Clyde. He died October 13, 1895. In his profession, General Eaton was not bound by any school of practice. He was practical in the treatment of cases, never wanting in resources, and always prompt in their application. While his knowledge of the science of medicine covered a wide range, he relied more upon his own judgment and experience . than upon books and rules. He perceived quickly and accurately, and discriminated finely. A retentive memory was his faithful servant, and trade a diversified experience valuable.

As a citizen, General Eaton was enterprising and influential. He was freehanded with his money, and loved association. His affable manner, generosity, and interesting conversation caused his companionship- to be sought and appreciated. Although without early training, and never a hard student, he was a well- informed man. His was one of those peculiar minds which absorb the acquirements of minds with which they come in contact. Having engaged in a consulta-

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tion of physicians, or social conversation, he came away possessed of all the information called out.

Dr. Eaton was buried with Masonic honors, having been connected with that fraternity from the age of twenty-one years. He was also a member of the Odd Fellows lodge.

Mrs. Eaton is yet a citizen of Clyde. The family consisted of three children-Charles Henry, born March 14, 1850, lives in Colorado; Mary Julia, born October 31, 1851, married August 6, 1875, to John H. King, lives in Michigan; Frederick C., born January 13, 1861, died March 14, 1862.

CHESTER AVERILL BUCKLAND,

son of Stephen and Lucy Buckland, was born January 6, 1841, at Edinburg, then in Portage, but now in Summit county. He came with his parents, while quite young, to Fremont, and at an early period determined to learn a trade, and be independent. He accordingly served an apprenticeship at the printing business in the Fremont journal office, under the instruction of Isaac M. Keeler, the then editor and publisher of the paper. He evinced so much manliness and intelligence that his parents determined to give him an education, and for that purpose sent him to Hudson College. Here young Buckland made rapid progress in his studies, and developed qualities which promised a high and noble manhood. From the time the war of the Rebellion first broke out, he had a burning desire to enter the Union army, but could not obtain the consent of his loved and loving mother. When his older brother, Henry W. Buckland, enlisted, and became lieutenant of Company B, of the Seventy-second regiment, Chester made further

appeals to his mother by writing to her from Hudson, asking her to consent to his enlistment. The letters he wrote are so full of expressions of filial obedience, and yet so earnest, that they honor both parents and their child. They are given here, not specially to praise young Buckland, but to show the spirit of a representative young man of our county:

HUDSON, November 10, 1861.

DEAR PARENTS: I write home, at the present time, for your permission to enter the army. Notwithstanding my great and burning desire to go and help overturn the rebels, I have held back by your advice, and in accordance with your wishes. You do not know how many times I have regretted I was not in the army, and often I think I seem a coward that I have not gone. But I gave my promise that I should not go without your consent, and I do not wish to break it. A great many of my friends have gone, and to me it seems as if I should be with them. You think me unable to undergo the life of a soldier. I, as well as others, have sound and unblemished limbs, fine-textured muscles, capable of great development, and which can be taught to bear fatigue. To be sure, I am small in stature, but it has been proved that small men make the best soldiers, capable of enduring more fatigue, excitement, hunger, thirst, and danger than large men, being sounder, and more compactly made. I have calcu- lated the costs, the danger, toil, and privation I will have to undergo, and with your consent, I will most gladly endure them all. Do not refuse me. I know it will cause you many an anxious hour, but you will love to boast of me, as well as of my brother. I would, of course, want to go with Henry. Besides, I should no longer be a burden to you, but could let you have the most of my money which I would draw from the Government, instead of drawing from you, which you can scarcely spare. Do not think this is a sudden streak in me, for it is not. It has long been forming, and every day becomes stronger and more powerful, and many times I have almost said I would go. You well know that long since I should have gone had you not restrained me, and now it requires but one word, and I will go. Do not withhold it. The more I see of the hardship, pain, and suffering in this war, the more I want to go and help punish the causes of it. I have delayed long enough, and I feel that I can not do so very long. I think it my duty to go. There are none who are dependent on me, and I can afford, as well as others, to leave my home and all I love for my country's welfare. Now that I have gone thus far, do not refuse me. There are many men who have left their wives and children

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to go. I have neither, and there are none who would suffer should I fall, Besides, I should be in far better health after I got used to it. I bad a letter from Lieutenant Tyler yesterday. He said all were well. I had a letter from Fred Collins during the week; he sends love. I had one from Pollie Stratton Wednesday. I must close now. So good-bye, and soon return a favorable reply to your son,

CHESTER A. BUCKLAND.

MOTHER, CAN I GO?

I am writing to you, mother, knowing well what you will say,

When you read with tearful fondness, all I write to you today;

Knowing well the flame of ardor, on a loyal mother's part,

That will kindle with each impulse, with each throbbing of your heart.

I have heard my country calling for her sons that still are true;

I have loved that country, mother, only next to God and you,

And my soul is springing forward to resist her bitter foes;

Can I go, my dearest mother? Tell me, mother, can 1 go?

From the battered walls of Sumter, from the wild waves of the sea,

I have heard her cry for succor, as the voice of God to me;

In prosperity I loved her, in her days of dark distress; With your spirit in me, mother, could I love that country less?

They have pierced her heart with treason; they have caused her sons to bleed;

They have robbed her in her kindness; they have tri- umphed in her need;

They have trampled on her standard, and she calls me in her woe.

Can I go, my dearest mother? Tell me, mother, can I go? I am young and slender, mother; they would call me yet a boy;

But I know the land I live in, and the blessings I enjoy. I am old enough, dear mother, to be loyal; proud, and true

To the faithful sense of duty I have ever learned from you.

We must conquer this rebellion; let the doubting heart be still;

We must conquer it or perish; we must conquer, and we will.

But the faithful must not falter; and shall I be wanting? No!

Bid me go, my dearest mother. Tell me, mother, can I go?

He who led His chosen people, in their efforts to be free

From the tyranny of Egypt, will be merciful to me; Will protect me by His power, whate'er I undertake,

Will return me home in safety, dearest mother, for your sake;

Or should this, my bleeding country, need a victim such as me,

I am nothing more than others who have perished to be free.

On her bosom let me slumber; on her altar let me lie; I am not afraid, dear mother, in so good a cause to die.

There will come a day of gladness, when the people of the Lord

Shall look proudly on their banner which His mercy has restored,

When the stars, in perfect number, on their azure field of blue,

Shall be clustered in a union, then and ever firm and true.

I may live to see it, mother, when the patriot's work is done,

And your heart, so full of kindness, will beat proudly for your son;

Or through tears your eyes may see it, with a sadly thoughtful view,

And may love it still more dearly for the cost it won from you.

I have written to you, mother, with a consciousness of right;

I am thinking of you fondly, with a loyal heart, tonight. When I have your noble bidding, which shall bid me to press on,

I will come and see you, mother, come and see you and be gone-

In the sacred name of freedom and my country as her due;

In the name of law and justice, I have written this to you.

I am eager, anxious, longing, to resist my country's foe. Shall I go, my dearest mother? Tell me, mother, shall I go?

-Chester A. Buckland.

CAMP SHILOH, WEST TENNESSEE. Saturday April 5, 1862.

DEAREST MOTHER:,

You may glory in us now. Yesterday, while drilling. about a mile from here, our pickets were fired upon. In a very few moments the Seventy-second was on its way to battle at a double quick-step, company B in the rear. When we arrived at a convenient place, we were deployed as skirmishers, and were to try and surround the rebels. We wandered along a couple of miles. I and Henry were near the end of the company. The

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company was in groups of four, each group twenty paces apart. An order was given to rally on first group, when the front commenced to fire, but ceased before we could get up. We wandered in a body for near an hour, making frequent halts. Every ear was listening and every eye watching eagerly for sound or sight of the enemy. Nearly an hour from the first fire we got sight of them again, and nearly all got a chance to fire. We think one was killed or badly wounded. Here we found there were more than we thought, and so we retreated to a kind of a pen built of rails, and then to a big tree on the brow of a ravine. In a little time the rebel cavalry rude up in sight, and then the fight began. I could hear the balls go "whip" through the air, and hear them strike the trees around us. There were a hundred, and fifty rebels against forty-four of us! Once in a while one would drop from his horse or a horse would fall dead or wounded. We would load, run up where we could see, drop on our knees, take aim and fire, and then run back to load. In this manner we made them believe there were a good many more than there were of us.

In this part of the fight two of our men were wounded, Charles H. Bennet, in the right leg and James Titsword through the left breast above the heart. When we had fought about three-fourths of an hour, it commenced to rain and hail, which made it difficult to load without wetting the power. Then the rebels retreated. In a very little time it rained so hard we could not see more than a couple of rods, which was just exactly the time for them to ride on to us and cut us in pieces. We threw out guards to watch for them. I never knew it to rain so hard. When the rain had ceased, we saw them forming on a sort of prairie beyond the reach of our Enfields. Ina short time they gave a great shout and advanced on us. As soon as they were within good reach, we commenced to drop them again. They had been reinforced to about four or five hundred, beside what may have been in reserve. We fought here about a quarter of an hour more, during which three more were wounded, and several had holes shot in their clothes, one having a thumb broke, two shots in his arm, one through his clothes and one in his boot. Now was the desperate time. The rebels fired a volley, drew sabres and began to advance. They were on three sides of us. Our hearts began to sink. We rallied round the old white oak, each one firmly grasping his gun with its powder-stained bayonet, and determined to give as good as we got. How fierce we felt. Our last chance seemed gone, when a volley sounded in the rear of the rebels. It was the Seventy-second! How loud the hurrahs sounded then! It was the sweetest music I ever heard! The rebels turned and fled. We were saved. We fired as long as we could reach them and then took Titsword in care, and then we went over to where part of the rebels had been. We found two mortally

wounded ones. Our Enfields . make wicked holes. The first was a young boy about eighteen. He was afraid of us, and wanted to know what we would do with him. We promised to take care of him, as we would of our own men. He was assured of this, for one wanted to kill him,, but we raked him so" the boy was encouraged. The other was a man about twenty-five. We carried them as far as the pickets, where we had to leave them, for we could carry them no farther. Each one said there were four or five hundred of them. They were from Alabama, were well dressed and pretty well armed. These two men died last night. The rebels had carried all their wounded and dead away, but our cavalry say they saw about twenty dead rebels in the woods, and there must have been many wounded. I saw four dead horse.

Company A passed over the ground where our heaviest fire was aimed, and found a great many, sabres, pistols, guns, blankets, and everything they couldn't take away. They had a battery not far from where we were, and the cavalry followed them nearly into it. I have heard our men took two pieces of artillery, but am not certain if it be true. None on our side were killed, but Major Crockett, I fear, is a prisoner. The last seen of him, he was riding like a flash through the woods, fol- lowed by a dozen rebel horsemen. He had no arms with him, and couldn't fight them. A sergeant and a corporal were taken prisoner from company H. Company H had four wounded, one the color-sergeant, old Dr. Gessner's son. He was taken prisoner and told to climb behind one of the rebels, which he would not do. The rebel drew a revolver and snapped it at him, but it missed fire. He ran while the rebel was cocking it again, when the fellow shot and hit him in the shoulder .. Our men took nine or ten prisoners, who said they hadn't thought we could shoot so well. We must have killed about as many as there were of us, for every man took aim, and there are some who don't miss often. Orin England and Eugene Rawson were with our company, and neither one of them had even a pistol; but as soon as Titswood was wounded, Orin took his gun and cartridge box and fought well, while Eugene stood up with the boys and talked and laughed, and told them to keep cool and take good aim. It was no light matter to stand up unarmed, and a lot of fellows shooting at one. While we were bringing in the wounded there was a heavy battle not far from where we fought. Our fight will not probably appear in the papers, but we had a hard struggle, and against most fearful odds. Ten to one is a great disadvantage. Two minutes more and company B, Seventy-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, would have been no more. We would have all been killed, for each one would have died fighting. It would have been a barren victory, for there would have been a dead rebel or two for everyone of us. Our bayonets were

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fixed, and they are sorry things to run upon. We were willing to stop fighting. How soon we will have another fight I don't know, but any minute the long roll may sound for the battle. We may fight and die; but, mother, your sons will never quail.

It is getting too dark to write, so I must close. Good- bye, dear mother, and remember if I die it is for my country.

Your son,

CHESTER A. BUCKLAND.

That these appeals were successful the above letter shows. The patriotic mother could no longer withhold her consent. On the 22d day of November he enlisted in company B, of the Seventy-second regiment, at the age of twenty years. He went with the regiment to Shiloh, and there, early in the day of the 6th of April, he was wounded in the knee by a rifle shot from the enemy.

The news of his being wounded reached home. Lists of the wounded who had been sent homeward were published in the papers. The anxious parents watched eagerly the list of those sent to Ohio, but Chester's name was not found. It appeared subsequently that by mistake his name was in the list of those sent to Indiana, which the friends here did not search with so much interest.

Our people at once, after the battle of Shiloh, sent a committee there and another to Cincinnati, to look after the returning wounded. Dr. L. Q. Rawson, while at Cincinnati, found that young Buckland had died of his wound on a steamboat which was bringing him to that city from Cairo. Dr. Rawson at once placed the body in a metallic case, and sent the remains homeward, and informed the parents by telegraph what had happened.

The remains arrived in due time, and, after solemn services, were deposited by a large collection of mourning, patriotic citizens in Oakwood cemetery, where he rests.

Who did more for the country than

Chester A. Buckland, who gave to it a dearer offering than did his father and mother?

MICHAEL WEGSTEIN.

The first man of the Seventy-second regiment to give his life on the field of battle for our Union and liberty, was Captain Michael Wegstein, of company H. He was born in Baden, Germany, in the year 1818. He emigrated to the United States in 1834, and as soon as time allowed became an American citizen by naturalization. He was an industrious and useful citizen, and in 1859 was elected sheriff of Sandusky county. In the year 1861 Doctor A. R. Ferguson was elected his successor, whose term of service began on the 1st of January, 1862. After the October election of 1861, Mr. Wegstein, being defeated in the election by Dr. Ferguson, at once set himself about recruiting a company of Germans, to form a part of the Seventy-second regiment. He succeeded, notwithstanding a portion of his party, the Democratic, was much opposed to the war at that time. Captain Wegstein was a brave, honest, and patriotic man. He ably and faithfully commanded company H, of the Seventy-second regiment, and was with it in all its movements until the morning of the memorable 6th of April, 1862. At the first onset of the rebels in that battle he was found ready and at the head of his company. As he was forming them into line for a charge upon the enemy, a mini rifle ball from the enemy's ranks struck him in the throat, a little above the breast bone, and he fell dead upon the field of battle. He was certainly the first man of the Seventy-second killed in battle, and probably the first life offered up by the patriots of Sandusky in the great struggle for the Nation's life. Michael Wegstein was an honest

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History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 54

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