History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 143

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Ohio > Summit County > History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio > Part 143

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for a couple of hours each day at the shoe bench, in the meantime, to pay for books, tuition and board, for all which he paid as he went along, without being a burden to any one for a cent. In February, 1850, he came to Akron, where he has since resided, and was employed by Auditor Goodhue, in his office, for a few weeks, when he went into the Clerk's office, under L. S. Peck, Esq., where he served for two years as one of his deputies. On the new Constitution going into effect, in February, 1852, Charles G. Ladd, an attorney of the Sum- mit County bar, who had been elected Probate Judge, but by reason of sickness, of which he died in August following, was never able to get to his office personally, appointed young Voris his Deputy Clerk, which place he filled till the decease of Judge Ladd ; the entire business of the office was thus thrown upon him ; that he opened the office well, and devised proper mnodes for doing its business and keeping the records, is attested by the fact that they have been since followed, and that he correctly and faithfully acted for some six months as de facto Probate Judge is also attested by the fact that his acts in that behalf have never been legally questioned. During all this time, since he came to Akron, he was a close student of the law, with reference to entering upon its prac- tice, was admitted to the bar in June, 1853, and at once formed a partnership with the late Gen. L. V. Bierce, his law preceptor; this ar- rangement continued till 1857. As a young lawyer, he was singularly successful, both in getting business to do and in his manner of handling it; with the next term after his ad- mission till the outbreak of the rebellion, he was constantly pitted against the strongest law- yers of the Ohio bar ; his great energy, cease- less industry, courage and thorough preparation of his cases, gave him a recognized standing with the best of them.

Sept. 25, 1853, he married Lydia Allyn, daughter of Israel Allyn, Esq., then residing near Akron, with whom he lived till March 16, 1876, when Mrs. Voris died, after a most pain- ful illness of over four years. She was a most clevoted wife and mother, and left three chil- (ren, Edwin F., who is an attorney and prac- ticing with his father, and two daughters, Lucy A. and Bessie Coe. Edwin has settled down in life, married a wife, and like his father, is zeal- ously engaged in raising a family of children.

In 1859, A. C. Voris was elected to repre- sent his county in the General Assembly, which office he held for two years. In which, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, Chair- man of Penitentiary Committee, and sev- eral important select committees, he was dis- tinguished for his great industry and practical knowledge, which was also true of every mat- ter in which he engaged. Instead of being a society man, or employing his efforts in mere partisan contests, he directed his attention to the practical business matters before the Leg- islature, and in which he at once took rank as a leader. He was regarded as one of the ablest men on the floor of the House. He was apt and convincing as a debater, and always ready as a parliamentarian. He was selected Chair- man of the Committee of the Whole House when the general appropriation bills were under consideration, because of his sleight at dispatching business, and was complimented with having managed so as to get through in half the time expected to be consumed. Before his legislative term expired, the war of the rebellion broke out. All through the long session of 1861, he took a most decided stand against backing down to the demands of the South, and fearlessly urged resistance to and no compromising with treason or traitors, and fonght with all his might, all efforts from what- ever source they came, aiming to prostitute the Legislature of the State in the interests of slavery, or the treasonable demands of State Rights as interpreted by the planter States.

In September, 1861, the demand for men be- came so urgent for the army that he felt it his duty to go to the war himself, and enrolled himself as an enlisted man in the 29th O. V. I., but, without solicitation on his part, Gov. Den- nison appointed him a Second Lientenant for the recruiting service, under which he was mus- tered into the United States volunteer service on the 2d of October ensuing, for the organiza- tion of a regiment, to which he applied himself with such zeal and effect that, in the organiza- tion of the 67th Ohio, to which his men were assigned, he was entitled to a Lieutenant Colonelcy of the regiment, and would have gone into the field as its Colonel, if he had said so ; but having had no previous military training, he chose to go as its Lieutenant Colonel. His regiment went into the field in Western Vir- ginia, Jan. 19, 1862. He was its chief instruct-

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or from the date of its organization, Dec. 18, 1861, drilling and teaching men and officers, at such intervals as active service in the field per- mitted. On the 16th of March following, he became its commanding officer. On the even- ing of the 22d of the same month, he took his regiment into its first fight, against a reconnais- sance of Stonewall Jackson, before Winchester, Va .. which was, in fact, the opening of the first battle of Winchester, one of the most obsti- nately fought infantry battles of the war, the brigade to which the 67th Ohio was attached being ordered out to repel this attack, which was on our picket lines, to the south of Win- chester. Lieut. Col. Voris turned out his com- mand so rapidly that he took the lead of all our troops, and, in one hour from the time he got his orders, was four miles from camp, and pushing the enemy, his being the first Union troops in the fight. He, with his men, held the front the entire night, and kept the advanced position toward the enemy next morning till ordered to support a battery of artillery, which he did under a brisk fire from the enemy's bat- teries, till the infantry battle opened, when he was directed " to pitch in ;" not very definite orders, as the enemy were' then three-fourths of a mile off, and extended over a wide front, and mainly obscured by woodland and hills. He led his men at a double-quick, against a terrible fire of shot and shell directly in his front, and right for the point where the infantry fighting appeared to be fiercest, and formed his men immediately to the left of Col. Tyler's brigade, which was lying on the ground in front of a rebel brigade, within point-blank range, the latter being thoroughly protected by a stone- wall fence. Both sides kept up an incessant fusilade of small arms, neither daring to ad- vance on the other, with the advantage all on the side of the enemy. The 67th formed ob- liquely on the head and front of the wall, and not more than 150 feet from the right flank of the rebel brigade, from which it got a deadly fire, without being able to do much execution in return. He held this position but for a short time, and, not securing the desired results, un- dertook to place his men so as to deliver an en- filading fire from behind the stone wall. While "making this movement, he was shot in the right thigh, getting a very painful though not dan- gerous wound. The Color Sergeant hesitating, Lieut. Col. Voris seized the colors, and, sup-

ported by two men, under each shoulder, not- withstanding his wound, called on his men to follow him, and, placing them in such position that this wall afforded no protection to the en- emy, they opened a most destructive fire upon them. Two or three volleys caused the rebels to waver, when he ordered a charge upon them, which was executed with such impetuosity that the enemy broke in great disorder, and the 67th dashed through their lines with a yell that was plainly heard above the din of the battle. Tyler's brigade soon followed suit, and the whole left wing of Jackson's army was thrown into a disordered retreat. Gen. Voris deserv- edly thinks this one of the very best public acts of his life. Seeing that the stone wall was as good as a fort for the enemy, and that no decisive movement could be made against them till they were dislodged from it, he, of his own motion, pitched into them on their flank, a movement that was decisive of the only Union victory ever gained over Stonewall Jackson. He was promoted to the colonelcy of his regi- ment July 18, 1862, and served with it in the most arduous enterprises in Eastern and South- eastern Virginia, till the end of that year. Among the thrilling incidents of the year, he had the ill luck to be shipwrecked, with six companies of the 67th Regiment, off Fortress Monroe, Va., en route to re-enforce Gen. McClel- lan on the Peninsula. This was described by an eye-witness as follows : " In the middle of the night, the waves tumbled the old barge at a fearful rate, and soon all hands were aroused by the startling cry that the line towing the barge had parted, and that she was going to the bottom. To us on the steamer this was terrible intelligence for half our regiment. Its Lieut. Colonel, Adjt. Girty and several line officers were on the wreck. As the barge broke from the steamer, its rudder was crushed to atoms, leaving the crazy craft entirely at the mercy of the waves. We could see, through the darkness, that the upper deck had broken down, and every indication showed that the craft was really going to pieces. The steamer was swung round as rapidly as possible, to give help. As we passed round, we could see frag- ments of the wreck floating by. The shrieks of the frightened ones on the barge were truly distressing to us. For a long time, we could get no intelligence that gave us any hope, it being impossible to get near the vessel. Fi-

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nally, we heard the clear voice of Col. Voris, giving orders and urging the men to be quiet. He tried to soothe them by saying that 'all would end well, if they would let him boss the concern.' By the way, the Colonel says that bossing that rickety old barge in a storm is worse than fighting Stonewall Jackson. By great exertion, the boys were able to cast the anchor of the barge, and in a little. time a haw- ser was fastened to the wreck, and the steamer came to the rescue. Such a scramble to get off never was seen on dry land. One poor boy, in his overhaste, jumped overboard and was drowned, and five others were severely wound- ed. Col. V. was the last man to leave the wreck, directing the delivery of his men till all were safe, before he thought of himself. He came on board the steamer in rather an un-offi- cerlike plight, bare-headed, in shirt sleeves, with naught but shirt, pants, vest and shoes in the line of dress ; all his other fixens went with the barge ; " and in that undress he reported to Gen. J. A. Dix, the next morning, for new supplies for his men.

In January, 1863, he was transferred with his command to the Department of the South, where he participated in the siege operations before Charleston, S. C., till the close of that year. He commanded his regiment in the disas- trous assault on Ft. Wagner, the night of the 18th of July, in which he was very severely wounded, and was sent north in a few days aft- er to nurse his wound. In less than sixty days after he got this wound, he reported back to his command for duty, and shortly after was in the trenches before Charleston.

When the expedition was about to start from Hilton Head to attack Charleston, Col. Voris, with his regiment, was ordered to report for duty to Gov. Saxton, at Beaufort, S. C., to aid him in his civil administration. He did not relish Provost Marshal and other fancy work while a great enterprise was on foot, and went at once to Gen. Hunter, who had command of the department, and inquired of him if he really intended to capture Charleston. Being answered in the affirmative, he told Gen. Hun- ter that he was making a fatal mistake in leav- ing his (Voris') regiment out ; that there was not a man in the ranks of the 67th Regiment whose pockets were not full of locofoco matches with which to burn the cursed rebel city. Col. Voris carried back in his pockets an order to

join the expedition. The 67th did not go to Beaufort.

In the spring of 1864, he was assigned to duty with his regiment in the movement up James River, Va., against Richmond, under Gen. Butler, and thenceforth was identified with the Army of the James till the close of the war. On the 9th and 10th of May, 1864, with less than 2,000 rifles and eight pieces of artil- lery, he successfully fought and repulsed con- federate Gen. Ransom with four times as large a force, some ten miles below Richmond. In this engagement, he was specially conspicuous for gallantry and ability. and gained a brilliant victory, the first success for Gen. Butler in his advance on the confederate capital. On the night of the 9th, when it became apparent that there would be a renewal of the fight the next morning, and (Col. Voris had sent for re-enforce- ments) Gen. Gilmore, to whom Col. Voris had sent for re-enforcements, directed his Adjutant General to send him assistance, but not to send them under command of an officer senior in rank to Col. Voris, that he wanted the way left clear for him to fight with the enemy without interference from a superior officer. Gen. A. H. Terry said of this engagement, that if he had 10,000 such men as Col. Voris and the 67th O. V. I., he could take Richmond with them. For this fight Col. Voris was recommended for promotion as Brigadier General of Volunteers ; but political reasons in his Congressional dis- trict prevented so well-earned advancement. He was then suffering from his Ft. Wagner wound, and was so prostrated by the fatigue and anxi- ety of the day, that he had to be helped to camp. Again, on the 20th of the same month, he fought the enemy at the Win Bottom Church, on the Bermuda Hundred front, re-taking our picket line, from which our troops had been forced ; at the same time taking confederate Gen. Walker prisoner. He still keeps Gen. Walker's sword as a trophy of that affair. The 16th of June following, while in command of the picket line, as general officer of the day, he took the line of rebel works, by which Gen. Butler had been bottled up on the Bermuda Hundred, taking quite a number of prisoners, and several heavy guns in the enterprise.

At Deep Run, on the left bank of the James, below Richmond, in August next, he led the skirmish line in an attack on the enemy's lines, protected by temporary field works, which

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were carried with so much impetuosity that the rebels could fire but one volley, but so de- structive was it, that one-third of the attacking force was killed and wounded; before they could re-load their pieces, our boys were club- bing them over their heads with the butts of their rifles. In an engagement on the 13th of October ensning, he commanded a brigade of colored troops ; also below Richmond, where he urged his dusky soldiers to remember that now was their time to wipe out many an old score. If what the boys say is true, he told the contrabands to give their old oppressers h-1. Again, on the 27th and 28th of October following, he commanded a brigade of white troops on the Charles City road, in an attack upon the ontworks for the protection of Rich- mond ; and in the latter part of the next No- vember, he commanded a division against an attempt of the enemy to turn our flank on the north side of the James. On the 2d of April, 1865, he led the charge on Fort Gregg, Peters- burg, Va., and after having been in the ditch of the fort up to his neck in mud and water for nearly half an hour, he climbed up on its walls by the aid of a ladder made by the boys with their guns with bayonets fixed, and thrust into the walls one above the other, being the first Union officer on the fort. This was the last fort taken by storm of the confederate works surrounding Richmond and Petersburg, after being most tenaciously defended, at a loss of fully one-fourth of the garrison in killed. At Appomattox he was in the fight at the last ditch, and got a receipt for that day's work from a fragment of a shell on the left arm. He was breveted a Brigadier General in 1864, and a Major General of Volunteers in the year fol- lowing, " for distinguished services in the field," as the order appointing him recites.

Upon the close of hostilities, he was assigned to command the politico-military district of South Anna, Va., embracing a territory of tri- angular form, one angle at Richmond, the other two in the crown of the Blue Ridge, extending each way more than a hundred miles ; the du- ties of which were both of a political and mili- tary sort, including the supervision of all that relates to civil and military administration. He was for more than six months as absolute a satrap as ever governed, there being no other governing power except by and through the military, not a single civil, police or political

officer being recognized except by and under the military authorities. The colored people just emancipated had to be especially cared for and protected, all the interests of society looked after and conserved, the prejudices and cruelties of the system of slavery resisted and eradicated, a new system of labor organized, the mutual distrusts of the whites and negroes allayed, and confidence created between the late slave-owners and the freedmen.

He called together both white and colored people at their county seats, and publicly and together kindly tried to instruct them as to their new relations, urging fair dealing, justice and humanity in their future intercourse, and upon terms of impartial equal rights. To pro- tect the late slaves, and especially the infirm, old and little ones from ill-treatment and want, he found it necessary to make and publish orders prohibiting all sorts of personal violence, and turning off such infirm and helpless ones without adequate provision for their present support ; and, in default of which provision, he directed adequate assessment to be made and collected by military power. He absolutely put a stop to the devilish practice of flogging colored people, and permitted no penalties to be inflicted on them that were not visited upon white people for like grade of offenses. So con- siderate was he in the administration of his public duties, that he never had a matter ap- pealed from his orders or decrees to depart ment headquarters during the whole time he was in command of this district, though every class of disputed right came before him, com- mon to community from murder down. His Department Commander said of him that his was the only district in the State that did not make him trouble. Gen. Robert E. Lee was a resident of his district, and under his command for several months after the surrender. The Charlottesville Daily Chronicle wrote concerning his administration, when he left the district, that " Gen. Voris has conducted himself in com- mand here in the kindest and most considerate manner, and has shown himself an energetic, faithful and just officer. He leaves with the best wishes of our people." The colored people found in him a most valued friend and pro- tector.

As illustrative of his way of putting things, we narrate the following incidents : When he went first to Charlottesville, Va., to organize for

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the civil administration of Albemarle Co., and parol and amnesty those who had been in open rebellion against the United States, he was in- terviewed by a delegation of citizens as to what relations the freedmen would thenceforth sus- tain. To whom he replied, that the freed men were citizens of the United States, and, as such, possessed equal rights with all other Virginians ; that the General Government would protect them as such ; that he would do all in his power to reconcile and harmonize any antagonisms and distresses existing between the two races ; but that they would be required to adjust their intercourse with them on terms of reciprocal equality of rights. A fiery planter, not relish- ing this equality doctrine, spoke up, " I tell ye what it is, if my niggers don't do as I say, I will flog them." Gen. Voris instantly replied, " In that case, if I was your nigger, I would take your life, Sir." The Episcopalian Rector of the same place, and afterward a high digni- tary in his church, came to him to get indul- gence from the military authorities to omit from the prayer of their church service, the President of the United States and all others in authority, etc., alleging, as a reason, that such prayer would be insincere, and that his congregation could not, with their present feeling. join hon- estly in it. "Let us see," said the General, " Is it because they look upon the President and those in authority as still being enemies ?" It being admitted that this was substantially their feeling, he replied, " I am not much of a Christian, and may not appreciate the gravity of the situation, nor do I know how your church people regard the New Testament Scriptures ; but if you mean to set them a truly Christian example, I would advise you to do as Christ commanded, ' Love your enemies, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you,' instead of coming to the military authori- ties to get excused from obeying the commands of Almighty God."

As a soldier he never shirked duty or ex- posure. He always shared with his men their hardships, dangers and privations. and never asked of them what he would not do himself. So prompt was he in the execution of what- ever he had to do that the boys called him " Old Promptly," a name certainly not inappro- priately applied. All through the war, in case of sudden danger, he was always first in place for action with his men. His watchfulness

and strict attention to business, caused him to be assigned to the command of his brigade when he was junior colonel in it.

He was greatly beloved by his men, who, at the close of the war, gave him one of the finest presents given to any officer during the war, a magnificent sword, belt and sash, costing near- ly a thousand dollars ; every man of his old regiment contributing toward its purchase. A leading Ohio daily paper in referring to this present, said : " A worthy gift from one of the best regiments ever mustered into the service to one of the best soldiers that has entered the field." He always saw to it that his men had every thing the commissariat and quartermas- ter's departments could furnish, and ever stood up for the just rights of every enlisted man ; was a strict disciplinarian, requiring exact and prompt performance of duty from men and officers alike. He looked most carefully after the honorable character and standing of every man and officer in his command, not only as soldiers, but as men and American citizens. Not a man under him but felt always free to approach him at all proper times, on terms of pleasant intimacy, nor ever felt that any griev- ance would be slighted by him, merely because he was a private soldier. He was proud of his men. We quote from his report for the War Department regarding the meritorious part the 67th O. V. I. had taken in the war. After having given the various campaigns and actions in which it had participated, he says : " The good order always observed by the 67th, the fidelity with which it discharged all its duties. and the fortitude with which it met all its vicis- situdes, amid shipwreck on the sea, heat, cold and storm by land, and hate in an enemy's country, are worthy of as high place in the archives of the country as its most glorious deeds on the battle-field, than which no regi- ment can claim more glorious. I cannot close without saying I am proud, PROUD, PROUD of the glorious, triumphant, bully 67th."

We quote the following from the editorial columns of a leading Ohio paper, as showing in what estimation he was held by his superior officers as a soldier : "Every General under whom Voris has served has esteemed him highly as brave and discreet. Gen. Terry, one of his corps commanders, says Col. Voris, in every action in which he has been engaged. has exhibited fine qualities as a soldier, and on sev-

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eral occasions has been conspicuous for capacity and courage." The editorial notice of him by the leading Ohio papers are fairly represented by what George A. Benedict, editor of the Cleveland Herald, published concerning his record : " Among civilians appointed to the service, not a recipient has proved himself more worthy the trust than Gen. Voris. He has

shown industry, perseverance, discretion, talent, and an utter fearlessness of danger." His regiment won a great reputation in the war, much of which was due to the efforts and lead- ership of Gen. Voris. He is not only a brave man in danger, but possesses that higher order of courage in an eminent degree-the courage of his convictions. He thoroughly believes in the policy of frank, honorable, fair dealing in all things. He was mustered out of the serv- ice in December, 1865, after having served in the army fifty and a half months, and then re- turned to Akron and engaged in the active la- bors of his profession, but under great diffi- culties, owing to the disability occasioned by his Fort Wagner wound.

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History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 143

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104