USA > Ohio > Ohio in four wars, a military history > Part 12
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CASTLE MERION, Cell No. 20,
November 27, 1863. COMMENCEMENT - November 4, 1863. Conclusion - 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.
Safe beyond the outer walls the fugitives di- vided. General Morgan and Captain Hines pro- ceeded 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 Fed- eral officer sitting alone, and politely addressing him, seated himself by his side. They were soon
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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 dark- ness 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 plat- form, 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 Con- federate lines.
When the morning papers of November 28th announced Morgan's escape, the people of Ohio
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were stunned 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 assist- ance of friends from the outside, and of money used to secure the escape. Governor Tod ap- pointed a commission consisting of General George D. Wright, Quartermaster General, and B. F. Huffman, Private Secretary of the Gov- ernor, 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 vig- ilance and strict discipline in the prison. Gov- ernor Tod in his communication dated December 11, 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."
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The escape was also investigated by a committee of the House of Representatives appointed Janu- ary 8, 1864. After taking testimony and making a ful inquiry, the committee reported that in view of all their knowledge they were of the opinion that the State authorities were in no way respon- sible for the escape.
The closing days of Governor Tod's Admin- istration were now at hand, and he was about to lay down his office conscious of an Administra- tion that was full of usefulness to the State. To that end he had worked zealously and effectively. His state papers, as preserved in the "Executive Documents," are evidence of this, and they make a complete and authoritative history of the sec- ond 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 correspond- ence 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 legislation 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 correspond- ence relating to Morgan's raid, capture and es- cape, as well as the threatened raid on the cast-
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ern border ---- all indicating that fidelity and at- tention 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 recruiting the army, so that up to December 31, 1863, the total num- ber 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 sharpshooters, twelve regi- ments of cavalry, two battalions of six months' cavalry, one regiment and twenty-six batteries of light artillery and two regiments of heavy 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 11, 1864. In his inaugural he reaffirmed in aggressive terms the principles on which he made his canvass in the summer before. He de- voted 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 Rebel-
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lion. Said he, "There are but two ways in which the restoration of peace and the Union is to be accomplished; first, the unconditional surrender of the leaders and the abandonment of the Re- bellion; 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 de- pendent upon annual sacrifices to avoid future demands and insurrections. In view of the per- manence of our Government and the integrity of our Union, there is no such thing as compromise 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."
Governor Brough's Administration followed these ideas, and all through his term of office, un- til his death, he gave to the State and Nation un- tiring energy, great executive force and every patriotic endeavor to sustain the Union cause.
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WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN
Born in Lancaster, Ohio, February 8, 1820; graduated from United States Military Academy, 1840; during the Mex- ican War served in California; Brigadier General of volun- teers, May 17, 1861; Major General of volunteers, Mav 1, 1862; Brigadier General, regular army, July 4, 1863; Major General, regular army, August 12, 1864; Lieutenant General, July 25, 1366; General, March 4, 1869; was Commander-in Chief of the army from March 8, 1869, to November 1, 1883; died February 14, 1891.
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His first measure was the enlistment of the State militia into the Ohio National Guard for one hun- dred days' service. This movement was origi- nated by Governor Brough when he called the historic convention of "War Governors" of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wis- consin. The conference was held at Washing- ton, and on April 21, 1864, the Governors noti- fied 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, Ben- jamin 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 Na- tional Guards are now in camp and ready to muster." As a matter of fact there were five or six regiments more than the number re- quired, and when the Governor asked Secretary Stanton to accept them he replied : "I will ac- cept all the troops you can raise. They may de- cide the war."
Under this arrangement Ohio organized
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forty-one regiments and one battalion for the hundred days' service, of the strength of 35,892 inen. They are entitled to great credit, al- though their term was brief, for they performed the assigned duty with fidelity and patriotism. They garrisoned the defenses around Wash- ington, thereby freeing the 30,000 veterans there who were transferred to Grant's army for the Wilderness campaign. In detail their dis- tribution was as follows: One regiment and a battalion was attached to Johnson's Island, one to Camp Chase, one was stationed at Gallipolis and two at Camp Dennison. The remaining thirty-six regiments, amounting to 31,051 men, went to Virginia, Maryland and about Wash- ington. 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 for-
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ty-two regiments sent him at the opening of the battle in the summer of 1864, enabled him to make that campaign the prelude to the closing scene at Appomattox. "This," says General Cowen, "was expressed in a private letter writ- ten 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."
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 mili- tary 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 campaigns the men from Ohio figured con- spicuously. In the operations of the armies of the Cumberland, the Tennessee and the Ohio,
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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 Com- mander-in-Chief; Major General J. B. Mc- Pherson was Commander of the Army of the Tennessee; Major General David S. Stanley, Commander of the Fourth Army Corps; Briga- dier 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 P .. Bond, P. E. Burke, John S. Casement, Charles Candy, George P. Este, William H. Gibson, C. G. Har- ker, Theodore Jones, Wells S. Jones, Isaac M. Kirby, 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 Prigade Commanders.
When General Sherman set out on his his- toric march from Atlanta to the Sea and
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through the Carolinas the following Ohio regi- ments formed a part of his magnificent organi- zation: Fifth, Eleventh, Fourteenth, Seven- teenth, Twentieth, Twenty-First, Twenty-Sev- enth, 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, Seventy-Eighth, Seventh-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 Hun- dred and Seventy-Eighth, One Hundred and Eightieth, and One Hundred Eighty-First In- fantry; First Ohio Squadron, and Fifth, Ninth and Tenth Ohio Cavalry; First Ohic Light Ar- tillery, Battery. C, and Fifteenth Ohio Battery.
As we read of this vast number of men with- drawn from the population of the State, the in- quiry naturally arises as to what effect it had upon the different communities at home. These regiments came from the colleges, the farms, the
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workshops and the countingrooms. Did their ab- sence severely affect the domestic condition of the State or restrict the usual production of labor and manufacture? A passing examination 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 Governor of the State of Ohio for the Year Ending August 31, 1861." The Commis- sioner, after communicating with the various counties of the State, finds the condition of Na- tional 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 accus- tomed 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 disci- pline. 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 wide- spread, as the letters published (Appendix B) from fourteen states show. In no State, except
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Kentucky, was there any interruption of educa- tional progress.
In his annual report for 1862, the Commis- sioner devotes considerable space to the school- teacher in the army, and estimates that fully five thousand teachers were at the front. Among the most prominent teachers and pro- fessors he mentions, Major Generals O. M. Mitchel and J. D. Cox, Brigadier Generals Ja- cob Ammen and J. A. Garfield, Colonels Loren Andrews, E. B. Andrews and M. D. Leggett, Lieutenant Colonels W. H. Young, Z. M. Chan- dler and T. F. Wildes, Majors John M. Mc- Clenehan, 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 at- tendance and many of their students in the army.
The effect of enlistments on the productive capacity of the State is wholly due to the deduc- tion of able-bodied men from the general popu- lation. This, proportionately, is not as large as one would at first expect on reading the aggre- gate enrollment for the army. Edward D. Mansfield, who was Commissioner of Statistics
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for Ohio from 1859 to 1868, discusses this sub- ject in his annual report for 1863. Taking as the factor of production in the State the nun- ber of able-bodied men in Ohio in July, 1863, viz .: 554,837, he says: "The Covernor re- ported in his message that from the beginning of the war to January, 1864, there had been en- rolled 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 thousand 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 volun- teered 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 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. 55-1,857 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 difference, there
PHILIP HENRY SHERIDAN
Born in Albany, New York, March 6, 1831, and in infancy came with his parents to Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, where he was reared; graduated from the United States Military Academy, 1853; appointed Captain of the Thirteenth Infantry, regular army, May 14, 1861: Brigadier General of the United States army, September 20. 1864: Major General of the United States army. November 8, 1864; Lieutenant General, March 4. 1869: General. June 1. 1828; was Com- mander-in-Chief, November 1, 1883, to August 5, 1888; died in Nonquitt, Massachusetts, August 5, 1888.
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are sufficient reasons : 1. There were several thou- sands 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 Tuly, 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 em- ployed in agricultural 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 consider- able reduction in the production dependent upon able-bodied inen. For instance, agriculture generally showed a continued decrease from 1861 to 1864 inclusive. The arable land culti- vated 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 altogether due to the withdrawal of labor. One-third of those who plowed the land
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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 gen- eral conclusion we must come to," says the re- port for 1864, "is, that in 1863 and 1864 the ab- straction of so large a number of laborers for the army has begun to produce 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 success- fully 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 ap- parent, and was natural, from the start. While the population was steadily increasing from im- migration and births, the aggregate number of marriages was being reduced. The total mar- riages 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 dur- ing the first years of the war it was 19,420. This information is more interesting in the light of
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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 maxi- mum of 25, 616 in 1857, and that in 1866, the number rose to 30,479-6,000 above the pre- vious 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 re- versed this condition of society. A large num- ber of able-bodied men returned to the State, all the conditions and motives favorable to mar- riage 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 com- menced. In two years - 1862 and 1863 - the
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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 in- debtedness.
CHAPTER VIII -
THE CIVIL WAR (CONCLUDED)
I N the summer of 1864 a new and threaten- ing force against the Union sentiment in Ohio was developed. This was a secret organization called the "Order of American Knights," or "the Sons of Liberty"; in some places it was known as the "Knights of the Golden Circle." It was clearly a secret treason- able organization forined to affiliate in the North with the Southern Confederacy. Its character was chiefly military. This was un- mistakably evidenced by the records of the Or- der, seized by the Government. Its secret con- stitution provided that the National head, the Supreme Commander, "shall be commander-in- chief of all the military forces belonging to the Order in the various states when called into ac- tive service," and that the State head, the Grand Commander, "shall be commander-in-chief of the military forces of the State." This military system prevailed down to the townships, the military organization of which was a "com- pany." The "lodges" or "temples" of the Or-
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der were scattered through the states of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky. They were also officially reported as being established to a less extent in Michigan and the other West- ern states, as well as in New York, Pennsyl- vania, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connec- ticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Tennessee. The Supreme Commander of the Order was P. C. Wright of New York, editor of the New York News, who was in May, 1864, placed in arrest and confined in Fort Lafayette. His successor in office was Vallandigham, who had been elected at the annual meeting in Feb- ruary before. It was at this meeting that the Order declared for "a cessation of hostilities upon existing facts, and a convention of the sov- ereign states to adjust the terms of peace with-a view to the restoration of the Union, entire, if possible, if not, so much and such parts as the affinities of interest and civilization may at- tract." Further details concerning this organi- zation are not essential to this narrative. The reader who desires to acquaint himself with such will find them in the Report of the Judge Advo- cate General to the Secretary of War, dated Oc- tober 8, 1864, in the records of the War De- partment, Bureau of Military Justice; also in "The Trials for Treason at Indianapolis, Dis-
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