USA > Ohio > Ohio in four wars, a military history > Part 14
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With April, 1865, came Appomattox, and then peace, and the greatest war of history was ended.
A brief review of the record of Ohio in this most trying period of the Nation's history will show the remarkable contribution she made in patriotism, blood and treasure. Of her troops that she sent to the field, 11,237 were killed or mortally wounded, and 13,354 died of disease. The people of Ohio paid out in money, accord.
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ing to the Adjutant General's report for 1866, for local bounties during the war, over $54,- 000,000, and the State Government's expenses amounted to over $11,000,000, making the total expenditures chargeable to the war and paid by the state, and her people, over $65,000,000.
There may be added to this the generous and patriotic contributions raised by the various aid societies, the true amount of which will prob- ably never be known. The most important and efficient of these were organized by the women, and they formed the most effective source of supplies for the soldiers at the front and in the hospitals, and at the same time rendered practi- cal assistance to the soldiers' families at home. It is a fact worthy of remembrance that the first regular organizations of this kind formed in the North for the relief of soldiers was organ- ized at Cleveland, April 20, 1861. The echoes of the guns at Sumter had scarcely died away before the women of Ohio were thinking of ameliorating the hardships of the soldiers from Ohio who so promptly marched to the front. This organization alone, the "Soldiers' Aid So- ciety of Northern Ohio," distributed a million dollars' worth of food and clothing, and up to November 27, 1867, it disbursed in cash $162,- 956. A similar organization in Cincinnati col-
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lected and disbursed $313,926. Both of these heroic societies became branches of the United States Sanitary Commission. A popular method of raising funds for their purpose was through falls attended to and managed largely by the women. In the fall of 1863 the Cleveland So- ciety cleared $78,000, and the great Cincinnati Fair in the winter of the same year reaped a net amount of $235,406, all of which went to the soldiers and their families. Similar organiza- tions and efforts were maintained and directed in almost every city in the State. Every church and Sunday-school was a willing channel through which gifts from the loyal people of Ohio found their way to the front.
In the roll of the commanders of the Union Army, Ohio leads the states of the Union. All the great military divisions were at one time or another led by Ohio generals. The following remarkable list of general officers, with their dates and places of birth, can be fairly said to be Ohio's contribution of her military talent to the service of the Union. The * indicates a grad- uate of West Point; the ; that the officer was brevetted Major General for special gallant services on the battlefield. In addition there were one hundred and fifty brevet brigadier gen- erals of Ohio nativity or residence.
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GENERALS
*Ulysses S. Grant, born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822.
*\Villian T. Sherman, born at Lancaster, Ohio, Febru- arv 8. 1820.
*Philip H. Sheridan, born at Albany, New York, March 6, 1831.
MAJOR GENERALS
*Don Carlos Buell, born at Lowell, Washington county, March 23, 1818.
*George Crook, Montgomery county, September 8, 1828. *George A. Custer, Harrison county, December 5, 1839.
*Quincy A. Gilmore, Lorain county, February 28, 1825. James A. Garfield, Cuyahoga county, November 19, 1831.
*James B. McPherson, Clyde, November 14, 1828.
*Irvin McDowell, Columbus, October 15, 1818.
*Alexander McD. McCook, Columbiana county, April 22, 1831.
*William S. Rosecrans, Kingston, Delaware county, September 6, 1819.
*David S. Stanley, Wayne county, June 1, 1828. Robert C. Schenck, Warren county, October 4, 1809. Wager Swayne, Columbus, November 10, 1834.
*Godfrey Weitzel, Cincinnati, November I, 1835.
MAJOR GENERALS, RESIDENT IN OHIO BUT BORN ELSEWHERE
Jacob D. Cox, born in Montreal, Canada, October 27, 1828.
*William B. Hazen, Vermont, September 27, 1830. Mortimer D. Leggett, New York, April 19, 1831.
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*George B. McClellan, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1826. *O. M. Mitchel, Kentucky, August 28, 1810.
James B. Steedman, Pennsylvania, July 30, 1818.
BRIGADIER GENERALS OF OHIO BIRTH
*William T. H. Brooks, born at New Lisbon, January 28, 1821.
*William W. Burns, Coshocton, September 3, 1825. Henry B. Banning, Knox county, November 10, 1834. *C. P. Buckingham, Zanesville, March 14, 1808. John Beatty, Sandusky, December 16, 1828. Joel A. Dewey, Ashtabula, September 20, 1840. ¡Thomas Ewing, Lancaster, August 7, 1829. Hugh B. Ewing, Lancaster, October 31, 1826. *James WV. Forsyth, Ohio, August 26, 1836.
** Robert S. Granger, Zanesville, May 21, 1816. ** Kenner Garrard, Cincinnati, 1830.
** Charles Griffin, Licking county, 1827. ¡Rutherford B. Hayes, Delaware, October 14, 1822. iJ. Warren Keifer, Clark county, January 30, 1836. William H. Little, Cincinnati, November 2, 1826. *John S. Mason, Steubenville, August 21, 1824. Robert L. McCook, New Lisbon, December 28, 1827. Daniel McCook, Carrollton, July 22, 1834. John G. Mitchell, Piqua, November 6, 1838. Nathaniel C. McLean, . Warren county. February 2, 1815.
fEmerson Opdycke, Trumbull county, January 7, 1830. Benjamin F. Potts. Carroll county, January 29, 1836. A. Sanders Piatt, Cincinnati, May 2, 1821. fJames S. Robinson, Mansfield, October II, 1828. ¡Benjamin P. Runkle, West Liberty, September 3, 1836. J. W. Reilly, Akron, May 21, 1828.
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*William Sooy Smith, Pickaway county, July 22, 1830. *Joshua W. Sill, Chillicothe, December 5, 1831. John P. Slough, Cincinnati, 1829.
Ferdinand Van Derveer, Butler county, February 27, 1823.
;* Charles P. Woods, Licking county.
¡Willard Warner, Granville, September 4, 1826.
+William B. Woods, Licking county.
¡Charles C. Walcutt, Columbus, February 12, 1838. M. S. Wade, Cincinnati, December 2, 1802.
BRIGADIER GENERALS, RESIDENT IN OHIO BUT BORN ELSEWHERE. *Jacob Ammen, born in Virginia, January 7, 1808. ¡Samuel Beatty, Pennsylvania, September 16, 1820. ** B. W. Brice, Virginia, 1809.
Ralph B. Buckland, Massachusetts, January 20, 1812. H. B. Carrington, Wallingford, Connecticut, March 2, 1824.
George P. Este, New Hampshire, April 30, 1830.
¡Manning. F. Force, Washington, D. C., December 17, 1824.
¡John W. Fuller, England, July, 1827.
¿Charles W. Hill, Vermont.
¡August V. Kautz, Germany, January 5, 1828.
George W. Morgan, Pennsylvania.
William H. Powell, South Wales, May 10, 1835.
*E. P. Scammon, Maine, December 27, 1816. Thomas Kilby Smith, Massachusetts, 1821.
John W. Sprague, New York, April 4, 1827.
¡Erastus B. Tyler, New York.
** John C. Tidball, Virginia.
¡August Willich, Prussia. 1810.
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In the civil service connected with the war, Ohio was equally conspicuous and helpful to the Nation. She furnished to the Cabinet of Lin- coln the head of the War Department in the per- son of Edwin M. Stanton, whose stern and vig- orous methods won for him the reputation and the corresponding unpopularity of being the greatest executive of that period. One of Ohio's Governors, Salmon P. Chase became the Secretary of the Treasury and successfully ad- ministered the financial department of the Gov- crnment when finance became one of the arts of war. In the Senate Benjamin F. Wade and . John Sherman were respectively chairman of the Committee on the Conduct of the War and the Committee on Finance. Wade was the leader for the Administration, and his cour- ageous and unfaltering services furnished strength to President Lincoln in all his war poli- cies. Sherman carried into legislation the ideas and financial policies of Secretary Chase. In
the House of Representatives Robert C. Schenck, of Dayton, was at the head of the Military Committee. It would require a volume of itself to record the patriotism and labors of these statesmen in the trying days of the war, but a mere reference here will have to suffice.
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When peace came, the great State, which sent into the field an army of her sons equal to the war footing .of Great Britain at that time, re- ceived them within her borders as civilians to hecome again workers in the shops, the count- ing-rooms, and on the farms. With a renewed civil life came prosperity unbounded to the State, and with pride in her past and hope in her resources Ohio marched forward to a rel- atively quiet and uneventful future.
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CHAPTER IX
THE WAR WITH SPAIN
T HE Administration of President Mc- Kinley was from the beginning very seriously concerned with the situation in the Island of Cuba, where since February, 1895, a war for independence had been raging. In the presidential campaign of 1896, both the great parties of the United States had incorpo- rated in their platforms expressions favorable to the Cuban cause, with intimations of inde- pendence as the logical conclusión. It was not, however, the policy of President Cleveland to force a critical issue with Spain. Events at that . time had not matured, and the commitment of our Government to so grave a responsibility by an Administration soon to expire was not ex- pedient. Nevertheless efforts had been initiated to procure an honorable adjustment of the con- test through the mediation of the United States, with a view to self-government by Cuba under Spanish sovereignty. But these offers of Presi- dent Cleveland had been vigorously repelled by the Spanish government, which insisted that
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there could be no accommodation of the matter other than the unconditional submission of the insurgents.
The probable program of the new Adminis- tration was well indicated by the decisive dec- laration of the platform on which Mr. McKin- ley was elected : "The government of Spain, having lost control of Cuba and being unable to protect the property or lives of resident Ameri- can citizens, or to comply with its treaty obli- gations, we believe that the government of the United States should actively use its influence and good offices to restore peace and give inde- pendence to the Island." This proved indeed the literal definition of our governmental atti- tude and policy respecting Cuba from the time of the inauguration of President Mckinley un- til exercise of mere "good offices" was super- seded by armed intervention.
The first disclosure of the intended course of the United States was made in September, 1897, when the newly appointed American minister to Spain, General Stewart L. Woodford, arrived in Madrid and presented a diplomatic note which very politely but expressly signified de- termination to have permanent peace in Cuba, but refrained from stipulating the specific reme- dies. From this and subsequent communica-
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tions there resulted certain seeming concessions to American opinion and demand-notably the recall of Governor General Weyler, whose "re- concentration" system and generally inhumane lieasures had excited profound indignation; the recall of the Spanish minister to Washington, de Lome, for a published letter criticizing President Mckinley; and finally, the institution of a so-styled autonomous government in Cuba. This, however, was a pure makeshift, with no real cooperation from the native population.
The destruction by explosion (since shown to have been due to an external agency) of the United States battleship "Maine" in the harbor of Havana, February 15, 1898, greatly intensi- fied popular feeling. Meantime the situation in Cuba had in no manner improved, it was evi- dent that the hostility of the Island to the mother country was irreconcilable, and Spain on her part was as obstinate and resolute as ever in refusing to consider any other solution than the abject submission of the Cubans.
The final developments date from the Presi- dent's special message to Congress, April 11, 1898, a state paper of extraordinary ability and interest. After reciting the history of the Cuban situation, reviewing its important fea- tures, and commenting on the different solutions
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proposed, Mr. Mckinley committed the whole subject to Congress, requesting . authorization · and empowerment "to secure a full and final termination of hostilities between the govern- ment of Spain and the people of Cuba to secure in the Island the establishment of a stable gov- ernment, capable of maintaining order and ob- serving its international obligations, insuring peace and the tranquillity of its citizens as well as our own, and to use the military and naval forces of the United States as may be necessary for these purposes.". Resolutions were accord- ingly passed, April 18th, declaring the inde- pendence of Cuba and giving the President the desired authority and power. This resolution received executive approval April 20th and on that day the Spanish-American War officially began, though there was no formal declaration of hostilities.
A proclamation was issued by the President April 23d, for volunteers to the aggregate nun- ber of 125,000, to be apportioned as far as prac- ticable among the states and territories accord- ing to population, and to serve for two years unless sooner discharged. This was supple- mented by a call on the 25th of May for volun- teers to fill companies in the field to the maxi- mum strength under the law. National camps
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for the reception and drill of the soldiers were established at Chickamauga Park (Camp Thomas) ; Tampa, Florida; Jacksonville, Florida (Camp Cuba Libre) ; Dun Landing, near Falls Church, Virginia (Camp Alger) ; Middletown, Pennsylvania (Camp Meade) ; Huntsville, Ala- bama (Camp Wheeler) ; Lexington, Kentucky (Camp Hamilton ) ; Knoxville, Tennessee (Camp Poland) ; and other places.
Ohio's part in the war was characterized by great promptitude in the organization and dis- patch of her quota and marked efficiency on the part of those responsibly concerned. There was also apparent a superiority of discipline and gen- eral fitness in the men together with a prevailing spirit of enthusiasm for the cause throughout the State. Immediately upon receipt of the first presidential call, April 25, Governor Asa S. Bushnell issued orders for the mobilization of the various military organizations, and these were soon assembled at a specially improvised rendezvous which was christened "Camp Bushnell," near Columbus. The command de- volved upon Major General Henry A. Axline, who at that time occupied the office of Adjutant General.
"So expeditious was the work of getting Ohio's quota ready for service," says Governor
ASA SMITH BUSHNELL
Born in Rome, New York, September 16, 1834, and came to Ohio in 1845; received a common school education and engaged in business pursuits in Springfield, where he be- Came a highly successful manufacturer; during the Civil War commanded a company in the One Hundred and Fifty. Second Volunteer Infantry; Governor of Ohio, 1896-1900; died January 15, 1904.
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`Bushnell in his annual message of 1900, "that but a comparatively short time elapsed in camp life at the rendezvous. The entire mustering was completed in eight days. Ohio was the first State in the Union to put a volunteer regiment
in the field. The First Ohio Cavalry was the first organization to leave the rendezvous, it proceeding on the 14th of May, 1898, to Camp George H. Thomas, Chickamauga Park, Geor- gia. It was followed by the Fourth Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, formerly the Fourteenth Ohio National Guard, on the same day. These or- ganizations were the pioneers of the great vol- unteer army of the country to appear for duty at a general rendezvous designated by the War Department."
Referring to the popular spirit in support of the war, the Governor says the whole experience "furnished a grand exhibition of the loyalty, patriotism, and strength of our people." "Those who were physically disqualified for ser- vice went home with regret. Those who could not get in under the first call by reason of the limitation of numbers were not content, but tried in every conceivable way to be enrolled in the volunteer army. There was no difficulty in obtaining recruits. As a general proposition it may be said that Ohio could have furnished
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many times the number it did.
* Ap- plicants and applications for military service were received by hundreds and by thousands, the women who desired to go to the front as nurses being as marked in their insistence of patriotic endeavor as the men."
On March 31, 1898, the consolidated strength of the National Guard of Ohio was 501 officers and 6,361 enlisted men, these figures including all the eight regiments of infantry, one batta- lion of infantry, eight batteries of artillery, one troop of cavalry and the naval brigade. This entire force (excepting eliminations for physi- cal reasons, etc.) was incorporated into the Na- tional Volunteer Army and was much enlarged by necessary increases to meet the prescribed numerical standard for the component organi- zations. Under the first call Ohio furnished 428 officers and 8,052 enlisted men, under the sec- ond call 73 officers and 6,801 enlisted men, mak- ing a total of 15,354.
Owing to the brevity of the war and the great excess of volunteer forces above the nation's requirements, only three of the Ohio regiments saw service in a foreign land. The Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Alonzo B. Coit, received its baptism of fire at the Bar- rio Las Palmas, near Guayama in Port Rico.
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Five of the command were wounded. The whole division under General Brooks then ad- vanced to attack the Spanish position at Cayey. Just as a battery of the Fourth Artillery under Captain R. H. Anderson of Ohio, had opened fire, a mounted orderly brought a dispatch an- nouncing the peace protocol.
The Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, com- manded by Colonel William V. McMaken, was dispatched to the district of Santa Clara, Cuba, arriving after the declaration of peace. The Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Curtis V. Hard, reached Santiago just too late to take part in the siege, subsequently perform- ing duty at various places in eastern Cuba until its return to Montauk Point, Long Island, in a greatly enfeebled condition owing to disease. The total number of deaths in Ohio volunteer organizations, as reported in Governor Bush- nell's message of 1900, was seven officers and two hundred and twenty-three enlisted men.
The General Assembly of Ohio authorized the expenditure of a million dollars for the war, but the total outlay was only $472,361.56, from which is to be deducted the sum of $411,124.18, charged to the United States Government. "After receiving from the Government proper return of quartermasters' stores taken during
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the war," said Governor Bushnell, "Ohio will practically have expended no money for military purposes. Indeed, it is warrantable to declare that the State will be a gainer."
When Ohio's war accounts were audited at Washington it was remarked with some curiosity that the prices charged for many articles of equip- ment were singularly low when compared with those paid by other states and even by the Govern- ment. This was explained by the exceptional preparedness of Ohio for the situation. Some time before the rupture of diplomatic relations, the authorities of Ohio, convinced that the drift was toward war, decided to pu? its military es- tablishment upon such a footing as would meet any emergency, and Adjutant General Axline, being aforetime in the purchase of equipment, had the advantage of the normal prevailing prices of times of peace. This anticipatory meas- ure was of course without legislative authority or appropriation. It was purely the arbitrary exercise of executive power ; and it is worthy of record that Governor Bushnell in this action gave his personal guarantee for the discharge of all financial obligations in connection with the timely purchases.
As no comprehensive account has been pub- lished of Ohio's part in the Spanish-American
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war, it is fitting here to embody a summary of the more noteworthy details relating to the par- ticipating volunteer organizations, from data supplied by the Government and state officials. First Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Headquar- ters at Cincinnati. Organized as First Regi- ment, Ohio National Guard, June 21, 1875; as First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, April 25, 1898. Mustered in for war with Spain, May 6, 1898. Strength for the war, fifty officers, one thousand, three hundred and two enlisted men. Commanded by Colonel Charles G. Hunt during war operations. Stationed during war: (1) Chickamauga, Go .; (2) Tampa, Fla .; (3) Fer- nandina, Fla .; (4) Jacksonville, Fla. Casualties during campaign, death of ten men. Mustered out at Cincinnati, October 25, 1898.
Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry: Headquar- ters at Cincinnati. Organized as Second Regi- ment, Ohio National Guard, July 1, 1879; as Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, April 25, 1898. Mustered in for war with Spain, May 10, 1898. Strength for the war, fifty offi- cers, one thousand, two hundred and eighty-four enlisted men. Commanded by Colonel Julius A. Kuert during war operations. Stationed during war: (1) Chickamauga, Ga .: (2) Knoxville, Tenn .; (3) Macon, Ga. Casualties during cam-
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paign, death of fourteen men. Mustered out at Macon, Ga., February 10, 1899.
Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry: Headquar- ters at Springfield. Organized as Third Regi- ment, Ohio National Guard, July 21, 1875; as Third Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, April 26, 1898. Mustered in for war with Spain, May 10, 1898. Strength for the war, forty-two offi- cers, one thousand, three hundred and thirteen enlisted men. Commanded by Colonel Charles Anthony during war operations. Stationed dur- ing war: (1) Tampa, Fla .; (2) Fernandina, Fla .; (3) Huntsville, Ala. Casualties during campaign, death of two officers and eight men. Mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, October 16, 1898.
Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry: Headquar- ters at Columbus. Organized as Fourteenth Regiment, Ohio National Guard, October 20, 1877; as Fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, April 25, 1898. Mustered in for war with Spain, May 9, 1898. Strength for the war, forty-nine officers, one thousand, three hun- dred and nineteen enlisted men. Commanded by Colonel Alonzo B. Coit during war operations. Stationed during war: (1) Chickamauga, Ga .; (2) Porto Rico. This regiment took part in the invasion of Porto Rico and engaged in skirmish-
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ing when advancing from Guayama. Casualties during campaign, death of twenty-six men. Mustered out at Columbus, January 20, 1899.
Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry : Headquar- ters at Cleveland. Organized as Fifth Regiment, Ohio National Guard, June 16, 1884; as Fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, April 26, 1898. Mustered in for war with Spain, May 11, 1898. Strength for the war, forty-eight officers, one thousand, three hundred and two enlisted men. Commanded by Colonel Courtland L. Ken- nan during war operations. Stationed during
war: (1) Tampa, Fla .; (2) Fernandina, Fla. Casualties during campaign, death of twenty men. Mustered out at Cleveland, November 5, 1898.
Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry: Headquar- ters at Toledo. Organized as Sixteenth Regi- ment, Ohio National Guard, September 14, 1877; as Sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, April 25, 1898. Mustered in for war with Spain, May 12, 1898. Strength for the war, forty-nine officers, one thousand, two hundred and ninety- nine enlisted men. Commanded by Colonel Wil- liam V. McMaken during war operations. Sta- tioned during war : (1) Chickamauga, Ga .; (2) Knoxville, Tenn .; (3) Charleston, S. C .; (4) Cuba. Casualties during campaign, death of
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twenty-one men. Mustered out at Augusta, Ga., May 24, 1899.
Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry: Head- quarters at Chillicothe. Organized as Seven- teenth Regiment, Ohio National Guard, Septem- ber 14, 1877 ; as Seventh Regiment, Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, April 26, 1898. Mustered in for war with Spain, May 13, 1898. Strength for the war, forty-nine officers, one thousand-three hundred and four enlisted men. Commanded by Colonel Arthur L. Hamilton during war opera- tions. Stationed during war: (1) Camp Alger, Va .; (2) Camp Meade, Pa .; (3) Camp Bushnell, O. Casualties during campaign, death of one officer and seven men. Mustered out at Colum- bus, November 6, 1898.
Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry: Headquar- ters at Wooster. Organized as Eighth Regi- ment, Ohio National Guard, February 21, 1877; as Eight Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, April 26, 1898. Mustered in for war with Spain, May 13, 1898. Strength for the war, forty-nine officers, one thousand, two hundred and eighty- eight enlisted men. Commanded by Colonel Cur- tis V. Hard during war operations. Stationed during war: (1) Camp Alger, Va .; (2) Cuba; (3) Montauk Point, Long Island. Casualties during campaign, death of four officers and
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