USA > Ohio > Ohio in four wars, a military history > Part 8
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movements and operations of the different Ohio regiments and conclusively proved that the charges of cowardice and misconduct against the Ohio regiments were malignant, false, and without any substance or foundation.
The general disappointing results of the war this year - more particularly the failure of Mc- . Clellan's Peninsular Campaign and the inactivity of the Union forces in the Southwest -- prompted President Lincoln to make further demands on the Nation. Accordingly, July 2, 1862, he called for three hundred thousand men, and again, on August 4 following, for three hundred thousand more. The quota of Ohio under these calls was 74,000. At this time there were already volun- tarily enlisted in the service of the United States 115,200 men from Ohio, and of these 60,000 were in the field for three years. In order to secure further enlistment Governor Tod resorted to ex- traordinary means of inducement. It was at this time that Ohio commenced paying local bounties, which continued until the end of the war, and for which there were paid in that period over fifty millions of dollars. Notwithstanding all these efforts, a draft was necessary. Con- scription for military services has always been unpopular among Americans, and the draft was therefore regarded as discreditable. Although
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the number drafted amounted to 12,251, but 2,400 were secured for the service. This was due to the fact that 4,800 either in person or by substitute volunteered after the draft, 2,900 were discharged for various reasons, and 1,900 fled their jurisdiction and could not be found.
It was apparent to Governor Tod that there were some anti-war influences operating to deter enlistments. This was ascribed to the speeches and writings of radical Democratic politicians and editors. Under the authority of the Presi- dent's proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus, Governor Tod determined to ar- rest those who were discouraging enlistments by expressions antagonistic to the Government and the prosecution of the war. The first arrest made was that of a leading Peace Democrat, Dr. Ed- son B. Olds of Lancaster. It was made at the direct instance and request of the Governor, for on July 29, 1862, we find him writing to Secre- tary of State Seward: "I have most satisfactory evidence that Edson B. Olds, a former member of Congress, is doing all the mischief he can. He is a shrewd, cunning man, with capacity for great mischief, and should at once be put out of the way. I have, therefore, to advise that you direct Marshal Sands to arrest him and confine him at Fort Warren, at least, until I shall have
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succeeded in raising my regiments." Dr. Olds was accordingly arrested for disloyalty, prevent- ing enlistments and treasonable utterances. Other arrests of prominent . Democratic editors soon followed.
The military arrests of 1862 formed a subject for the gravest protests on the part of the Demo- crats. - They claimed that they were arbitrary, cruel and unconstitutional, and an unwarranted and tyrannical exercise of power. They declared that the arrest, by alleged military authority, of citizens "for no other pretended crime than that of uttering words of legitimate criticism upon the conduct of the Administration in power" was a palpable violation of the Constitution. The answer of Governor Tod was that this exercise of military power was necessary to enable the State authorities to raise its quota of troops; that these men were interfering with the defense of the Government in its struggle for existence, and that consequently their utterances and acts were treasonable. A full examination of these arrests was made by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly which followed, and as- sembled January 5, 1863. The result of this in- quiry was published as the "Report of Select Committee on Military Arrests," and may be found as the Appendix to House Journal for
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1863. It is one of the most important and inter- esting State publications of that period. It was made by a special committee of the House of Representatives and covers all the facts con- nected with these arrests. This committee con- sisted of William H. West, P. Odlin, Thaddeus A. Reamy and John Bartram.
The report considers in detail the cause and method of the arrests, and in every case they re- port that they were necessary to the safety of the Government, and that the offending parties were giving aid and comfort to the enemy in the field. The committee, answering the cry of "wholesale arrests," said: "But eleven citizens of the two and one-half millions have been restrained of their liberty, and that for a short time." The testimony taken by the committee shows that during the summer and fall of 1862 the following persons were arrested by military authority, viz. : Edson B. Olds of Fairfield county; Peter N. Reitzel and Archibald McGregor of Stark county; Judge L. W. Hall and Daniel Tuttle of Crawford county; John W. Kees of Pickaway county ; Daniel M. Allen of Columbiana county ; Samuel Flowers and Bethuel Roberts of Cham- paign county, Warren Stanton of Ashtabula county, and Alexander Wallace of Brown county.
In the summer of 1862 General John H. Mor-
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gan, a daring Confederate raider, marched through the interior of Kentucky and made a feint of attacking Cincinnati. The Queen City was unprotected in any way, and for a while the panic-stricken citizens were all convinced of the danger to their city. Public meetings were called, and every preparation was made for de- fense. Governor Tod sent arms and soldiers, and these with the Cincinnati police force were sent to Lexington, Kentucky, to impede the enemey's advance. But Morgan retired, and the citizens of Cincinnati regained their feeling of safety, only to be aroused from their sense of security later, and to find out in what real dan- ger their city was.
Late in August the Confederate General Kirby Smith, with twenty thousand men and forty pieces of artillery, invaded Kentucky from Tennessee. On September 1, he occupied Lex- ington and from this point, two days later, he dispatched General Heath with five thousand men against Covington and Cincinnati. The condition of public furor created by this men- acing march to the Ohio border can well be imagined. The exposure of a northern city of a quarter of million people, with defenseless sur- roundings, might be the occasion of a National calamity. Cincinnati met the exigency with
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great courage and calmness. There was no. panic of flight from the city. The City Council met and pledged the faith of the city to meet any expense desired by the military authorities, au- thorized the Mayor to suspend all business, and call every man in the city to its defense. Gen- eral Horatio G. Wright, the Department Com- mander, was requested to call for all the men and money to defend the city.
General Lewis Wallace, a young officer from Indiana who was in Kentucky commanding a volunteer regiment from his own State, was ordered by General Wright to defend Cincin- nati and her Kentucky suburbs, Newport and Covington. It was nine o'clock in the evening when General Wallace arrived at Cincinnati, and at two o'clock the next morning he issued an order declaring the three cities under martial law. This prompt and vigorous proclamation was received with obedience by the people. It commanded all business houses to close that morning at nine o'clock; at ten o'clock all the citizens were to assemble in convenient public places to receive orders for the work to be per- formed. "The principle adopted is: citizens for labor, soldiers for the battle," read the procla- mation. Although the military force in the cities was not sufficient to enforce these orders
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if the same was necessary, the citizens cheer- fully and loyally obeyed them to the letter. That morning there were meetings in every ward, and before noon there were thousands of citizens drilling, and thousands more were back of Newport and Covington commencing a series of breastworks and fortifications.
By the next morning a pontoon bridge had been constructed across the Ohio River, and long trains of men and wagons were bearing ma- terial and guns for the newly made defenses.
Governor Tod started from Columbus when General Wallace reached Cincinnati, and the next morning, September 2, found General and Governor in consultation. Then followed Gov- ernor Tod's famous appeal to the citizens of Ohio for the defense of Cincinnati and the southern border. In response came a body of minute-men such as answered the call of Paul Revere. They came by twos, and dozens, and hundreds; organized and unorganized; with and without uniforms. So many came clad in their homespun, with powder-horn and buckskin pouch, that they were called the "Squirrel Hunters," a name officially recognized after- ward by the Legislature. These citizen-soldiers came with a rush from all over the State. Gov- ernor Tod had ordered all railroad companies to
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carry any armed men or bodies of men to Cin- cinnati who would say on their honor that they were going to its defense, and the State would pay the bill.
On September 4, Governor Tod telegraphed from Columbus to General Wright: "I have now sent you for Kentucky twenty (20) regi- ments. I have twenty-one (21) more in process. of organization, two of which I will send you this week, five or six next week, and the balance the week after, provided I can get arms and equipments." Fully fifty thousand were ready to march to Cincinnati in case they were needed, but Governor Tod checked the movement on September 13, when it became known that Gen- eral Kirby Smith had retreated the day before. To Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War, Governor Tod, on the date mentioned, sent this telegram : "The minute-men or 'Squirrel Hunters' responded gloriously to the call for the defense of Cincinnati. Thousands reached the city, and thousands more were en route for it. The enemy having returned, all have been or- dered back. This uprising of the people is the cause of the retreat. You should acknowledge publicly this gallant conduct."
Thus ended the "Siege of Cincinnati"; the Confederate forces, numbering about twelve
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thousand, were before the city eight days. There is no doubt whatever but that the preparations made for the enemy's reception prompted his withdrawal and retreat.
General wallace, upon taking leave of the city, issued the following address :
To the People of Cincinnati, Newport and Covington :
For the present, at least, the enemy have fallen back, and your cities are safe. It is time for acknowledge- ments, and I beg leave to make you mine. When I assumed command there was nothing to defend you with, except a few half-finished works and some dismounted guns; yet I was confident. The energies of a great city are boundless ; they have only to be aroused, united and . directed. You were appealed to. The answer will never be forgotten.
Paris may have seen something like it in her revolu- tionary days, but the cities of America never did. Be proud that you have given them an example so splendid. The most commercial of people, you submitted to a total suspension of business, and without a murmur adopted my principle - "Citizens for labor, soldiers for battle."
In coming time, strangers, viewing the works on the hills of Newport and Covington, will ask, "Who built these intrenchments?" You will answer, "We built them." If they ask, "Who guarded them?" you can reply. "We helped in thousands." If they inquire the result, your answer will be, "The enemy came and looked at them, and stole away in the night."
You have won much honor; keep your organizations
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ready to win more. Hereafter be always prepared to defend yourselves.
LEWIS WALLACE, Major General Commanding.
An event that is inseparably- connected with Chio's part in the Civil War occurred in April, 1862, in the heart of the Southern Confederacy. This was an expedition organized under the authority and by the direction of General Ormsby M. Mitchel, having for its purpose the destruction of railroad communication between Atlanta and Chattanooga on the Georgia State Railroad. This was to be accomplished by reaching a point on the road where a locomotive and train of cars could be seized, and by a dash back in the direction of Chattanooga, burn the railroad bridges and otherwise destroy the rail- road. Judge Advocate General Holt, in his of- ficial report to the Secretary of War, said: "The expedition, in the daring of its conception, had the wildness of romance; while in the gigantic and overwhelming results it sought and was likely to obtain, it was absolutely sublime."
In order to appreciate these words and to have a better understanding of the far-reaching results that would flow from the success of the perilous enterprise, we will be compelled to ex- amine the military situation at that time. In the
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East General McClellan was marcning on Rich- mond, and in the West General Grant had won Fort Donelson; this defeat caused the Confed- erates to abandon Kentucky and Eastern and Middle Tennessee. The Union army followed up this favorable situation and advanced by transports and gunboats up the Tennessee River as far as Pittsburg Landing. To meet this the Confederates were using every effort to concen- trate sufficient troops under Generals Johnston and Beauregard to crush General Grant's army before it marched farther south. Consequently, troops and supplies were furnished plentifully and speedily, and the State of Georgia was the most fruitftil source of this constant supply of both. The route over which these levies and as- sistance came was the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Corinth, Mississippi, where the Con- federates lay, is on this road, as is also Chatta- nooga, with the full width of the State of Ala- bama between them. From Chattanooga south to Atlanta the traffic was over the Georgia State Railroad.
Over this road Georgia and the South sent aid, both men and supplies, to the Confederates who were getting ready for battle at Corinth. They also used the road in connection with the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad by way
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of Chattanooga, for transportation of assistance to Richmond and also to Cumberland Gap, then threatened by General George W. Morgan, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, with a division of the Union army. It is apparent from these facts that the Georgia State Railroad, which intersected at Chattanooga the roads running to Virginia on the east and to Corinth on the west, was the most necessary and potential factor to the Con- federates. As a means of transporting and dis- tributing troops and supplies in a short time when most needed, it was absolutely essential, in order to resist the Union armies under Grant in the West and McClellan in the East.
General Mitchel saw the vast benefit to the Union cause that would result from the destruc- tion of this great artery of supplies to the Con- federates. He saw also that it would be too hazardous to attempt this with a large force, as it would take his army hundreds of miles from its base.of supplies. J. J. Andrews of the secret service of the United States, who had recently visited Atlanta and other points in the Confed- eracy, was positive that the railroad could be destroyed by a small secret expedition. He laid his plans before General Mitchel, who approved them. At the same time the General realized the dangers of the project; but the results charmed
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him, for he knew that it would, if successful, cre- ate terror and dismay in the South, and that it would. separate the Confederate armies. General Mitchel advised Andrews that failure meant cap- ture, and capture meant death. He gave him per- mission to make his audacious attempt provided he could find twenty men in the division to ac- company him on his perilous journey. The de- tail was easily secured from three Ohio regi- ments in General Sill's brigade. Without any knowledge of the nature of their service or their destination the following were selected: Wil- liam Knight, Co. E; Wilson W. Brown, Co. F; Mark Wood, Co. C; J. A. Wilson, Co. C; John R. Porter, Co. C; Robert Buffum, Co. H; Wil- liam Bensinger, Co. G; John Scott, Co. K; and Sergeant E. H. Mason, Co. K, all of the Twen- ty-First Ohio; Daniel A. Dorsey, Co. H; Martin J. Hawkins, Co. A; John Wollam, Co. C; Jacob Parrott, Co. K; Corporal William Reddick, Co. B; Samuel Robertson, Co. G; and Samuel Slavens, Co. G, all of the Thirty-Third Ohio; Captain William Pittenger, Co. G; George D. Wilson, Co. B; Marion A. Ross, Co. A, Ser- geant Major of the Regiment; and Perry G. Shadrack, Co. K, all of the Second Ohio. In ad- dition to these was William Campbell, from Sa-
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lineville, Ohio, not in the service, but tem- porarily a resident of Kentucky.
Andrews, the leader of the expedition, was a fine specimen of manhood, nearly six feet in height, of powerful frame, black hair and long, black, silken beard, Roman features, a high ex- pansive forehead and a voice fine and soft as a woman's. He combined intellect and refinement with a cool dauntless courage that quailed under no difficulty or danger. The young men from Ohio were nearly all farmer boys of intelligence and bravery. It was enough for them to know that they were about to dare and suffer for their They had no idea that they were about to engage in the most tragic and thrilling epi- sode of the Civil War.
On the night of April 7, the day that Shiloh was fought and won, General Mitchel met An- drews, and his men in a secluded spot outside the town of Shelbyville, Tennessee. The object of the expedition was by him fully explained to all for the first time. He wanted them to pene- trate the Confederate lines to Marietta, Geor- gia, then to seize by some means a train of cars and run northward to the Union lines, burning all the bridges behind them and destroying the railroad so as to prevent pursuit and break all communication with the South. One of those
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present has written ("Adventures of Alf. Wil- son," by John A. Wilson, Toledo, 1880) of this interview: "This business over, the good old General took us cach by the hand and with tear- fal cores bade us goodbye, saying as he did so, that he feared he should never see us again." After instructions from Andrews, the band divided into small squads, and were told by their leader "to travel east into the Cumberland Mountains, then south to the Tennessee River. You can cross the river and take passage on the cars at Shell Mound or some station between that and Chattanooga on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. You must be at Chatta- nooga not later than Thursday afternoon, and reach Marietta the same evening, ready to take passage northward on the train the next morn- ing. I will be there with you or before you and will then tell you what to do." With these last words, the band divided and started on a jour- ney that was to shock the Confederacy. They had discarded their uniforms and wore citizen's clothes. Andrews provided them with funds. in Confederate money, to meet all expenses. They were to explain to all inquiries that they were Kentuckians, disgusted with Union rule in their State, on their way to Chattanooga to en- list in the Southern army. They were finally
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advised that if it became necessary to enlist to carry out their representations, they were to do so.
On the eleventh, after a tramp in snow and rain over the mountains through the enemy's country, the little parties met at Chattanooga, and, purchasing tickets for Marietta, they ar- rived at that place about midnight. On retiring at the hotel, they gave orders to be awakened at four o'clock in the morning and until then they slept soundly. Before daybreak, all were aroused except Porter and Hawkins who failed to fee the servant to perform this service. They were consequently left behind to be captured later. Prior to action, Andrews gathered his Spartan band in his room for final conference and instruction. The plan outlined was for all to board the express train as passangers; in or- der not to attract attention tickets were to be bought to various points on the road. The place of action, however, was fixed at Big Shanty, a station on the road, eight miles north of Ma- rietta. This place was selected because it had no telegraph office and also because it was an cating station at which passengers were given "twenty minutes for breakfast." It was during this period, while engineer, fireman, conductor and passengers were at their meal, that the train
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was to be seized. The other reason why Big Shanty was determined upon was indeed a bold one. Here was Camp McDonald, and ten thou- sand Confederate soldiers were in plain sight of the station. Andrews reasoned that a plan like this would be wholly unsuspected and unex- pected, and he was sure that the departure of the engine would be regarded by the soldiers as simply a part of railroading.
All these things being settled Andrews said: "When the train stops at Big Shanty for break- fast, keep your places until I tell you to go. Get seats near each other in the same car, and say nothing about the matter on the way up. If anything unexpected occurs, look to me for the word. You and you," designating Brown and Knight, who were engineers, and Alfred Wil- son, "will go with me on the engine; all the rest will go on the left of the train forward of where it is uncoupled, and climb on the cars in the best places you can, when the order is given. If any- body interferes shoot him, but don't fire until it is necessary."
The express from Atlanta rolled into the sta- tion on time; it was packed with passengers and was hauled by a fine locomotive. Andrews and his Ohio boys, all cool and resolute, quietly took their seats under instructions. The train slowly
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pulled out and they waited for the decisive mo- ment to arrive. Presently came the shrill whistle of the locomotive, then a slowing up, then a stop. The conductor had already cried out, "Big Shanty! Twenty minutes for break- fast!" Then he, the engineer, fireman and the crowd of passengers, all poured in hot haste into the restaurant. The time for action had ar- rived !
When the crowd was pouring out of the car Andrews and Knight moved first, and getting off on the side opposite the depot, walked for- ward to the engine and saw that the cab was empty; then they walked ahead far enough to see that the track beyond was clear. Turning backward they passed the locomotive, its tender and three empty box cars, when Andrews quietly said "Uncouple here," and Knight pulled out the pin and laid it on the draw bar. Going to the car, where the balance of his men were seated, Andrews said quietly, "Come on, boys; it is time to go now." They arose, and without attracting the attention of the few passengers who had not left the car for breakfast, they went forward and leaped into one of the box cars. Brown, Knight and Wilson sprang on the en- gine; Andrews was the last to mount the cab. As he stepped aboard he nodded to Knight, who
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pulled the lever and threw on a full head of steam; it took a moment before the wheels "bit" then the train went off at a frightful rate of speed.
The crowd left behind, gazed at the fleeing train with dumfounded confusion. Half a mile out the engine came to a dead stop, owing to the exhaustion of steam and fire. In the meantime the troops had started for the train, but by the time they came within forty rods of it the en- gine was again on its way. During this forced stop while the fireman was feeding the furnace with wood and oil, Scott with coolness and agility climbed the telegraph pole and cut the wires. At Kingston, a junction of a branch road from Rome, Andrews stopped to allow a regular freight to pass; he discovered by a red flag signal that another train was to follow. In the meantime let us return to Big Shanty.
When the kidnapped train moved out, the conductor, W. A. Fuller, was at breakfast, and when he heard escaping steam he knew some- thing was wrong. He with the engineer and the trackmaster jumped from their table and ran after the disappearing train. To the crowd and the soldiers the idea of running to catch a loco- motive was ridiculous and jeers and laughter followed the pursuers. But they kept on until
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about two miles out, when they found a hand- car, which they drove up to the Etowah River, where they found an engine fired up and ready for use. It belonged to the Rome division and was a much better engine than the one pursued. Now came the race for life or death; for suc- cess and fame on the one hand, or an ignomin- ious fate on the other. Andrews and his Ohio heroes knew that they were pursued, and their locomotive was given a full head of steam; the engineer stood with his hand on the lever with the throttle wide open. The powerful engine leaped forward like a hound; then it rocked and reeled like a drunken man, while the men in the box car "tumbled from side to side like pop- corn in a frying-pan." A stream of fire ran from the wheels. It sped past stations, houses and fields; bystanders looked on with fear and horror. Between Adairsville and Calhoun the nine miles was made in seven and a half min- utes, and this was not the Twentieth Century Limited, but a train on a Southern railroad fifty years ago! At one point the raiders stopped to take up a rail, but the shriek of a pursuing whistle warned them onward again. Closely pursued they dropped one of their cars, as an obstruction, but Fuller's engine was reversed in time to prevent a collison; the box car was cou-
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