The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 33

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1880
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

USA > Ohio > Miami County > The History of Miami County, Ohio > Part 33

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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY.

MIAMI IN THE GREAT REBELLION.

When, on that memorable day in April, 1861, the old flag was struck by traitor hands, and a semi-circle of hostile batteries converged their fire on Sumter, compelling its surrender, a thrill of martial ardor, a firing of souls to revenge the deed, brought Miami to the front. In a single day the Covington Blues had enrolled and responded to the President's call. A second day saw them at Colum- bus. Swiftly organized as Co. I, Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, they pushed on . to Washington.

The number of soldiers raised by Miami, under the calls for 75,000 and 300,000 men, can only be approximately stated at 1,405. The Ninety-fourth Ohio, rendezvousing at Piqua, and raised in Greene, Clark, Darke and Miami, was filled on August 14. The One Hundred and Tenth Ohio was recruited full by October 3. The county filled her quota, and had a surplus on October 1, 1862. From an enrollment of 5,814 men, 2,120 had volunteered by September 1. All honor to the county where such patriotism dwells, and to the brave men who feared not, for their country, to quench life's gushing tide in the fore-front of many a desperate battle-field ! Fears, later justified, of armed invasion, caused an enrollment of the National Guard. To this enrollment Miami furnished 4,485 men.

While the soldiers contested the question of secession in the field, the heroic women acted a noble part at home. Box after box of clothing and edibles was packed and forwarded. Letters came to the camps by the hundreds ; even the rough was ennobled by his uniform, and unknown hands penned him cheering missives. Sanitary supplies for the absent, and relief funds for those at home, were offered by no laggard hands. There was a board of men in Miami who gave their time and labor gratuitously as a military committee. It is just that this humble record should do its part to give them honorable mention. Their names are Hon. M. G. Mitchell, Chairman ; Dr. Harrison, Robert L. Douglass, James W. Rowe, Charles Morris, William W. Crane and John Wiggin.

How well Miami stood at the close of the war may be gained by the following final statement. Miami's quota in February, July and December of 1864, was 440. Four hundred and twenty-nine men were recruited to fill this quota, and seven only raised by draft. The total number furnished was 436-a surplus of four-a deficit, without a draft, of three men. These figures tell the story of that strong, unwavering and devoted impulse which never faltered, from Sumter's fall till Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

The soldiers from Miami enlisted in various organizations, but chiefly in the Eleventh, Forty-Fourth, Seventy-First, Ninety-Fourth, One Hundred and Tenth and One Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry.

The Eleventh Regiment was raised for three months, and mustered into the ser- vice in April, 1861, at Camp Dennison. Prominent and promising, from his brief but glorious record, the name of .Augustus H. Coleman is associated with the career of the battle-worn Eleventh. He was born in Troy, Miami County, on October 29, 1829. He was the son of Dr. Asa Coleman, an early settler and prominent citizen of the county. He was sent in June, 1847, as a cadet to West Point. Responding promptly to the call of the imperiled Nation, he enlisted as a private ; recruited Company D of the Eleventh, 100 men in forty-eight hours. On April 26, 1861, he was chosen Captain at Columbus. April 29, on the regimental organization, he was commissioned Major. Re-enlisting, he was advanced to Lieutenant-Colonel on January 9, 1862, and a commission as Colonel issued on September 17, 1862, the day upon which he fell. Colonel Coleman was an officer well qualified by nature and training for soldierly duties ; firm in discipline, fear- less and cool in action, he never hesitated in the performance of duty, whether in the bold charge of the Eleventh at Monocacy, the fierce contest at South Moun- tain, or, as leader of the forlorn hope, to advance upon the bridge across the Antietam Creek. It was while resolutely moving upon this cannon-swept position

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that he fell, struck by a hostile shot, which pierced his arm and side. The Elev- enth wavered at his fall, and then swept down upon and over the bridge, up the hill beyond, and gained the rebel position. Thus fell a gallant officer, his last words telling how his thoughts were not of self, but of his men and country.

As a three-years' regiment, the Eleventh was mustered into the service on June 20, 1861. Five full companies went from Miami County, viz .: B and F from Piqua, and D, H, and E from Troy. July 7, they were sent to the Kanawha Val- ley, and placed in the Kanawha division, officered by Gen. J. D. Cox. On Decem- ber 1, 1861, the regiment went into winter quarters at Point Pleasant. August 18, 1862, the Eleventh moved to Parkersburg, and thence to near Washington, D. C., and camped by Alexandria.

August 27, the regiment was ordered to Manassas Junction. The rebels took position previous to their arrival, and Taylor's New Jersey troops were being driven back as the Eleventh Ohio came up, crossed Bull Run, and, forming line, checked the enemy. Overpowered in numbers, the Union troops fell back to Fairfax, the Eleventh being the rear guard. A night march brought them within the lines at Washington.

August 29, the regiment took position at Munson's Hill. September 6, the men were on the march to Maryland. September 12, the rebel line was found on the banks of the Monocacy, and holding the bridge across. Of three columns formed for attack upon their position, the Eleventh led the center, drove back the enemy, and took the bridge. The Union line became disordered ; the rebels advanced and seized two cannon. Led by Col. Coleman, the Eleventh rushed forward cheering, recovered the artillery, and never stopped till the enemy were completely beaten. A night at Monocacy ; another at a bridge over creek near & Middletown ; and, on the morning of September 14, the Kanawha Division had moved to the Sharpsburg Road, where the Eleventh prepared for battle. A severe fire from three sides met their advance. Amid the thick laurel growth individual acts of bravery were numerous, and the men fought on till the enemy yielded their strong position and retired toward Sharpsburg.

The battle of Antietam was one of those struggles which decided the question of armed supremacy. Lee was beaten, and his scheme of invasion frustrated. The Eleventh performed no ignoble part in this service. All the morning of Sep- tember 17 this regiment had been more or less engaged, when Burnside received the order from Mcclellan to " carry the bridge, gain the heights beyond, and advance along their crest to Sharpsburg and reach the rear of the enemy."

The bridge was of stone, 12 feet wide, 150 long. Six thousand veteran troops in splendid position over the stream, with artillery trained upon the bridge and narrow approach, awaited the Union advance. Sharpshooters and skir- mishers were soon at work. Simmons and McMullen's batteries poured a rain of missiles among the rebel ranks, while a storm of lead and iron smote the front of the devoted column : it wavered and then fell back.

The call for help was answered by the order, " Assault the bridge, and carry it at all hazards," and again the lines were formed for the fearful work. With sublime devotion the column dashes forward, and again the deadly sleet strikes their faces ; but they push on, sweep over the bridge, clear the crest, and fight their way on. Lee turns upon this force, and Burnside calls for help. A corps and a division of troops are in reserve, but Burnside cannot have them, and the troops of the Burnside Brigade retired to the bridge crowned with honor. On January 24, 1863, the Eleventh started for Nashville, Tenn. February 22, they occupied and fortified Carthage. The regiment was at Murfreesboro' by June, and assigned to Third Division, Fourteenth Army Corps. It was at Hoover's Gap, Manchester, Tullahoma, and made a halt at Big Springs, on the march toward Chattanooga. On September 17, the Eleventh withstood an assault at Catlett's Gap, in the mountains below Chattanooga. Next day was passed in countermarching, and the dawn of the 19th found them near Gordon's Mill, in line of battle. Their devoted Chaplain, W. W. Lyle, rode down to the center of

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the line amid the sound of battle and addressed the men. A prayer followed, and with bent head and rifle-clasping hands, the men of Miami looked briefly to the God of battle for his blessing. The regiment moved immediately into action ; a charge was made ; the rebels were driven half a mile. The regiment retired to its old position, whence a second charge was made with success. On September 20, the Eleventh stood behind a rude breastwork of logs and stones ; here Com- pany D lost heavily. The log breastwork took fire; a part of B put it out. Later the regiment became divided, the fragments fought on and finally re-united near Rossville.

The Eleventh took part in the battle of Mission Ridge, and in a charge cap- tured a battle-flag and cannon. Sergt. Ball bore the colors forward till a seventh shot struck him down helpless. Lieut. Peck took them from his hands, placed them on the rebel works, and fell with a mortal wound. In behalf of the ladies of Troy, Chaplain Lyle presented the Eleventh with a handsome stand of colors on February 17, 1864.

The regiment took part in the advance on Rocky Face, and lost heavily at Buzzard's Roost; again at Resaca they were warmly engaged. Their time of ser- vice expiring, the regiment was mustered out June 26, 1864.

A part of the regiment, consisting of two companies, accompanied Sherman to the sea, under command of Lieut. Col. D. C. Stubbs.

The Forty-fourth Ohio was organized at Springfield, Ohio, in 1861. They were engaged in the West Virginia campaign, and, at the battle of Lewisburg, charged upon and captured a four-gun battery, took a number of prisoners, and began the rout of the enemy.

In a retreat to the Gauley, the Forty-fourth was the rear guard to protect the retiring column from the attack of a rebel force six thousand strong. They fought bravely at Charleston on September 13, 1862. Removed to Kentucky, they were mounted and kept constantly at work. At Dunstan's Hill the regiment charged the rebel position, and materially aided in their rout. Re-enlisting as the Eighth Ohio Cavalry, the men returned to their old campaign territory in Virginia. Act- ing as rear-guard near Liberty, the Eighth fought a brigade of mounted rebels and lost from their number seventy-one men. Six companies of the regiment were sur- prised in camp at Philippi, underwent the trials of prison life, and finally obtained release. Some went to Clarksburg, where four companies were stationed ; others were mustered out in June as prisoners of war. The remainder of the regiment was mustered out the month following.

The Seventy-first Ohio Infantry was recruited in part from Miami County, she having furnished Companies F, C, and E. About February 1, 1862, the regi- ment was recruited and organized, with Barton S. Kyle, of Troy, as Lieutenant Colonel. This brave and worthy man, born in Miami County April 7, 1825, was active and successful in his efforts to recruit the regiment, and fell at Pittsburg Landing while at the post of duty, cheering on his men. A bullet entered his right breast, and he fell mortally wounded, and the service lost a true, brave man, and Miami one of her best citizens. The Seventy-first reported to Gen. Sherman at Paducah, Ky., and in February took part in a reconnoissance toward Columbus.

In the advance up the Tennessee, the regiment was among the first. At about 7 o'clock of April 7, 1862, the action at Donelson began by the rebel attack upon the Union center. The Seventy-first was soon in line. They were placed on the line of a road favorable to the enemy, and, being assailed by artillery, were with- drawn to a better position. The change was well-timed and fortunate, as the enemy soon advanced with two batteries upon the recent position of the regiment. The attack was fierce, the resistance stubborn, and the Seventy-first fell back. Re-form- ing, it fought bravely till night closed the struggle. The loss at Donelson was 130 killed and wounded.

On April 16 the regiment was ordered to hold the posts of Clarksville and Fort Donelson. Sunday, August 17, Col. Mason was attacked by the rebel Col. Wood- ward, at Clarksville. The Seventy-first were scattered about at various points,

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and Col. Mason had with him only about 200 men. These were surrendered to a force some four times their own. Being exchanged, four companies defeated Wood- ward at Fort Donelson on August 25, 1862: In the spring of 1864 the Seventy- first moved south and bore itself gallantly. In the battle at Nashville, one-third their number killed and wounded, attested the courage and devotion of the men. The summer of 1865 was passed upon the Rio Grande, and not till January, 1866, was the regiment mustered out.

The Ninety-fourth Ohio was organized at Camp Piqua, Miami County, Ohio One thousand and ten men were recruited within a month. Kirby Smith had. invaded Kentucky and this raw regiment was ordered to Lexington. They obtained three cartridges apiece and, taking the cars, reached the city at 9 o'clock P. M. of Saturday. Ordered to Yate's Ford, east of Lexington, the regiment made his first march of fifteen miles, and reached the vicinity of the ford at dark. Some rebel scouts fired upon them, killed two men and wounded six. The Ninety-fourth secured a position and passed the night unmolested, while the entire army of Smith lay encamped at two miles' distance. Morning brought 125 rounds of ammunition to each man from Lexington. It also brought up the rebel army, which opened from a battery upon the troops at breakfast. Col. Frizell withdrew the regiment back from a cross-road, down which the enemy came rapidly. Capt. Drury was ordered to take his company and guard the rear, while the regiment formed for action. A message now arrived, ordering the Ninety-fourth to hasten back to Lexington. Twelve miles upon the road was too much for some of the men, who fell by the way and were captured by the enemy. Ordered to Louisville, the men went into camp almost exhausted. Two hundred and eight men were lost, paroled, and returned to the ranks. At the battle of Perryville the regiment won special mention. At Stone River they were engaged every day of the contest. A synopsis from "Ohio in the War" gives the meed of honor to the organization :

" In the advance on Tullahoma and the fight at Hoover's Gap in June, 1863; skirmishing at Dug Gap, and participants in the battle of Chickamauga, they were in charge at Mission Ridge and the battle of Lookout Mountain. With Sherman they took part in actions at Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Kingston, Pumpkinvine Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Chattahoochie River, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro', and Bentonville." They were first to enter Raleigh, and took part in the grand review. When mustered out, June 6, 1865, 338 men were all that were left of the original 1,010.

The One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry was organized at Camp Piqua, Miami County, on October 3, 1862. At Winchester it was assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, Eighth Army Corps, and variously employed till on the 13th of June, 1863, the regiment advanced to Kernstown, and fought steadily with the superior force of Lee. Next day, the One Hundred and Tenth held & small work some distance from the fort. The enemy concentrated upon them the fire of twenty-six cannon, and followed the cannonade by an assault in column. The regiment fell back at the point of the bayonet, and at night fought their way to Harper's Ferry. After various movements, one of which was to Governor's Island, New York, the regiment are found crossing the Rappahannock, capturing prisoners, and, despite severe shelling, taking the ground held by the enemy at Brandy Station. May 4, the One Hundred and Tenth crossing the Rapidan into the Wilderness, made a charge and drove the rebels into their breastworks and held their ground till night. Their loss this day was 118 in killed, wounded and taken prisoners. Next day they were subjected to a severe artillery fire ; fell back's mile in the evening ; held their position on the 7th; and then fell back to Spottsylvania court house. It waded the Nye and occupied the rebel works; fought at Cold Harbor ; stood a heavy fire on June 3, as a regiment on the first line ; was moved to Monocacy, and battled bravely with heavy odds, and retired to Ellicott's Mills, having lost 130 men.

The One Hundred and Tenth make several marches and change their position till we again find them marching as train-guard to Charleston. August 29, they

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are victors at the last-named place. At Fisher's Hill they capture four cannon and 100 prisoners. October 19, they struggled bravely at Cedar Creek to check the rebel advance, and take an active part in the rout of Early's force. On March 25, 1865, they charge with their brigade the rebel trenches, pursue the enemy, drive him at Sailor's Creek, and capture many battle-flags. The One Hundred and Tenth was in twenty-one actions and lost 795 men. They were discharged at Columbus, Ohio, and returned with gladness to former peaceful avocations.

The One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment National Guards was mustered into service at Camp Dennison on the 16th of May, 1864, and set out for Washing- ton on the 20th. Ordered first to Fort Ethan Allen, then to Fort Strong, it finally found quarters for six companies in the former work, and for four at Fort Marcy. At midnight of June 11, the regiment was ordered to Fort Reno. The enemy were near by, and skirmishing was brisk as they took position in the trenches. Ordered to Crystal Springs, the regiment took position as support to the First Maine and First Ohio Batteries, and, though not engaged, was under fire. President Lincoln thanked the organization for their public service as it passed through Washington homeward bound.

The dead of Miami's patriotic soldiery sleep on the fields where they fell, only where their bodies could not be found. In the National Cemeteries a nation has gathered them, and yearly, as the spring-time comes, the fairest of the land go forth and strew their resting-place with flowers in memory. So have they done at Rose Hill Cemetery, where lie the remains of some forty men ; and years will pass, and still this token of a grateful people will show itself in memory of the soldiers of 1861-65.

We have now endeavored to unfold the history of this county from its earliest settlement to the present. While it has been impossible to note each fact specifically in the process of its evolution, or enter into the details of cach step in its development, yet we have taken it in its infancy, and during its initial totter. ing steps, we have guided it with care, and as the framework of its organism grew into shape, and its proper function gave it strength and direction, so have we in proportion withdrawn the minutiæe of our description, until now she stands before us in perfection, the exponent of her own beauty and power, from which she can look back to her feeble genesis, and exclaim, ultima thule. Look in the past and see the four posts supporting poles, covered with brush and earth, that protected the first mill, in its transition to the round-pole house, the hewed log, frame, and finally the brick and steam. From the millstone, made from a huge boulder, with a boy to turn the bolting apparatus, to the present grand flouring mills of endless capacity ; from the little copper still to the immense manufactories of rotgut poison and tangle-foot ; from the old-fashioned flax break, swingling and fulling (which latter process is so peculiar that we here introduce a description of it after Maj. Johnston : "The process of fulling our home-made cloth in our county, was by the neighboring men gathering at the house of one of their number, say six or eight ; taking seats on the old-fashioned split-bottomed chairs, in a circle, with a rope around the back to keep them together, and with the web of cloth in the center. and the feet of the men pressing together in opposition to each other, with pants rolled up, and a good woman, with gourd in hand, to supply the web with hot soap-suds poured on to the cloth, and so work, kicking against the web until a late hour in the night, when the woman of the house, with yardstick in hand, measuring the shrinkage, would pronounce the words 'Thick enough '"), the spin- ning wheel, and the tow, to the carding-mills and spinning jenny, with its thousand spools ; from hog and hominy, venison, potatoes, corn bread, sassafras or spice-wood tea, to pies, preserves, baking-powder biscuit, etc .; from rosy cheeks, round waists, and sound lungs, to arsenic hue, sunken chests and flat waists ; from the sugar- trough to the rosewood automatic crib ; from the old wooden mold-board, with doubletree and singletrees fastened on by hickory withes for harness, a good hemp rope fastened to the harness by passing through an auger hole, brought back and tied, harness fitted into a collar of husks stuffed in leather, with a boy

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on the horse ; this combination among the roots would kick a man down, and, it is said, kick him over the fence, and kick at him after he was over; from this grotesque apparatus, we go to the glittering steel mold-board that turns the unbroken furrow from end to end ; from the shovel-plow, the boy and the hoe, we go to the modern planter, which, by a rope and knot, drops, furrows out and covers the corn ; from the sickle we go to the self-binder ; from the flail and the hoof of the horse, to the steam separator; from the blazed path, meandering through the woods, to the countless turnpikes; from the lumbering ox-team to to the lightning speed of the railway ; from the corduroy bridge, in the shady swamp, to the magnificent iron structures that now span our streams; from the circle around the fire, shelling the corn by hand, to the steam-power capacity of a thousand bushels a day ; from the hickory-bark bureau and clothes-press to the inlaid productions of the cabinet-maker ; from the three-legged stool to the reclining, rep-covered mahogany chair ; from the home-spun linsey-woolsey to the fiounced silk and satin and real point lace ; from the plain sun-bonne; to the coronal flower garden; from the rude log cabin, stick chimney, capacious fire- place, greased paper window, to the brown-stone front, polished base-burner, French plate and silver call ; from the old dandy wagon, to the elliptic-springed phaeton. The old fireside home-

" Where, piled with care, the nightly stack Of wood against the chimney back ; The oaken log, green, huge and thick, And on its top the stout back stick ; The knotty fore-stick laid apart And filled between with curious art, The ragged brush ; then, hovering near, We watched the first red blase appear, Heard the sharp crackle, caught the gleam On whitewashed wall and sagging beam, Until the old, rude-furnished room Barst flower-like into rosy bloom-"

where nuts were cracked and turnips scraped, and the good old dog and cat lay snoozing by the fire, have all given place to the fashioned blazonry of modern art, style and stiff formality. Such were the times then ; such are the times, customs and people to-day ; and we may conclude in the words of Cicero: "O tempora, O mores!"

GEOLOGY, ANCIENT MOUNDS, RELICS, ETC.

We append the report of the State Geological Survey :

The undulating surface of Miami County is characteristic of, and dependent upon, the underlying geological formations. We find a bed of loose material, of greater or less thickness, overlying a not very uneven rock bed beneath. This condition determines the gentle slopes which prevail throughout this section of the State. The blue limestone in the southern part of the county, on the two princi- pal water-courses, is a thin-bedded stone, inter-stratified with thicker courses of blue marl or shale, which do not resist the action of atmospheric agencies in a sufficient degree to form precipitous bluffs, but wear down into those rolling slopes 80 characteristic of Southwestern Ohio.

What abrupt unevenness of surface exists is partly covered up by the loose material, composed of gravel, sand and clay, which commonly receives the name of drift, spread over the surface. If this drift were not present, we should be able to trace the line of outcrop of the cliff formation wherever it occurs throughout the county. There would be a chain connecting the cliffs near Charlestown with those two miles east of Tippecanoe, at Col. Woodward's, and onward, marking the course of all the tributaries of the Miami, and showing the course of this river, limiting the valley to the point where the Miami enters the county on the north. In most instances, the beds of the water-courses would be greatly deepened, and there would be rapids, or even precipitous falls, in some places, in most, if not all,

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The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 33

Author: W. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1880
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051