USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume III > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74
650
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
low-a leader, a projector, and with the skill of the able gen- eral, he carries his matured plans to ultimate success. A fine organizer, not only of the greater matters pertaining to large undertakings, but also of the most minute details, he is a man who makes opportunities and produces circum- stances, rather than being governed by them. Of a clear intellect and fine analytical mind, he understands and com- prehends the most complex matters of mechanical science and machinery. The thorough business habits acquired when a youth he took with 'him into his business career. When a law student he gained a good knowledge of juris- prudence and elementary law, which has been of invaluable service to him in his present position. He is one in whom others place unbounded confidence; faithful in all his prom- ises, conscientious in his duties, liberal in his charities, the soul of honor. By his worthy compeers in the great city of Cleveland he is considered one of the ablest of their number. The promise of his early youth has already been amply fulfilled.
ROSECRANS, S. H., Roman Catholic Bishop of Col- umbus, Ohio, was born at Homer, Licking county, Ohio, February 5th, 1827. His parents, Crandall and Jane (Hop- kins) Rosecrans, moved from Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, to Ohio in 1808. He was educated at Kenyon College, Gam- bier, Ohio, and St. John's .College, Fordham, New York, graduating from the latter in 1846. His brother (General William S. Rosecrans) having given much thought and, while yet a youth, engaged in much discussion on religious subjects, joined the communion of the Roman Catholic church before attaining his majority, and his example affected our subject to such an extent that he felt impelled to become a priest of that church. After graduating, he therefore went to Rome, to study at the Propaganda College, and remained there five years. In July, 1852, he was ordained a priest, and returning to his native land, he began the exercise of his office at Cincinnati. He thus continued to be engaged ten years, in that time also becoming professor of theology in Mount St. Mary's Seminary, and editor of the diocesan news- paper, the Catholic Telegraph. March 25th, 1862, he was consecrated auxiliary bishop of Cincinnati, and aided in the administration of the diocese until 1868, when, Columbus having been erected into a separate diocese, he was trans- ferred to that city and installed as bishop of the diocese, March 3d, 1868. He engaged in the work of his diocese with zeal, and had but dedicated the cathedral church at Colum- bus, when he was taken suddenly ill and died October 20th, 1878. During the ten years of his episcopacy as head of his diocese, he had erected the cathedral at a cost of $150,000, and founded orphan asylums and schools at Pomeroy and Columbus. In 1870 he devoted himself for much of his time to the superintendence of the Sisters' Seminary, designed for higher education of females. His mother became a member of the Roman Catholic church before her death.
EGGLESTON, MAJOR EMERSON H., Cleveland, United States District Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, belongs to one of the largest of the many noted families in the United States, the members of which have been distinguished in the field, at the bar, in literature, and in almost every walk in life. The family can be dis- tinctly traced, genealogically, back to Lord Eggleston, who owned extensive estates in England, in the sixteenth century.
It made its appearance in America as early as 1720, several members then settling at Middlefield, Massachusetts. At nearly the same time other members settled on the south bank of the Potomac River, on extensive grants of crown lands. From this branch sprang the Egglestons of Virginia, South Carolina, and Louisiana. The characteristics of the Eggleston family, now numbering upward of five thousand members in the United States, have been singularly pre- served, notwithstanding climatic differences, sectional cus- toms and institutions, which so often exert a powerful influ- ence upon the mind and character. Unswerving devotion to duty, pluck, capability, manliness, and integrity are the marks by which this family is in an eminent degree distinguishable. As early as 1804 five brothers-Benjamin, Martin, Joseplı, Moses, and Chauncy, left the old homestead and settlement at Middlefield, Massachusetts, and started with their teams westward. They were men of strong will and untiring en- ergy, peculiarly fitted by strength of mind and character to assist in the founding of a State. In 1805 Martin, Joseph, Moses, and Chauncy reached Ohio, and settled in what is now Aurora Township, Portage County. During the war of 1812 Chauncy Eggleston was a general of volunteers, and was commander of a large force marching to the relief of General Hull, at Detroit, at the time of the latter's ignominious sur- render to General Brock; and Joseph Eggleston was a cap- tain in said service with his brother. Benjamin Eggleston, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, branched off on his way to Ohio, and settled at Sackett's Harbor, New York, where he remained until 1820, assisting in the memorable defense of that port when bombarded by the British, during the war of 1812. Upon reaching Ohio he settled in proximity to his brothers, in Aurora, and began to hew a home from the grasp of the mighty woods, finding leisure, meanwhile, to write a history of the war of 1812, much of which was in verse. This work is of a bold and imaginative character, and indicates that he was a man endowed with fine literary taste, of strong and heroic impulses, and possessed of much knowl- edge and ability, and of a mind capable of indulging in lofty flights of poetry. Major Emerson H. Eggleston, the subject of this sketch, was born on the 19th of June, 1840, in a little log- cabin about three and one half miles from Aurora, Portage County, Ohio. His father, William H. Eggleston, settled in Aurora about 1820, having come to Ohio, a boy, with his father, Benjamin, from Sackett's Harbor, New York. William H. Eggleston was a child eight years old during the war of 1812, and was in Sackett's Harbor when that post was be- leaguered, and was knocked down by a spent cannon-ball from the enemy's guns. He was an earnest, capable, and exemplary man, of excellent character and of strong con- victions of right. On the 15th of February, 1830, he married Calista M. Parker, of Aurora, Ohio, a noble, Christian woman, whose parents had removed from Massachusetts to Ohio in 1812. She was a descendant of the Parkers of Peru, Massa- chusetts, a family that has produced many distinguished men, including Captain John Parker, who commanded the New England patriots at Lexington, April 19th, 1775, in the first engagement of the Revolution; Jonas Parker, who was killed in the same contest; and also Chief-justice Isaac Parker, of Massachusetts. Her mother was a member of the no less distinguished Scovill family, of the same State, several mem- bers of which were also prominent in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Eggleston was the mother of nine children-four daugh- ters and five sons-of whom Emerson H. was the sixth child,
Western Bioal Pub. Co.
Emerson & Egglistan
651
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
and third son. The prayerful solicitude and counsel of the latter's mother did much to stimulate and direct his early ambition and shape his after life. Emerson H. Eggleston was reared under the strong influence of a Christian home and in the midst of a sturdy, cultured community. His childhood was spent upon his father's farm, amidst those natural surroundings which so influence the mind and are so conducive to the nobler impulses of riper years. When the weather did not permit of out-door work the boy went to the small district school, sometimes tramping three or four miles through the snow, so all-absorbing was his determination to gain an education. At sixteen years of age he went to Loudonville, Ashland County, where he worked on a farm for a short time. With the money thus earned he attended a select school during the following winter and spring, taught by a prominent educator by the name of Professor Pickett, at Kent, Ohio. The following year, after hard work in the harvest field during the summer, he went to a school at Twinsburg, Ohio, under the supervision of Rev. Samuel Bissell. Thereafter, although frequently compelled to drop his books and take up work on the farm until money was obtained sufficient to meet his expenses, the young student attended several terms of the high school at Chagrin Falls. He also clerked awhile in his uncle's dry goods store at the latter place. In the winter of 1859-60 he went to Lawrence County, Illinois, and taught school in a little pioneer log house. To save the money earned in teaching for use in completing his education he did chores and worked on a farm after school hours for his board, thus displaying the tenacity of purpose and unflagging perseverance which have since been among his strong characteristics. In 1860 he re- turned to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and began the study of law, borrowing books for the purpose of Hon. C. T. Blakesley, earning his board meanwhile by doing work in the office of Dr. Harmon. During the winter of 1860-61 he taught school at Bainbridge, Geauga County, Ohio. It was during the short stay at Chagrin Falls that the climacteric period of the young man's life might be said to have occurred. It was here that young Eggleston made the acquaintance of the late President Garfield, who at the time was president of Hiram College, and preached Sundays to a congregation at Chagrin Falls. Garfield's regard for young men, which so characterized his life of later years, manifested itself at this time. He sought to infuse young men with high and noble aspirations, and to place before their minds the many advantages of a collegiate education. The words and kind advice of the president of Hiram College took deep root in the mind of young Eggle- ston, and fully confirmed him in his previous purpose to perfect his education and enter the profession of law, and in 1861, with very little money, and with the responsibil- ity and care of a younger brother, he walked to Hiram College, and registered his name among the students. The time was passed in a small room, where the brothers slept and cooked their own victuals, walking home, nine miles, every Saturday night, to obtain the next week's supplies. Their devotion to their studies and their indomitable pluck won for them the admiration of the students and of President Garfield, who often visited them at their room, and gave them the benefit of his advice, ripened by difficult and varied experiences. The spring term of 1861 opened gloomily at Hiram. The dull, uncertain dread of approaching danger felt throughout the North was experienced by the loyal stu- dents. When the news was received that Fort Sumter
had been fired upon, and that the South was marshaling her armies, a company was organized among the students, and military instruction and drill instituted under the direc- tion of Garfield. The spring term closed with the country in a blaze. On the 6th of August, 1861, the young student, realizing the great responsibility of his action, with his col- lege course fairly entered upon, turned from what seemed the hope and promise of his life, and with patriotic zeal en- listed as a private, in Company B of the 2d Ohio Cavalry. This regiment was composed of the flower of the Western Reserve, and was the special pride of that sturdy old states- man, Ben Wade, under whose supervision it was raised. It was made up of enthusiastic, intelligent young men fresh from the schools and colleges. The life of Major Eggleston during the ensuing years will be traced in the history of the regiment which fought so well. Under Colonel C. W. Double- day, the regiment was assembled about the Ist of September, 1861, at Camp Wade, on University Heights, Cleveland. In November the regiment, twelve hundred strong, mounted, uniformed, and partially drilled, moved to Camp Dennison; and early in 1862 it was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, Kan- sas, and Eggleston, bidding his parents adieu, started west- ward with the command. The long trip, in mid-winter, to Fort Leavenworth, and thence in February to Fort Scott, Kansas, was very trying to the young soldier. At this point the second regiment was placed under the command of Gen- eral James H. Lane, who had planned what was widely known as the "Lane Expedition," which was to start from Fort Scott, move south through a desolate stretch of plain for six hundred miles, across the Texan frontier and enter the Confederacy through the back door. The plan of the campaign was appalling to the good sense of even the rank and file. No provision had been made for a base of supplies, and there was no objective point to the march. In February, while the 2d was en route from Leavenworth to Fort Scott, Kansas, a detail of two hundred men encoun- tered the rebel bushwhacker, Quantrell, and his band, at Independence, Missouri. The latter was routed, with a loss of three wounded and five captured. The 2d lost one killed and three wounded. This was the baptism of the 2d, and from that time through the arduous campaigns of 1863, 1864, and 1865, until the glorious day at Appomattox, the 2d was always ready and always feared. After the regiment reached Fort Scott and joined the others that were to form the expedition, Colonel Doubleday resigned, and Lieutenant- colonel Robert W. Ratcliff, of Warren, Ohio, took command of the regiment, pending the appointment of a new colonel. The expedition started under command of Colonel Weir, of Kansas, and in the brigade were three regiments of loyal Indians. The disastrous results of that campaign are familiar to the student. After marching five hundred miles to Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, through arid plains and trackless wastes, far away from their base of supplies, the junior offi- cers summarily arrested Colonel Weir, for conduct unbecom- ing an officer, and placed Colonel Solomon in command of the expedition. The troops were turned back to Fort Scott, which was reached after untold. hardships and privations. The depleted ranks of the 2d told how severe had been the futile march. Eggleston stood the trial like a veteran sol- dier, and reached the fort in good health. At this juncture, Captain August V. Kautz, of the 6th Regular Cavalry, hav- ing been appointed to the colonelcy of the 2d, by Governor Tod, took command, and under his charge it became one
652
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
of the finest regiments in the service, as regarded discipline and military efficiency. Young Eggleston, having been suc- cessively promoted, was here appointed orderly sergeant of his company. By procurement of Colonel Kautz, the 2d, after having participated in the Western battles of Prairie Grove, Pea Ridge, and Cane Hill, and numerous other en- gagements in Missouri and Kansas, was ordered to Ohio for reorganization and equipment, and spent part of the winter of 1862-63 at Camp Chase. While there Colonel Kautz in- stituted the rule that all promotions should be by competi- tive examination, in pursuance of which the young orderly underwent a severe examination, his standing being so ex- cellent that out of fifteen examined his name was placed among the first upon the list for promotion as lieutenant. Soon after, his regiment was ordered into Central Kentucky, then in the department of Ohio, commanded by General Burnside. Hardly had it reached the blue grass region when General John Morgan swept through Northern Ken- tucky, Southern Indiana, and Ohio, on his famous raid. Eggleston was with the 2d on its four weeks' exciting pur- suit of the famous general, without sleep, save in the saddle, and bearing with enthusiasm the hardships of that unparal- leled forced and rigorous march of over eleven hundred miles through three States. The 2d fell upon Morgan's rear at Buffington, and assisted in the rout and subsequent capture of his main force, and, a few days after, of Morgan himself and the remnant of his command, in Columbiana County, Ohio. The regiment then returned to Kentucky, and the young orderly was promoted to the second lieuten- ancy of his company, in recognition of his soldierly qualities and in pursuance of the competitive examination held at Camp Chase. August 26tl1, 1863, his regiment, after seeing hard service in Kentucky, crossed the Cumberland Mountains, through Walker's Gap, into East Tennessee, and became a part of the 2d Division of the 23d Corps, Army of the Ohio, under General Burnside. All through the ensuing campaign the young lieutenant did his duty manfully. He was with the regiment at the occupation of Knoxville, the hard fight and destruction of Loudon Bridge, the capture of Cumber- land Gap, with two thousand prisoners and twelve guns, and weeks of continuous contest with the cavalry of the rebel General Wheeler ; meantime, during the siege of Knoxville, in the early winter of 1863, living with the men of his regi- ment on parched corn, and sleeping without shelter. He saw hard service in the battles of the East Tennessee Val- ley, at Greenville, Blue Springs, Jonesboro, Bean Station, Rodgersville, Mossy Creek, Blain's Cross Roads, and many others. On the first day of January, 1864, while the 2d lay encamped at Mossy Creek, in East Tennessee, their term of service expired. With the thermometer at 15° below zero, worn out, knowing full well the hardships yet to come, and with a patriotism without a parallel in the whole army, ninety- five per cent of the regiment put down their names and re- enlisted for three years more. Lieutenant Eggleston was one of the first to re-enlist. A short furlough followed, and the members of the command were welcomed heartily at their Northern homes, where the glory of their deeds had long preceded them. The regiment reassembled at Cleveland, and was immediately ordered to Annapolis, Maryland, and joined the 9th Corps, under Burnside. At this time Lieu- tenant Eggleston was sent into Pennsylvania, to buy horses, with which to mount his regiment. On the 3d of May, 1864, the 2d crossed the Potomac, and entered upon a campaign
that made it famous. The regiment joined Burnside's Corps, at Warrenton Junction, and after crossing the historic Rap- idan, took up a position on the extreme right of Grant's army, when the latter opened the battle of the Wilderness, in which the 2d took a prominent part. After numerous engagements, the regiment joined Sheridan's Cavalry Corps, on May 24th, 1864, and was assigned to the Ist Brigade, 3d Division, with which it remained until the close of the war. Seven days later, the 2d was in the terrific battle of Hanover Court-house, and distinguished itself by hard fighting. It was at this battle, leading a dismounted charge, that Lieu- tenant Eggleston received his first wound, being shot through the left arm; not, however, until, in the absence of other ammunition, and while cheering on his command, he had spent some time throwing stones and brick at the enemy, through an opening which he and his men had made by pushing down a section of a high board fence flanking a farm house, in and behind which the rebels, in their retreat, had taken position, and through which opening they were pouring deadly volleys of musketry at their pursuers, who eventually drove them from their position. He entered the hospital at Wash- ington, but as soon as able returned to the front, joining his command in the Shenandoah Valley. Soon after this General Wilson, the old division commander, was ordered to report to General Thomas, and the gallant General Custer took com- mand of the division. General Custer considered the 2d among the bravest of his command, and the subsequent history of the regiment is closely linked with his name. The young officer was with his regiment at the battle of Opequan, where it captured the entire 8th South Carolina Infantry, and at the great battle of Winchester, September 19th, 1864, where the bravery of the 2d in dislodging the rebel infantry from the heights on the enemy's extreme right, turned the tide of battle, but at the expense of many brave lives. The famous battle of Cedar Creek, under General Sheridan, soon fol- lowed, and found Lieutenant Eggleston in command of a battalion, which he led to the field, and in front of which he fell from his horse, wounded by a shot in the hip. He was taken to the hospital, and while there received two commis- sions-those of first lieutenant and captain-and accom- panying the same a letter from his colonel, compliment- ing him highly for his bravery in action. Recovering from his wound, which was a severe one, Captain Eggle- ston returned to Petersburg, and participated with his reg- iment in General Grant's final attack on General Lee. In command of a battalion of his regiment, he was engaged in the six days' terrific fighting that closed the war, namely, the battles of Dinwiddie Court-house, Five Forks, Harper's Farm, Sailor's Creek, Appomattox Station, and Appomattox. Flushed with victory, he saw the sun rise on that glorious morning when Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court-house, and where the brave 2d made its last charge and lost its last man, and received and repulsed the last charge the rebel army of the James ever made. The following is the farewell order of General Custer to his famous Cavalry Division, of which the 2d Ohio Cavalry was his favorite regiment :
"HEADQUARTERS, THIRD CAVALRY DIVISION, } APPOMATTOX C. H., VA., April 9th, 1865. "Soldiers of the Third Cavalry Division :
"With profound gratitude toward the God of battles, by whose blessings our enemies have been humbled and our arms rendered triumphant, your commanding general avails himself of this, his first, opportunity to express to you his ad- miration of the heroic manner in which you have passed
.
653
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
through the series of battles which to-day resulted in the surrender of the enemy's entire army.
"The record established by your indomitable courage is unparalleled in the annals of war. Your prowess has won for you even the respect and admiration of your enemies. During the past six months, although in most instances con- fronted by superior numbers, you have captured from the enemy III pieces of field-artillery, 65 battle-flags, and up- ward of 10,000 prisoners of war, including seven general officers. Within the past ten days, and included in the above, you have captured 46 pieces of field-artillery and 37 battle-flags.
"You have never lost a gun-never lost a color-and have never been defeated. And notwithstanding the nu- merous engagements in which you have borne a prominent part, including those memorable battles of the Shenandoah, you have captured every piece of artillery the enemy has dared to open upon you.
"The near approach of peace renders it improbable that you will again be called upon to undergo the fatigues of the toilsome march or the exposure of the battle-field, but should the assistance of keen blades, wielded by your sturdy arms, be required to hasten the coming of that glorious peace for which we have been so long contending, the general com- manding is proudly confident that in the future, as in the past, every demand will meet with a hearty and willing re- sponse. Let us hope that our work is done; and that, blessed with the comfort of peace, we may soon be permitted to en- joy the pleasures of home and friends.
"For our comrades who have fallen, let us ever cherish a grateful remembrance. To the wounded and to those who languish in Southern prisons, let our heartfelt sympathies be tendered.
" And now, speaking for myself alone, when the war is ended and the task of the historian begins, when those deeds of daring which have rendered the name and fame of the Third Cavalry Division imperishable are inscribed upon the bright pages of our country's history, I only ask that my name may be written as that of the commander of the Third Cavalry Division. G. A CUSTER, Brevet Major-general."
At Harper's Farm more prisoners were captured by the 2d Cavalry than there were men in the ranks, including General Ewell and a large portion of his command. The battalion commanded by Captain Eggleston captured four pieces of artillery, two battle-flags, thirty horses, and fifty prisoners ; among the latter were three generals-namely, Major-general Kershaw, commanding a division of Long- street's Corps, and Brigadiers-general Du Von and Curtis Lee, of the rebel cavalry corps; one colonel, two majors, three surgeons, three captains, three first and nine second lieuten- ants, and two hospital stewards ; for which this gallant young officer received the thanks of Major-general Custer, on the field of battle. After Lee surrendered the regiment was or- dered North, participated in the grand review at Washing- ton, when, instead of being mustered out, as the brave men deserved, they were transferred to the Department of the Missouri, at Springfield, to do guard duty for some months. Captain Eggleston served there as post-adjutant, and admin- istered the oath of allegiance to returning rebels. While there he received a commission as major of the battalion which he had so long and bravely commanded. He was mustered out in October, 1865, and returned home, bearing the scars of over four years of hard service, having partici- pated in over sixty battles and engagements, and conscious of the merited honor of having risen from the ranks to the majorship of as brave a regiment as ever entered a cam- paign-a regiment which was reported by the authorities at Washington as ranking No. I, for having traveled more miles, fought more battles, done more work, and captured more prisoners and trophies than any other regiment in the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.