USA > Ohio > Clinton County > The history of Clinton County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; history of the Northwest territory, Volume 1 > Part 47
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A draft was made in Clinton County May 18, 1864, affecting all the town- ships except Adams, Chester and Liberty, which had furnished their respective quotas. The numbers from the other townships were: Union, 68; Vernon, 10; Marion, 3; Jefferson, 7; Clark, 25; Washington, 23; Wilson 26; Greene, 4, and numbers from other townships not given in the report from which this is taken. A second draft took place June 14, to supply the places of those persons who had been exempted by reason of disability, and at that time Union Township furnished 13, Wilson 6, Washington 4, Clark 2, and Vernon 2. In July, 1864, the time of the Twelfth Ohio Volunteer Infantry was out, and those who did not re-enlist as veterans returned to Ohio and were mustered out. Many of the Clinton County members remained in the service. On the 16th of July, a war meeting was held at Wilmington to devise means of raising volunteers for the army in order that another draft, then impending, should not be necessary in the county. It was resolved that the Trustees of the sev- oral townships should be requested to borrow sufficient money to enable them to pay $100 to each volunteer and levy a tax on the property in the township to liquidate the same. It was also resolved that the citizens of the respective townships be requested to hold meetings therein and solicit subscriptions for
additional bounties. Capt. J. N. Fallis was appointed to recruit men in Union Township. President Lincoln, on the 18th of July, issued a call for 500,000 men, those who should be drafted to serve one year. Under this call, Ohio's quota was twenty-five regiments, and that of Clinton County about four hun- dred and fifty men. A draft to fill it took place on the 26th of September. Friday, November 11, the citizens of Wilmington and the farmers from the vicinity formed another "wood train " for the benefit of soldiers' families, and the net proceeds of the day were $55. Under the President's call for 300,000 men, dated December 19, 1864, the net quota of Clinton County was placed at 206.
It was now evident that the terrible war was drawing to a close; yet the last struggles of the monster Rebellion were fierce as the spring of the tiger upon his prey. The armies of the Confederacy were being surely, encompassed
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in the toils of the conquerors, and peace hovered in sight, awaiting the glad day when her welcome coming should bring joy to a land drenched for four years in blood. The people wore weary of strife, and throughout the broad land there was mourning for the men who had met their death on the tiercely contested fields, by swift messengers from the foe, or in the prison pen or the hospital-all in the deadly struggle which had devastated homes and made .firesides desolate. Billions of money had been expended, and the Government was saved. In Clinton County, aside from the money raised from all other sources, the Commissioners had appropriated about $60,000 for the relief of soldiers' families. Glad were the waiting hearts at home when the news came that Petersburg had fallen, that Richmond once again saw the stars and stripes waving upon her heights, and that the army of Lee had surrendered to the silent, modest man whose name was in the oars of all the people-Grant. Bells were rung. flags and banners were hung on the outer walls, guns were fired, men, women and children choerod until they were hoarse, and the dem- onstrations of joy were greater than were ever before seen. Suddenly, in the midst of rejoicing, came over the wires the dire announcement that President Lincoln had been foully assassinated just as he was at the zenith of his glory, just as he had enshrined himself in the grateful hearts of all men not devoid of humanity. Quickly was joy changed to mourning. The flags which had swelled upon the breeze at the news of the death throes of the rebellion were lowered to half-mast; black and somber drapery took the place of gay decora- tions; funeral services were held in the churches; bands played dead marches at the heads of long, silent, slowly moving processions; a sorrowful gloom per- vaded all communities, and sadness rosted upon the faces of the people who had been granted a respite from strife at such a cost. The dastardly act of the assassin was a fitting finale to the record of the traitors and the leniency of the Government toward its erring children was never equaled in history.
Most of the volunteers from Clinton County returned to their homes in the summer of 1865, the Seventy-ninth Regiment arriving on the evening of June 17. The men were treated to a feast which had been prepared at the depot by the ladies, and hundreds of people met there to welcome them home. The two banners which had been carried to the field by the regiment thirty- four months before were brought back scarred and torn in battle, their colors dimmed-the evidence of stormy and deadly strife in the sacred tatters. Lewis C. Walker, Esq., on behalf of the citizens, welcomed the soldier boys home, and Col. A. W. Doan responded in an address giving an account of the scenes through which he and his men had passed. The regiment had gone into the field originally with 900 men, had received 400 recruits, and returned at the close of the war with but few over four hundred men. The Clinton County members of the Seventy-fourth and One Hundred and Seventy-fifth regiments returned in July.
The Fourth of July, 1865, was appropriately celebrated at Wilmington, the gathering being more of a general and joyous re-union in honor of the re- turned boys in blue than aught else, and a very large number of soldiers and citizens were present. After the exercises, speeches were delivered by J. Q. Smith, T. Q. Hildebrant, L. C. Walker, Robert Gray, H. S. Doan, Alonzo Hick- son, M. M. Clinton, and Col. A. W. Doan. The latter told of life in "Dixie" -of the campaigns in which the gallant Seventy. ninth had been engaged, and of the varied experiences of its officers and mon. He detailed the adventures of the two tattered banners they had brought back with them, and told how eight color-bearers had successively fallen in the duty of upholding them. The last one, Sergt. Hunter, was present beside the Colonel, having recovered from a wound through the lung received in one of the last engagements in
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North Carolina. The drummer boy of the Seventy-ninth, Gilbert Van Zant, was also present at the celebration. He was one of the youngest soldiers in the service, having been but ten years of age when he enlisted.
When at last the echoes of the bugle wore silent, when the decimated ranks of the army had been inustered for the last time, when war had become a story of the past and the survivors of the conflict had been discharged and sent to their homes, they returned to peaceful pursuits again as if they had never marched thousands of miles, stood where death was present in most ter- rible shape, or slopt beneath the stars upon the rough bed of the soldier. Those men made excellent citizens, despite the croaking of the unpatriotic, and the country is proud to-day of their splendid record. But many and many a brave heart was stilled in the strife, and the greedy Southern soil drank tor- rents of the best blood in the land. The misguided sons of the Southland fought long and well, and they too suffered terribly before the passage at arms was concluded. The trials of the country were great; but it rode safely through the storm and entered the harbor of peace with the splendid stripes and stars unfurled to the gaze of envious nations, and the great results of the purification as by fire evident to all who should choose to contemplate.
Decoration Day (May 30), has been fittingly observed in Clinton County for a number of years. From an account of the services on that day in 1869, it is learned that about two thousand persons were in the cemetery grounds during the ceremonies, conducted by the local Post of the G. A. R. The graves were decorated by little girls, under charge of several ladies, the following being the names of the soldiers whose last resting-place was thus honored: Claudius Morgan, Company D, Twelfth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Enoch P. Arnott, Company B, Seventy-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; John E. Lazen- by, company and regiment not known; Capt. Richard L Fallis. Company I, Eighteenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry; John Taylor, band, Seventeenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Samuel Henry, Company B, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Ohio National Guard; James B. O'Neal, Company B, Fortieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; George M. O'Neal, same; Seymour J. Reed, same; John W. Morey, Twelfth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Capt. Andrew W. Chapman, Company G, Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Edward Bruce, company and regiment unknown; Lannes Irvin, Company I, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Frank Johns, wagon master; an unknown soldier, who died at Wilmington on his way home; Edward Miles, Company F, Sixty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Cyrus Vanpelt, Company G, Fifty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry; James L. Hinman, Company C, Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; David H. Horse- man, Company H, Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Jacob Carroll, Company C, Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; D. P. Carroll, same; Joseph Woodruff, Company I, Twenty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry; War- ren Fuller, Company I, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Daniel Kelley, First Ohio Volunteer Infantry; William Lang, band, Forty-eighth Ohio Vol: unteer Infantry; A. E. Strickle, Commissary United States Army; Jesse Stout, Company G, Seventeenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Charles Ashcraft, Eighty- sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Col. J. R. Parker, Forty-eighth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry.
HISTORY OF THE REGIMENTS.
It is deemed propor to insert a synopsis of the history of the regiments from Ohio during the rebellion, in which were representatives froin the county of Clinton, so far as these organizations are known. The sketches following are taken principally from Whitelaw Reid's history of "Ohio in the War," a standard work in the State.
Clinton County furnished three general officers by brevet, namely, Azariah
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W. Doan, John C. Moon, and George M. Zeigler. The first-named gentleman volunteered in the spring of 1861, in the Twelfth Ohio (three months') In- fantry, and on the 12th of June in the same year was promoted to Captain. He resigned October 18, 1861, and on the 19th of August, 1862, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Seventy-ninth Ohio. He served with great credit to the close of the war, and was promoted to Colonel July 8, 1865, but was mustered out as Lieutenant Colonel. After the close of the war he was brevet- ted Brigadier General of volunteers to date from March 13, 1865. John C. Moon, in June, 1862, raised Company F, of the Eighty-fifth regiment, three months' men, that being the only company of the regiment containing men from Clinton County. September 24, 1862, Capt. Moon was commissioned Captain in the Eighty-eighth Ohio, and most of the men in his old company
re-enlisted under him. They had originally gone out from Wilmington and vicinity. Capt. Moon was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the One Hundred and Eighteenth United States Colored Troops, in the fall of 1863, and was sub- sequently promoted to Colonel. He continued in the service until some time in 1866, and was brevetted Brigadier General of volunteers, to date from Novem- ber 21, 1865. He was the only one of the three from the county to have bre- vet rank conferred upon them who was still in the service when thus honored. George M. Zeigler* was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry August 28, 1861; was promoted to First Lieutenant December 6, 1861; to Captain December 28, 1862, and to Colonel of the Fifty-second Regiment United States Colored Troops, December 22, 1864. His brevet rank as Brigadier General dates from March 13, 1865.
Sketches are given bere only of the regiments which contained the greater numbers of men from the county, the others having but scattering detachments or single individuals. They fought in all branches of the service, and in all of the principal engagements of the war. A few Clinton County men were in the First and Second Ohio Infantry Regiments, but the first, which called a considerable number was the
ELEVENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Of this regiment, Company G was raised in this county. The regiment was formed of men from the counties of Miami, Clinton, Hamilton, Montgom- ery and Columbiana, and was mustered into the service for three months, at Camp Dennison, in April, 1861. The regiment was re-organized and mustered into the service for three years on the 20th of June, 1861, and on the 7th of July was ordered to the Kanawha Valley, in Virginia. Arriving at Point Pleasant July 11, it was attached to the celebrated Kanawha Division, com- manded by Gen. J. D. Cox. A movement up the river was begun July 26, but the rebels had burned the bridge over the Pocotaligo River, causing a de- lay of twenty-four hours, during which time Capt. Lane's company, of the Eleventh, composed principally of mechanics, rebuilt the bridge with no tools but a few axes and two or three augers, and the army moved on. Through the winter, the regiment was actively engaged only a portion of the time. April 16, 1862, began another campaign, and during the maneuvers on the Kanawha, the men acquitted themselves with credit. " Floyd, on his retreat from Cotton Mountain, had completely blockaded the road from Shady Springs to Pack's Ferry, at New River, a distance of sixteen miles. Two companies (G and K), of the Eleventh, were detailed to open and guard the road. One- half of the men were under arms, while the other half were at work with spades and axes; and, after great labor, on the evening of the fifth day, they
* By the rolls at Columbus. it is sren th t George M. Zigler was Firet Sergeant of Company H, Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as organized at Cincinnati, and that afterward he was transferred to Company Can Captain.
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reached the ferry, having cleared the road and rendered it available for artillery and supply trains. In a short time, two boats were built out of the timber in a barn near by, with the use of one auger and a few axes; and, by joining the two boats, they formed a ferry-boat 140 feet long, and communication was thus opened between the two wings of the Kanawha army. In the latter part of July, the regiment returned to Gauley Bridge, and Company C was ordered to Summerville to re-enforce a detachment of the Ninth Virginia, stationed - there, and remained until the regiment moved to Washington City."*
The regiment was ordered to Washington on the 18th of August, 1862; thence, on the 27th, to Manassas Junction to oppose a demonstration by a rebel force, and during the next few days was sharply engaged. September 12th, the rebel picket line was reached in the vicinity of Frederick City. Mr. Reid writes: " The rebels were posted on the banks of the Monocacy, holding the bridge across the stream. Three attacking columns were formed, with the Eleventh in the advance of the center, and advanced against the rebels. The center column gained the bridge and drove the enemy from it. A charge was ordered, but the line was thrown into some confusion, and the rebels rallied and captured two pieces of artillery. Gen. Cox called to Col. Coleman: 'Will the Eleventh recover those guns?' With a loud cheer, the regiment dashed at the rebels, drove them from the guns, and still pressed on, cheering and charging, advancing into the city, and only halting when the enemy was com- pletely routed. That night the Kanawha Division bivouacked near the city; and by the evening of the next day, advanced to Catoctin Creek, near Middle- town, the Eleventh being posted near the bridge."
The next day the regiment was fiercely engaged, being exposed to a gall- ing fire from sharpshooters, and not only standing its ground, but driving the force in its front. Its survivors will long remember South Mountain, and their blood will stir at the recollection of Antietam, where their gallant Col. Coleman fell mortally wounded, while leading his men against a strong rebel position, which they carried after his fall.
In January, 1863, the command was transferred to Nashville, Tenn., and, after numerous minor expeditions, was, on the 27th of June, assigned to Gen. Reynolds' Third Division of Gen. George H. Thomas' Fourteenth Army Corps. It saw plenty of hard service henceforth, and, on the 18th and 19th of Septem. ber, at Chickamauga, suffered severely. At Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, it distinguished itself greatly, and during the charge on the Ridge, captured one battle-flag and a quantity of artillery and small arms. "Sergt. Bull, who was carrying the colors of the Eleventh, was struck several times, but still pressed on until struck the seventh time, he was unable to rise. Lieut. Peck seized the colors, planted them on the rebel ramparts, and almost instantly fell mortally wounded." After pushing the enemy toward Ringgold, and on- gaging him at Ringgold Gap, the regiment returned to Chattanooga. Febru- ary 17, 1864, the command was paraded in full view of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, and presented by Chaplain Lyle with a stand of colors donated by the ladies of Troy, Ohio. In a charge at Buzzard's Roost, the regiment lost one-sixth of its men, and was compelled to fall back. The surviving vet- erans, about two hundred in number, returned to Ohio March 26, 1864, for the purpose of recruiting. The regiment was then engaged in doing garrison duty at Ringgold until the 10th of June, when it proceeded to Cincinnati and Camp Dennison, and was mustered out at the latter place June 21, 1864. Two com- panies, whose time had not yel expired, and the veterans of the regiment, were officially recognized as the Eleventh Ohio Detachment, and were assigned to Baird's Division of the Fourteenth Corps. They were commanded by Lieut.
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Col. D. C. Stubbs, promoted from Sergeant Major of the old organization; accompanied Gen. Sherman in his great campaign, and were mustered out after the surrender of the rebel armies.
TWELFTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
This regiment was organized at Camp Jackson, Ohio, May 3, 1861, under President Lincoln's call for 75,000 three months' troops. It moved to Camp Dennison May 6, re-enlisted, and was re-organized and mustered into the United States service for three years on the 28th of June, 1861 The regiment left Camp Dennison July 6; arrived at Point Pleasant on the 9th, and on the 14th reached Pocotaligo River. July 17 it engaged the enemy for three hours at Scary Creek, and, after exhausting its ammunition, fell back in good order, having lost five men killed, thirty wounded, and four missing. On the 13th of August, eight companies were assigned to Gen. Benham's brigade, having marched to Clarksburg, W. Va. Moving south, the regiment was en- gaged with the enemy at Carnifex Ferry, September 18, where it suffered the loss of its gallant commander, Col. John W. Lowe, who was shot through the head and instantly killed. Col. Lowe was the first field officer from Ohio killed during the war.
After several skirmishes, the regiment was, on the 10th of December, 1861, transferred to Gen. Cox's brigade, and moved to Charleston, W. Va., where it, went into winter quarters. May 3, 1862, it left that place and joined Scam- mon's brigade, at the mouth of East River. It was engaged in scouting until August 15, when it was ordered to the Army of the Potomac, and arrived at Alexandria on the 24th.
At Bull Run, on the 27th, it lost nine killed, sixty- eight wounded (six mortally), and twelve missing. In September it joined the advance into Maryland, and entered Frederick City on the 12th of that month, after a sharp skirmish at Monocacy. September 14, 1862, at South Mountain, it participated in three bayonet charges, captured three battle-flags, a large number of small arms, and over two hundred prisoners, with a loss of
sixteen killed, ninety-one wounded and eight missing. At Antietam, on the 17th, the loss was six killed and twenty-nine wounded. After numerous move- ments, the regiment went into winter quarters at Fayette Court House. W. Va., December 4, and while there was assigned to the Second Brigade, Third Division, Eighth Army Corps. The brigade was engaged at Fayette Court' House May 19, 1863, repulsing a rebel attack; and, on the 13th of July, the regiment made a demonstration against a force at Piney Creek, the rebels re- treating. July 17, "the brigade was ordered to Ohio to assist in capturing John Morgan; and after proceeding up the Ohio as far as Blennerbassett's Island, and guarding fords for several days, it returned to Fayette Court House." During operations from that time until December, the regiment lost several men killed, wounded and missing, and went into winter quarters again at Fayette Court House. At Cloyd's Mountain, May 9, 1864, it lost eleven killed and sixty-eight wounded, and Surgeon Graham and nineteen men, left on the field in charge of the wounded, were captured by the enemy. The regi- ment was subsequently engaged in several important skirmishes, losing eight men killed and eleven wounded at Quaker Church, near Lynchburg, June 17, 1864. In a long march via Catawba Valley, New Castle, Sweet Springs, White Sulphur, Lewisburg and Gauley to Camp Piatt, on the Kanawha, where it arrived June 29; the regiment suffered severely from hunger and thirst. July 2, it was ordered to Columbus, Ohio, where it was mustered out of the service July 11, 1864. "During its term of service, the regiment moved on foot, by rail and by water, a distance of 4,049 miles, and sustained a loss in killed, wounded and missing of 455 men."
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THE SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT.
Company G, of this regiment, contained a number of Clinton County men, and operated first in Virginia as a three months' organization, having been formed in April, 1861. It was ro-organized in the fall of that year and ordered to Kentucky, 'subsequently serving through campaigns in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi; re-enlisted as veterans early in 1864, and partici- pated in Gen. Sherman's subsequent movements, being mustered out at Louis- ville, Ky., in July, 1865.
THE TWENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
This regiment was organized at Camp Chase June 28, 1861, and saw serv- ico first in Virginia, afterward in the Gettysburg campaign and the move- ments of the Eleventh Corps. Re-enlisted as veterans in January, 1864, and in April left Alexandria, Va., for Hilton Head, S. C., where it arrived on the 26th of that month. Its subsequent operations were in that region, and on the 18th of June, 1866, after five years of hard service, it was mustered out and discharged at Columbus, Ohio.
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.
The organization of this regiment was effected at Camp Chase, near Colum- bus, in August, 1861; left for St. Louis, Mo., on the 20th of that month, and saw service with the great Army of the West through all the seven campaigns of the latter. In July, 1865, it was discharged at Camp Dennison.
THE THIRTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
This regiment was organized at Camp Chase between August 4 and Sep- tember 7, 1861, and contained men in Company I from Clinton County. Sep- tember 30, the regiment left Cincinnati and proceeded to Camp Dick Robin- son, in Kentucky, where it was subjected to a thorough course of drill. Its campaigns were under Thomas, Buell and Sherman. The regiment re-enlisted as veterans, and, after a varied experience, was mustered out at Louisville, Ky., July 20, 1865, transferred immediately to Camp Chase, Ohio, paid and dis- charged.
THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
A few men from Clinton County were members of this regiment. It was organized at Hamilton, Ohio, in August and September, 1861, served its term of enlistment in the Western Army, lost very heavily, and was mustered out at Chattanooga, Tenn., in August, 1864.
THE THIRTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
This regiment contained one company (H) from Clinton County, com- manded by Capt. John V. Drake. The regiment was organized in July, 1861, at Camp Colerain, ten miles north of Cincinnati, and joined Gen. Fremont in Missouri in August, being the first Ohio regiment to enter that State. In the early part of 1862, it was assigned to the army under Gen. Pope; and, after that officer's achievement on the Mississippi, joined the army under Gen. Halleck, afterward commanded by Gen. Grant. December 27, 1863, 534 members of the regiment were mustered into the service as veteran volunteers, and after a furlough, the organization formed a part of the Fourth Division of the Sixteenth Corps. July 22, 1864, it lost one-third of its numbers in killed and wounded in the terrific engagements of that day near Atlanta, Ga. It accompanied Sherman in his subsequent marches and engagements, partici- pated in the grand review at Washington on the 24th of May, 1865, and, after being transported to Louisville, Ky., was mustered out of the service July 9,
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