The 26Th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry: The Groundhog Regiment

The 26th Ohio Veteran

Volunteer Infantry

The Groundhog Regiment

Second Edition

Jeffrey A. Hill

Forewords by James Eaton and Jon Thompson

AuthorHouse™ LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

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Phone: 1-800-839-8640

©

2010 Jeffrey A. Hill. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/26/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4520-3388-4 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-3387-7 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010908625

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication and Acknowledgement

Preface to the Second Edition

Foreword to the Second Edition

Foreword to the Original Edition

Maps Index

Introduction

Chapter I   Enlistment and Muster In April 14 – July 30, 1861

Chapter II   Western Virginia Campaign July 29, 1861 – January 14, 1862

Chapter III   March from Louisville, Kentucky to Huntsville, Alabama January 15 – July 14, 1862

Chapter IV   Rout of Confederate General Nathan Forrest July 15 – September 2, 1862

Chapter V   Race to Louisville & Battle of Perryville, Kentucky September 3 – October 31, 1862

Chapter VI   Battle of Stones River, Tennessee November 1, 1862 – January 5, 1863

Chapter VII   Tullahoma Campaign January 6, 1863 – July 8, 1863

Chapter VIII   Advance on Chattanooga, Tennessee July 9, 1863 – September 9, 1863

Chapter IX   Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia September 10 - 21, 1863

Chapter X   Besieged at Chattanooga, Tennessee September 22 – November 22, 1863

Chapter XI   Assault on Missionary Ridge November 23 - November 28, 1863

Chapter XII   The 26th Ohio becomes Veteranized November 28, 1863 to April 1, 1864

Chapter XIII   Northern Georgia Campaign April 1 – May 22, 1864

Chapter XIV   The Kenesaw Campaign May 23 – July 5, 1864

Chapter XV   The Atlanta Campaign July 6 – September 8, 1864

Chapter XVI   Race Back to Tennessee September 9 - November 28, 1864

Chapter XVII   The Battle at Spring Hill, Tennessee November 29, 1864

Chapter XVIII   Battle at Franklin, Tennessee November 30, 1864

Chapter XIX   The Nashville Campaign December 1 to December 31, 1864

Chapter XX   Huntsville, Alabama and the Eastern Tennessee Campaign January 1 to May 10, 1865

Chapter XXI   Texas Campaign and Muster Out May 11 to October 21, 1865

Chapter XXII   Heading Home October 22 to November 15, 1865

Chapter XXIII   26th Ohio Association Postbellum Activities

Regimental Roster

Soldiers’ Burial Sites

Appendix B

26Th Ohio Monument

Photo Credits

Tribute to Captain William H. Ross

Bibliography

Author Bio - Jeffrey A. Hill

Dedication and Acknowledgement

The inspiration for this book began many years ago, when I was but a child. With my family, I visited several eastern theater Civil War battlefields, and my fledgling interest was sparked. Also, as a lad my father told me that my great-great grandfather had fought in the Civil War on the Union side. His name was Jesse Mason. The family lore, passed down through the generations, was that Jesse Mason may have been captured at Lookout Mountain at an unknown time, and may have been imprisoned at Andersonville. There were no more details known, or at least shared. In the absence of any definitive information, my mother loved to tease my father that Mason was most likely captured either sleeping under a tree or while romancing some southern belle.

A few years ago at the time of the passing of my paternal grandmother, Genevieve Hill, (granddaughter of Alfred Frost (18th Ohio), my father and I located in a Bible numerous original Civil War era letters written by other ancestors while they were fighting in the Civil war: Alfred Frost, Albert Frost (179th Ohio), and Samuel Corwin (125th Ohio). Samuel Corwin died of typhoid fever at Franklin, Tennessee in May, 1863. These letters provided excellent glimpses into their hopes, fears, and daily trials while in the service during the war. To date, I have not located any letters written by Jesse Mason.

These letters served as a renewed inspiration to learn more. Next, my father and I visited the archives at the Ohio Historical Society, Columbus. Here we found the regiment assignments of our ancestors, and the basic discharge information that was included in the Official Rosters. Armed with this information, we then sent for their military and pension records at the National Archives at Washington, DC.

We discovered that my great-great grandfather Jesse Mason was a field musician (a drummer) in Company C of the 26th Ohio. He enlisted at the age of 18 in April, 1861, shortly after President Lincoln’s first call for troops. He was captured at the battle of Chickamauga (not Lookout Mountain) on September 20, 1863, and he was imprisoned in various confederate prisons, including: Libby, Pemberton, Danville, Andersonville, Charleston, and Florence until December 7, 1864. Although he suffered severely from scurvy and was emaciated almost beyond recognition, somehow he managed to survive, and was honorably discharged in January, 1865. We also discovered that his older brother (and my great-great grand uncle), Benton, served in company C with the 26th Ohio.

In an effort to learn more, we tried to locate a definitive written regimental history of the 26th Ohio, similar in scope to what is available for many other regiments; however, after an exhaustive search we came up empty. We did find at the Ohio Historical archives a booklet by the 26th Association (the post war fraternal organization for the 26th Ohio members) that alludes to the intent to compile such a detailed regimental history. Also, in The Ohio Soldier, a biweekly veteran-focused newspaper written from 1887 to 1903, there were continual references to the intent to compile such a regimental history.

Upon discovering that the veterans of the 26th Ohio earnestly wanted to record their regimental history and that their dream died unfulfilled along with them, I resolved that their story needed to be told, and that I would take it upon myself, as a descendant, to fulfill their vision.

I want to dedicate this book to my wife, Helen for all her encouragement and patience over the years. Her sage advice, proofreading, and assistance with wordsmithing were incredible. Her steadfast support helped me to bring this project from just an idea to a reality. My children, Ashley and Cara encouraged me throughout and assisted with proofreading as well. Cara also designed the book cover. Bryce Bell-Doell drew the excellent maps of the Viniard Field at the Battle of Chickamauga. Our calico cat, Hannah has done her best to prolong the writing of this book. She always sensed when I was writing and would strategically lie down on the very documents I was perusing at the time. Without her ‘assistance,’ the book would have been completed months ago. I also acknowledge Mrs. Joan Davies, my fifth grade teacher at South Mifflin Elementary School, Columbus, Ohio. She nurtured my fledgling interest in the Civil War, and instilled in me a lifelong passion for learning and discovery.

I want to pay homage to my late father, Robert Hill, who encouraged me and instilled in me an appreciation for history, and especially the Civil War. My father and I designed and built the web site: 26thohioinfantry.com in 2002 and believe that it contains the most comprehensive information available on the 26th Ohio anywhere in the world. My father’s failing health prevented him from continuing on with the research. However, I always knew he was there in spirit, and I continued on and make new discoveries all the time. The web site is continuously updated and remains a work in progress, and truly a labor of devotion.

This book, 26th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry- The Groundhog Regiment is a fitting complement to the website and both forms of media are respectfully and humbly dedicated to the soldiers who fought with the 26th Ohio in the American Civil War, and to all soldiers who fought and died for what they believed in. On a personal note, the book and website are also dedicated to the following nine confirmed ancestors who fought in the Civil War:

Samuel Corwin, 125th Ohio, Co. E

Albert Frost, 179th Ohio, Co. A

Alfred Frost, 18th Ohio, Co. D

Edwin B. Frost, 97th Ohio, Co. C

Major Frost, 31st Ohio, Co. E

Isaac Guthrie, 151st Ohio, Co. K

Benton Mason, 26th Ohio, Co. C

Jesse Mason, 26th Ohio, Co. C

Tarlton Mason, 125th Ohio, Co. E

Their sacrifice, commitment, devotion and perseverance serve as a daily inspiration to me. The following passage from the Septuagint book, Ecclesiasticus 44.7 to 44.14 is a fitting tribute to any regimental history. The noted Civil War historian, the late Shelby Foote, quoted the following passage at the beginning of his excellent trilogy narrative. I could find no better:

" All these were honoured in their generations

And were the glory of their times

There be of them

That have left a name behind them

That their praises might be reported

And some there be which have no memorial

Who are perished as though they had never been

And are become as though they had never been born

And their children after them

But these were merciful men

Whose righteousness hath not been forgotten

With their seed shall continually remain

A good inheritance

And their children are within the covenant

Their seed standeth fast

And their children for their sakes

Their seed shall remain for ever

And their glory shall not be blotted out

Their bodies are buried in peace

But their name liveth for evermore."

Finally, in the History of Morrow County, Ohio, the editors wrote, The descendants of the soldiers of the Twenty-sixth Ohio Regiment can refer with pride to the service of their fathers. With great pride, I am honored to offer to the reader the regimental history of the 26th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry. J.H. Battle, et al. History of Morrow County, Ohio, Vol. 1. Chicago: O.L. Baskin Co., 1880, p. 138.

Preface to the Second Edition

Readers with inquiring minds may wonder why on earth there is a need to provide a second edition to a regimental history. After all, if a history was told well once, should not that suffice? I pondered and struggled with the same thought, and offer two explanations; the first one rather detailed, and the second, brief, concise, and the more on target reason.

The detailed justification for the second edition is that once the original edition was published, as could be anticipated, many more fellow descendants of the 26th Ohio veterans heard about the book and contacted me. I received additional original letters, photos, burial records, and similar primary source material that were as worthy of inclusion as the many sources of the original book. One of the fellow descendants I meant recently was James Eaton from Georgia. Jim is the great-great grandson of the regiment’s initial adjutant Captain John Henry James of Company A. Jim has gone above and beyond in sharing primary source material, and I am honored that he wrote the foreword for this second edition.

In addition, the very day that the book was published, I came across additional letters from the 26th Ohio in the archives at the Ohio Historical Society that I had missed somehow in my previous searches. As is both the blessing and curse of historical research that bears serendipitous fruit, I was infected again with the investigative bug and I continued to gather additional sources of information. A key primary source of material that was brought to my attention by the book reviewer for Blue and Gray magazine were the Record Group 94 pertaining to the Regiment’s and companies’ order and morning report books and Record Group 153 that including court martial transcripts of the regiment’s soldiers and officers. Another trip to the National Archives at Washington, D.C. yielded additional insights from these record groups.

In an effort to assure the regiment’s record was accurate and complete as possible, the second edition has also allowed me to correct a few typographical errors and other minor factual inaccuracies. I appreciate it when an author takes the time to set the record straight, so it was only proper that I do the same.

While the long-winded explanation is compelling, the brief, concise and primary reason for the second edition is that simply put the 26th Ohio veterans had not finished telling their long overdue story. I believe the original edition stands solidly on its own, and has received consistent praise from professional reviewers and fellow descendants alike. At the same time, I fervently hope that the reader will agree that the second edition with the newly discovered primary source material, expanded burial sites listing, and larger photo gallery provides an even greater understanding of and appreciation for the service of the 26th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry: the Groundhog Regiment.

Jeffrey A. Hill

July, 2013

Foreword to the Second Edition

Fraternity, Charity, Loyalty

I met Jeffrey Hill after contacting him about his regimental history of the 26th OVI. We talked on the telephone and I introduced myself as the Great-Grandson of Captain John Henry James, the first adjutant of the regiment and Captain of Company A, 26th OVI. Jeff sent me a copy of his regimental history which I read with great interest. Upon learning that Jeff was working on a revised edition, I felt this was my opening to share my family story of the ’old 26th. My Great-Grandfather, Captain James, saved all the letters he received from home. His father, Colonel John Hough James, preserved all of Captain James’ letters and official, unofficial, personal, and political documents relation to his Civil War service. Besides the documents and broadsides, the collection contains Captain James’ Navy Colts, dress and presentation swords, Henry Rifle, belts, buttons, Lorenze rifle-muskets, holsters, curry brush, and much more. This material was not available for the first edition. The collection covers the period from formation of the regiment (the James family was very close to the Fyffe family) until February 13, 1863 when Captain James resigned his commission and returned to Urbana, Ohio to recover his health.

Jeffrey (and his wife Helen) and I spent a very enjoyable and interesting three days at his home in the autumn 2012 sorting through the James’ material on the 26th OVI for the revised edition.

Hill’s incredible history of the 26th OVI takes us from inception and formation, to mustering in at Camp Chase, the selection of Colonel Fyffe as their leader, the initial trip up the Ohio to (West) Virginia, back to Ohio and the Western Campaign – Shiloh, Stone River, Chickamauga, Kennesaw, Atlanta, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville; ending with a final mustering out at Victoria, Texas. The amount and quality of the original published documentation is amazing. Hill captures the daily feelings of the volunteer soldiers as well as the officers in charge, bringing out ever so clearly in so many ways, how horrible, how long, how cruel, and how frustrating was the war to preserve the union.

Through his anecdotes we feel the fraternity, charity, and loyalty develop in the boys of the old 26th. The 26th was famous as the Groundhog regiment because it seemed that whenever construction of field works was needed the old 26th was called upon. Captain John T. Raper of the 26th took this as a positive compliment because the little fellow always went about his business in a soldiery way. And so it is with the author, as he has dug out the history of old 26th so we may truly understand what our ancestors did for us: fraternity, charity, and loyalty.

Jeff Hill’s regimental history gives the reader the true scope of the old 26th achievements from the beginning at Camp Chase to the end at Victoria, Texas that otherwise might have been lost. It is so important for us to appreciate and understand the sacrifices that were made by our volunteers to preserve our union – the United States of America! And this was done with fraternity, charity, and loyalty!

Enjoy Jeffrey Hill’s amazing story of the dedicated men of the old 26th.

James M. Eaton

Great Grandson of Captain John Henry James, Company A, 26th OVI

Foreword to the Original Edition

Lest we forget. I would guess that every historian of worth has that phrase ingrained within his heart and mind. Of course, the pleasures of historical sleuthing cannot be ignored, yet deep within the psyche of the history writer is a profound respect for those who forged history and an abiding determination to see that their stories will not be permitted to fade, that their deeds will be reported faithfully and truthfully to an appreciative public.

With such respect and determination, Jeff Hill has skillfully researched and narrated the history of the soldiers of the 26th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry. In the late 1890’s the survivors of the regiment, at their annual reunion, recommended that a history of the regiment be written. In time, however, the project was dropped for lack of funds. The years and the soldiers passed on, as they always do, and their story was never told. With each year gone there increasingly grew the likelihood that no one would ever remember their brave stands at Stone’s River, Chickamauga, Franklin and Spring Hill, their noble charges at Missionary Ridge and Kennesaw Mountain, their fearless fights with Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry, their sufferings at Andersonville, and their patient endurance in the Texas heat several months after most other Union regiments had been mustered out and sent home. Each comrade had made sacrifices, and hundreds had made the ultimate sacrifice, all for union and freedom. The fires of the future that light the deeds of the past could not be allowed to die. Lest we forget.

And so Jeff Hill, descendant of two 26th Ohio soldiers: Jesse Mason and Benton Mason undertook the daunting task of crafting the regiment’s history. Considering what they had once done for their country and its democratic principles, he saw it as a debt still owed. Jeff researched the soldiers’ records in the National Archives, studied original diaries and dozens of actual letters, and retraced the paths of the regiment through its many campaigns. The need to write accurately requires the historian to be dispassionate, of course. On the other hand, reading the diaries and letters of soldiers, looking over their shoulders so to speak, as they record their private observations and opinions, is not done without some degree of passion. Likewise, walking the fields upon which they bled, died, suffered, and achieved their share of immortality is also an experience that fires the soul. With diligence, patience, dignity, and passion, Jeff Hill has fulfilled the long-held wishes of the boys of the 26th. Across the distance of time can be heard their grateful, Huzzah!

Here, then, is their story. Lest we forget.

Jon Thompson

Descendant of Alfred Weedon, 26th Ohio

Maps Index

Introduction

Throughout the Civil War, nearly 1200 men were part of the 26th Ohio at one time or another; most were direct enlistment volunteers, but others were transfers from other regiments (most notably the 97th Ohio Volunteer Infantry). During the War, 122 were killed or mortally wounded, 11 died as a Prisoner of War (most of them at Andersonville); 85 died from disease, 245 were disabled from combat; 112 were discharged (usually with a surgeon’s certificate of disability due to serious illness or injury); 48 transferred out to other regiments, and 122 deserted.¹

Of the 903 Union regiments with three year enlistments, the 26th Ohio ranked in the top 250 in number of killed in battle, or in the top 27%. The regiment was also designated on historian William H Fox’s revised list of: Three Hundred Fighting Regiments. ²

The 26th Ohio fought in many of the major Western Theater campaigns and battles, including: Stones River; Chickamauga; Missionary Ridge; Resaca; New Hope Church; Pickett’s Mill; Kennesaw Mountain; Peach Tree Creek; Atlanta; Columbia; Spring Hill; Franklin; and Nashville. The regiment also fought in dozens of lesser known battles or skirmishes. The 26th Ohio can lay claim to routing famous Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Cavalry at McMinnville, Tennessee.

The bloodiest day for the regiment was September 19, 1863 at Chickamauga. The regiment lost 56% of its fighting force that day. The large number of casualties occurred during the fierce back and forth and hand to hand combat that took place in the Viniard Fields at the southern end of the battlefield. 

The soldiers of the 26th Ohio were among the first to answer their country’s call. Many of them had organized in companies and then were told by the state authorities to wait. The 26th Ohio was comprised of companies from various parts of the state, being one of the first to be organized that way. Before then, the more populated areas of the state had furnished sufficient numbers to comprise an entire regiment. The 26th Ohio was also among the first of the 4th Corps to have nearly 90% of their ranks reenlist during the harsh winter of 1863-64. By so doing, the regiment would forever being honored with the title, veteran volunteer infantry.

After the Civil War, the veterans of the 26th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry organized themselves into the 26th Ohio Association as did many other veterans of union regiments. The purpose of the 26th Association was to maintain contact over the years with their fellow brothers of war. The members held annual reunions, (usually in Columbus but sometimes at other towns where companies were raised for the regiment), elected officers, wrote memoirs, and maintained records of the whereabouts of their brothers. Early on, the desire to write the 26th Ohio regimental history was a strong motivation for members of the 26th Ohio Association. The subject came up regularly at the annual reunions. John Raper, editor of The Ohio Soldier biweekly veteran newspaper, was the association historian in charge of organizing the effort. In the annual reunion summaries published in The Ohio Soldier, Captain Raper made reference to the slow process of having comrades submit their diaries and other information to him. However, in the reunion summary printed in The Ohio Soldier in 1894, the effort was finally terminated due to insufficient funds to pay the publishing costs.

Although, the 26th Ohio Association was unable to write their regimental history, they were successful in maintaining contact with one another. Through diligent work the veterans strived to record the current address of each of their comrades. The task was daunting, considering that many of the boys, as older men, had moved to various parts of the western United States, and even abroad. As could be anticipated, as the veterans got in the years, their ranks thinned due to disease, injury, or just plain old age. Nevertheless, they printed a Roster of Survivors pamphlet that was distributed at the annual reunions and mailed to veterans.

Featured on the cover of the Roster of Survivors pamphlet was a drawing depicting a war time camp scene. What draws one attention to the sketch are two groundhogs; a large one walking on all fours, and another one sitting up on his haunches seemingly to be conversing with a soldier. The 26th Ohio soldiers adopted the sobriquet of the Groundhog Regiment. The adoption of a nickname or a mascot was fairly common for a regiment in the war; but a groundhog? The reader may wonder, how, or more to the point, why, the soldiers would choose the groundhog to honor their regiment. Samuel F. Robinson, who served as the secretary and treasurer for the post war 26th Association explained,

"…from the facility with which the regiment could bury itself with a bayonet and half a canteen, or a spoon, and the expedition with which it could construct a line of more elaborate field works, and the frequency with which it was called upon to do so, caused the boys to liken themselves to groundhogs and finally to call the regiment, with some pride, the ‘Groundhog Regiment.’

At first glance many who are not acquainted with this little animal may think it a queer fancy, and not at all complimentary in nature.  If they take the pains to get down their Appleton’s Cyclopedia or their natural histories, they will find that the regiment that has all the ‘soldierly’ qualities of this little fellow is a good one!" ³

Precisely when the groundhog nickname was adopted is unclear as is the identity of the artist who drew the cover. However, the artist captured the essence of the bond between the groundhog and the 26th Ohio. It seemed to me only fitting that the groundhog camp scene would be featured on the cover of the 26th Ohio regimental history.

I diligently researched multiple sources and did not locate a regimental history for the 26th Ohio. Many other regiments, on both sides of the conflict, did succeed in putting their history into print for the ages. In many cases, the regimental history was limited to just a few soldiers’ recollections or diaries of their experiences.

In the course of my research, I came across excellent journals and letters that several of the soldiers of the 26th Ohio wrote during their involvement in the war. These letters and journals serve as the primary source of information compiled into this regimental history. The soldiers who maintained journals that we have located and used in this regimental history include: Lieutenant Samuel Platt of Company G; Sergeant Charles H. Brusman from Company H; Private Thomas Cantwell with Company D; Lieutenant Samuel Chestnut of Company B; Sergeant Elias Cole, from Company C; Sergeant Josephus F. Doty with Company C; Private John Folkert of Company F; Captain Nathaniel Potter from Company A; Sergeant Major Alfred Weedon with Company F; and, Private Thomas S. Rogers of Company E. Many of these journals or diaries were written in a leather bound Daily Memorandum Book, with a single page reserved for each day. These small memo book measured 4 inches by 2 ½ inches, which by necessity meant the entries were written in tiny script.

These journals have the authenticity of being written in real time as they frequently indicate the date and weather conditions of each daily entry. Many of the journal accounts provided a simple accounting, i.e. ‘news, weather, sports’ reporting, which are limited in their personal thoughts and impressions. Captain Potter’s journal is an exception. Potter frequently made personal complimentary and sometimes derogatory comments about not only the circumstances, but also about some of his fellow officers, and enlisted men in his company.

John T. Raper, who served as the adjutant for the 26th Ohio, was the Postbellum editor of The Ohio Soldier veterans’ newspaper. He was also active in all the activities of the 26th Ohio Association, including serving as the group’s historian. Raper was the primary impetus for the attempt to compile and write the regiment’s history during the final decade of the 19th Century. Several of the diaries were printed in The Ohio Soldier. Raper commented in reference to Elias Cole’s journal, and his comments were apropos to the other soldiers’ diaries as well:

It will be quite a diversion from the ordinary military publications of the day, in the fact that he does not tell of high military strategy by which fields were lost or won, and how this command was first over the enemy’s works, and that one captured the battery. He didn’t see and tell of battles that were fought on distant fields, nor criticize the generals for unwise movements. But he does tell, without effort at embellishment, of the miserable humdrum of the soldier’s every day life, and, without complaint, of the heat and cold, of the mud and dust, of sunshine, rain and snow, of rations and no rations, of the sick, the wounded and the dead—of the little thing that made up the joys, trials an cares of a soldier’s life. The diary was not written for the public, and its incidents therefore are rather under stated—mere suggestions that his comrades, or the comrades of other regiments, will fill out in the events of their daily experience, as they read. To them the diary will be a pleasant diversion from the current some times colored or erroneous army narratives. ⁴

Captain Walden Kelly of Company E wrote his company summary in a narrative form that he entitled, Lest We Forget. His company summary was printed in The Ohio Soldier biweekly newspaper for veterans. Most likely, Captain Kelly’s narrative was written after the war. Lieutenant Luther Timberlake also wrote a brief Company D history that was also printed in The Ohio Soldier.

While the strength of the journals and company histories was that they were recordings of the soldiers’ experiences or recollections, the shortcoming was that they generally lacked the context of the greater perspective of events. For example, a journal entry might only describe the soldier’s narrow involvement in a major conflict from his limited perspective. In addition, none of the journals covered the entire period of the existence of the 26th Ohio from their enlistment through the mustering out.

Letters home were another excellent primary source of information. In the letters, the soldier many times felt more at ease to expound on what transpired and his reaction to these events. The letters home were the soldier’s main link with his loved ones and the civilian world. I researched letters home from several soldiers of the 26th Ohio, including: Colonel Edward P. Fyffe, Private Alonzo Clingan of Company K; Sergeant Oscar L.R. French from Company E; Captain John Henry James of Company A; Private Lyman Gardner of Company C; Private William Jones from Company B; Captain Walden Kelly with Company E; Private Alfred B. McCreary of Company E; Sergeant Samuel Millikin from Company A; and, Sergeant Major Alfred Weedon with Company F.

Several other soldiers wrote letters home or to the editor of a local newspaper. These letters were printed in the local newspaper, especially during the early stage of the War. Many of Chaplain Leander Long’s letters appeared in the Urbana Citizen-Gazette. A number of the soldiers’ letters were printed in their local community newspaper under a pseudonym, an attempt by the writer to remain anonymous. Possibly the most intriguing letters were those written home by a soldier of Company D from Morgan County. He always wrote using the pseudonym, Twenty-Sixth. His accounts were always colorful and descriptive. The intrigue lies within the mystery of his identity. Perhaps someday, his descendant will come forward.

The soldiers’ military service records and pension records were an excellent source of information. I visited the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C. and conducted extensive research of these records for many of the soldiers of the 26th Ohio.

The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion assisted in an understanding of the greater picture of events. The Official Records were another primary source of information. The Official Records are regarded as just that, and as a result held in high esteem by Civil War historians. However, as is the case with any written work, there is always the possibility for error of omissions or commissions as well as a tendency of the writer to slant his writing to place himself in the most favorable light.

I also used many excellent secondary source works that represented research by prominent Civil War historians that helped provide the context and more fully described the greater picture of what the regiment may have experienced.

The regimental history was overwhelmingly based on primary sources. I exhausted all known references of the 26th Ohio and discovered quite a few new ones in the process. To locate these primary sources, I made extensive use of the State Library of Ohio, Columbus; the Ohio Historical Society archives, Columbus; the main branch of the Columbus Public Library, archival section; the Center for Archival Collections at the Bowling Green State University Jerome Library; the University of Toledo Carlson Library; the University of Michigan Clements Library, Schoff Civil War Collection, Ann Arbor; the Special Collections, Hoskins Library, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and the Victoria College and University of Houston-Victoria Library archives at Victoria, Texas. In addition, I received primary resource material from: the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington; Auburn University, Alabama, and Wilmington College, Ohio. The staffs of all of these fine institutions were always professional, courteous, and very helpful.

I also conducted research at the historical societies and local libraries in each of the counties from where the companies of the 26th Ohio were organized. The depth of information varied considerably among the local institutions. The Ross County Historical Society, the Champaign County Historical Society, and the Mahoning Valley Historical Society especially possessed excellent primary source material regarding the 26th Ohio. All of the local libraries and local historical societies shared one common attribute: they all were staffed by persons, usually devoted volunteers, who were most courteous and helpful to the endeavor.

I visited the archives at the Stones River National Battlefield Park, the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Battlefield Park, the Pickett’s Mill State Park, the Perryville State Park, and the Carter House archives, Franklin, Tennessee. At each of these locations, the park rangers and guides were most helpful and shared their unique information and perspective.

To gain a greater appreciation of the struggle that took place on the battlefields, I took to heart the advice of renowned Civil War historian James McPherson. Professor McPherson said that to really understand what happened, you need to walk the battlefields. In August, 2008, my wife, Helen and I journeyed for ten days covering the vast majority of the route of the 26th Ohio during their Western Theater campaigns from 1862 to 1865. Our journey took us along the back roads of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. A rough estimate was that we covered over ninety percent of the route the 26th Ohio were believed to have trekked throughout the war. The journey gave us a greater appreciation of the terrain, the climate, and the great distances the soldiers traversed, primarily on foot. During the course of this trip we visited the battlefields and areas of conflict at Stones River, Shiloh, Corinth, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Rocky Face Ridge, Dalton, Resaca, Adairsville, New Hope Church, Pickett’s Mill, Muddy Creek, Kennesaw, Peachtree Creek, Jonesboro, Columbia, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. Our trek also brought us to key areas where the 26th Ohio encamped, including: Blain’s Crossroad, Greeneville, Bull’s Gap, Hillsboro, Pelham, Cumberland Plateau, and the Sequatchie Valley, Tennessee; Stanford, Columbia, Mt. Vernon, Crab Orchard, Liberty, Glasgow, and Scottsville, Kentucky; and Rocky Face Ridge, Dalton, Resaca, Calhoun, Adairsville, Kennesaw Mountain, and Marietta, Georgia.

The August, 2008 trip followed four prior visits to various parts of the South where the 26th Ohio had also traveled. During these previous trips, in addition to many of the major battlefields mentioned above, I visited the battlefield at Perryville, Kentucky and the terrain from Louisville to Perryville. I also toured from Louisville to Bowling Green, Kentucky.

In the winter of 2010, my wife and I visited Victoria, Placedor and Port Lavaca, Texas and the surrounding areas where the 26th Ohio spent the summer of 1865. I saw first hand the terrain that the boys describe in their diaries. However, being that my visit was during the winter months, I did not experience the oppressive heat and humidity that the soldiers endured that long and hot summer.

I followed the route of the regiment during the late summer and fall of 1861 in that part of western Virginia which is now the state of West Virginia. I paid an especially poignant visit to Andersonville Prison National Historical site where many of the 26th Ohio (including my great-great grandfather) were imprisoned during the summer of 1864. My six trips in all have greatly enhanced my understanding and appreciation of the significant role the 26th Ohio played in the Civil War.

I am most grateful to numerous fellow Civil War buffs who generously gave of their time, knowledge and information to assist me in this endeavor. Gordy Morgan, Youngstown, provided numerous copies of articles from the Mahoning Co. Register related to Company G. Charles Spurlin provided local insights regarding the regiment’s tour of duty in Texas. David Jardine furnished a typewritten copy of an exact transcription he made of Josephus .F. Doty’s diary that he found in a basement of a home he purchased in 1960. Mr. Jardine wrote two historical fictions based on Doty’s diary entries. The two books are entitled, The Emancipation of Jonah Hommen, and Jonah’s War. He solicited my review and comments of the manuscript of Jonah’s War, and I was all too pleased to oblige. John Quist, a brother of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Governor William Dennison Camp No. 1, Columbus, was most supportive by researching and writing biographical profiles for many of the Company C soldiers from Delaware County.

Fellow historian, Dennis Keesee, provided me with a copy of the transcript of Elias Cole’s diary as well as William Jones’ letters. Andersonville National Historic Site volunteer historian, Kevin Frye, was most generous of his time and information. Stuart Martin furnished information regarding the Danville, Virginia prison and national cemetery. James Eaton, descendant of John Henry James, was most generous in sharing James’ numerous letters and diaries which provide an excellent accounting of battles and marches. Fellow descendant, Jon Thompson shared with me copies of the diary and letters of his great-great grandfather, Alfred B. Weedon. Jon wrote the foreword to the regiment’s history. He also helped copy edit the transcript. His insightful comments were most informative. Jon has been a steadfast source of encouragement, and I am honored to call him, not just a fellow descendant, but my friend.

Fellow 26th Ohio descendants have also been generous with information about their ancestors. They are (along with their ancestors in parentheses): Wade Barr (James Barr); James Barrow (Samuel Rook); David Blackstone (John Richey); Christopher Burson (William W. Gist); Penny Clagg (Elkanah, Jeptha, and John Allen); Paul Clay (Josephus F. Doty, Timothy Benedict, George Slack, and Leroy Slack); Kate Conrad (Richard P. Pinkerton); Timothy S. and Mark Crawford (Englehart Rebestock); Daniel Davis (Mathias W. Smith); Michele Davis Debban (Thomas E. Davis); Richard Farr (John Jennings); Charles Fisher (John Bradley, Francis M. Williams, and Joseph Williams); Narja Goonan (David Garvin); Louie Griffey (William Pierson); David Guilliams (Robert Jump); Keith Hanselman (John Bradley); Donna Hay-Hart (Samuel F. Robinson); Donald Hill, Jack Hill, Robert Hill, Pauline Neal, and Rosaleen Ocker (Jesse and Benton Mason); Glen Hodgson (John Livezey); John Hogg (Vernon Kilbourn); David Hoover (Alexander Corwin); Pat Houseworth (Gilman Houseworth, Henry Houseworth, Doran Houseworth, George Houseworth, and Solomon Maish Houseworth); Gerald Huffman (Joseph Dehaven); Kent Jordan (George Washington Stevens); Carol Campbell Jutte (Obadiah Campbell); John C. Kellenberger (John T. Raper); Mary Kramer (Jacob Kramer); Evan Kutzler (Thomas Hull); Barbara Layne (George H. Staub); Todd Limle (William F. Limle); David Luke (Harmon Tussing); Charles Martin (Wilson Martin, Charles L. Martin, and Bloomfield Martin); Bill Patterson (Cornelius Deasy and Timothy Deasy); Gene Merritt (John Jennings); Vicki Miller (Brooks Bryan); Frances Millhouser and James Eaton (John H. James); Robert Monahan (Owen Flinn); Michael Morton (Moses Morton); Roger and Walter Moss (Benjamin Moss); Brad Osting (Philip Dennison); Glenn Perry (Nathaniel Rutledge); Jan Rader (Samuel Chestnut, Daniel Chestnut, David Bragg); Jeff Richards (Daniel Richards); Maria Schneider (John, Mathew, and William Castle); Lee Searcy (Thomas Monser); Richard Shoemaker and Samuel Robinson Shoemaker (Samuel F. Robinson); Beth Chapman Smith (Calvin A. Chapman); Paula Snyder (Thomas Hull); Heidi Steiner (John Jennings); Gina Stephenson (William M. Pierson); Brad Taylor (Joseph Taylor and Henry Taylor); David Thompson (James L. Thompson); Jon Thompson (Alfred Weedon); Rob Weller (Alonzo Clingan and Andrew Clingan); Beth Williamson (William C. Putnam); Eileen Wilson (Richard P. Pinkerton); and Chris Woodyard (Newton Olliver).

It is my fervent hope that my effort to write the comprehensive regimental history fulfills the unmet desires of those veterans of the 26th Ohio who long since departed. The regimental history is my gift to their memory and to the sacrifice they made to help maintain the Union, that we, the future generations can enjoy the blessings of our great country. I trust I have served them well, and I fervently hope that current readers and forthcoming generations will feel likewise. As much as possible, I used our ancestors’ own words in relating their history. The book is written in chronological order beginning with the initial fervor following the surrender of Fort Sumter and continuing on throughout the war and their post war service in Texas. Even after the final guns had fired in the conflict of the Civil War, the 26th Ohio still served the United States in Texas. The book concludes with the postbellum activities of the veterans as they attempted to keep in touch with their fellow comrades who shared so many poignant experiences together.

The appendices include: an updated and corrected roster from the State of Ohio Official Roster, an updated list of burial sites, a tribute to Captain William H. Ross, and a Photo Gallery of many of the enlisted men and commissioned officers of the 26th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry- The Groundhog Regiment. This then, is their story…

Endnotes

¹   Frederick H. Dyer: A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part III, Des Moines, Iowa: Dyer Publishing, 1908, p. 1509. Adjutant General’s Office, Record Group 94: Entries 112-115: Civil War Regimental Book: 26th Ohio Infantry: Regimental Letter and Order Book (9W3/13/21/1), National Archives, Washington, D.C. Note: The National Archives holds thirty-one court martial cases involving officers and soldiers of the 26th Ohio. The vast majority of these cases were for the charge of desertion. The verdict usually rendered in these cases was typically for the soldier to be found guilty of being absent without leave due to some mitigating factor. What is particularly interesting is that while the regimental records listed 122 desertions, only a fraction of those cases actually made it to a court martial. There were frequent notations of the soldier returning on his own accord. Of course, it is also possible that the National Archives files do not contain all the court martial cases for a variety of reasons.

²   William F. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War 1861-1865. Albany, N.Y.: Randow Printing Co., 1889; Walden Kelly correspondence with William F. Fox, printed in , John T. Raper, 26th Ohio Regimental Association: Some Interesting Statistics in The Ohio Soldier, Vol. IV, No. 2, p.17.

³   Samuel F. Robinson, The Groundhog Regiment, The Ohio Soldier, Vol. I, No. 35, April 14, 1888, p. 553; Roster of Survivors of the Twenty-Sixth Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, Chillicothe, Ohio: Office of the Ohio Soldier, April, 1888.

⁴   John T. Raper, A Soldier’s Diary, The Ohio Soldier, Vol. XII, No. 6, October 17, 1896.

Map No. 1

Area of Operations: June, 1861 to June, 1865

Source: Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, plate 162

Scale: 1 inch = 100 miles

CHAPTER I

Enlistment and Muster In

April 14 – July 30, 1861

The Confederate mortar and seacoast Columbiad batteries that fired on Ft. Sumter in Charleston, S.C. harbor had scarcely cooled when the fervent reaction against the perceived affront to the flag of the United States swept across the northern states, including Ohio, the Buckeye state.¹

Ohioans varied in their religious beliefs, their culture and in their occupations. They varied in the extent to which they were reaping the fruits of the growth and prosperity in the young state. Most were literate and had taken advantage of the public educational system available to them. Ohioans held varying views on the subject of slavery, that peculiar institution that the Southern states seemed to hold so dearly, and in the staunch defense of, many Southerners appeared ready to tear the Union apart. Most Ohioans had immigrated from the New England states, the Mid-Atlantic States of Pennsylvania and Maryland, or from Virginia. Many were recent immigrants from Europe, especially Ireland and Germany. They brought with them their unique cultures, religious beliefs, languages, education, and hopes for a better life.

Despite their differences, Ohioans were by and large united in their fondness for their beloved adopted state and for the nation of which their state was the proud seventeenth sovereign. Thus, it was not at all surprising that following the surrender of Fort Sumter, nearly every community throughout the Buckeye state held impromptu community gatherings. The mass meetings featured patriotic speeches from local prominent men that condemned the attack. The meetings also included wordy public proclamations, a great deal of flag waving, boisterous singing of patriotic songs, and appeals for the local boys and men to answer President Abraham Lincoln’s initial call for seventy-five thousand troops to enlist for ninety days. Typical of the intense feelings that pervaded much of the North following the surrender of Fort Sumter was the following announcement of a mass meeting to be held on April 24, 1861 as reported in the Hamilton, (Butler County) Ohio Intelligencer:

MEN OF BUTLER, RALLY! RALLY! …take counsel together, and adopt such measures as may be deemed advisable in this alarming crisis of our country. Armed rebels have stolen the property of the general government, have attacked and battered down one of its strong forts, and taken a gallant garrison prisoners, have trampled and tailed our glorious flag in the dust, and now, in the pride of their success and madness of their treason, are making preparations to capture and destroy the Capital, at Washington, and to utterly overthrow and subvert our government.²

Following the meeting, a verbose but forceful official proclamation was set forth by the citizens of Butler County. Their proclamation was consistent in tone and force if not in every word to similar proclamations made throughout the Union. The proclamation commenced with the familiar series of Whereas’ delineating: the sacredness of the Union of the States and the states’ constitution; the insurrection and insult to the United States flag which has occurred by the bombing of Fort Sumter; the patience of the United States government to silently submit to aggressions and insults with a patient forbearance unparalleled in the annals of history; and with this final insult the government of the United States must now act to save our country from dismemberment, and our political institutions from destruction.

The actions proposed in the proclamation were a set of resolutions that included the ultimate commitment to shed our blood and lay down our lives, and thereby recommended that all able-bodied men in the county shall immediately form themselves into military companies, procure arms, elect officers, and thoroughly drill themselves, and stand ready to obey any call of their country that may be made upon them for their services.³

President Lincoln’s call for seventy-five thousand troops on April 15 to serve for three months⁴ was unique in that the request would fall solidly upon the sovereign states to organize volunteer citizens for this duty. The regular U.S. Army at the time was quite small, scattered across the globe, or out on garrison duty in the plains attempting to provide safe passage for the white settlers from the recalcitrant Native American Indians who were resisting the incessant advance of the white man westward into their sacred land. Simply put, the regular Army was wholly unprepared and unable to respond to suppress the surging rebellion.

The appeals to the citizens across the north hit a nerve. For some time, many of them had contemplated what could happen if their young country became fractured over sectionalism. The citizens had heard it proposed to divide the old flag, giving a part to each section. They had seen the picture of the emblem thus rent, and it was not a pleasing one⁵ to contemplate. The initial response to the President’s request for soldiers was primarily filled by the existing militias in the state. Ohio quickly filled her quota of volunteers. However, many more boys and men besides the established militias wanted to answer their nation’s call, and they streamed into Columbus, the capital city.

Many of the soldiers who would soon comprise the 26th Ohio Volunteer Infantry were part of the initial rush to enlist. However, when the state quota was filled, they were told to organize themselves into local groups and await a further request. In communities across the Buckeye State, prominent local citizens seized the initiative to organize the local boys and men into companies of one hundred minute men. The organizers circulated enlistment papers for signatures and convened town meetings. Their recruitment efforts were aided greatly by the spirit of patriotism [that] was at fever-heat, and animated by both sexes of all ages. Such a display of the national colors had never been seen before. Flag-raisings were the order of the day in public and private grounds. The trinity of red, white, and blue was to be seen in all directions.⁶ If that was not enough, peer pressure lent a persuasive hand. After all, who could stay home when their brothers, other family members and friends were signing up? Who could stay home with the promise of travel and adventure, steady pay, three square meals, and a chance to be part of something much bigger than themselves? When the organizer had secured the commitment from the number needed, he submitted the request to Ohio Governor William Dennison’s administration and awaited word on when to report for mustering in.

The energy in the budding regiments was directed toward getting organized, securing supplies, learning military jargon, rules, discipline and drills, and determining the company’s leadership. The consensus understanding throughout the northern states in this new-fangled process was that whoever took the initiative to recruit the men would have the choice to serve at least temporarily as the first captain. Once the company was accepted and assigned to a regiment, the company would then formally elect the captain, first lieutenant and second lieutenant. The soldier receiving the highest votes was then awarded the office of captain and so on, subject to the approval of the regiment’s commander. The novel process would reveal company officers "who were diamonds in the rough, but liberally inter-mingled with veritable clod-hoppers."⁷ Only time would tell into which camp each officer would fall. Once the marching and combat began, the true valor of each man would be tested. Many of the initial captains of the companies that would comprise the 26th Ohio had some formal military service. Several had served in the Mexican War, while others could only point to their secondary schooling at a military academy as evidence of martial experience.

While these local minute companies anxiously awaited word from the State House in Columbus, they continued to drill, recruit, and select their initial officers. Their wait was soon requited, as on May 3, another appeal came out from Washington, D.C. This time, President Lincoln issued the call for United States volunteers to serve three years, unless sooner discharged.⁸ Lincoln’s administration had correctly divined that the growing conflict was going to take longer than just a few short months to settle. Accordingly, the Union was going to need more men and a commitment from them to serve for a longer period of time.

The recruits who signed the enlistment papers submitted themselves to a physical examination to determine their fitness for arduous military service. Having received his medical certificate affirming his fitness, the recruit would sign the roll of the company and record his physical description including height, complexion, and occupation,⁹ as well as the color of his hair and eyes. The final official step was the oath of muster that each recruit recited proudly, affirming:

… I will bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies and opposers whatsoever, and observe and obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me according to the rules and articles for the government of the armies of the United States.¹⁰

The 26th Ohio was one of the first regiments to be comprised of companies from various parts of the state and from more than one congressional district. Up until the formation of the 23rd Ohio, the regiments had been organized primarily from contiguous counties within a congressional district. In June, 1861, the present compilation of four regiments mustering in at Camp Chase (the 23rd through the 26th) was from multiple counties statewide, transcending congressional districts.¹¹ This development was an early indication of the gradually diminishing fervor that facilitated the initial influx of recruits. Though many more regiments would be formed in Ohio, the recruits would be motivated more by external influences, i.e. a financial bounty or later on the draft, than by the intrinsic inspiration to enlist chiefly because it was the patriotic thing to do. The vast majority of the men and boys who would proudly call themselves the 26th Ohio were from the first wave of recruits motivated to defend and preserve the union.

Company A

The first company to comprise the 26th Ohio was Company A from Butler County in southwest Ohio. Butler County was located contiguous to and northwest of Hamilton County where Cincinnati was established. Cincinnati was the most populated city in the state and Hamilton County the most populated county.¹² Hamilton County comprised nearly ten percent of the entire population in the state. Butler County, being adjacent to Hamilton County absorbed some of the overflow population from Hamilton County. Butler County’s 1860 total census ranked it among the ten most populated counties in the state.¹³ The principal town in Butler County was the county seat of Hamilton, located on the banks of the Great Miami River that cuts diagonally through the county.¹⁴ The recruits for Company A came primarily from the city of Hamilton, towns of Seven Mile, West Chester, and Millville, and Liberty, Wayne, Reily, West Chester, Morgan, Ross, St. Clair and Fairfield Townships.¹⁵

Company A was organized under the leadership of James W. C. Smith, age 27 years, in April, 1861.  A total of 105 soldiers were part of Company A throughout the war.¹⁶ Captain Smith’s company was named the Butler Pioneers. The Pioneers were a local organized militia. While awaiting their turn to be called to duty, the Butler Pioneers, after spending a week in the hotels of Hamilton, and being drilled in the streets, removed to Camp Hamilton, or the Fair Grounds, on the 23d of April. They were the first troops there. The ladies of Hamilton had presented them with a splendid flag, accompanied with an eloquent and patriotic speech from Mrs. Ryan. Captain J. W. C. Smith made an appropriate response.¹⁷

The story continued: On arrival at camp they found the change any thing but pleasant. The first two or three nights were very cold for that season of the year [May]. They had but little straw for bedding, and but few of the soldiers were so fortunate as to have blankets of their own. The unfortunate shared with the fortunate, and it was laughable to see a half dozen trying to sleep under one blanket. The consequence was a great deal of shivering, only a little sleep, and a great deal of catching cold. They were not forgotten by the ladies of Hamilton, lending blankets and supplying a shirt to each, and the farmers brought in immense quantities of straw. The halls and cattle stalls of the Fair Grounds were suitably fitted up for sleeping apartments, and after this the volunteers rested well. The eating department was conducted by Straub, Reutti & Co., for thirty-five cents per day, and tables were put up so that four hundred could eat at a time.¹⁸ The austere situation the Butler Pioneers found themselves in at this point was replicated many times over throughout the north. 

While the sanguine soldiers awaited their turn to officially enlist at Camp Hamilton, the Pioneers had some amusement in hanging [Confederate President] Jeff.[erson] DAVIS in effigy. The ceremonies were imposing. Jeff. was appropriately represented as a negro, and was up borne by four men at the head of a squad of about fifty, ably commanded by Benjamin Franklin Stevens, as captain, and Thomas Benton Hart, as lieutenant. The procession moved from camp at 2 pm for Hamilton, marching through the principal streets. It halted at Squire WILES’s [sic], who pronounced the sentence of the law upon Jeff. He was not worthy of a soldier’s death by being shot, but must be hung by the neck until dead. The procession then returned to camp and proceeded to put the sentence of the court in execution. An Adams officiated as hangman. The drop soon fell and Jeff. was suspended between heaven and earth, dying without a struggle. Shouts went up from the multitude, groans were given for all traitors, and cheers for the Union.¹⁹

By mid-May the ranks of the Butler Pioneers had risen to the requisite size, and they were sent to Columbus for mustering in. However, due to a mix up probably related to there being too many new recruits and not enough provisions to sustain them, the Pioneers were sent back to Hamilton.  The return back to Hamilton did not sit well with the recruits or the community. On June 6, The Hamilton Telegraph queried, why it is that Captain Smith’s company, Butler Pioneers are kept to [sic] long at this point, when the fact is patent that the company ought to have been placed as the third or fourth company, under the first call of the President of the United States…under the second call of the President, this company was the first in the county and State to volunteer, and were so recognized by the authorities of Ohio. Why, then is the company treated as it has been, and the honor of so volunteering been overlooked and neglected?²⁰

Finally, on June 9 the Butler Pioneers received word to return to Camp Jackson, located now 4 miles due west of Columbus. The Hamilton Telegraph reported, This company, under command of Captain Smith and Lieuts. Peatman and Lefler left here Sunday night…It has been accepted under the three years call. We trust the close of their term of service will be more pleasant than the beginning. If the capacity to restrain men not mustered into service, and who had long been chafing under vexations delays is one of the to requirements of a soldier, then is Capt. Smith in this respect eminently qualified. We know of no company leaving this part of the State that has been subjected to so many annoyances as this. But they are over now, and for them, the men will be all the better prepared for entering open the stern realities of war’s wild life.²¹

The Butler Pioneers boarded the railroad cars at Hamilton and began the journey to Columbus via Dayton, Xenia and London. Among the Butler Pioneers was "a lad of about ten years of age named Samuel Keepers, son of Mr. W.H. Keepers…He is considered the best drummer in the Regiment, and