Reminiscences
of the
Cleveland Light Artillery

Cleveland
Cleveland Printing Company
1906

Contents.

[Pg 3]

CHAPTER I.
The Acorn from which Grew the Oak.

The First Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery—whose guns thundered on nearly all the great battlefields of the War for the Union, 1861-5—owed its existence to a process of evolution. It was the result of a growth during a period of more than twenty years.

The Cleveland Grays, an independent military company, was formed in 1837. It was composed of active, intelligent, patriotic young men who displayed from the first a laudable pride in the organization, and an ambition to bring it up to the highest possible standard of excellence. Their most praiseworthy efforts were rewarded by a full measure of success, and the company was soon celebrated far and near for its fine appearance, excellent drill, and perfection of military discipline.

In 1839, for the purpose of field instruction, the Grays held an encampment on a vacant lot at the present corner of Superior and Erie streets. As compared to its proportions of today, Cleveland was then scarcely more than an overgrown village, and the territory in the vicinity of the spot designated above—now covered, and for miles beyond, with business houses and dwellings—was almost in its primeval state. By invitation of the Grays, Major Fay’s Light Artillery Company, of Buffalo, famous in those early days for its skill in the art of gunnery, was present at the encampment. The fine evolutions of this command and its proficiency in working and handling artillery attracted much attention and awakened a lively interest in that arm of military science.

The Grays caught the artillery fever and at once decided that they would have a gun squad. No sooner[Pg 4] said than done, and nine members of the company were detailed for that purpose, as follows:

David L. Wood was appointed Sergeant of the Gun Squad. He had formerly lived in Buffalo and had served as a gunner in Major Fay’s company, but had removed to Cleveland and was an active and zealous member of the Grays. A six-pound iron gun was obtained and mounted on a carriage which, as well as the caisson, was of home manufacture, made at the expense of the company. The early drills were held in a large barn situated on Erie street opposite the cemetery. The building was owned by the Ohio Stage Company, which, before the days of railroads, was operating its lines of public conveyance. These premises were used for five or six years, when more commodious quarters were provided.

In 1840 there was a great gathering at Fort Meigs—a military station at the rapids of the Maumee river, near Perrysburg, Ohio, built by General William Henry Harrison in 1813. A number of military companies from various parts of the West attended the meeting—among them the Cleveland Grays with its gun squad. The members of both organizations distinguished themselves by their accuracy in drill and their soldierly bearing, for which they bore away a large share of the honors.

Stimulated by their success to greater exertions the young artillerists continued their practice with the greatest assiduity, attaining a perfection that was in the highest degree creditable, and they fairly deserved the plaudits that were so freely bestowed upon them whenever they appeared in public. Valuable instruction[Pg 5] and assistance were received from members of Major Fay’s company, before mentioned. The drill was in the French style of tactics then in vogue, and generally known as “flying artillery.”

In 1845 the gun squad “seceded” from the Grays, forming a separate organization known as the Cleveland Light Artillery, with two 12-pound guns, and a large increase in its active membership. David L. Wood was chosen captain. Among those who at this early day belonged to the company were James Barnett, W. E. Lawrence, Seymour Race, W. H. Hayward and W. E. Standart, all of whom remained in active membership and were prominent during the war as members of the First Ohio Light Artillery.

The increase in the company, both in size and equipment, made it necessary to have better quarters. An armory was built on Bank street, in the rear of what is now the block next north of the Mercantile National Bank, and the company evacuated the old Erie street barn. It was at this time fully organized as a mounted battery of two pieces, with caissons, harness, and everything complete, all of which equipment was provided at private expense, as were also the uniforms of the men. Whenever the battery appeared on public occasions or went out for field practice all expenses including the use of horses were borne by the company.

On September 10, 1846, a large military encampment was held at Wooster, Ohio, in which the Cleveland Light Artillery was invited to participate. The company, fully mounted and equipped, made the march from Cleveland to and from that place, the distance both ways being something over one hundred miles. This would not have been considered much of a march during the war, but it was the first campaign of the company, and was a great event in those days. During their stay at Wooster the artillerymen received the highest encomiums for their excellent appearance and drill.

[Pg 6]

July 4, 1847, a great river and harbor convention was held at Chicago. The artillery accepted an urgent invitation to attend, going by lake on the steamer Sultana, a boat famous at that day, commanded by Captain Gilman Appleby. While there the company gave several exhibitions, acquitting itself with such credit as to win unstinted praise. The effect was to stir up the military spirit in Chicago to such a degree that a light battery was at once organized there. The Cleveland company furnished an instructor and otherwise assisted in equipping the battery.

The Chicago company owed its existence in a great measure to the Cleveland Artillery. It grew and prospered, and early in the war became the nucleus of the First Regiment Illinois Light Artillery, as the Cleveland company did of the Ohio regiment. Indeed, it may fairly be said that the influence of the Cleveland Artillery was a wide-spread, and a potential factor, through the removal of its members from time to time, in awakening an interest before the war in that arm of the military service. During the war there was no inconsiderable number of artillery officers who entered the army from other states, whose first instruction was received years before, while members of the old Cleveland battery. Its complement of men was usually from seventy-five to one hundred, and during the twenty years and more of its existence many of these dropped out of the ranks and were widely scattered, their places being filled by others. The seed thus sown produced an abundant crop of artillerymen.

General Barnett tells that in the fall of 1863 he was directing the march of some artillery through one of the valleys between the mountain ranges near Chattanooga. The weather was cold and wet and the roads wretched. He came upon a Missouri battery stuck fast in the Tennessee mud. Gun carriages and caissons were sunk to the hubs and obstinately refused to budge an inch, despite the floundering efforts of the panting[Pg 7] horses and the picturesque profanity of the drivers. Animals and men were wet and bespattered, and about equally discouraged. The captain, in a despairing condition, sat on his horse surveying the scene, apparently caring little whether there were any stars left in the old flag or not. Gen. Barnett doubled teams with him and at length succeeded in “yanking” him out of the mire. In conversation with him the general learned that the captain was an old-time member of the Cleveland artillery, and it was in consequence of what he learned in that company that he was induced to raise a battery and go to war in earnest.

In October, 1847, A. S. Sanford was elected captain of the Artillery and continued in that position for four years. David L. Wood was then again chosen and continued in command until a short time before the breaking out of the war.

The Cleveland Light Artillery was so successful and popular that in 1851 it was doubled in strength and its armament was increased to four guns. At this time there was no organization of the militia of Ohio, and very little had been done by the state authorities to foster and encourage the military spirit. Few could then have believed that ten years later the tocsin of war would be sounded, and that more than three hundred thousand men from Ohio alone would march to the tented field—and not for holiday or “feather-bed” soldiering, either. It is safe to say that Ohio will never again be found in a state of such unreadiness—but may the good Lord deliver us from any more war! The survivors of the First Ohio Light Artillery will all devoutly say Amen to this. Like all the rest who served in the Civil War, they know when they have had enough.

After much urging and coaxing the state authorities did at length consent to lend a helping hand. When the Cleveland Artillery was enlarged to a four-gun battery the state furnished the guns and harness. The[Pg 8] company supplied everything else, including caissons, uniforms, and equipments of every kind. It still retained its status as an independent organization. In fact there was no law of Ohio authorizing artillery companies in any shape, and the small aid that was grudgingly extended to the Cleveland battery was more of a gratuity than anything else.

But the company continued to prosper just the same. Its membership was composed of excellent material, including young men from many of the best families of the city. All were earnest and ambitious in their efforts and they soon reached a high state of skill and efficiency in handling their guns and in all the details of the tactics in which they were instructed. They had showy uniforms for public occasions, with plenty of red in them, suggestive of sanguinary scenes, and presented a really gorgeous appearance when parading the streets. They won the applause of the multitude, the smiles of the fair, and admiring yells from the small boys. For in those ante-bellum days a cannon on wheels was regarded with unspeakable awe; and a man in military dress awakened the liveliest emotions in the popular mind.

In February, 1852, the company was first called upon for military duty. On the 17th of that month a serious riot occurred at a medical college situated at the corner of Prospect and Ontario streets. The trouble grew out of the exposure of some human bones from the dissecting room. A citizen who imagined them to be the remains of his daughter, whose body he thought had been stolen for dissection, gathered a formidable mob of excited people and moved upon the college with the avowed purpose of razing it to the ground and of hanging the doctors and students to the nearest lamp posts. The sheriff soon found that he had more on hand than he could manage and ordered out the Light Artillery to his assistance. The members of the company responded with alacrity and promptly appeared[Pg 9] upon the ground, unlimbering their pieces they double shotted them in full view of the rioters, who were warned that if they did not instantly disperse the guns would be fired. The men stood at their posts, ready to fire at the word, but the rioters broke and fled from the scene, in a slate of confused demoralization. For precautionary reasons the battery remained on duty, “holding the fort,” for forty-eight hours, by the end of which time the excitement had abated and there was no repetition of the hostile demonstration.

This incident clearly showed the value of such a body of trained men, to meet emergencies liable at times to arise in a rapidly growing city, where sudden excitement, often without reason, leads unthinking men to acts of lawlessness, which set the civil authorities at defiance. The company had fairly won its first victory, fortunately a bloodless one. Its members were highly complimented for their prompt response to the call and their cool steadiness in the face of the excited mob. It was an occasion to test the stuff they were made of, though not to be compared with the scenes of carnage that some of those men faced without flinching in after years.

The people of Cleveland began to feel a pride in the Light Artillery, and to give the company substantial support and assistance. Again it became necessary to have more commodious quarters, and sufficient funds were contributed by the citizens and the members of the company to build a new armory. The building was erected in 1852, near the present junction of Ohio and Hill streets. The use of the ground on which it stood was given by Mr. John Walworth.

The fame of the company went abroad throughout the land and invitations were received from far and near to attend large public gatherings. In 1852 an excursion was made by lake to Sandusky, at the request of citizens of that place, by whom the artillerists were handsomely entertained. In September of the same[Pg 10] year the anniversary of the Battle of Lundy’s Lane was celebrated by an immense assemblage of people with great pomp and ceremony at Niagara Falls. The Cleveland Light Artillery, accompanied by a large number of its friends, went by steamer to Buffalo. There the horses were hitched to guns and caissons and the company marched to the Falls, attracting much attention along the route. The battery took an active part in the celebration, dividing the honors with Major Fay’s “crack” Buffalo company of artillery. In 1853 the Cleveland company attended by special invitation a large encampment of the New York state militia at Syracuse, commanded by General Swan. The battery was warmly received and was a prominent feature of the encampment.

The Ohio street armory was occupied for two or three years when, the location being for various reasons undesirable, it was decided to move once more. Quarters were secured near the business center of the city, in a brick building on Frankfort street, a few rods west of Bank street, occupied after the war by Montpellier’s Variety Theater. Here the battery continued to abide until it went to the “front” in 1861.

At this time the company was in better condition than ever before. In good quarters, with full battery equipment and fine uniforms, and in an admirable state of discipline, it was everywhere recognized as a model organization. On February 22nd, 1856, the Light Artillery and the Cleveland Grays, upon invitation of the Rover Guards of Cincinnati, attended a great military gathering in that city, to celebrate the anniversary of Washington’s birthday. There were present a large number of the best drilled and equipped independent companies of Ohio and other states. None of them surpassed the Cleveland contingent in excellence of drill and martial bearing.

During the next three or four years annual encampments[Pg 11] were held for practice in gunnery and field evolutions, and in the various duties of camp life. Frequent excursions continued to be made, in response to invitations received from all parts of the country. The citizens of Cleveland showed their increasing appreciation of the high standing of the company and the honor it had conferred upon the city by tendering its members occasional banquets which were largely attended, and were occasions of much social enjoyment. These unsought recognitions were most gratifying to the artillerymen and incited them to the utmost efforts to “go on unto perfection.”

It should be borne in mind,—as a fact in the highest degree creditable to the company—that during all this time, embracing a period of twenty years, the large expenses pertaining to the organization, such as the purchase of uniforms and equipments of every kind, the building or rental of quarters, the cost of transportation and the employment of horses, were cheerfully paid by the members of the company, with some assistance from time to time by the citizens of Cleveland. The state furnished no part of the equipment except the guns and harness, and these only for a portion of the time.

Below is given a complete roster of those whose names were borne upon the roll of the company at different times during these years. The names of the nine originally detailed from the Grays to form the Gun Squad have already been given. The list which follows embraces all who joined and served in its ranks from that time until the reorganization of the battery under the militia law of Ohio. The older residents of Cleveland and vicinity, who were familiar with its people of thirty and forty years ago, will recognize in this roster the names of many who are now, or were in the past, distinguished as honorable and public-spirited citizens, who attained high positions in business, professional or political life. A large[Pg 12] part of the old members of the Light Artillery are now dead. A considerable number of these made the supreme sacrifice of life upon the altar of patriotism, during the War of the Rebellion. Some of those whose names appear removed to other parts of the country and rose to prominence in the various walks of life. Some, including two of three of the detail from the Grays in 1839, yet live in and around Cleveland, commanding the highest respect and esteem of their fellow-citizens.

These gray-haired survivors have long had an organized association to perpetuate the memories of “auld lang syne.” Regularly each year, on Washington’s birthday, they meet around the social board and recall reminiscences of the past. They hold in tender remembrance their comrades who died for their country, and upon the annual recurrence of Decoration Day they never omit to strew flowers upon the graves of those who sleep in the beautiful cemeteries of Cleveland. The association is gradually diminishing in number, as one by one its members yield to the infirmities of age, but as long as any of them remain these yearly gatherings will be continued.

The list of members of the old Cleveland Light Artillery is as follows, including all whose names were on its roll from the beginning till the reorganization under the state law, in 1860:

Before entering upon the reorganization of the Artillery, it will be fitting to pay deserved tribute to the memory of David L. Wood, who served as its commandant for seventeen years, and to whose zeal and ability the company was so largely indebted for its honorable and successful career. He was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, August 14, 1817. While yet a lad his parents removed to Buffalo, where he learned the trade of a printer. Early in 1839 he removed to Cleveland and at once identified himself with the Grays. His connection with Fay’s Artillery Company[Pg 15] in Buffalo, his detail from the Grays as sergeant of the Gun Squad, and his subsequent services in the battery have already been mentioned. Under the law passed in 1859 to organize the militia of Ohio he was appointed by Governor Chase to the responsible position of Quartermaster General of the state. So faithfully and efficiently did he discharge the duties of the position that he was reappointed by Governor Dennison and was at the head of that most important department of the state executive when the war broke out in 1861. He displayed great energy and ability in fitting for active duty the troops that so rapidly responded to the call. But the true military spirit was strong in him and nothing could satisfy him but active service in the field. He resigned his position at Columbus and having been by the President commissioned a captain in the Eighteenth United States Infantry—“Regulars”—he went to the front in December. His regiment was afterward assigned to Thomas’s corps, Army of the Cumberland. In the historic cedar thicket at Stone River, where the Eighteenth was so fearfully decimated, he was severely wounded. When partially recovered he asked to be placed on such duty as he could perform and was put in charge of a recruiting station at Marietta, Ohio. When John Morgan made his famous raid into Ohio, Captain Wood took command of a hastily organized company and joined in the pursuit of the rebel troopers, bearing an honorable part in the action at Buffington Island. Soon after this, although still suffering from the effects of his wound, he applied for permission to rejoin his regiment in the field, but it was not granted by reason of his disability and he was placed on the retired list.

He went to Cleveland where he was several times elected a Justice of the Peace. In 1876 he removed to New York, in the hope that the climate might prove more favorable to his failing health. He grew worse, however, and in April 1881, he returned to Cleveland.[Pg 16] He was almost immediately prostrated by severe illness, which terminated fatally a few days later. On May 2nd he died, sincerely mourned by a wide circle of friends, and particularly by his old comrades of the Cleveland Light Artillery, with whom he was so long and intimately associated.

Many will remember that for two or three years before the war, as the fast-growing sentiment against slavery became more active and aggressive in the North, there were mutterings that boded ill for the peace of the nation. Those whose ears were alert heard sounds that seemed to presage the fierce conflict that finally burst upon the country in all its savage fury. These “signs of the times” had the effect, everywhere, to arouse the state authorities from their lethargy and measures were taken to encourage and promote the organization of military companies. In 1859 the Legislature of Ohio passed a militia law. The friends of the Cleveland Light Artillery had for years been hammering at the law-givers, urging the importance of state aid to such organizations. At last the idea found its way into the minds of the state officials and members of the Legislature, that an emergency might arise when a few serviceable cannon, and trained men to use them, would be found “mighty handy.” So in the new law they authorized the formation of artillery companies, each to consist of a captain, lieutenant, two sergeants and twenty privates, with one gun and caisson. The law further provided for the organization of artillery regiments, each to contain not less than six of such one-gun companies.

In compliance with the terms of this law the Cleveland Artillery—four guns—was at once reorganized into four companies, and there were added one in Brooklyn, Cuyahoga county, and one in Geneva, Ashtabula county. These were immediately organized into a “regiment”—though its strength in men and guns was only that of a single battery after things were placed upon[Pg 17] a war footing. The following field and staff officers were elected and commissioned by the Governor August 1, 1860:

Colonel—James Barnett.

Lieutenant Colonel—Stephen B. Sturges.

Major—Clark S. Gates.

Surgeon—C. E. Ames.

Quartermaster—Amos Townsend.

Quartermaster-Sergeant—Randall Crawford.

The companies of the regiment were commended as follows:

Company A, Cleveland—W. R. Simmonds.

Company B, Cleveland—John Mack.

Company C, Brooklyn—J. S. Andrews.

Company D, Cleveland—P. W. Rice.

Company E, Cleveland—Louis Heckman.

Company F, Geneva—Dennis Kenny.

The organization was officially designated as the “First Regiment of Light Artillery, Third Brigade, Fourth Division, Ohio Volunteer Militia.”

The first public appearance of the newly born “regiment” was at the unveiling of the statue of Commodore Perry, in Cleveland, September 10th, 1860. The occasion was an imposing one, and a number of military companies from abroad were present and participated in the parade, notably organizations from Rhode Island, which was Commodore Perry’s native state. The visiting troops and distinguished guests accompanying them were hospitably entertained during their stay in Cleveland by the members and friends of the Artillery and the Grays. A few months later the pomp and glory of a holiday pageant were exchanged for the stern realities of “grim visaged war,” and the guns of the Cleveland Light Artillery were hurling shot and shell into the ranks of the rebels south of the Ohio River.

Mr. Lincoln was elected President in the fall of 1860. As the political campaign of that year progressed the result was foreshadowed by the strong drift of public[Pg 18] sentiment at the North. The “fire-eaters” of the South wrought themselves into a high state of excitement over their prospective defeat and for a month before the contest was decided made lurid threats of secession and revolution in such a contingency. The northern people were slow to believe that these declarations were anything more than “wind.” Even when they began to take definite form, after the election, the number was yet small who believed there would be a conflict of arms.

The success of the Republican party in the election was made the pretext for the great revolt. Six weeks later South Carolina packed her knapsack and marched out of the Union. Six other states followed closely upon her heels, and in a short time four more. Beaten at the ballot-box they determined to try the cartridge-box, but—as those most interested in this volume will remember, for they helped to make it so—this experiment was equally unsatisfactory to them in its outcome.

By the time the “cotton” states began to secede, and the people of the South to show great activity in the organization of military companies, the impression became quite general throughout the North that the situation was critical and there was serious trouble ahead—and not very far ahead, either. The great “coming event” of the century was “casting its shadow before.” Every day but strengthened and intensified the determination, through the great, loyal North, that at all hazards the Union should be preserved and the flag protected from dishonor.

During the winter of 1860, months before the North was aroused by the mighty reveille that sounded amidst the echoes of Sumter, many independent companies then existing made a voluntary offer of their services, provided they should be needed. Among the first to show a desire to “get there” early and secure front seats was the Cleveland six-gun “regiment” of artillery. As soon[Pg 19] as there began to be a smell of powder in the air the members of this organization promptly developed an appetite for war. They sent to the Adjutant General of Ohio a fervid communication tendering their services and stating that they might be depended upon to respond instantly to the call of duty. In two or three days an answer was received. The Adjutant General commended their patriotism in the highest terms, and in the name of the state thanked them effusively for their noble offer, but added that he had no idea they would be called upon, as it was not at all probable that any cavalry or artillery would be required! No doubt this official’s views soon underwent a most radical change. But his depressing letter had the effect of the proverbial “wet blanket” upon the more enthusiastic artillerists, who were beginning to actually suffer for a scrimmage. They were afraid it wasn’t going to be “much of a shower,” after all! Nobody will say that during the ensuing four years there was not enough to go around; everybody who wanted any of it had abundant opportunity to supply himself. But after the Cleveland boys heard from the Adjutant General some of them really mourned over the prospect of “getting left.”

At half past four o’clock on the morning of Friday—unlucky day—April 12, 1861, the rebel batteries at Charleston opened fire on Fort Sumter. The fort was surrendered at noon of Sunday, April 14. On this day President Lincoln drafted his proclamation calling out seventy-five thousand volunteers for three months. That night it went out by telegraph, and on Monday the people of the North knew that the last hope of compromise had vanished. Already the “dogs of war” had been slipped, and the country was to be tested in the fierce crucible of a mighty conflict. None who witnessed it, or were a part of it, can ever forget the grand, patriotic uprising of the loyal masses, from Maine to California, and from the Lakes to the Ohio river, to avenge the insult of the National Flag. It need only be alluded to in this connection. The quotas of the various states under the first call for troops were duly apportioned, and in some cases were more than filled in a single day. All the organized military companies in Ohio offered their services, and all were clamorous that they should be accepted. There seemed to be a generally prevailing fear that the war would be “all over” before they could get there.

The Cleveland Grays—from which the first gun squad of the Cleveland Artillery was detailed more than twenty years before—left amidst prodigious excitement for Columbus, became Company E of the First Ohio Infantry, and started immediately for Washington. But so far there was no call for the artillery. How all the men, from Colonel to powder-monkey, chafed in the impatience of their raging patriotism. It would be sad indeed, they thought, if, after all, it should prove that the Adjutant General was right, and that “no[Pg 21] artillery would be needed”—or if a few cannon should be required the batteries of the Regular Army would supply them, and the unhappy volunteers would remain “out in the cold.”

But there came a loud call for artillery, and the boys, who were fretting themselves sick, had not long to wait for the glad summons. On Saturday, April 20, the following dispatch went singing over the wires:

This was received by Colonel Barnett early in the evening of the day named. How the news spread through the city, as if borne upon the wings of the wind! How it set the hearts of the impatient boys to thumping and how they cheered at the tidings, while tears dimmed the eyes and moistened the cheeks of wives and mothers and sisters and sweethearts!

Early Sunday morning Colonel Barnett issued the following order to captains of companies:

[Pg 22]

A messenger was hurried out to Brooklyn to stir up that company, and a telegram was sent to Geneva, carrying the news to Company F.

“Ah, then and there was hurrying to and fro,” as the artillerymen hustled around, engaged in hasty preparation for “going to war.” In Cleveland, as everywhere else, there was a furious ferment of excitement. For the moment business of every kind was laid aside. The one absorbing theme was the opening conflict. Husbands and sons and brothers had been called to the field to defend the nation’s flag. Not only their immediate friends but the citizens generally put forth every possible effort to fit out the boys in good shape. Meetings were held and fervid speeches were made. But no stimulating force was then necessary, for every heart was swelling with patriotic ardor and the spirit of sacrifice. It was not a good time for the utterance of “copperhead” sentiments. Had any one dared to express sympathy with those who had fired on the flag his life would not have been worth a rush. If there were any such, they kept prudently quiet. People shouted and sang patriotic songs, and spoke words of cheer and encouragement to those who were about to leave for “the front.” The boys had little need, however, of being urged to obey the call of duty, and sympathy was wasted on them, for they were in a state of feverish anxiety for an opportunity to unlimber their guns in the face of the foe.

The state of public feeling was about as hot as it could be, but on Sunday morning another dispatch was received which added more fuel to the fierce flames and raised the temperature to even a higher point. It was as follows:

[Pg 23]

Thus early people began to learn that there is “no Sunday in war.” All that day the excitement increased. Those who took the time to go to church listened to sermons on the duty of the hour.

It was found impracticable to assemble the regiment in time to get away on Sunday and the Governor was informed by telegraph that it would leave early Monday morning. A dispatch from Capt. Dennis Kenny at Geneva told that Company F was “red hot” and could be ready to leave that night for the rendezvous at Cleveland. The necessary transportation was provided and the company reported before daylight. Company C. from Brooklyn, was equally prompt to respond, and half the people of that town accompanied the boys to the city to “see them off.”

During the forenoon of Monday—April 22d—there was the greatest activity among the members and friends of the regiment. The whole city was astir and fairly boiling with excitement. Thousands of people turned out, thronging the depot and the railroad leading to Columbus, to witness the departure of the soldiers. The latter were, of course, only provided with a “pick up” outfit, it being expected that all necessary clothing and supplies would be furnished by the state authorities.

In order to start the boys in as comfortable shape as possible the citizens contributed a sum sufficient for the purchase of one hundred and twenty blankets—all that could be found in Cleveland suitable for military use. The blankets were bought by Mr. Henry N. Johnson, and the following memorandum of the purchases is given as an item of interest:

[Pg 24]

At about noon the regiment, numbering in all about one hundred and sixty men, embarked on a special train. There were hasty and tearful farewells and the train moved off amidst tempestuous shouts and cheers, the waving of flags and kerchiefs and the music of brass bands.

At that time no one had more than a vague and foggy idea of what war was. It had not yet become the serious matter that it was a few months later, and during the four long and bitter years that followed. The first volunteers went to the field with a grand hurrah, impelled by motives of the truest patriotism, but with no conception of the hardship and privation and blood and fire and death that were before them. The sickle was sharpened but had not been thrust in to reap its ghastly harvest. As yet there were no stretchers nor hospitals nor ambulances freighted with mangled victims; no miles of reddened earth strewed with the dead and dying; no long, weary marches, through heat and cold and storm; no ravages of wasting disease. All these were yet as an unopened book to these men hastening to the field, and to those who with moistened eyes and beating hearts bade them farewell and God speed. Only a few then believed that there would be much of a war—that the trouble would not all be over in sixty or ninety days.

The following is a roster of the regiment as it left Cleveland, the officers of the field and staff having been already given. A few men who joined some of the companies a few weeks later are included:

Company A.

Captain, W. R. Simmonds; First Sergeant, John A. Bennett.

Company B.

Captain, J. G. Mack; Lieutenant, Jacob Reider; First Sergeant, Frederick C. Grauninger; Second Sergeant Mathias Adams.

Company C.

Captain, F. W. Pelton; Lieutenant, Samuel Sears; First Sergeant, F. S. Pelton; Second Sergeant, P. C. Schneider.

Company D.

Captain, P. W. Rice; Lieutenant, J. H. Miller; First[Pg 26] Sergeant, E. F. Reeve; Second Sergeant, W. H. Hilliard.

Company E.

Captain, Louis Heckman; Lieutenant, Jacob J. Hauck; First Sergeant, Henry Roth; Second Sergeant, Valentine Heckman.

Company F.

Captain, Dennis Kenny; First Lieutenant, H. S. Munger; Second Lieutenant, Romanzo Spring; First Sergeant, J. B. Burrows; Second Sergeant, C. D. Lane; Corporal, J. H. Coller.

Musician—James Willis.

Grooms—Edward Garvin, Milo Gage, Salmon Chambers, Edward Gates, Thomas Morris.

[Pg 27]

It may be remarked here in passing that the men were not long in learning that there was something in “soldiering” besides romance and “flowery beds of ease.” Before June 1st six or seven of them had been discharged for disability by reason of sickness, and one made up his mind that he had got all he wanted and deserted.

All the way to Columbus the boys sang and laughed and shouted in the exuberance of their patriotic emotions, and told one another of the valorous deeds they would perform as soon as opportunity was afforded them. At all points along the route the people greeted them with uproarious cheers. Wherever the train halted the guns and caissons, which were on platform cars, were regarded with the utmost curiosity and interest by crowds of men, women and children. The engines of war were a novelty to them.

On reaching the state capital—where it had been supposed that the regiment would debark and go into camp for a few days at least—an order was received to proceed at once to Marietta, Ohio, by way of Loveland. It was thought that Marietta was in jeopardy, being threatened by rebel forces in Virginia. All the infantry companies from that part of the state which had offered their services had been sent to Washington. The city was wholly defenseless and there were no troops to send there except the Cleveland artillery regiment. After something had been learned of the art of war it came to be considered the proper thing to always provide an infantry support for artillery, but nobody thought of such things at the moment of emergency. So the hundred and sixty fledglings from Cleveland, with their guns and caissons, but without a single horse to move them, were hurried away to prevent the rebels from capturing Marietta. It is but justice to the members of the regiment to say that they had an abiding confidence in their ability to hold that city against the entire Southern Confederacy. As the train went[Pg 28] whirling on through the darkness all hearts were swelling with patriotism and a heroic determination to obey every call of duty, even to facing death in its most awful form upon the battlefield. They expected to commence wading in blood immediately.

Marietta was reached early next morning but no enemy was there to fight. The air was full of wild rumors that legions of rebels were approaching, with evil designs upon the city, and the people were badly scared. The arrival of the Cleveland artillery, with real cannon, had a reassuring effect upon the citizens. The men were most cordially welcomed and received with unbounded hospitality. The regiment went into camp on the fair grounds, placing the guns in position to command the city and spread havoc and destruction among any misguided people who should attempt to capture it.

The regiment had as yet received nothing whatever in the way of supplies from either the state or national government. Indeed the men had not even been mustered into the service—and as a matter of fact they were not until three months later. Immediate requisitions were made upon the authorities at Columbus, by mail and telegraph, for clothing, rations, ammunition, etc., all of which were quite indispensable to efficient service. When ordered on from Columbus Colonel Barnett had been assured that everything needful would be forwarded at once, but the supplies did not come, nor was the slightest attention paid to the requisitions. The Cleveland contingent seemed to have been entirely forgotten. It was a pretty clear case of “out of sight out of mind.” There may have been some excuse for this in the fact that the call to arms had come suddenly and found the state wholly unprepared for such an emergency; nor had there been sufficient time as yet for the United States government to adjust itself to a condition of actual war and provide for the needs of its soldiers. The state authorities no doubt did the best[Pg 29] they could, but in the hurry of raising troops and rushing them to the front in the shortest possible time everything was in the wildest chaos. It is little wonder that things went at haphazard and it was only by chance that any officer got for his men what they needed.

As day after day passed and no answer to the requisitions came both officers and men began to get a little warm under the collar. Colonel Barnett prodded up the Columbus people daily, his messages growing more and more pungent and emphatic. The artillery had not been provided with a single horse and would have been of little practical value in case of an attack, unless the rebels had kindly marched up in front of the guns and permitted themselves to be shot down. In this case the slaughter would have been fearful, had the boys been supplied with effective ammunition. When the regiment passed through Columbus the condition of the command was reported and the Adjutant General had promised that horses and ammunition should be promptly furnished at Marietta. As a starter he put into the baggage-car, before leaving the state capital, several pork barrels full of round shot, a few chests of fine rifle powder and a lot of linsey-woolsey stuff, ostensibly for the purpose of making cartridges. The whole “outfit” was entirely worthless. The shot did not fit the guns and the powder was no doubt a good thing with which to go squirrel hunting, but was little better than so much sawdust for artillery use. It will be readily understood that at this time the Cleveland Light Artillery was not in condition to do any overwhelming damage to the Southern Confederacy.

The men had no clothing except that which they had brought from home. Few had a change of garments, as it was understood when they left Cleveland that they would be amply supplied. They could rub along a while with what clothes they had but they must have “grub”—that was in the nature of a prime and fundamental necessity. Patriotism was a good thing as far as it went,[Pg 30] but it didn’t go a long way in satisfying the cravings of an empty stomach. Appeals to the authorities were in vain and so Colonel Barnett entered into a contract with a man named Hall, of Marietta, to “board” the command. There was nothing else to be done, and it is just to the authorities to say that this bill was finally allowed and paid by the state. It is also fair to Mr. Hall to say that he carried out his contract in good faith, furnishing plenty of food which allowed small margin for grumbling.

The camp of the artillery in the fair grounds was named “Camp Putnam,” in honor of an old and patriotic citizen of Marietta who was a direct descendant of Gen. Israel Putnam—“Old Put”—of Revolutionary fame. The men fixed up their quarters in a style that a year or two later would have been considered luxurious in the extreme. The kindness and hospitality of the citizens were conspicuous. No effort was spared to make the boys as comfortable as possible. But even under these favorable conditions some of the boys imagined that they were having a hard time of it and were suffering a good deal for their country. When they came to experience the real hardships of active service in the field they looked back with unutterable yearnings to the idle weeks that were largely spent in playing euchre and “old sledge” at Camp Putnam.

Colonel Barnett was in command of the camp and of the post of Marietta. He enforced the strictest discipline and daily drills rapidly increased the efficiency of the command. Early efforts were made to secure a supply of better ammunition, as that hastily picked up at Columbus was of no value whatever. There were no shells or canister, and the solid shot were not only wrong in size but they were not round and could not have been thrown with any degree of precision. Colonel Barnett telegraphed to Cincinnati and secured a quantity of shot that was promptly forwarded. He engaged the use of a shop in Marietta where a lathe was put to[Pg 31] work turning sabots, and a laboratory was fitted up where cartridges were made and the sabots were properly strapped to the shot. Nearly all this work was performed by the members of the regiment. Many of them were excellent mechanics and all were intelligent and willing. Such men can do anything. The ladies of Marietta offered their services, glad of the opportunity to do something for the cause of the Union. Since the first tocsin of war they had been busy in scraping lint and preparing bandages, until the supply seemed to be greatly in excess of the immediate demand—for scarcely anybody had been hurt yet, and a million or two of women all over the North had been engaged in the work. Now there was a chance for the matrons and maidens of Marietta to render assistance in another very practical way. A bountiful supply of red flannel was procured and immediately a hundred fair hands were at work, plying scissors and needle, in making cartridge-bags. The ladies made a “bee” of it, and in a wonderfully short time they had finished enough to last for months. The fine rifle powder that was pitched on the train at Columbus was exchanged for cannon powder, and the artillery began to look more like business. This homemade ammunition was largely used in target practice, which was deemed highly essential to future usefulness. Day after day the air resounded with the roar of artillery, as the boys sighted their guns at the targets and imagined themselves hurling the whistling missiles through solid battalions of rebels.

It was nearly a month before any supplies of clothing and camp and garrison equipage were received. About the middle of May, Captain O. M. Poe, of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, was sent by Gen. George B. McClellan to inspect the Cleveland Light Artillery with a view to its being ready for service, at a moment’s notice. Capt. Poe expressed himself as greatly pleased with the command and the drill, discipline and soldierly bearing of its members. He assured Colonel[Pg 32] Barnett that it should be thoroughly equipped without further delay. There seemed good reason to hope that at length there would be something besides mere promises. A few days later this was partially realized by the arrival of a quantity of clothing, which made the men feel more like soldiers, even though it was shoddy—and very poor shoddy at that. It is a fact that the garments were of such poor stuff that a week or two of wear was sufficient to finish them. They had to be thrown aside out of a decent regard for the usages and proprieties of civilized people. While wearing these clothes the men would break for their quarters and hide themselves if ladies entered the camp. There also came a lot of kettles, pans, and camp utensils of various kinds. These were heartily welcomed, as the boys had been forced to make all sorts of shifts, with such articles as were kindly furnished them by the people of Marietta.

About this time another idea appears to have effected a lodgment in the minds of the authorities at Columbus, and that was that horses were quite essential for field artillery. A stirring up by Gen. McClellan caused a dispatch to be sent to Col. Barnett, authorizing and directing him to proceed at once to mount the regiment—or “battery,” as it was termed, for such only it really was—by purchasing horses in the vicinity of Marietta. A day later came the following, which will be of interest as a relic of the early days of the war:

To enable Colonel Barnett to carry out this order the sum of $10,000 was placed to his credit by the State of Ohio, in a Marietta bank, out of which the horses were to be paid for as fast as purchased. On the same day the above order was received, came also the following telegram, which threw Camp Putnam into a quiver of excitement and caused a wild rush into the region round about to look for horses:

Six or eight of the best judges of horseflesh in the battery were immediately sent out to scour the country. Whenever a suitable animal was found that could be bought at a fair price an order upon Colonel Barnett was given by the buyer to the seller, stating briefly the sort of animal purchased and the price that had been agreed upon. These orders were promptly paid by Colonel Barnett with checks upon the bank. A few sample orders are given below. They were written on cards, leaves torn from memorandum books and odd bits of paper of every variety of size, shape and color:

[Pg 34]

These orders, besides being of historical interest, go to show that correct orthography is not essential to the purest and loftiest patriotism. The “mairs” for which the last order was given were accepted, although of the wrong sex to comply with army regulations, which requires that horses purchased for the cavalry and artillery service shall be of the masculine gender. Only males, of the equine as well as the human race, are considered to be fit for war.

Within two days the required number of horses was obtained. All hands were busy “breaking them in” to their new sphere of usefulness. Trained horses are only second in value to trained men for artillery service. When it comes to “standing fire” there is as much difference in horses as there is in men. Some animals appear to have a plentiful supply of “sand” and display an intelligent courage that is almost heroic, while others become sadly demoralized under fire and are totally unmanageable.

Meantime the air was full of rumors of projected campaigns into the enemy’s country in which the Cleveland Light Artillery was to participate. Something fresh in this line was circulated through the camp every hour. No two of these “grape vines”—as the boys learned later[Pg 35] to call them—were alike, and they sufficed to keep everybody in a state of furious agitation. The artillerymen had a consuming desire to do something that would help to put down the rebellion. Like all new troops, at every stage of the war, they were impressed with the idea that their mission was to fight somebody, and they chafed at the weeks of inactivity in camp. While it might not be strictly true to say that any of them were anxious to test the truth of the somewhat apocryphal statement that “it is sweet to die for one’s country,” it may safely be recorded that they were eager to go on the war-path, and as to the rest they were willing to take the chances. An order to move was daily expected and the utmost activity prevailed in the work of getting everything in perfect readiness to respond at once to the summons.

By this time an infantry force had reached Marietta, consisting of the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteers, Colonel James B. Steadman, and the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteers, Colonel T. R. Stanley. The Fourteenth had been drilling for three weeks at Camp Tayler, in Cleveland. It came with full ranks, completely armed and equipped for service. The Eighteenth had not yet received arms and equipments, but these were promised at an early day. In those days a regiment of infantry meant a thousand men, and not a mere skeleton of two or three hundred, such as were common later in the war, when the ranks had been decimated by disease and the deadly storm of battle. The Fourteenth Ohio reached Marietta on the 24th of May and the Eighteenth on the following day.

The rumors of forward movements at length assumed definite form. It became known that a campaign was about to begin across the river in Western Virginia. On May 27th the following dispatch was received:

On this day the Fourteenth Ohio Infantry went by boat to Parkersburg, Virginia—the state of West Virginia had not then been formed—being the first Union force to occupy that place. Col. Steadman took possession without meeting any opposition worthy of mention. It was now reasonably certain that the artillery would very soon follow to take part in the campaign. Every man was directed to hold himself ready to be up and away at a moment’s notice.

Picturesque dreams of mighty conflicts and fields of glory disturbed the slumbers of those in Camp Putnam during the night of May 27th. Nor were they far out of the way, for before another sunset, part of the artillery would be en route for “the front.” Early on the morning of the 28th a telegraph messenger handed to Colonel Barnett a dispatch which read as follows:

Colonel Barnett answered this telegram, informing Colonel Steadman that the battery was entirely destitute of ammunition for field service. A supply was hourly expected and upon its arrival the detachment would be sent forward with all possible dispatch. In the afternoon Colonel Steadman replied as follows:

During this day there was a fusillade of telegrams from all sources, among which were the following:

These telegrams kept the members of the Battery in a continual fever of excitement, which grew hotter every hour. In reply to Colonel Steadman’s second dispatch Colonel Barnett telegraphed him the substance of General McClellan’s dispatch, and informed him that the two companies would go forward the next day. Camp Putnam was greatly disturbed by the question as to which two of the six companies should constitute this detachment. All were eager to go, apparently saddened by the thought that this, their first, might be their last, and only chance to get an experimental knowledge of what war was. The military career of the four companies which stayed behind would terminate in an inglorious journey home, the war over and no laurels crowning their brows. Colonel Barnett selected Companies D, Captain Rice, and F, Captain Kenny, as the fortunate ones. They were ordered to be ready to embark early on the following day. The detachment was placed in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Sturges.

The ammunition arrived early next morning. Companies D and F, with their guns, horses, and equipments complete, were soon on board a special steamboat and left in high spirits, replying with great gusts to the parting[Pg 39] cheers of their chopfallen comrades who remained. On reaching Parkersburg, May 29—11 p. m., about twelve miles down the river from Marietta, it was found that Colonel Steadman, to whom Lieutenant-Colonel Sturges had been ordered to report with the detachment, had advanced some distance beyond that place on the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, where his command was engaged in repairing bridges which the retreating enemy had destroyed. The artillery detachment pushed on promptly and joined him May 30—12 M. At last they were on the “sacred soil” of a seceded state, ready to send the echoes of their guns reverberating among the Virginia hills. The Fourteenth Ohio boys gave the artillerymen a rousing reception, greeting them with loud and oft-repeated cheers.

At this time Colonel George A. Porterfield was in command of the rebel forces in that part of Virginia, with his headquarters at Grafton. The loyal sentiment in Western Virginia was very strong. Those who favored secession were in a decided minority. It was deemed of the highest importance to the Union cause to occupy the territory as fast and as securely as possible, thus affording encouragement and protection to the loyal people and holding that section from being dragged into the vortex of rebellion, clearly against the will of the great majority of the people.

The Confederate authorities were equally anxious to retain possession to recruit their armies, secure the supplies which the country afforded, and bring every possible influence to bear upon the people to induce them to cast their fortunes with the South. To this end Colonel Porterfield, upon assuming command a few days prior to Steadman’s occupation of Parkersburg, had issued a high-flown proclamation to the people of Western Virginia. In sounding phrase he called upon them to stand by their state and urged them to fill up the Confederate ranks and assist in protecting their firesides from the ravage of the invader. He assured them that not a foot[Pg 40] of Virginia soil should be surrendered to the hated “Yankees,” though it took every drop of blood in his veins. A few days later he and such of his soldiers as were not killed or captured were leaving tracks behind them with the utmost diligence, in their efforts to escape from their blue-coated pursuers.

General McClellan was in command of all the Union forces in that department. He planned the campaign and directed the movements that were so successful during the early days of the war. The services rendered by the three months’ men in Western Virginia were of inestimable value to the government, even though the amount of blood actually shed on either side was not large when compared with the copious streams that reddened the earth before the war was finished. The “battles” of those days would have ranked only as skirmishes when the great conflict was at its height, when mighty armies met and thousands upon thousands were slain or wounded in a single day. But history has justly given an enduring fame to those who sprang to arms at the first call, and by their promptness and gallantry saved Western Virginia to the Union. In this campaign the Cleveland Light Artillery bore a most honorable part and deserved the high praise which was so freely accorded to it.

The force under Colonel Steadman, including the detachment of the Cleveland Light Artillery, advanced rapidly along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, moving by train with occasional stops for the repair of bridges and culverts. With such celerity was this accomplished that on June 1—4 a. m., Clarksburg was reached, about eighty miles east of Parkersburg. There was occasional skirmishing on the way, and a few prisoners were picked up, but no action of moment took place. The enemy retreated at all points before the advance of the Union force. On May 30th Grafton was occupied, without loss of life, by a force under Colonel B. F. Kelley, First Virginia (Union) Volunteers, which made a rapid[Pg 41] movement from Wheeling and secured a safe lodgment at this important point. The rebels evacuated in mad haste upon its approach.

The rebel forces which had been driven out of Clarksburg and Grafton fell back to Philippi, some thirty miles south of Grafton. Here they made a stand and announced their determination to fight. It was at once decided to give them an opportunity to do so. An immediate advance of the Union forces upon that place was ordered. It was desirable to again strike the enemy before he should have time to fortify and otherwise strengthen his position. The rebel commander was calling loudly for reinforcements and it was deemed of the utmost importance to keep him on the run before his force should be so augmented as to outnumber the Union troops. The greatest energy was displayed in the movement on Philippi. Steadman, with five companies of the Fourteenth Ohio Infantry and Companies D and F of the Cleveland Artillery, was ordered by rail to Webster, within 12 miles of Grafton, and the nearest point to Philippi. To reach the latter, a rapid march of fifteen miles was to be made. Steadman’s command moved from Clarksburg to Webster on the 2nd of June. Artillery in command of Lieutenant-Colonel S. B. Sturges. At the same time another column was advancing on Philippi from Grafton, under Colonel Kelley. The whole expedition was in command of Brigadier-General T. A. Morris, Colonel Lamb acting as staff officer for General McClellan.

It is now necessary to go back to Marietta and see what has become of the four companies of the artillery which remained grumbling in Camp Putnam when Lieutenant-Colonel Sturges went with the detachment to join Steadman. The impatient patriots did not have long to wait. One more night in camp, and then came a summons that electrified them. The four companies, with all the goods, chattels and other appurtenances thereto belonging, embarked on a steamboat and went with all speed[Pg 42] to Benwood, on the Virginia side of the river opposite Bellaire, and not far from Wheeling. The trip of sixty-five miles was made in a few hours and the happy Clevelanders set their feet for the first time within the confines of Dixie’s Land. Barnett reported to General Morris and was directed to move his command at once by rail to Grafton, where the four guns were attached to the column to be led by Kelley in the advance upon Philippi. The infantry force consisted of portions of Kelley’s regiment, the First Virginia, the North Indiana, Colonel Milroy, and the Sixteenth Ohio, Colonel Irvine. This column was ordered by rail to Thornton, a few miles east of Grafton, from which point the march to Philippi was to be made. The route was four or five miles longer than that to be traversed by the co-operating force to advance from Webster.

General Morris said in his order to Colonel Kelley prescribing the details of the movement, dated Grafton, June 2d, 1861: You must regulate your march according to your own discretion, and your bivouac or rest at night in such manner that you are sure of coming before the town of Philippi as near 4 o’clock tomorrow morning as possible. Should you this evening receive certain information that the rebels have retreated eastward from Philippi, you will make the resting time of your troops as short as possible, in order to follow them up with all the speed the strength of your troops will allow.

The right attacking column was under the command of Colonel Dumont, Seventh Indiana Volunteers, to which the force of Steadman had been joined, with part of the Sixth Indiana, Colonel Crittenden. The following is the order of General Morris to Colonel Dumont:

The intention was to surprise the rebels and the movement was admirably planned and carried out to effect this result. This force, leaving after dark, had reasonable assurance of reaching the enemy in advance of any information from their friends and, as events proved, did so. The advance was favored by the extreme darkness of the night and a continuous fall of rain. These circumstances contributed in no small degree to the complete success of the expedition, but they were rough enough on the raw soldiers who made their first march under such dismal conditions.

All night, through the darkness and drenching rain, the two columns pushed on, over roads so rough and muddy that they were in some places almost impassable to artillery. It was only by the aid of the men who swarmed around the carriages and put their hands to the wheels, that the panting horses were able to drag guns[Pg 44] and caissons. To the volunteers, that night was a baptism indeed. They tried bravely to keep up their spirits as they trudged along through mud and water and stumbled over the roots and stumps and stones that lay in their pathway. It was so dark that a man could scarcely see his file leader. That nocturnal experience knocked the poetry and romance out of “soldiering” with a suddenness and completeness that was paralyzing. Most of these men “followed the flag” during the long years of war. They passed through many such unspeakably wretched nights and days, but nothing afterward seemed to equal in misery those weary hours of floundering through the mire, with benumbed limbs and soaked and dripping garments during that night march to Philippi.

There was no postponement of the engagement on account of the weather, and promptly at the appointed hour, 4 a. m., the two columns were in communication before the town. Like most of the so-called “towns” in the South in those days, it wasn’t much of a place, though the county seat of Barbour county. It had a shabby courthouse, a still more shabby hotel, a few houses in which the Philippians lived, and a name—that was all.

The necessary dispositions for an attack were promptly and carefully made, with the object of capturing the entire rebel force, whatever it might be. At daylight the troops, which had nearly surrounded the town in order to “let no guilty man escape,” closed in from different directions to spring the trap that had been set. The early morning visitation was a complete surprise to the rebels. There were a few sleepy pickets posted at isolated points, several of which were taken in before they had fairly got their eyes open. At length a few of them sufficiently collected their scattered wits to fire off their guns and then break for the town. This alarmed the main body of the Confederate forces and in an instant the direst confusion prevailed. Colonel Porterfield and his staff had their headquarters at the hotel and[Pg 45] were yet asleep when the alarm was given. Hastily throwing on their clothes they quickly mounted their horses and dashed around endeavoring to learn what the trouble was all about.

The Union forces pressed rapidly forward on the heels of the retreating pickets. The whistling of bullets told the rebels that they must fight or run and that the decision must be made at once. In the light of subsequent evidence it may be considered likely that Colonel Porterfield was willing to fight, but the Confederate soldiers deemed it best to run, and they did. They stood not upon the order of their going but went at once and with the utmost precipitation. It was a regular “skedaddle,” to use a word that was current in war times.

The Cleveland artillerymen had an opportunity to use their guns and they made the most of it, to the extent of sixteen rounds. Although sharing fully in the wild excitement of the first meeting with the enemy they served their pieces with a coolness and skill that elicited from those in command words of the highest praise. (It is a matter of record that their missiles took off the leg of one soldier, the first casualty by artillery fire in the field done by the Union forces, but it is undeniably true that the roar of their guns and the plunging shot greatly aided in demoralizing the rebels and accelerating the speed with which they sought a safe place far in the rear.)

The rebels fled in wild dismay, utterly heedless of the efforts of their officers to stem the tide of disaster. They had barely time to get away, and left behind them a large quantity of supplies and material of war which had been collected. The rear end of the disorganized rebel procession had not disappeared when Colonel Kelley’s column came in sight. His advance dashed after the enemy, himself at the head, and there was a brisk skirmish. It did not last long, however, as the rebels fled out of range at the earliest possible moment. None of the Union soldiers were killed. A few were wounded,[Pg 46] and among them the gallant Colonel Kelley, who received a pistol shot in the breast, which incapacitated him from duty for some weeks. Prolonged pursuit of the fleeing foe was impossible, owing to the extremely exhausted condition of the men after their all-night march in the storm, while the rebels were fresh and able to get off at a speed that defied successful competition. The command of the Union forces devolved upon Colonel Dumont.

The Confederate Colonel Porterfield and his staff had been living in fine style at the village “tavern.” A good breakfast had been prepared for them by “mine host,” but the latter suddenly found himself entertaining unbidden and wholly unexpected guests. The inordinate haste with which the rebel commander and his official family evacuated the town would not permit them to partake of that breakfast, and it was eaten, with profoundly thankful hearts—and stomachs—by a company of Union officers.

The following is an extract from the official report of the affair, made to General McClellan by General Morris:

“The enemy was entirely off his guard and was completely surprised, as the reports of those engaged in the attack attest. The failure to capture the entire rebel force can only be attributed to the storm during the night. This unforeseen misfortune served to call forth an endurance seldom exhibited, and I feel that the heroism of officers and men was as truly displayed in a march of fifteen miles in pitchy darkness, drenching rain, and over a mountainous country as in the irresistible attack and hot pursuit of the discomfited enemy. The last five miles of Colonel Dumont’s column was made in one hour and a quarter. Many men fainted and were left on the road. Others threw away their haversacks and provisions to keep up, rushing forward with a determination that showed what spirit animated the command. I regard it as remarkable that under such circumstances[Pg 47] the two columns were but fifteen minutes apart at the time assigned for their meeting. An able reconnoissance in advance of Colonel Dumont’s column was made by Colonel F. W. Lauder, whose voluntary aid I gladly accepted, and to whose advice and assistance I am greatly indebted. The immediate direction of the artillery was confided to him. After the bridge was taken he pressed forward and joined Colonel Kelley, rode into the enemy’s ranks and captured the prisoner reported to have shot Colonel Kelley. He had great difficulty in restraining the Virginia volunteers from summarily dispatching the man, who was a noted secessionist and a quartermaster of the rebel forces.

“From the reports of Colonel Dumont (who, by reason of the fall of Colonel Kelley, had command), you will perceive there is much difficulty in making an accurate statement of the enemy’s losses. The killed are estimated at from fifteen to forty, which were carried off it is supposed by friends, during the confusion incident to the pursuit of the enemy. A large amount of camp equipage, provisions, arms, wagons, horses and medical stores were captured, an inventory of which will be made as soon as possible.”

When the tidings reached Cleveland of the “battle” and the creditable manner in which the “boys” had acquitted themselves, they were regarded as the heroes of the hour—warriors of the first magnitude. It was Cleveland’s first record under fire and the citizens felt a justifiable pride in the honorable part borne by their representatives in almost the first engagement of the war.

That the action at Philippi was not more sanguinary was not the fault of the Union soldiers. If the rebels had stayed no doubt there would have been a warm engagement. It takes two parties to get up a fight, and when one of them “runs away” in order that he may “live to fight another day,” there is no alternative but to postpone the battle until that day comes around. But[Pg 48] it was a clear and unquestionable victory, if it wasn’t a very big one. It was memorable as being the first field guns fired on the Union side in the Civil War. It was hailed through the North with loud acclaim. The newspapers teemed with praise of the gallant men who won it, and the mails were burdened with letters of congratulation and compliment from friends at home. It showed that the raw volunteers from the North had that endurance and pluck of which soldiers are made; it did much to prick the bubble of idle boasting that one Southern man could whip five “Yankees.” Indeed, it rather looked as though it was the Southern soldiers who would not fight, and some people believed, after Philippi, that the war was about over. Some of the victorious blue-coats thought so and they felt an exceeding great joy that they had been permitted to participate in the action that was the death-blow to the rebellion.

The satisfaction that filled loyal hearts everywhere was only equaled by the apprehension and alarm in the South that were caused by even so trifling a defeat as this. Especially was this true of the Confederate forces in Western Virginia, which were for a time in an almost hopeless state of demoralization. One point after another was being seized and held by the Union troops; regiments from Ohio and Indiana were hurrying forward to reinforce them, and there seemed little hope of being able to dislodge them from that part of the state. After the disaster at Philippi frantic dispatches were sent to the civil and military authorities at Richmond, representing the Confederate cause in that section to be in a desperate condition, and urging immediate and decisive steps to reorganize and reinforce the army, unless Western Virginia was to be abandoned to the enemy. It will not be out of place here to give one or two extracts from the correspondence which took place at this time between rebel officials in Western Virginia and at Richmond. Under date of June 6th, 1861, Major M. G. Harman,[Pg 49] commanding at Staunton, wrote to General Robert E. Lee:

“From all the information that I have received I am pained to have to express my conviction that Colonel Porterfield is entirely unequal to the position which he occupies. The affair at Philippi was a disgraceful surprise, occurring about daylight, there being no picket or guard of any kind on duty. The only wonder is that our men were not cut to pieces. They were all asleep and were only aroused by the firing of the enemy. The safety of the Northwest and of our inexperienced soldiers depends upon an immediate change of commanders, and giving the command to a bold and experienced leader. * * * * * I would again urge rapid reinforcements to regain possession of the Northwest, and that I may receive from you authority to call out and arm the companies from all the valley counties and send them to that quarter instead of their going, as heretofore directed, to their different rendezvous. Send up five thousand flint-lock muskets from Richmond and I will have them overhauled and put in order for use.”

On the same day Major Harman sent a communication to Colonel Porterfield in which he said:

“Tomorrow I shall send you a field battery, accompanied by cavalry and infantry, which will be joined by other troops on the way and the whole force will report to you at Beverly. On the day following from two to three thousand troops will be sent to you by President Davis from Richmond. I have received a telegraphic dispatch from the Commander-in-Chief of our army, saying: “Send a messenger to tell Colonel Porterfield to be valiant and maintain his ground until relief reaches him. Send him supplies if he wants them.” Having received no official communication from you, but learning from private sources, since the disaster to our arms at Philippi, that you are almost without ammunition, I have determined to send you a supply by express.”

When Porterfield and his men left Philippi they did[Pg 50] not stop running until they reached Huttonsville, nearly forty miles southward, and near Beverly, in Randolph county. From his headquarters there Porterfield wrote on June 9th to Colonel R. S. Garnett, Adjutant General of the Virginia forces at Richmond:

“My force is not only deficient in drill but ignorant, both officers and men, of the most ordinary duties of the soldier. With efficient drill officers they might be made effective; but I have to complain that the field officers sent to command these men are of no assistance to me, and are, for the most part, as ignorant of their duties as the company officers, and they as ignorant as the men. I hope, if I am continued in command, that good staff officers may be sent me to aid in organizing this raw force, than which there is none more so now in the service. * * * It is necessary that at least five thousand well-drilled men should be sent at once, as the enemy’s army is being daily reinforced; and if aid is not soon sent it will be impossible to keep the open field, even as a mere corps of observation, but we will have to retire to the mountains, where it will be most difficult, if not impossible, to provision even this small force.”

On June 11th Porterfield again wrote to Colonel Garnett and asked for a chance to redeem himself:

“The enemy remains at Philippi where they are reported to have about five thousand men and are fortifying themselves. The same number are said to be at Grafton. From five hundred to one thousand are said to be at Cheat River Bridge and other forces are stationed at different points on the railroads. * * * A regiment from Tennessee is expected here tomorrow, having in charge, as I am informed, some pieces of heavy artillery. No pieces heavier than 6-pounders should be sent to this country until some position is selected to be fortified and a strong and reliable infantry force is sent to support it. * * * The percussion caps sent have nearly all been of small size, for[Pg 51] shot-guns, and not large enough for muskets. As reinforcements are now expected, and we shall have active service in this part of the state, I desire to be continued on duty here. It was not until after repeated calls for aid, and when left with a small militia force entirely unprepared for the field, that I asked for duty elsewhere.”

But the Confederate authorities did not intend to have any more Philippis if they could avoid it by a change of commanders. On June 13th General Lee wrote from Richmond to Porterfield, informing him that Garnett had been promoted to Brigadier General and had been sent to take command in Northwestern Virginia.

A court of inquiry was created to inquire into the conduct of Porterfield at Philippi and the causes which led to the inglorious defeat and rout of the Confederate force. The court made an exhaustive investigation and submitted, on May 4, 1861, a lengthy report thereupon. A few extracts from this document will be read with interest by those who had a hand in the game:

“* * * On the morning of the day just indicated, at between daybreak and sunrise, this command was attacked and taken by surprise; no alarm or intimation of the enemy’s approach having been given by the guard or infantry pickets until the enemy was within some four hundred yards of the place, and had commenced the fire from his artillery. It is shown that a main and picket guard, as strong as was consistent with the effective infantry force present, was regularly detailed and posted at distances sufficiently far out to accomplish the object in view, provided they knew and did their duty, which latter is strongly to be suspected, from the fact that, although in advance, they failed to give any intimation of the enemy’s approach—a conclusion which is strengthened by the report of the mounted officers out with the scouting parties on the night of June 2nd, that they had neither seen an infantry picket nor been challenged by its sentinels, going from or returning[Pg 52] to the town that night. It appears that immediately upon the arrival of the command at Philippi the officer in command, Colonel Porterfield, took measures to place his force, which was raw and new in service, under a course of instruction, and to select those in his opinion best fitted to instruct the sentinels and guards in their duties. The testimony shows that, while there was a certain degree of confusion in some quarters, a portion of the command moved from the town in good order, and that the whole force, nearly, after passing some distance, was reformed and proceeded in order.

“It is shown in the evidence that an expectation of attack or movement on Philippi, shortly to be made, was generally entertained among the officers and others of the command, and that intelligence (how well founded is not known) was brought from time to time of the strength and supposed intent of the enemy.

“The testimony sets forth that this had so far produced its effect as to induce the officer in command to call a meeting of his officers; that the result of their consultations and deliberations was an almost if not entirely unanimous decision in favor of immediate retreat; that when Colonel Porterfield returned to the room (from which he had been absent a short time), their opinion was conveyed to him, to which he seemed loath to accede; yet, determined to make a further examination of the ammunition on hand, and to prepare the baggage and train for removal at a moment’s notice.”

Here follow several points in which, according to the judgment of this court, the commanding officer “erred.” General R. E. Lee, in reviewing the case, approved the finding of the court and said:

“The commanding general remarks with pleasure upon the coolness, self-possession, courage and energy displayed by Colonel Porterfield at the moment of attack; but he cannot exonerate him from blame in not taking proper precautionary measures beforehand. Yet, in[Pg 53] consideration of all the circumstances of the case, he does not think it necessary to do more than to express the opinion of the court, in the hope that the sad effects produced by the want of forethought and vigilance, exhibited in this case, will be a lesson to be remembered by the army throughout the war.”

After the action at Philippi came a season of inaction. The available Union force was not deemed sufficient to make a further advance without too great risk of defeat, which would put in imminent jeopardy all the advantage that had been gained. For a month the troops lay quietly at Philippi, detachments being stationed to guard the bridges on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The headquarters of the Cleveland Artillery were at Philippi, but the companies were scattered, some of them, with their guns, doing duty with the bridge guards. There were constant rumors of active service ahead and of impending attacks by the enemy, but none of them appeared to have any foundation in fact, for the weeks passed without any of “war’s alarms” of a serious nature.

During the latter part of June General Henry A. Wise became a prominent factor in Confederate operations in Western Virginia. At the head of a considerable force he threatened an attack upon Philippi. As the Fourth of July drew near a report came to be currently believed that on that day he would attempt to retake the place. All arrangements possible for defense were made. Neither officers nor soldiers had yet learned much about fortifying, in the art of which they became so skilled at a later day, but some rude works had been thrown up which promised to be serviceable and “handy” in case of attack. Part of the guns of the Cleveland Artillery were kept in position where it was thought they might do the most good if there came a rebel visitation. A strong and vigilant picket guard was maintained to prevent anything in the nature of a surprise.

Most of the soldiers were in a sad plight as to clothing. Especially was this true of the members of the[Pg 54] Cleveland Artillery. Much of the wretchedly poor, shoddy clothing received by them at Camp Putnam had literally fallen to pieces. The men were actually in rags. Some of them went around during those warm July days with only drawers to cover the nakedness of their nether limbs. They looked more like a congregation of beggars than patriotic American citizens engaged in the work of saving the country. That pestilent insect, the “grayback,” made its appearance and was soon on terms of the closest intimacy with them. Probably not one in twenty of these innocent young men had ever seen one of these things before. Most of them did not even know that this carnivorous bug had an existence in the wide and variegated realm of animated nature. But it did not take them long to become extensively acquainted with him.

Patriotic emotions were active as the “Glorious Fourth” drew near, and although the American Eagle seemed to be in a bad way just then, it was determined to have a fitting celebration of the day, whether or not Wise kept his reputed engagement. Notwithstanding their dilapidated condition the members of the artillery entered into the matter with great gusto. The arrangements were made by a committee consisting of Colonels Dumont, Sixth Indiana, Milroy, Ninth Indiana, Lieutenant Colonel Dickey, Fifteenth Ohio, “Bob” McCook, Ninth Ohio, Barnett, Cleveland Light Artillery, and others. During the month previous the Union forces had been augmented by several additional regiments, as designated above.

An elaborate program was made out, which included speeches, music, both vocal and instrumental, and, of course, the reading of that patriotic but somewhat musty and dusty old document, the Declaration of Independence. This always has been, and probably always will be, considered an essential factor in a Fourth of July celebration, under any and all circumstances, although nobody ever listens to it, or can remember, five minutes[Pg 55] after a single word of what it contains. In casting about for a person who could read this ponderous paper with fitting dignity and impressiveness the committee decided upon Warren P. Edgarton, then a private of Company D, Cleveland Light Artillery, who had won some reputation as an elocutionist, and he was promptly detailed for this duty.

Edgarton was in sore distress of mind over the condition of his wardrobe. He hadn’t any clothes to speak of, and half the time was running around camp with only a ragged shirt and a pair of drawers. He had a fine physique and would tip the beam at about a hundred and eighty. He had a sort of artillery jacket but it was three sizes too small, and when he crowded himself into it he looked and felt like a woman wearing a tightly laced corset; so that he didn’t put it on except on state occasions, when his usual negligee uniform would be considered a gross and violent breach of army regulations. He had a pair of shoes that were three sizes too large for even his substantial and well-developed feet, in which he would go sloshing around camp. At night he used to “park” his shoes outside, as there wasn’t room for them in the tent, without crowding everybody out. He wore on his head a little cap which, never within an inch of his size, had so shrunk and shriveled under the demoralizing influence of sun and storm that it only lay upon the top of his head, looking not much bigger than a postage stamp. All in all he was a startling and picturesque object to stand before a crowd of raging patriots and read the Declaration of Independence.

Something had to be done to get him into presentable shape for the occasion. The honor and credit of the Artillery were at stake. It would be an insult to the “Spirit of Seventy-six” for such a half-naked tatterdemalion to get up and pronounce the thundering sentences of Thomas Jefferson. So Colonel Barnett, Captain Rice and others whose pride was stirred began to forage[Pg 56] through the town for some clothes that would adorn Edgarton’s shapely form and redound to the credit of the Battery. A black claw-hammer dress coat was found after a long search and the owner consented to loan it for the occasion. This was supplemented by broadcloth trousers, a hat belonging to one of the officers and a pair of fancy, high-heeled boots. The latter one of the boys had brought along from home, with a vague idea that they would be useful to him in putting down the rebellion. They were not large enough for Edgarton’s feet, but he contrived to squeeze into them at the last moment and to endure their pinching while he was doing his part in “letting the eagle scream.”

There had been considerable difficulty in finding a copy of the Declaration. The Philippians of Western Virginia were not a literary folk, and few of them appeared ever to have heard of it. At length a copy was found, in a musty law book at the courthouse.

Edgarton was greeted with hearty applause as he mounted the platform. This was followed by general laughter at his unique appearance. Such another “makeup” was never seen in the army, before nor since, in this or any other country. But he read the Declaration of Independence in fine style and was tremendously cheered. Lieutenant Colonel Geo. B. Este, of the Fourteenth Ohio, followed with an admirable address; the bands almost blew their heads off; patriotic songs were sung; and the celebration was a great success. The rebel General Wise failed to show up and nothing interfered with the carrying out of the program.

No sooner had the “Glorious Fourth” been fittingly and satisfactorily celebrated than the troops were directed to prepare at once for another campaign. On July 6th General Morris, commanding at Philippi, received orders to advance early the following day, occupy Belington, fifteen miles southward, and menace the enemy, who was in strong position at Laurel Hill, near that place. The movement was made promptly, according[Pg 57] to the plan. The writer has before him a yellow, ink-stained paper, a memento of the advance from Philippi. It is endorsed “Programme, march to Laurel Hill,” and announces the following order of the procession, the words in brackets being supplied for explanatory purposes:

First Virginia, four companies.
Milroy [Ninth Indiana].
Steadman, First Battalion [Fourteenth Ohio].
Barnett, four pieces [Cleveland Light Artillery].
Steadman, Second Battalion [Fourteenth Ohio].
Barnett, two pieces [Cleveland Light Artillery]
First Virginia, two companies.
Dumont [Seventh Indiana].
Headquarters
Fulton
Dickey [Fifteenth Ohio].
Crittenden [Sixth Indiana].
Ammunition wagons.
Band.
Four caissons, two guns [Cleveland Light Artillery].

It will be observed that both front and rear were well protected by artillery. The commanding general prudently sandwiched his headquarters in the center of the column. We must also admire the tender solicitude for the safety of the band, as shown by its position as far as possible from the front and flanked by two guns and four caissons of Barnett’s artillery.

The march was begun about midnight. The movement was rapid and at daylight the skirmishers struck the rebel pickets near Belington. A section of the artillery was immediately ordered to the front and a few shells were tossed among the enemy’s outposts, with most demoralizing effect. The Union skirmishes, well supported, quickly pushed the pickets back to the main line, which was strongly fortified. Some of the pickets showed fight at first and there was a brisk skirmish, in which the Cleveland Artillery suffered its first casualty. George W. Tillotson, of Company D, caught a musket ball in the groin. He received every possible attention[Pg 58] and as soon as circumstances would permit was sent to the rear. He finally reached his home in Cleveland but never fully recovered, dying from the effects of his wound, a few years later. He was the first man from Cleveland to shed his blood in the Union cause.

When the artillery was ordered to move there was the greatest activity in preparing for the impending campaign. The men were exceedingly anxious to acquit themselves with credit, and spared no pains to make the battery as effective as possible. The ammunition was carefully inspected and put in order, and the guns were polished until they shone like mirrors. The men were “hard up” for clothing, the supply having been exceedingly limited—scanty in quantity and poor in quality. Every effort had been made to procure better supplies but without success. The state authorities and the United States government appeared to be about equally neglectful of the needs of the soldiers. Rations were generally good and sufficient, and there was little cause for complaint on that score.

Whenever occasion offered the artillery served with excellent effect. The years of instruction and drill at home proved a most valuable school. The skill of the gunners in training their pieces and timing shells was such as to win for them the warmest commendations. The members of the infantry regiment formed a strong attachment for the artillerymen. They had an abiding faith in the efficacy of Barnett’s cannon, and when engaged in any movement seemed to be doubly confident if accompanied by a section or two of the artillery.

The order from General McClellan to General Morris was to avoid delivering battle at Laurel Hill if possible, but to firmly press the enemy at all points and hold him in his works, until the co-operating column under General Rosecrans should come up and attack in flank and rear. Rosecrans struck the rebels at Rich Mountain and after a hot fight completely routed them, capturing many prisoners and a large quantity of material of war.[Pg 59] The confederate defeat at Rich Mountain and the prompt advance of General Rosecrans rendered the rebel position at Laurel Hill untenable. The enemy abandoned it in great haste.

During the few days that the troops under General Morris lay at Belington there was constant skirmishing with the enemy. Day and night all were kept on the alert, and the whistle of bullets began to be a familiar sound. The guns of the Cleveland Artillery were advantageously posted and were brought into occasional use. The men were constantly at their posts. Now and then a shell or a solid shot would be sent over to the rebels, just to let them know that the “Yankees” were still there and wide awake. In an official report dated “Headquarters near Belington, Va., July 9, 1861,” General Morris says:

“The instructions of the commanding general will be carried out, although it is difficult to restrain our men from advancing. I hardly know in what terms to convey to you their enthusiasm. Their coolness under such fire as we have been subjected to (incessant since our arrival), is most creditable to them, and establishes beyond all question, if proof were needed, that they can be relied upon in any emergency. The regiments in advance are Milroy’s Ninth Indiana, Barnett’s Artillery, Steadman’s Fourteenth Ohio, and Dumont’s Seventh Indiana, all of which deserve special mention.”

On July 12th the rebels, having retreated from Belington and Laurel Hill during the day and night previous, General Morris moved in pursuit. The following is an extract from a report made by him dated “Carrick’s Ford, Va., July 14, 1861:

“I reported yesterday morning the progress of the forces of my command in pursuit of the enemy retreating from Laurel Hill. The pursuit was continued through the day in the same order as stated in my report of yesterday morning, viz.: Steadman’s Fourteenth Ohio in advance with two sections of Barnett’s artillery,[Pg 60] next Dumont’s Seventh Indiana and Milroy’s Ninth Indiana. These regiments started in pursuit from our resting place near Leadsville at about 4 o’clock in the morning. The remainder of the troops were on the march by 5 o’clock a. m. A drizzling rain commenced about 6 o’clock, which by 9 became quite heavy. The enemy left the main turnpike and turned towards Cheat river, crossing two branches of the Laurel mountain over a narrow and rough road. Owing to the heavy rain the roads were rendered very difficult for the men and the few wagons of ammunition and provisions. By 11 o’clock the rain became a drenching storm and so continued for several hours, the roads in the mountains becoming almost impassable. At 2 o’clock the whole command was up in the position we now occupy.

“The attention of the commanding general is particularly called to the gallant bearing of the infantry and artillery which led the advance. I would also call attention to the fact that the entire command commenced the pursuit on a few minutes’ notice, without time to prepare even a day’s rations for the haversacks. I ordered four wagons to be loaded with hard bread and pork to follow the command. These four wagons, with the little additional rations put in with the ammunition, are all the provisions the command has had since leaving Belington, except some beeves procured in this vicinity.

“The march of yesterday was from eighteen to twenty miles. When it is considered that we have put to flight a force equal to our own, and have pursued the rebels night and day for thirty hours, almost without provisions, over a mountainous and difficult road, and part of the time through a drenching storm, we may feel sure that our cause must be successfully maintained by men who show such gallant bearing and soldierly endurance.”

Then came the brilliant attack upon the enemy at Carrick’s Ford, which resulted in the utter defeat and rout of the rebels. Their commander, General Garnett,[Pg 61] was among the killed. The story of this important engagement cannot be more concisely told than by giving almost entire the official report of General H. W. Benham, who was in immediate command of the Union force. The report was made to General Morris:

“In accordance with your directions, I this morning took command of the advance guard of your column, consisting of the Fourteenth Ohio, Colonel Steadman, with one section of Barnett’s Artillery, the Seventh Indiana, Colonel Dumont, and the Ninth Indiana, Colonel Milroy, in all about 1,800 men. With this force, as instructed, I started from Leadsville at about 4 o’clock a. m. to pursue the army of General Garnett, which, consisting, as we learned, of 4,000 to 5,000 men and four to six cannon, had retreated from the north side of Laurel mountain near Belington the day before yesterday. It being ascertained that the enemy had retired toward the village of New Interest and thence, as was supposed, over a mountain road leading to the Shafer Fork, or main branch, of the Cheat river, to Saint George. The troops were brought rapidly forward on their route, so as to reach the entrance of the mountain road—about seven miles march—at 6 o’clock. A short distance after entering this path the passage was found to be obstructed by large trees, recently felled, in about twelve to fifteen places, and in nearly every defile for three or four miles. Information was from time to time received that this force, which had some fifteen hours the start of us from Belington, was now only four to five miles in advance. This encouraged our efforts, and though for nearly the whole time the rain was pouring in torrents and the clayey roads were in many places almost impassable, the spirit of the troops, without exception, as it came under my eye, was such as to bear them most rapidly onward under all these trials, super-added to that of hunger, with which the greater part of them had suffered for the previous fifteen or twenty hours.

At about noon we reached Kaler’s, the first ford of the[Pg 62] Shafer Branch or main fork of Cheat river, having within the previous two or three miles fired at and driven in several pickets of the enemy protecting those who were forming the barricades, and at one place we broke up a camp where the meals were being cooked. At the ford near Kaler’s, and at about half the distance to another ford, which we afterward met with one mile farther on, we saw the baggage train of the enemy, apparently at rest. This I proposed to attack as soon as strengthened by the arrival of Steadman’s second battalion, with Dumont’s regiment, when the thoughtless firing of a musket at our ford set the train rapidly in motion, and long lines of infantry were formed in order of battle to protect it. In a few minutes, however, the arrival of Barnett’s artillery, with Dumont close upon it, enabled the command to push forward in its original order, but the train and its guard had retired, leaving only a few skirmishers to meet us at the second ford, where, however, quite a rapid firing was kept up by the advance regiment, and Barnett’s artillery opened for some minutes to more completely clear the adjacent woods of the enemy.

“We then continued our march rapidly to the ford, and as we approached it we came upon the enemy’s train, the last half of it just crossing, in the river. The enemy was found to have taken a strong position, with his infantry and artillery, upon a precipitous bank fifty to eighty feet in height, upon the opposite side of the river, while our own position was upon the low land, nearly level with the river. Steadman’s regiment, in the advance, opened fire most gallantly upon them, which was immediately returned by their strong force of infantry and by their cannon, upon which Barnett’s artillery was ordered up and opened upon them with excellent effect.

As I soon perceived a position by which their left could be turned, six companies of Colonel Dumont’s regiment were ordered to cross the river about three hundred yards above them, to pass up the hill obliquely[Pg 63] from our right to their left, and take them in rear. Owing to some mistake, possibly in the transmission of the order, this command crossed about double the distance intended and turned at first to their right, which delayed the effect of the movement. After some fifteen minutes, however, this error was rectified, and, the hill being reported as impracticable, this command, now increased to the entire regiment, was ordered down to the ford, there to take the enemy directly in front at the road.

“The firing of Steadman’s regiment and of Milroy’s, now well up and in action, with repeated and rapid discharges from Barnett’s artillery during this movement, decided the action at once. As Dumont reached the road, having passed along and under their whole front, the firing ceased and the enemy fled in great confusion. Dumont’s regiment pursued them for about one mile farther, having brisk skirmishing with their rear for the first half of that distance, during which General Garnett was killed. The enemy would still have been followed up most closely, and probably to the capture of a large portion of their scattered army, but this was absolutely impossible with our fatigued and exhausted troops, who had already marched eighteen miles or more, in an almost incessant, violent rain, the greater part of them without food since the evening and a portion of them even from the noon of yesterday, so warm had been the pursuit of the enemy on their hasty retreat from Laurel Mountain, twenty-six miles distant. The troops were, therefore, halted for food and rest at about 2 p. m.

“The result of the action proves to be the capture of about forty loaded wagons and teams, being nearly all the enemy’s baggage train, as we learn, and including a large portion of new clothing, camp equipage and other stores; their headquarter papers and military chest; also two stands of colors and one fine rifled piece of artillery; while the commanding general, Robert S.[Pg 64] Garnett, is killed, his body being now cared for by us, and fifteen or twenty more of the enemy are killed and nearly fifty prisoners taken. Our own loss is two killed and six or seven wounded—one dangerously.

“In concluding this report I feel it my duty to state that just as the action was closing, the head regiment of the body of troops under yourself, though starting as I learn three hours later, the Sixth Indiana, under Colonel Crittenden, came upon the field in excellent order, but, unfortunately, too late to aid us in the battle.

“The conduct of those gallant officers, Colonels Barnett, Steadman, Dumont and Milroy, with the steady perseverance of their officers and men in their long and arduous march, suffering from hunger, rain and cold, with their gallantry in action, was most heroic and beyond all praise of mine. Their country only can fully appreciate and reward their services.”

This was the most important victory that had yet been achieved by the Union forces anywhere. It is true that very small figures expressed the losses on either side, but loyal people everywhere were anxiously watching for successes, and the “battle” of Carrick’s Ford threw the whole North into a spasm of tempestuous rejoicing. The pluck and heroism of the volunteers was lauded to the skies—and it may fairly be said that they deserved it. The members of the Ohio artillery, with whom this chronicle has particularly to do, had added fresh laurels to those gained at Philippi and Laurel Hill, and the people of Cleveland regarded them in the same light in which the world looks upon the Six Hundred who made the historic charge at Balaklava. So conspicuous were their services and so gallant their bearing that they were awarded the cannon captured from the enemy at Carrick’s Ford. At the close of the three months’ service they took this trophy back with them to Cleveland. It was placed in the Public Square, where it remaineth unto this day, with an inscription upon it that[Pg 65] he who runs may read. This inscription, by the way, was at first fearfully and wonderfully made. A geographical student would be impressed with the fact that unless the people of Cleveland could fight better than they could spell they wouldn’t capture many cannon in that or any other war. The inscription, which was put on by somebody who was not within three hundred miles of the battle, informed the wayfarer that the gun was captured at “Corricke’s Forde.” The atrocious orthography greeted the public eye for nearly twenty years, when it was corrected, to the great satisfaction of the old survivors of the artillery.

The writer has before him the official reports of a number of Confederate officers who participated in the action at Carrick’s Ford. Naturally they magnify the Union force and losses, and in a measure that is ridiculous. They place the Union strength at from ten to fifteen thousand, their own being but a tenth of that number. The “Yankees” are estimated to have had on their hands after this action material for one hundred and fifty funerals, with one additional loss of from two to four hundred wounded. It will be remembered that General Benham, in his official report to General Morris, states that the Union loss was “two killed and six or seven wounded.”

It is interesting to note the extreme caution shown at that time by officers and others on the Union side in communicating with the rebels. There was an evident desire to avoid the slightest word that would appear to be a recognition of any official authority, civil or military, among the insurgents. It was considered that if a rebel general or colonel was addressed as such it was a virtual recognition of the power that conferred such rank upon him. So, on July 15, General McClellan addressed a communication “To the Officer Commanding the Forces Commanded by the late Robert S. Garnett, Esq., styling himself Brigadier-General Confederate States Army.”

[Pg 66]

The battle of Carrick’s Ford ended the fighting of the Cleveland Artillery in the three months’ service. The command moved back to Belington and the artillery was ordered to report to General McClellan, who had planned an expedition up the Kanawha Valley after the rebel General Wise. He warmly complimented Colonel Barnett and his men for their valuable services in the campaign under General Morris, and expressed an earnest wish that they might accompany him up the Kanawha. As a matter of fact they had not as yet even been mustered into the United States service, and the three months for which they were called out had expired. But, pursuant to orders, Colonel Barnett reported with his command to McClellan at Beverly, where the General made a personal appeal to the men to accompany his expedition, and nearly all of them expressed a willingness to do so. A few days later, before McClellan was ready for the Kanawha campaign, came the first real battle of the war—that of Bull Run, in Virginia, which resulted in the rout of the Union army under McDowell and brought to the people of the North an actual realization of the fact that they had a war on their hands. In the wild excitement that followed this battle General McClellan was summoned to Washington to take command of the Army of the Potomac and his plans for further offensive operations in Western Virginia were for the time abandoned.

A week later Colonel Barnett and his “regiment” of artillery were ordered to be discharged and started at once for Columbus. It should be stated here, to their credit, that the citizens of Cleveland had done all in their power to contribute to the comfort and wellbeing of the command during its service in the field. It has already been said that the men were but poorly supplied with clothing by the state and national governments, for which apparent neglect there was much good reason. The three months’ men were called out suddenly and pushed to the front to meet a great and pressing emergency.[Pg 67] Their services and sacrifices were of inestimable value to the country. They secured a permanent lodgment at many points beyond the border, and held the enemy at bay while the government was getting ready for the mighty struggle which followed. The echoes of Sumter found the nation totally unprepared for such a crisis, and it is not a matter of wonder that the early volunteers who, with magnificent patriotism, responded so promptly to the call, were but indifferently provided for. The people of Cleveland contributed liberally, and twice Mr. David Price came to the camp of the artillerymen with quantities of clothing, food and delicacies for the sick. But for this most highly appreciated kindness the boys in the field would have had scarcely so much as fig-leaves to cover their nakedness. It is true there wasn’t much “uniform” about the garments and they were a grotesque appearing lot of men for soldiers, but it gave them a comparative degree of comfort and they “got there just the same” as if they had been arrayed in all the gorgeous trappings of martial splendor. All the greater honor was theirs because they served so faithfully and well and bore without complaint the discomforts and privations inseparable from a campaign in such a country and under such circumstances.

In due time, with little delay en route, the artillery reached Columbus, homeward bound. The tanned and ragged volunteers, fresh from fields of glory, were welcomed with great enthusiasm at the state capital. They had done well their part and their fame had gone before them, losing nothing in its travels. They were looked upon as the saviors of their country and people of every grade and rank were proud to do them honor.

It may well be imagined that the boys were in a hurry to get home, and the formalities necessary to their release were hurried as fast as possible. The officers and men were paraded for muster and were mustered in and out of the United States service at the same time. Then all were paid off in gold. The amount received did not,[Pg 68] it is true, raise them at once to a condition of opulence. Less than fifty dollars apiece didn’t look very large for more than three months of such toil, hardship and danger, but for the time, with the gold chinking in his pocket, each man felt as if he owned a bank. Their financial condition was in marked contrast to the state of chronic insolvency in which they had been so long, for they had had no funds with which to patronize the sutler except such as was sent them at irregular intervals by friends at home. Whenever one of them got ten dollars he was looked upon as a Rothschild or a Vanderbilt and loans were negotiated with a rapidity that soon exhausted his wealth. As a general thing when a man got any money it was quickly absorbed by the liquidation of his debts. After the interview with the paymaster at Columbus there was a universal squaring of accounts.

The horses and other property belonging to the state were turned over to the authorities, and the “regiment” was soon ready to start for Cleveland. The men had been permitted to bring with them from Western Virginia (as a recognition of their valor and conspicuous services), the piece of artillery captured at Carrick’s Ford, and four long-eared mules which the rebels had used as the propelling power of the cannon in their migratory wanderings. These trophies were guarded with zealous care, for the boys were proud of them, as they had a right to be. At Columbus they were objects of the greatest curiosity and interest. War, right at home, was then a new thing to the people of the country and anything of this nature was regarded as a nine-days’ wonder.

While at Columbus a telegram was received by Colonel Barnett from Amasa Stone, Esq., of Cleveland, inquiring at what time the artillery would arrive in Cleveland. The friends of the warriors as well as the citizens generally desired to know in order that they might give them a fitting reception. The dispatch was duly answered[Pg 69] as soon as the time of departure could be definitely fixed. At length all things were ready, and after midnight of July 28th the happy artillerymen, with their trophies of cannon and mules, left for Cleveland. How the boys shouted and yelled as the train “pulled out” of the depot and sped away toward “home, sweet home!” In fact they didn’t do much but yell all the way to Cleveland. Their coming had been heralded along the route and at every station crowds of people greeted them in the most tumultuous manner. If the boys could have charged dime museum price for looking at the gun and mules from rebeldom they would have made their fortunes.

Meanwhile elaborate preparations were going on in Cleveland to welcome the returning volunteers with open arms. They were expected to arrive during the forenoon and before 9 o’clock a great multitude of people thronged the railroad and its approaches. It was something like the crowd that, more than three months before, had assembled to bid them farewell and God speed. Shortly before the arrival of the train the city militia and the fire department marched down Champlain street and formed in line near the railroad.

At ten o’clock the train came in sight and as it drew up to the point of debarkation at the foot of Vineyard—now known as South Water—street a mighty volume of cheers went up from the assembled multitude—cheers for Colonel Barnett, cheers for the brave soldiers, and cheers for the cannon and mules that the boys had captured from the “seceshers.” As the men stepped from the cars they were clasped in the arms of loved ones, who wept tears of joy at the safe return of sons and brothers and husbands. Then came the hearty and effusive greetings of friends and acquaintances, amidst constant cheering and the music of brass bands. It was a glorious reception, creditable alike to the people of Cleveland and to those who so well merited the demonstration.

[Pg 70]

After the hand-shaking and words of welcome were over the returned soldiers formed in procession, a conspicuous object in the column being the rebel 6-pounder, to which were attached the mules lately in the Confederate service. Two of the soldiers served in the capacity of muleteers, each bestriding the “nigh” animal of one of the teams. The novel outfit was prodigiously cheered along the entire line of march.

Escorted by the city organizations, the fire department and an immense throng of people, the “veterans” marched up Superior street to the Public Square, General A. S. Sanford acting as marshal. The whole street was thronged with men, women and children, with smiles of greeting upon their faces and shouts upon their lips. The windows and balconies were filled with ladies, who waved their handkerchiefs in kindly welcome and clapped their hands as the “brown soldiers come back from the borders” went tramping by. Company D, Captain P. W. Rice, carried a rebel flag captured at Philippi which was loudly cheered—not because it was an emblem of treason but because it was captured by Cleveland volunteers.

Arrived at the Park the artillerymen were formed in a hollow square, surrounded by thousands of people, and were addressed as follows by Judge Samuel Starkweather, who had been chosen to extend a formal welcome home:

Under the circumstances Judge Starkweather may be pardoned for drawing a long bow, but candor compels the admission that when the boys came home the “beautiful banner” was not, strictly speaking, “floating from every Virginia hill-top.” There were still a few hill-tops left over which the star spangled flag was not floating, nor did it float till some years later.

At the close of the loud and prolonged applause which[Pg 72] greeted the Judge’s address, showing how clearly the feelings of the people were in harmony with the sentiments he expressed. Colonel Barnett made the following brief reply:

There was loud cheering and plenty of it as Colonel Barnett bowed and retired, and the band struck up “The Bowld Soger Boy.” The exercises over, the companies were variously taken care of and the crowd slowly dispersed. A committee of German citizens took charge of Company E, Captain Heckman, and Company B, Captain Mack, and escorted them to Haltnorth’s, where they were filled up with refreshments, solid and liquid. The four other companies were escorted to the Weddell House, where a sumptuous dinner was served them in fine style. It made up in some degree for the many times during the previous three months when they had yearned unspeakably for a “square meal.”

Later in the day the members of Company C, Captain Pelton, were banqueted at their armory in Brooklyn Village, a committee of fifteen ladies doing the honors of the occasion. In the afternoon Company F, Captain Kenny, took a train to Geneva, where its members were right royally welcomed.

The following paragraphs from Cleveland newspapers of the time will be of interest in this connection:

At a meeting of the Cleveland City Council, held on the evening of July 30th, the following preamble and resolutions, offered by Councilman T. N. Bond, were adopted with great enthusiasm:

These resolutions were transmitted to Colonel Barnett by Mayor Flint—long an active and zealous member of the Cleveland Artillery—with the following letter:

The following appeared editorially in the Cleveland Leader of July 30th, 1862:

Thus these citizen soldiers, who at home often were scoffed at for playing soldier in time of peace, by their timely military training, were ready to, and did almost at a day’s notice respond to the call of their country and served it well. The artillery piece captured at Carrick’s Ford was brought to Columbus and turned over to the state, but Colonel Barnett wished to take it to Cleveland. Said Quartermaster General Wood, who then had charge of the arms of the state, to Colonel Barnett: “I think no objection will be raised if you take the gun to Cleveland; your men captured it and I guess you can find a way to hold it.” The piece may now be seen on the Public Square, in its way a monument to the valor and heroism of the old artillerymen of Cleveland.

With this elaborate and protracted welcome home, which would appear to have been most satisfactory to[Pg 76] all concerned, in both its fullness and its cordiality, closes the honorable record of the Cleveland Artillery in the “three months’ service.” Henceforward we follow the fortunes of the First Regiment Ohio Light Artillery, through its four years of brilliant service in the field.

INDEPENDENT COMPANIES.

But the seed sown by the old gun squad and the First Cleveland Light Artillery had not yet exhausted its strength. It continued to take root, expand and blossom. Privates Joseph C. Shields and Frank Wilson, of Captain Rice’s battery, after their three months’ service in the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Artillery, imbued as they had become with a military spirit, and with patriotic impulse, soon organized an independent artillery battery, which was mustered into service Sept. 10, 1862. It numbered 164 men, had six guns, and was called the Nineteenth Independent Battery, Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery. Captain Shields became commander, who at the end of two years resigned, when Mr. Wilson, who had been first lieutenant of the company, became its captain. The battery was in the siege of Knoxville, in the East Tennessee campaign, in the siege of Atlanta, Ga., and at other places of interest, historic in the great struggle. The men were mustered out June 27, 1865, at the close of the war.

In this battery was Quartermaster Sergeant Pardon B. Smith, who afterwards became sheriff of Cuyahoga County, and now each year meets with the “old association,” gladdening the occasion with spirit and song.

There was another man who belonged to this battery—Lieutenant James W. Grimshaw—who may properly be mentioned in this connection. When Fort Sumter fell there was great excitement in Cleveland, as there was all over the country. Crowds gathered in the streets and public places in large numbers. At one of these assemblies on the Public Square in Cleveland, a man was imprudent enough to call out “Hurrah for the South!”[Pg 77] Mr. Grimshaw, standing near, immediately shouted, “I say hurrah for the Union flag!” Soon bitter words passed between the two men and a rough and tumble followed in which the rebel sympathizers got much the worst of the fight. Thus the civil war began in Cleveland! Lieutenant Grimshaw returned from the war, was elected to the city council and died some years since, greatly respected. Another of those who received a military schooling in the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, under Colonel Barnett, was Corporal Louis Smithnight. Like Captains Shields and Wilson, the three months he had been in the war incited him to further military service. He organized and became captain of the Twentieth Battery, Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, which went into service Oct. 29, 1862, for a term of three years. The battery was in the siege at Atlanta, Ga., and in the battles of Dalton and Chickamauga in that state, and in the battles at Liberty Gap, Franklin and Nashville, in Tennessee.

BARNETT’S BIG REGIMENT.

Early in the war the governor of Ohio decided to place in the field a full regiment of artillery. The chief centers of population in the state readily responded to the call and twelve companies were soon organized, numbering in all more than 1,800 men, commanding seventy-two guns. The command of this large force, a fair-sized army in itself, was sought by several men of military distinction. Quartermaster General Wood of the governor’s staff, who for so many years had been associated with Colonel Barnett in the old Cleveland Artillery, strongly recommended the colonel for the position. Sept. 3, 1861, Governor Dennison gave him his commission. But not only was Colonel Barnett of Cleveland’s old gun squad made colonel of this new regiment, called the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, but three of his associates in this early[Pg 78] school of artillery training were given commissions of command next to him.

Captain W. H. Hayward was made lieutenant colonel, while Walter E. Lawrence and Seymour Race became majors. To have four of the chief officers of this regiment all from Cleveland and all of the old Cleveland artillery, indeed, was high honor. But these men who had cherished fond hopes of leading their regiments to the front were destined to be disappointed. An order came from Washington directing the several batteries to report, some at one point and some at another, where their services were deemed most needed. Thus the companies were separated and the chief field officers were shorn of active command.

Colonel Barnett, however, was called to a higher position. He was made chief of artillery on the staff of General W. S. Rosecrans, one of the best fighting generals in the Union army; was with him in battle and all the fortunes of war. Lieutenant Colonel Hayward was made chief of artillery in the third army corps, third division of the Army of the Potomac, under General Daniel Sickles, where he did valiant service until worn out by hard work, April 1, 1863, under advice of army physicians he was compelled to resign. Later, however, recovering something of his health, he was made colonel of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Major Lawrence became a colonel, served with distinction and died in the service. Major W. F. Goodspeed, now a resident of Columbus, O., who meets with the “old artillery association” each year, was one of the best of the many good fighting men who belonged to General Barnett’s regiment. He was mustered into the service as a private, became a lieutenant, then a captain and came out at the end of the war a major.

Major Seymour Race, heretofore mentioned, served two years in the war.

Lieutenant John Crable is still another who received his military training in the old artillery school. He was[Pg 79] commissioned second lieutenant in Battery G, Colonel Barnett’s regiment, and afterwards promoted to first lieutenant, serving at times as captain. His company distinguished itself in several important battles and took part in others of lesser note.

“COMMISSARY” HARRY BINGHAM.

Among the many of the old artillerymen now dead, few will be better remembered than “Commissary” Harry Bingham, a man of small stature, full of life and fun. It may be said that for some years he contributed largely to the life of his military comrades. At the beginning of the war he was in Wisconsin, where he soon joined the military service. He became a lieutenant and served with credit. Finally, however, the hardships of war were greater than he could bear. For a time he lay sick at Nashville, was then brought to Cleveland, where he died. His disposition to joke did not desert him even when upon his deathbed. Said he with a smile, to a lady who called upon him during his last sickness, “I’m a funeral, sure.” He lies buried in Woodland cemetery. Who of his old military comrades will not drop a tear to his memory?

Many others of the old guard, some living and some dead, deserve well to be mentioned in this connection.

The history of the association itself may be told in a few lines. At the close of the civil war, when regiments and various commands in the war were forming associations and holding reunions, the wife of Captain Wood, who made all the cartridges used by the old gun squad, now residing in this city, past eighty-three years of age, one day suggested to her husband the propriety of Cleveland’s old artillerymen having a reunion. The thought was conveyed to General Barnett, Colonel Hayward and others, who were pleased with the idea and on the 22d of February, 1871, the members of the old squad then living and other old Cleveland artillerymen met at the Kennard House, formed an association of which[Pg 80] General Wood was made president and then and there had their first banquet. General Wood was continued president of the association ten years, until his death May 2, 1881, when General Barnett succeeded him. The general has been president ever since, some twenty-three years. At the first meeting of the association held after General Wood’s death, General Barnett paid a high tribute to his old comrade. Among other things he said: “Since our last anniversary David L. Wood, commander of the old Grey gun squad, captain of the First artillery company in Cleveland and president of our association since its first organization, has passed away. It was he who first introduced into the then West, forty-two years ago, the artillery branch of our old militia system. We can say of our old comrade that he was an honest man. He had a bluff, outspoken way, but a warm, generous heart. His pride was with his old artillery associates. His comrades tenderly, with sorrow, laid him away in the cemetery. We will and do reverence his memory and our recollections are of a competent soldier, a patriotic man and good citizen.” General Wood was born in Barkhamsted, Conn., Aug. 14, 1847, and died May 2, 1881 in Cleveland at the residence of his brother-in-law, the Hon. O. J. Hodge.

Thirty-four years have now passed since the first meeting of the association and each year since it has had its social gathering, and each Decoration day the members have strewn with flowers the graves of their departed comrades. Such meetings, however, cannot be held many years longer. The whitened locks of these men point to a day in the near future when the members of the association will hold their last banquet, when there will be no member left to decorate the graves of the departed, but around their memory long will cluster recollections of patriotic work and good citizenship, and those now upon life’s stage, and those yet to come, with pride will study their history and place upon their graves flowers, emblematic of love and veneration.

The public reception of the First Regiment Ohio Light Artillery (3 months) at their home as before related practically closed the military career of that command; however, a large number of the men enlisted in other commands, notably into the First Ohio Light Artillery (3 years) the term being for three years or during the war. It was soon found that through the emergency of affairs at the opening of trouble and the improper muster in and muster out as state troops that the men had no proper standing on the rolls of the Army of the United States. This error was called to the attention of Hon. Amos Townsend, then our member of Congress, who made many earnest attempts to rectify the mistake through the Honorable Secretary of War; those efforts were however unsuccessful, it being decided as the muster roll showed that they were state troops, so the matter ran along for years and until Mr. T. E. Burton was elected to Congress. Upon representation of the case to Mr. Burton he was at once impressed with the fact that fairness and justice to the command required action of Congress, whereupon he introduced a bill substantially the same as the one finally passed in January 1903, and given herewith as well as the report of the Military Committee of which General Dick was chairman.

The command was very fortunate in having in Congress two such good friends as Mr. Burton and Gen. Dick, men who have looked so closely and faithfully that justice might be obtained. The members of the First Ohio Light Artillery (3 months) owe these two men a debt of gratitude which they can never pay but which is not forgotten.

May 1, 1902.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Dick, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 619.]

[Pg 83]

Reference is made to the affidavit of Gen. James Barnett, with exhibits, and to the memorandum of Col. Henry B. Carrington for more complete history of their service and the reasons why they were not formally mustered.

Exhibit A.

FIRST OHIO VOLUNTEER LIGHT ARTILLERY.

[Three months’ service.]

Six days after the fall of Fort Sumter the following telegram was wired to Colonel Barnett:

The news spread through the city of Cleveland (four of the batteries were from the city of Cleveland, the other two being from Brooklyn and Geneva) as though borne upon the wings Of the wind. Early Sunday morning Colonel Barnett issued the following order to captains of the companies:

Word having been sent in the meantime to the Brooklyn and Geneva companies.

Another dispatch was received on Sunday by Colonel Barnett, as follows:

It was found impracticable to assemble the regiment on Sunday in time to get away on that day. The governor was informed by telegraph that it would leave early Monday morning. The two outside companies responded promptly, and at noon of Monday the regiment left Cleveland for Columbus, at which place it was ordered to Marietta via Loveland. Marietta was reached next morning, when it went into camp on the fair ground[Pg 86] placing the guns in position to guard the city against any invasion of the enemy.

About the middle of May General McClellan sent Captain O. M. Poe, of the U. S. A. Engineers, to inspect the regiment, with a view to its being ready for service at a moment’s notice. He was greatly pleased with the command and the drill, discipline and soldierly bearing of its members. A few days later clothing and camp equipage were received, all of which were heartily welcomed. Colonel Barnett also received a telegram from Columbus to purchase seventy-six horses for his battery upon the best terms possible; ten thousand dollars having been placed by the State authorities in a Marietta bank to the credit of Colonel Barnett, out of which the horses were to be paid for.

On May 26, 1861, Colonel Barnett received the following telegram from General McClellan at Cincinnati: “Expedite the mounting of your batteries and report to me when ready for service.” Within two days the required number of horses were purchased and all hands were busy breaking them into their new sphere of usefulness and arranging to move on a moment’s notice. The artillery was re-enforced by the arrival of the 14th O. V. I. on the 24th day of May and the 18th O. V. I. on the next day; the 14th being armed and equipped.

On May 27 General McClellan sent the following dispatch to Colonel Barnett: “Upon the requisition of Colonel Steadman, you will supply him with a detachment of two guns, with the proper officers and men.”

On May 29, 1861, Batteries D and F, under command of Lieut.-Colonel Sturges, left Camp Putnam, Marietta, by boat, for Parkersburg, W. Va., with orders to report to Colonel Steadman, 14th O. V. I. They moved rapidly along the line of the B. & O. Railroad, repairing bridges destroyed by the enemy, so that on May 31st they had arrived at Clarksburg, eighty miles east of Parkersburg. The rebels retreated from Clarksburg to Philippi. From Clarksburg they moved to Webster, and after a tedious[Pg 87] night march arrived before Philippi at 4 a. m., making short work of the rebel force. The roar of the artillery frightened them so that they fled in dismay, heedless of their officers, leaving large quantities of supplies and war materials behind them. (This was the first Light artillery fired by the national forces in the war of the rebellion. In this engagement only a few men were wounded.)

On May 30, 1861, the four companies at Camp Putnam with Colonel Barnett moved by boat to Benwood, reporting to General Morris, who ordered Colonel Barnett to proceed to Grafton, and from there marched to Philippi, arriving too late to take part in that engagement. During June the headquarters of the 1st Regiment Light Artillery was at Philippi. The companies, however, were scattered; some with their guns did duty as bridge guards.

July 6th orders were received by General Morris to advance early the following day, occupy Belington, and menace the enemy, who were holding a strong position at Laurel Hill. At daylight the skirmishers struck the rebel pickets near Belington. The artillery was ordered to the front and shelled the enemy’s outposts with demoralizing effect. It was in this skirmish that the artillery suffered its first casualty—George W. Tillotson, of Company D, was wounded in the groin by a musket ball, from the effect of which he died a few years later.

July 12th the rebels retreated from Belington and Laurel Hill, being pursued by the Union forces to Carrick’s Ford, where the 1st Artillery opened fire on the enemy (who were holding a position on a high bank on the opposite side of the river) with excellent effect. The enemy fled once more in dismay. The rebel general Robert S. Garnett was killed in this battle. A fine rifled piece was captured and presented to the artillery, and this trophy is now in the public square in the city of Cleveland.

Its term of service having expired, the regiment moved[Pg 88] back to Belington, and remained there until ordered to Columbus to be mustered out. Up to this time, like the nine regiments of infantry, it was serving as a State organization, and while all other Ohio three-months troops were mustered out by United States officers and recognized as United States troops, this regiment, for some reason, was mustered out by a member of the governor’s staff and is recognized by the War Department as only a State organization. The following letter, however, will show that it was the intention of the General Government to place this regiment of artillery on the same footing as other Ohio organizations that did service at the same time in West Virginia.

[Pg 89]

This regiment was mustered out at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, July 27, 1861, by George S. Mygatt, aid-de-camp to governor of Ohio, mustering officer.

The movements of this regiment show a service which was distinctly national in character. On May 29, 1861, a part of the command moved into Virginia.

On the 30th of May, 1861, the remaining portion of the[Pg 92] command went by boat to Benwood and thence to Grafton, Va., from which time until the date of their muster out they actively participated in the campaign in western Virginia.

The command of the troops, after they left Marietta, Ohio, and embarked for Virginia, passed completely from the officers of the State of Ohio to the Federal officers. In May, 1861, General McClellan sent an officer of the United States Army Engineers to inspect the regiment “with a view to its being ready for service at a moment’s notice” for service with the United States. And the evidence shows that the Federal officer found the regiment in excellent condition as respects drill, discipline, and soldierly bearing. Clothing and camp equipage were also furnished to the regiment by the United States.

On May 26, 1861, Colonel Barnett, commander of the regiment, received from General McClellan the following telegram from Cincinnati: “Expedite the mounting of your batteries and report to me when ready for service.” On May 27 General McClellan wired Colonel Barnett: “Upon requisition of Colonel Steadman you will supply him with a detachment of two guns, with proper officers and men.”

On May 29, 1861, Batteries D and F of the regiment left Marietta, Ohio, for Parkersburg, Va., with orders to report to Colonel Steadman, Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which were serving under Federal authority. They performed important service under such orders, and were engaged in the battle of Philippi. On May 30, 1861, four companies of the regiment, with Colonel Barnett, proceeded by boat to Benwood, and received orders to proceed to Grafton. They proceeded thence to Grafton, but too late to take part in the engagement. July 6, 1861, the regiment was ordered to Belington, where it was engaged with the enemy. On July 12 the First Ohio Artillery opened fire upon the enemy at Carrick’s Ford with excellent effect.

[Pg 93]

The record clearly shows that the Ohio Light Artillery regiment was taken into Virginia under authority of and for service with the United States Government. Such was the understanding of the soldiers and of the Federal officers under whom they served, and the character of their service was distinctly national.

The regiment was not called into the service of the State of Ohio alone, but of other States. Every State is an integral part of the Union which the Federal Government is, under the Constitution, bound to protect against invasion. The evidence shows that the regiment was employed in general service with and as a part of the Federal forces, under orders from the Federal Government, and in the execution of a duty which was distinctly national in character. The regiment not only protected Ohio but also Virginia from the attacks of the enemy, and stayed the advance of the enemy. “It rendered United States service under United States officers in brigade with regularly mustered United States troops.”

And when the term of three months’ enlistment expired, the regiment, which had been “serving in Virginia,” was, by order of the War Department dated July 27, 1861, sent back to Ohio, to be there mustered out of the service of the United States. And the same order directed that any of such troops or soldiers as should be tendered should be mustered into the service of the United States for three years’ service. Owing, no doubt to an oversight, or to ignorance of the fact that the regiment had been actually in the service of the United States, the regiment was mustered out as an organization of the State of Ohio.

The records of the War Department fail to show facts upon which justice can be done to this regiment, and Congress is asked to afford such relief by a special act. Upon the evidence in the case it is submitted that the First Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery is entitled[Pg 94] to proper recognition as having been in the service of the United States, and its officers and soldiers should receive certificates of honorable discharge as such.

Following is the muster roll:

First Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery.

FIELD AND STAFF.

[Mustered in April 21, 1861, at Columbus, Ohio, by George S. Mygatt, aid-de-camp to Governor of Ohio, mustering officer. Mustered out July 27, 1861, at Camp Chase, Ohio, by George S. Mygatt, aid-de-camp to Governor of Ohio, mustering officer.]

[Pg 95]

BATTERY A.

[Pg 96]

BATTERY B.

[Pg 97]

BATTERY C.

[Pg 98]

BATTERY D.

[Pg 99]

BATTERY E.

[Pg 100]

BATTERY F.

H. R. 619.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

June 23, 1902.

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

AN ACT

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the officers and enlisted men of the First Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery (three months’ service), furnished by the State of Ohio under the call of the President of the United States issued on the fifteenth day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and which rendered actual military service under the command of officers of the United States and in co-operation with the regularly organized military forces of the United States, shall be held and considered to have been in the military service of and to have formed a part of the military establishment of the United States during the period for which said organization was enlisted and was in active service, and that the Secretary of War be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed to issue certificates of discharge, upon due application and satisfactory proof of identity, for all honorably discharged members of the said organization: Provided, That no pay, bounty, or other emoluments shall become due or payable by virtue of the passage of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives June 20, 1902.

Attest: A. McDowell, Clerk.

House Bill 619 passed the Senate and became a law in January, 1903.