Warren County Local
History by Dallas Bogan |
Contributor: |
Dallas Bogan on 27 July 2004 |
Source: |
Dallas Bogan, Warren County, Ohio and Beyond (Bowie Maryland: Heritage Press, 1979) page 176 |
Return to Index to see a list of other articles by Dallas Bogan |
The American Civil War (1861-1865) was long in coming. With the bombardment
of Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861, President Lincoln called on the States for 75,000
volunteers for three months service.
The regular army, as of January 1, 1861, had a small force of 16,402. This figure
was reduced due to the resignations and desertions of officers loyal to the
Southern cause.
The President's proclamation calling for three-month volunteers was read April
15, 1861. The states of Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri refused to
answer the President's call. However, the Legislature of the State of New York
chose to raise $3,000,000 for unlimited support of that State.
Ohio, because of its geographical location, was the centerpiece of the Union.
A call by Governor Dennison for thirteen full regiments was received and answered
so rapidly that a total complement of twenty-two regiments was filled.
At the end of July the three months service was over. The returning volunteers
from the Battle of First Bull Run sought their pay. The original thirteen regiments
received their pay as United States volunteers; the remaining nine were considered
State Militia and received no wage.
However, Governor Dennison had originally obtained pledges from the United States
Government that all volunteers would receive their earnings. Pay eventually
came and several companies/ regiments were reinstated into their original outfits,
thus signing for three more years' service to the Union. Ohio's Legislature
immediately went into session and within less than 24 hours after the President's
call, the State Senate carried through the three readings and passed unanimously
a bill appropriating one million dollars. The House immediately went into action
declaring a unanimous vote for the passage of the money appropriation.
Within 48 hours after the call, two Ohio regiments were on their way to Washington.
President Lincoln's call for volunteers was received in Warren County at the
premises of Washington Hall on the evening of April 16. This was the County's
first war meeting. It was marked with a boldness of general enthusiasm and spirit.
The enemy had turned their cannon on the citizens of the North and the flag
of the United States was threatened. With A.H.
Dunlevy presiding, a resolutions committee was formed. The panel consisted
of George R. Sage, Durbin
Ward, James M. Smith, J.D. Wallace, William
Crosson, Simon Suydam, and John C. Dunlevy.
The president, Judge Belamy Storer, Durbin Ward
and J.D. Wallace, gave addresses of sincerity. Resolutions
were adopted as follows:
"Resolved, That we, the citizens of Warren County, most cordially endorse
the action of the Government in its energetic measures to execute the laws,
and to preserve the institutions of our country.
"Resolved, That we stand by and support the Administration in the most
vigorous efforts to put down rebellion and punish treason at whatever expense
of men or money.
"Resolved, That we recognize no party in the present crisis, but the party
of the Union.
The band played "The Star Spangled Banner, "Yankee Doodle," and
"Hail Columbia." Professor William
H. Venable, then a young man, described in his address at the 1902 Lebanon
Centennial the meeting as such:
"I shall never forget that meeting. It was a gathering of men, some in
the flower of their youth, others verging on four score, but the oldest felt
young and the youngest suddenly grown mature, was eager to prove his manhood
by relinquishing all that youth values, most ease, pleasure, home - to take
upon him the soldier's burden, to fight, and if need better die for the Union.
"Durbin Ward made a brief, terse
speech, eloquent for its simplicity. He was the first man in the congressional
district to enlist. A paper he had drawn up, pledged those who signed it to
the service of their country.
"This paper was passed from hand to hand and many names were written upon
it. There was no noise, no shouting, the still white heat of patriotism consumed
all smoke of outward demonstration. The meeting was solemn thruout and at its
close the audience dispersed as quietly as a congregation leaving a church after
listening to an impressive sermon."
Every day life of Warren Countians changed from one of habit to a rising "war
spirit." The flag of the United States was flown from the courthouse, from
stores, workshops and residences. Military preparation had consumed the whole
nation. The county soon raised three companies commanded respectively by Capt.
Rigdon Williams, of Lebanon; Capt. John Kell, of Franklin;
and Capt. J.D. Wallace, of Morrow.
The sight of real soldiers to the residents of the County was new. The marching
away of their loved ones, neighbors and friends instilled into the remainder
a silence never before experienced.
On Tuesday, April 23, Capt. Williams' company marched from
Lebanon to the railroad with the assumption that the departure for Camp Jackson
at Columbus would be swift. Stores and shops were closed; the public turned
out in great numbers to say their farewells. The procession of soldiers and
citizens stretched for nearly a mile between Lebanon and Deerfield. Lebanon
had no railroad at this time and the station at Deerfield was the closest depot.
At the railroad station, the Captain received a dispatch that Camp Jackson was
full. Consequently, the company returned to Lebanon and encamped at the fair
grounds. Captain Williams' company was mustered into the service
of the United States for three months service at Columbus on May 5. It was reorganized
and mustered into service for three years at Camp Dennison on the 19th of June,
as Company F, Twelfth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
The first man to lose his life in the War of the Rebellion from Warren County
was Jabez Turner from Harveysburg. He was killed at the Battle
of Scarry Creek, (West) Virginia, July 17, 1861. Turner faced the engagement
with an emotional tenderness. He went into battle with the feeling that he would
not return alive. It was his first conflict with the enemy. He entered into
the fighting line and fell at the first fire. In a letter to his widow, Captain
Williams said that on several occasions Turner had related his premonitions
to him. Although these instincts were strong they made no gloomy impressions
upon him. He had offered his life for the service of his country. He died with
glory, his face to the enemy. A ball struck him in the forehead and death was
instantaneous. His body, along with others, was left to be buried in Virginia
soil.
John Kell's company, before the war, had been formed as a militia
company. It was called the "Franklin Grays." (Captain Kell
had served in the Mexican War, 1846-1848, and had been appointed postmaster
of Franklin by Buchanan.) It was the first company to leave the County for service
and it became Co. F, 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the three months service.
The service date is recorded as of April 16, 1861. With drilling experience
before the war, most of the company volunteered.
Durbin Ward was the
first man of the County to sign an enrollment paper for troops in the Union
cause. When the President's call reached Lebanon, Ward was holding court. He
immediately drew up a paper saying in certain terms that, "We, the undersigned,
hereby tender our services to the President of the United States to protect
our national flag." He signed it and proceeded with his case. Ward was
a Democrat along with about two-fifths of the eligible men of the County. A
question arose as to whether these opposing party members would relinquish their
politics and join with the Republicans and other political affiliations and
take a stand to preserve their country. Ward declared many times over that politics
had no bearing in his effort to reunite the Union. Political party lines melted
in the County and seemed to have no consequences as patriotic feelings ran deep.
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