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Ohio in the Civil War

Ohio and the Civil War (1861-1865)

Ohio (1861-1865), part 3

Before the news of the battles at South mountain and Antietam
brought mourning to Ohio homes, the state was again alarmed by
the great invasion of Kentucky by Gens. Kirby Smith and Brax-
ton Bragg. Gen. Manson attempted to check the Confederates
at Richmond, Ky., but was swept away, one Ohio regiment,
the 95th, sharing in the battle, and losing 48 killed and wounded,
among the wounded being the colonel, William L. McMillen.
News of the battle reached Cincinnati Saturday night and on
Monday came the information that Gen. D. C. Buell, lately plan-
ning to take Chattanooga, was moving toward Louisville after
Bragg, who was advancing with the main Confederate army to
unite with Smith, who had marched through Cumberland gap
and over the old warrior's trail to the Ohio river. Cincinnati was
thus exposed to the combined Confederate forces, and it is not
surprising that the city was alarmed. Yet there was no panic.
The people resolved to defend Cincinnati. Gen. Lew Wallace
(late of Ben Hur fame) was sent to take command, and he at once
proclaimed martial law and ordered the citizens to suspend all
business and assemble for military service or work. "The prin-
ciple adopted is, citizens for the labor, soldiers for the battle," he
said. "The willing shall be properly credited, the unwilling
promptly visited." This vigorous order was generally and cheer-
fully obeyed. Every store and saloon was closed, the street cars
stopped running, ministers, physicians, school teachers and all
classes reported for duty, by noon thousands of citizens were drill-
ing in companies, and many were at work on the fortifications
traced back of Newport and Covington. At the close of the day
a pontoon bridge connected Cincinnati and Covington, over which
lumber for barracks and material for fortifying were being trans-
ported. Gov. Tod, meanwhile, reached the city and ordered for-
ward all the available troops and munitions of war. "Throughout
the interior of the state church and fire bells rang; mounted men
galloped through neighborhoods to spread the alarm; there was a
hasty cleaning of rifles, moulding of bullets, filling of powder-
horns, and mustering at the villages; and every city-bound train
ran burdened with the gathering" host." The trains for Cincin-
nati were crowded that night, and by daybreak of Sept. 3, the so-
called "Squirrel Hunters" began pouring into Cincinnati. These
self-armed volunteers with their homespun or plain clothes and
sportsman outfits, mingled in the streets with fragments of militia
companies, invalid veterans and portions of partly organized regi-
ments, marching over the pontoon bridge into Kentucky. "The
ladies of the city furnished provisions by the wagon load; the
Fifth-street market house was converted into a vast free eating
saloon; halls and warehouses were used as barracks." By the 4th
Gov. Tod had sent to the point of danger twenty regiments, and
twenty-one more were in process of organization, besides the
militia. Among them was the newly organized 104th, under
Col. J. W. Reilly. The stringent orders regarding business were
relaxed in a few days, but the people continued their work of de-
fense. Details of white citizens — 3.000 a day — judges, lawyers.
clerks, merchant-princes and day laborers, reinforced by a negro
brigade, shoveled side by side in the red Kentucky clay. The
Confederate demonstration was pushed far enough by Sept. 10
to cause some skirmishing before Wallace's line, but by the 15th
it was apparent that the prompt measures for defense of the city
had saved it from all danger of attack and the "Squirrel Hunters"
were able to return to their homes and the citizens to business.
There were 15,000 of the "Squirrel Hunters," from the various
counties of the state. Brown and Gallia contributing over 2,000.
This was the "siege of Cincinnati," which left its monuments in
extensive but crude military works on the hills of Newport and
Covington. After it was over the people laughed, but they had
done a glorious as well as necessary work, unparalleled in the
history of the United States. As Gen. Wallace said in his fare-
well address: "Paris may have seen something like it in her revo-
lutionary days, but the cities of America never did. Be proud
that you have given them such an example."

Quite an excitement of a political nature existed in Ohio during
the year 1863. Rosecrans' battle at Stone's river, Dec. 31, 1862.
although a victory, was a costly one, and did not greatly inspirit
the people at home, where there seemed to be a field for the agi-
tators of discontent and fault-finding, supported by those who
were opposed to the emancipation proclamations of President
Lincoln, the preliminary one issued Sept. 22, 1862, and the final
Jan. 1, 1863. In Noble county there was a little rebellion, and a
squad sent to arrest a deserter was met by an armed force that
asked the U. S. officers to surrender and be paroled as prisoners
of the Confederate army. Two companies of troops marched
through the disaffected region and arrested a large number of
citizens, a few of whom were punished by imprisonment and fine.
But the pohtical excitement was occasioned by the arrest of Clem-
ent L. Vallandigham, the leader in Ohio of the opposition to the
administration, and his arrest, trial and subsequent banishment
gave rise to more extended comment and excitement than any
arrest that was made as a consequence of the president's suspend-
ing the writ of habeas corpus. The prominence of the person,
the manner of the arrest, the startling singularity of the tribunal,
and the hitherto unknown punishment, tended to awaken and sus-
tain a state of intense feeling throughout the country. Gen.
Burnside, as commander of the Department of Ohio, on April
19, issued the following order:

"General Order No. 38.
Headquarters Department of the Ohio,

Cincinnati, April 13, 1863.

"The commanding general publishes for the information of all
concerned:

"That hereafter all persons found within our lines who com-
mit acts for the benefit of the enemies of our country will be
tried as spies or traitors, and, if convicted, will suffer death. This
order includes the following classes of persons:

"Carriers of secret mails.

"Writers of letters sent by secret mails.

"Secret recruiting officers within the lines.

"Persons who have entered into an agreement to pass our lines
for the purpose of joining the enemy.

"Persons found concealed within our lines belonging to the
service of the enemy; and in fact all persons found improperly
within our lines who could give private information to the enemy.

"All persons within our lines who harbor, protect, conceal, feed,
clothe, or in any way aid the enemies of our country.

"The habit of declaring sympathies for the enemy will no
longer be tolerated in this department. Persons committing such
offenses will be at once arrested, with a view to being tried as
above stated or sent beyond our lines into the lines of their friends.

"It must be distinctly understood that treason, expressed or
implied, will not be tolerated in this department.

"All officers and soldiers are strictly charged with the execution
of this order.

By command of

Maj.-Gen. A. E. Burnside.

Lewis Richmond, Assistant Adjutant-General."

Ohio Total Union Soldiers by Organization

Ohio Total Civil War Troops in Military Service of Army, Navy, and Marines

Mr. Vallandigham commented upon the contents of this order
in a speech delivered by him at Mount Vernon, Knox county, on
May 1, at which meeting some officers of the army were present
in citizens' clothes. His remarks at this time led to an order for
his arrest by the military authorities, and this was effected on the
following Monday evening. May 4. The next day the Dayton
Empire commented upon the arrest by saying: "The cowardly,
scoundrelly Abolitionists of this town have at last succeeded in
having Hon. C. L. Vallandigham kidnapped," and followed this
up with invective against the Union party. The result was that
the newspaper office was wrecked and burned by a mob, and sev-
eral buildings were consumed before the flames could be ex-
tinguished. The county was put under marital law, but no
other disturbance followed. Mr. Vallandigham issued an address
from his confinement, declaring that he was a good Union man,
and his enemies were "abolitionist disunionists and traitors." On
the trial of Mr. Vallandigham it was shown that he had denounced
the war as "wicked, cruel and unnecessary," waged not for the
preservation of the Union, but for "the purpose of crushing out
liberty," and that he had indulged in various inflammatory utter-
ances about "Lincoln and his minions," and their "usurpations."
He was defended before the court-martial by Messrs. George E.
Pugh and George H. Pendleton, but there could be no denial of
his violent utterances and he was found guilty and sentenced to
close confinement until the end of the war, a punishment which
President Lincoln commuted to banishment within the Confed-
erate lines. By an application for writ of habeas corpus, the case
was brought before Judge Leavitt, of the U. S. district court, and
after elaborate arguments by Mr. Pugh and Dist. Atty. Aaron
F. Perry, the writ was refused, the court holding that there had
been no unwarranted exercise of the powers intrusted to the presi-
dent of the United States as commander-in-chief of the army in
time of war. There were many, however, who disagreed with
the judge. Vallandigham soon after his banishment reached
Canada.

After the Vallandigham episode, there was a serious resistance
to the draft in Holmes county, and Gov. Tod sent a body of troops
against the insurgents, issued a proclamation warning the people
at fault, and told Gen. Mason to grant no quarter if they did not
obey. A thousand armed men collected in a fortified camp to
fight the Ohio troops, but, after a skirmish dispersed and peace
and order were soon restored there without any loss of life.

The political campaign of 1863, in Ohio, was one of the most
remarkable in the history of the state. Some leaders and a great
part of the rank and file of the Democratic party, excluding,
of course that large number who had from the first supported the
war for the Union, were carried away by the theory that the war
was being waged unnecessarily by the administration at Wash-
ington, when an honorable peace might be made. Aside from the
theory of peace, remonstrances were made against Gen. Burn-
side's' order No. 38, which led to the arrest of Vallandigham.
Judge Pugh, in his address to the state convention, said in refer-
ence to Vallandigham: "We will not talk of war, or peace, or
rebellion, until our honored citizen has been restored to us. If
you make that your platform you will be victorious. If not I
counsel you to seek a home where liberty exists." The convention
nominated Vallandigham for governor. This action was followed
by a written appeal, addressed to President Lincoln, for the
restoration of the banished leader to his home, and a remonstrance
alleging that the arrest of Vallandigham was an insult to Ohio.
Lincoln, in his answer, said among other things: "Your nom-
inee for governor, in whose behalf you appeal, is known to you
and to the world to declare against the use of an army to sup-
press the rebellion. Your own attitude, therefore, encourages de-
sertion, resistance to the draft and the like, because it teaches
those who incline to desert and escape the draft to believe it is
your purpose to protect them, and to hope that you will become
strong enough to do so." Lincoln adroitly proposed that the com-
mittee sign a statement that a war was in existence tending to
destroy the national Union, that an army and navy were consti-
tutional means of suppressing it, that none of them would do
anything to impair the efficiency of the army and navy, or hinder
enlistment, and that they would do all they could to maintain the
soldiers. In that case the president would return Vallandigham
to his home. But the campaign went on with Mr. Vallandigham
in Canada, where he went from Wilmington, N. C, on a blockade-
runner, the Confederates refusing to keep him except as a pris-
oner. In Canada there were many other refugees who opposed
the war and some secret agents of the Confederacy plotting for
the release of prisoners. From Niagara Falls Vallandigham
issued an address to the people of Ohio, declaring himself the
champion of "free speech, a free press, peaceable assemblages of
the people, and a free ballot."

But almost simultaneous with the Vallandigham convention,
John Brough, remembered as a great Democratic leader in the
days of Harrison and Jackson, founder of the Cincinnati En-
quirer, the ablest of the Ohio auditors of state, made one of his
powerful public addresses at Marietta, in support of the war, and
E. D. Mansfield, in the Cincinnati Gazette, then proposed Brough
for governor. The proposition found instant favor, and at the
"Union Republican" convention, a week later, Brough was nom-
inated by a small majority over those who supported the re-
nomination of Tod. The platform upon which he appealed to the
people was essentially this: "The war must go on with the ut-
most vigor, until the authority of the national government is rees-
tablished, and the Old Flag floats again securely and triumphantly
over every state and territory of the Union." At the ensuing
election Brough was given a majority of over 60,000 at home
and the soldier vote raised it to 101,099, the greatest up to that
time in the history of Ohio. There was hearty jollification
throughout the state, for the victory was taken as an assurance
of the progress of the war until the South should submit uncon-
ditionally and it should be forever settled that a secession of
states was an offense against the law of the nation, a rebellion to
be crushed by force of arms.

While Ohio was filled with rejoicing over Gettysburg and
Vicksburg, the word came on July 8 that the redoubtable raider,
John Morgan, had reached the Ohio river and was about to enter
Indiana. Gov. Tod was among the first to recognize the danger,
and while there was still time to secure insertion in the newspa-
pers of Monday morning, he telegraphed to the press a proclama-
tion, as follows:

"Columbus, July 12, 1863.
"To the Press of Cincinnati:

"Whereas, This state is in imminent danger of invasion by an
armed force, now, therefore, to prevent the same, I, David Tod,
governor of the State of Ohio, and commander-in-chief of the
militia force thereof, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the
constitution and laws of said state, do hereby call into active serv-
ice that portion of the militia force which has been organized into
companies within the counties of Hamilton, Butler, Montgomery,
Clermont, Brown, Clinton, Warren, Greene, Fayette, Ross, Mon-
roe, Washington, Morgan, Noble, Athens, Meigs, Scioto, Jackson,
Adams, Vinton, Hocking, Lawrence, Pickaway, Franklin, Mad-
ison, Fairfield, Clark, Preble, Pike, Gallia, Highland and Perry.
I do hereby further order all such forces residing within the
counties of Hamilton, Butler and Clermont to report forthwith
to Maj.-Gen. A. E. Burnside at his headquarters in the city of
Cincinnati, who is hereby authorized and required to cause said
forces to be organized into battalions or regiments, and appoint all
necessary officers therefor. And it is further ordered that all
such forces residing in the counties of Montgomery, Warren, Clin-
ton, Fayette, Ross, Highland and Boone, report forthwith to Col.
Neff, the military commander at Camp Dennison, who is hereby
authorized to organize said forces into battalions or regiments and
appoint, temporarily, officers therefor; it is further ordered that
all of such forces residing in the counties of Franklin, Madison,
Clark, Greene, Pickaway and Fairfield, report forthwith at Camp
Chase, to Brig.-Gen. John S. Mason, who is hereby authorized
to organize said forces into battalions or regiments, and appoint
temporarily, officers therefor; it is further ordered that all of
such forces residing in the counties of Washington, Monroe,
Noble, Meigs, Morgan, Perry, Hocking and Athens, report forth-
with to Col. William R. Putnam at Camp Marietta, who is here-
by authorized to organize said forces into battalions or regiments,
and appoint, temporarily, officers therefor.

"David Tod, Governor."

On the next day Morgan and about 2,000 troopers were in
Ohio near the suburbs of Cincinnati, tearing along at the rate of
50 miles a day, picking up fresh horses as they went, but not
taking time to do serious mischief. Feinting toward Hamilton,
Morgan boldly crossed the railroads running out of Cincinnati
in the suburbs of the city, passing through Glendale and feed-
ing his horses in sight of Camp Dennison. There was a slight
skirmish there, and a Little Miami train was thrown from the
track, but Morgan did not tarry and pushed on to find a crossing
place into Kentucky, followed closely by Gen. Hobson, while
Gens. J. D. Cox, Samuel Sturgis and Jacob Ammen and Cols.
Granville Moody and Stanley Matthews organized the militia
about Cininnati, and Gen. Judah's troops were sent up the river to
cut off the Confederate retreat. Of course, the utmost consterna-
tion prevailed among the people of the country that Morgan trav-
ersed. There was little danger to life, but the raiders indulged in
the most unrestrained plundering. They seemed to want calico
more than anything else, and every village store they passed had
to contribute this commodity. Every man who could get a bolt,
says Gen. Basil Duke, the historian of Morgan's cavalry, tied it
to his saddle belt, only to throw it away and get a fresh one at the
first opportunity. One man carried a bird cage, with three cana-
ries in it, for three days. Another slung seven skates around his

neck, though it was intensely hot weather. They pillaged like boys

robbing an orchard. Against these mirthful marauders 50,000 Ohio

militia actually took the field, but not half of them ever got within 50

miles of Morgan.

On July 18, four days after leaving Camp Dennison, Morgan
was at Pomeroy, where the militia annoyed him seriously, and
when he reached Chester he gave his men a rest of an hour and
a half that was just the margin between successful escape and dis-
aster, so close was the pursuit. It was dark when he reached the
ford at Buffington island (or Portland. Meigs county), where
a little fort was held by 200 or 300 militia, who evacuated in the
night while Morgan waited for light before attacking. On the
morning of July 19, Hobson's cavalry, who had chased Morgan
through three states, came down upon him pell-mell and Judali,
with his gunboats, occupied the river. After a brisk fight, in
which the Ohio men lost the gallant old patriot, Maj. Daniel Mc-
Cook, father of two major-generals and three brigadier-generals,
Morgan escaped with about 1,200 men, though over 700 surren-
dered, and the chase continued. Twenty miles above the island
Morgan got about 300 more of his men across the Ohio river,
when the gunboats compelled him to stop crossing his men
and hasten on with the remainder. Striking for the Muskingum
river, he was headed off by the militia under Col. Runkle, and he
turned toward Blennerhassett's island. Then, finding an un-
guarded crossing on the Muskingum above McConnelsville, he
pushed toward the Ohio above Wheeling, but was again attacked
July 26, by some Michigan cavalry, at Salineville, Columbiana
county, where he lost 200 or 300 of his men and on the evening of
the same day he surrendered what remained of his party to a
small body of Kentucky cavalry. The non-combatants whose
property had been taken in this famous raid were clamorous to
have Morgan treated as a horse thief, and the dashing Kentuck-
ian and some of his officers were immured in cells of the Ohio
penitentiary, which was not used otherwise as a military prison.
Morgan took his revenge for this treatment by making a daring
and successful escape in the following November. This raid cost
the state and individuals it was estimated, about $1,000,000. For
the individual losses claims were made against the general gov-
ernment and a state commission in 1864 passed upon the claims
of such losses and arrived at a total of a little over $575,000.

Statistics showed that Ohio, despite all the losses in battle, was
nowhere near the point of exhaustion at the close of 1863. In
fact, she had a reserve of something over 400,000 able-bodied
men from which levies could be made for war, and actually had
30,000 more able-bodied men at home in the state in the fall of
1863 than she had in the fall of 1860. The military force fur-
nished by the state to the army up to Dec. 31, 1863, was one hun-
dred and twenty-nine regiments of infantry, two companies of
guards, eight companies of sharpshooters, twelve regiments of
cavalry, two battalions of six months' cavalry, one regiment and
twenty-six batteries of light artillery, and two regiments of heavy
artillery — a total of 200,452 men. In addition to these, about
8,000 white and colored soldiers had been recruited in Ohio for
other states.

Though the constitution of Ohio, as it then existed, tended to
make the governor a figure-head, during the war the occupants
of that office found abundant opportunity for action, and they

were distinguished among the governors of the North for energy
and wisdom in their efforts to maintain the Union and support
the men in the field. None was more active than the last of the
three, John Brough. He began his administration in 1864 by per-
suading the legislature to levy a tax of two mills on the dollar,
to which county commissioners might add one mill, and city
councils a half mill, for the support of soldiers' families, and he
watched the enforcement of the law with an eagle eye, promptly
exposing those recreant county and township officials, for there
were some, who tried to divert the tax into the road or other
funds. He also built up the state agency for the relief of soldiers
in the field, pushing the work ahead regardless of all conflict with
the Sanitary commissions. "He kept a watchful eye upon all the
hospitals where any considerable numbers of Ohio troops were
congregated. The least abuse of which he heard was made matter
of instant complaint. If the surgeon in charge neglected it, he ap-
pealed forthwith to the medical director. If this officer made the
slightest delay in administering the proper correction, he went
straight to the surgeon-general. Such, from the outset, was the
weight of his influence with the secretary of war that no officer
about that department dared stand in the way of Brough's denun-
ciation. It was known that the honesty and judgment of his
statements were not to be impugned, and that his persistence in
hunting down offenders was remorseless." (Reid's Ohio in the
War.)

Source: The Union Army, vol. 2