Dan Masters' Civil War Chronicles

Captain Henry H. Alban was among the dozen officers of the 21 st Ohio Volunteer Infantry who were captured on September 20, 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga. The regiment had held its position atop Snodgrass Hill against repeated Confederate assaults and now battered and without ammunition, with the darkness of evening enveloping the hill, the remainder of that gallant band found themselves at the mercy of the 54 th Virginia. A total of 12 officers and 121 enlisted men surrendered; the regiment’s colors were taken, and the men marched off the field into captivity. Captain Henry Harvey Alban, Co. F, 21st O.V.I. Captain Alban along with the rest went through a series of Confederate prison camps before arriving at Columbia, South Carolina in October 1864. Determined to make an escape, he watched for his chance and one night made his leap for freedom, successfully eluding the local camp guard and setting out along the railroad to head for the mountains of eastern Tennessee and

The first company of men to enlist from Perrysburg in the Civil War was the Fort Meigs Rifles , which became Company C of the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The regiment served for 90 days in western Virginia and two companies of the regiment took part in the small battle of Scarey Creek, in which Perrysburg's own Colonel Jesse S. Norton of the 21st Ohio was captured.  Reason Bates joined Co. C, 21st Ohio Infantry August 29, 1861 at Bowling Green, Ohio. In his first enlistment, he was captured twice: the first time at Pulaski, Tennessee in 1862 and the second time at Chickamauga. He escaped to Federal lines and re-enlisted January 1, 1864; Bates was soon promoted to Sergeant but was reduced to the ranks November 11, 1864 for disobedience of orders. He mustered out with the company July 25, 1865. The above photo was taken in January 1864 when the regiment was home on veteran furlough.  In August, the regiment mustered out and many of the officers started to recruit the regiment