Off to War with the 21st Ohio Infantry in September 1861

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 for three years' service. Lieutenant Arnold McMahan took the lead for recruiting the Fort Meigs Rifles; he would be commissioned captain and later become lieutenant colonel of the regiment.

Captain Arnold McMahan, Co. C, 21st OVI


The high patriotism of the times is illustrated by this story which saw print in the August 29, 1861 issue of the Perrysburg Journal: "As Lieutenant McMahan was returning home on the McCutchenville road last week, he was met by a man who desired to enlist. The Lieutenant inquired his age, in answer which he was informed by the applicant that he was only 75! The Lieutenant thought he was old enough, anyhow, and promised him a place in the company if he should fail to receive the required number. “No, I want to enlist now,” said the old man. “Well, really,” replied the other. “I--,” “Its no use talkin’, for I am bound to,” broke in the old man, when the officer was compelled to put his name down on the roll. His name is John Fenton.”


General Patrick Slevin, later of the 100th Ohio Volunteer Infantry


A few weeks later, as the rolls of the company approached the maximum, the village staged a flag presentation with speeches from Captain Asher Cook, who had led the 90 days Fort Meigs Rifles, and local attorney Patrick S. Slevin who would later see service with the 100th Ohio Infantry and be brevetted brigadier general following his wound at the Battle of Utoy Creek.
The former Wood County Courthouse in Perrysburg- the county seat would move to Bowling Green shortly after the Civil War. (Way Public Library)

“Flag Presentation-Leave Taking- There was a very interesting meeting of the friends of Captain McMahan at the court house on Wednesday evening last. Patrick S. Slevin, Esq., was appointed chairman who stated the object of the meeting was to here an address by Captain McMahan. Previous to his speaking, (This flag, a national flag emblazoned with the motto of Perrysburg's namesake Oliver Hazard Perry "Don't Give Up the Ship" now resides at the Hancock Historical Museum in Findlay, Ohio.) http://hancockhistoricalmuseum.org/

Captain Asher Cook, Co. C, 21st OVI (3 months)
Co. F, 144th OVI (100 days)
Captain Cook came forward, and in a few well timed remarks, returned to the ladies the beautiful silk flag which they had presented to Company C previous to their embarking per steamer Belle for the tented field.

On behalf of the ladies, Miss Ella Baird received the flag and turning to Captain McMahan, asked him to received and protect this emblem of our national honor. The Captain accepted it, and said he would preserve it untarnished until it waved in triumph over every state in the Union. The speech of Captain McMahan was short, to the point, and highly patriotic. He seemed at a loss to account for the backwardness of our men in re-enlisting for the war, and said that while Ohio at the first call had organized a force of 90,000 men, she barely had 25,000 in the field now. He thought Wood County had done well. She now had about 500 men in camp, but her quota would amount to about two companies more. He hoped the friends of the Union would drop every other subject until we first establish the fact whether we have a government, then it would be time enough to resume party issues. With a fair show of our real strength and a fair trial of arms, he had no doubt of the result. In conclusion, the Captain again thanked the ladies for the flag, “it should henceforth wave in triumph at every trial.” Remarks were then made by Messrs. Cook and Hollenbeck, when the meeting adjourned. Next morning there was a general leave taking of the captain and some 8 or 10 others belonging to his company at the Baird House.”

Below is a first person account from Private George Scheets was one of McMahan's new recruits giving his own story of joining the company:
Private George Scheets, Co. C, 21st OVI
When the war broke out in 1861, I was employed as a salesman in a dry goods store conducted by W. I Hitchcock at Perrysburg, Ohio. I was then 18 years old. I read the papers carefully and watched current events with a great deal of interest, and had a serious notion of entering the three-months service, but my friends dissuaded me from carrying out my desire.
When the boys came home from the three-months service and the President issued his second proclamation for three hundred thousand men, excitement ran high and war meetings were frequent. So one evening after closing the store, I sauntered up to the old court house where a war meeting was in progress and enlistment solicited.

 Captain Arnold McMahon was at this time recruiting his company for a three-years term having just returned from the three-months service. I knew him from boyhood and had corresponded with him regularly while he was in the regular army on the frontier. That night I didn't go to sleep very easy and was debating in my mind "what of the morrow." When the morning came and I saw the boys gathering at the Baird House, my mind was made up, and leaving a hasty written note on my desk for my employer (he hadn't come to the store yet), bade the other clerks good-bye and joined the boys at the hotel.

The Exchange Hotel (Baird House) in Perrysburg, Ohio where George Scheets enlisted in Company C. The building still stands today along Front St. but is considerably modified.
Teams were in waiting, and in half an hour we were on the road to Findlay, Ohio, the rendezvous of the 21st Regt., OVI. At Bowling Green quite a number joined us, also at Portage, and a few at Van Buren, so that we had quite a little company going into Findlay that night.

 We went into Camp Vance at once and found a number of companies already in quarters. This was the first time I ever slept in a canvas tent on straw for a bed. After a few weeks of camp life, we were mustered into the United States service by Capt. E. Morgan Wood of the regular army. When he came along the ranks of our Co. C, he stopped and sized me up and objected to me on account of size and muscle (I weighed 120 pounds), but the captain (McMahan) assured him that I was all right, as he had a special place for me. (I wondered what position he would give me.) I assisted the captain as his secretary in making the original muster roll of his company at the Reid House, and was consulted to a certain extent in the selection of his non-commissioned officers.
The selection proceeded. First the sergeants, then the corporals, keeping right on until the number was complete. My name was placed in alphabetical order among the high privates. I never breathed my disappointment to anyone and accepted the result good naturedly, but the captain and I often laughed about it since.

21st Ohio Volunteers in front of the Hancock County Courthouse in September 1861

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on their way to
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true warrior, for then comes the harvest of gain.
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of how Confederate jacke
Read more

The Wizard of Oz and the Civil War

Image
T he 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has delighted viewers for 85 years and ranks as a personal favorite, especially during the Halloween season. While watching it with the family the other night, I wondered if there were any connections between the film and the Civil War. Not surprisingly, the answer is yes and those connections touch both the blue and the gray.           Interestingly both “witches” in the film not only had Civil War ancestors but had connections with Civil War soldiers from Ohio. Margaret Hamilton, the “Wicked Witch of the West,” was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 9, 1902, to attorney Walter Jones Hamilton and his wife Mary Jane Adams; Margaret’s grandfather was Judge Edwin Timothy Hamilton. Judge Hamilton had served as a private in Co. D of the 84 th Ohio Infantry during the summer of 1862. The 84 th Ohio, a three months’ regiment, served nearly the whole of its service attached to the Railroad District in western Maryland, performing provost duty at Cumberlan
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on securing all the Enfi
Read more

In front of Atlanta with the 68th Ohio

Image
  The arrow corps badge of the 17th Army Corps was worn by many members of the 68th Ohio in the latter days of the war.       Private Edward A. Bigelow of Co. F of the 68th Ohio Volunteer Infantry wrote this brief account of the Battle of Atlanta just two days afterwards to his father back home in Henry County, Ohio. The regiment formed a part of Colonel Robert K. Scott's three regiment all-Ohio brigade consisting of the 20th, 68th, and 78th regiments, being designated the Second Brigade of the Third Division of Frank Blair's 17th Army Corps. Bigelow's letter originally appeared in the Napoleon Press newspaper and was copied in the Toledo Daily Commercial which was providential as no known copies exist today of the wartime Napoleon Press.  
Read more

Charging Battery Robinett: An Alabama Soldier Recalls the Vicious Fighting at Corinth

Image
W riting 30 years after the Battle of Corinth, James A. McKinstry of the 42 nd Alabama recalled his experiences storming Battery Robinett with Colonel William P. Rogers of the 2 nd Texas and expressed guilt that it was perhaps his action that brought about the colonel’s demise. “On seeing a line of Federals approaching, and before giving the situation a thought, I immediately raised my gun and fired full into the breast of a Federal sergeant, who was in front of the column, and only a short distance from us.  'Twas then that Captain George Foster shouted, "Cease firing, men! cease firing!" and waved his handkerchief, then I realized the true situation. 'Twas too late! That fatal volley had been turned on our little band from the muzzles of 1,500 muskets. I was still standing just as I was when I fired my last shot, and within a few feet of Colonel Rogers, when a Minie ball went crashing through my left hip and turned me half round; another went tearing through my
Read more

Federal Arms in the Stones River Campaign

Image
  T he following list, constructed after many years of research, lists unit by unit which type of weapons were carried by the Army of the Cumberland during the Stones River campaign. A number of sources were consulted including state ordnance reports, Federal quarterly ordnance reports (thank you Research Arsenal ), Ken Baumann’s Arming the Suckers, regimental histories and memoirs, captured ordnance reports, and consultation with knowledgeable experts in the field of firearms. Some of this information has been shared on the blog before in “ Rosy’s Heavy Metal: Artillery of the Army of the Cumberland ” or “ Shoulder Arms: How Sheridan’s and Davis’s Divisions Were Armed at Stones River ” but this is the first time the army as a whole has been presented. The overall conclusion I drew from looking at this data is that the Army of the Cumberland in December 1862 was an organization in the midst of transformation as far as arms. Many of the regiments still retained their original issue
Read more

Cook & Brother of New Orleans

Image
    The lockplate of a New Orleans-made Cook & Brother Enfield rifle produced in 1862 shows the fine craftsmanship that became the hallmark of the maker throughout the Civil War. Note the stars and bars flag at left, an emblem used on C&B's production throughout the war and the Cook & Brother, N.O. 1862 markings. Earlier production weapons at New Orleans had the flag located just above the maker's name while later weapons produced in Athens, Georgia would have a modified flag and Athens on the plate followed by the serial number.        In the spring of 1861, two English-born businessmen, Ferdinand and Francis Cook of New Orleans, perceived the need for the South to have its own domestic production of firearms and  set out to prove "that rifles could made here as well as in Yankee land or in Europe." The brothers  elected to produce copies of the British Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield rifle as this was considered the benchmark longarm at the outset of the
Read more

Revisiting Snodgrass Hill: Memories of a 21st Ohio Officer

Image
Captain Isaac Cusac, Co. G, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry proudly displaying his rank as captain in an image likely dating from early 1863. One of his shoulder straps was shot off in the final stages of the 21st Ohio's fight atop Snodgrass Hill on September 20, 1863. Cusac brought it back to Chickamauga 50 years later.  I n September 1913, 83-year-old Isaac Cusac, a retired Presbyterian minister from the little town of McComb, Ohio, returned to Chattanooga to attend the national G.A.R. encampment. The former captain of the 21 st Ohio returned to Snodgrass Hill on the old Chickamauga battlefield on the 50 th anniversary of the battle carrying with him a precious relic of his wartime experiences. “He carried with him there an epaulet that was shot from his shoulder at the battle,” it was reported. “The bullet clipped off the epaulet and then struck him on the left hand, injuring two fingers.”           The flood of memories as he walked the grounds must have been overwhelming. The f
Read more