The 21st Ohio Infantry in Song and Verse

May 21, 2018

While the focus of this blog over the past year has largely been on offering first-hand accounts of the many bloody battles in which Ohio troops nobly (and ignobly) fought, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to offer these examples of song and verse. I think each of these are fascinating pieces of Americana, and provide some insight into how the men viewed themselves and their contribution to winning the war. I haven’t seen many bits of poetry by Ohio Civil War soldiers in which they focus on their regiment, so while I can’t say that these pieces are unique, they are certainly unusual.

Findlay resident Sergeant Erastus A. Biggs of Co. A of the 21st Ohio was mortally wounded by an artillery shell December 31, 1862 at the Battle of Stones River and died the following day.

It is noteworthy that each of these pieces date from before Chickamauga; the first three were published in late July 1861 as the original three months’ regiment was preparing to be mustered out. Benskin’s poem was written following the recent Battle of Scary Creek, Va. in which Colonel Jesse S. Norton was severely wounded and captured after having led a gallant charge to take a bridge held by the Confederates. The fourth item, Private Zoebaugh’s song, saw publication in March 1863 in the Democratic-leaning Hancock Courier, an interesting inclusion given the newspaper’s anti-Lincoln stance.

Colonel Norton’s lofty reputation for bravery evidenced in Benkin’s poem and Gray’s song wouldn’t last the war; Norton became embroiled in a controversy with Colonel John Lowe of the 12^th Ohio over statements Norton made public regarding Lowe’s actions at Scary Creek, a controversy brought to an end by Lowe’s death on the battlefield at Carnifex Ferry on September 10, 1861. The following summer, Colonel Norton publicly charged his brigade commander Brigadier General Ormsby M. Mitchel with selling stolen Confederate cotton, then also made charges against Colonel John B. Turchin. On his own hook, Norton left his command (then in Alabama), stopped in Louisville, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg, where he made public his mission (quickly reported in the papers), then appeared before the Committee on the Conduct of the War. The War Department determined that Norton had gone AWOL and sent out agents to arrest him, but Norton had (in the newspaper language of the time) “skedaddled” and returned to Ohio.

Colonel Jesse S. Norton, 21st O.V.I.

Further investigation uncovered that Colonel Norton had been previously caught by Mitchel associating far too closely with well-known Alabama planters and secessionists (there was a clambake south of Huntsville that is infamous in regimental lore); Mitchel publicly upbraided Norton for being absent from his command and the humiliation sent Colonel Norton on the dark path for revenge. It developed that his mission to Washington likely amounted to little more than a preemptive strike against Mitchel who had been recently promoted. Further irregularities developed when it was discovered that Norton had never been properly exchanged after being captured at Scary Creek, and as such, had been improperly holding command of the regiment since it had been mustered in the previous September. By the time all this came to light, Colonel Norton was on staff duty in Louisville, Kentucky. He made one last visit to the regiment where his reception was singularly undemonstrative. “Several of the officers called on him,” remembered Captain Silas Canfield, “but no particular attention was paid to him, and after spending a very quiet day in camp, he left promising to return the next morning. There was much chagrin felt toward him for the course he had pursued at Huntsville and Athens, and for his acts toward General Mitchel. He lost the confidence and esteem of his regiment, and retired from its command unhonored.” His reputation in tatters, Norton resigned his commission in December 1862.

Kanawha Expedition
by Private Thomas G. Benskin, Co. H, 21^st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

(July 1861)

Down from the North to Charleston, far South, beyond our kin,

There went a host of Union boys- J. Neibling and his men;

With cries of Union sentiment from every hill and glen,

We go to rout secession, boys- old Wise and all his men.

With General Cox we ventured up the old Kanawha stream,

But little did the Rebels think we would come by steam.

Cries of Union sentiment from every hill and glen,

Were heard from the gallant Union boys- J. Neibling and his men.

The gallant Twenty-First, my boys, went foremost in the play,

And routed every Rebel band they met upon the way.

Some prisoners we have taken and Wise we run away,

It was the gallant Union boys, just at the close of day.

They showed us fight at Scary, and made the “Twelvesters” run,

But when we all came on they thought it was no fun.

We fired upon a Rebel boat while gliding up the stream;

Of our attack upon them then but little did they dream,

They landed on the other shore, we gave them three more rounds,

Which made them scamper o’er the hills, fast, like a lot of hounds.

Our booming grape fell among them, and o’er the hill they run,

For long and loud our cannon boys did fire their rifle gun;

Soon as the Charleston Rebels did hear our cannons crack,

They took the hint, and started off upon the eastern track;

Soon as they crossed the river Elk, they set the bridge on fire,

And before we overtook the rogues, they nearly cut the wire.

We worked all night to fix the bridge and started in the morn,

If we had caught old Wise, my boys, we would have killed him sure’s you’re born.

Beyond Gauley Bridge he did retreat and set the bridge on fire,

It soon came tumbling down beneath, for it was not hung on wire.

Upon their way their food was scarce, and all they had to eat,

Was what they gathered on the way- potatoes, salt, and meat.

They dare not stop and cook, as on the way they run,

For fear we’d overtake their crew and have a little fun.

Into the river they did throw their guns and cannon, too,

For they discovered we were near, and on the way they flew.

We got their guns and cannon, which in the stream they throwed,

With many more we found upon the Gauley road.

Old Wise has left for Richmond, o’er hills and lofty rocks,

While hundreds have deserted him, and some have joined with Cox.

The Twenty-First was left behind, old Charleston for to keep,

Until we made them take the oath, and did not dare to cheap.

Soon as another regiment comes from duty we’ll be free,

And when we start for home, my boys, oh won’t we have a spree!

Private W. Sidney Brewster, Co. C, 21st O.V.I.
Killed in action September 19, 1863 at Chickamauga

The 21st Ohio Song
by Private Nelson W. Gray, Co. B, 21^st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

(July 1861)

Oh, don’t you hear the Union boys?

It is Norton and his men,

They come from the north to Charleston,

A host beyond your ken.

With cries of popular sovereignty,

From every hill and glen,

Oh don’t you hear the Union boys,

It is Norton and his men.

Come young, come old, come middle aged,

Now all go hand in hand,

From mountainside to ocean tide,

And join the Union band.

With cries of popular sovereignty,

From every hill and glen,

Oh don’t you hear the Union boys,

It is Norton and his men.

We all unite in this great fight,

The Union boys so true,

They are going to clean old Charleston out,

That little trick they’ll do.

With cries of popular sovereignty,

From every hill and glen,

Oh don’t you hear the Union boys,

It is Norton and his men.

Now three times three for little Jess,

Let shouts be loud and long,

Along the line of battlement,

With music, speech, and song.

With cries of popular sovereignty,

From every hill and glen,

Oh don’t you hear the Union boys,

It is Norton and his men.

Lines composed July 20, 1861 upon the restoration of Colonel Jesse S. Norton to his regiment after being captured at the Battle of Scary, Virginia, July 17, 1861.

Lines

by Sergeant Calvin D. McDonald, Co. F, 21^st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

(July 20, 1861)

Tune- Star Spangled Banner

We hail thee, grand chief, to our camp once again,

We so oft we have met thee in days free from danger;

When no bugle was sounding to summon to arms,

And no clash of the sword or musket’s shrill clangor;

When peace was our watchword, unless by aggression,

The traitors to country would cause us to stand;

Then the shout of the Union from each manly breast,

Would be echoed by Freemen through Columbia’s land.

We hail thee again because thou art valiant,

In leading thy Freemen midst the dread din of battle,

Where many were falling as martyrs to freedom,

Bidding the traitorous minions disband;

While the shout of the Union from each manly breast,

Would be echoed by Freeman through Columbia’s land.

We hail thee once more as rescued commander,

From the chains of the traitor thou art delivered;

Thy fame shall be bright ‘mid the annals of glory,

When the false structure of treason is shivered.

In peace as in war, by the true friends of freedom,

Thy name will be sung by Liberty’s band,

While the shout of the Union from each manly breast,

Would be echoed by Freeman through Columbia’s land.

Source:

“Lines,” Sergeant Calvin D. McDonald, Co. F, 21^st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Gallipolis Journal (Ohio), August 8, 1861, pg. 3

The Rallying Song of the Gallant 21st O.V.I.
by Private John B. Zoebaugh, Co. G, 21^st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

(March 1863)

Cheer for the banner as we rally ‘neath the stars,

We join the Northern Legion and are off for the wars,

Ready for the onset, bullets, blood, and scars,

Cheer for the dear old flag