A Victory Promptly and Gloriously Won: The 36th Ohio at Lewisburg

     All through the winter of 1861 and 1862, Colonel George Crook of the 36th Ohio drilled his men incessantly, aiming to make his boys the crack regiment of the Kanawha Division. To facilitate drill in the frequently inclement weather of the western Virginia mountains, Crook had a large drill hall built (over 700 feet long!) in Summerville, Virginia, and the work began to mold these citizens into soldiers.

    In May of 1862, the work would pay off as the 36th Ohio, along with the 44th Ohio, emerged the victors at the Battle of Lewisburg. “On May 12, 1862, the regiment started south via Cold Knob and Frankfort for Lewisburg in Greenbrier County. At that place was met the 44th Ohio Volunteer Infantry under Colonel Sam Gilbert and a battalion of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry under the command of Colonel Bolles, all constituting a brigade under Colonel Crook,” Whitelaw Reid reported.

    “In the early morning of May 23rd, General Henry Heth with a force of 2,500 Rebels drove in the national pickets and from a strong position on the hill east of town began to shell the camp. The 36th Ohio under Lieutenant Colonel Melvin Clarke and the 44th Ohio, containing in the aggregate not more than 1,200 effective men, were ordered to repel the attack. Disappearing for a few moments among the houses and streets of the town, the National force suddenly emerged upon the open field occupied by the Rebels. In 20 minutes, the Rebels were driven back over the summit of the hill and utterly routed with a loss of 60 killed left upon the field, 175 prisoners, four pieces of artillery [captured by the 44th Ohio], 300 stand of small arms, besides a large number of wounded. The victory was promptly and gloriously won. This was a fair stand up fight on open ground, the enemy having the great advantage in numbers, position, and in the morale of the attack.”

    Among those soldiers who “saw the elephant” at Lewisburg was Sergeant Wesley Martindale of Co. I of the 36th Ohio who proudly reported on the role his regiment played in the battle in this letter published in the June 4, 1862 edition of the Gallipolis Dispatch.

Colonel George Crook came to the 36th Ohio from the regular army and definitely put his stamp upon the regiment during the year in which he was closely connected with it. The 36th became known as "Crook's Regulars" and the regiment saw service in both eastern and western theaters including Antietam, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, then back east for the 1864 campaigns in their old stomping grounds in western Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Crook would be commissioned a brigadier general in September 1862 and see extensive service during and after the war, gaining his greatest fame as an Indian fighter. 


Lewisburg, Virginia

May 24, 1862

    I will endeavor to give you a true and complete history of our battle at this place, which occurred yesterday morning at 5 o’clock, which I suppose you have heard of ere this. Our pickets brought word to camp at daylight that they were fired on and the Rebels were advancing on us rapidly- the pickets had been placed at Greenbrier Bridge, some three miles from town, some infantry and some cavalry. We had breakfast just ready and were ordered to fall in and had to go and leave it, which of course we hated to do. The 36th Ohio and the 44th Ohio were in line of battle in a few minutes- the two regiments numbering about 1,200 men and 200 cavalry marched through town and flanked to the right and left and advanced in line of battle. By this time the enemy had taken position and planted their artillery at the best advantage. They had eight pieces, heavy ones at that. We had four howitzers but no order to fire and never fired a single shot with them. As we were marching through town they first opened on us with their artillery. I tell you it made things jingle, the bombs flying over our heads, through our ranks, and bursting all around us, you can have no idea of anything about it.

 

“Our boys were shouting happy and said they were spoiling all winter for a fight. The enemy had the 22nd Virginia, their brag regiment, against the 36th Ohio. The prisoners say the 22nd Virginia had been in four fights and never whipped, but they woke up the wrong passengers this time. They say they never saw such fighting before. Our men never gave back an inch but kept pressing on steadily with such expressions as ‘Forward my brave boys’ and ‘Remember Ohio’ and ‘Go it, my bullies’ and occasionally ‘Give ‘em hell’ until the Rebels broke.” ~ Quartermaster Levi Barbour, 36th Ohio

 

    The enemy numbered about 3,500, nearly three times our number, but that made no difference, we walked right into them, and drove them off the field. The bullets fell in our ranks like rain. They whistled around my ears like wind, cutting the clothes on several of our boys. I don’t see how we escaped, but we never thought of danger- in fact, we did not want to know it, although we were facing a large force. The cavalry never fired, they could not get to them, being in the rear, leaving us only 1,200 men.

This damaged image of Private Joshua Haught of Co. F of the 36th Ohio shows him in campaign dress complete with a porkpie hat, pegged trousers, and his rifle. Upon enlistment, the 36th Ohio had been issued Enfield rifles for the flank companies and .69 caliber rifles for the balance of the companies. Colonel Crook later pushed to get the regiment entirely armed with Enfields. 


    Our loss in the whole brigade was 13 killed, 67 wounded, and 12 missing. I suppose the missing were all taken prisoners; most were on guard at the bridge. The enemy’s loss was at least 100 killed and 100 taken prisoner, if not over; the wounded I have no account of, but of course it is large, from the number killed. We captured four pieces of cannon, two 10-pounders and two 12-pounders and they spiked three and threw them in the Greenbrier River. We took several horses and a large amount of arms; I can’t tell you the number, but you will see it in the papers.

 

“The first thing after the Rebels were helped out of town was to pick up our dead and wounded. The ambulances were soon in full play and whole wagon loads of dead bodies passed by. The first house I entered there lay on the floor 12 wounded Rebels and one of our men shot through the heart. I looked at the wounded as they lay on the floor. The first one I saw was wounded through the stomach and his shirt was saturated with his blood. He was on the eve of passing into a better or worse land as his face clearly indicated. He was suffering intense pain and was supplicating God to have mercy on his soul. The others were mostly wounded in the same place, the balls going clean through them. There the poor fellows lay writhing and groaning in terrible agony. The spectacle was so sickening that I was compelled to get into the open air.” ~ Bugler George Jenvey, Co. F, 2nd Virginia Cavalry

 

    The engagement lasted one hour and fifteen minutes from the time the first round was fired till we ceased firing. This statement may not be exactly correct, but it is as near a report as I can make it. There were none of our boys from that neighborhood hurt. John Wright was merely marked with a ball on the ankle, but you could not say it hurt him. Three others of our company were wounded but not mortally. I came out unharmed. I suppose we fought as bravely as any men ever fought in the world, at least that is what our field officers say.

 

These late war regimental colors bear testimony to the extensive action the 36th Ohio saw during the war; the missing portions on the right indicate their 1863 western theater participation in Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. After veteran's furlough, the 36th Ohio returned to Virginia where, as part of Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah, they burnished their already enviable record by taking part in the battles of Berryville, Opequan, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. An earlier set of regimental colors exist in private hands. 

Headquarters, Third Brigade, Lewisburg, Virginia

May 25, 1862

 

Order No. 5

 

          It affords the undersigned great pleasure in congratulating the troops of his command on their brilliant success on the 23rd inst. We were attacked by a greatly superior force who not only had their choice of position but had the morale of attack. The 36th and 44th regiments formed line of battle under fire, a movement that veteran troops find difficult to make. They then advanced in good order, driving the enemy before them, dealing death and destruction as they went until the enemy fled in great confusion, leaving over 100 of their killed and wounded on the field. We captured four pieces of artillery, 300 stand of arms, and 100 prisoners. The 44th captured their battery and the 36th advanced under their heaviest infantry fire.

          The result fully justifies the high standard these regiments were expected to maintain. To make particular mention would be invidious since they behaved so nobly. The artillery, by a misunderstanding, was not brought into action. The 2nd Virginia, being held in reserve, had the most difficult part to perform, that of being exposed to the enemy’s fire without being able to participate. The medical and quartermaster’s departments deserve great credit for their energy and zeal in carrying the wounded and dead from the field. The surveyors and assistant surveyors deserve particular attention for their skill and untiring attention to the wounded.

 

Colonel George Crook, commanding brigade

 

 

Sources:

Letter from Sergeant Wesley Martindale, Co. I, 36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Gallipolis Dispatch (Ohio), June 4, 1862, pg. 2

Letter from Quartermaster Levi Barbour, 36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Marietta Home News (Ohio), June 13, 1862, pg. 1

Letter from Bugler George Jenvey, Co. F, 2nd Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, Marietta Home News (Ohio), June 6, 1862, pg. 1

Order No. 5 from Colonel George Crook, Gallipolis Journal (Ohio), June 5, 1862, pg. 2

Reid, Whitelaw. Ohio in the War Volume 2, pg. 234

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 t...
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 ...
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 h...
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 Ma...
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 se...
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

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...
Read more

I Want to See a Battle: A Hoosier at Shiloh

Image
W riting in his diary, Private Manius Buchanan of the 29 th Indiana recalled the eagerness with which his regiment marched towards Savannah, Tennessee with the sounds of the battle of Shiloh ringing in their ears.           “The forced march was kept up until 2 p.m. when we were halted until 4 p.m,” he noted. “The rest was really needed, but the continual question is ‘Why are we stopped here?’ The sound of battle increased in volume and anxiety to be up and doing grows more intense. As I am weak from a late sickness, I am urged to fall to the rear; but no, in common with all, I want to see a battle and fear this will be my only chance.” The regiment would go into action the following afternoon, and of the four neighborhood boys who had enlisted together in Co. B, only Buchanan escaped unscathed. One afternoon's exposure to the horrors of battle was all it took to satisfy this Hoosier's desire to see the elephant. “I wanted to see a battl...
Read more

An Interview with Forrest in May 1864

Image
  “The noise of battle is the only music that ravishes the senses of Forrest.” I t was May 1864. Back east, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac were locked in the deadly dance of the Overland Campaign while in Georgia, General William Tecumseh Sherman's army squared off against General Joseph E. Johnston and the Army of the Tennessee in the campaign for Atlanta.       Based in relatively quiet northern Mississippi, General Nathan Bedford Forrest bided his time waiting for a Federal advance from Memphis. Earlier in the month, General Samuel Sturgis led a brief campaign into Mississippi but Forrest was sure Sturgis would venture out again. In the meantime, he tried to keep his reorganized command intact despite persistent demands from his superiors that he return the absentees and deserters who inflated his ranks (nearly 1,000 in number) to their original commands.      Around this same time,  an old acquaintance from Me...
Read more