- 600 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 601 announced capacity was twelve tons daily and the height of its stack forty feet—these two items fixing the status of the iron manufactories of the early days. HAMDEN FURNACE Hamden Furnace was established in 1854 by L. C. Damarin and others near the village which had been christened by that name about a year previously, and which had before been known as Charleston. The Hamden Furnace was larger than the other two, but they were all of the variety specified as "open top and hot blast." Of course, they burned charcoal ; it was to be several years before even the Diamond Furnace of Jackson County was to use bituminous coal as fuel. ZALESKI FURNACE Zaleski Furnace was the only iron manufactory in Vinton County which used stone coal, and this dated from its founding in 1858. It then had a daily capacity of only ten tons. LARGE BLOCKS OF FURNACE LANDS As the business of the Eagle, Vinton and Hamden furnaces increased their demands for mineral and wooded lands became larger, so that by the early '80s, when the villages, the coal and iron fields, and the pig iron products of the Raccoon Valley were first brought into railway connection with the markets of the country at the opening of that expanding period, *a large portion of the townships of Clinton and Vinton were owned, as to their lands, by the companies controlling the furnaces named. Writing of that period, a local observer says of Vinton Township : "The land is mostly owned in large parcels, the Eagle Furnace Company, the Lincoln Furnace Company, the Vinton Coal and Iron Company, and several private parties owning large tracts. The farms are generally larger than usual in this part of the State. The township contains a great variety of lands. Some of it is as good agricultural land as exists anywhere, but the surface is very rough and hilly, especially along Raccoon Creek. Most of the land is wstock-raising,or grazing, and stock-raising could be made profitable. The township is also rich in minerals, and in the western part coal and iron are found in abundance. It may be generations hence ere these resources are fully developed, but their presence assures lasting wealth to Vinton Township." And of Clinton Township : "Both coal and iron are found in abundance, and considerable quantities are mined and shipped. Hamden Furnace is situated on the south half of Section 21, and the furnace company own several whole sections of land in the .township, besides other large tracts less than a section in size. Several large bodies of land are also owned by the Eagle' Furnace Company and the Vinton Furnace Company." 602 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION CINCINNATI AND HOPE FURNACES The Cincinnati Furnace, which was completed in 1853 by Messrs. Westall, Stewart and others, was located five miles west of Hamden. It was later known as Richland Furnace. It had an original daily capacity of thirteen tons and a smoke stack forty feet in height. Hope Furnace, in the southeastern part of Brown Township, was started in 1854 by Colonel Putnam and others. It had a daily capacity of fourteen tons, with a smoke stack thirty-six feet high. HAMDEN GETS A RAILROAD It was in the very midst of the building of the pioneer furnaces in the Raccoon Valley of Vinton County that the Portsmouth branch of the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad reached Hamden. As that was a complicated outgrowth of the old Scioto & Hocking Valley line, the details of that development seem appropriate at this point. THE SCIOTO & HOCKING VALLEY LINE The Scioto & Hocking Valley Railroad was organized in the year 1849. The route along which it was to be built was from Portsmouth, Scioto County, to Newark, Licking County, passing through the counties of Scioto, Jackson, Vinton, Hocking, Perry and Licking and just touching the northern corner of Lawrehce County. Work was commenced in 1850, and August 15, 1853, it had reached Jackson Courthouse in Jackson County. There was not any certainty of its being carried further north than Jackson unless the people could be aroused in Vinton County and to the north of her, and the friends of the road went to work in these counties. This action of the people strengthened the enterprise, and it reached Jackson the following year, or 1853. On its arrival there work ceased for some twelve months so far as laying any rails was concerned, but the grading was completed to Somerset, in Perry County, with the exception of a 'tunnel at Maxwell and a heavy cut at Union Furnace. After a twelve months' rest work was again commenced, and the rails were laid to the hamlet of Hamden, and them formed a junction with the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad. There was another cessation of work, and an attempt to negotiate the sale of their bond being a failure, and therefore meeting with financial embarrassment, there was a collapse ; the roadbed and right of way having been mortgaged, the same was foreclosed and the whole forfeited to the land owners. The most of the stock was held by persons living along the line of the contemplated road. This ended that project and a calm settled over the valley. FINALLY THE BALTIMORE & OHIO The portion of the road completed south and southwest from Hamden Junction to Portsmouth went into the hands of a receiver in the year HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 603 1858, who operated it under the order of the court until the road was sold, May 23, 1863. The purchase of the road entire, with all its equipments, was made by T. J. Stead, Isaac Hartshorn, and Earl P. Mason, of Providence, Rhode Island, as trustees in behalf of the second bondholders, for $411,100, the purchasers agreeing with the holders of the first mortgage bonds to assume their payment. That year a reorganization of the company was effected under the name of the Portsmouth & Newark Railroad Company. The new company at once took steps to dispose of the property, the reorganization of the company probably being to accomplish its sale. The Marietta & Cincinnati Railway Company became its purchaser, and it was operated by that company -under the name of the Portsmouth Branch of the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad. This continued until January 1, 1883, when the entire road, of which it was a branch, was reorganized under the name of the Cincinnati, Washington & Baltimore Railroad, the property of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. THE RISE AND FALL OF ZALESKI In 1856 the main line of the old Marietta & Cincinnati line was completed to Athens from Cincinnati by way (through Vinton County) of Vinton, Zaleski (just founded) and Hope. Not long afterward it reached Marietta. Daily passenger trains were at once run between Athens and Chillicothe, connecting at the latter point with the Cincinnati trains. The rise of Zaleski to the position of the leading village in the county was the result of the development of large tracts of mineral lands at and near it, the growth of the Zaleski Furnace and other industries, and its establishment as a railroad town in the early '60s, when it became a section town on the Marietta & Cincinnati line. Large shops were built at that time and for many years, after the decline of the iron and coal industries, were the main support of the town. Previous to September, 1874, nearly two hundred and fifty men were constantly employed in these shops, but on September 9th of that year all the buildings except the foundry and roundhouse were burned to the ground. They were rebuilt in the following year, but on such a minor scale that only about one hundred men were employed. In 1883, when the entire system of the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad was absorbed by the Cincinnati, Washington & Baltimore, or the Baltimore & Ohio Company, the car shops at Zaleski passed to the new owner, and several years afterward were established, with greatly extended facilities, at Chillicothe. When the first locomotive snorted and jangled into McArthur on August 17, 1880, Zaleski's death knell was sounded, especially as the town already had been dealt such stunning blows as the collapse of her coal and iron industries and the destruction of her railroad shops. HISTORY OF ZALESKI The main facts in connection with the development of Zaleski are that it was named in honor of Peter F. Zaleski, a native of Poland and a 604 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION leading member of the Zaleski Mining Company, which, for years after its activities were over, owned large tracts of land in the vicinity of the village. The town was laid out on this company's land in 1856, the survey and plat being made by H. B. Robison. Important additions have since been made by J. F. Heseltine and R. Thompson, and one in 1878 by John F. Sands. For many years it was simply a mining town in which the houses were owned by the mining company, occupied by their employes, and in which the mercantile business was confined to the same proprietors. Zaleski, however, has grown gradually, and much of the property having passed into the hands of private citizens she has, in a manner, .lost her identity as a mining town. In 1870, after sixteen years of existence, the town had 690 inhabitants, and in 1880, 1,175. The mineral outlook at this place once seemed so good that proprietors looked ahead with hope that Zaleski should soon expand into a flourishing city. But the ores proved less rich than was anticipated, and the deep wells bored for oil only produced gas and water. The postoffice was established at Zaleski about the time the place was laid out in 1856, and John D. Vanderford was appointed the first postmaster. The '60s and '70s were the growing years of the village. The manufactories and railroad shops reached their greatest prosperity during these periods. In the early '60s the Zaleski flouring mill was built by A. Robinson and supplied a large extent of country for many years ; the Roman Catholics and the Methodists also organized churches at that time. From 1865 to 1869 several newspapers were also essayed—the Zaleski Herald, the Zaleski Echo and the Raccoon Navigator. The last had the advantage of rather an original name, but that did not tide it over more than a few months of unsettled weather. In the early '80s when the Hocking Valley and the Baltimore & Ohio roads of the present had just commenced to develop McArthur and Hamden, at the expense of Zaleski, the latter had a population of about 1,200 and the following stores: Zaleski Company, general store; Hulbert & Robinson, general store ; S. McNamara & Company, general store ; J. G. Will & Company, general store ; E. Wagoner, general store ; Thomas Kinney, dry goods ; Mrs. John Gillilan, millinery ; and J. P. Cauty, hardware. It had also one hotel, two physicians and two resident ministers. The population of Zaleski had declined to 862 in 1890, to 577 in 1900, and 476 in 1910. It is now a peaceful hamlet, with a good country surrounding it, but is left hopelessly behind by McArthur and Hamden. MCARTHUR RAILROAD AFAR For nearly thirty years McArthur waited in vain for her rightful railroad. The county seat commenced to look forward to that "day big with events" when it first became the political and judicial center of Vinton County, and the chapter ending in ultimate realization is one bristling with vexatious delays. It reads in this wise : HANGING ROCK .IRON REGION - 605 Although the Scioto & Hocking Valley Railroad was organized in 1849, it was not until 1852 that the counties most interested in building the line concentrated their energies in any practical movement. But on September 2d of that year the largest railroad meeting ever held in the Hocking Valley came off at Logan. A grand barbecue was given, and the air fairly shook with railroad eloquence. It was a memorable day in the history of Hocking. County. The line of route was from Portsmouth, on the Ohio River, running to Jackson in Jackson County, through McArthurstown in Vinton County, Logan' in Hocking, to Somerset in Perry County, thence to Newark, Licking County, Ohio, as its terminus. It was computed that 5,000 people were in attendance that day, coming from Jackson on the south, to Newark on the north. Perry County turned out the banner delegation, being over a half mile long, accompanied by a band of music. The people of Logan and surrounding country were awakened at sunrise by a Federal salute. Up to that time it was the largest railroad meeting ever held in the state, and few since have .exceeded it. It was decided that Perry County should raise $150,000, Hocking County $80,000, and Vinton County $50,000. The road was completed to the Town of Jackson in 1853 and the grading completed to Somerset, in Perry County, with the exception of a tunnel at Maxwell and a heavy cut at Union Furnace. Then there was a collapse ; the roadbed and right of way having been mortgaged, the same was foreclosed and the whole forfeited to the land owners. The most of the stock was held by persons living along the line of the contemplated road. This ended that project and a calm settled over the valley. A decade had passed, and peace again settled upon our distressed country, when another railroad project was being whispered in the ears of the people of Hocking County. This time the connection spoken of was a line to Parkersburg on the Ohio River, to Columbus and Athens, instead of McArthur, the route from Logan. The route is here described, taken from a Northwestern Ohio paper, the Lima Gazette. It said : "A project for a new railroad that may ultimately be of immense benefit to the people of Lima, Allen County, is now being discussed. It is now, and has been for a year past, proposed (and the route has been surveyed) to construct a road from Columbus, southeast through Lancaster, Logan and Athens, to. Parkersburg, on the Ohio. This the Columbus people and those along the line dream of immense importance, because it opens up the extensive coal and iron deposits of Southeastern Ohio, which are now comparatively cut off, and affords a short cut connecting with the Baltimore & Ohio road at Parkersburg. This road will be built, and there necessarily form other combinations in connection with that, of which we propose to speak." Just what other combinations it had in view, or whether it spoke about them, is immaterial to this history. The route above described is now known as the Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railroad, which, in this year, 1883, and a few previous ones, show a larger net profit per mile than any other road in the state. The first public meeting to consider the project was on February 16, 606 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION 1866, and it was reported a success, and the right of way through Hocking and Athens counties was a free gift to the company with but few exceptions. Matters went along, all in good shape, during the summer, and on December 19, 1866, $754,000 had been subscribed and the following board of directors elected Peter Hayden, B. E. Smith, William G. Deshler, W. B. Brooks, William Dennison, Isaac Eberly, George M. Parsons and Theodore Comstock, of Columbus ; D. Tallmadge, of Fairfield County ; J. C. Garrett, of Hocking County ; E. H. Moore and M. M. Greene, of Athens County ; and W. P. Cutler, of Washington County. It was at that time known as the Hocking Valley Mineral Railroad. Logan's contribution was $75,000, and the road was completed through Hocking County to the Athens County line, June 29, 1869, reaching Nelsonville, as previously stated, June 30, of that year. As this was the first railroad to reach Hocking County, it was welcomed with loud rejoicing. REACHES MCARTHUR The Ohio & West Virginia Railroad was the new name for the Scioto & Hocking Valley Railroad of 1852, with the exception of its terminal point, which was changed from Portsmouth to Gallipolis ; the route from Logan through Hocking and Vinton counties was the same. Work was commenced on this road in the spring of 1879, and the new company followed the old line and grade as far south as Dundas, where it crossed the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad, and then turned from the direction of Portsmouth toward Gallipolis. It was finished the following year' so that trains tan from Logan to the Ohio River in December, 1880. The principal owners were residents of Columbus, but they had bonded the road, and eastern persons held the bonds. The contractors ran the road a short time, then M. M. Greene, of the Hocking Valley road, was elected its president, which meant that the latter road was in control. This proved true, the road being sold to the Cleveland syndicate in September, 1881, and reorganized under the name of the River Division of the Colunabus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railroad. By securing this line the Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railroad obtained possession of a route from the state capital to the Ohio River at Gallipolis, the main line terminating at Athens. The junction of the two roads which thus were constructed through the southern, central and eastern townships of Vinton County was about a quarter of a mile from the Village of Dundas, and three miles south of McArthur. It was called McArthur Junction. FIRST YEAR'S SHIPMENTS AT MCARTHUR The completion of the Hocking Valley Railroad had an immediate effect on the prosperity of McArthur and it at once became one of the leading shipping points in the upper districts of the Hanging Rock iron region. During its first year as a railroad town, 125912,825 pounds of freight were shipped, mostly coal and iron ore. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 607 RATCLIFF 'S AND HAWK'S STATIONS Ratcliff's Station, Vinton Township, on the line running to Gallipolis, was the direct result of the building of the Hocking Valley road. Hawk's Station and Minerton, in Wilkesville Township, farther to the southeast, are also railroad stations, although several old mills were erected near their sites many years ago and little hamlets grew up around them. WILKESVILLE As Wilkesville was too far east to be accommodated she is now away from any railroad, and to that extent has little present prospect of growth. With the coming of the railroad Vinton County, as a whole, entered a new period of reconstruction, which is still progressing in most satisfactory fashion. CHAPTER IV THE CIVIL WAR COMMISSIONED OFFICERS FROM TWO REGIMENTS—SCATTERED IN MANY COMMANDS—SURGEONS AND CHAPLAINS—EIGHTEENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY—SECOND WEST VIRGINIA CAVALRY—THE SEVENTY-FIFTH OHIO INFANTRY—TWELFTH OHIO CAVALRY—" ONE HUNDRED DAYS" MEN—LIEUTENANT COLONEL PHILLIPS—" ONE YEAR" MEN. It speaks well for Vinton County that while it had but one company in the cavalry regiment it furnished at the expiration of more than three years and a half of service, one major, three out of eight captains, and two lieutenants. SCATTERED IN MANY COMMANDS The Seventy-fifth Infantry had Company I as its Vinton County contingent, and after nearly four years of hard service capped its career *by assisting in the capture of Jefferson Davis, the ex-president of the Confederacy. Company B of the Ninetieth Ohio Infantry, Company F of the One Hundred and Fourteenth, and Company K of the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry, were fOrfor Vinton County soldiers, the last named doing especially valiant service against Morgan's raiders in West Virginia.. Companies D and K of the One Hundred and Ninety-fourth Infantry (a one year regiment) were also raised in the county and served their allotted period, while scattered soldiers in small numbers were drawn into such commands as the Twenty-seventh, Thirtieth, Thirty-first, Thirty-sixth, Forty-third, Sixty-sixth and One Hundred and Seventy-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry regiments, the First Ohio Heavy Artillery, the Seventeenth United States Colored Regiment and the First United States Veteran Volunteer Engineers. In the last named command were Charles L. White, afterwards superintendent of the Union schools at Zaleski, prosecuting attorney of the county and a lawyer of high standing, as well as half a dozen other plucky young men whose after careers were not so noticeable. Three companies of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment, Ohio National Guards, also performed duty in Virginia for 100 days in 1864. Vol. - I-39 - 609 - 610 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION SURGEONS AND CHAPLAINS This general review of the participation of Vinton County in the War of the Rebellion would be incomplete without a mention of the individuals who did what they 'could to comfort the wounded and the dying, and in every way to uphold the physical and spiritual well-being of those engaged in the grim business of war. Dr. David V. Rannels, of McArthur, was commissioned as assistant surgeon in August, 1862, and assigned to duty in the Fifth Ohio Cavalry. In October, 1864, he was commissioned as surgeon, and remained with the same regiment until May 5, 1865. Dr. H. H. Bishop, of Wilkesville, was also a surgeon in the Tennessee army. Dr. Charles French, of McArthur, was assistant surgeon of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Rev. G. W. Filcher, of Vinton County, was chaplain of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, Col. Robert G. Ingersoll's regiment. He being in Illinois in 1862, enlisted in that regiment and was commissioned as chaplain.. He remained in the service two years.. Rev. John Dillon, of Vinton County, was chaplain of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Vinton County fully maintained the patriotic reputation of. Ohio which stood so firm and high during the entire period of the Civil war. One out of every fourteen of its population responded to the various presidential and gubernatorial calls for troops ; in other words, more than one thousand four hundred of her sons went to the front, drawn from an average population of 14,000. The war fever broke out early and never abated from Fort Sumter to Appomattox. All ages and both colors were represented in the Union ranks, the Seventeenth United States Colored Regiment having a number of enlisted men' from the county. COMMISSIONED OFFICERS FROM Two REGIMENTS The Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and the Second West Virginia Cavalry mustered the largest number of Vinton County recruits. In the Eighteenth, the following commissioned officers were from the county : Col. T. R. Stanley ; Capt. Ashbel Fenton, Company B, who died April 14, 1863, of wounds received December 31, 1862, at Stone River ; First Lieutenant Dunkle, promoted to captain, died June 9, 1863, at home from disease contracted in the line of duty ; Capt. William L. Edmiston, Company H, resigned August 30, 1862 ; Capt. Alexander Pearce, Company D, blustered out with regiment, November 9, 1864 ; Capt. Homer C. Jones, Company B, mustered out with regiment; Capt. Perley G. Brown, Company A, mustered out with regiment; First Lieut. John G. Honnold, Company B, mustered out of invalid corps at expiration of service (Lieutenant Honnold was permanently disabled by a gun shot wound in the knee at Chickamauga) ; Lieut. Sylvanus Bartlett, mustered out of engineer regiment in 1865 (Lieutenant Bartlett was transferred HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 611 to United States Engineer Regiment and promoted to first lieutenant) ; First Lieut. Daniel Bates, mustered out with veterans, 1865 ; Second Lieut. William H. Band, resigned September 26, 1862, and died of disease contracted in the service. Company D, .of the Second West. Virginia Cavalry, was virtually composed of Vinton County men, and these commissioned officers were : "home boys:" Capt. H. S. Hamilton, resigned, date unknown ; First Lieut. George W. Snyder, resigned February 24, 1863; Second Lieut. Edwin S. Morgan, promoted to captain, Company K, and-major of regiment, and mustered out with his command; Alexander Ward, first sergeant Company D, promoted to first lieutenant Company A, mustered out with regiment ; Joseph Amkrom, promoted to captain Company G, transferred to Company E and mustered out with regiment ; First Sergt. W. S. McLanahan, promotea to second lieutenant Company D and mustered out with regiment. EIGHTEENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY The Eighteenth Infantry, as a three months' regiment, was commanded by Timothy R. Stanley of Vinton County, who took command of the regiment when it entered the three years' service. As two full companies came from that section of the state and eleven men from Vinton County served as commissioned officers of the regiment at various periods, it is thought hest to give quite an extended history of the command. It originated April 18, 1861, when James L. Aikin, a young attorney of McArthur, prepared an "enlistment paper" and signed it as a "volunteer soldier." William J. Rannells was the second man to enlist, but there was no hesitancy on the part of the people, and on the 20th of April the company was more than up to the maximum. These people —farmers, laborers, furnace men, artisans, business men generally—came from all parts of the country and represented all classes of society, all political parties and all religious denominations. They enlisted for three months and organized the company by electing Judson W. Caldwell (a Mexican soldier) as captain ; Henry S. Hamilton, first lieutenant; and Alexander Pearce, second lieutenant. The company remained at McArthur, drilling and getting ready for the field, for about four weeks. They were sworn in by a "Squire," kit not mustered in until May 28, 1861. They were mustered into service at Marietta by Lieutenant, afterward General, Sill. The muster roll at the adjutant general's office in Columbus shows that' the company numbered ninety-nine privates, four corporals and four sergeants. After the muster in of the company it was ordered to Parkersburg, West Virginia, where it was united with other companies from Ohio, and the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry three months' regiment was formed by the selection of Timothy R. Stanley, of Vinton County, as colonel ; William NI. Bowles, of Scioto County, as lieutenant colonel ; 612 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION and William H. Bisbee, as major. Lieut. Alexander Pearce was appointed adjutant, and John C. Paxton as quartermaster. . Thus organized the Eighteenth went into service in the valleys and mountains of West Virginia. The regiment served its time doing such duty as was assigned to it, suffering such hardships as fell to its lot, many of which were owing to the then unprepared condition of the general Government or the State of Ohio to properly clothe and feed the troops. It was engaged generally in guarding railroads, bridges, etc. It returned to Ohio in August and was mustered out August 28, 1861. The Government at Washington "having learned that the suppression of the Rebellion was more than a three months' contract, 'had issued a call for more troops, and before the three months' men had been mustered out, men were being enlisted for "three years' service." Ashbel Fenton, George W. Dunkle and H. C. Jones had recruited "squads" of men which, consolidated, made a company. These men were mostly from Swan, Brown and Elk townships, a few being from Clinton and Richland. The Company organized August 12, 1861, by electing Ashbel Fenton, captain; George W. Dunkle, first lieutenant ; and H. C. Jones, second lieutenant. Thus organized the company went to Camp Wool, Ohio, where another company under Captain Miller, of Ross County, was encamped, and there became the nucleus of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In the first part of September another company was formed in Vinton County,' which organized by electing William L. Edmiston, captain ; Perley G. Brown, first lieutenant ; and William H. Band, second lieutenant. Two companies, C and G, came from Athens County; K, from Meigs; F; from Washington ; D and I, .from Gallia and Meigs; and Company E also came from Ross County. Captain Fenton's company became Company B,, and Edmiston's company became Company H on the organization of the regiment. The regiment was organized September 6, 1861, at Camp Wool, T. R. Stanley being mustered as colonel, Josiah Given as lieutenant colonel, and C. H. Grosvenor as major. The regiment was ordered to Camp Dennison, Ohio, early in September, when it went into camp of instruction ; Alexander Von Schrader, afterward inspector general of the Fourteenth Army Corps, acting as "drill sergeant." In November the regiment was ordered to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, by way of West Point. At Elizabethtown it was brigaded with the Nineteenth and Twenty-fourth Illinois and Thirty-seventh Indiana under Colonel Turchin of the Nineteenth Illinois. This brigade formed a part of Gen. 0. M. Mitchel's division of the Army of the 'Ohio. The regiment remained at Elizabethtown and "fought the measles" some four or five weeks when the division went to Bacon Creek, where it remained' until the first part of February, 1862, when it left its last camp of instruction and started south. The division marched to Edgefield; opposite Nashville; reaching there February 24. General Mitchel was then ordered to move upon the Memphis & Charleston Railroad through Murfreesboro and Fayetteville. His division of three brigades of infantry, three batteries of light HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 613 artillery and a regiment of cavalry was an independent command. The division left Nashville in March and made a bold and rapid advance through Murfreesboro, Shelbyville and Fayetteville to Huntsville, Alabama, reaching there April 7. The town was taken, 170 prisoners captured, besides fifteen locomotives, 150 passenger and freight cars, and a large amount of stores and property of great value to the enemy. Immediately Colonel Turchin's brigade was sent westward to seize Decatur and Tuscumbia. General Mitchel's mission seemed to be to keep the enemy out of Middle Tennessee and North Alabama, to give Generals Grant and Buell an opportunity to clear the Cumberland River, get possession of the enemy's stronghold and whip the Confederate army if possible. Whatever the object was, it will remain forever a fact that General Mitchel pushed his commands into the enemy's country by forced marches, rapid marches, night marches as well as day marches, from point to point, with a degree of energy, skill and audacity unequaled in the history of any infantry command in the late war. He controlled the country from Nashville to Huntsville, Alabama, and from Bridgeport to Tuscumbia. His command hid no general engagement, but was engaged in numerous skirmishes and small battles which kept the enemy clear of his territory. The Eighteenth Ohio was stationed at Athens, Alabama. May 1, 1862, they were attacked by Scott's rebel cavalry, supported by infantry and artillery. General Mitchel ordered the regiment, after it had held its ground for some time, to retire toward Huntsville. This took the command through the village. The citizens seeing the regiment falling back threw up their hats. The rebel women waved their handkerchiefs. Some shots were fired from the houses, and the tirade of abuse was such that the officers had hard work to keep the men from firing into the citizens. The enemy's cavalry seemed cautious about coming too close, and the artillery was badly aimed, so that little harm was done. General Turchin coming to their support with. the Nineteenth. Illinois and some artillery, the regiment faced about and drove the enemy out of town and out of that vicinity. This was the occasion when Turchin's brigade "went through" Athens. Some companies of the Nineteenth Illinois contained some as hard characters as could be enlisted in Chicago, and with such men as leaders, and the soldiers feeling outraged at the conduct of citizens who had been properly treated by them, with Colonel Turchin's European ideas of war customs, there was scarcely a stare or warehouse that was not pillaged. Colonel Turchin laid in the courthouse yard while the devastation was going on. An aide-de-camp approached and the colonel remarked: "Vell, Lieudenant, I dink it ish dime to shtop dis tam billaging." "Oh, no, Colonel," replied Bishop, "the boys are not yet half done jerking." "Ish dot so ? Den I schleep for half an hour longer," said the. colonel, as he rolled his fat, dumpy body over on the grass again. The boys of the Nineteenth Illinois used the word "jerk" in the sense of "steal" or "pillage." 614 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION This gave the two regiments the expressive title, " Turchin's Thieves." It secured Turchin a court martial and dismissal from the service, but President Lincoln, recognizing the services of his brigade and the fighting qualities of Turchin, made him a brigadier, general in the very sight of Buell's kid-gloved policy. This served, however, as .a lesson to the rebel citizens, and although it didn't make' them love us any more, it taught them that we were at least entitled to decent treatment, if not to respect. On May 29th General Mitchel started an expedition to Chattanooga. The Eighteenth accompanied it. Turchin's brigade-marched through, and on June 7th Chattanooga was being bombarded from the north bank of the Tennessee River. Kirby Smith having reenforced the town, the command returned to Shelbyville. After the command of Buell's moved back to Tennessee from Corinth, the old Turchin brigade was broken up, and the Eighteenth Ohio, nineteenth Illinois, Sixty-ninth Ohio and Eleventh Michigan formed a new brigade under Colonel Stanley. This was assigned to Gen. James S Negley's division. This brigade remained at Nashville during. Buell's march across Kentucky. It was on the right of Negley's division at Stone River, Negley's division being on the right of General Thomas's army. On the morning of December 31, 1862, General McCook's command, still on the right of Thomas's line, gave way. This allowed the rebel army to swing around and envelop Negley's command, but the brigade commanded by Stanley stood firm under a terrific fire, and the ground was held until. our reserve came up. Seeing the enemy pressing across a small cleared field, and that they would gain great advantage thereby, Rousseau rode up to Colonel. Given and asked him to charge the enemy. The enemy were flushed with what seemed certain victory, and were rushing forward with new spirit. When Rousseau asked Colonel Given if he could make the charge, Given replied : "I can ,do anything," and the order to charge was given. The charge was made in gallant style, .the enemy fairly hurled back with the bayonet. General Rousseau spoke of it as the most gallant charge of that terrible battle. On Friday, January 2d, the regiment was again heavily engaged ; in fact, it was in the thickest of the fight on Friday as well as on Wednesday. The regiment lost at this battle : Captain Fenton, Company B ; Captain Taylor, Company E ; Captain Stivers, Company K; Lieutenant Blacker, Company E ; and thirty-two enlisted men killed. Lieutenant Colonel Given ; Captains Welch and Ross, and Adjutant Minear, with 143 men, were wounded. The Eighteenth remained in the same brigade and division until after the battle' of Chickamauga. It bore its part through the Tullahoma campaign, and was in some sharp engagements. It also bore its part in the Chickamauga campaign and through that terrible but misjoined battle. In the battle of Chickamauga it lost heavily in killed and wounded. Six commissioned officers were wounded, among them Captain Brown, Company A, and Lieutenant Honnold, -Company B, both of Vinton County. After the Battle of Stone River Lieutenant-Colonel Given was made colonel of the Seventy-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Major Grosvenor HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 615 was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and upon the death of Captain Fenton, Captain Welch was made major of the regiment. During the summer of 1864 the regiment remained at Chattanooga, Colonel Stanley being in command. In August the rebel cavalry under Wheeler and other daring rebel generals began a series of raids to destroy the railroads and bridges between the army and Nashville. The work of driving them back, and restoring, roads and bridges fell to the Eighteenth Ohio, Seventy-eighth Pennsylvania and a few other old regiments assisted by new colored troops. The marching over the hot pikes in August and September can hardly be described ; after several forced marches the command was mounted, and the men having been unused to horseback riding for nearly three years, the suffering was terrible, but the command could get over more miles of road, and come nearer taking care of Wheeler than it could on foot. During some twenty days and nights the men were almost constantly in the saddle, this, too, after nearly three years of foot soldiering, and it wore out the men and ruined the horses. Wheeler was driven out of Tennessee and the regiment again dismounted. They were never envious of cavalrymen after this "horse-back" experience. A large number of the Eighteenth reenlisted as veterans, but not enough to maintain the organization of the regiment, so that in November the regiment was ordered, to Camp Chase, Ohio, where it was mustered out November 9, 1864. After the regiment was mustered out the veterans of the regiment, together with the veterans of the First, Second, Twenty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Ohio regiments, with such recruits as had been enlisted, were consolidated and formed a veteran regiment, called the Eighteenth Ohio, sunder command of lieutenant-colonel, afterward colonel and brevetbrigadier-general, C. H. Grosvenor. This new organization got into fighting shape before the Battle of Nashville, which was fought, December 6, 1864. In this battle the new organization of old soldiers made up of the veterans of five fighting regiments won lasting honor by gallant conduct. On the 19th it participated in the bloody and finally successful assault upon Overton Hill. It here lost four officers out of seven and seventy-five men killed and wounded out of less than two hundred. Attached to General Stedman's command the Eighteenth followed Hood's defeated army to Huntsville, and two days later assisted in the capture of Decatur. In April, 1865, the regiment went into camp near Fort Phelps. In July it accompanied General Stedman's command to Augusta, Georgia. October 9th the order came for its honorable discharge; it returned to Columbus, Ohio, and was mustered out. Having seen much hard service and having left upon the battlefields of the South many gallant men, it leaves a record of which those who come after it need never be ashamed. 616 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION SECOND WEST VIRGINIA CAVALRY As soon as the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, three months' men, were mustered out, Serg. H. S. Hamilton and others began recruiting men for the three years' service. Desiring to go into the cavalry service, and there being no opportunity to join a regiment of Ohio cavalry, they went to Virginia and assisted in forming the Second West Virginia Cavalry. This company organized by electing Henry S. Hamilton, captain; George W. Snyder, first lieutenant, and Edwin S. Morgan, second lieutenant. It was mustered into service November 8, 1861. The regiment was made up of Ohio men, and organized by selecting Wm. M. Bowles as colonel; John C. Paxton, lieutenant-colonel; Rollin L. Curtis and John J. Hoffman, majors. It never had but ten companies, hence only two majors. Its first service was with General Garfield, aiding in driving the forces under Gen. Humphrey Marshall from the fastnesses of Eastern Kentucky. In 1862 the regiment was under General Crook a great portion of the time. It was conspicuous in the Battle of Lewisburg, Virginia, in May, 1862, and was complimented by General Crook for its gallantry. Colonel Bowles resigned in June, 1862, and Lieutenant-Colonel Paxton was promoted to Colonel. May 7, 1863, Paxton was succeeded by Wm., H. Powell, who was promoted to colonel. During 1863 the regiment was in the Kanawha Valley and in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia. During the year it was engaged in many sharp skirmishes and some severe engagements, notably at Wytheville, on July 18, where Colonel Powell was wounded and taken prisoner. In May, 1864, the regiment was attached to the Third Brigade of General Averill's division, Colonel Powell, commanding the brigade. This command participated .in several engagements, was constantly on duty, and received honorable mention by General Averill for its coolness under fire and skillful evolutions in the face of the enemy. The Second West Virginia was with General Sheridan's army during his brilliant' campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, taking an active part in the engagements at Winchester, Virginia, July 19, 1864; Moorfield, West Virginia, August 7 ; Bunker Hill, Virginia, September 2 and 3.; Stephenson's Depot, September 7; Opequam, September 19 ; Fisher's Hill, September 22; Mount Jackson, September 23; Brown's Gap, September 26, and Weis's Cave, September 27, 1864. This campaign won for Colonel Powell the rank of brigadier-general, and the gallant Custer added his compliments and thanks to those of Crook and Averill. The adjutant-general of West Virginia says of this regiment: "No regiment in the service from any State has performed more arduous duty than the Second Regiment, West Virginia Cavalry, and none have better deserved the compliments and praises it has received." The Second West Virginia Cavalry belonged to General Custer's famous Third Cavalry. Division, and was present. when Lee surrendered. General Custer being at the front received the flag of truce. General Custer's order thanking his command, .when the Third Division was disbanded, is as dashing as Custer himself, and inasmuch as the Second HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 617 West Virginia Cavalry helped to make the record to which the general refers, we give an extract from it as follows : "The record established by your indomitable courage is unparalleled in the annals of war. Your prowess has won for you even the respect and admiration of your enemies. During the past six months, although in most instances confronted by superior numbers, you have .captured the enemy in open battle, 111 pieces of field artillery, sixty-five battle-flags and upward of 10,000 prisoners of war, including seven general officers. Within the past ten days, and included in the above, you have captured forty-six pieces of field artillery and thirty-seven battle-flags. "You have never lost a gun, never lost a color, and have never been defeated. And, notwithstanding the numerous engagements in which you. have borne a prominent part, including those memorable battles of the Shenandoah, you have captured every piece of artillery the enemy has dared to open upon you. "And now, speaking for myself alone, when the. war is ended, and the task of the historian begins ; when those deeds of daring which have rendered the name and fame of the Third Cavalry Division imperishable are inscribed upon the bright pages of our country's history, I only ask that my name may be written as that of the commander of the Third Cavalry Division.- "G. A. CUSTER, Brevet-Major-General." Company D aggregated 117 men, nearly all from. Vinton County. The regiment did not reenlist as veterans enough men to keep up the organization to the minimum number, and they were not entitled to a colonel. This left the regiment in command of Lieut.-Col. James Allen, Maj. E. S. Morgan and Maj. Charles E. Hambleton. Some of the companies were consolidated, and a new company joined the regiment in 1864, under Capt. A. J. Smith of Jackson County. This new organization gave the regiment only eight companies, but the regiment maintained its place in the brigade and division, and its identity among the grand army of heroes that made such men as Sheridan and Custer famous. The regiment was mustered out June 30, 1865. THE SEVENTY-FIFTH OHIO INFANTRY In the fall of 1861 Henry B. Lacy, then prosecuting attorney of Vinton County, received a recruiting commission and began the enlistment of men for the three years' service. George Fry, of Vinton Station, also enlisted a squad of men ; these consolidated and organized a company by selecting George Fry as captain; Judson W. Caldwell (of Eighteenth Ohio Infantry, three months' men) as first lieutenant, and H. B. Lacy as second lieutenant. This company went to Camp Wool, Ohio, and joined the Seventy-fifth Ohio Infantry, becoming Company I of that regiment. After remaining some time at Camp Wool and failing to complete the regimental organization, they were ordered to Camp McLean, near Cincinnati, where some four companies of men, under Col. N. C. McLean, were trying to form the Seventy-ninth Ohio 618 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Infantry. These two parts of regiments were consolidated—being six ,companies of the. Seventy-fifth and four of the Seventy-ninth Ohio. Of this regiment, the Seventy-fifth, N. C. McLean was made colonel ; R. A. Constable, of Athens, lieutenant-colonel, and Robert Reilly, major. Henry B. Lacy was appointed quartermaster. The most of the regiment was mustered in in December, 1861. The Seventy-fifth remained at Camp McLean for instruction and drill until about the last of January, 1862, when it went to West Virginia, arriving at Grafton, January 29, 1862. On the 1st of March it was assigned to General Milroy 's brigade, and began active service early in the spring of 1862. Its first fight was at Monterey Courthouse, April 12, 1862. On May 8, at Bull Pasture Mountain, Milroy fought a division of Stonewall Jackson's army for several hours with the Seventy-fifth and Twenty-fifth Ohio Infantry, and held the enemy in check until night came to his relief, when a successful retreat was effected. Stonewall Jackson reported this fight' as the "bloodiest of the war for the number engaged." Colonel Harris was severely wounded, and eighty-- seven men were killed and wounded in this engagement. Shortly before the Battle of Cross Keys (June 10, 1862) the Seventy-fifth was brigaded with the Fifty-fifth, Seventy-third and Eighty-second Ohio regiments, under General Schenck, and this was known as the " Ohio Brigade." At the, Battle of Cross Keys the Ohio Brigade did good service. Immediately after this 'battle General Schenck was given command of a division, and Colonel McLean was placed in command of the Ohio Brigade—he having been made a brigadier-general. The Seventy-fifth was also at Cedar Mountain, August 8, but was not heavily engaged. On August 30, 1862, at Groveton, near the old Bull Run battlefield, General Pope attacked Jackson and a severe fight took place. The Seventy-fifth here had hot work. The regiment lost twenty-one men killed and ninety-two wounded. The color bearer of the Seventy-fifth was killed and another severely wounded. January 12, 1863; Colonel Constable resigned ; Lieutenant-Colonel Reilly was promoted to colonel, Colonel McLean having been commissioned brigadier-general November 29, 1862. William J. Rannells was promoted to second lieutenant December, 1861. First Lieut. J. W. Caldwell resigned December 14, 1862. September 21, 1862, Lieutenant Rannells was promoted to first lieutenant. Captain Fry resigned June 10;1863 ;. Rannells was promoted to captain and David B. Caldwell to second lieutenant, Company I. May 2, 1863, the Ohio Brigade was engaged in the Battle of Chan, cellorsville, where it behaved gallantly. In the short space of half an hour the Seventy-fifth lost 150 men killed and wounded. Colonel Reilly fell mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. The Seventy-fifth was under fire every day of the battle and lost heavily. Out of 292 enlisted men, 63 were killed and 106 wounded, besides the loss of 34 prisoners. Three commissioned officers were killed, seven were wounded. Among the severely wounded was Capt. Wm. J. Rannells. In August, 1863, the Ohio Brigade was sent to Charleston.; afterward HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 619 it was sent to Folly Island ; thence to Jacksonville, Fla., where it was mounted and was known as the Seventy-fifth Mounted Infantry. In its new capacity as cavalry it did good service in breaking up the system of blockade runners and preserving order, but it did not have a chance to forget its fighting qualities; it had frequent skirmishes, and not unfrequently with forces far out-numbering it. August 17, 1864, the regiment was attacked by a strong force of the enemy, and, being surrounded, it fought till its ammunition gave out, when it was decided to cut its way through the enemy rather than surrender. In this they partially succeeded. They lost, however, fourteen men killed and thirty wounded ; these with about sixty men and twelve officers fell into the hands of the enemy and were held as prisoners until 1865, excepting Captain Rannells, who bought a guard for $600 and made his escape in November, 1864.. September 21, 1864, what was left of the Seventy-fifth captured an entire company of the Second Florida Cavalry, with their horses, arms, etc. In October, 1864, Companies A, B and C were sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, and mustered out. In November, Companies D, .G and F were also mustered out. After the fall of Savannah; the veterans of the regiment were organized into a veteran battalion under Capt. William J. Rannells. ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEENTH OHIO Company F was recruited in Vinton County and organized by electing Cornelius Karnes, captain ; Elbridge L. Hawk, first lieutenant, and Samuel L. Wilson, second lieutenant. The company was mustered in August 12, 1862, at Circleville, Ohio. In September it went into camp at Marietta, Ohio, where it remained some six weeks in camp of instruction. On December 1st it started to Memphis, Tennessee, and arriving there in due time it became a part of Sherman's army. From this time forward the One Hundred and Fourteenth "saw active service." The regiment was a part of the assaulting column upon the enemy's works at Chickasaw Bayou, December 26, 1862, and was severely engaged on that day and the day following. It was here that Lieut. Samuel L. Wilson lost his leg; and although he lived some years and was afterward clerk of the Common Pleas Court of Vinton County, yet he eventually died from the effects of that wound and amputation. Phillip M. Shurtz was made second lieutenant, vice Wilson honorably discharged. The One Hundred and Fourteenth was in the battle at and helped to capture Arkansas Post, January 11, 1863. After this they went to Young's Point, Mississippi, on the Yazoo River. Here they suffered severely from sickness; over one hundred men of the regiment died in the space of six weeks. From Young's Point they went to Millikin's Bend, where they remained until April, 1863, when they, with the army under General Grant, moved against Vicksburg. 620 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Captain Karnes resigned February 6, 1863 ; First Lieut. E. L. Hawk was promoted to captain ; Second Lieut. James Duffy, also of Vinton County, was made first lieutenant of the company. The regiment was in the whole of the great campaign against Vicksburg. It was at the Battle of Thompson's Hill, May 1, 1863 ; Champion Hills, May 16 ; Big Black Bridge, May 17, and the Siege of Vicksburg. The regiment did gallant service during the campaign, making one or two brilliant charges, and it left in the Valley of the Mississippi many noble men. After the fall of Vicksburg the regiment moved from point to point along the Mississippi and over the State of Louisiana, as ordered, and finally, November 28, 1863, it left New Orleans by steamer for Texas, where it remained until April, 1864, when it was ordered to Alexandria on the Red River, where it joined General Banks' army in his retreat after his terrible defeat, and endured the suffering which Banks' command had to undergo in getting back to the Mississippi River. "This campaign was very severe. Forced marches of ten days' duration, through the stifling heat and dust, and being continually harassed by the enemy on both flanks and rear, made it almost unendurable." In November, 1864, at Morganza, the One Hundred and Fourteenth and One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio infantries were consolidated, retaining the number One Hundred and Fourteenth. This rendered eleven or twelve officers supernumerary, and they were honorably discharged. Among these was Capt. James Duffy, of Vinton County. Company F became Company A of the new regiment and was commanded by Capt. E. L. Hawk. The regiment was not idle after the new organization, although it had no severe engagement. Colonel Cradlebaugh had resigned in 1863, and Lieutenant Kelly had been promoted to colonel. He commanded the regiment from the time Colonel Cradlebaugh was wounded (in May, 1862), but the regiment being below the minimum number he was never mustered as colonel. The regiment marched and traveled by land and water, over ten thousand miles, performed duty in ten different states, was engaged in eight hard fought battles, and in skirmishes without 'number. It lost in killed and wounded six officers and eighty men. It lost heavily by disease in the first year of its service, over two hundred dying and quite a number having been discharged for disability. It is impossible, from data at hand, to give the death list of Vinton County men. The regiment was ordered to Ohio in May, 1865, and mustered out of the service.. TWELFTH OHIO CAVALRY In September and October, 1863, a company of men was recruited in Vinton County for the cavalry service. It organized by electing William A. Gage, captain; James J. Defigh, first lieutenant ; and Charles S. Rannells, second lieutenant. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 621 It went into camp at Cleveland, where the regiment (the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry) was organized November 12, 1863, by the selection of Robert W. Radcliff, colonel ; Robert H. Bentley, lieutenant-colonel; John F. Herrick, Miles J. Collier and Erastus C. Moderwell as majors. Captain Gage's company was Company L. One-half of the regiment, including .Company L, were ordered to Johnson's Island to guard prisoners of war; the other half remained at Cleveland until the return of the men from Johnson's Island, when the regiment went to Camp Dennison, where it was mounted and equipped in the spring of 1864, and from which point it started south. In May, 1864, it was brigaded with the Eleventh Michigan Cavalry and Fortieth Kentucky Mounted Infantry, under Colonel True, of the Fortieth Kentucky, and it was assigned to the division of General Burbridge. On May 23, 1864, the command of General Burbridge started to Saltville, Virginia, to destroy the Confederate salt works, but on nearing Bund's Gap it was learned that the rebel general, Morgan, was pushing his command into Kentucky on a raid; thereupon the command of Burbridge turned back to take care of Morgan. Lieutenant .Defigh was in command of Company F through the fight at Mount Sterling, and until the regiment reached Lexington. On June 9, 1864, the command reached Mount Sterling, which place Morgan had captured on the day previous. After a sharp fight with some convalescents of the Twelfth, under Sergt. Wm. L. Brown, of Company L, who went into service from McArthur, it was not until Sergeant Brown fell, shot dead on the line, that the little band surrendered. On reaching Mount Sterling General Burbridge threw forward the First Battalion of the Twelfth, including Company L, and 'by a gallant dash upon the enemy routed them, recaptured the Union soldiers taken the day before, together with the captured stores and a number of Confederate prisoners with stores of the enemy. Morgan retired to Cynthiana, where Burbridge followed him up again, made an assault and routed General Morgan's command, taking a large number of prisoners. The Twelfth Ohio 'Cavalry was in the advance in this fight as well as in that at Mount Sterling. These two fights closed Morgan's career as a "great-rebel raider." Col. Basil Duke admits that it was the complete destruction of Morgan's command., He says : "Morgan's loss at Cynthiana was very heavy and he was compelled to march back to Virginia." Rev. T. Sonour, in his "Morgan and His Captors," says : "Morgan's prestige was gone, and from this time (the Cynthiana fight) he sinks out of sight as the worst whipped rebel general ever sent on a raiding expedition." President Lincoln telegraphed his thanks to General Burbridge and his command. In these engagements First Lieutenant Defigh, of Company L, but commanding Company F, led a gallant charge and was mentioned for his dash and pluck. During a portion of the fight at Mount Sterling Company L was commanded by Lieut. C. S. Rannells, leading the company in the charge in which Defigh led Company F. We have made mention of these fights with Morgan more 622 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION in detail, than we otherwise would, from the fact that when the rebel raider came to Vinton County he did not get his just deserts, and it is some consolation to know that Vinton County men helped to close his military career. After having cut short Morgan's raid into Kentucky, Burbridge again started for Saltville, Virginia, arriving there October 2, 1864, throwing forward the Fourth Brigade, the Twelfth taking its usual place in vance. A severe engagement took place, lasting all day. The enemy was supported by artillery and reinforced by General Early with. 5,000 men, and the Federal forces were compelled to retire. Finding his forces outnumbered and the enemy, strongly entrenched, General Burbridge returned to Lexington, Kentucky. At this fight the Twelfth lost forty-nine men killed and wounded. After the command returned to Lexington it was placed under command of General .Stoneman and bore its part in the celebrated "Stoneman's Raid." In these the Twelfth Ohio had some hard fighting, and a carefully prepared history of the ,regiment mentions some daring charges made by the Twelfth. In one of these the command became surrounded and Lieutenant Defigh was taken prisoner, but in the haste and excitement they forgot to disarm him. When a rebel soldier gave him a harmless blow with his sabers and innocently inquired, "You d—n Yankee s—n of a b--, how does that feel?" Defigh drew his saber, struck the fellow a blow across the head, and, turning his horse toward his friends, made good his escape. Stone-man's raids into Virginia required a great deal of endurance and the men suffered terribly. Besides this, they were for days in the presence of the enemy, fighting more or less severely. At Yadkin River, ten miles. from Saulsbury, they fought a heavy force under Pemberton, captured 1,304 prisoners and 3,000 stand of small arms, the Confederates being beaten and utterly routed. The command was in the rear of the Confederacy for weeks, destroying railroads, bridges, stores, arsenals, and capturing prisoners. It captured the great rebel cavalry, ,General Wheeler and his staff, also the vice president of the Confederacy and his escort. It marched and fought and worked during the winter and spring of 1864 and '65 in a manner which seems almost incredible. One, the last Stoneman raid, our historian, Captain Mason, says : "For sixty-nine days it had not drawn a Goverment ration or seen the national flag. During that period it had swept around a circle that lay through six states, and measured with all its eccentric meanderings fully a thousand miles. It had shared in the last and longest cavalry raid of the war." In speaking of the Twelfth, General Burbridge says: "I had no better regiment under me, and at Mt. Sterling, Cynthiana, Kingsport, Marion, Wytheville and Saltville the regiment and officers distinguished themselves. " They returned to Camp Chase, Ohio, and were mustered out November 24, 1865. " ONE HUNDRED DAYS" ' MEN The One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment of Ohio Infantry (National Guards) were in the "one hundred days" service. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 623 In response to a call from Governor Brough the three companies of the National Guards from Vinton County went into camp at Marietta, in May, 1864. One of the companies was distributed to supply deficiencies in other commands, but Company C (Capt. Joseph J. McDowell) and Company H (Capt. Isaiah H. McCormick) were retained intact. The regiment spent its hundred days of service at Harper's Ferry, Washington, Bermuda Hundred and City Point. The troops were not called into action, although Lieut. Samuel G. Scott, of Company H, died at Bermuda Hundred and a number of men in the regiment—none from Vinton County—were killed by an explosion of ordnance at City Point. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL PHILLIPS There were about fifty men in three companies of the. Forty-third Infantry, among whom R. E. Phillips, who went into the service as second lieutenant of Company E, became most prominent. Soon after the Battle of Shiloh he was promoted to the first lieutenancy, and was afterward made lieutenant-colonel of the Fifty-ninth United States Colored Infantry. He served in that capacity until his resignation in December, 1863. About forty men enlisted in Companies C and K, Thirty-sixth Infantry, mostly from the southeastern part of the county. Wilkesville Township sent quite a number into that command, as well as into the ranks of the Seventeenth Colored Regiment. Many Vinton County men joined the Eleventh Ohio Light. Artillery, which was commanded by Frank Sands. This battery lost more men killed in the Battle of Iuka than any other company from Vinton County ever lost in any one battle. ONE YEAR MEN Two companies, of. the One Hundred and Ninety-fourth Ohio, one year men, were from Vinton County : Company D, Capt. John Gillilin commanding, and Company K,. Capt. Henry Lantz commanding. They served from February, 1865, to the following October. They served first in the Kanawha Valley, then in the Valley of the Shenandoah, and finally in garrison duty at Washington City. CHAPTER V HISTORY OF McARTHUR MCARTHURSTOWN BECOMES MCARTHUR-DUNCAN MCARTHUR-FIRST VILLAGE ELECTION-MCARTHUR SCHOOLS-VINTON COUNTY TEACHERS INSTITUTE- INDUSTRIES-VINTON COUNTY NATIONAL BANK - MCARTHUR SAVINGS AND LOAN COMPANY-THE TOWN- HALL-FIRE OF 1883 VINTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN-THE VINTON RECORD-MCARTHUR REPUBLICAN-THE DEMOCRAT-ENQUIRER-MCARTHUR REPUBLICAN-MCARTHUR HERALD- JOURNAL AND REGISTER-NEW VINTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN-THE REPUBLICAN TRIBUNE- METHODIST CHURCH-THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH- THE CHRISTIANS - TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH-THE MASONS-THE ODD FELLOWS-OTHER SOCIETIES. McArthur, the seat of justice and the largest village in Vinton County, is beautifully located in the Valley of Raccoon Creek between Elk and Puncheon forks. The settlers of the surrounding country early gave their attention to the raising of wheat and corn, and afterward to hogs and other livestock so that at the time of the organization of the county, in 1850, it had become a brisk market town of more than four hundred people. Pork-packing was engaged in on a small scale by some of the merchants of McArthurstown, as it was called before incorporation, between 1840 and 1850. When the. new steam mill was built just east of town,- in 1856, much more flour was produced than was required by the local market; so that shipments of that article increased the commercial importance of McArthurstown. Before the coming of the railroads shipments to and from the county seat were made by wagon, her trade extending as far as Gallipolis and Pomeroy on the Ohio and to Logan and Chillicothe to the north and west. MCARTHURSTOWN BECOMES MCARTHUR On February 7, 1851, the town was incorporated by a special act of the Ohio Legislature and the name changed from McArthurstown to McArthur. With this action came the necessity for county offices, a courthouse and a jail. The jail was built in 1852, and the courthouse finished in 1856. After this became the county seat, and before the completion of the courthouse, courts had been held in a private house for a year, and afterward in the Methodist or in the Presbyterian Church. - 624 -