HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY. - 331

CHAPTER XXXIV.

THE FIFTEENTH REGIMENT.

ORGANIZATION-LIFE AT CAMP BARTLEY-LEAVES FOR THE FRONT-LIFE IN THE FIELD-SENT TO TEXAS MUSTER-OUT AND RETURN-THE SECOND CAVALRY-ITS SERVICE IN THE WAR-ROSTER.

AT the same time, as has incidentally been noticed, that Col. Ford was raising the Thirty-second Regiment, various efforts were being made to recruit the Fifteenth by officers who had been in the same regiment in the three-months service. Mention of their efforts has several times been made in the course of this narrative. Hiram Miller, A. C. Cummins, A. R. Z. Dawson, A. M. Burns. Thomas E. Douglas, C. H. Askew and others, were all vigorously at work during the summer of 1861, immediately following the three-months service, and by the time the Thirty-second left Camp Bartley, the Fifteenth was so far recruited as to be able to occupy the camp, and commence drill there. The Thirty-second left Camp Bartley, September 3. The next day, the Fifteenth, already numbering two full and several incomplete companies. entered. Moses R. Dickey had been commissioned by the Governor as Colonel of the regiment, and had been actively engaged while recruiting went on. Once in camp, Col. Dickey established camp routine and discipline. Drilling the men in the manual of arms, in the handling of tents and camp equipage, and the various duties of a soldier's life, was the daily order. Recruiting was also actively carried forward. When the companies took possession of the camp, few if any of them were completely organized. That was, however, quickly done. The next day after they went into camp, the Shelby company elected their officers. A. C. Cummins was made Captain, as he had been in the three-months service. That officer, before the war closed, raised three companies, every one of which he took to the field. He was with the Fifteenth three-years troops till about the 1st of May, 1862, when he resigned and returned home. He was not here but a short time till he raised Company H for the Eighty-fourth Ohio Infantry, three-months service, and went with that company to the front, remaining with them till they were mustered out late in the fall.

The Fifteenth remained in Camp Bartley from September 4 till the 26th. All this time it was filling its ranks, drilling and receiving its camp equipage. By the latter day, it was fully organized, and left Camp Bartley for Camp Dennison. where it received its arms. Its outfit being completed, on the 4th of October, the regiment left for the field. At Camp Nevin near Nolin's Station, Ky., it was assigned to the Sixth Brigade, Second Division, of the Army of the Ohio, then commanded by Gen. W. T. Sherman, subsequently by Gen. Buell. On the 9th of December, 1861, the division marched to Bacon Creek, and, on the following day, the Sixth Brigade occupied Munfordsville. On the morning of the 14th of February, 1862, the Second Division broke camp, moving in the direction of West Point, to embark for Fort Donelson ; but, upon hearing of its capture, marched to Bowling Green. Crossing Barren River on the 27th, the command reached Nashville, Tenn. on the 2d of March. Here the army rested till the 16th, when the march to Savannah began which point was reached on the night of April

332 - HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

6, and, on the morning of the 7th, embarked for the battle-field. In this engagement the regiment lost six men killed and sixty-two wounded.

In the operations against Corinth the Second Division formed the reserve of the army, taking the front on the 27th of May. It was continually skirmishing with the enemy until the town was taken on the 30^th. On the 10th of June, the division marched to Battle Creek, Tenn., arriving there oil the 18th of July. The regiment was engaged in building a fort at the mouth of Battle Creek until the 20th of August, when Gen. McCook's command moved to Altamont, on the Cumberland Mountains, in which direction the army under Bragg was marching. From Altamont the division marched to Nashville, and from there to Bowling Green, and thence to Louisville, arriving on the 25th of September. On the 1st of October, the Second Division marched on the Shelbyville pike, in pursuit of the enemy, until reaching Lawrenceburg, where a skirmish was had in which the regiment was engaged. The division marched in pursuit of Bragg as far as Crab Orchard, and then marched to Nashville, arriving on the 7th of November, 1862.

On the 26th of December, the army advanced towards Murfreesboro. In the battle of Stone River, the regiment. was heavily engaged, losing eighteen killed, and eighty-nine wounded.

On the 24th of July, an advance was ordered on Tullahoma and Shelbyville, which places were occupied by our army after the enemy had been driven from his strong position at Galner's and Liberty Gap. In this engagement, one officer and seven men were killed, and twenty-three wounded. About the middle of August the division was ordered to Bellefonte, Ala., arriving on the 22d, and from there to Stephen son. Ala. The march was resumed on the 2d of September, in the direction of Rome, Ga., crossing Lookout Mountain and camping at the eastern ford, near Alpine, on the 10^th. After remaining two days the command re-crossed Lookout Mountain to Winson's Valley, and took a position with the main army in Lookout Valley.

On the morning of the 19th, the regiment marched to the battle-field of Chickamauga. In this battle. the regiment lost one officer and nine men killed, two officers and sixty-nine wounded. and forty men missing. The regiment was enraged in the siege of Chattanooga, and the assault of Mission Ridge. On the 28th of November, the regiment then belonging to the First Brigade, Third Division, Fourth Army Corps, marched with the corps to the relief of Knoxville. Tenn., and moved from there to Strawberry Plains.

On the 14th of January, 1864, the greater portion of the regiment, having re-enlisted as veterans, were granted a furlough. On the 14th of March, the regiment assembled at Camp Chase, having recruited to upward of nine hundred men. Upon arriving at Nashville on the 22d, the regiment was ordered to march to Chattanooga, arriving on the 5th of April. On the 8th, the regiment moved to Cleveland, Tenn., meeting with a serious accident near Charleston, Tenn., by a railroad train being thrown from the track, by which twenty men were more or less injured.

The regiment moved to McDonald's Station on the 20th, and remained there till the opening of the spring campaign. On the 3d of May, the regiment marched to Tunnel Hill, and was frequently engaged until the 13th, when the enemy evacuated Rocky Face Ridge, and our army took position at Dalton.

The regiment participated in the battle at Resaca, and in the engagement near Dallas, where it lost nineteen men killed, three officers and sixty-one men wounded. While skirmishing on the 14th of June, the regiment lost one officer and one man killed, and five men wounded, all belonging to Company A.

After crossing the Chattahoochie, the regiment moved down the river on the 11th of July, and in connection with the division

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covered the crossing of the Fourteenth Corps: The command to which the regiment belonged took a prominent part in the siege, and reduction of Atlanta.

When the army of Hood began its raid upon our communications, the regiment marched to the relief of Resaca and from there to Columbia, where it was engaged in a slight skirmish. The regiment did not participate in the battle of Franklin, but was assigned the duty of covering the withdrawal of the forces and the retreat to Nashville. At Nashville, the regiment formed the extreme left of the army, where, upon receiving orders, it moved forward and captured a fine battery of four brass guns and some thirty prisoners. The regiment participated in a movement on Franklin Pike, about five miles from the city, capturing prisoners to the number of two commissioned officers and 100 men. The entire loss in the two days of the fight was two officers and one man killed, and two officers and twenty-four men wounded. After following the enemy to Lexington, Ala., the corps moved in the direction of Huntsville, and the regiment went into camp at Bird Springs about the 5th of January, 1865, and remained till the 15th of March, when it moved into East Tennessee.

It moved by railroad to New Market, Tenn., and marched from there to Greenville, arriving on the 5th of April, and on the 23d was ordered back to Nashville, arriving about the lst of May. From this time till the 16th of June, it was in camp near Nashville, Tenn., when orders were received to move to Texas. It arrived at Indianola, Tex., July 9, disembarked and marched to Green Lake, a distance of twenty miles. On the 10th of August, it started for San Antonio, a distance of 150 miles. The scarcity of water, the extreme heat and the want of suitable rations, made this one of the severest marches, the regiment ever endured. It reached the Salado, a small stream near Antonio, on the 21st of August, and remained there and in the city till November 21, when it was mustered out and ordered to Columbus, Ohio, for final discharge. Arriving at Columbus, Ohio, December 25, it was finally discharged from the service of the United States on the 27th of December, 1865.

ROSTER OF FIFTEENTH REGIMENT, SHOWING ONLY NAMES OF OFFICERS FROM RICHLAND COUNTY

336 - HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

ROSTER OF THE FIFTEENTH REGIMENT-Continued.

The Second Ohio Cavalry, which contained a few men from this county, was organized in the summer and autumn of 1861, under the supervision of Hon. B. F. Wade and Hon. John Hutchins, who received special authority from the War Office. The regiment rendezvoused at Camp Wade, near Cleveland, the last company being mustered in October 10, 1861. It was the first cavalry regiment raised in the northern part of Ohio, and drew into its ranks a large number of wealthy, intelligent and cultured men. Its roster shows that the following persons were from this county, who were in Company M, the one referred to above

J. B. Franklin, Captain ; J. B. Holmes, First, and W. B. Niman, Second, Lieutenant; First Sergeant, John Woolf. Privates-Henry Daniels, David Osborn, Joseph McElroy, E. H. Ingham, Stephen Clifford, George W. Armstrong, J. H. Armstrong, Albert Armstrong, Hiram France, Gaylord Ozier, D. S. Danser, Cromwell Marsh, T. B. Martin, Joseph Haverfield, Jacob Repp, M. M. Springer, Elijah Dickson, A. F. Armetrout, Jacob Beard, Leonard Dumbarger, William Egner, William Furguson, John Gelvin, Henry Kelso, Damill Kelso, Smith Larrimer, Stephen Lewis, E. H. Pittinger, James Powell, A. G. Stoner and James Berry.

The regiment served over four years in the war, and did most efficient service. It was sent, at first, to Arkansas, then to the Indian Territory. It was afterward in the battles ol Newtonia, Mo., Cow Hill, Wolf Creek, White River and Prairie Grove. It was also in charge of a battery, formed of a part of its command.

It was in the Morgan raid and for gallant service was furloughed by Gen. Burnside. After this, it was placed in the Army of East Tennessee, and was engaged in several fights.

It time expiring early in 1864, the major part of the remaining men re-enlisted and recruited at Cleveland, where it obtained recruits and went sent to the East, and, by order of Gen. Grant, was

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY. - 337

attached to the Ninth Army Corps, and afterward attached to Sheridan's army corps, with which it did effective work. It participated in several battles in the eastern division of the army, and made several very gallant raids under Gen. Sheridan. It was at the capture of Gen. Lee's forces and gained many trophies of war. After the grand review at Washington, it was sent to St. Louis in June, 1865, and from there to Springfield, Mo., where it was detained until about the 1st of September.

It then returned to St., Louis, received its papers, proceeded to Columbus, Ohio, where it was discharged and paid off September 11, 1865. The Second Cavalry has one of the best army records of any regiment in the field, and lost many of its best men, whose graves form a vidette line half across the continent.