Ohio History Journal

FORT FIZZLE

 

Judge James Story Drake, son of Colonel James L.

Drake, on June 3, 1929, wrote to his niece, Mrs. Luella

Hughes Gillette, of Indianapolis, Indiana. His descrip-

tion of the Holmes County Rebellion is in part as fol-

lows:

I suppose I have told you that I had a part in that War.

I was between eleven and twelve years old at that time. We

lived on our farm in Holmes County then and when the Governor

sent two companies of hard-boiled soldiers to put down the Re-

bellion, Mother got a message from Father from his office at

Wooster, to gather up a wagon-load of provisions and to send

me with it to the camp for the soldiers. This came before the

soldiers arrived. From our own farm and the farms of loyal

neighbors, we filled the wagon-box with provisions of all kinds

and with the hired man on our farm, I went to the camp, and

arrived a few hours after the Soldiers--The Holmes County War

lasted about two days--Father was there with his troops. It was

about fourteen miles from our home. There was only one charge

on the enemy and that war was over. The rebels had about 1500

men behind stone breastworks, but they soon scattered through

the woods. There were several prisoners taken and I heard some

soldiers tell the prisoners in unprintable language, what they were.

The soldiers were very nice to me, as I was the only "kid" (a

word not then in use) in the camp.

That is as near as I ever came to being a soldier. I was

born too late for the Civil War and I was too old for the Spanish

American War and the World War. It may be that I was a

lucky chap. Of course, everybody who knew your grandfather,

knew that there was no element of fear in his nature.

 

 

 

 

 

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FOREWORD

 

BY DR. WM. W. PENNELL

As a native of Holmes County and one of its resi-

dents for many years, my earliest recollections cling to

the things that claimed the attention of its people at a

very interesting period.

Among these were the threat of war between the

North and South if Lincoln should be elected president;

runaway slaves; and the story, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

These were not peculiar to that county; conditions there

could have been duplicated a thousand times.  The

threat had no deterring effect on political activity, but

the story seemed to crystallize the hatred for slavery.

The presidential election of 1860 was triangular.

Slavery had become an offense to humanitarians; it was

opposed to the principles sealed in the corner-stone of

American liberty. The Democratic party, so long dom-

inant, had come to the parting of the ways between its

northern and southern wings. Not the least cause of

this parting was the enactment of the Fugitive Slave

Law. The Republicans united in nominating Lincoln,

who opposed the extension of slavery; but the Demo-

crats, divided, could not heal their differences. The

northern wing nominated Douglas who was opposed to

slavery and favored the preservation of the Union; the

southern wing nominated Breckenridge who favored

southern interests, but their organizations lacked that

enthusiasm which characterized that of the Repub-

licans.

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26       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

With the nomination of Lincoln came the organiza-

tion of the Wide-Awakes;--men whose insignia were

oilcloth capes and hats and flaming kerosene lamps on

long handles, commanded by captains who carried red

lanterns. Holmes County had several companies, all de-

termined on the election of Lincoln.

When there was to be a speech or a political demon-

stration at night, these companies gathered at that

point, forming long processions; then, with fife and

drum, or brass bands, lamps blazing and banners wav-

ing, they marched and countermarched, presenting a re-

markable spectacle of especial beauty, entrancing and

inspiring. Here and there were special banners, sup-

plementing the Stars and Stripes which always occupied

first place. These special banners were emblematic of

the cause for which they toiled. One of unusual signifi-

cance, ingenious and long to be remembered, was a di-

minutive figure of Lincoln with maul and wedge, split-

ting rails, made very realistic when the carrier gave the

figure animation by pulling strings which set its

mechanism in operation.

Of course, there were Democratic gatherings,

marchings and demonstrations, but with internal dissen-

sions beyond reconciliation, there was a lack of that en-

thusiasm so apparent in their opponents.

With the election of Lincoln, the South seceded and

it devolved upon the North to restore the Union, a task

at once difficult and necessarily long. While Brecken-

ridge was the candidate of the South, there were many

northern voters who cast their ballots for him. In that

fact alone lay the evidence of many secret enemies of

the government; beside these, there were many who

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Fort Fizzle                27

were opposed to war and the drafting of men for that

purpose. Nearly every community had its southern

sympathizers, and many of these did not hesitate to use

their influence among those who were vacillating and

infirm of purpose, rendering futile the efforts that had

been made by those who wrought for the preservation

of the Union.

There are always those who declare themselves con-

scientiously opposed to war from any point of view.

Their numbers always increase when war is imminent.

Legs that refuse to carry their possessor into the field

of battle are almost certain to carry them to the point

where conscience holds sway. They have dear ones and

they have a country that protects them, yet they are not

willing to reciprocate. The tree of conscience has an

accessible perch.  So now, it was astonishing how

rapidly the conscientious opponents to war increased!

Political feelings ran high. Few, when discussing

the questions of the day, evinced that coolness which

marks the effort to arrive at the truth. Temper, excite-

ment and impulse lay nearer the surface. Assertion

supplanted reason, innuendo replaced argument, in the

heat of excitement. It was no unusual thing to see

members of a family become unfriendly through polit-

ical dissension.  Enmity throve, misunderstandings

separated life-long friends, and hatred stalked in the

aisles of the church. Anarchy, political and social, pos-

sessed the land.

It was the northern sympathizers with the South

that gave the North its greatest worry. At a time when

all should have been united in a common cause against a

common enemy, men, perversely and unnaturally, were

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28      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

offering sympathy and assistance to the enemies of their

homes and their interests.

If there ever had been a rigid enforcement of the

Fugitive Slave Law, it must have happened about the

time of the Lincoln campaign. My father, an aboli-

tionist and a conductor on the Underground Railroad,

was a conscientious opposer of that Law. As such, he

was disliked by those who supported slavery. Often, I

heard him referred to as a "d-----d black abolitionist."

More than once our home was searched at night for

runaway slaves. It was quite frightening to be wakened

from sound sleep and see officers of the law go hunting

around for something which they couldn't find, a sensa-

tion which the years have not erased from memory.

Negroes were never hidden in a residence. Those who

helped them on to freedom kept their own counsel. A

closer-mouthed organization never existed.

So, Holmes county had its Fort Fizzle and its

southern sympathizers.  Organizations of the latter

were known as Knights of the Golden Circle. Yet,

when the war ended and the Union had been preserved,

men were sorry for the harm that had been done.

Gradually, old friendships were renewed and there

arose a wish that all should be forgotten and forgiven

--that all should be relegated to the realm of unpleasant

dreams.

Ten years after Old Glory began floating over a re-

united Nation, I became a physician to many families

with Fort Fizzle ties. If there was anything in the past

which they would rather forget, it was that mistake and,

for the most part, neighbors joined in suppressing a

matter that was most unpleasant to memory.

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Fort Fizzle                29

Fort Fizzle was no myth. The book, Jonas Hawley,

is a fair representation of political and social conditions

of those days. As one good old wife told me when

relating her husband's connection with that band of

hot-headed men:

"I tell you, Doc, I told my old man that nothin'

good'd come from me makin' bread, pies and cakes for

him to carry down to them fellers in that old fort. They

couldn't whip the United States."

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HOLMES COUNTY REBELLION--FORT FIZZLE

 

J. R. VANCE

I was born in a log cabin situated in Knox Town-

ship, Holmes County, Ohio, almost three-quarters of a

century ago and have lived here on the farm ever since.

My information in regard to the events I am about to

narrate comes from various sources. I heard my father

and mother discuss events as they had happened. As I

grew older I began to ponder on these discussions and

to ask questions. Many times I had them live over

again those stirring times, and breathlessly I listened

and wondered.

My recollections of those troublous times began

early in '63. The wives of soldiers at the front used to

come to our cabin to sit by the old fireplace and seek

sympathy from my mother. I have seen them crying

as if their hearts would break, and heard them say, "We

will never see our husbands again." I had other sources

of information besides that of my parents. I had the

story of Isaac Tipton, deputy-provost marshal, when he

and Provost Marshal Colonel James L. Drake were dis-

armed at Napoleon (now called Glenmont) and given

so many minutes to leave. Other people have told me

what they saw and heard.

But I have not depended solely on the testimony of

others. I was at "Fort Fizzle" after its capture. The

soldiers were still there. I will tell more about that later

in my account. I have the story of two eye-witnesses,

two boys who followed the troops, carried the guns of

two foot-sore boys in blue, and kept in sight during the

fight with the rebels.

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Fort Fizzle                31

The story of the Holmes County Rebellion became

nation-wide. I have traveled in many states of the

Union and many, many times when I was introduced as

a resident of Holmes County, I have been asked, "What

do you know about Fort Fizzle?" Recently I was travel-

ing in Kansas. The train had stopped at Hutchinson

for breakfast, An old soldier came into the car and sat

beside me. After we had exchanged commonplaces, he

asked me where I was from. I told him I was from

Nashville, Holmes County, Ohio, and he put the ques-

tion to me. He was a veteran of the 11th Michigan.

I saw the cannon that the rebels thought they could

work wonders with. It was called the "Baby Waker."

My sources of information are authentic. Some people

have argued that there wasn't any Holmes County Re-

bellion; that there wasn't any organization of the

"Knights of the Golden Circle." But facts are stubborn

things and cannot be set aside. Howe's Historical Col-

lections of Ohio, copyrighted in 1888, has this to say:

"It was a time of intense excitement, just at the open-

ing of the Vallandigham campaign. The air was full

of rumors and it was nearly impossible even at that time

to obtain correct details. What we possess is so con-

tradictory that any further investigation would yield no

satisfaction." Those who had taken part in the rebel-

lion were trying to banish into oblivion all the tragic

events they had passed through. They were ashamed

to be called "Knights." They wanted to forget it;

hence they would not give any information that would

line them up with the organization. Several foreigners

belonged. Their leader was a Frenchman. After the

rebels were routed, he left the country. Several people

from Holmes County belonged.   Some were coerced

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32      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

into joining; others joined to resist the draft. But most

of the people of the County were loyal to the Union;

and according to the population Holmes sent more men

to the war than any other county in the state. Other

counties were to join with Holmes in putting over the

program of the "Knights of the Golden Circle." Joshua

Crawford in his history of Nashville and western

Holmes County, which was published in 1904, has this

to say: "It is my opinion that had certain agitators

from Millersburg, and others from Wayne, Coshocton

and Knox Counties been kept away, the west end of

Holmes County would not have to bear the stigma of

the so-called Holmes County Rebellion.   If these

cowardly counsellors had been as wise before it occurred

as they were afterwards, much trouble would have been

avoided."

This question has been asked many times: What was

the origin of the "Knights of the Golden Circle" and

what were they seeking to accomplish? Lossing's His-

tory of the United States has this to say: "The Golden

Circle had a radius of sixteen degrees of latitude and

longitude, with its center at Havana, Cuba. That circle

included the Slave-Labor states of our Republic. It

reached north into Pennsylvania and Ohio, and south-

ward to the Isthmus of Darien. It embraced the West

India Islands and those of the Caribbean Sea, with a

greater part of Mexico and Central America." The

plan of Messrs. Buchanan, Mason and Soule was the

purchase of Cuba if possible. If not, the acquisition of

it by force. These men were ambassadors at London,

Paris and Madrid. They were the authors of the

famous "Ostend Circular." Some there were who felt

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Fort Fizzle                33

that they must have Cuba and the other islands of that

tropical region, with Mexico and Central America, and

then sever the Slave-Labor and Free-Labor states of the

Republic, making the former a part of a great empire,

whose corner-stone was to be human slavery. A secret

association known as the "Order of the Lone Star," and

another subsequently organized as its successor, whose

members were called "Knights of the Golden Circle,"

were formed for the purpose of corrupting the people

and carrying out the iniquitous design of the Order. The

latter played a conspicuous part in the Civil War which

broke out in 1861, as the secret friends and efficient al-

lies of the conspirators, who were making open war on

the Republic.

Rumors were plenty in Ohio. There were many

southern sympathizers all about us. The "Copperheads"

began to loom on the horizon. They were to organize

and strike silently, deadly, swiftly. They hated the

"Black Abolitionists" with a bitter hatred. Then came

the organization of the "Castle of the Knights of the

Golden Circle" in Holmes County. Times were very

uncertain. The South was looking towards Washing-

ton.  Southern troops were planning to invade the

North. They were jubilant. Their cause seemed to be

on the ascendency.  Gettysburg hadn't been fought.

Vicksburg had not surrendered. April 13, 1863, Gen.

Burnside had issued his famous Order No. 38 forbid-

ding seditionary speeches. Vallandigham had made his

inflammatory speech at Mt. Vernon, O., June 10th. The

Draft had been called. All these added more fuel to

the flame which burned more brightly every day.

Vol. XL--3.

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34      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Such were the conditions in the spring of '63. My

father was a Democrat, but not a "Copperhead." He

was past forty-five, so was not eligible to enlistment.

One evening a neighbor came and called him out and

said to him (this was told me afterwards): "Vance,

have you heard of the 'Knights of the Golden Circle'?"

"I have heard vague rumors," said my father, "but did

not give them much thought. What about it?" "We

feel that the South is going to win, and it is our duty to

help them in every possible way. This is our plan. We

have organized here in Holmes County and are going

to receive help from Wayne, Knox and Coshocton

counties, and at a preconcerted signal to interfere with

supplies for the Union army, encourage soldiers to

desert, spread distrust of the Government, refuse to re-

ceive greenbacks as legal tender for debts, and incite

resistance to such draft as the President may be com-

pelled to lay. And lastly at a given signal, arise in our

might and burn the buildings of every 'Black Abolition-

ist' and hang him to the nearest tree. We want you to

join and help us, because if you don't you will be one of

the first to dangle from a tree."

My father was "slow to anger and plenteous in

mercy," but that night he rose in his wrath and told his

neighbor(?) to go to the place where the devil and his

angels hold forth, and if he ever approached him again

and mentioned that subject, he would shoot him so full

of holes that he wouldn't make a good pepper-box. And

to be able to carry out the threat he purchased a pepper-

box revolver. (We find that kind of a revolver in the

curio shops now.) He was a "Black Abolitionist" after

that.

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Fort Fizzle                35 The Rebels established headquarters about a mile and a half south of Napoleon, (now called Glenmont) in Richland township, in the southwestern corner of Holmes County. Knox township joins it on the north. They had an old stone house (see picture taken in 1928) for their headquarters, for which this old stone house

was admirably adapted. There was a spring of spar- kling water in the cellar and an underground passage leading out into the orchard, also one leading to the barn. Just south of the house was the old stone fence, capped with rails, and now partly torn down. Between the house and fence are large rocks, mak- ing fine hiding-places. Solomon Tipton and a neighbor of his crept up to an old stone school-house one night and looked through a crack in the wall and saw and heard several would-be knights sworn in. They heard

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36      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

them take the oath to stand by the Confederacy and to

carry out in full all orders coming from headquarters

and if they failed to do so, they were to be quartered and

scattered to the four points of the compass.

Later Dave Tipton crept under the same school-

house and through a hole in the floor heard the con-

spirators plotting and planning to carry out the purpose

for which they were organized, and particularly that

part of the diabolical plan to burn out the "Black

Abolitionists" and hang them to the nearest trees. This

was to be done as soon as there were enough Knights to

carry it out. Tipton crept away with his heart burning

with revenge, for his father was one of the doomed

men. He lost no time in hunting up his brother, Isaac

Tipton, deputy provost-marshal and telling him all he

had heard.

Isaac Tipton immediately notified Colonel James L.

Drake, provost-marshal of this district, and then things

began to happen. My uncle, Judson L. Hughes, was en-

rolling officer for Holmes County. The Knights caught

him, took his enrolling papers and destroyed them and

treated him roughly. The two marshals, Drake and

Tipton, went to Napoleon to arrest some deserters and

stirred up a hornet's nest. Napoleon is not like Rome

sitting on her "Seven Hills" but lies in a valley with the

hills surrounding it. At the top of the highest hill, to

the south, was where the rebels had headquarters. Let

me say at this point that Glenmont is the name of the

village now, and it lies in a beautiful and romantic spot.

Its citizens are as fine a class of people as you will find

anywhere, -- none better. The neighbors are the same.

Glenmont means glens and mountains, and the village

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Fort Fizzle                37 sits like a sparkling gem surrounded by the everlasting hills. Looking at it from the hilltop one could hardly realize that grim tragedy stalked abroad and that men were ready to fly at each other with the hangman's noose and with fire. A few days before the provost-marshal and his as- sistant went to Napoleon to arrest deserters, Major R.

W. Liggett went down one evening to where the rebels were holding forth and tried to get them not to resist the draft, to give up their deserters, disband and go home.  The Major estimated the number of men gathered there were about three hundred. They re- fused his request. Then Drake and Tipton appeared on the scene and arrested five deserters, hustled them into a wagon and got ready to start on the journey to

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38      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Wooster. But they didn't start. Just then from the

hillsides and ravines a lot of men came rushing towards

them, surrounded them, cocked their guns, pointed them

at the officers and demanded the release of the prisoners.

Drake refused and told them they were disloyal to the

Union and would suffer the penalty, and demanded that

they let them go with their prisoners. "Never!" they

shouted. "We'll see you in hell first. Drop your guns,

unload your prisoners and get out of here. We will give

you just two minutes to get going and if you come again

you are dead men."

They dropped their guns, lashed their horses into a

run and vowed that when they did come back they would

be the winners. The troops were called and the word

was secretly passed around to the "Abolitionists" and

all loyal to the Union to stand firm and not be afraid

for the rebellion would be quelled. This account of the

arrest of the deserters was given to me by Isaac Tipton

who has long since gone to his eternal reward. In a day

or two the word went round that the troops were com-

ing. My father started to go to Mt. Holly (now called

Brink Haven) to mill and had to pass near the rebels'

rendezvous. A friend of his, who had been unwillingly

persuaded to join the "Castle" stopped him and wanted

to know where he was going. My father told him and

he said, "Vance, you and I have been friends a long time

and I hate to see you punished for your loyalty to the

government. They thought you would join with them,

but I knew better. I would advise you to turn around

and go home and stay there and keep quiet, for you are

a marked man and you will be one of the first to swing.

Men from Wayne, Coshocton, and Knox counties are

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Fort Fizzle                39

coming to help with this hellish work." My father's

reply to this neighbor was this: " 'Tis true that we are

friends and as such I am going to give you this advice.

Keep out of this. Let it alone, for a handful of men,

even if they number two thousand or more cannot defy

the Union and get away with it. In a few days the

troops will be here and great will be your defeat." My

father went on to mill and was not molested.

The troops came in a few days. (See official ac-

count.) My father hauled a wagon-load of them from

Lake Station to Nashville. T. G. Beatty, a citizen who

knew the country, having been raised in the neighbor-

hood, was called on to pilot them to the Fort. Two

boys, Joseph Harris, and Delno Remington, both living,

were sitting on the fence at the old Cross school-house

which is about half way between Nashville and Glen-

mont, and as the troops passed they called to these boys

and asked them to go with them and carry a gun apiece.

They fell in with the soldiers, shouldered a gun apiece

and marched valiantly along in the rear. When they

neared the place where the rebels were supposed to be,

they were relieved of the guns and were ordered to stay

back out of range; but boylike, they got close enough to

see the fight. When the troops opened fire on the in-

surgents, they ran like a lot of ants, or seemed to fly

like a flock of quail when flushed. Harris and Reming-

ton camped with the soldiers that night in the grove by

the old Workman house (see picture) and helped eat

the hardtack and bacon.

Daniel J. Ryan in his History of Ohio, Century,

1912, in Vol. 4, page 226, has this to say:

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40        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

Open and organized violence toward the Government draft,

and the protection of deserters from the Union Army, again oc-

curred in Ohio in June, 1863, in Holmes County. In this in-

stance the resistance was far more serious and formidable than

in Noble County. It took the form of a fortified camp, occupied

by nearly a thousand armed men with four small howitzers. Gov.

Tod on the 16th issued a proclamation urging the resistants to

disperse and render the obedience that all good citizens owed to

the laws of their country, but this was unheeded, and it took a

detachment of the military, under Colonel Wallace of the Fif-

teenth Ohio, to suppress the miniature rebellion. After some

skirmishing and firing on both sides in which two of the resist-

ants were wounded, the band dispersed. On June 18th prominent

Peace Democrats visited the camp and urged a cessation of their

foolish resistance. The ringleaders were arrested but nothing

was done to them. They were all from the region in which Val-

landigham's famous speech was made, and it seemed folly to

punish severely the misguided followers of his eloquent advice.

But it only emphasizes the truth of President Lincoln's reason

for removing the "wily agitator" who encouraged such action.

Ryan says there were nearly a thousand armed men.

Liggett and Drake said about three hundred. The of-

ficial request for troops says the number was 700 to 900

collected together. A lot of them had got cold feet and

deserted when they found the troops were coming.

"Their leader, he got panic struck,

And said he'd been mistaken,

And told them, 'Run with all your might

And try to save your bacon'."

After the defeat, a number of scouting parties were

sent out and when they would capture a rebel, he was

made to get down on his knees, put his hand over his

heart and take the oath of allegiance to the state and na-

tional government, after which he was allowed to travel.

Early in the morning of the 18th of June, a neighbor

Knight came rushing into our cabin, all out of breath,

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Fort Fizzle                41

with face ghastly pale, and wanted my mother to hide

him. He had come thinking my father could help him

to evade arrest and punishment. He said the soldiers

were after him and he was in dire straits. My mother

put him behind a door that was near the corner of the

kitchen so that when pushed back, it struck the opposite

wall and left room for a man to squeeze in. She was

mixing bread and put the dough-tray in front of the

door and steadily kneaded away. I could hear his teeth

chatter like castanets. I went out to the front gate

where I could see up the road, and sure enough, there

came the soldiers, four of them, with knapsacks on their

backs, haversacks by their side and guns on their

shoulders. As they came by the gate where I stood, I

expected to see them turn in. But they paid no atten-

tion to me, the gate or the cabin, but swung on towards

Nashville. They hadn't seen the rebel, but he had seen

them. By and by he slunk off home. After the bread

was baked my father hitched to the spring wagon,

loaded up with provisions, and took me along to Fort

Fizzle. From henceforth that was to be its name. We

got there and found the soldiers camped on the Work-

man place. Col. Wallace had established headquarters

in the Workman house shown in the picture. It still

stands and is used for a storehouse now. It is but a

short distance from the "Old Stone House." We stayed

that day, picnicked with the "boys" and saw some

prisoners brought in.

My story is told. I have not exaggerated but have

written what I have heard and seen. Nothing was set

down in malice. I have not mentioned names of the

insurgents. "Let the dead past bury its dead" and the

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42       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications past with its mistakes be forgotten. The facts will al- ways remain. We know the sins of the fathers did not descend to their children, for their sons and daughters have made good. And Holmes County, named after Major Holmes, a gallant young officer of the war of 1812, who was killed at the battle of Mackinac, has re- deemed herself, and her people are loyal citizens of the greatest Republic on earth.

The following poem was written in 1897 by a dear old lady friend of mine who is too modest to allow her name to be used. They lived near Fort Fizzle and she told me one of the scouting soldiers took dinner with them. After dinner he said, "You have given me a fine dinner for which I am thankful. Now I am going to give you some grub I carry in my haversack," and he brought forth a handful of the much abused hardtack. Rumor said the soldiers abused the citizens. No loyal

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Fort Fizzle                     43

citizen was abused. Arresting a man for treason was

abuse.

FORT FIZZLE

From whence the name Fort Fizzle

I will tell you if you like,

Some poor men would not be drafted,

And determined on a strike,

And they struck, for sure they did;

Lincoln's soldiers came to see them

And Fort Fizzle ran and hid.

How they ran--the brave three hundred--

How they vanished from all sight--

Over stone walls--through the mill-dam--

Through the woods, with all their might,

Few were captured, such their fleetness,

Some to France returned in haste,

And their camp was all deserted,

And their rations went to waste.

(The cellar of the stone house had a plenty.)

When Lincoln's soldiers reached the stronghold,

Much rejoicing did ensue,

Amongst the people who were loyal

And who always had been true.

When they came with bulging baskets,

Filled with good things nice to eat

And thus besieged the soldiers,

Till they were driven to retreat.

Soon they all went to Columbus

To the camp from which they came,

And all was quiet on the "Black Creek"

Dear old Holmes had earned her name.

Art is long and time is fleeting

But "Fort Fizzle" ne'er will fade

From the maps, nor from our memories,

While remain sunshine and shade.

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44        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

 

SOME "INTERESTING         PARTICULARS"

 

BY THE OHIO STATE JOURNAL REPORTER

In a communication of considerable length entitled,

"The Holmes County Rebellion--Interesting Particu-

lars," a correspondent of the Ohio State Journal re-

ported to that paper a news story which it published un-

der the date of June 22, 1863. It contains the names

of a number of participants in the uprising and reads

in part as follows:

CAMP NEAR WOLF CREEK,

WALLACE EXPEDITION, June 18, 1863.

Editor Journal: I have at length arrived at the "seat of war,"

among the Wolf Creek hills of Holmes County--a most misera-

ble country--and although the God of nature most evidently

designed it as a habitation for wild beasts, yet with a few hon-

orable exceptions, it is inhabited by men more "wild and fierce

than they." They are ignorant and superstitious, and are led

by an unprincipled set of politicians, who reside in this and ad-

joining counties. They freely confess that they are secessionists

--that they belong to a secret oath-bound association, and are

pledged to carry out certain objects, prominent among which is

resistance to the Government, even to death.

The origin of the present difficulty was inaugurated on the

5th of the present month. The enrolling officer, Mr. E. W.

Robison, of Loudonville was proceeding in the line of his duty in

Richland Township, when he was attacked by a company of

Copperheads, stoned, and his life threatened if he ever came

back for that purpose. He immediately reported to Captain

J. L. Drake, provost marshal of the 14th District, who promptly

arrested four of the ringleaders. The alarm was given to the

inhabitants, and when on the road, near Napoleon in this county,

he was attacked by sixty or seventy Copperheads armed with

rifles and revolvers. They demanded the immediate release of

the prisoners, and being overpowered he let them go. Not content

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Fort Fizzle                     45

with this, they branded him of being the worst secessionist in the

country and swore they would shoot him if he did not get down

on his knees and take the oath of allegiance; and further, that

he never would come back into their township in his official ca-

pacity. Several guns were cocked and pointed at him, but he

informed them that they had the power to murder him, but they

could not intimidate him, or force him to swerve from his duty

as an officer. After endeavoring in vain to force him to swear,

they desisted, and after warning him, on the peril of his life,

never to come back again they suffered him to proceed.

Captain Drake at once reported the facts to Colonel Parrott,

provost marshal general, who ordered Colonel Wallace, of the

15th Regiment, O. V. I., to proceed to the disaffected district with

force sufficient to quell the disturbance and enforce obedience to

the laws. His force consisted of portions of different regiments

at Camp Chase, the greater number being the 3rd Ohio, the

Governor's Guards, commanded by Capt. Bunker of the 88th

Ohio, a company of Sharp Shooters from Camp Dennison, a

squad of 20 Squirrel Hunters from Wooster, and a section of

Capt. Neil's Battery, numbering in all 420 men.

Early on the morning of the 17th they landed at Lake Sta-

tion, on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad,

twelve miles from Napoleon (now Glenmont) where the rebels

were said to be encamped. They proceeded to Nashville, thence

to Napoleon, and when about three miles southeast of that place

they encountered the rebel pickets, drove them in, and threw out

skirmishers. A number of rebels were stationed behind a rude

stone blockade, who delivered their fire and then skedaddled to

the woods. The boys made a charge but could not reach the

main body of the enemy. Two or three persons were taken and

two of the enemy wounded.  .  .  .  Squads of soldiers, pi-

loted by good Union men, scouted through the hills, and when

the evening of the 17th came they had secured six persons.

On the same day one of the rescued prisoners by the name

of William Greiner, visited Williamsburg for reinforcements, but

he found those who had counselled them to resistance badly

scared. They told him to go back to the rest and tell them to

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give themselves up to the authorities, and save the county from

disgrace and ruin. Greiner became exasperated, threatened to

lay the town in ashes, and upbraided them with hollow-hearted

duplicity--stating that they had been the means of getting them

into trouble, and now to save their own necks they were going

to abandon them to their fate. In the evening several influential

men of Williamsburg agreed to appoint a committee of both par-

ties to proceed to the seat of war and make an attempt to adjust

the difficulty. This committee made their appearance in our

camp on the morning of the 18th, and had an interview with

Colonel Wallace. He frankly informed them that it was a very

unpleasant duty for him to bring armed men into their country,

but that the laws must and should be enforced, and he was bound

to make them yield. They appeared to rgret the occurrence and

finally the Colonel informed them that if they would visit the

insurgents and induce them to give up the persons rescued and

the ringleaders who rescued them, and hereafter obey the laws,

he would withdraw the military from their county and leave

them in peace. They agreed to this. .  .  .  I omitted to

state that the Union part of the committee did not go in com-

pany with the others to visit the rebels, but merely acted as a

safeguard to the balance of the committee in visiting the Union

camp.

On the morning of the 19th, Hon. D. P. Leadbetter and

Colonel D. French made their appearance with the four rescued

prisoners and delivered them to Colonel Wallace, together with

one or two of the ringleaders. The names of the rescued prison-

ers are William Greiner, Jacob Stuber, Simeon Snow, Esq., and

Peter Stuber. The names of the rescuers who are now in pos-

session of the authorities, are Lorenzo Blanchard, Peter Kauf-

man, James Still, William H. Dyal, Emanuel Bach, Godfrey

Steiner, and ----- Henderson. Mr. Leadbetter and French

pledged their honor as gentlemen that the balance of the ring-

leaders should be delivered to the authorities, whereupon a de-

tachment of soldiers took the prisoners to Cleveland, and Colonel

Wallace, with the balance of the force, started for Columbus,

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via Warsaw and Coshocton--peace was declared and thus ended

this great demonstration in opposition to law and order.

It must be admitted that this was a formidable outbreak,

and but for the timely assistance rendered by the Government,

and the mild, but firm and judicious course pursued by Colonel

Wallace, it would have led to serious consequences. From the

most reliable information I can obtain, there were between twelve

and thirteen hundred insurgents in the rebel camp on last Sun-

day, where they had two or three speeches and a preacher by the

name of Hastings preached a rebel sermon. They had plenty

of provisions stored in the neighborhood. We found at the

Widow Workman's over one hundred loaves of bread, fourteen

boiled hams, a large quantity of regular army bread and several

crocks of butter, an equal, if not greater amount, at the home of

L. Blanchard, and at several other locations. They had in their

possession four small howitzers, about eighteen inches long,

placed on different hills, which they used for signal guns on the

approach of danger.

It has been rumored that the enrolling officer, Mr. Robison,

had insulted a woman, which caused the excitement. There was

not one word of truth in this statement. In all the negotiations

for peace between Mr. Leadbetter and Colonel Wallace, there

was no allusion made to this as a charge against the officer. Mr.

Robison is an excellent, upright man and a judicious officer, and

one of the wealthiest farmers in that section of the country. He

would scorn to stoop to such an act. This charge originated in

the fertile brain of some ranting Copperhead, to shield them

from the odium which always attaches to acts of outrage such as

have been perpetrated by those connected with this disgraceful

affair.

I am informed by Colonel French (and I have no doubt as

to the correctness of his knowledge), that those in attendance,

armed and ready for resistance, amounted to over nine hundred

men--they were residents of Knox, Coshocton, and Holmes

Counties, also a company of seventy-two men under the com-

mand of a physician near Dresden, Muskingum County. The

men composing this mob, or at least the great majority of them,

although possessing property, are degraded and ignorant, and a

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48        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

wily politician can mould them to his will as a potter does the

clay of the earth. They lived in an isolated, wild, and hilly

country, cut off as it were from civilization and a knowledge of

the world, with prejudices strong and passions untamed; it is

no wonder they are almost ungovernable. I wish here to state,

that however culpable the Honorable D. P. Leadbetter and other

leaders of the dominant party of that county may have been in

inflaming the minds of those ignorant people to resistance of the

law, yet I give them credit for their exertions in quelling the

disturbance, and in persuading the ringleaders to give themselves

up to the authorities. I heard the prisoners frequently remark

that it was their party leaders that brought them into this diffi-

culty, and that if they were out of this scrape they would never

go to another political meeting. I predict there will be no more

resistance to the enrolling officer in that county.

A great many rumors gained credence in the country of

the many outrages committed by the soldiers, such as hanging

men on trees, shooting them down in the woods, etc., having not

the least foundation in fact. The soldiers did, in one or two in-

stances, destroy some property, but it was the fault of some of

the residents of that locality. Colonel Wallace paid twenty-five

dollars out of his own pocket for property wantonly destroyed.

It must be expected that more or less damage will be done to

property where there is a necessity to call soldiers. Let the cit-

izens of Holmes and every other county yield obedience to law

and their property and their persons will suffer no injury. The

Union ladies far and near sent wagon-loads of provisions to the

soldiers, consisting of bread, cakes, pies, boiled ham, cheese, but-

ter, eggs, etc., and by their acts of kindness expressed the pleasure

they experienced in having the laws vindicated and justice meted

out to the guilty.

I cannot close this communication without stating that no

better man could have been selected for the command of such an

expedition than Colonel Wallace.  He is courteous, mild, and

gentlemanly, but firm and unyielding as the rock of Gibraltar.

He went outside of his lines this morning to meet a large delega-

tion of "Butternuts" who were afraid to come into the lines.

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He made them a neat speech telling them of the obligations they

owed to themselves, and to their children and their country; dep-

recating the necessity of bringing armed soldiers into the county,

and winding up by assuring them that he would not leave until

the guilty were delivered into his hands, and they promise to

make no more resistance to the laws of the county.

We are under many obligations to Mr. and Mrs. Bowers and

Mr. Thomas Fetterman of Napoleon, and Mr. and Mrs. Austin

of Loudonville, for favors conferred, for which they will please

accept our thanks.

MACK.

 

"AFFAIRS IN HOLMES COUNTY, OHIO"

 

(War of the Rebellion--Official Records, Series 1, Vol. XXIII;

Part I, Reports, pp. 395-396.)

Report of Col. Wm. Wallace, 15th Ohio Infantry,

Commanding United States Forces in Ohio.

 

COLUMBUS, June 20, 1863.

SIR:

I have the honor to submit my report of the expedition un-

der my command, which left this city by order of Brigadier-

General Mason, on Tuesday night, June 16, 1863, for the pur-

pose of suppressing an alleged insurrection in Holmes County,

Ohio.

The forces under my command consisted of 230 exchanged

men from Camp Chase, 50 sharpshooters from Camp Dennison,

1OO men of the Governor's guard and one section of Captain

Neil's battery.

I disembarked at Lake Station (known as Lakeville) on the

Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, about 6 a. m.,

June 17, and at 7 a. m. commenced the march for Napoleon

(now Glenmont), about 12 miles distant, via Nashville.

I reached Napoleon about 4 p. m. where I ascertained the

Vol. XL--4.

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50        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

insurgents were in force about two miles to the south. I ad-

vanced my whole force in that direction, throwing out an ad-

vance guard of 50 men under Captain Moon, of the Governor's

guard, consisting principally of the Third Ohio (exchanged

men). When about one and a half miles from Napoleon the

advance guard was fired upon by bushwhackers from behind

logs and stone piles, when the men under Captain Moon fired in

return and charged upon the ambushing party, when about 20

men sprang from their hiding-places and ran. Two were cap-

tured with arms in their hands. Captain Moon, having deployed

his company as skirmishers, advanced about half a mile and

halted and returned and reported his position. He had been

ordered by me not to fire but to ascertain if possible the position

of the insurgents, when I intended sending in, under a flag of

truce, the Governor's Proclamation; but if fired upon by bush-

whackers, to return the fire, halt and report, which he did. . . .

I arrived at the place of the supposed encampment about

5 p. m. but found no enemy visible. I deployed part of may

force as skirmishers and put the remainder in line of battle. I

advanced with the skirmish line but had proceeded about 100

yards when I was fired upon from behind a number of stone

piles in a field to my right. The fire was promptly returned and

a charge with a yell made on the stone piles, when about 50 in-

surgents sprang from the ground and fled. Several were over-

taken and captured. Three were wounded and two were said to

have been killed and carried off. I sent out a number of pa-

trolling parties who returned with prisoners and the intelligence

that the insurgents were flying in all directions. I camped on the

ground said to have been the headquarters of the disaffected.

On the morning of the 18th a number of citizens of Holmes

County came into my camp. Among them were some of the

leading men of Millersburg, all of whom   were exceedingly

anxious that hostilities should cease, promising me that as the

insurgents had dispersed they would see that the parties for

whom the Provost-Marshal had warrants should be delivered up.

I gave them one day to bring in the persons for whom the Mar-

shal, who was with me, had warrants. The reasons for waiting

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Fort Fizzle                      51

 

this length of time were these: First, I was satisfied the insur-

gents had dispersed; Second, my instructions were such that I

felt myself in duty bound to preserve the peace and not increase

the excitement already existing in Holmes County, and the peo-

ple I had met were an ignorant and misguided class who hardly

knew what they wanted or why they felt themselves aggrieved.

On the evening of the 18th the citizens returned with the

prisoners who had been formerly rescued from the marshal and

on the following morning I sent them to Cleveland, together with

the prisoners taken in arms on the evening of the 17th, in obedi-

ence to my orders. I then moved to Warsaw and camped for

the night, where the small cannon used by the insurgents was

found, and brought with me to this city. I reached Columbus

on Saturday evening via Coshocton.

In conclusion I am glad to report the good conduct of the

officers and men under my command. The irregularities com-

mitted by some of the men were owing more to their having

campaigned in the South than to any intention on their part of

violating my express orders to respect private property. I feel

satisfied that the object of the expedition has been accomplished;

that no further resistance to the execution of the laws will be

attempted in Holmes County, and that the slight shedding of

blood will be a warning to all evil-disposed persons that any fur-

ther attempt to resist the officers of the Government in the execu-

tion of the laws will be met with speedy and sure punishment. I

remain, Captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. WALLACE,

Colonel, Commanding United States Forces in Ohio.

CAPTAIN JOHN GREEN, Assistant Adjutant General.

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