HARRY G. ENOCH
One Man's Experience in a One
Hundred
Day Regiment: Barzilla R. Shaw
and the
143d Ohio Volunteer Infantry
Like many other young Union soldiers,
Barzilla R. Shaw of the 143d
Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry
(O.V.I.) kept a diary of his experiences
during the Civil War. Although his unit
was a late entry, it saw action in the
crucial Petersburg Campaign in the
summer of 1864 which led to the end of
the Confederacy. In April Governor John
Brough had called Shaw's home
guard unit to the field; seven hundred
volunteers assembled at the Coshocton
fairgrounds (Camp Burt) and proceeded to
Columbus. There, at Camp Chase,
the 143d O.V.I. was formed from the 80th
Battalion Ohio National Guard
(O.N.G.) of Columbiana County and part
of the 69th Battalion O.N.G. from
Coshocton County.l Barzilla Shaw was
appointed regimental quartermaster
sergeant. In the transcript which
follows, Shaw recounts his unit's 100 days
of service.
In 1864 the 143d was initially assigned
to General Joseph Haskin's divi-
sion of the Twenty-second Corps and sent
to Washington to defend the capital
(May 22 to June 8). On June 8, they were
ordered to White House, Virginia;
once there, they were reassigned to
General Orris Ferry's division of the Tenth
Corps, part of General Benjamin Butler's
Army of the James. Ferry's newly
formed division-made up of regiments of
100-day men and black troops-em-
barked immediately for Bermuda Hundred,
where they arrived on June 13.2
That May and early June, fifty miles
southwest of Washington, had seen
some of the bloodiest fighting of the
war as Ulysses S. Grant engaged Robert
E. Lee's forces in battles at the
Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor.
In spite of massive losses-40,000 men in
five weeks-Grant obtained a
strategic advantage over Lee and
intended to press on, stating in his famous
dispatch "[I] propose to fight it
out on this line if it takes all summer."
Grant was determined to strike the
Confederate capital at Richmond. The fi-
Harry G. Enoch is Director of
Environmental Health and Safety and Adjunct Professor of
Toxicology at the University of
Kentucky.
1. Samuel H. Nicholas, Coshocton County Centennial
History (Coshocton, 1911), 51.
2. William J. Bahmer, Centennial
History of Coshocton County, Ohio, 1 (Chicago, 1909);
War of the Rebellion: A Compilation
of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies, XL, Part II, 224-26.
186 OHIO HISTORY
nal phase of his campaign called for the
entire Army of the Potomac to move
around Lee's right flank, cross the
James and attack the critical supply center
and railroad crossing at Petersburg,
about twenty-five miles south of
Richmond. But for the blunders of his
commanders, Grant's surprise move
might have ended the war in June 1864.
He had to settle instead for a pro-
tracted siege, with Petersburg finally falling
in April 1865. Less than two
weeks later Lee would surrender at
Appomattox Courthouse.
The 143d Regiment was called upon to
fill Grant's depleted ranks for the
Petersburg Campaign. The regiment was
inserted near the railroad just north
of Petersburg and manned the
entrenchments while the main attack was made
a few miles to the south. When the
initial assault failed, the 143d was pulled
back to Wilson's Wharf-site of Fort
Pocahontas-on the James River and
used for garrison duties until its
discharge in September. Like all other sol-
diers in the war, the men of the 143d
worried primarily about getting some-
thing decent to eat every day, about
staying well, and about dying. Sickness
and disease claimed more casualties than
combat in the Civil War. Although
the unit was little tested in battle,
thirty-three men of the 143d died during
their term of service.3
Barzilla Shaw was born in a log cabin
near the village of Coshocton, Ohio,
in 1836. When he died at the age of
ninety-nine, he was the oldest resident of
the county and the county's last
surviving veteran of the Civil War. As a
young man he served as deputy postmaster
to his uncle Henry N. Shaw-at a
time when mail came by stagecoach from
Zanesville-and clerked in his un-
cle's boot store. Shaw married Alpha
Jane Benson of Mohawk Village in
1856 and began farming on his father's
land beside the Ohio Canal. In 1864
he left behind his wife, five-year old
daughter, and three-year old son to join
the Union army. After his discharge Shaw
went into the hardware business
with his brother Walter. He prospered as
a merchant and soon became one of
the civic leaders of Coshocton. Shaw
served on the city council, was a
trustee in the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and was one of the founders of the
local post of the Grand Army of the
Republic (G. A. R.). He published po-
etry and articles on civic improvements,
veterans affairs and local history fre-
quently in the town's newspapers. Shaw
and his wife had two sons, William
Walter and Benjamin, and one daughter,
Emma; another daughter died at birth
while Shaw was in the army.4
3. For a list of all the men who served
in the 143d, including the thirty-three who died in
service, see Ohio Adjutant-General's
Department, Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of
Ohio in the War of the Rebellion,
1861-1866, 9 (Akron, 1886-1895),
30-44.
4. For brief biographical sketches of
Shaw, see N. N. Hill, Jr., History of Coshocton County,
Ohio (Newark, Ohio, 1881), 786, and Shaw's obituary in The
Coshocton Tribune, October 11,
1935. See also "Reminiscences of My
Boyhood Days in Coshocton," Shaw's article in The
Coshocton Age, February 1, 1787; Miriam C. Hunter, Postal History
of Coshocton County
(Coshocton, 1961), 15-16; and Thaddeus
L. Montgomery, One Hundred Years of Methodism in
Coshocton (Coshocton, 1940).
Barzilla R. Shaw and the 143d Ohio Volunteer Infantry 187 |
|
Shaw kept his journal in a small memorandum book-a 3 1/2" by 6" leather-bound volume with unruled pages. His first entries, seven pages, were made in pencil while the regiment was on the move, May 14 to June 19. When the 143d assumed longer-term quarters at Wilson's Wharf beginning on June 19, Shaw rewrote the early material and began keeping the journal in pen, May 2 to August 20, some twenty-seven pages. Finally, while on the move again coming home, he wrote the last portion in pencil, August 29 to September 5, only two pages. All entries are still legible and the journal is well preserved and now in the possession of one of Shaw's descendants, a great-granddaughter, Joan Ledford of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. The following account may serve as an informal history of the 143d Regiment, O.V.l.5
5. In this transcript, Shaw's first seven pages are omitted, except for a few phrases and sentences which he left out when he rewrote the early material in pen. To improve readability, punctuation and paragraphing have been added, many abbreviations spelled out, and the spelling of names made consistent. Inserted material is in brackets; date and place headings |
188 OHIO
HISTORY
May 2nd
Coshocton, Ohio
Called into active service for 100 days.
Ordered by Colonel Nicholas to
rendevous at Coshocton, Camp Burt.6
May 9th
Met punctualy at Camp Burt. [I was]
apointed quartermaster sergeant of the
69th Batalion under [Quartermaster]
George G. Ridgely.7
May 14th
Columbus
May 10th left on cattle train for Chase,
got in Columbus about 11 oclock.
Laid round in the cold rain for about
two hours and got orders to march to Tod
Barracks. Got there and took a
comfortable snooze. Got our breakfast and
left for Camp Chase amid a desperate
cold rain. Struck our tents and got
something to eat and slept in the mud.
Camp Chase is a miserable place,
situated on a low wet swampy piece of
land owned by Basil Duke, the noted
rebel.8
Here we remained untill the 14th. On the
13th our battalion was split, two
companies being attached to the 142d
Regiment of Knox County and three
companies thrown in with seven companies
from Columbiana forming the
143d O.N.G.
[Officers of the 143d] Colonel [William
H.] Vodrey of Columbiana, com-
manding; Lieutenant Colonel [John D.]
Nicholas; Major [John S.] Straughn;
Surgeon Samuel H. Lee; George G.
Ridgely, quartermaster, [was] furloughed
and Henry C. Robins [was] apointed;
George L. Brooks, commissary
were also added.
6. John D. Nicholas helped raise the
first two 90-day companies from Coshocton in April
1861 shortly after the fall of Fort
Sumter. That fall Nicholas recruited another company, this
one for three-year's service. In May
1864 Nicholas, by then a lieutenant colonel, was placed
second in command of the 143d O.V.I.
After the war he returned to his law practice in
Coshocton and was later a Common Pleas
Judge. Nicholas, Centennial History, 47-50.
7. In 1854 young Ridgely was a clerk in
T. C. Ricketts's dry goods store on Chestnut Street,
and when the war began he was
Coshocton's agent for the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad.
Barzilla R. Shaw's journal for 1854
(unpublished); William E. Hunt, Historical Collections of
Coshocton County, Ohio, 1764-1876 (Cincinnati, 1876), 59.
8. Tod Barracks took its name from
Ohio's Civil War governor, David Tod. Camp Chase,
located four miles west of Columbus, was
named in honor of Salmon Chase, Governor of Ohio,
Secretary of Treasury under Lincoln, and
then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Robert
Miller, "War Within Walls: Camp
Chase and the Search for Administrative Reform," Ohio
History, 96 (1987), 35. Basil Duke of Kentucky rode with John
Hunt Morgan's Raiders and
was wounded at Shiloh. In 1863 during
their "Great Raid" through Indiana and Ohio, Morgan
and "the noted rebel" were
captured and imprisoned at Camp Chase, from which Morgan es-
caped on the night of November 26. Basil
Duke, A History of Morgan's Cavalry (Cincinnati,
1867), 513-22.
Barzilla R. Shaw and the 143d Ohio
Volunteer Infantry 189
sergeant; B. R. Shaw, quartermaster
sergeant; William Orr, wagon master,
Theodore Arter, adjutant; Robert Logan,
sergeant major.
May 13th sworn into the U.S. service for
100 days from day of muster.
May 14th left Camp Chase and marched to
Columbus Arsenal. Got armed
and went to Tod Barracks where we
remained until we got transportation.
May 18th
North Mountain, West Virginia
Left Sunday, May 15, 3 oclock when we
took the cars for Washington
City. Arrived in Newark [Ohio] about
sunset. Saw [brother] Walter and gave
my overcoat to [friend] William Coe. I
tell you I was glad to see Walter. I
could not help sheding tears as we
parted, he to his quiet home, and me to the
lord only knows where.
Passed through Zanesville just after
dusk. Went to sleep in the cars and
woke up in the morning, finding myself
close to Bellair on the Ohio River.
Here our locomotive stalled, and after
running back about three miles three
times, she succeeded in making the up
grade, and got to Bellair about 8
oclock. We immediately ferried across
and after drawing a few boxes of hard-
tack and sowbelly left on the B&O
Railroad. This is a great road. The
scenery is magnificent, mountains
towering above the clouds and hanging
completely over us. We also feel as we
near and pass the little town of
Grafton [W. Va.]9 that we are
in a Rebel country and the destruction of the
property along the road points plainly
to the ravages of War.
At Piedmont on one branch of the
Potomac, we see the destruction com-
mitted by the Rebel cavalry a few days
before. The roundhouse, a splendid
structure built by the B&O Railroad,
was burned, together with all the stock
and fixtures belonging to the road,
stationed at this place. Railroad tore up.
The iron heated and twisted in every
shape. Piedmont, a very pretty little
town on the Potomac, was very nearly
destroyed.10
New Creek we next come to. This is quite
a stiring place, and the rende-
vous of a great many troops, mostly 100
day men. Here we see the ruins of
some very fine buildings, and the very
spot where Fremont planted his can-
non and shelled the Rebels out of the
town. It was on a very high precipice
hanging over the river.11
9. West Virginia was part of Virginia
until "seceding" on October 24, 1861, when a state-
hood referendum was approved. The new
state came into the Union on June 20, 1863.
10. On May 4, Captain John McNeill
captured Piedmont, West Virginia, taking sixty-one
Union prisoners. McNeill burned the
roundhouse, machine shops and two trains, but Union
forces arrived from New Creek in time to
prevent his destroying the main B&O railroad
bridge. Jim Comstock, editor, West
Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, 5 (Richwood, W. Va.,
1976), 1002.
11. New Creek (present-day Keyser, West
Virginia) was an important supply point during
the Civil War. General John C. Fremont
was appointed to head the Mountain Department in
March 1862. Lincoln relieved Fremont of
command after he was badly defeated in several
190 OHIO HISTORY
Cumberland [Md.] next, which is a much
larger place than I expected to
see. There is about 3,000 troops here.
We also see the forts and earthworks
made by Imboden and his cavalry last
June. The city was saved by surrender-
ing to him.12 Here I learnt that two of the Shaws
were carrying on in
Piedmont. Had I known I would have
called on them. After laying here
some two or three hours we left on the
cars.
On Wednesday morning, May 18, we find
ourselves halted eight miles west
of Martinsburgh, here to remain untill
the bridge is rebuilt across the
Potomac at Harpers Ferry, having a
portion of it washed away. This place,
which is North Mountain, is a nice place
and the people Union in sentiment.
There is some five regiments here, and
this railroad is lined all along with
soldiers guarding it. As a general
thing, I find the worst secesh in this coun-
try are the females. They are very
bitter. We see no negroes hardly; they have
all left. Remaining here but a few days,
we left for Washington.
May 22nd
Fort Stevens, Washington City
Passing through Martinsburgh, which is
quite a town, we directly reach
Harpers ferry, which is I think the
grandest sight I ever beheld, notwithstand-
ing it is almost all in ruins. Yet, the
bridge, the dashing blue waves of the
Potomac, the natural scenery, the
pontoon bridge across the river (the first
one I ever saw), Maryland heights and
all inspired me with a new life, and
made us all look with wonder and
amazement at the grand scenery before us.
It is realy worth a visit over this
road, just to behold and view the scenery,
the magnificence and grandeur of the
works of nature, mountains hanging
over us dressed in their evergreen
foliage, and the little rugged cats [cataracts]
decking the steep stony hillsides and
down the rugged steep, the crystal cas-
cades winds its sparkling way.13
Point of rocks [Md.] is another grand sight.
We passed here in the night,
but we could behold by moonlight its
grandeur and its magnificence. Next
Washington Junction, close by the Relay
House [just southwest of
Baltimore]. Here is one of the finest
stone arch railroad bridges in the coun-
try. A large monument of its builder is
erected at the west end. We lay here
some three hours awaiting the passenger
train.
engagements with Thomas
"Stonewall" Jackson.
12. Brigadier General John D. Imboden's
daring 1863 raid into western Virginia is described
in Festus Summers, "The
Jones-Imboden Raid," West Virginia History, 47 (1988), 53-62.
13. Harpers Ferry was repeatedly fought
over due to its strategic location and, by May 1864,
had been largely destroyed by retreating
armies. When the war ended, one soldier declared
that the whole place was "not worth
$10." Harpers Ferry recovered; it is now a National
Historic Park, and its scenery is still
unrivaled. Harpers Ferry Historical Association, From
Riot & Tumult (Harpers Ferry, W. Va., 1989).
Barzilla R. Shaw and the 143d Ohio
Volunteer Infantry 191
Finally we move off slowly, the top of
the cars jammed with the sight-
seers, all anxious to get a glimpse of
every new thing, their eyes staring at
every curve and turn of the road. On we
go, but off in the distance we see a
spire towering above the treetops,
toward which all eyes are turned. It is the
Capitol of the United States.
On we go and arrive at Washington
Sunday, May 22, just eight days from
Columbus. Here we are besieged by
hundreds of women, boys, nigers [Shaw
was susceptible to the prejudices of his
day], &c., having everything almost
imaginable to sell, which the boys-with
a will, and to the sorrow of some-
pitched into to satisfy their craven
appetites. After supper-mine was a dish
of fresh oysters-we marched to Fort
Slemmer, about two miles north of the
city. Here we left one company. We then
went to Fort Totten and left two
companies, then to Fort Slocum, here we
left four companies, and the three
Coshocton companies [Co. E, G and H]
went on about three-quarters of a
mile to Fort Stephens. Our headquarters
are Fort Slocum, about three miles
northwest of Washington. These forts are
all pleasantly located, good water
and healthy location and splendid
barracks. I only wish we may stay here our
hundred days. 14
We have abundance to eat, and handy to
the great supply-head, and close to
the great federal Capitol. I go to the
city every few days for beef and bread.
The Capitol is a splendid edifice,
though not completed, also the White
House, Post Office, Patent Office, and
Smithsonian institute. The city is
filled almost with soldiers. Penn Avenue
is a perfect jam.
June 10th
White House, Virginia
June 8th left Fort Slocum and went to
Washington according to orders, to
report at the White House. Four
companies embarking on the Jolas and six
companies on the General Hooker. I
was on the Hooker. The Long Bridge is
a nice affair. The Potomac here is much
larger than I had supposed. We get a
nice view.
Alexandria is a nice place and made ever
memoriable as the place where
Ellsworth was killed. We get a good view
of the hotel.15 Fort Washington
14. One month after the 143d left
Washington, July 12, Forts Stevens and Slocum came un-
der brief attack by Jubal Early's
cavalry at the end of his raid up the Shenandoah Valley.
Abraham Lincoln was at Stevens that day
and watched the battle from a parapet until "a sol-
dier roughly ordered him to get down or
he would have his head knocked off." For a discus-
sion of the many versions of this
incident, see Frederick Hicks, "Lincoln, Wright, and Holmes
at Fort Stevens," Journal of the
Illinois State Historical Society, 39, (1946), 323-32.
15. Elmer Ellsworth, a close friend of
President Lincoln, was the first Union officer killed in
Virginia. As Union troops seized
Alexandria in May 1861, Ellsworth was shot while pulling
down a Confederate flag flying above the
Marshall House, an exploit for which he became a
romantic hero in the North. Carl
Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, 1 (New York,
1939), 262-68.
192 OHIO
HISTORY
and Mount Vernon, where sleeps the
"Father of his country." Could he but
awaken from his slumber and now see and
counsel those whom seek to de-
stroy the fairest fabrick on the earth.
Next we arrive at York River, and then
Yorktown, the place notable in rev-
olutionary fame, as also McClellans
first operations on the Peninsula, then
West Point, a little insignificant place
only known by name. We leave the
York River, take up the Pamunkey, and
soon arrive at the White House.
Hear we learn that the Jolas run
into a schooner and put back to Washington.
Got here June 10th. Immediately got off
the boat and repaired to see the sa-
cred ruins of the old White House, here
where Washington courted and won
Miss Custis. The spot seems sacred. It
has been a splendid place. I also vis-
ited the house where Washington first
saw his wife. What a change time has
wrought, and what emotions fill my
breast as I gaze upon those hallowed
spots, known to us of the North only
through history. It is on the left bank
of the Pamunkey River, a river very
narrow but deep, navigable for large
ships. 16
We here met the 142d Regiment O.N.G. We
were only here awhile 'till we
received orders to report to Major
General Butler at Bermuda Hundred on the
James. 17
June 13th
Point of Rocks
Left June 11 for City Point. Went down
the York and into the Chespeak
[Bay]. Here for the first time lost
sight of land. On we go. Soon we again
see land, and head in to Fortress
Monroe, which is a splendid place, a very
strong fortress and looks as if it might
be impregnable-also the Rip Raps
which looks at us frowning with its
thundering guns.l8 Up on the James,
past Newport News, up the mighty James.
Here we see a large ship on fire,
the work of Rebel batteries. Our men are
ordered to load and lay on their
arms. This is in the James River, about
twenty miles above Fort Monroe.
16. White House, Virginia, was the
plantation home of Robert E. Lee's son William
"Rooney" and, one hundred
years earlier, where George Washington courted the widow,
Martha Custis. General George McClellan
used the plantation as his center for operations
during his Peninsula campaign of 1862,
then turned White House Landing into a huge supply
depot.
17. Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts was
a political general, appointed to garner
Democratic support for the war. His
military career was turbulent, and Grant considered him
incompetent on the battlefield. Butler
commanded the Army of the James, which included the
Tenth Corps under Quincy Gillmore and
the Eighteenth Corps under William "Baldy" Smith.
Bermuda Hundred was an old river landing
a few miles southeast of Richmond, Virginia.
Bruce Catton, Grant Takes Command (Boston,
1968), 146-48, 327.
18. Fort Monroe was a major Union
outpost at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula. Two miles
offshore was the Rip Raps, a fortress on
a small man-made island located in Hampton Roads.
A young engineer, Lieutenant Robert E.
Lee, supervised the construction of both forts from
1831 to 1834. Emory M. Thomas, Robert
E. Lee (New York, 1995), 63-69.
Barzilla R. Shaw and the 143d Ohio
Volunteer Infantry 193
Jamestown, the first settlement in
America, we pass. It has been a pretty
place, on the north bank of the James,
the place where Pochahontas saved the
life of Captain Smith, but all that now
remains is a few old chimneys, the
brick walls of an old dwelling and the
ruins of the old church, the church
where Pochahontas was baptised. And here
is where the first slaves were
landed and sold.
All along this river we see the effects
of War. Chimneys without houses,
farms without fencing, and homes without
occupants. Everything seems to
mark the sure desolation that inevitably
must follow a large army. But on we
go passing every point of interest,
scenes of interest connected with the
events of McClellans campaign, Fort
Powhattan, Wilsons Landing and
Harrisons Landing, the great supply
depot of McClellan.
On we go and stop at City Point, which
is nothing left,19 and then to
Bermuda Hundred. Here we lay some three hours
and have orders to report to
General Butler at Point of Rocks [two
miles west] on the Appomattox River,
which place we arrived at June 13 and
pitched our tents. Received a visit
from General Butler and General Gillmore
and staff.20
June 14th
Port Walthall
Left and moved to Port Waltham
[Walthall], about two miles west. Here
we for the first [time] see the front,
for we are as close to it as we can very
handily get. We can see with the naked
eye, in the distance, Rebels at work.
Our pickets and theirs are in talking
distance-about thirty feet apart-and
drink from the same spring. Every few
minutes a shell comes bursting in
camp. Today three Negroes were killed
near the lookout, a little east of us.
We have a nice camp among the pines, but
in a little more danger than the
most of us relish. We are on a direct line between
Petersburgh and
Richmond, about seven miles from
Petersburg, fourteen from Richmond and
about two miles east of the railroad. We
can hear the running of the cars and
the merry yells of the thousand Rebel
voices, united in their wild hellish
mirth.21
19. A few days later, Grant selected
City Point-a sleepy hamlet at the mouth of the
Appomattox River-as his headquarters and
operations center. It was transformed into one of
the world's largest ports with over a
mile of wharves that could accommodate more than 200
ships and barges.
20. Four days before, on June 9, Butler
had ordered Gillmore to attack Petersburg.
According to Butler, Gillmore "got
his dinner, picked his teeth" and returned to Bermuda
Hundred without accomplishing anything.
Butler reacted by relieving him from command of
the Tenth Corps. Benjamin F. Butler, Butler's
Book (Boston, 1892), 677-78.
21. Port Walthall was a railhead of the
Richmond and Petersburg Railroad on the
Appomattox River, where Butler's lines
began. Butler's forces were in a blocking position--or
were "bottled up," depending
on one's point of view. Catton, Grant Takes Command, 247,
291-92.
194 OHIO
HISTORY
June 15th
Grants army are arriveing and moveing
direct upon Petersburgh, and hardly
without halting. We can discern the
columns moving. A cloud of smoke
rests above the treetops. We see the
cloud [of] dust advancing and hear the
thunder of the mighty cannon. Heavy
fireing toward Petersburgh. The ene-
my's battery shell us pretty strong. Our
gunboats and batteries fire away
briskly and they reply sharply, making
the shells whistle over us. We watch
and see the shells light in the Rebel
fort. This fire is kept up for awhile and
the Rebel battery is silenced. The cars
are running night and day, hurrying
Rebels from Richmond to Petersburg.
Great battle raging.22
For the first time since I left, I am
sick. Disordered liver. Had last night a
bad dream. Dreamed my house at home was
in ruins. I returned and my chil-
dren would not own me and my mother was
dead.
On our right, also, is sharp fighting.
We hear the continuous roll of mus-
ketry and the deafning roar of cannon
and although our men are kept under
arms we are not put in the fight. There
are a great many Negroes here, and
they say they make the best fighters.23
June 16th
The Sixth Army Corps passes us. In it we see the 122d Regiment.
Among the boys, we see the boys of old
Coshocton still fighting, pressing
on for the sovereignity of our good old
Union.24
22. June 15 was a pivotal day in the
Civil War. While the opportunity for sudden victory
came and went, the Union nevertheless
gained a foothold which would ultimately bring an end
to the war. The night of June 12 the
whole Army of the Potomac had withdrawn from Cold
Harbor and headed south for Petersburg.
Troops began crossing the James on a hastily erected
pontoon bridge on the 14th. On the 15th,
Grant had 35,000 men poised to strike the fortifica-
tions east of Petersburg, which were
manned by only 2,200 Confederates under General P. T.
G. Beauregard. At that time most of
Beauregard's corps of 9,000 men were in trenches north
of Petersburg facing Butler-and the 143d
O.V.I. The morning began with Baldy Smith's
corps moving on Petersburg and Winfield
Hancock's corps coming up to support him. Most of
the afternoon had passed by the time
Smith determined that the massive fortifications two miles
east of Petersburg were only lightly
manned. The main assault took place as the sun was going
down, with Smith capturing a mile and a
half of trenches, five forts and several hundred pris-
oners. At this point he had very little
in front of him and all of Hancock's divisions behind him.
After the war Beauregard wrote:
"Petersburg at that hour was clearly at the mercy of the
Federal commander who had all but
captured it." But after considering a night attack, Smith
decided against it and went to bed.
Andrew A. Humphreys, The Virginia Campaign of '64 and
'65 (New York, 1883), 206-14; P. T. G. Beauregard, "Four Days of
Battle at Petersburg," in
Robert U. Johnson and Clarence C. Buel,
editors, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, 4 (New
York, 1888), 540-44.
23. Black troops participated in many of
the engagements at Petersburg and established
themselves as able and courageous
soldiers.
24. On the morning of June 16,
Beauregard took a major gamble, withdrawing his troops
from the trenches in front of Butler and
rushing them to the defense of Petersburg. That day
Grant had three full corps-Smith's,
Hancock's, and Burnside's-and parts of two others to
unleash on the Confederate lines. By the
end of the day the outer line of fortifications was in
Union hands, but Beauregard had
established a new line-a mile closer to Petersburg-with his
Barzilla R. Shaw and the 143d Ohio Volunteer Infantry 195 |
|
Today the 100 pounder Parrot gun on the [gunboat] Commodore Perry burst killing some four or five.25 Also, a shell burst immediately after leav- ing one of our guns, killing instantly a Negroe.
June 18th Wilson's Landing June 18 got orders to prepare two days rations and march the lord only knows.26 Elias West dies, several sick. We march to the river and embark
reinforcements. Although they had vastly superior strength, the Union commanders moved cautiously, choosing not to attack, and the opportunity vanished. The trains ran constantly for two days as Lee sent troops south from Richmond, and by the morning of the 18th the Confederate lines really were too strong to be taken. Beauregard pulled his troops from the Port Walthall area early on the 16th. Butler, seeing empty trenches in front of him, asked Grant for more men in order to cut the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. However, Lee sent troops down from Richmond to fill the gap before Butler received reinforcements from General Horatio Wright's Sixth Corps, and another opportunity was lost. Humphreys, Virginia Campaign, 215-24; Beauregard, "Battle at Petersburg", 540-44. 25. A massive, rifled artillery piece invented by Robert Parrott and often used in the Civil War, but the gun tended to burst and was not produced after the war. 26. The orders prepared by General Adrian Terry on June 17 were rather vague: "Pursuant to instructions from department headquarters [i.e., Butler], the 143d and the 163d Ohio Volunteers will proceed at once to the commissary wharf at Point of Rocks and report to Major |
196 OHIO
HISTORY
on boats. Down we go on the James again,
pass City Point, pass Harrisons
Landing, pass Fort Powhattan and brought
up at Wilsons Landing where we
are ordered to go ashore. 27 We are now
dogs. We cease to be men, but ser-
vants or dogs. Laid on the wharf all
night. Slept pretty well, but feel pretty
much like a used up man.
Our camp here is a nice one, some sixty
feet above the river, and have a
nice view of the vessels as they plow up
and down. There are at present
about 3,000 of us here. Our protection
is very strong.
June 24th
Made a visit out to Honorable John
Tylers. Got some valuable relics
[souvenirs] and returned.28 Weather
very hot. John Dennis today burried.
June 26th
Eli Seward burried.
June 27th
Reuben Jennings burried.
June 28th
Feel pretty well. Received a letter from
home containing the sad tidings of
the death of my child [on June 17], but
the good news that my dear wife is
saved. The Lord be praised for his
goodness.
[Colonel] J. D. Nicholas, Captain
[Nicholas R.] Tidball, Lieutenant [David
F.] Denman, [Lieutenant John] Willis and
lots of the boys are sick. Tommy
Scott and Ad Hay cant posibly live.
[Scott died July 1; Hay, July 4.] Our
quartermaster [Henry Robins] is quite
unwell.
Was out looking at the buryground of the
Rebels. Found one with his legs
sticking out, another his head and so
on. "Mans inhumanity to man, makes
countless millions mourn." Some
four or five weeks ago, General Fitzhugh
Haggerty. They will take with them such
stores and camp equipage as they have on hand.
Quartermasters will furnish
transportation." Apparently, even the Third Division commander,
General Ferry, wasn't certain where the
troops had been sent, as on June 21 he wrote the fol-
lowing to Colonel E. W. Smith:
"SIR: I have the honor to request information of the present
stations of the regiments composing my
division, and of the place where I can find Brigadier-
General Marston." Butler had sent Gilman Marston's First
Brigade to garrison forts
Pocahontas and Powhatan. Official
Records, XL, Part II, 152, 299.
27. Wilson's Landing-or Wilson's Wharf
as it was also called-was an old plantation
landing and the site of Fort Pocahontas.
Butler had seized the Confederate forts Pocahontas
and Powhatan on May 5, as he ascended
the James to occupy Bermuda Hundred. Fort
Pocahontas was on the north bank of the
James while Fort Powhatan was on the south bank,
seven miles upstream.
28. John Tyler served in the House and
Senate before becoming the tenth president of the
United States (1841 to 1845). After
leaving office Tyler retired to his plantation and, when
Virginia seceded from the Union, he
served in the Confederate House of Representatives until
his death in 1862.
Barzilla R. Shaw and the 143d Ohio
Volunteer Infantry 197
Lee made an attack on this place, but
was by our troops nobly driven back,
leaveing some 300 of his dead on the
field.29
July 4th
Received a letter from home. Folk all
well but Duckey [Shaw's wife], and
she is better, thank the lord. Heavy
cannonading in direction of Petersburgh.
William Amon of Company C died from an
overdoes of opium. Wrote home
to my dear wife.
July 8th
Two core [corps] of Banks army pass up
the James and one core pass
down.30 Great fire in
direction of Petersburgh, supposed to be woods on fire.
Great excitement in camp in consequence
of the arrival of T. C. Ricketts.31
The entire regiment seem revived, and it
makes us rejoice, for he looks so
natural. Robert Sands very sick.
July 9th
T. C. Ricketts leaves for home. Boys
hate to see him leave. George
Brooks quite sick. Our camps are all
moveing, changing tents. We must tear
ours down and move. Tearing down
Hospital and rebuilding. Issued new
potatoes, first of the season, also good
pickles. Out on dress parade for first
time. Wrote a letter home.
July 10th
Issue a lot of onions, apples, pickles
and potatoes to the different compa-
nies. Given us by the Sanitary
Commission. A member of Company I died
today. Brooks pretty sick.32
29. On May 24, Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry
was sent to capture Wilson's Wharf. Outnumbered
two to one, the garrison of black troops
resisted tenaciously until Lee withdrew. They killed
twenty Confederates and took nineteen prisoners. William G.
Robertson, Back Door to
Richmond (Newark, N. J., 1987), 231; Butler, Butler's Book, 669-71.
30. Two divisions of General Nathaniel
Banks's Nineteenth Corps began arriving that day
from the Gulf area. These
troops-reorganized as the "Detachment Nineteenth Corps" under
General William Emory-were recalled to
Virginia to strengthen the siege lines at Petersburg.
Frank J. Welcher, The Union Army,
1861-1865, Organization and Operations, Volume 1: The
Eastern Theater (Bloomington, 1989), 488-89.
31. Thomas C. Ricketts (1808-1882) was a
prominent Coshocton businessman and Barzilla
Shaw's uncle. Ricketts was in camp to
visit his twenty-year-old son Samuel, a private in
Company E.
32. The Sanitary Commission was a
civilian wartime organization that provided much
needed medical supplies for Union
wounded and also food for the troops, especially fresh fruit
and vegetables. General Edward Ord sent
the commission the following note: "Headquarters,
18th Army Corps, near Petersburg, July
27th, 1864, SIR-Please present the thanks of the men
and officers of this Corps to the
Sanitary Commission for the very large and seasonable supply
of fresh vegetables just received from
you. The potatoes and onions were much wanted, as
scurvy began to threaten, and the two
hundred and fifty boxes of tomatoes answer the same
purpose as well as prevent the men
feeling heavily the recent reduction in the rations." U. S.
198 OHIO HISTORY
July 12th
Alexander McCullough [Shaw's
brother-in-law] very sick. George Brooks
also. Quartermaster [Robins] goes to
General Brooks headquarters for some
express goods.33 Issued a lot of
sanitary stores.
July 13th
Alex not quite so well. Brooks a little
better. Paying strict attention to
both. About half sick myself in
consequence of eating too much fresh beef.
Our sick list is decreasing.
Wrote a letter to Walter. Five deserters
from Richmond, with Richmond
[news]papers of the 12th, come in our
lines and give themselves up. Camp
rumor that our core has orders to leave
for Washington. Tide higher than I
have ever seen it. Lots of troops and
several gun boats go down. There has
been no fireing for several days.
July 15th
Alex McCullough very sick, mostly
homesickness. Boys generaly getting
better. Slight diarrhea myself.
July 17th
George Brooks a little better. Awful
diarhea myself. Not able to do any-
thing much except run to the sink. Alex
McCullough and other sick leave
for Fortress Monroe Hospital.
July 18th
Received a letter from Thomas H. Wellard
[another brother-in-law of
Shaw's] and one from Walter. Diarrhea
checked a little.
July 19th
Got my diarrhea checked. Very wet and
cold, raining hard all day.
July 20th
Mrs. John Tyler and son and Mrs. Wilson
and about twenty other refugees
land here and are taken through the
lines. Weather a little more pleasant.
Brooks getting better. Feel first rate
myself. Troops going up [the James]
by the thousands.
July 21st
Boys elated with the idea of soon going
home. Large mail. Got a letter
from my dear wife and one from Walter.
Thank the lord our time is most
Sanitary Commission, Sanitary
Commission Bulletin, 1, Number 20 (August 15, 1864), 636.
33. W. T. H. Brooks was placed in
command of the Tenth Corps after Gillmore was sacked
by Butler. Official Records, XL,
Part II, 225.
Barzilla R. Shaw and the 143d Ohio
Volunteer Infantry
199
out. Bless my little children. How I
long to see them. Feel first rate. Only
lost five pounds with my little touch of
diarrhea. Company A lost a man
[John Goddard].
July 27th
Inspection passed off nice. Captured
some Rebel prisoners and sent them
to City point. Out aforaging. Women
rampant. See a mysterious horse.
Dangers of bushwhackers. Turkeys and
chicken, lots of em.
July 28th
River lined with boats going up. Dont
know what it means. Nice rain.
Wrote a letter to Duckey and Walter.
Issue day, which makes us very busy.
Doctor Lee goes to City Point.34
July 29th
Received a lot of sanitary goods.
Quartermaster quite poorly. Heavy fire-
ing above. The pickets see two Rebels,
fire on them, but they make their es-
cape by running.
July 30th
Wrote home to my dear wife.
Quartermaster quite sick. Begin to get anx-
ious about getting home. However, dont
care, if I keep good health. Bob
Sands out of Hospital, walking round.
Captain [John L.] Dougherty and
Lieutenant [Andrew J.] Stover of Company
G under arrest in consequence of
insubordination of their men. Captain
Tidball returned from Washington in
better health. Brooks about well.
August 1st
Quartermaster very sick. Billy Dodd of
Roscoe died. Colonel Vodrey very
sick. Tenth Army Corps ordered to
Washington. Some of the boys jubilant,
others dont like it. Order countermanded. Got such a good letter from
Duckey.
34. Grant sent numerous troopships north
on the James in a feinting move the day before the
Battle of the Crater, another lost
opportunity to end the war. Union engineers had built a mine
under the Confederate entrenchments east
of Petersburg and packed it with gunpowder. When
the mine was exploded on the morning of
the 29th, Burnside's troops gathered in the huge
crater, rather than pouring through the
half-mile gap in the line. This resulted in a blood bath in
the crater as it was hit by Confederate
artillery. Thus instead of taking Petersburg, Burnside
suffered a costly defeat. Said Grant,
"The effort was a stupendous failure." Humphreys,
Virginia Campaign, 246-66; Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, II
(New York, 1885), 315.
The army hospital at City Point covered
200 acres and could accommodate 10,000 patients.
Many of the surgeons were probably
called there in anticipation of the planned offensive on
the 29th. Regimental surgeon Dr. Samuel
H. Lee studied medicine under his father and prac-
ticed for some time in Coshocton prior
to the war. After serving with the O.V.I. from 1862 to
1864, he gave up his medical practice
and went into the drug business. Hunt, Historical
Collections, 120.
200 OHIO
HISTORY
August 2nd
Lost a man from Company 1. Lots of Rebel
prisoners going down [the
James]. Quartermaster no better. Our
sick list numbers 120. Feel first rate
myself. Got a letter from Austin. Alex
McCullough is getting better.
August 3rd
Colonel Miller bets we'll leave this
week. General opinion says we'll
leave about the 10th. So it goes. The
sooner the better, for our regiment
will soon all be sick. Got a letter from
Duckey, mailed in Washington, sent
there by George Bryant. Quartermaster
feels a little better. Brooks not quite
so well. Bully myself.
August 8th
Great explosion at City Point. Fireing
just above us. Gun boats leave.35
August 11th
Attack on Fort Powhattan. Our troops go
to reinforce them. They capture
eight Rebels.36
August 12th
Our boys out scouting. The 132d and 133d
[O.V.I.] went down the river
today. Some ten or twelve boatloads of
troops go up. We are expecting to
be relieved every day. Got a letter from
my dear wife, the dearest woman on
earth. Dont I wish I was where I could
give her one good kiss. Boys getting
anxious to go home. Expect to go or
start about the 15th.37
August 15th
No prospect of getting home yet, and I
guess wont very soon. Our boys
are out scouting nearly every day. Dont
take time to write everything down.
August 20th
Two battery men hung for committing rape
upon the person of a white
girl. Two niggers shot, out scouting.
35. That morning an ammunition barge was
blown up at City Point by a Rebel saboteur; the
explosion killed 43 men and wounded 126.
General Grant was present that day but was not
wounded, although one of his orderlies
was killed and three men were wounded at headquar-
ters. It was Grant's narrowest escape
during the war. Catton, Grant Takes Command, 349-50.
36. Rebel scouts cut down telegraph
lines near the fort; although no scouts were captured,
the Union patrol "brought in all
white men able to walk." Official Records, XLII, Part 1, 832.
37. On August 11, Grant telegraphed
Butler: "You may commence immediately shipping to
Washington all the one hundred day
men." Union commanders were constantly losing men as
short-term enlistments expired-one
reason volunteer regiments were often used for garrison
duty rather than put into combat
situations. John Y. Simon, editor, Papers of Ulysses S. Grant,
11 (Carbondale, Ill., 1984), 404n.
Barzilla R. Shaw and the 143d Ohio
Volunteer Infantry 201
August 25th
Our whole regiment out scouting. Brooks
left yesterday. Grant paid us a
visit.38 No prospects of
leaveing yet.
September 5th
Camp Chase, Ohio
Left Fort Pocohontas August 29 about 4
oclock. Six companies of our
regiment on the Swan. Four
companies and the 165th on the City of
Albany. Anchored opposite Jamestown. Left early in the morning
and ar-
rived at Fortress Monroe about noon,
landed and drew bread. Left about one
oclock, having but our two regiments on
three boats. Anchored at the mouth
of the Potomac.
August 31 left early for Washington.
Left Washington September 1 and
got in Baltimore next morning at 4
oclock. Left Baltimore at six in evening
and got in Harrisburgh four next
morning. Did not stop but a few moments
and hurry on toward Altoona, where we
arrived at about 4 oclock. After stay-
ing some thirty minutes, we crossed the
mountain and got in Pittsburgh
about 2 oclock Sunday morning September
4, and left about four, after get-
ting a good meal at the Soldiers Rest.
Left early for Columbus. Got to
Salem about 10 oclock and got a most
splendid dinner. Left about 2 oclock
and got in Columbus about ten in the
night. Went to Tod Barracks and left
next day, September 5, about noon, for
Camp Chase.
The 143d Regiment mustered out on
September 13, 1864, after one hundred
days in service.
38. Grant made frequent trips on the
James to visit both his front and rear areas. On the
morning of the 25th he telegraphed
Meade: "I feel too unwell today to go to the front. Think I
will take a boat this evening and go to
Fortress Monroe & return tomorrow night." Although he
canceled the trip to Fort Monroe later
that day, he may have made the shorter trip to Wilson's
Wharf. Simon, Ulysses S. Grant, XII,
86-87.
HARRY G. ENOCH
One Man's Experience in a One
Hundred
Day Regiment: Barzilla R. Shaw
and the
143d Ohio Volunteer Infantry
Like many other young Union soldiers,
Barzilla R. Shaw of the 143d
Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry
(O.V.I.) kept a diary of his experiences
during the Civil War. Although his unit
was a late entry, it saw action in the
crucial Petersburg Campaign in the
summer of 1864 which led to the end of
the Confederacy. In April Governor John
Brough had called Shaw's home
guard unit to the field; seven hundred
volunteers assembled at the Coshocton
fairgrounds (Camp Burt) and proceeded to
Columbus. There, at Camp Chase,
the 143d O.V.I. was formed from the 80th
Battalion Ohio National Guard
(O.N.G.) of Columbiana County and part
of the 69th Battalion O.N.G. from
Coshocton County.l Barzilla Shaw was
appointed regimental quartermaster
sergeant. In the transcript which
follows, Shaw recounts his unit's 100 days
of service.
In 1864 the 143d was initially assigned
to General Joseph Haskin's divi-
sion of the Twenty-second Corps and sent
to Washington to defend the capital
(May 22 to June 8). On June 8, they were
ordered to White House, Virginia;
once there, they were reassigned to
General Orris Ferry's division of the Tenth
Corps, part of General Benjamin Butler's
Army of the James. Ferry's newly
formed division-made up of regiments of
100-day men and black troops-em-
barked immediately for Bermuda Hundred,
where they arrived on June 13.2
That May and early June, fifty miles
southwest of Washington, had seen
some of the bloodiest fighting of the
war as Ulysses S. Grant engaged Robert
E. Lee's forces in battles at the
Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor.
In spite of massive losses-40,000 men in
five weeks-Grant obtained a
strategic advantage over Lee and
intended to press on, stating in his famous
dispatch "[I] propose to fight it
out on this line if it takes all summer."
Grant was determined to strike the
Confederate capital at Richmond. The fi-
Harry G. Enoch is Director of
Environmental Health and Safety and Adjunct Professor of
Toxicology at the University of
Kentucky.
1. Samuel H. Nicholas, Coshocton County Centennial
History (Coshocton, 1911), 51.
2. William J. Bahmer, Centennial
History of Coshocton County, Ohio, 1 (Chicago, 1909);
War of the Rebellion: A Compilation
of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies, XL, Part II, 224-26.