Fort Fizzle 49
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.
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
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.