January 30, 1862
George D. Ruggles, Assistant Adjutant General, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, D.C. To the Governor of Ohio. Letter reporting that Surgeon John N. Mowry, and 1st Lieutenant J.B. Whelpley of the 32nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry had resigned effective January 22, 1862, and January 24, 1862, respectively.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 31]
January 30, 1862
Franklin Sawyer, Lieutenant Colonel, and Albert H. Winslow, Major, 8th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Camp Kelley, Patterson's Creek, Virginia. To Governor David Tod. Letter stating that as D[aniel] C. Daggett, Captain, Company D, 8th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry had resigned, they requested the promotion of John Reid, now 1st Lieutenant in Company D to fill said vacancy. Bears a note from S[amuel] S. Carroll, Colonel, 8th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; stating that he had recommended Lieutenant Cook for the vacancy, but should the appointment not be made, he would endorse Reid.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 44]
January 30, 1862
T. Seymour, Captain, 5th Artillery, Camp Greble, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. To Dudley Baldwin, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Letter stating that Baldwin's communication of January 23 was found upon his return from a short visit to his family, that as evidence of Baldwin's good opinion and kind feeling for him, he would esteem it highly, that with respect to the honor proposed for him, and which Baldwin had suggested, his sense of duty compelled him to be of the greatest possible service to his country in her time of need in a position for which he was thought capable, without respect to the rank or honor to be connected with that position, that his professional history was short and contained in the fact that he had always endeavored to do his entire duty, that it might be proper to add that he had repeatedly been offered the command of regiments, and that from the lack of friends of influence to urge the matter at Washington, a distinct refusal had been given to his application for permission to accept.
3 pp. [Series 147-25: 151]
January 30, 1862
Michael H. Shaeffer, Germantown, Montgomery County, Ohio. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter asking if his name appeared on the Musician's muster roll of the 31st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; and stating that he had a certificate of discharge from Norman Gay, mustering Surgeon, on account of disease of the lungs, that he had never been mustered into service or taken the oath, and that he was importuned by Lieutenant [Josephus W.] Wise of the regimental band and Colonel [Moses B.] Walker to return to the 31st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry or be considered and treated as a deserter.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 42]
January 30, 1862
W[illiam] S. Smith, Colonel, [13th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry], Camp Jefferson, Bacon Creek, Kentucky. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that another officer had made his appearance in the regiment armed with a commission obtained without their knowledge and giving him the rank of 1st Lieutenant when every order seen on the subject provided that promotion by seniority from each rank to the next higher was to be the rule, that in this instance, there was an additional reason why the one appointed should not have been commissioned in the regiment, that said individual had previously resigned from the regiment after having been a mischief-maker during his entire connection with it, and that unless he could secure the promotion of deserving men in his regiment, he might as well cease to strive to secure in it a satisfactory state of discipline.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 136]
January 30, 1862
E[rastus] B. Tyler, Colonel, 7th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Camp Kelly, Patterson's Creek, Virginia. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that he had made several efforts in conjunction with the other officers of the 7th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry to have the vacancies in their line officers filled, that he had sent notifications of the vacancies and recommended officers to fill them, that he sent the Quartermaster of the regiment with a list of the vacancies and also the names as recommended at a special meeting of all the officers now in the regiment to fill those vacancies, that he might in person explain the necessities of the case, that he had telegraphed the Governor twice on the subject without securing the desired object or even a reply, that the regiment was now situated where they were constantly on duty and the number of officers able for duty was so small that it was impossible to have a single officer to a company and do guard and picket duty, that the promotion of Captain [John W.] Sprague made another vacancy which was important to have filled, and that he would be under lasting obligations if Buckingham would give him an explanation of the matter and put him in the right direction to accomplish an object so desirable.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 183]
January 30, 1862
A[lvin] C. Voris, Lieutenant Colonel, 67th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Camp Lander, near New Creek, Virginia. To Governor David Tod. Letter stating that the bearer, Surgeon [Samuel F.] Forbes of the 67th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, would communicate with Tod in person regarding the matters of his mission, that Forbes held his position entirely above the caprice of the commander of the regiment and had nothing to gain or lose in rank by the continuance or removal of the Colonel of the regiment, that for these reasons, and after mature deliberation with several of the company commanders, they had thought it best to send Forbes to present the status and claims of the regiment to Tod, that he never saw the memorial sent to Tod by the eight Captains on January 26, until that afternoon, that after carefully perusing a copy, he fully concurred in the statements therein contained, that he had already expressed his convictions in a communication to Tod dated January 22, that these had been painfully intensified by the wicked indifference of Colonel Otto Burstenbinder manifested towards the interests of the regiment since they left the Ohio River, that Major [John R.] Bond (who was certainly a good man) and himself were powerless for good to the regiment, that they were never consulted, that when they attempted to advise, they were snubbed, that when they attempted to do anything to develop the regiment, they were stopped, that two or three days since, Bond expostulated with Burstenbinder as to some of his transactions, that Burstenbinder told Bond that he would take care of him if they ever got into battle and send him where he never would come out alive, that Tod perhaps thought they were too suspicious and timid, that their feeling was shared by more than 4/5 of the officers and soldiers of the regiment to a painful degree, that they were doing nothing, that he had repeatedly attempted to have officers' instruction and drill under his own supervision, but had been as often thwarted, that Burstenbinder refused to do his duty in said regard, that they did not have battalion drill because Burstenbinder was unable to instruct them and apparently was unwilling to permit others to do what he could not do himself, that they most earnestly appealed to Tod to do whatever executive power could do to speedily succor them from disgrace and ruin, that if the officers resigned, they would be disgraced, that if they stayed there in the present condition of affairs, they would be disgraced, that if they offered anything to better the regiment, they were checked, that if they did nothing, their consciences rose up in judgment against them, that they were indeed in embarrassed circumstances, that they had all the material for a first rate regiment, that with a proper organization, the regiment would become what it ought to be, and that he hoped for a speedy correction of the evils attaching to the regiment.
2 pp. [Series 147-25: 119]
January 30, 1862
James Wilson, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. To Governor David Tod. Letter stating that he desired to present for Tod's favorable consideration and promotion, the name of Henry Daggett, a Private in Company A, 6th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, that aside from the meritorious and military character of Daggett, whose capacity the committee for the district had endorsed, he wished to say that Daggett, although being of Southern birth and absent from his relatives, volunteered patriotically at the Union's first call, and that he trusted Tod would reward true merit and honor Daggett with a Lieutenant's commission. Bears a note from Benjamin Eggleston stating that Wilson was his business partner, one of the oldest merchants in Cincinnati, and fully reliable in every sense of the word.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 195]
January 31, 1862
J[ohn] M. Barrere, Adjutant, 60th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Headquarters, Camp Mitchel. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that 2nd Lieutenant George W. Davis of Captain Robert Harry's company died of smallpox at his home eight miles from camp on January 26.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 138]
January 31, 1862
H[arrison] G. Blake, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. To Governor David Tod. Letter enclosing the recommendation of Captain O[ra] O. Kelsea for the appointment of Elijah Hayden, now 2nd Sergeant of Company H, 8th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; and stating that Hayden desired the appointment of Lieutenant or Captain, that he could endorse the moral and military character of Hayden, having served with him in Company H, 8th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, that Hayden was a man of good morals, great energy, and true bravery, and that he trusted Tod would have Hayden appointed if possible.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 47]
January 31, 1862
William B. Cassilly, Lieutenant Colonel, 69th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that Thomas Webb received his commission, but had since reported that it was impossible to recruit and had declined to act under it, that he did not deliver J.J. Ennis' commission as he found one had been delivered to him for the 52nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, that he had forwarded Vantress' commission, but had received no report from him since, that Lieutenant Elstuer and Lieutenant Powell were at work and had about 25 names on their roll with a fair prospect of obtaining a full company, and that he would return the commission of J.J. Ennis; requesting that the commission of Thomas Webb be cancelled; and stating that he would report on Vantress' commission as soon as he could hear from it, and that it was discouraging for anyone to attempt to recruit as the prospects for obtaining the requisite number were very poor and they did not like to undergo the necessary expense.
2 pp. [Series 147-25: 5]
January 31, 1862
J.J. Ennis, per Henry C. Hooker, Recruiting Officers, 52nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter requesting that the enclosed commission be changed so that Mr. Anderson, who was near them, could throw his men into the company they were enlisting at Wilmington; and stating that they could not report more men as yet since January 30.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 5]
January 31, 1862
John Groesbeck, Colonel, 39th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Headquarters, Palmyra, Missouri. To John C. Burnet. Letter stating that Burnet's letter of January 23 was in hand; asking who Burnet was, who obtained a commission for Burnet, and why the parties involved did not consult him; stating that he questioned the power of the Governor to so commission men, that he would permit no man to take such liberties with his regiment, that there were vacancies in the detachment of the regiment stationed at Syracuse, but he intended to fill the vacancies from the Sergeants of the companies, and that if Burnet would reflect for a moment, he would admit that the course pursued in his case was a very unjust and injurious one; asking what inducements there were for Sergeants to labor and qualify themselves for commissioned officers if some outsider with a friend in the Governor could be appointed over their heads; stating that from the brevity of Burnet's note, he could not form any opinion of his character; asking Burnet if he was an intelligent man and if he was a man of high moral character, if Burnet ever took anything into his mouth which stole away his brains, and if Burnet received a military education which would justify his asking to be placed over men; and stating that unless these questions were answered satisfactorily, Burnet could not be an officer in the 39th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry even if a thousand Governors commissioned him.
2 pp. [Series 147-25: 208]
January 31, 1862
Amos Keller, Captain, Company C, 49th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Camp Wood. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that the office of 2nd Lieutenant in Company C was vacant; recommending 1st Sergeant William S. Canon, who was fully capable to fill the office with credit to himself and to the best interest of the company; and stating that this would be a regular promotion according to regulation, and that he hoped Buckingham would [not] fill the office with a stranger or one not connected with the regiment or from civil life, as fears in this direction were entertained by many of his men and the result would prove very unpleasant.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 94]
[January 31?, 1862]
Ora O. Kelsea, Captain, Company H, 8th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. To Whom It May Concern. Letter certifying that Elijah Hayden, 2nd Sergeant, Company H, 8th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry was a man worthy of promotion in the U.S. Army, being intelligent, temperate, industrious, and a man of good military capacity and good moral character; and stating that it would give him pleasure to see Hayden obtain any position he might request.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 49]
January 31, 1862
T[homas] O. McGrew, Marietta, Washington County, Ohio. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that learning that Buckingham had not received his resignation as 1st Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 63rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry mailed January 11, he was enclosing a copy of the same approved by Colonel W. Craig, and that he hoped Buckingham would see fit to accept the resignation.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 130]
January 31, 1862
R[odney] Mason, Colonel, 71st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Headquarters, Camp Dave Tod. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter recommending the promotion of Lieutenant Lewis Markgraff of the 8th Independent Battery, Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery to Captain, the appointment of Charles H. Schmidt as 1st Lieutenant, and the appointment of Jacob Heitzman as 2nd Lieutenant; and stating that it was the understanding among the parties that Heitzman was to be promoted to junior 1st Lieutenant as soon as the company was filled, that he had a high opinion of all these officers, that they were gentlemen, that he did not remember the number of men necessary for a minimum company, that they reported 86 men on January 14, 91 men on January 15, and 95 men on January 21, that as they had been on duty since the beginning of the organization, he begged leave to suggest the propriety of having them appointed and mustered from as early a day as possible, and that he would be glad to have them attached to the 71st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 24]
January 31, 1862
W[illiam] Nelson, Brigadier General, Headquarters, 4th Division, Camp Wickliffe, Kentucky. To Captain [James B.] Fry, Assistant Adjutant General, Chief of Staff. Copy of a letter forwarding a letter of Colonel [William B.] Hazen concerning arbitrary appointments of officers to his regiment [41st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry]; stating that he was sending Lieutenant Colonel [John T.] Wilder to explain a parallel case in his regiment, the 17th Indiana, that he deemed the cases of these two regiments of much importance and invited attention to them, that the worthless officers of the 17th Indiana, who resigned under charges, were endeavoring to have the commissions of those good officers withheld, that the marked improvement in discipline and efficiency of the 17th Indiana was evidence of the elevated tone of its officers which occurred after getting rid of the worthless characters alluded to, and that Wilder was a painstaking, worthy officer, imbued with an esprit de corps not usual among volunteer officers; and recommending Wilder to the favorable notice of the General commanding.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 234]
January 31, 1862
E[dwin] S. Platt, Captain, Company E, 67th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Camp Lander, Virginia. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that at the time the 67th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry left Camp Chase, one of his Corporals (John Young) was sick at home in Auglaize County, that Young was now able to join the regiment and he wanted a pass for him, and that he had received letters from two men in Auglaize County who wished to enlist in his company; and asking if Young could be authorized to enlist these men and being them to camp.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 73]
January 31, 1862
Thomas M. Ward, 2nd Lieutenant, 67th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter forwarding the articles mentioned in his communication of January 23; and stating that these articles were captured on the battlefield at Carrick's Ford, Virginia after the engagement was over, that the pistols were in the possession of a member of the 9th Indiana Regiment and were never in his hands, that in the portmanteau, behind the saddle, there was a small, square pocket compass which Buckingham would find in one of the pistol holsters, that he presented the portmanteau to Captain James Biddle of the 15th U.S. Infantry now in Columbus, that he still had a large silver pitcher taken at the same battle, that this pitcher was supposed to have belonged to Colonel Ramsey of the 1st Georgia Regiment, that he would forward the pitcher to Buckingham in a few days, that the pitcher was at his residence, else he would have forwarded it with the present articles, and that at the time of capturing these articles, he was 1st Lieutenant of Company H, 14th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry (three months' service).
2 pp. [Series 147-25: 30]
February 1, 1862
N. Baumgartner, Late Colonel in the Swiss Army, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio. To Governor David Tod. Letter stating that he had been an instructor of regiments and brigades in the Swiss army, and proposed to form a company of heavy rifles in Toledo; requesting the authority of the State of Ohio in aid of said company, and that a commission be granted him; and stating that he was in every way qualified to teach military tactics.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 43]
February 1, 1862
G.W. Crowell & Co., Manufacturers & Dealers in Flags, No. 211 Superior Street, Marble Block, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that Caleb Turner, a Private in Company C, 67th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, sent, or left in someone's hands before the regiment left Columbus, $27.00 for his wife residing at No. 20 Rockwell St., Cleveland, Ohio; and requesting that Buckingham inform them where the money was, how it could be obtained, and who had charge of forwarding funds from volunteers to their families.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 135]
February 1, 1862
Delafield DuBois, Major, 62nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that he had just arrived from Patterson's Creek where their regiment was now stationed, that he desired to obtain the commissions for their officers before his return, that none of them had yet received any commissions, and that they were paid off on January 29, from date of muster to December 31, 1861; asking if he should come to Columbus to get the commissions and if so when; and calling Buckingham's attention to a letter sent by Sergeant Major H.S. Williams.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 134]
February 1, 1862
Otho Fox, Van Wert, Van Wert County, Ohio. To the Adjutant General of Ohio. Letter stating that he once wrote in relation to his situation as a volunteer, but made some mistake in the number of the regiment, that William Smith, recruiting officer (now Captain of Company I, 46th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry), came some two months since and asked him to enlist, that he told Smith his circumstances were such that he could not leave home, that Smith said if he could not go, he could assist in getting up a company by giving his name and being sworn in conditionally, and that if he could not go, his name would be taken from the roll, that believing Smith had the power to do so and being willing to aid him in getting up the company, he gave Smith his name and was sworn in, that he assumed it would be entirely discretionary with him to go or not, that the first time he found to the contrary was when Smith sent him word that he must prepare to go to camp some four weeks since, that he then went to Smith and endeavored to get off, that Smith said he had no power to release him, that he was therefore compelled to go to camp and was now at home on a furlough, that his circumstances were such as to render it almost impossible for him to leave, that he had been living on a rented farm and would have to leave his family without house or home as the landlord refused to let his family stay on the farm if he left, that he had a wife and four children, none of whom were able to take care of themselves and who were wholly dependent on him for a living, that he was deceived or he should never have enlisted, that he was not unwilling to fight for his country, but his duty to his family required that he should remain at home, and that the above facts were true to the letter and he would swear to them if required; asking the Adjutant General to relieve him of his present difficulty; and stating that he had to return to camp on Wednesday.
3 pp. [Series 147-25: 138]
February 1, 1862
E.P. Kendrick, Auditor, Auditor's Office, Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that the county commissioners of Ross County had been advancing to soldiers in Company M, 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Company H, 52nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Companies B, C, and F, 22nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and Companies A, B, C, D, and K, 73rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry on their assignments on the allotment rolls gotten up by their respective Captains; asking whether the paymasters would be so instructed as to return the amount assigned to the Treasurer of Ross County, without any further action on the part of their county officers; and stating that he understood the 22nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry had been consolidated with a regiment at Marietta and that the 22nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry would lose its number, and that they wished to know what effect this might have, if any, on the allotment rolls gotten up by the 22nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
1 p. [Series 147-25: 185]