Correspondence to the Governor and Adjutant General of Ohio,
March 26, 1859-July 22, 1862.
March 26, 1859
S[almon] P. Chase, Governor of Ohio. To Andrew J. Burnell. Burnell's commission as Brigade Inspector for the term of five years.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 168]
October 30, 1861
B[enjamin] F. Smith, Colonel, et. al., 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Camp Corwin. To Colonel John Sherman, 54th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Letter signed by twenty-two officers of the 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; recommending the appointment of Orderly Sergeant S.S. Dixon to the position of a 1st Lieutenant in Sherman's command; and stating that Dixon was about 22 years of age and was a member of Company E, 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry (three months' service), that Dixon distinguished himself by his coolness and bravery during the action at Vienna and also at Bull Run, and that Dixon was now Orderly Sergeant of Company D, 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry and had acted in the capacity of Lieutenant in the same company.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 94]
December 16, 1861
E[dward] P. Fyffe, Colonel, 26th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Urbana, Champaign County, Ohio. To Governor William Dennison. Letter stating that he was informed that the Major of the 73rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the 72nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, thereby leaving a vacancy in the 73rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, that Adjutant Richard Long of that regiment served for months in the 26th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry and he knew him well, and that he knew Long to be one of the very best drilled officers in the Army of Western Virginia; and recommending Long's appointment to the office of Major of the 73rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 103]
February 2, 1862
Joseph Andrews, Captain, Company F, 8th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Camp Sedalia, Missouri. To all whom it may concern. Letter certifying that Rufus H. Law had held the position of 2nd Lieutenant of Company F, 8th Regiment, Iowa Infantry since its formation in August 1861, and, during the time he was able for duty, had deported himself in an officer like and respectful manner to all connected with his command and proven himself an efficient and capable officer; and recommending Law to anyone who might wish to employ him. Bears the endorsement of S.E. Start, 1st Lieutenant, Company F, 8th Regiment, Iowa Infantry. Also bears a note from Law, North Royalton, Cuyahoga County, Ohio; requesting that this testimonial be returned to him as it might be of much use hereafter.
2 pp. [Series 147-42: 10]
February 14, 1862
E[dward] Siber, Colonel, 37th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Headquarters, Clifton, western Virginia. To 1st Lieutenant A[nton] Peterson. Letter certifying that during all the time Peterson had been in the service with the 37th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he had fulfilled his duties to the entire satisfaction of the Colonel and had taken great care in drilling the recruits of Company F, 37th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; and stating that he regretted that Peterson's ill health had deprived the regiment of his services.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 199]
April 2, 1862
William Dunbar, Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio. To the Honorable Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. Letter regarding his nephew, Henry S. Childs, who was a member of Company F, 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; stating that at the time the regiment left for Kentucky, Childs was lying on a sick bed with lung fever, that Childs' physicians advised him not to go into the service because they did not believe he could survive two weeks, and that Childs received a letter from the Captain of his company ordering him to report for duty forthwith despite the fact that he was unable, from physical disability as well as a constitutional malformation of the chest, to perform any service whatever; appealing to Stanton for a discharge for Childs; and stating that he thought it would be an act of great inhumanity as well as fraud upon the public service to force Childs into the army where he would only be confined to the hospital without being able to render any public service, that in his judgment, Dr. [Basil B.] Brashear, the Surgeon of the 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was a man devoid of medical skill and a greater terror to the invalids of his regiment than Southern bayonets, that at the time the regiment left Wooster, Brashear forced a young volunteer who was dangerously ill to move with the regiment against the tears and protestations of a widowed mother, that said volunteer died on the train before it reached Crestline, that Brashear now insisted upon Childs joining his regiment when medical talent as good as any in the State was ready to certify that it would produce his death within two weeks, and that he hoped such an abuse of power might be corrected. Bears a note dated April 10, 1862, from George D. Ruggles, Assistant Adjutant General, Adjutant General's Office, Washington; referring the letter to the commanding officer of the 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry through the Adjutant General of Ohio.
4 pp. [Series 147-42: 98]
April 18, 1862
George D. Ruggles, Assistant Adjutant General, Adjutant General's Office, Washington. To the Honorable James R. Morris, Member of Congress, House of Representatives, Washington. Official copy of letter stating that in reply to Morris's letter of April 8 on behalf of W.P. Richner, Lieutenant in the 25th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry (resigned), he was instructed to say that Richner was authorized to reenter the U.S. military service if duly commissioned by the Governor of Ohio. Copy made on July 5, 1862, by Thomas M. Vincent, Assistant Adjutant General, Adjutant General's Office, Washington.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 138]
April 28, 1862
B[asil] B. Brashear, Surgeon, 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Cumberland Ford, Kentucky. To John F. DeCourcy, Colonel, 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Letter acknowledging the receipt, through DeCourcy, of a letter dated April 2, 1862, addressed to the Honorable E[dwin] M. Stanton, Secretary of War by William Dunbar of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, certain statements of which DeCourcy asked him to consider; stating that the burden of the letter was to establish the claims of Private Henry S. Childs of Company I, 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry to an honorable discharge, that this case was presented to Major General [Don Carlos] Buell in December 1861, by Dunbar, that the case was referred to Dr. R. Murray, Surgeon, U.S.A. and Medical Director, who, acting upon the false and partial statements submitted by Dunbar, referred it to DeCourcy with a recommendation that the Regimental Surgeon be directed to make out a certificate of disability for the discharge of Childs, that not knowing how to make out a certificate of disability in a case like this, the invalid being absent from the regiment, he prepared a condensed history of the circumstances attending the enlistment, inspection, and mustering in of Childs, with a description of his deformity which one of his physicians had so conspicuously but vaguely set forth as amounting to a positive and unquestionable disability, that in said history, he showed that the leading allegation in the letter of Dunbar to Buell, namely that when the regiment left Wooster, Childs was lying at the point of death, was false, that he described the deformity or malformation of the chest, which Childs' physician had carefully omitted to do, and its most probable effects upon the capacity of the thorax, that he admitted that Childs was not a young man of great strength or of great powers of endurance, but claimed that Childs was as able-bodied as many other young men in the volunteer service, that Childs' father commenced cautious, studied, and persevering efforts to procure his son's discharge immediately after muster, that he agreed that should Childs be found, upon trial, to be unable to do the duties of a soldier, he would immediately make out a certificate of disability for him, that the trial had never been made as Childs' parents had predetermined that he would never leave their house as a common soldier, that he forwarded his account of the case to Dr. R. Murray, Medical Director at Louisville, Kentucky and asked for instructions as to the manner in which a certificate of disability should be prepared under the circumstances, and that he had received no instructions from Murray touching the case under consideration; addressing the allegations of William Dunbar; and stating that Childs did not have lung fever at the time the 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry left for Kentucky, that he did not insist upon taking Childs along with the regiment when it left Wooster, that from information received, Childs was not only able to leave his sick room, but was at labor as a salesman in his father's store, that he did not force a dangerously ill young man to move with the regiment when they left Wooster, that they took no young man with them who was dangerously ill at the time, that no widowed mother with tears and protestations spoke to him the day they left Wooster nor at any other time, that no volunteer died on their train before it reached Crestline nor afterwards on their train, that they took seven sick men with them from Wooster to Camp Dennison, but none of them were dangerously ill, that these men were placed under the care of the Post Surgeon at Camp Dennison, that six of the seven recovered and one died a month after his admission into the hospital, that he did not now insist that Childs should join his regiment and had never so insisted, that before they left Wooster, the parents of Childs were assured that should he be found, upon trial, to be unable to perform the duties of a soldier, he would be promptly recommended for discharge, and that he would make the same assurance now. Bears a note from DeCourcy; approving and endorsing Brashear's actions in the Childs case; strongly urging that Childs not receive an honorable discharge; and proposing that Childs be discharged without pay or allowances and that he be made to refund any monies he might have received from the government for the work he had not done, but shamefully avoided since he enlisted in the 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
6 pp. [Series 147-42: 97]
April 29, 1862
Anton Petersen, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. To Governor David Tod. Letter stating that he had served as a Lieutenant in the three months' service and had served as 1st Lieutenant in Company F, 37th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry from September 1861 to February 1862, that he had tendered his resignation on account of feeble health and was honorably discharged, that his full health and strength had now been restored, that he was desirous to serve his country again provided that Tod would grant him an officer's commission, that besides his military services in the United States, where he resided for 20 years, he had heretofore served for six years as an officer in the Austrian army in Italy and for four years at Hamburg, and that he was submitting the certificate of Colonel [Edward] Siber of the 37th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry as to his ability as an officer and as to his satisfactory conduct while in service. Bears a note signed by Jacob Muller, et. al.; recommending the appointment of Petersen.
2 pp. [Series 147-42: 55]
May 22, 1862; June 23, 1862; June 28, 1862
John W. Fuller, Colonel, and Z[eph] S. Spaulding, Major, 27th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Headquarters, near Corinth, [Mississippi]. To Adjutant General C[harles] W. Hill. Letters recommending various promotions in the 27th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; and stating that they were very pleasantly situated, that their camp was in a beautiful grove looking towards the east and was well watered on either side, that a good sized pond 300 yards in front of their color line, secured by a dam erected by the men, afforded ample opportunities for bathing, that a good road through the woods in their rear and a substantial bridge across Clear Creek, both constructed by the regiment, afforded communication with the main army half a mile distant, that the condition and discipline of the regiment was good, and that the regiment was well provided for, saving the matter of clothing.
4 pp. [Series 147-42: 47, 48]
May 28, 1862
L[orenzo] Thomas, Adjutant General, Adjutant General's Office, Washington. To Governor David Tod. Official copy of telegram stating that the Secretary of War desired Tod to organize a sufficient body of troops to guard the prisoners at Camp Chase, and that the detachment of regulars now there would remain until Tod could relieve them with volunteers. Copy made by George D. Ruggles, Assistant Adjutant General, Adjutant General's Office, Washington.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 118]
June 18, 1862
John Dauber(?), Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. To Governor David Tod. Letter introducing his relative, Dr. H.P. Jones of Wilmington, Ohio; and stating that Jones wished the office of Adjutant of one of the new regiments, and that he believed Jones would be faithful and efficient as an officer.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 64]
June 19, 1862
A[ugustus] Moore, Colonel, 28th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Headquarters, 2nd Provisional Brigade, Flat Top Mountain, [Virginia]. To Brigadier General A. Sanders Piatt. Letter acknowledging receipt of Piatt's favor from Chillicothe notifying him that James G. Worthington was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the 28th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; informing Piatt that the promotion of [Hermann] Koenigsberger did not create a vacancy; and stating that Koenigsberger was Quartermaster and didn't belong to any company.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 147]
June 21, 1862
E[dward] M. Carey, Major, et. al., 12th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Flat Top Mountain, Virginia. To Governor David Tod. Letter signed by seventeen officers of the 12th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; and recommending the promotion of Sergeant Major William B. Nesbitt to fill a vacancy caused by late resignations in the regiment.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 128]
June 21, 1862
Ed[win] A. Parrott, Colonel, 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Headquarters, Florence, Alabama. To Adjutant General Charles W. Hill. Letter noting those vacancies which existed in the 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry due to resignations; and submitting nominations for the Governor's action.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 133]
June 24, 1862
Lewis Zahm, Colonel, 3rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Headquarters, Tuscumbia, Alabama. To the Adjutant General of Ohio. Letter recommending three individuals for promotion in the 3rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 51]
June 25, 1862
Martin [H.] Hamblin, and John S. Orr, 1st Lieutenant, Company H, 88th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Camp Chase, Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. To ? Letter resigning all their rights to the position of Captain; and recommending that Vernum Ganson be appointed to said position.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 154]
June 25, 1862
W[illiam] H. Hayward, Lieutenant Colonel, 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, Camp near Bristoe Station. To Captain L[ucius] N. Robinson, Battery L, 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery. Letter recommending Corporal Corcoran of Battery L for the position of 2nd Lieutenant; and stating that at the battle of Port Republic, when the batteries were charged by a brigade of the enemy and the cannoneers had all been driven from their guns, Corcoran was the last to leave and actually loaded and fired his gun twice without assistance, that when obliged to abandon his gun, Corcoran coolly picked up a rock and hurled it into the faces of the enemy, and that such a man was worthy of a more elevated position.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 178]
June 25, 1862
E[rastus] B. Tyler, Brigadier General, 3rd Brigade, Shields' Division, Headquarters, Bristoe Station, Virginia. To L[ucius] N. Robinson, Battery L, 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery. Letter stating that his attention was called to the conduct of Corporal Samuel Cochran of Battery L in the action at Winchester on March 23, where he exhibited the true spirit of a soldier, distinguishing himself in the discharge of more than his duty, that Cochran's conduct at the late battle at Port Republic came under his own observation and it should not be unnoticed, that Cochran's loading and discharging one of Battery L's pieces alone, when the enemy were charging the battery and almost within bayonet reach of the guns with a whole brigade, deserved more than a passing notice, and that he would regard it as but simple justice to a brave and patriotic soldier if Robinson urgently recommended Cochran to the Governor of Ohio for the position of 2nd Lieutenant of artillery.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 177]
June 25, 1862
B.B. Woodbury, Camp Chase, Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. To Governor David Tod. Letter tendering his resignation as Captain of Company H, 88th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; and stating that by taking this action, he could better serve the interests of the service.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 154]
June 26(?), 1862
Cranch & Challen, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. To Adjutant General [Charles W.] Hill. Letter requesting that the official appointment of Thomas Whyte as 2nd Lieutenant in the 48th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry be sent to them or to the Adjutant General, U.S.A. and a notification of the fact.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 205]
June 27, 1862
George D. Ruggles, Assistant Adjutant General, Adjutant General's Office, Washington. To the Governor of Ohio. Letter reporting that eleven officers of the volunteer forces from the State of Ohio had resigned to take effect on the dates set opposite their respective names.
2 pp. [Series 147-42: 139]
June 30, 1862
J[esse] Hildebrand, Colonel, 77th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Headquarters, Camp Moscow. To Governor David Tod. Letter stating that William P. Richner had been there for the last two months and was anxious to know whether he was to be commissioned as 1st Lieutenant in the 77th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and that Richner was informed by the Honorable James Morris of Woodsfield that the War Department had revoked their former order and had instructed the Governor of Ohio to commission him; and requesting that Tod advise him immediately as to the result of Richner's case.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 142]
July 1, 1862
F[rank] Brooks, Commissary Sergeant, 3rd Battalion, and O[rris] N. McGonigal, 1st Duty Sergeant, Company G, 2nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Fort Scott, Kansas. To Governor David Tod. Letter stating that they were personally acquainted with Sergeant Albert Barnitz of Company G and could testify to his energy and judgment and the marked ability with which he had discharged his duties, that Barnitz had served in all the different branches of a Sergeant's duties and always with credit to himself and satisfaction to his superior officers, and that they could also say from actual knowledge that a commission for Barnitz would be regarded as justice due him for his faithful service by all the members of Company G.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 6]
July 3, 1862
S[amuel] S. Carroll, Colonel, 8th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Commanding 4th Brigade, 1st Division, Washington. To ? Letter certifying that Sergeant Major Horace H. Bill of the 8th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry had been faithful and intelligent in the discharge of his duties in the regiment; and recommending Bill to the Governor of Ohio for promotion.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 103]
July 3, 1862
M[oses] H. Crowell, Captain, Company E, 25th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Strasburg, Virginia. To Adjutant General C.P. Buckingham. Letter stating that some of the men of Company E were now in Ohio, that these men were, by wounds and disease, rendered unfit for the duties of a soldier, that he had been told there was a Surgeon appointed and paid by the State whose business it was to examine such individuals that they might be discharged from service, and that if this was the case, he wished to know who it was and where said person was to be found.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 175]
July 4, 1862
M[ortimer] D. Leggett, Colonel, 78th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, La Grange, Tennessee. To Governor David Tod. Letter stating that some two or three months since, he sent a list of vacancies in his regiment with the names of the persons he desired to have appointed to fill them, that he had never heard from Columbus, that it was exceedingly unpleasant to have vacancies exist so long for they often became elements of disorder, that he would be greatly obliged if he could soon hear about the matter, that the regiment was winning laurels there and had the post of honor in nearly every advance made of late, and that he had been in command of a brigade in General [John A.] McClernand's division for some time past.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 135]
July 6, 1862
James Davidson, Buford, Highland County, Ohio. To Governor David Tod. Letter stating that he saw Tod had made a proclamation for more volunteers, that he stood ready to recruit as soon as commissioned and instructions were received, that he was willing to devote all his time in defense of his country, that he would put forth all his energy to raise a company or two and perhaps a regiment, and that if references were needed, he would send plenty of names of the best men in the county.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 67]
July 7, 1862
W[illiam] H. Bucke, Captain, 52nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. To Friend Miller. Letter stating that he wrote to the Adjutant General the previous week in regard to having his time extended, that he didn't know if it made any difference in his case because his appointment had nothing written on it in regard to being mustered out in 30 days as some did, that he recruited one man since his last report, which made seven good men, that he would fill up as soon as harvest was over, and that Colonel Daniel McCook told him the previous week that his appointment would not be interfered with.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 197]
July 8, 1862
J.C. Kelton, Assistant Adjutant General, Headquarters, Department of the Mississippi, Corinth, Mississippi. To the Governor of Ohio. Special Field Orders No. 148; stating that 1st Lieutenant Charles W. Veach and 2nd Lieutenant J[ohn] F. Morton had deserted from the 56th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry and were mustered out of the service to take effect on June 2, 1862. By order of Major General [Henry] Halleck.
1 p. [Series 147-42: 151]