7th Independent Company Ohio Sharpshooters.

Organized at Camp Cleveland, Ohio, and mustered in January 27, 1863. At Headquarters of Generals Rosecrans and Thomas, Commanding Army and Dept. of the Cumberland, March, 1863, to May, 1864, and at Headquarters of General Sherman, Commanding Military Division Mississippi, May 20, 1864, to July 17, 1865. Mustered out July 28, 1865.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1495

8th Independent Company Ohio Sharpshooters.

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, March 9, 1863. At Headquarters of Generals Rosecrans and Thomas, Commanding Army and Dept. of the Cumberland, March, 1863, to July, 1865. Mustered out July 19, 1865.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1495

9th Independent Company Ohio Sharpshooters.

Organized February 26, 1864. Attached to 60th Ohio Infantry as Company "G."

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1495

10th Independent Company Ohio Sharpshooters.

Organized April 1, 1864. Attached to 60th Ohio Infantry as Company "H."

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1496

Diary of Josephine Shaw Lowell: September 22, 1861

Yesterday it was two months since the Battle of Bull Run and we have had no general action yet.  . . . Gen. Fremont's failing appears to be a desire to act independently. It was for that he was court-martialled, and for that that Lincoln blamed him in issuing his proclamation. It is a very natural desire in a true lover of his country to take the way he thinks best to save her, but a subordinate officer should obey the orders of the Commander-in-Chief.

SOURCE: William Rhinelander Stewart, The Philanthropic Work of Josephine Shaw Lowell, p. 19

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, November 1, 1863

Headquarters Army Of The Potomac

November 1, 1863

Buford was here last night, and said he thought he could just “boolge” across the river and scare the Rebels to death; which would certainly be a highly desirable event, for we should have quite a chance of a visit home. As it is, no resignations are accepted and scarcely a soul is allowed to go home, even for a visit of two or three days. The life here is miserably lazy; hardly an order to carry, and the horses all eating their heads off. The weather is fine, to be sure, and everybody, nearly, is well; but that is all the more reason for wishing something done. I do not even have the drudgery of drill and parade and inspection, that the infantrymen have. If one could only be at home, till one was wanted, and then be on the spot; but this is everywhere the way of war; lie still and lie still; then up and manoeuvre and march hard; then a big battle; and then a lot more lie still.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 40-1

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, May 25, 1864 – 9 a.m.

Headquarters Army Of The Potomac, 9 A. M., May 25, 1864.

Yours of the 21st reached me this morning, also one from your mother to the same effect, that it was too late to refuse the house. Setting aside the injustice to me of placing the affair in such condition that I have no option in the matter, I have written a letter to Mr. Gerhard, which I enclose, and which you can hand to him at such time as may be deemed suitable. My contributing friends must know there was nothing personal in my action, because I do not know the name of a single contributor. I acted on the general principle I have always held, that a public man makes a mistake when he allows his generous friends to reward him with gifts. I wrote Mr. Gerhard it was not a case of necessity, as, by proper economy, we could and should live on our means; that if anything should happen to me, then I would be grateful for the smallest assistance given to you and the children; but until that time, I thought it better for me to preserve my independence, although no one could be more sensible to and grateful for the generous kindness of my friends than I was. My opinions are still unchanged; but if the affair is settled, and it is too late to decline, I have no disposition to be ungenerous, and certainly no design of doing anything that would be offensive to the feelings of those who have been so kind to me. You can therefore take the house, and express to all you know my deep obligation and sincere gratitude.

The enemy, though he has fallen back, still confronts us, and is being reinforced.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 2, p. 198-9

Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood to Senator James W. Grimes, December 26, 1861

Executive Office, Iowa, Dec. 26, 1861.

Hon. James W. Grimes, Washington City, D. C:

Dear Sir: — Herewith find copy of a letter from Gov. Randall, of Wisconsin. In view of the great labor and responsibility of the governors of the northern states, I do not know but the suggestion of the Governor of Wisconsin is a timely one, had the general government the money to spare. We have all been doing labor as great as belongs to offices much better paid than ours have been, and have been bestowing offices all summer, the salaries of which are much higher than ours. And certainly our labor has been as important as any that has been done, and as it has been done for the United States, there would not be any impropriety in so acknowledging its value. But the government needs all its money and more, and there are other better uses to which to put the money. I am painfully impressed with the conviction that our regiments have not enough medical aid, and I would much rather congress would give an additional assistant surgeon to each regiment from Iowa than any pay to its Governor.

Very truly,

Samuel J. Kirkwood.

SOURCE: State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa Historical Record, Volumes 1-3, Volume 2, No. 3, July 1886, p. 323

Proclamation of Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, August 20, 1862

PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR.

The quota of this State of the 300,000 volunteers called for by the President on the 2d of July last is 10,570.

The quota of this State of the 300,000 militia required to be drafted by order of the President 4th of August instant is 10,570.

The quota of the first call is over full by the prompt and patriotic response of our people within the last few weeks. I am satisfied that from fifteen to twenty thousand men are now organized into companies awaiting organization into new regiments, and I am urging upon the War Department the acceptance of the whole number, and that our State be credited with the excess upon the second call for drafted men. But the War Department refuses, as yet, to give us such credit until the number of men required to fill the old regiments (8,005) shall have been furnished.

These men for the old regiments are sorely needed, and the cause of the country is better served by filling the old regiments than by raising new ones.

The officers and men of the old regiments have gained a knowledge of their duties by experience in the field, and new recruits joining their regiments have the benefit of this knowledge gained by their officers and comrades. An old regiment filled up with new recruits is more effective at the end of two weeks than a new regiment at the end of two months. In order, then, to get the credit due our State for the excess furnished over the first call, and in order to give the country this most effective assistance and sorely-needed help, we must fill up the old regiments. We can do this by volunteering until the first of September. If not done by that time the deficiency will be supplied by special draft, in addition to the draft under the second call.

I appeal, then, to every man for aid. Let everything else be laid aside until this needed work is done. Let the young men whose brothers and friends are in the old regiments take their places by their sides. Any person desiring to enter an old regiment can select the regiment and company he chooses, and then go with his acquaintances and friends.

So deeply am I impressed with the imperative necessity of filling the old regiments that I will, at the extra session of the General Assembly to convene on the third day of September, recommend to that body the creation of a State bounty, of such sum as may be deemed advisable, to all persons who shall, before the first day of September next, enlist in any one of the old regiments of this State.

I also earnestly advise all companies now incomplete, and which will not certainly be completed by the 23d instant, to abandon their attempt at organization as companies and enlist for the old regiments.

Samuel J. Kirkwood.

Governor of Iowa.

SOURCES: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 218; Benjamin F. Shambaugh, The Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of Iowa, Volume 2, p. 499-501

Senator James W. Grimes to Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont, July 30, 1863

I duly received your favor of the 20th inst., and on the same day the gun captured on the Atlanta, sent by express. Accept my thanks for the present. I have fired it to-day, and find it to be a very wicked implement. It seems that Charleston is destined to be “a hard nut to crack,” in the hands of Gillmore and Dahlgren, as well as in the hands of their predecessor.

SOURCE: William Salter, The Life of James W. Grimes, p. 237

Diary of Private Alexander G. Downing: Monday, December 21, 1863

The Eleventh Iowa furnished the provost guard for the city, though I had to go with a picket squad.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 158

Diary of Private Charles H. Lynch: March 28, 1864

Camp Hill, Bolivar Heights. Early this morning received orders to prepare three days' rations. Reported we are to go up the valley, scouting. Waiting for orders. At noontime rumors began to circulate that the regiment was ordered home to vote. The news seemed too good to be true. Orders came to detail two men from each company to remain as camp guard. Those who were detailed to remain felt very badly. All were anxious to see home. At this time the anti-war party was very strong in Connecticut, which may seem very strange. They were called copper-heads. Late in the afternoon orders came to fall in. A gay and happy crowd, marching and singing as we go down through Harper's Ferry, where a train was in waiting. Did not take us long to board the train, which soon got under way, bound for Baltimore. Singing, cheering, making merry as the train began to move, on over the Potomac River into Maryland.

SOURCE: Charles H. Lynch, The Civil War Diary, 1862-1865, of Charles H. Lynch 18th Conn. Vol's, p. 48

Diary of Luman Harris Tenney: November 23, 1861

Brownell and Brooks left on furlough, so I had double duties.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 4

25th Ohio Independent Battery Light Artillery.

Organized by detachment from 2nd Ohio Cavalry at Fort Scott, Kansas. August 27, 1862. First designated 3rd Kansas Independent Battery. Organized as 25th Ohio Battery February 17, 1863. Attached to 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Army of the Frontier, October, 1862, to June, 1863. Artillery, Cavalry Division, District Southeast Missouri, Dept. of Missouri, to August, 1863. Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division, Arkansas Expedition, to January, 1864. Columbus, Ohio, to April, 1864. Artillery, 3rd Division, 7th Army Corps, Dept. of Arkansas, to May, 1864. Artillery, 1st Division, 7th Army Corps, to February, 1865. Artillery, Cavalry Division, 7th Army Corps, to July, 1865. Garrison Artillery, Little Rock, Ark., Dept. of Arkansas, to December, 1865.

SERVICE.--Blount's Campaign in Missouri and Arkansas September 17-December 10, 1862. Expedition to Sarcoxie September 17-25. Reconnoissance to Newtonia September 29-31. Action at Newtonia September 30. Occupation of Newtonia October 4. Cane Hill November 29. Battle of Prairie Grove, Ark., December 7. Expedition to Van Buren, Ark., December 27-29. March over Ozark and Boston Mountains to Cane Creek, Mo., January 1-10, 1863. Moved to Camp Solomon February 27. Campaign against Marmaduke March and April. Ordered to Rolla, Mo., May 22 and refitting till June 26. Moved to Pilot Knob, Mo., June 26, and reported to General Davidson. Expedition against Price and Marmaduke in Arkansas. March to Clarendon, Ark., on White River July 1-August 8. Grand Prairie August 17. Steele's Expedition against Little Rock August 18-September 10. Bayou Metoe or Reed's Bridge August 27. Bayou Fourche and capture of Little Rock September 10. Duty at Little Rock till November. Ferry's Ford October 7. Duty at Benton, Pine Bluff, and Little Rock till January, 1864. Reconnoissance from Little Rock December 5-13, 1863. Reenlisted January 3, 1864. Moved to Columbus, Ohio, January 21-29. Return to Little Rock, Ark., March 17, and garrison duty there at Fort Steele till December, 1865. Mustered out December 12. 1865.

Battery lost during service 23 Enlisted men by disease. Total 23.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1494-5

26th Ohio Independent Battery Light Artillery.

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, as Company "F" 32nd Ohio Infantry, August, 1861. Left State for West Virginia September 15. At Grafton, W. Va., September 18, and at Beverly September 22. Attached to Kimball's Brigade, Reynolds' Command, West Virginia, to October, 1861. Cheat Mountain District, West Virginia, to November, 1861. Milroy's Brigade, Cheat Mountain District, to March, 1862. Milroy's Brigade, Mountain Department, to May, 1862. Schenck's Brigade, Mountain Department, to June, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Army Corps, Army of Virginia, to July, 1862. Garrison at Winchester, Va., to September, 1862. Miles' Command, Harper's Ferry, W. Va., September, 1862.

SERVICE.--Stationed at Cheat Mountain Summit, W. Va., October, 1861. Action at Greenbrier October 3. Duty at Greenbrier till December 13. Camp Allegheny December 13. Ordered to Beverly and duty there till April, 1862. Expedition on the Seneca April 1-12. Action at Monterey April 12. At Staunton till May 7. Battle of McDowell May 8. March to Franklin and duty there till May 25. Pursuit of Jackson up the Shenandoah Valley. Battle of Cross Keys June 8. Duty at Strasburg and Winchester till July. Detached from 32nd Infantry for Artillery duty July 20, 1862, and stationed at Winchester till September 11. Retreat to Harper's Ferry September 11-12. Defence of Harper's Ferry September 12-15. Battery surrendered September 15. Paroled and sent to Annapolis, Md., thence to Chicago, Ill., and to Camp Taylor, Cleveland, Ohio. Exchanged January 12, 1863. Again attached to 32nd Infantry and moved to Memphis, Tenn., January 20-25, 1863. Attached to 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps, to December, 1863. Moved to Lake Providence, La., February 20, and to Milliken's Bend, La., April 17. Movement on Bruinsburg and turning Grand Gulf April 25-30. Battle of Port Gibson, Miss., May 1. Raymond May 12. Jackson May 14. Champion's Hill May 16. Capture a Battery of six guns and assigned to duty as Artillery till August 3, 1863. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Attached to Battery "D" 1st Illinois Artillery and to 3rd Ohio Battery August 3 to December 22, 1863, and garrison duty at Vicksburg, Miss. Served with Artillery, 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps. Expedition to Monroe, La., August 20-September 2, 1863. Expedition to Canton and Brownsville October 14-20. Permanently detached from 32nd Ohio as 26th Ohio Battery December 22, 1864. On Veteran furlough January 1 to February 3, 1864. Meridian Campaign February 3-March 2. Duty at Vicksburg till November, 1864, attached to Maltby's Brigade, District of Vicksburg. Expedition to Rodney and Fayette September 29-October 3. Expedition to Woodville October 4-11. Woodville October 5-6. Moved to Natchez, Miss., and garrison duty there till April, 1865. Ordered to Texas April, 1865, and duty on the Rio Grande, Texas, till August. Ordered home for muster out. Mustered out at Todd's Barracks, Columbus, Ohio, September 2, 1865.

Battery lost during service 22 Enlisted men by disease.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1495

Major Rutherford B. Hayes to Sardis Birchard, August 24, 1861

Beverly, Virginia, August 24, 1861.

Dear Uncle: — Thank you for the postage stamps. The traitors at home, you need not fear.  . . . We are needed here. Shall march towards the enemy tomorrow again. I am better pleased with this than with the main army at Washington.

Affectionately,

R. B. Hayes.

S. BlRCHARD.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 75-6

James Russell Lowell to Thomas Hughes, September 9, 1863

Harvard College, Sept. 9, 1863.

My dear Hughes, — Will you do anything that lies in your way for my young friend Mr. Lincoln, and very much oblige me thereby? He wishes particularly to see you, and would like a few hints about employing his very short time in London well. He has been one of our tutors here.

To almost any other Englishman I should think it needful to explain that he is not President Lincoln, you are all so “shady” in our matters. The Times, I see, has now sent over an “Italian” to report upon us — a clever man, but a double foreigner, as an Italian with an English wash over him. Pray, don't believe a word he says about our longing to go to war with England. We are all as cross as terriers with your kind of neutrality, but the last thing we want is another war. If the rebel iron-clads are allowed to come out, there might be a change.

If you can give Mr. Lincoln any hints or helps for seeing Oxford you would be doing him a great kindness, and adding another to the many you have done me.

Cordially yours,

J. R. Lowell

SOURCE: Charles Eliot Norton, Editor, Letters of James Russell Lowell, Volume 1, p. 372-3

George William Curtis to John J. Pinkerton, April 13, 1860

North Shore, 13th April, 1860.

My Dear Pinkerton, — Thanks for your kind response. I have had the same suspicion of Pennsylvania, but my general feeling is this: that the nomination of Mr. Bates would so chill and paralyze the youth and ardor which are the strength of the Republican party; would so cheer the Democrats as a merely available move, showing distrust of our own position and power; would so alienate the German Northwest, and so endanger a bolt from the straight Republicans of New England, — that the possible gain of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and even Indiana, might be balanced. Add to this that defeat with Bates is the utter destruction of our party organization, and that success with him is very doubtful victory, and I cannot but feel that upon the whole his nomination is an act of very uncertain wisdom.

It is very true that there is no old Republican, because the party is young, and it will not do to ask too sharply when a man became a Republican. Moreover, a man like Mr. Bates may very properly have been a Fillmore man in '56, because he might not have believed that the Slavery party was as resolved and desperate as it immediately showed itself in the Dred Scott business; this is all true, but human nature cries out against the friends of Fremont in '56 working for a Fillmore man in '60, and there is a good deal of human nature in the public. The nomination of Mr. Bates will plunge the really Republican States into a syncope. If they are strong enough to remain Republican while they are apathetic, then in the border States you may decide the battle.

I think New York is very sure for the Chicago man, whoever he is; but if Bates is the man, we shall have to travel upon our muscle!! Individually believing, as I do, in the necessary triumph of our cause by causes superior to the merely political, I should prefer a fair fight upon the merits of the case between Douglas and Seward, or Hunter or Guthrie and Seward. I think Douglas will be the Charleston man.

Thank you once more.

Yours faithfully,

George William Curtis.

SOURCE: Edward Cary, George William Curtis, p. 130-2

Charles Russell Lowell to Anna C. Jackson Lowell, May 25, 1861

Washington, May 25, /61.

After the movement yesterday across the river, all passing to and fro was forbidden; but Mr. Dalton and myself, by going up to Georgetown and making interest with the Irishmen of the 69th, who have a rather Milesian idea of sentry's duty, succeeded in getting into Virginia. We visited the earthworks and many of the camps, and dined at Arlington House on corn pone and milk. There were no troops yesterday within two miles of Arlington, and the place was just in the prime of its Spring beauty. I have seen no place like it in this country — for position and for well-improved natural advantages. I suppose to-day it is occupied, and in spite of its importance and of its owner's treason, I cannot think of it with much pleasure.

How are Jim Savage and Henry coming on? I hear there is some hitch about their regiment — nothing serious, I hope.

I have been in Washington more than four weeks — in spite of fairest promises, I have not got my commission yet, but still have faith. If I have been of any use to the Massachusetts troops, I am very glad of it.

I wish our people would not feel so very anxious about their comfort. Their health and morale is excellent and they are as efficient as any troops here. I am sure you do not worry so much about my comfort, and I do not see why other mothers should. The greatest kindness to our troops now is to teach them to use what they have.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 209-10

Diary of Josephine Shaw Lowell: September 19, 1861

Spent today and yesterday in collecting contributions for our Society, $110.00. Mr. William Winthrop spent the evening here and states it as his opinion that the war is to last three years, while Father and Uncle Jim think that it will be over in three, or at most six, months. May they prove the truer prophets.

SOURCE: William Rhinelander Stewart, The Philanthropic Work of Josephine Shaw Lowell, p. 19