ON THIS DAY: Sunday, March 2, 1862

What They Are Doing Now

Ulysses S. Grant, now officially a major general because of his triumphs at Fort Donelson, is busy assembling his forces at Fort Henry. From St. Louis, Maj. Gen. Halleck has ordered an advance up the Tennessee River. Orders go out to two of Grant's division commanders, Generals McClernand and Smith, and messages about logistical matters go to Brig. Gen. Sherman, at Cairo, and Flag Officer Foote, at Fort Donelson. Although Grant’s forces have been weakened by sickness, battle casualties, and lack of supplies, and even though he is sick himself with a severe cold that “nearly destroys my energy” (pneumonia?), the Ohio-born commander uncomplainingly goes about following Halleck’s orders.

After three weeks’ home leave, Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes is getting re-accustomed to army life with the 23^rd Ohio in winter quarters, Fayetteville, western Virginia. He is enjoying (and probably sharing) the food he brought from home in his haversack. And he is thinking about his beloved wife, Lucy, to whom he wrote yesterday: “Darling, you will be pleased to know, and so I tell you, I never loved you more than I do as I think of you on my late visit, and I never admired you so much.”

At 10 o’clock this evening, Capt. Marcus Spiegel of the 67^th Ohio is writing “My dear dear wife and beloved children,” telling her “it would make you feel good” to see Marcus skillfully leading his men while practicing skirmishing. Spiegel is stationed near the Paw Paw Tunnel, a 3,000-foot brick-lined portion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The canal runs along the Potomac River, which divides Maryland and western Virginia.

Sgt. Thomas F. Galwey of the 8^th Ohio, rusticating elsewhere in western Virginia, is enjoying an unusual treat: “two delightful months” on recruiting duty at Columbus, Ohio—a posting that undoubtedly afforded opportunities for returns home in Cleveland.

In Nashville, Col. William B. Hazen, commander pro tem of Buell’s19^th Brigade, has a challenge in his quest to turn raw volunteers into the best soldiers in the army. It is the 9^th Indiana, newly arrived from western Virginia and assigned to Hazen’s tender mercies. Expecting more from the regiment’s previous commander, Hazen is disgusted to find that not only is the regiment “far behind the others, but seems fixed in many vicious habits, acquired…in western Virginia.” Hazen is up to task, however: soon, “some severity” is being dispensed, for which a few officers will hold a grudge long after the war.

Sgt. Oscar D. Ladley is enduring the cold winter winds sweeping the fortifications Union volunteers had built atop Cheat Mountain in western Virginia. Col. Robert H. Milroy commands the fort. It is Milroy who is responsible for the 9^th Indiana’s sloppy habits, which so dismayed Colonel Hazen.

Pvt. Andrew Altman of the 68^th Ohio remains camped near Fort Donelson, Tennessee, wondering where he will be sent next.

IT’S COMING SOONER THAN YOU THINK: April 12, 2011—less than 3½ years from now!—will be the 150^th anniversary of the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1861, April 12 was the day Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

Your suggestions, comments, and questions about this blog are always welcome. Address the author: Ohioan@bloodtearsandglory.com

For more information about the author and his newest book, please go to http://www.orangefrazer.com/btg

ON THIS DAY: Friday, Nov. 22, 1861

"The Horror of That Night"

Not all the horrors of war occur on the battlefield.

In April, a boyish, beardless Thomas F. Galwey of Cleveland slipped into the ranks of the 8^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, although he was only 15 years old. Youthful enthusiasm prompted many under-age boys to join the service; haphazard military examinations allowed it. Galwey’s intelligence and energy quickly won him a sergeant’s rank in the 8^th Ohio’s Company B. But the youthful sergeant would confront cruel reality all too soon.

After the 8^th Ohio had helped capture the western Virginia town of Romney in late October, the Ohioans were assigned to guard a suspension bridge nearby. On “one gloomy day” in mid-November, as Sergeant Galwey would recall later, the 15^th Indiana, on its way to Romney, filed by the Ohioans . Liquor began circulating among the two regiments as they brushed each other and many men of the 8^th got drunk. Even some soldiers standing guard became inebriated.

Then things went from bad to worse.

About dark, a party of 15 men crosses the bridge, bound for a shanty where liquor is being sold. Fighting breaks out and a gunshot is heard. A squad is sent to bring the rioters back, and in the dark the party stumbles over a dead body. The body, identified as Pvt. Stephen J. Carr of Galwey’s own company, has been stabbed through the throat with a bayonet.

The murdered private was “a quiet, inoffensive man,” according to Galwey. A soldier will be arrested on suspicion of murder, but he will escape conviction and remain in the army. Years later, Galwey will sigh, “It is impossible to forget the horror of that night.”

>>> In the East, Union warships begin bombarding Confederate installations at Pensacola, Florida.

Your suggestions, comments, and questions are always welcome. Address the author: Ohioan@bloodtearsandglory.com

For more information about the author’s book, go to http://www.orangefrazer.com/btg