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Jacob Cox was born in Montreal, Quebec on October 27, 1828. As an adult he moved to Oberlin, Ohio and taught at Oberlin College. He later was appointed superintendent of schools in Warren, Ohio. He passed his exam and was admitted to the bar in 1853.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Jacob was made Brigadier General of Ohio State Troops. In 1861, he served in West Virginia. From spring of 1862, until August of the same year, he commanded the Kanawha region. In September, his unit was ordered to Maryland. At that time he saw action at Antietam and South Mountain with Burnside's IX Corps. 1863 saw Jacob as head of the Department of Ohio. He fought at Nashville, Atlanta and Franklin. He was promoted to Major General in 1864.
Before the war, Jacob had been state senator for Ohio. He was elected 28th Governor of that State and served in that position until 1868. President Grant appointed him Secretary of the Interior in 1869. He resigned after only eighteen months because he didn't agree with government policy. Jacob served in Congress and was President of Toledo and Walbash Railroad Company. He wrote several histories of the Civil War. Jacob died in 1900. He was 72.
John McNeil was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on February 14, 1813. Before the Civil War he was a politican, president of an insurance company and a hatter. John had lived in St. Louis, Missouri since 1849. He was made Colonel of the 3rd Missouri. He was transferred to command the Missouri State Militia Calvary. John's troops fought 2500 Confederates led by Colonel Joseph C. Porter. McNeil was victorious.
It is believed Porter's troops captured and killed a pro-Union civilian, Andrew Allsman. McNeil sent a message stating he would kill 10 Confederate prisoners if Allsman was not returned to his unit. When Allsman was not turned over, McNeil carried through with his threat. Both US President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis condemned his actions.
Despite the scandal, in November 1862, John was made Brigadier General of Volunteers. He was relieved of his command after the Battle of Westport, for not attacking when ordered. He later commanded the Department of Central Missouri.
In April 1865, at the end of the war, he was made Major General of Volunteers. After the war he held the positions of sheriff, county clerk, Inspector of Indian Services and postal official.
John Franklin Farnsworth was born in Compton City, Quebec . He moved to Michigan, became a lawyer and was elected to Congress in 1856, as a Republican. He became a close friend of fellow Republican, Abraham Lincoln. He nominated Lincoln for President and advised him during the Lincoln-Douglas debates. In 1861, John was made Colonel of the 8th Illinois Calvary. He served in Maryland and Peninsula Campaigns and was promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers in 1862. He led the 1st Brigade of Pleasanton's Calvary during the Battle of Fredericksburg. He resigned his commission in 1863, to return to Congress, where he served until 1872. His uncle, Elon J. Farnsworth was killed at Gettysburg.
Felix Cornelius Balderry, Philllipines, Company A, 11th MI Vols. Employed by sea farer Joseph Foster of Leonidas, Michigan, aboard his vessel before the war, Balderry moved to Michigan and worked as a farmhand before enlisting December 7, 1863 at Kalamazoo for 3 years. He served in the western theater, and was sent to hospital at Nashville in June 1864. Discharged in September of that year, he returned to Michigan, where he worked as a tailor. On September 1, 1885 he married 16 year old Ada May Barns at Constantine, Michigan. Balderry passed away on August 18, 1895, of tuberculosis, at the age of 49. (Pension Records. See also Military Images magazine Nov/Dec 1994, p. 13 for an image of Balderry
Conjee Rustumjee Cohoujee Bey, (Antonio Frank Gomez, Landsman,) aged 25, enlisted February 8, 1862, for 3 years, at New York. Born Hindostan, eyes dark, hair black, yellow complexion. Born in December 10, 1836, the son of an Indian prince, he had his name changed by Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, from Conjee Rustumjee Cohoujee Bey, when he arrived in New York, from London, where he had previously undergone an education. Gomez served aboard the USS North Carolina, USS Dacotah, USS Louisville, USS Iroquois and the USS Niagara. He died in San Francisco on February 17, 1911, of pneumonia, and is buried at the National Cemetery in that city.
Cooke was born in Mount Pleasant, Upper Canada (near Brantford, Ontario) and at the age of 17, enlisted in the 24th New York Cavalry. At first he served as a recruiter with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant but saw action at Petersburg where he was wounded in June, 1864. After being released from the hospital, he served at a commissary depot.
By the time Cooke returned to front-line duty in March 1865, he held the rank of 1st Lieutenant, having been promoted in December, 1864. On April 2nd, he was breveted to Captain and three days later, was breveted to Major at Dimwiddie Court House, Virginia. His time as a Major was only a matter of hours, as he was breveted to Lieutenant Colonel that same day at Saylor's Creek. Although his time of service ended in June, 1865, he reenlisted a year later in the U.S. Cavalry. In 1876, Cooke, a member of the U.S. 7th Cavalry, died at Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Big Horn. His body was later recovered from the battlefield and buried in Hamilton, Ontario
Secord, the great-nephew of Laura Secord, left his home in Kincardine, Ontario, several years before the outbreak of the Civil War and was living in Georgia. An outspoken abolitionist whose views on slavery nearly got him lynched, Secord wasn't the most likely person to serve the cause of the Confederacy. However, serve he did, as a surgeon in the 20th Georgia Infantry.
Dr. Secord was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg and imprisoned in Maryland. He soon escaped however and returned to his regiment. In October, 1864, he left Georgia and returned to Kincardine.
In 1910, a statue was dedicated to Secord in his hometown of Kincardine. It is believed to be the only statue in Canada dedicated to a Confederate officer.
Geza Mihalotzy was born in Hungary and served as Colonel in the 24th Illinois Infantry; died on March 11, 1864 in Chattanooga, TN, of wounds received at Buzzard Roost Gap on Febr. 24.
In honor of his memory, two forts, one in Chatttanooga and one in Knoxville, were named after him. At the start of the Civil War, he organized a militia company called the Lincoln Riflemen. The letter he wrote to Lincoln asking for permission to use the President's name rests in in the Lincoln Collection of the Chicago Historical Society's Gilpin Library.
Nicholas Perczel was born in Hungary, and served as Colonel in the 10th Iowa Infantry.
The son of a wealthy landowner, Perczel was a prominent politician before the 1848-49 war during which he served as colonel. Mуr, one of his older brothers, was among the Hungarian army's leading generals. He spent five years in the mid-1850s on the Isle of Jersey where one of his neighbors was Victor Hugo. Perczel returned to Hungary after the Civil War, resumed his political career and died laden with honors at the age of 92 in 1902. His diary was published in 1977.
Philip Strack, shown in his uniform of the Union Navy.
Philip Johan Strack was born January 2, 1840, at Steinbuckenheim Darmstadt, Germany, and came to America in March, 1859. Two years later, at the commencement of the Civil War, he volunteered his services to fight for his adopted country, enlisting in the Union Navy, during which period he served aboard the USS Potomac.
The vessel was a frigate of just over 1700 tons, and her usual complement was about 480 personnel. She served in the West Gulf Blockade Squadron as stores ship, and then at the Pensacola Navy Yard as receiving ship till after the war was over.
Not much is known of Strack's naval service, except for the fact that he received his discharge in September, 1864. On April 16, 1865, he married Charlotte Kallmann at Brooklyn, New York, and eventually moved to Lindenhurst, where he opened a dry goods and hardware store. The couple had seven children, one of whom died in infancy. His obituary states that he was a very able businessman, and was also quite involved in church activities within the community. His wife preceded him in death, and Strack continued living in Lindenhurst until his demise of heart failure on April 27, 1912.
Stephen Amos, Ordinary Seaman, aged 33, occupation caulker, enlisted November 25, 1863, for 2 years, at New Bedford, Massachusetts. Born Manila, eyes black, hair black, copper complexion. (Page 682, Volume, Naval Rendezvous Reports, National Archives, Washington, D.C.)
Joseph Astor (or Castor?), Ordinary Seaman, USS New Ironsides, aged 23, occupation Mariner, enlisted August 19, 1863, for 3 years, at New York. Born Manila, eyes hazel, hair black, swarthy complexion. (Muster Roll.)
Caystana Baltazar, Landsman, aged 19, enlisted November 10, 1863, for 1 year, at Boston. Born Manila, eyes black, hair black, dark complexion. (Page 644, Volume 29, Naval Rendezvous Reports, National Archives, Washington, D.C. )
Joseph Banards, landsman, aged 21, occupation cook, enlisted March 21, 1865, for 3 years, at Philadelphia. Born Manila, eyes brown, hair black, dark complexion. Page 191, Volume 43.
Andrew Bellino, seaman, aged 27, occupation mariner, enlisted May 6, 1864, for 3 years, at Philadelphia. Born Manila, eyes black, hair black, dark complexion. (Page 308, Volume 33, Naval Rendezvous Reports, National Archives.)
Joseph Bernard, Landsman, aged 21, occupation cook/steward, enlisted February 4, 1864, for 1 year at Boston. Born Manila, described as East Indian. (Page 72, Volume 31, Naval Rendezvous Reports, National Archives, Washington, D.C.)
Joseph Bernardo, landsman, aged 23, occupation steward, enlisted March 25, 1865, for 3 years, at Boston. Born Manila, eyes black, hair black, dark complexion. Page 169, Volume 43. (See entry for Joseph Bernard, above - probably the same person. Muster Rolls for USS Conemaugh also show Joseph Bernardo, Landsman, aged 21, born Manila, occupation Cook, resident of New Jersey, enlisted March 31, 1865, for 3 years, at PP (Philadelphia?). Received bounty of $100.)
James Brown, seaman, USS Pursuit and USS Powhatan, aged 24, enlisted October 10, 1864, for 3 years, at New Bedford, Massachusetts. Born Manila, eyes hazel, hair black, dark complexion. (Muster Roll.)
John Brown, ordinary seaman, USS Augusta, aged 27 (or 22?), occupation nariner, enlisted April 18, 1864, for 2 years, at New York. Born Manila, eyes black, hai black, dark complexion. Page 261, Volume 33. (Possibly the same person as the previous entry. Muster Rolls for USS Augusta show that he was transferred to hospital on May 28, 1864.)
(Excerpted from The Filipino Americans (1763-Present): Their History, Culture, and Traditions by Verltisezar Bautista, 2nd Edition. ).
Among the best examples of Finnish military involvement is found among the Union Forces, where Otto Mauno Geers served as a sailor and eventual quartermaster in the Navy (See Photo).
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This sailor was named "Jackalanwiski" whose name is most likely spelled incorrectly. According to an autobiography written by an English sailor on board the ship Alabama, "Jackalanwiski" was such a difficult name to pronounce that the crew called this Finn by the name "Jack-o-lantern" (Haywood, 1886:36).
I am very interested in the stages of the finns in US Civil War. Is there information about the participation of other finns on the roads to the civil war?
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