19th Ohio updates (Dixie Odyssey)

[19thOhio]

I am starting this thread for anyone interested in the 19th Ohio Regiment. Recently I was contacted by someone who has the book and has some personal knowledge about the regiment. This information was not available when published. With his permission, I will share the information with page numbers in Dixie Odyssey when appropriate. If permitted, this thread could serve as a dialog between any CWT members with 19th Ohio information or those with questions regarding the regiment.

i will start the thread with an attachment which is a brief summary of known published works on the 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. They are:

Dixie Odyssey, the Trail and Tales of the Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Paul Hobe

The Twin Seven-Shooters, Charles F. Manderson

Letters Home: A Journal of the American Civil War, William H. H. Raff, (Joseph Fausnight, ed.)

Nobly They Served the Union, Frederick C. Cross

The Civil War Memoir of Sgt. Christian Lenker, 19th Ohio Volunteers, (Judith A. Kennedy and Michael Barton, editors)

Ohio in the Civil War, (19th Ohio) Website, Larry Stevens

 

[19thOhio]

Who were captured and what was their fate?

On page 106 of Dixie Odyssey I quote Sergeant Christian Lenker (The Civil War Memoir of Sgt. Christian Lenker . . ., above post) about an experience he and his unit had on the 19th at Chickamauga as they retreated under Rebel and even "friendly fire." Lenker describes being rolled back past the Lafayette Road: "water had washed out a wide and deep gutter or ditch. When we got back to it, the bullets, from the enemy, were flying all around us, and some of the man lay down in the ditch to escape them. I did not take any chances of capture, but jumped down one side of the ditch, and climbed up the other side, and every one, who lay in it, became a prisoner, and not one of them ever returned again, all of them sleep in those places of horror and fiendish iniquity-Rebel prison grounds."

I was recently contacted by Brad Cox whose ancestor Elwood M. Robinson was one of the men captured in Lenker's story. The men who were captured included Robinson, Henry Kitchens, Peter Fisher, Hiram Dahl, John Balmont and William Bellis.

Brad Cox has done extensive research on the many ancestors that served in the Civil War. He tells me that these men, all in Company I of the 19th Ohio, were taken to the rear and then marched to Ringgold. They were then loaded on boxcars and sent to Bell Island in Richmond, Virginia. There they dug into the rocky ground for shelter. On December 16 they were transferred to the newly established prison at Danville. Both Robinson and Bellis contracted a bad case of Diarrhea which would eventually claim Bellis. On April 9, 1864 they were transferred through Savannah, Georgia to Andersonville. Elwood became very weak and could hardly walk or fend for himself. His companions tended to him until we was finally transferred to the prison hospital on July 10 and stayed there until October 25 when he was returned to the population. (John Balmont died at Andersonville on August 15.)

With Sherman's march to the sea there was concern that he would divert and swing down to liberate the prisoners. A new camp was established at Millen, Georgia called Camp Lawton. Elwood and many others were transferred there in early November. This camp had to be evacuated as Sherman's Army approached. Elwood was one of the first to be shipped out. He was sent to to the prison hospital. Because of his condition he was paroled on November 19. Elwood Robinson was boarded on the Hospital ship Atlantis and sailed to Annapolis Maryland where he was admitted into Division One Hospital. Elwood was severely emaciated, weighing only 90 pounds. On January 25, he was mustered out of service and sent to Camp Chase Ohio. Still suffering the effects of his imprisonment, Elwood Robinson died in Alliance, Ohio at the age of 80.

Actually some did return. Included along with Robinson were Peter Fisher and Henry Kitchens who sere mustered out in Columbus. Ohio in January, 1865. I could not find Hiram Dahl in the Register of Ohio Soldiers.

My thanks go to Brad Cox for this information and allowing it to be shared. I was not generally aware of a prison hospital or what care they could really have been given or that any of the prisoners were evacuated during Sherman's march. Nor was I aware of any kindness of paroling sick or dying prisoners.

 

[19thOhio]

How did Elwood Robinson get his wound?

Brad Cox provided to me another interesting story about one of his ancestors at Stones River. In the first attachment Cox tells about his ancestor Elwood M. Robinson's unusual wound entry position and how a short field trip to Stones River National Battlefield helped solve the mystery.

The second attachment is a set of maps showing the position of the 19th Ohio and that of Beatty's and Fyffe's Brigades during the afternoon of December 31, 1862 at Stones River. There is included a move-by-move narrative of the 19th Ohio's position and situation changes. These maps could be of interest of anyone studying Fyffe's Brigade (44 IN, 59 OH, 86 IN, 13 OH) and Beatty's Brigade (74 IN, 11 KY, 19 OH, 9 KY). The 19 OH and 13 OH were from the exact same area in Ohio and, although in different brigades, are shown side-by-side in Jim Lewis' maps in Blue and Gray, Vol. 26, issue 6.

The 19th Ohio position maps would have been useful in Dixie Odyssey had they been available. But they are included here for those interested. The first map and 19th Ohio commentary are provided by Jim Schroeder of Stones River National Battlefield.

 

[JED740]

Thank you for posting this information. Now I know where my ancestor Isaac Davis was located. Jim

 

[19thOhio]

What company was Isaac in? (Assuming the 19th Ohio). Do you have any information or stories to share?

 

[JED740]

What company was Isaac in? (Assuming the 19th Ohio). Do you have any information or stories to share?

Isaac was in Company B. So far all I have found on Isaac is his enlistment card on Fold 3. No other family members have posted anything on Ancestry. I plan to search some other sources. Then next step will be National Archives for pension records. I think several years ago I tracked him down to Hospital 18 in Nashville, but given my memory it could have been someone else.

 

[Brad Cox]

Who were captured and what was their fate?

On page 106 of Dixie Odyssey I quote Sergeant Christian Lenker (The Civil War Memoir of Sgt. Christian Lenker . . ., above post) about an experience he and his unit had on the 19th at Chickamauga as they retreated under Rebel and even "friendly fire." Lenker describes being rolled back past the Lafayette Road: "water had washed out a wide and deep gutter or ditch. When we got back to it, the bullets, from the enemy, were flying all around us, and some of the man lay down in the ditch to escape them. I did not take any chances of capture, but jumped down one side of the ditch, and climbed up the other side, and every one, who lay in it, became a prisoner, and not one of them ever returned again, all of them sleep in those places of horror and fiendish iniquity-Rebel prison grounds."

I was recently contacted by Brad Cox whose ancestor Elwood M. Robinson was one of the men captured in Lenker's story. The men who were captured included Robinson, Henry Kitchens, Peter Fisher, Hiram Dahl, John Balmont and William Bellis.

Brad Cox has done extensive research on the many ancestors that served in the Civil War. He tells me that these men, all in Company I of the 19th Ohio, were taken to the rear and then marched to Ringgold. They were then loaded on boxcars and sent to Bell Island in Richmond, Virginia. There they dug into the rocky ground for shelter. On December 16 they were transferred to the newly established prison at Danville. Both Robinson and Bellis contracted a bad case of Diarrhea which would eventually claim Bellis. On April 9, 1864 they were transferred through Savannah, Georgia to Andersonville. Elwood became very weak and could hardly walk or fend for himself. His companions tended to him until we was finally transferred to the prison hospital on July 10 and stayed there until October 25 when he was returned to the population. (John Balmont died at Andersonville on August 15.)

With Sherman's march to the sea there was concern that he would divert and swing down to liberate the prisoners. A new camp was established at Millen, Georgia called Camp Lawton. Elwood and many others were transferred there in early November. This camp had to be evacuated as Sherman's Army approached. Elwood was one of the first to be shipped out. He was sent to to the prison hospital. Because of his condition he was paroled on November 19. Elwood Robinson was boarded on the Hospital ship Atlantis and sailed to Annapolis Maryland where he was admitted into Division One Hospital. Elwood was severely emaciated, weighing only 90 pounds. On January 25, he was mustered out of service and sent to Camp Chase Ohio. Still suffering the effects of his imprisonment, Elwood Robinson died in Alliance, Ohio at the age of 80.

Actually some did return. Included along with Robinson were Peter Fisher and Henry Kitchens who sere mustered out in Columbus. Ohio in January, 1865. I could not find Hiram Dahl in the Register of Ohio Soldiers.

My thanks go to Brad Cox for this information and allowing it to be shared. I was not generally aware of a prison hospital or what care they could really have been given or that any of the prisoners were evacuated during Sherman's march. Nor was I aware of any kindness of paroling sick or dying prisoners.

When prisoners were sent to the prison hospital (Tents), it was considered a death sentence. Very few ever returned. Hiram Doll did return from the war. He would be the sheriff in Stark County from 1894 to 1897.

 

[OldReliable1862]

I'm glad I finally found this thread, thank you for gathering these sources on the 19th Ohio. Do you have a list of the 19th's companies and what counties they recruited in?

 

[19thOhio]

I have the list on page 23 of Dixie Odyssey. I got it from the Official Roster . . . of Ohio . . Three Months Service vol.1 p.389.
One might find it in a local library. I have some other information regarding specific communities and even states some of the men came from. I think I can find it and send via private message or on the forum? These are copies of local newspapers.