By the time John Baker of Battery B, 1st Michigan Light Artillery was exchanged more than six months after being captured at the Battle of Shiloh, the artilleryman had traveled through seven of the eleven states of the Confederacy, and lost his brother to typhoid fever at Cahaba, Alabama. “We have suffered everything but death and that has started us in the face,” he wrote to the editors of the Hillsdale Standard. “There has been 270 men who have died since our captivity began. We have been without clothing and have been obliged to live upon corn meal and bacon. I have never seen any meat but ..read more

In the early twilight hours of September 19, 1863, at Chickamauga, Sergeant William Richey of the 15th Ohio was dispatched between the lines to try and ascertain the location of the Confederates. “Presently I saw an officer on horseback approaching me from the right only a short distance from me,” he later wrote. “We were no sooner side by side than I discovered that we were enemies. As quickly as I could, I said to the man on horseback in a loud, bold tone, “You are my prisoner! Surrender, or I will blow out your brains!” Instantly the officer reached for his pistol but, pointing my weapon at ..read more

In a war defined by the theme of brother against brother, the amazing tale of Granville and George Moody and their journey through the Civil War highlights the interconnected nature of family and social life in the 19th century. It's a story that starts in Maine, weaves through the histories of both the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Cumberland, twists in and out of prisoner of war camps, and ultimately involves President Jefferson Davis in the final days of the Civil War and President Andrew Johnson in its immediate aftermath.         &nb ..read more

The first commissioner of major league baseball was Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis who was appointed by the team owners in November 1920. His unusual first name was chosen by his parents in remembrance of one of the bloodiest engagements of the Atlanta campaign, the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain which was fought on June 27, 1864. But had his father not been wounded at Kenesaw, its possible he would have named his later famous son Chickamauga Landis after the horrors he experienced at that engagement.  Kenesaw Mountain Landis was born November 20, 1866, in Millville in Butler County, Ohio to D ..read more

For Second Lieutenant Hugh Siverd of the 1st Ohio Cavalry, the death of his regimental commander Colonel Minor Millikin during the Battle of Stones River proved a singularly depressing event in his military experience.      "With Colonel Minor Millikin went my nearest hope," he lamented in a letter to a friend in Ohio. "Colonel Minor Millikin is no more and bitterly do his men bear the cup. For certain it is that he won the unlimited confidence of all, and while he may sleep the long calm sleep of death, there ever will linger around his grave that devotion that men only be ..read more

Quietly sitting in the collections of the Hardin County Historical Museum in Kenton, Ohio is a collection of medals that belonged to local resident Delano Morey. Among them is the Medal of Honor Morey was awarded in 1893 for his courage at the Battle of McDowell when he was just a 16-year-old private in the ranks of Co. B of the 82nd Ohio. Private Morey described the circumstances under which he was later awarded the medal to the editors of Deeds of Valor in the late 1890s. Private Delano James Morey of Co. B, 82nd Ohio posed for this photo shortly before his death in 1911. He was award ..read more

The Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, was raging when the life of Major Anson G. McCook of the 2nd Ohio Infantry was saved by the daring act of a 17-year-old private in Co. G named William Surles. As Surles, “a mere boy, weighing less than a hundred pounds and of almost girlish appearance,” remembered it, it was a spur of the moment decision.           “A Confederate soldier, a veritable giant in appearance, presently sprang from behind a tree close by and took deliberate aim at McCook,” recalled Surles. “I had observed this fellow’s movements and rea ..read more

Thirty years after witnessing the carnage of Stones River as a 17-year-old drummer boy in the ranks of the 94th Ohio, Dr. James E. Shellenberger returned to visit the area while journeying to Chickamauga in company with several fellow Buckeyes. In some ways, it was as if he had never left.           “Soon we arrived at LaVergne, the scene of a cavalry engagement during the Battle of Stones River and the place of Wheeler’s raid on our trains. It was found just as we left it 30 years ago,” commented Shellenberger. Once in Murfreesboro, the men hired a ..read more

Captain Alfred E. Lee’s return to Delaware, Ohio in July 1863 caused a sensation among the citizens of that small middle Ohio town. On Friday the 10th, the Delaware Gazette newspaper reported somberly that “we regret to notice among the deaths in the late battle at Gettysburg our friend and correspondent Captain A.E. Lee. He was a young man of decided ability, a good soldier, and his whole heart was enlisted in the cause for which he gave up his life.”             At the Battle of Gettysburg while commanding his company in the 82nd Ohio on ..read more

Every object has a story to tell.... ...in this case, a few reminders of the 4th Indiana Battery's fight along Wilkinson Pike at Stones River.       Last week while visiting Murfreesboro, my battlefield friend and relic hunter extraordinaire Stan Hutson presented me with a few recent finds he acquired at a dig along the historic Wilkinson Pike. As previously noted on this blog, (see “Dirt Fishing in Murfreesboro”) development of the grounds surrounding the Stones River National Battlefield continues at a rapid pace and in the past few months excavation work has begun ..read more