Source: 
WAR HISTORY
of
UNION COUNTY,
Containing A History of the Services of Union County Soldiers in the
War of the Revolution, the War of 1812, the War with Mexico,
1846-47, and the War of the Rebellion, 1861-65
-----
By W. L. Curry
Marysville, Ohio
1883

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PREFACE

To my late comrades in arms now living, and to the widows and orphans of our comrades who fell upon the fields where we fought, this history of the services of the soldiers of Union County is affectionately inscribed.
 

WHO can write worthily of the services of Union County's soldiers, unless it were to write the history of almost every campaign and battle of the war of the rebellion, for the soldiers of this county served in every department of the army?  In these few pages it has been the aim to give a brief history of every organization represented in the county.  Brief indeed, will it seem to the soldiers who served in these organizations when the history of one regiment, even of one company, would fill a volume as large as the space occupied by the military record of the county in this history.      Although I have for several years been collecting material for this  work, when it is now completed I feel that the foundation ahs just been laid for future historians to write the history of the services of Union County's soldiers; my first intention was to confine the history to the soldiers of the war of the rebellion, but as the work progressed it was decided to include a brief sketch of the Services of the grand old heroes of the war of the Revolution, the war of 1812, the war with Mexico and the old " Militia" organizations.  As there was no material either written or printed from which to compile, I have woven together but a few fragments gleaned from the old pioneers and descendants of these heroes of three wars, and hope this chapter may not prove entirely devoid of interest, as it is the first that has ever been published in the county.      In the preparation of the roster, the names and record were copied from several different lists, the first being that taken by the Township Assessors in 1865, just at the close of the war, giving the names of all the soldiers who had enlisted from the different townships in the county.  While this list was not complete, it furnished a good basis for operation.  The rosters of the ex-soldiers association and of the Grand Army of the Republic have been very material helps.  The Township Assessors in the spring of 1882 very kindly took the names of all soldiers living in the county at that date, the letter of company, number of regiment, date of enlistment and discharge, wounds, capture of prisoners and other matters of interest.  Blank rolls were also furnished to three or four comrades in each township to be tilled with the names of all soldiers buried in their townships and of those buried in the South, also the names of the soldiers of the Revolution, 1812 and Mexican war.  These comrades have worked faithfully, and I am under many obligations to them for their good services.  This mass of material, procured without any reference to the arrangement of companies and regiments, was copied by companies and regiments in alphabetical order, and then subjected to inspection by comrades of each organization and many corrections were made in the spelling of names, letter of company and number of regiment.  They were then carefully compared and verified with the records in the Adjutant General's office and many corrections made in dates of enlistment and discharge, after which the rolls were again copied and revised.  Many matters have been looked up by correspondence both in and out of the county, and the files of newspapers published during the war have been of great assistance in verifying dates and furnishing lists of killed and wounded, and of those who died in the service.  Many corrections have been made from personal knowledge, as I served in the same department with many of these soldiers.      No pains or lime has been spared to make the roster as complete and correct as possible, yet no doubt there will be mistakes in I he spelling of names and in dates; but the roster is as correct as it is possible to be made from the data at hand.      Only a glimpse can be given of tin; services of those regiments, but dates of organization, battles and everything pertaining to the history of the organizations have been compared with the records in the Adjutant General's office.  In organizations where it was not possible to find soldiers to take an interest in the history of their regiments, such matter has been utilized as could be found in other histories, and especially that of Reid's "Ohio in the War."   But the most difficult and laborious work has been that of preparing the rolls, and where errors are found I hope the soldiers of these regiments will generously hear a share of the fault, as they have been appealed to for many months through the newspapers of the county, at re-unions and meetings of the Grand Army, to take an interest in the history of their regiments.  No record of any regiment has been completed until it was submitted to members of the organization for inspection, and then revised.      Regiments having full companies organized in the county arc given more space, us in these more material was found, for many soldiers are now living in the county who were members of these companies.      Writing in the interest of any particular regiment or arm of the service, has been studiously avoided, as has also that of extolling the services of any soldier or officer, but always wishing to give credit where credit is due, and to record the history of regiments as shown by their service, believing all to be equally good brave and patriotic soldiers, serving their country faithfully in whatever department, or in whatever arm of the service the fortunes of war cast them.  The names of the principal battles of the war, with date, carefully compiled from the Adjutant General's office at Washington, D. C, is given, also the number of soldiers buried in our National Cemeteries, with many other tables of interesting historical information.      That these pages, hastily written in the intervals of pressing official duties, will prove uninteresting to some, I have no doubt, but in the generations to come, when the actors in this great war for the preservation of the Nation shall have passed away, their descendants will be interested to know on what side their fathers stood when the Nation was tottering in the balance.  It cannot fail to be of absorbing interest to them, and now that this labor of many months is drawing to a close, and as it has been a work of pleasure, performed without thought of reward, yet with the bright hope before me that it will possess some charm to our descendants in the years to come, I feel amply repaid for my labor, and the pen is regretfully dropped when the "re-call is sounded," only wishing that it had been wielded by one more worthy to grasp the great theme—-The War History of Union Comity.      I am indebted to the Adjutant General of Ohio, who so kindly gave access to the records in his office, which have given so much assistance in the work, and to the many soldiers of the county who have always responded to every call for facts.  To Miss Anna Roney, much credit is due for efficient work in collating facts and intelligent assistance in all parts of the history. W. L. C.      Marysville, Ohio, March 9, 1883.

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