This page is dedicated to the original 55th Ohio Volunteer
Infantry Veterans who moved to the Southern California area sometime
after the Civil War and are buried in local cemeteries. Unless
otherwise noted, all information given about each veteran is
taken from the Roster of the Command section of the regimental
history Trials And Triumphs: The Record Of The Fifty-Fifth
Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Captain Hartwell Osborn And Others,
A.C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1904. This site will be expanded
as more honored "Buckeye's" are found. If you have
further information about the gentlemen listed (i.e. further
biography's, photographs, etc.), information about other 55th
Ohio veterans buried in the Southern California area, or you
just have questions, please feel free to contact Bill Johnson
at bygjohnsn@hotmail.com
.
1. Captain Daniel S. Brown (Company F)
Daniel S. Brown was a 31 year old office clerk in 1861 when the
Confederates fired upon Fort Sumter and started the Civil War.
He enlisted as a 90-day volunteer on April 23, 1861. After his
90-day term expired, Brown reenlisted for three years as a private
in Company F, 55th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on September 15, 1861.
Because of his prior military service, Brown was appointed Captain
of Company F on October 16, 1861. He served with the regiment
in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862 and was present at
the battles of McDowall and Cross Keys. During the battle of
2nd Bull Run on August 30th, 1862, the 55th Ohio, along with
its brigade was left in an exposed position on Chinn Ridge when
General Longstreet's rebels assaulted the hill. The 55th Ohio
performed supremely under overwhelming odds before being forced
off the hill. During this engagement, Captain Brown was severely
wounded in the left side. Because of this wound, he resigned
his commission on February 16, 1863 and left the army.
Daniel Brown came to California between 1899 and 1903. At the age of 73, he married 44 year old Mary Armstrong of Long Beach and the couple took up residence in Hemet. He died in 1911 at the age of 80 and is buried in the San Jacinto Valley Cemetery in San Jacinto, California.
Other Sources:
Return To Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas
by John J. Hennessy, Touchstone Publications, New York, 1991.
Unit Honors Civil War Vet Memory
by Loren Fleckenstein, The Press-Enterprise, Hemet, May 28, 1991
(Sec. B, page 1).
Valley Remembers Those Who Served
by Merriam Hamilton, The Hemet News, May 28, 1991 (page 1).
Captain Charles D. Robbins (Company F)
2. Captain Charles D. Robbins (Company
F)
Charles D. Robbins was 25 years old when he enlisted in Company
F, 55th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on October 8, 1861. He was appointed
2nd Lieutenant of Company on October 16, 1861. He was appointed
to 1st Lieutenant on July 23, 1862, when 1st Lt. Jacob Thomas
resigned. He took command of the company after Captain Daniel
S. Brown was severely wounded at the 2nd battle of Bull Run on
August 30th, 1862. He was promoted to Captain on May 8, 1863.
He resigned his commission on March 24, 1864 (reason unknown)
and left the army. He moved to the Southern California area sometime
after the war and is now buried in the G.A.R. section of the
Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in downtown Los Angeles.
3. Samuel P. Doebler (Company K)
Samuel P. Doebler was 18 years old when he enlisted as a private
in Company K, 55th Ohio Volunteer infantry on October 23, 1861.
He was captured near Luray, Virginia while the regiment was participating
in General John Pope's 2nd Bull Run Campaign He was later exchanged
(date unknown). He reenlisted in 1864 and was wounded in a skirmish
on April 1, 1865, near Magnolia, North Carolina (type of wound
unknown). Colonel Edwin Powers noted that Company K was on detached
duty at the time at 20th Corps headquarters. He mustered out
with his company on July 11, 1865 at Columbus, Ohio. It is unknown
when he moved to California, but he died on March 3, 1913 and
is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery in Los Angeles,
California. His wife Isabel is buried with him.
4. James H. Switzer (Company K)
James H. Switzer was 19 years old when he enlisted in Company
K, 55th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry on January 30, 1864.
He mustered out with his company on July 11, 1865 in Columbus,
Ohio. He is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery in Los
Angeles, California. No other information is known.
5. Martin V. Thomas (Company F)
Martin V. Thomas was 25 years old when he enlisted in Company
F, 55th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on October 16, 1861. He was discharged
on the 25th of August, 1862 on surgeon's certificate of disability
(reason unknown). He is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery
in Los Angeles, California.
1831 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(323) 734-3155
950 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 268-4494
2555 S. Santa Fe Ave.
San Jacinto, CA 92583
(909) 658-4923
