Last month's article ended with the 55th Ohio being disbanded in Columbus, Ohio in July of 1865. We will now look at the origins and beginnings of the regiment and their early exploits.

After the disastrous Union defeat at the battle of Bull Run on the 21st of July, 1861, the prominent citizens of Huron County, Ohio, looked to organizing a regiment for the war. Mr. George Safford and the Honorable Samuel T. Worcester, M.C. were lobbying Washigton with this endeavor. The following are samples of their correspondences in this pursuit:

War Department, Washington, July 27, 1861
Col. Geo. H. Safford, Norwalk, Ohio,
Sir: The regiment of infantry which you offer is acceptable provided you have it ready for marching orders in thirty days. This acceptance is with the distinct understanding that this department will revoke the commission of all officers who may be found incompetent for the proper discharge of their duties.

You will promptly advise Adjutant General Thomas at Washington the date at which you will be ready for mustering and will detail an officer for that purpose.

By order of the Secretary of War,
James Lesley, Jr.
Chief Clerk, War Department

 

 

Washington, July 27, 1861
Geo. H. Safford, Esq.
Dear Sir: I called at the War Department this morning and obtained the enclosed order which I now forward to you. I had seen Mr. Cameron (Simon Cameron: The Secretary of War - Editor) in regard to it the evening previous. You will of course determine for yourself whether you will be able to comply with the conditions of the order by having the regiment organized and ready for acceptance in thirty days. many regiments are at this time now being offered and it would seem to me according to present indications that all would be very sure to be tendered, within the next thirty days which the Government will be able or willing to accept. But I leave the whole matter to your judgment and discretion.

Very truly yours,
Samuel T. Worcester

P.S. - In your letter to me you said nothing in respect for yourself or anyone else being appointed Colonel, and your name being put in the order need make no difference. The name of any one else as I suppose may be substituted for yours, if you wish to have it done, and when the regiment is organized any one as I suppose upon whom the officers can agree will hold the office of commander of the regiment. The order I have sent you is as I understand it for the usual form of such orders in like cases. For any instructions that you may need I suppose the Adjutant General Thomas will be the proper channel of communication.

Towards the end of August, George Safford went to see Ohio Governor William Dennison for the recruiting of a regiment of infantry within the area of Norwalk, Ohio. He carried not only letters of recommendation for commissions of officers, including one A.G. Sutton as Colonel (For some reason, Sutton never received the commission). Curiously, Safford never made any moves towards the full Colonelcy. early letters indicate that they were seeking a West Point graduate as colonel, so as to have a good military teacher.

Upon approval from Governor Dennison for raising the regiment, Mr. Safford set about his task of getting companies formed. However, at this same time there were many regiments being raised, and competition for recruiting soldiers was fast and furious. To give an idea of these obstacles, here is a copy of an order from the Adjutant's General office:

HEADQUARTERS, OHIO MILITIA
ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE
Columbus, August 31, 1861.
General Order No. 51
Great injury is done to the recruiting services in Ohio, by the attempts of unauthorized parties to enlist volunteers. This injury is augmented by the efforts of those who are duly authorized, to raise too many companies in the same neighborhood.
The result is that many fractions of companies are formed and none completed, competition becomes violent, angry feelings excited, until the strife ends in an entire and permanent demoralization. All good citizens are invoked to prevent this disastrous competition, and exert their influence to harmonize and consolidate into full and effective companies all the patriotic men disposed to serve their country.
Immediate information of all unauthorized proceedings of this kind is earnestly solicited, with the names of the parties and the facts in the case.
No one will be authorized to enlist companies of volunteers without producing evidence of good moral character, and all letters heretofore issued will be considered canceled on the expiration of the time to which they are limited.
This Department desires it to be expressly understood, that after a company is formed, and before it is mustered into service, the members will have an opportunity of indicating their choice of officers, and the choice will in all ordinary cases be approved by the Governor of the State.
For the information and encouragement of those who desire to enlist, the following conditions of the service are made known, -- all volunteers will be disbanded at the close of the war. During service, an allowance of $3.50 per month is made for clothing, and that which is supplied by the Government is of the most durable kind, and at the lowest wholesale prices. Mounted men can furnish their own horses and equipment's, and receive forty cents per day for their use and risk, or the Government will furnish to them if desired.
Every volunteer who may be wounded or otherwise disabled in the service, will be entitled to the same benefits as are or may be conferred on persons in the regular service. The widow or legal heirs of such as die, or are killed in the service, will receive their pay and allowance due, and the sum of one hundred dollars in addition. Those enlisted men who serve for two years or during the war, are entitled, when discharged, to a bounty of one hundred dollars.
Camps of rendezvous are established in various parts of the State under the command usually of the Colonel of the Regiment there organizing. Persons may proceed singly, or in squads, if they choose, to any of these camps and select the company they prefer to join, or unite with companies already forming in their neighborhood for such regiments as they may choose to go into. The Government provides transportation and subsistence after leaving the place of enlistment.
No additional cavalry or artillery companies can be accepted at this time, but there is pressing need of all the Infantry companies that can be recruited.

By order of the Commander-in-Chief
C.P. BUCKINGHAM
Adjutant General of Ohio

 

Sources:
Trials And Triumphs: The Record Of The Fifty-Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry
by Captain Hartwell Osborne And Others, A.C. McClurg & Co., 1904

All Brave And True: A History Of The Marches And Battles Of The 55th Ohio (Veteran) Volunteer Infantry Regiment by Dan Munson, March 1987, (2nd Edition)

The Firelands Pioneer, The Magazine of the Firelands Museum, Norwalk, Ohio. Submitted by John Doing.

 

Return to 55th Ohio Infantry Page