On the first of December, 1861, the 55th Ohio's organization was complete and the remaining time was spent in drill. On December 18th, the regiment received its colors in a special ceremony by the citizens of Norwalk, Ohio. Hartwell Osborne recorded this event in the regimental history. "…The ceremony took place at Camp McClelland, and it was an event in the history of the command. An address prepared by Hon. S. T. Worcester, M.C., was read by Joseph M. Farr, and responded to by Colonel Lewis Zahm of the Third Ohio Cavalry. Hon. P. N. Schuyler followed with an elegant speech to which Colonel John C. Lee of the Fifty-Fifth replied. The colors were presented By John Whitbeck of Norwalk, and were received by Lieutenant-Colonel George H. Safford. Eloquent speeches were also made by Charles I. Boalt and Major D. F. DeWolf."An immense throng of citizens attended the ceremony. The regiment made a very creditable appearance by the enthusiasm and sincere interest of their friends and neighbors, so gracefully expressed. This stand of colors, faded by hard use and torn by bullets and shells of the enemy, was brought home and placed in the hands of Charles Stacey of Company D, who as Color Bearer of the Regimental Association has preserved them with religious care."
William Keesy of Company I, had this to say about the regiments first winter in camp; "…winter had set in good earnest. We got our sheet iron stoves and set them in the ground in our tents, and quarters were very comfortable in the coldest of weather. The companies were nearly all full now, a hundred men each, making a thousand men in line. Then there were the field and staff officers, the band and the non-combatants, making twelve hundred strong. This organization was for another purpose than merely to have a soft snap in camp, however, and the time was near at hand when it must try the sterner realities of war."
Sources:
Trials and Triumphs: A Record of the Fifty-Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Hartwell Orsborne, 1904, A.C. Clurg & Co., Chicago.
War, As Viewed From The Ranks by William Keesy, 1898.