The history of Company C, Seventh Regiment, O.V.I Part 5

[Sidenote: Final Discharge.]

The 11th of June was the glad day of their relief, to turn their faces towards those homes which had occupied so much of their thoughts for more than three years. Co. C was marched out into a little grove which was to witness the sad parting of the veterans from those whose term of service had not yet expired. Many tears were shed, as they shook each other's hands, one party turning to battle, then imminent, the other, to hasten to the embrace of friends.

The former portion of the company was transferred to Co. B of the 5th O.

V. I., and had the honor of sharing in General Sherman's brilliant campaign of successes, through Georgia and South Carolina. They were discharged, June 20, 1865, after having the satisfaction of seeing the war ended.

The veterans of the company proceeded by rail to Nashville, thence by steamer down the c.u.mberland, up the Ohio to Cincinnati, and arrived at Cleveland, June 26, 1864.

The journey homeward was prosperous with one sad exception. Before the company left Georgia, Sergeant O. C. Trembley had written to his mother that she need have no fears for him--his fighting was through, and he would soon be home. He was one of the most joyous at the prospect before him of soon being with his friends. Faithfully and well had he served in every battle of the regiment but one, and had, fortunately, never been wounded. When the steamer was forty miles below Cincinnati, going to the rear of the boat on the lower deck, he slipped into the river and was drowned. His body was found on the third day by a fisherman; was brought to Cleveland by his friend Hiram Parsons; and, by eight of Company C, was thence escorted to his home in North Fairfield, Ohio.

There is not s.p.a.ce to describe the splendid ovation, given to the Seventh, with the Fifth Ohio, by the citizens of Cincinnati; and the members are ashamed to have mention made of the meager reception at Cleveland, on the Fourth of July.

The following are the names of the little band that returned to be mustered out of the service, July 6, 1864: M. M. Andrews, J. F. Harmon, S. M. Cole, J. E. Avery, N. L. Badger, J. M. Burns, H. B. Fry, A. M.

Halbert, E. T. Hayes, I. A. n.o.ble, H. Parsons, Thos. Spriggs, T. J.

Wallace, D. A. Ward, Oliver Wise, and Wm. Woodmansee.

THE RECORD.

GILES WALDO SHURTLEFF,

A member of the Oberlin Theological Seminary, and Tutor in Oberlin College; commanded the Company, as Captain, until the battle of Cross Lanes, August 26, 1861, when he was captured and taken to Richmond, as prisoner of war; spent eleven months and twenty-two days in Southern prisons, at Richmond, Salisbury, and Charleston; paroled August 18, 1862, and exchanged September 30, 1862; by order of General Burnside, at Pleasant Valley, Va., Oct, 11, 1862, detached as a.s.sistant Inspector General of the 9th Army Corps, on the Staff of General Wilc.o.x. While in this service, he was engaged in the severe battle at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862; resigned, and was discharged from the military service, March 18, 1863.

He was commissioned as Lieut. Colonel of the 5th U. S. C. T., July 29, 1864, which regiment he commanded most of the remainder of his service.

With them he was engaged in the series of battles from June 15 to June 19, before Petersburg; in the battle at the blowing up of the mines, July 30, 1864; in the trenches under fire, daily, before Petersburg from June 15 to August 10, 1864, and in the charge upon New Market, Va., Sept. 29, 1864, for gallantry in which battle he was promoted to Colonel. In this severe engagement, he lost nearly one half his men.

He also took part in Gen. Butler's attempt to capture Ft. Fisher, at Wilmington, N. C., his regiment being the only colored troops that landed; wounded in the hand and through the thigh in the battle of New Market. Nominated by the Secretary of War as Brevet Brigadier General, and confirmed by the Senate, March 15, 1865; resigned on the ground that the war had closed, and honorably discharged, June 25, 1865; married, and now doing duty as Adjunct Professor of the Greek and Latin languages in Oberlin College.

JUDSON N. CROSS,

A Freshman in Oberlin College; commissioned as First Lieutenant of Company C, April 29, 1861; wounded severely by gun shot in left arm, and taken prisoner of war in the battle of Cross Lanes; rescued by the army of Gen. Rosecrans in the battle of Carnifex Ferry, Sept. 11, 1861, when he was removed to Cincinnati for recovery. He was promoted to Captain of Co. K, 7th O. V. I., Nov. 25, 1861, and was detailed as recruiting officer in Ohio, until Feb. 9, 1863, when he resigned, and was honorably discharged at Dumfries, Va. June 13, 1863, he was appointed 1st Lieutenant in the 5th Invalid Corps, and was promoted to Captain, October 28, 1863. In this service he was stationed at Cleveland; afterwards at St. Louis, Mo.; thence, went to Indianapolis, Ind.

In December, 1863, he was placed in command of the Post at Madison, Ind., remaining until April, 1864, when he was made Acting a.s.sistant Adjutant General of the District of Indiana. In the following June, received the appointment of a.s.sistant Provost Marshal of the District of Washington, on the Staff of the Military Governor. In November, was appointed Provost Marshal of Georgetown, D. C., and soon after, Special Mustering Officer, to muster the Prisoners of War returned from Andersonville, Ga.; resigned, and honorably discharged, March 16, 1865; married, and pursuing the profession of the law.

EPHRAIM H. BAKER,

An Alumnus of Oberlin College, and Theological student; commissioned as Second Lieutenant of Co. C, Apr. 29, 1861; took command after the battle of Cross Lanes; was promoted to First Lieutenant, November 26, 1861; led the Company through the battle of Winchester; resigned, and was discharged on account of disability, July 25, 1862; now married, and engaged in preaching the Gospel, at Ma.r.s.eilles, Ill.

ORLANDO PARK BROCKWAY,

A Junior in Oberlin College; served with the Company as First Sergeant until about the 20th of Aug., 1861, when he was sent to the hospital because of sickness, and afterwards to Ohio. In his absence he was reduced to the ranks by some inexplicable order of Col. Tyler's, October 25, 1861; transferred to Battery I, 1st Ohio Artillery, at Charleston, Va., Dec. 1, 1861. While on a foraging expedition, near Luray, Va., in the Summer of 1862, he was captured; taken to Lynchburg, and thence to Belle Isle, where, after much suffering, he was paroled. In the Autumn, he was exchanged and discharged. He was commissioned as Captain in the 5th U. S. C. T., in August, 1863; engaged in the series of battles before Petersburg, from June 15 to 19; and killed in the trenches, July 19, 1864.

EDMUND R. STILES,

An Alumnus of Oberlin College, and member of the Theological Seminary; Second Sergeant: captured at Cross Lanes, and spent nine months with the rebels at Richmond, New Orleans, and Salisbury; paroled and exchanged; discharged, July 8, 1862; now married, and is preaching the Gospel.

WILLIAM WATTS PARMENTER,

A Senior in Oberlin College; served with the company as Third Sergeant, until the battle of Cross Lanes, when he was captured and taken to Richmond; afterwards, transferred to Parish Prison, New Orleans, where he died with Typhoid Fever, Nov. 4, 1861.

HOBART G. ORTON,

A Freshman in Oberlin College; Fourth Sergeant; engaged in the battle of Cross Lanes, where a severe gun shot broke his thigh bone about an inch below the socket joint. Standing behind a tree, firing as rapidly as possible, under his own command, he was discovered by a rebel Captain, who ordered his whole company to fire upon him. The tree was girdled with the bullets, and one took effect in the thigh of the Sergeant. He was left on the field, in the hands of the enemy, and was recaptured by our troops, Sept. 11, 1861. Thence he was removed to St. John's Hospital, Cincinnati, where he suffered severely for a year, and was discharged, Nov. 20, 1862. He is now married and practicing law.

ELIAS W. MOREY,

A Soph.o.m.ore in Oberlin College; Fifth Sergeant; wounded slightly in the head, and taken prisoner in the battle of Cross Lanes; spent nine months in the hands of the enemy, at Richmond, New Orleans, and Salisbury; paroled and exchanged; returned to duty, March 22, 1863; engaged in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg; discharged, Nov. 10, 1863, to accept a First Lieutenancy in the 9th Regiment U. S. C. T.; promoted to Captain, and made Provost Marshal of the 20th A. C.; now in the service.

J. FRANCIS HARMON,

Corporal; served constantly with the regiment, during the whole term of enlistment; promoted to Sergeant, in the Company, Nov. 20, 1861, and to Quarter-Master Sergeant of the regiment, April 1, 1862; engaged in the battle of Cross Lanes; discharged at Cleveland, Ohio, July 6, 1864; married, and is now Postmaster at Oberlin, O.

THERON E. W. ADAMS,

A Freshman in Oberlin College; Corporal; wounded by a guerilla, while on picket duty, near Glenville, Va., July 21, 1861. The ball entered his side and followed a rib around nearly to the spine. He has the honor of shedding the first blood in the Seventh Ohio Regiment, by the hand of an enemy; engaged in the battle of Winchester; honorably discharged on account of disability, June 29, 1862; graduated in Oberlin College in the Cla.s.s of '64; married, and farming in Michigan.

CHARLES P. BOWLER,

A Junior in Oberlin College; Corporal; served constantly with the Company until his death; promoted to Sergeant; partic.i.p.ated in the battles of Cross Lanes, Winchester, Port Republic, and Cedar Mountain, where he received a gun shot through the heart. He fell upon his back, dying instantly with a convulsive struggle.

STEPHEN M. COLE,

Corporal; slightly wounded in the thigh, and taken prisoner in the retreat two or three days after the battle of Cross Lanes; spent nine months in the hands of the enemy at Richmond, New Orleans, and Salisbury, after which he was paroled and exchanged; returned to duty, March 22, 1863, at Dumfries; partic.i.p.ated in the battles of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville, where he was wounded in the shoulder by a sh.e.l.l; detailed as Clerk at Head Quarters of 1st Brigade 2d Division, 12th A.

C., Feb. 25, 1864; discharged July 6, 1864; married, and farming in Gibralter, Mich.

ARTHUR CURTIS DANFORTH,

A Soph.o.m.ore in Oberlin College; served as Corporal until Nov. 20, 1861, when he was promoted to First Sergeant, at Charleston, Va.; escaped unhurt from the battle of Cross Lanes, and was instantly killed in the battle of Winchester, by a bullet pa.s.sing through his chest, and another through his neck. His body was brought to Oberlin for burial.

EDWARD WAKEMAN GOODSELL,

A Freshman in Oberlin College; Corporal; with the Company until August 15, 1861, when he was sent, sick, to Gauley Bridge, and thence to Cincinnati. Being unfit for duty, because of inflamed eyes, he served in St. John's Hospital until he joined the Company on the 18th of July, 1862, at Alexandria, Va.

In the battle of Cedar Mountain, he received a bruise on the foot. At Antietam, a color guard from Co. C being required, he was detailed by Sergeant Lincoln, remarking as he went, that he "would as soon sign his death warrant." In the engagement, he received a wound in the abdomen.