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15th OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY-(Descendants Assoc.)
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The Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry was among the first troops to respond to President Lincoln's call for troops in April 1861. The troops assembled at Camp Jackson, Columbus, Ohio and were mustered into the service of the State to date from April 27, 1861. Four days later, the Regiment removed to Zanesville, Ohio. The Regiment was used to guard the B & O Railroad in Western Virginia and were engaged at Philippi, Laurel Hill and Carrick's Ford. With its term about to expire, the regiment was reorganized into a three year unit. In September of 1861, the unit began to gather at Mansfield, Ohio.
Moses R. Dickey was named Colonel. William T. Wilson-Lt. Col. and William Wallace-Major. The regiment was fully organized by September 20, 1861. The regiment was mustered into service on September 21, 1861 with equipment being issued on the 22nd. The regiment arrived in Columbus, Ohio on September 26 and moved the next day to Camp Dennison.
Moses R. Dickey-Col. Aug.7, 1861 resigned Oct 24, 1862
Willam Wallace-Col. Oct. 24, 1862 Discharged July 19, 1864
Frank Askew-Col.(Bvt. Brig. Gen) July 22, 1864-Mustered out Nov. 21, 1865
Company A- Muskingham Co. Capt. James Cummins
Company B- Guernsey Co. Capt. John McClenahan
Company C- Morrow Co. Capt. Hiram Miller
Company D- Wyandot Co. Capt Isaac Kirby
Company E- Belmont Co. Capt. Frank Askew
Company F- Belmont Co. Capt. Amos Glover
Company G- Richland Co. Capt Andrew R.Z. Dawson
Company H- Van Wert Co. Capt. Thaddeus Gilliland
Company I- Richland Co. Capt. Abraham Cummins
Company K- Belmont Co. Capt Otho Holloway
The Regiment served in the following campaigns.
Shiloh, TN--------------------April 6-7, 1862
Corinth, MS-------------------May 30, 1862
Stone River, TN---------------Dec. 31, 1862-Jan 2, 1863
Liberty Gap, TN---------------June 25, 1863
Chickamauga, GA---------------September 19-20, 1863
Mission Ridge, TN-------------November 25, 1863
Rocky Face Ridge, GA----------May 5-9, 1864
Resaca, GA--------------------May 13-16, 1864
Cassville, GA-----------------May 19-22, 1864
Pickett's Mill, GA------------May 27, 1864
Kenesaw Mountain, GA----------June 9-30, 1864
Peachtree Creek, GA-----------July 20, 1864
Atlanta, GA-------------------July 22, 1864
Lovejoy's Station, GA---------September 2-6, 1864
Franklin, TN------------------November 30, 1864
Nashville, TN-----------------December 15-16, 1864
The Battle of Shiloh
The rumble of artillery could be heard ominously in the distance as the steamer, John J. Roe, headed along the Tennessee River toward Pittsburg Landing. On board was the brigade of Col. William Gibson, consisting of the 15th & 49th Ohio and the 32nd & 39th Indiana Regiments. It was near mid-morning of April 7, 1862 when the steamer neared the confusion and chaos at the landing.
The Union Army had been hit by a massive assault the day before. The Confederate Army of Albert S. Johnston had driven back Grant's army from its camps along the Tennessee River and as night fell, the bluecoats teetered on the brink of disaster.
Andrew Gleason, of the 15th Ohio's Company G, recorded the scene in his diary. "The river bank and the sides of the road through the bluff were crowded with panic-stricken cowards who had drifted back from various regiments of Grant's army, and could only be restrained from leaping on the boats by a strong line of guards with fixed bayonets at the landing."
The arriving 15th Ohio was part of General Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio. Buell's troops began arriving in the early morning hours of April 7th, as Grant massed his troops for a counter-attack. Pushing toward the battlefield, the horrors of battle were everywhere evident.
"We had not gone far before the terrible effects of a desperate battle were visible on either side of the road." wrote Captain Chandler Carroll of Co. K to his wife. "Dead Federals, dead Sesech and dead horses and mules lay thick on the ground and the wounded could be heard groaning even above the noise and confusion of the battle."
Captain Askew of Co. E voiced similar feelings in a letter to his father, "...the scene was truly horrible. The ground was thickly strewn with dead men and horses killed in almost every conceivable way."
The brigade advanced toward the center of the Union Line near the Corinth and Purdy raod angle, in wooded terrain stopping about twenty-five yards in the rear of Rousseau's Brigade of their own division, being Alexander McCook's. Rousseau's men were hard pressed and were nearly out of ammunition. After a brief halt, the brigade moved forward to take Rousseau's place in line. The 15th deployed on the right, the 49th on the left and the 39th Indiana took the center. (The 32nd Indiana being detached on its arrival.) The brigade opened their ranks to allow Rousseau's men to fall back and then they advanced through a storm of shot and shell.
The first casulties taken were all wounded in the legs showing that the Rebels were purposely firing low. A Confederate battery got the range of the 15th early in the action and one of its shells did cruel damage when it hit between companies E and H.
As the brigade reached its positions, the order was given to lie down and open fire. Colonel Gibson described the action in his report. "The enemy's infantry....opened a terrific fire on our whole line simultaneously. The fire of the enemy's infantry was promptly responed to along our entire line. Our volleys were devivered with rapidity, regularity and effect."
As both sides held steady, the Confederates attempted to turn the left of Gibson's line held by the 49th Ohio. Gibson changed front and repulsed the effort, only to have the Southerners re-form and try again, this time with a much larger force. As they launched their second attack, Captain Bouton, with two guns from his Chicago battery, (offically designated as Battery I, Ist Illinois Light Artillery), arrived and quickly silenced the enemy's guns. Gibson was then able to straighten his line as the Rebel assualt ground to a halt. With this threat removed, Captain Bouton took his guns to the left of the 15th's line which was suffering much from an enemy battery that had been hammering them since they arrived. Skillfully manning his guns, Bouton put the enemy guns out of commission.
Major William Wallace, commanding the 15th in the absence of Colonel Moses Dickey, described the afternoon action. "...wewere under the most galling fire of the rebel forces. During the entire time no inch of ground was yielded but twice we advanced our lines until we werein close proximity to the rebel forces. No language can do justice to the brave officer and men under my command. They poured a most deadly fire into the enemy's ranks amid a raking charge of mucketry and artillery which was fast thinning my ranks but nothing could move the gallant Fifteenth."
The Confederate forces, worn down from two days of hard fighting, withdrew toward Corinth. By four o'clock, the fighting was over. The 15th Ohio returned to the landing and went into bivouac.
Colonel Gibson, in his official report, praised Major Wallace for his "promptness and skill and exhibited throughout the bloody contest the higest proof of coolness, courage and energy...the entire regiment gave proof of thorough discipline."
In the four hour fight, the 15th suffered 6 killed and 62 wounded. Captain Carroll summed up the feelings of the men in the regiment. "I had always believed that the Fifteenth Ohio was composed of good fighting material, that it would never disgrace the state from which it came and the manner in which it conducted itself on this occasion, the coolness with which the men marched into the galling fire of the enemy exceeded my most sanguine expectations. It made me feel proud that I belonged to it."
For the rest of the month, the 15th remained near camp, helping with burial details and doing picket duty. In early May, the army began its move into Northern Mississippi against the Confederate forces at Corinth. The 15th remained in reserve until May 27th, when it moved to the front and engaged in heavy skirmishing for three days. On May 30th, the army moved into the now abandoned town and went into camp.
(Source material for Shiloh Campaign.)
Alex Cope's History of the 15th Ohio
Official Records- Reports of William Gibson-49th Ohio
August Willich-32nd Indiana
T.Harrison-39th Indiana
W.Wallace-15th Ohio
A.Blackman-49th Ohio
Ohio Shiloh Battlefield Commission Report
Belmont Chronicle Newspaper-April 24, 1862-Letter of Frank Askew
April 30, 1862-Letter from 15th Ohio Correspondent
June 1st, 1862-Letter from 15th Ohio Correspondent
No Date-------interview with J. Thompson-15th OVI
Brigade Monuments-Just South of Woolf Field near the intersection of Corinth Rd and Hamburg-Purdy Rd.
Within a week the army was moving again, this time across northern Alabama. After passing through Florence, the regiment went into camp near Battle Creek, where it would remain until the 20th of August. Several items of note occured during this march. Straggling became a major problem, as did an outbreak of gambling. These problems were harshly dealt with.
On August 10th, Col. August Willich, the Prussian commander of the 32nd Indiana, was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of the brigade. Willich had attracted much attention with the handling of his regiment at Shiloh and was very popular with his men. It didn't take long for that popularity to spread to the entire brigade. On the same day as Willich's promotion, Col. Moses Dickey tendered his resignation and Major Wallace assumed command of the 15th Ohio. It is not known if Dickey's resignation had anything to do with Willich's promotion but it was widely assumed that he was angry at being passed over for the command.
Willich instituted some changes. He reviewed his brigade and gathered the men for an introductory speech which was very favorably met with. He personally instructed his officers on tactics and introduced a system of bugle calls which he had used in the "old country." Willich was an officer who led by example and wasn't afraid to try new ideas.
In late August, the 15th Ohio started North with its brigade in pursuit of Bragg's Confederates who were heading for Kentucky. The march north took them to the banks of the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky but too late to participate in the Battle of Perryville, arriving a few days after Bragg began his retreat toward Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The 15th resumed the march and went into camp near Nashville on November 8th. They had spent over a month and a half marchng across two states.
Some changes took place during their stay in Nashville. Willich's Brigade was assigned as the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 14th Army Corps--Army of the Cumberland. General Alexander McCook was elevated to Corps command and Richard Johnson to Division commander. Major William Wallace, acting regimental commander, was named Colonel of the 15th Ohio and Captain Frank Askew was named Lt. Colonel. The latter appointment was met with great satisfaction by the men, as they trusted Askew as a man of "unusual skill and efficiency and unusual qualifications and fitness for larger command."
Frank Askew was born in St. Clairsville, Belmont Co. Ohio. His father was a saddle and harnessmaker in nearby Barnesville. Askew graduated from Michigan University in 1859 and began to study law. With the outbreak of the war, he enlisted as a 90 day volunteer in the 17th Ohio and was named Lieutenant. When his term expired, Askew returned to Belmont County, recruited Co. E and was named Captain of the 15th Ohio. No one man is more closely associated with the regiment than Frank Askew, being nominated Breveret Brigadier General by wars end.
By late December, with a great deal of prodding from Washington, Army Commander William Rosecrans began to move his army south towards Murfreesboro where Bragg had his Confederate army quartered. McCook's corps headed south out of Nashville past Nolensville where they made camp. After a cold and fireless night, the march continued on the morning of December 30, with Willich's brigade stopping on the extreme right of the Federal Army near the intersection of Franklin Road and Gresham Lane just a few miles short of Murfreesboro. Here the order went out to make camp and build fires. The brigade even made fires hundreds of yards beyond the end of the line to try and deceive Bragg as to the strength of that part of the line.
Willich's Brigade was fronted by the 39th and 32nd Indiana with the 49th Ohio placed to their right rear, all facing South. To their rear was the 89th Illinois. The 15th Ohio anchored the line, facing West, thus puting their backs to the enemy. That's if the enemy were still there. General Willich was sure the Rebels had fled. So sure was he of this fact that he let the men pitch their shelter tents. Colonel Wallace was worried. "I felt uneasy all night....I felt that they might be attacked very early in the morning and their shelter tents would be in the way."
_________________________________________________________________ Did your ancestor fight with the brigade of August Willich? If so, you are eligible for membership in the Willich's Brigade Descendants Association. The purpose of this organization is to locate ancestors of those men who fought in the brigade and share whatever information we can find including letters, diaries, photos, articles, markers, monuments and the like.
If your ancestor fought in this brigade, please contact us at Willich's Brigade Descendants Association
P.O. Box 331
Fair Oaks, CA 95628
15th Ohio-Stones River to Chickamauga
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