Seventy Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry

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Warren County Local History by Dallas Bogan

Seventy Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Contributor:	Dallas Bogan on 3 August 2004
Source:	original article by Dallas Bogan
Links:	See PARTIAL ROSTER of Warren Countians at the end of this article Company A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K The 79th Ohio Infantry at "Ohio in the Civil War" by Larry Stevens The 79th Ohio Infantry at Civil War Soldier and Sailor System by the National Park Service The 79th Ohio Infantry at Ancestry.com [paid site] "A Dying Soldier's Last Letter" from the 15 Sep 1886 Lebanon Gazette Unit Bibliography from U.S. Army Military History Institute Historical Services Division [click to view as pdf file]
	Return to Index to see a list of other articles by Dallas Bogan

Companies A, B, E and H were organized in Warren County along with companies from Hamilton and Clinton Counties. Clermont County organized a company of sharpshooters, which joined the regiment later. Recruiting started July 22, 1862, and by the first of September all companies had reached Camp Dennison and were mustered in.
Marching through Kentucky was an experience for the Regiment. The Seventy-Ninth became acquainted with the perils of war, having sufferings not realized at home. At one point the Rebels were killing animals and throwing their carcasses into the water pools and thus destroying their chances for drinking water. It was either drink from these pools or suffer the consequences. Measles also became prevalent and caused many deaths. Having marched to Gallatin, Tenn., the Seventy-Ninth was greatly reduced in number because of sickness and suffering the hardships of the five hundred and fifty mile trek. The regiment had at time of muster in a total of 919 men and on May 2, 1864, this number was accumulated at approximately six hundred men that were able to function for the cause of the Union.

Taken from Reid's, Ohio in the War:
"On the 2nd day of May the armies in Lookout Valley moved from their encampments on the enemy, concentrated in force at Dalton, Georgia. The Seventy-Ninth was not engaged in the demonstrations at Buzzard's Roost and Dug gap, being in the reserve line, but after passing through Snake Creek Gap, on the 13th and 14th, near Resaca, it skirmished with the enemy, with considerable loss in killed and wounded. On the 18th day of May the Seventy-Ninth was one of five regiments that were ordered to assault a strong position held by the enemy on the road leading from Dalton to Resaca. Artillery and infantry defended the position. The assaulting party was composed of about twenty-five hundred men, under W.T. Ward. It approached within four hundred yards of the enemy's position under cover of a dense forest of pine. At a given signal the troops rushed forward, amid a storm of grape, canister, and musket-balls, and, after hard fighting, carried the works, with a loss to the enemy of a number of prisoners, four pieces of artillery, and fifteen hundred stand of small arms. This was the introduction of the regiment to hand-to-hand fight with the foe; and the dead and wounded that lay thick before the face of the enemy's works, on the parapet and within, indicated as landmarks where the regiment had struggled for victory. The loss in this engagement fell most severely on the enlisted men. There were no officers killed, but five were wounded. The enemy retreated during the night, and was found the following day at "Gravelly Plateaux," from which it was driven back early on Cassville. Here it made a more stubborn resistance, and again the Seventy-Ninth was engaged, but with small loss. At Dallas, on the 25th of May, the enemy was brought to bay, and the whole Twentieth Corps was hurled again and again against the lines, until sixteen hundred men were lost by the Corps. On the 27th of May an advance was ordered, and the Seventy-Ninth was one of the first to march. The movement was a success, but cost the regiment many lives. On the 28th the enemy open on the position of the regiment with artillery. On the same night an attack was made along the whole line, but was repulsed."
"At Peachtree Creek the Seventy-Ninth was in the front line, being the second regiment engaged. From three o'clock until seven o'clock the battle raged terribly, and the regiment lost one-half its men. The enemy made assault after assault, but was each time repulsed. The regiment had seven color-bearers killed and wounded. At the commencement of the battle it had but four or five officers, and several companies were commanded by non-commissioned officers. After this battle, and until after the capture of Atlanta, where the regiment received recruits, it was only a regiment in name not in numbers. The labor in the trenches and on the skirmish line, the attempted surprise by day and by night, the charge and the counter charge, go to make up the history of the siege of Atlanta. The regiment commenced the campaign with six hundred men, and at its close had one hundred and eighty-two. Fifteen recruits were received during the campaign, of whom seven were lost, thus making the loss in about one hundred days four hundred and twenty-five men. Of this number many were slightly wounded, and rejoined the regiment; so that with the recruits received on the 15th day of November, when General Sherman commenced his march to the sea, it numbered about four hundred men. The Seventy-Ninth was never engaged during the march to the sea except as details for foraging, in which it lost two men. It took part in the siege of Savannah, on the Springfield Road. Here no loss was sustained."
"In the march through South Carolina, the Seventy-Ninth took part in the affairs of Langtonville and Columbia. The loss was small, not exceeding thirty men killed, wounded, and prisoners. In North Carolina the regiment, at the battle of Averysburg, took an active part, assaulting and carrying that part of the enemy's lines where its artillery was posted. It captured three pieces of artillery, one hundred stands of small arms, and thirty-one prisoners. In this charge the regiment received many encomiums. The loss in killed and wounded was severe, being one-fourth of its men engaged. At Bentonville, on the 19th day of March, 1865, the regiment performed its part in contributing to the final overthrow of General Johnston's forces. This was the last action in which it was engaged. After sixteen days it reported to Goldsboro, and thence marched to Raleigh. About the first day of May, it turned homeward by way of Richmond, and was mustered out at Washington, June 9, 1865."
The 79th Regiment was organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, from August 20 to October 21, 1862, to serve three years. It was mustered out of service June 9, 1865, in accordance with orders from the War Department. Regiment lost during service 54 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 officer and 91 enlisted men by disease. Total 146.

The list of battles and dates are:
RESACA, GA............................May 13-16, 1864
DALLAS, GA............................May 25 to June 4, 1864.
KENESAW MOUNTAIN, GA..................June 9-30, 1864.
PEACH TREE CREEK, GA..................July 20, 1864.
ATLANTA, GA.(Seige of)................July 28 to September 2, 1864.
COLUMBIA, S.C.........................February 16-17, 1865.
AVERYSBORO, N.C.......................March 16, 1865.
BENTONVILLE, N.C......................March 19-21, 1865.

Partial Roster of Warren Countians (email any roster additions to Arne H Trelvik)

Company A, 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
A	Private	Edward T. Archdeacon	[wounded at Resaca, Ga.]
A	Private	William T. Baner	[Killed on 20 Jul 1864 at Peach Tree Creek, GA.]
A	Corporal	William Huston Bone	[Wounded 20 Jul 1865 at Peach Tree Creek, GA; transferred to Co G, 6th VRC on 1 Jan 1865]
A	Private	John R. Brown
A	Private	Jimmet Conner
A	Private	Benjamin F. Dowdell
A	Private	John R. Dowdell
A	Private	Wilson T. Greathouse	[also served in Co. D, 73rd OVI]
A	Private	Richard Green
A	Private	Jeremiah S. P. Gregg	[Died of disease on 17 Oct 1864 at Atlanta, GA.]
A		William Harrison Gregg	[killed by guerillas near Atlanta Ga. while garrying dispatches for his brigade., Oct. 13]
A	Private	William F. Hardy
A	Sergeant	David Hopkins
A	Private	Joseph L. Hunter	[ Died on 30 November 1862 in Louisville, KY]
A	Corporal	Abram Jeffery	[died in the hospital at Frankfort, Ky., October 29, 1862]
A	Private	Benjamin Jeffery	[wounded at the battle of Resaca, and died from the results of his wound, in the hospital at Nashville, Tenn., July 1863]
A		Leonidas Keever	[died in Gallatin, Tenn.]
A	Private	Robert Rabb Maxwell
A	Sergeant	William F. Miller
A	Private	Joseph Milner
A	Private	David J. Morris
A	Corporal	Henry Morrow	[died on 17 May 1864 of wounds received about 15 May 1864 at Resaca, Georgia]
A	Private	William Dixon Mulford	[ He died at Chattanooga, Tenn., of wounds received at the battle of Mission Ridge, Dec. 15, 1863, aged 26 years.]
A		Henry Mull
A	Private	David S. Perrine	[Wounded on 20 July 1864 at Peach Tree Creek, GA Died of wounds on 14 August 1864 in Chattanooga, TN]
A	Private	Baylis N. Settlemyre
A	Corporal	Francis J. Sherwood
A	Private	Phineas Sherwood	[died on 25 Mar1865 at Goldsboro, NC from wounds received 16 Mar 1865 at Averysboro, NC]
A	Private	Samuel Sherwood	[died on 09 August 1863 in La Vergne, TN from accidental wounds]
A	Private	Thomas Sherwood
A	Private	Daniel Franklin St. John
A	Private	Charles W. Thompson
A	Private	Timothy Titus
A	Sergeant	Amos S. Warwick
A	Captain	William W. Wilson	Major of the regiment from August, 1862, to November, 1864
A	Private	Jonathan M. Wright

Company B, 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
B	Sergeant Major	William Venable Baird	[per 30 Mar 1899 Western Star obituary]
B	Private	William Boger
B	Private	William L. Bradley
B	Private	William R. Bradley
B	Private	William H. H. Cain
B	Sergeant	James S. Coburn
B	Private	Christopher Fry
B	Private	George Fry	[died of disease on 1/3/1863 at Bowling Green, KY; Buried at Nashville National Cemetery, Nashville, TN Gravesite: N-486]
B	Private	Samuel A. Haney	[Wounded on 23 July 1864 at Atlanta, GA]
B	Private	William H. Haney
B	Private	Walter S. Hinkle	[also served in the 59th O.V.I. and in the 73rd O.V.I.]
B	Private	John A. Hitesman	[wounded through thigh and groin, and in side, at Lost Mt. Ga. June 15, 1864]
B	Private	Francis M Hollingshead
B	Private	James Hutchinson
B	Corporal	Joseph Hutchinson
B	Private	William Koogle
B	Private	John Long
B	Private	Washington N. Parlett
B	Private	Thomas Craig Patterson
B	Private	Jacob S. Pence
B	Private	Charles Edward Rigby
B	Corporal	William G. Sears	[wounded 14 May 1864 at Resaca, GA; died of wounds on 20 May 1864 in Chattanooga, TN]
B	Private	Edward Smith
B	Private	James A. Thompson
B	Private	John Thompson	[died 09 February 1863 at Gallatin, TN]
B	Private	John W. Thompson
B	1st Lieutenant	Thornton Thompson
B		Joseph N. Turner
B	Private	Luther Walker
B	Private	Commodore P. Wheaton	[disability discharge on 19 Feb 1863 at Gallatin, TN - later enlisted in Company G, 183rd OVI]
B	Corporal	Jacob Henry Winner	[transferred to Company B, 73rd OVI on 9 Jun 1865]

Company C, 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
C		Henry Burns
C		Samuel Reed Nickerson	[discharged in February, 1864, by reason of a broken arm received in said service]

Company D, 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
D		David Hutchison/Hutchinson	[TMayhewpe@cs.com indicates that he was a prisoner at Andersonville]
D	Private	Francis M. Vantress
D	Corporal	Andrew Jobe
D	Private	Archibold Jobe

Company E, 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
E	Private	Ross Ackley	[also served in Co A, 12th OVI and Co. A, 8th VRC]
E	Private	David D. Ayers	[discharged for disability on 1/25/1863 at Gallatin, TN. & later served in the 4th O.V.C.]
E	Private	John W. Baker
E	Private	Benajah Cadwallader
E	Private	Benjamin B. Cadwallader	[transferred to Company E, 73rd OVI on 9 Jun 1865]
E		Oliver B. Drake
E	Private	George Eagle
E	Private	John Harper
E		John Hughes
E	Private	George W. Hurtt
E	Private	Jonathan Ireland	[Killed on 20 July 1864 in Peach Tree Creek, GA]
E	Private	Enoch Kelly
E	Private	Samuel L. Montgomery
E	Private	Robert Newlin Whitacre

Company F, 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
F	Corporal	Friedrich Wilhelm Bremer	[Submitted 20 Aug 2007 by his great grandson, William W. Howard who provided a Biographical Sketch. Also see Civil War Service Record at ancestry.com]
F & H	Corporal	Aaron B. Chandler
F	Sergeant	John Jackson	[9 Jan 1862 Western Star indicates he was "shot dead on Sunday inst, in an altercation at a drinking house in Reading"]
F & H		William McKinney

Company G, 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
G	Captain	Howard Dunlevy
G	Private	William A. Howard	[added 27 Sep 2006 by William J. Howard citing William Howard discharge papers]
G	Corporal	Israel Lupton
G	Captain	Thomas Vantref'/Van Tress	[added 27 Sep 2006 by William J. Howard citing William Howard discharge papers]

Company H, 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Union Guard)

Also see “Soldier’s record, Company H, 79th Reg’t, Ohio Vol. Infantry”
Cincinnati, Ohio, Middleton Strobridge, 1863. (Color lithograph (16”x 21 ½”) of Co. H roster thru Spring, 1863)
[A copy is in the personal possession of Dean Hough, Lancaster, Pa. A 2nd copy is on display at the Warren County Genealogical Society]

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
H	Sergeant	Thomas E. Bisham	[Wounded on 16 March 1865 at Averysboro, NC & Died on 25 May 1865 in Hosp, New York]
H	Private	Allen J. Blake
F & H	Corporal	Aaron B. Chandler
H	Private	Empton Cleaver	[died on 05 January 1863 in Gallatin, TN]
H	Private	James Cleaver
H	Private	Robert Cleaver
H	1st Lieutenant	John D. Clements
H	1st Lieutenant	Israel D. Compton	[became ill and died 31 Dec 1862 at Gallatin, Tennessee]
H	Private	William Cooper
H	Corporal	Jesse Gibbs
H	Private	Joseph E. Gibbs
H	Captain	M. Horace McKay
H	Private	Lewis F. Mannington
F & H		William McKinney
H	Private	Isaac Newton Miller
H	Wagoner	Orlistus Mills
H	Private	Edmund Retallick
H	Private	Mahlon Ridge
H	Private	Noah B. Spray	[wounded on 15 May 1864 at Resaca, GA & Died of wounds on 04 June 1864]
H	Private	James Milton Thompson	[aka Milton Thompson]
H	Private	William M. Thompson	[Received a disability Discharge 29 Apr 1863 at Columbus, Ohio]
H	Private	Absalom Throckmorton	[died Jan. 6, 1863, in the hospital at Gallatin, Tenn., with the measles]
H	Private	Cyrus Ward
H	Private	Watkinson, Thomas
H	Private	Watkinson, William
H	Private	Joseph H. Wolfe	[died of wounds on 30 July 1864 in Peach Tree Creek, GA]

Company I, 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
I	Private	John W. Barkley	[Died of disease on 17 Feb 1863 at Gallatin, TN.]
I	Private	Albert Cretors	[also served in 146th O.N.G. & in 183rd O.V.I.]
I	Private	Barkley L. Dakin	[later transferred to Company C]
I	Major	Collin Ford	Later he was commissioned Brevet Colonel in the 100th U.S.C.T.
I	Private	Milo Munger	[Died on 18 December 1862 in Gallatin, TN]
I	Private	Benjamin West
I	Private	Lot Wright.	Later he was commissioned as Captain in the 100th U.S.C.T., taking command of Company D, at Nashville, Tenn.

Company K (Ohio, Fourth Independent Company Sharpshooters)

Company	Rank	Name	Remark
K	Corporal	David Ertle
K	Private	Jonathan A. Hopkinson
K		Evan Hurley
K	Private	Henry F. Lundy	[Died on 18 May 1863 in Field Hosp, Murfreesboro, TN]
K	Private	John M. Phillips
K	Sergeant	James C. Redman
K	Private	Levi Matthew Shoemaker	[Died on 05 January 1863 in Woodsonville, KY]

FOOTNOTES: [a place to add additional information that you might want to submit]

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