Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, The
Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Cold Harbor. No, this isn’t a National Park Service
commercial. It is a list of the major
engagements of which the “Fighting Fools” of the 8th Ohio Infantry
took part. Now, the vast majority of my
ancestors were Confederates who fought in the Western Theater. (And two Federal ancestors who did as
well.) But I do have a handful of
ancestors (three Confederate and two Federal) who fought in the, “gasp”, Eastern
Theater!
My two “Yankee” ancestors weren’t true
Yankees I suppose because they were immigrants.
When the war began, they enlisted in the 8th Ohio Infantry
for 90 days. Once their enlistments
expired, they reenlisted for three years.
After the three years were up, one of them went home and his brother
joined the 4th Ohio Battalion for the duration of the war.
The 8th Ohio was part of the “Gibraltar
Brigade” and their exploits at Antietam and Gettysburg earned them the respect
of friend and foe alike. There are some
good references available for them online.
Check them out if you are interested.
Click here for a really good list of sources or here for some more!
You know, if I had to have ancestors fighting
in that little sideshow in the East, the 8th Ohio is a good regiment
for them to have belonged.
My name is Lee Hutch and I am a Civil War
Addict.
(My wife was discharged from the hospital this
morning and is recovering nicely. Thank
you for all of your prayers and well wishes.)
Lee:
ReplyDeleteOne of my ancestors was in the 61st NY Volunteers. He fought up the Peninsula and in the majority of the Seven Day's Battles. He then fought in the Antietam campaign. You can read his bio here: http://wp.me/p1BuMY-3L His name was Michael Patrick Murphy. I sometimes wonder how he felt at Antietam. The smell of blood, dead horses and emptied bowels must have been overwhelming. Did you ever notice that the never talk about the smell of battle?
True. I have seen death in my career, but nothing on this scale, of course. The Cornfield at Antietam must have been like the 7th circle of Hell. One of my Eastern Confederate ancestors was with the 4th Texas and was killed at Antietam. There has been some recent research into PTSD and Civil War Veterans which is also something that we don't talk about. Thanks for the comment and I'll be sure to check out the bio of your ancestor.
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