Richland Co., Ohio

 
 

Historical Records / Military Records

 
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Reminiscences of the Sons of Troy

Source:  THE MANSFIELD HERALD:  24 January 1884, Vol. 34, No. 10

 
 
 

Submitted by Amy

 

A few reminiscences of the valiant sons of Troy, who in the vigor of youth and sere of life, gave their blood as rich libations that the life of the Nation might be preserved, and of their surviving comrades and of those who have died since the close of the fratricidal war, may interest the readers of THE HERALD.  

The bones of Silas Chace whiten Lookout Mountain's rugged peak and Wesley Hetherington's blood reddened Stone River's murky waters.  The young heart of Thomas Phillips ceased to throb in a bloody contest, and Robert Ficks and Benjamin Lehman crimsoned with their blood the venal-tinged plains of Dallas, and Samuel Strausbauch found his grave in the turbid waters of the Mississippi when the ill-fated Sultana went down.  

Major Conger, we are informed, had a premonition that his flame of life would expire on a Southern battle-field, and expressed a desire that he would meet a sudden death, and in a short and hotly contested affray a deadly minnie pierced his heart and his remains repose beneath the sod of the loyal North.  

The blood never coursed through the veins of a more patriotic soldier than James Narans.  He fought valiantly at Chepultepec, his blood stained the plains of Monterey, and he followed the victorious Scott to the halls of the Montezumas, in the Mexican conflict.  When the red flame of the civil war cast its glare ore the land he was far advanced in the sere of life, but he went forth again, willing to die that the Union might remain intact.  But the privations incident to field and camp were too much for his once vigorous constitution weakened by the ravages of time and of disease acquired in the contest with Mexico, and before a year had elapsed he was discharged.  He died about fifteen years ago and he was the oldest of the soldiers of Troy who fought in the Rebellion.  

Dr. H.P. Anderson, by his kind ministrations and fine attainments in the domain of medicine and surgery, had achieved enviable note among the citizens of Lexington, but he early enlisted, and as Surgeon of the Sixty-fourth O.V.I. he acquitted himself in a manner creditable to his profession.  He died suddenly in Iowa two or three years subsequent to the close of the war, of disease acquired by his arduous duties in the field and camp.  The name of A.G. Anderson, his son, was conspicuous for gallantry in the Nation's annals, and the gentleman has for many years been delving in the fertile soil of Nebraska, owning a farm, near Central City, Merrick County.  

About the beginning of the Rebellion, a slender German youth, full of bright hopes and high aspirations, buffeted the Atlantic's billows, hoping for a realization of his laudable aims in America's free and fertile domain.  He came to Lexington and worked on the farm of Mr. John Wirt some, and wielded the sledge in the blacksmith shop of Mr. Baker, but the fire of patriotism burned brightly in his young heart, and relinquishing work at the anvil and the forge, he went forth willing to die that our grand fabric of liberty might stand.  He was cultured, had fine business tact and was of a genial nature, and Mr. A.B. Beverstock and son Charles, both of whom have crossed the dark river, upon his return engaged his services in the dry goods store.  After remaining here some time he went to Mansfield, and to his intelligence and fidelity to all trusts, he soon attained enviable note among the business men and high social distinction in the city.  After remaining in the city a few years, consumption fastened its relentless grasp upon him, and he sought a western clime to eliminate the dread disease from his system, but his efforts to restore his health were futile.  Mr. A.B. Beverstock, appreciating the admirable qualities of brain and heart of his protégé, with commendable generosity defrayed his expenses to Lexington and took him to his own home, and all that wealth and the generous hearts of Miss D.H. Beverstock and others of her household could prompt, was done to extend his tenure of life and illumine the passage to the grave, and for ten years his remains have reposed in the burial lot and within the shadow of the colossal monument of his benefactor, Mr. A.B. Beverstock.  This gallant soldier was Edward Leither, and the memory of his name is enshrined in the hearts of his many friends, both here and in Mansfield.

On the 21st. day of June, 1864, Mr. D.L. King, in a cyclone of grape, canister and shell, within the shadow of the frowning height of Kenesaw Mountain, received a ghastly wound in the hip from a fragment of a shell, and he came near dying at the scene of this memorable contest, but he was taken to the hospital at Nashville and gangrene supervening, he endured intense physical anguish for several months, but his natural vigor and inflexible will availed to prevent his death, and his surviving comrades of the Sixth Ohio Battery, who are readers of THE HERALD, that the alertness of the step, and the exuberance of the spirits of this genial gentleman indicate a vigorous digestion and a long tenure of life.

Mr. C.D. Culp was also a member of this famous battery and fought valiantly at Kenesaw and in all the contests where the valor of its members made its name one of the most noted in the annals of the Rebellion.


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