Panoramic View of Johnson's Island and Sandusky

 

Panoramic View of Johnson's Island and Sandusky, Ohio, 1864,  by Philip Nunan

The following information appears on the website of the Friends and
Descendants of Johnson's Island. Additional information, including  the names of those buried at the Johnson's Island Cemetery, appears in other Ohio's Yesterdays posts. The island lies approximately three miles from Sandusky, Ohio

From April of 1862 until September of 1865, more than 10,000 Confederates passed through Johnson’s Island Civil War Military Prison leaving behind an extensive historical and archaeological record. Many of these officers recorded in journals or diaries the day to day happenings, emotions, and conditions they were enduring. They also spent many hours writing letters, collecting autographs from prisoners, and sketching maps. These documents give vast insight into what prison life was like, as well as the personal conflicts and hardships encountered among families and friends during the Civil War.

The 16.5 acre Johnson’s Island Prison Compound contained 13 Blocks (12 as prisoner housing units and one as a hospital), latrines, sutler’s stand, 3 wells, pest house, 2 large mess halls (added in August, 1864) and more. The Blocks were two stories high and approximately 130 by 24 feet. There were more than 40 buildings outside the stockade (barns, stables, a lime kiln, forts, barracks for officers, a powder magazine, etc.) used by the 128th Ohio Volunteer Infantry to guard the prison. The two major fortifications (Forts Johnson and Hill) protecting Johnson's Island were constructed over the 1864/65 winter, and were operational by March of 1865. 

The Hoffman Battalion with other companies that formed the 128th Ohio Volunteer Infantry became the official guards of the prison under the charge of William S. Pierson, former mayor of Sandusky. Because of his cruelty to prisoners and his inability to handle problems and keep the prison in good order, he was replaced. On January 18, 1864 Brigadier General Harry D. Terry replaced Pierson.  A few months later, on May 9, 1864, Colonel Charles W. Hill took command at Johnson's Island, remaining as such until the end of the war.

Ohio Andersonville Monument

 

Ohio Andersonville Monument

Courtesy of National Park Service

The Ohio Andersonville Monument Commission was authorized by House Bill No. 586 on April 16, 1900, to erect a monument to the memory of Ohio  soldiers who died in Camp Sumpter, the Confederate military prison also known as Andersonville. With an appropriation of $5,000, the Commission selected the design offered by the Hughes Granite and Marble Company of Clyde, Ohio. The finished monument was unveiled December 18, 1901. The monument is the tallest on the site.  It is located on the prison grounds, on the north slope near the west side of the prison. The location is very close to the prison's original north wall before it was moved further north to provide 10 more acres of space. The four sides of the base bear the following images and inscriptions:

South: United States Coat of Arms
North: Ohio Coat of Arms
West: To her 1055 soldiers who died here in Camp Sumpter from March 1864 to April 1865 this monument is dedicated.
East: Death before Dishonor

President William McKinley Monument at Antietam

 

McKinley Monument at Antietam                            Courtesy of National Park Service

William McKinley Ohio, who later became the 25th President of the U.S., has a monument honoring his courage at the battle of Antietam. Hughes Granite and Marble Company of Clyde, Ohio produced the monument. The monument is located just south of the Burnside Bridge. It was dedicated October 13, 1903.

The inscription on the monument reads:

WILLIAM McKINLEY
January 29, 1843 - September 14, 1901
Fourteen Years Member of Congress
Twice Governor of Ohio 1892-3 and 1894-5
Twice President of United States
1897 - 1900 - 1901

Sergeant McKinley Co. E. 23rd Ohio Vol. Infantry, while in charge of the Commissary Department, on the afternoon of the day of the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, personally and without orders served "hot coffee" and "warm food" to every man in the Regiment, on this spot and in doing so had to pass under fire.

The Battle of Antietam took place in Maryland on September 17, 1862. It was Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North. It was the bloodiest single day battle in American history. The battle claimed 23,000 casualties, nine times greater than the number of American casualties on D-Day during World War II. Despite the battle's shocking carnage, Antietam provided President Abraham Lincoln with the victory he needed to announce the abolishment of slavery in the South.

President Rutherford B. Hayes of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry who became the 19th President of the U.S. recollected the incident in these words, in an 1891 speech introducing McKinley:

That battle began at daylight. Before daylight men were in the ranks and preparing for it. Without breakfast, without coffee, they went into the fight, and it continued until after the sun had set. Early in the afternoon, naturally enough, with the exertion required of the men, they were famished and thirsty, and to some extent broken in spirit. The commissary department of that brigade was under Sergeant McKinley’s administration and personal supervision. From his hands every man in the regiment was served with hot coffee and warm meats.

General J.L. Botsford described it in his battle report:

It was nearly dark when we heard tremendous cheering from the left of our regiment. As we had been having heavy fighting right up to this time, our division commander, General Scammon, sent me to find out the cause, which I very soon found to be cheers for McKinley and his hot coffee. You can readily imagine the rousing welcome he received from both officers and men. When you consider the fact of his leaving his post of security, driving right into the middle of a bloody battle with a team of mules, it needs no words of mine to show the character and determination of McKinley, a boy at this time about twenty years of age. McKinley loaded up two wagons with supplies, but the mules of one wagon were disabled. He was ordered back time and again, but he pushed right on.

[Quoted in The Life of William McKinley: Soldier, Lawyer, Statesman, by Robert P. Porter. Cleveland, 1896]

McKinley was promoted to second lieutenant for his conduct.

Recollections of 1883 Flood at Fremont, Ohio

 

1883 Flood  Recollection

Lucy Elliot Keeler, a resident of Fremont, wrote about the 1883 flood:

"Before dawn on the Sunday morning of February 4, 1883, the Fremont fire bell aroused the citizens who found hundreds of their dwellings surrounded or already inundated by water. Heavy rains of two days, falling upon a frozen ground, with ice gorges formed below town, had caused a sudden rise of water in the river four or five feet above any previous high water mark. The water flowed through Front street, the principal business street of the city, with a mighty current which no boats could stem. The whole third ward between the river banks and the foot of the hills was several feet under water; huge ice blocks floated in, packed and froze solid. Two thousand persons were driven from their homes. There were many narrow escapes and several deaths from drowning and exposure. Several bridges along the river were carried away, and that of the L. S. & M. S. Railway collapsed under a freight train, thirty-seven cars being precipitated into the river. The damage to property in Fremont alone amounted to about $100,000. Loss in the upper towns of Tiffin, Bucyrus and Upper Sandusky was also large."

Excerpted from: Keeler, Lucy. "The Sandusky River: Its Geography, History, and Tradition." Columbus, Ohio, 1904.

                                       

Fremont, Ohio

 Rutherford B. Hayes Library and Museums

                   Excerpts from the Diary of Rutherford B. Hayes

February 4 -- The last two days will be long remembered. Yesterday for the destruction of trees, today for the greatest flood ever known at Fremont. The rain Saturday morning began to freeze as it fell.  The telegraph wires became so heavy with ice that the poles were broken or pulled over, and the whole telephone and telegraph system of this neighborhood broke down.  The small twigs were covered with ice until they were an inch in diameter.  All the weak-limbed trees suffered greatly. For two or three hours the crash of falling limbs was almost constant.  Even a small limb falling with its ice and the ice on other limbs which it broke would make a roaring noise. Lucy and the family watched the scene with the greatest interest. Many favorite trees were badly marred.  Old trees of all sorts lost large limbs.  Soft maples, cottonwood, and elms suffered particularly. Young white oaks and evergreens stood up best. The losses that grieved us most are the injury to the large elm northeast of the house; one half of the tall sassafras; the young hickory in the orchard; the damage to three of the large old oaks, [and] to the four street elms. 

Sunday was  given up to the flood and the rescue and relief of the sufferers.  No such flood was ever seen here before.  The water filled the valley from bluff to bluff. It ran two to four feet the whole length of Water Street, and drove from homes  perhaps one to three hundred families.  Men with skiffs were at work all day, rescuing people.  One woman was drowned--others perhaps.  The water reached on the pike (State Street) to the west of Arch Street, on Croghan Street south side to the--. On Birchard Avenue it ran in rear of the Ball House and within two inches of the lower side of the water table of the building. The anecdotes of escapes, losses, and experiences are without number and often very interesting,

Note: The following day Hayes asked for voluntary contributions since it was decided the need was immediate and asking the state legislature for funds would take too long. Hayes organized a committee of five men who would take charge of  finance, supplies, and distribution. Hayes contributed $100 of the $1000 raised.