GILES WALDO SHURTLEFF: A BIOGRAPHY OF OBERLIN’S FAVORITE SON

A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

by John L. Mercer December, 2016

Dissertation written by

John L. Mercer

B.A., Bethany College, 1981 M.A., Kent State University, 2001 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2016

Approved by

Leonne M. Hudson, Ph.D. , Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee

Bradley Keefer, Ph.D. , Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee

Clarence Wunderlin, Ph.D. x

Babacar M’Baye, Ph.D. x

Landon Hancock, Ph.D. x

Accepted by

Brian Hayashi, Ph.D. , Chair, Department of History

James L. Blank, Ph.D. , Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Chapter One – The Making of the Man: An Oberlin Education 18 Chapter Two – Enlistment and Early Fighting 55 Chapter Three – Imprisonment 78 Chapter Four – War and Romance 105 Chapter Five – The 5th USCT 134 Chapter Six – The Petersburg Campaign 171 Chapter Seven – Recovery and Returning Home 210 Chapter Eight – The Ideal Oberlinite 241 Conclusion 281 Bibliography 288

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Acknowledgements Many students have traveled the road I am just now completing, and though at times it has felt as if my journey was improbably unique, the truth is that it was not. There were also moments when I seemed to be alone at the base of a mountain that I could not climb. Again, the reality was that I was never alone. I have, in fact, been surrounded by supportive friends, generous scholars, and family who never stopped believing in me. This brief acknowledgment section gives me the important opportunity to express my deep gratitude to those who helped me complete this dissertation. I doubt these words will convey the depth of my gratitude, but I will certainly try.

Many Oberlinians nelped to make this Oberlin biography possible. Chief among them was Archivist, Ken Grossi. Ken and his staff proved endlessly helpful in both making the Shurtleff Papers available and in assisting me to find other pertinent Oberlin records.

Ken’s staff not only helped me find Oberlin information, from alumni records to treasurer reports, they also helped hone my research skills. The cheerful way they went about their work was always welcome. Archivist Emeritus Roland Baumann who was in charge when I began this project, also provided encouragement and support, and the benefit of his deep understanding of Oberlin history. Oberlin History Professors Dr. Carol Lasser and Dr. Gary Kornblith have also been wonderfully supportive. They have encouraged my work by reading drafts and suggesting research possibilities. I would also like to thank them and the other contributors to the Electronic Oberlin Group (EOG). The EOG not only published my early work on Shurtleff, but provided much needed Oberlin historical information.

Several other scholars have offered invaluable assistance to me. Chief among these is Dr.

Kelly D. Mezurek. Before she began her work as a historian at Walsh College, she was a fellow

iv graduate student at Kent State. For quite some time she has been offering her support and always ready to share with me what to expect as I followed her through the program. Her very helpful comments on the lives of African-American soldiers can be seen in several parts of this dissertation. Dr. George Richards of Edinboro University kindly read and commented on several drafts. His support and encouragement were as important as his excellent commentary. Thanks also to Catherine Durant Voorhees who is both a descendant of, and the editor of a military memoir of Giles Shurtleff. I owe a debt also to Ken Sommer graciously guided me to and around the battlefield in West where Shurtleff was captured.

I have been very fortunate to have been a part of the History Department of Kent State

University for both my Masters and my doctoral studies. The professors and staff have been ceaselessly supportive of and patient with me. My gratitude to KSU begins with Kay Dennis who always knew what part of the educational bureaucracy I next needed to confront. Dr. Kim

Gruenwald who helped me both in the classroom and as an advisor. I cannot say enough about my graduate committee. Dr. Landon Hancock’s leadership at the defense, and Dr. Babacar

M’Baye’s very helpful comments added greatly to this project. Dr. Bradley Keefer provided both insight and passion. His enthusiasm for 19th century American history is contagious – and I caught it. Dr. Clarence Wunderlin has been a teacher and mentor for more years than I want to count. He never stopped encouraging me, nor did he ever lower his high standards in regards to my work.

I especially must thank my advisor Dr. Leonne Hudson. I have had the great pleasure of working with Dr. Hudson for over fifteen years. In that time I have witnessed the heights of both scholarship and friendship. He has questioned, goaded, inspired, guided, and helped me to be the scholar that I have become. I can never thank him enough.

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Finally, I express undying gratitude to my family. My brothers Buck and Bill always encouraged me to never give up. My brilliant sons, Jacob and Sam, supported me, and allowed me to be absent from part of their lives while I finished this dissertation. Most of all I express admiration as well as gratitude to my wife Ruth. She has been my editor, sounding board, and rock during this process. Without her love and encouragement this biography could not have been completed. It is to her that dedicate this work.

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Introduction

There is no doubt that the quality of the farmland lured men like David Shurtleff to northern Vermont. Born in Plymouth County, , in 1790, as a young man he moved to northern Vermont. There he met Ruth Knapp from Fairfield, a small town north of

Burlington, east of Lake Champlain, and near the border with English Canada. In 1816 the two married and set to farming in Stanstead, north and east of Fairfield. He believed that the property was payment for service to his country in the War of 1812. He worked his land, and the following year Ruth gave birth to their first child; over the next fourteen years she bore seven more children. The youngest of these was Giles Waldo, who was born on September 8, 1831.

He was just a toddler when the family picked up and moved near to David Shurtleff’s birthplace in Massachusetts. Shurtleff’s move was not voluntary. Local officials questioned his title to the land because the Shurtleff farm was in English Canada. A claim that Canadian land would be payment for service to the was highly unlikely and Shurtleff could not produce any proof of title. After fifteen years in Stanstead, Ontario, the Shurtleffs moved to Lowell,

Massachusetts.1

Their time in Lowell was brief. The patriarch of the family decided to take his family west, but not before Ruth gave birth to her last child, a boy they named Ephraim. David

Shurtleff preceded his family to the wilderness of Illinois. He staked out a large claim of virgin prairie land some fifty miles west of . He then returned to Lowell in order to bring his family to the American frontier. By wagon the eleven Shurtleffs, David and Ruth and their children aged one to twenty-one, rambled to Albany, New York. Here they boarded a canal boat and floated westward on the very successful and relatively new Erie Canal. At Buffalo, they

1 Catherine Durant Voorhees. Interview by the author, 27 August, 2016. Durant is a direct descendent of David Shurtleff, and cites the diaries of Emma Durant Lane, David Shurtleff’s granddaughter.

1 booked passage on a steamship bound for Toledo, . There they took the short train ride to

Adrian, Michigan. Once again the Shurtleffs piled into a wagon and traveled the final 300 miles to the family’s new homestead near Genoa, Illinois.2

Here David and Ruth Shurtleff ended their wandering. On the western frontier the

Shurtleffs cleared land, built a home, and broke ground for planting. The hard work and rugged life on the flat lands of northern Illinois trained the children in the ways of self-sufficiency. No schools existed beyond a one-room log schoolhouse. As he approached his twentieth birthday

Giles took the opportunity for a more formal education when he moved to the home of one of his older sisters and her husband in St. Charles, near Chicago. When another chance for schooling arose a few years later with a different married sister, across the state line in Kenosha,

Wisconsin, Giles headed north. Here Shurtleff met John G. McMynn, superintendent of schools in Kenosha, and later chief of all schools in Wisconsin. McMynn encouraged the young man to look into a college education. At about the same time, an elderly Baptist minister suggested a fairly new school in Oberlin, Ohio. The clergyman had preached with Charles G. Finney in earlier days, and for two years Finney had held the presidency of the Ohio school. Shurtleff wrote to Finney and requested information and received a college catalogue describing an

Oberlin education. Pleased with the prospect of obtaining an education, Shurtleff journeyed to

Ohio in 1853.3

From 1853 until his death in 1904, Giles Waldo Shurtleff’s life revolved around Oberlin and the values he learned there. Although he left the northern Ohio hamlet for an extended time

2 A.A. Wright, eulogy reprinted in “Gen. Giles W. Shurtleff,” Oberlin Review, 10 May, 1904, 664-665. Alumni Records, OCA.

3 Frank H. Lyman, The City of Kenosha and Kenosha County Wisconsin: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. I, (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1916), 186.

2 during the Civil War, and for briefer periods after the war, Shurtleff exemplified the Oberlinite philosophy. He, like most students, entered Oberlin with too little education to earn admittance into the recently created Oberlin College, so he studied for several years in the school’s preparatory department. He excelled in his studies and matriculated to the college program.

Shurtleff impressed his professors enough that the college offered him a position as a Tutor in the preparatory department while he studied in the college. This was doubly helpful for the young man. Shurtleff’s means had always been meager, so the money helped him to stay in school. The experience also opened up a new career path for him. Part of Shurtleff’s motivation to attend Oberlin was that he was seriously considering a ministerial career. His experiences as a tutor, however, showed him that education was a worthwhile vocation as well. Teaching was the profession he ultimately chose.

His journey to and through Oberlin was interrupted by the Civil War. Shurtleff’s passionate Christian abolition inspired him to volunteer for the . When the Civil War broke out Shurtleff was one of a hundred patriotic Oberlinites who immediately enlisted.

Shurtleff was elected Captain of the Lorain County men, and they were mustered into service in

Cleveland as Company C of the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). His service with the 7th OVI was cut short when he was captured in western Virginia, and spent a year in Confederate prisons before he was exchanged and returned to Oberlin. After a stint as an adjutant to Brigadier

General Orlando B. Wilcox, Shurtleff returned home to Oberlin. It was here that John Mercer

Langston, an Oberlin graduate and Ohio’s first black lawyer, persuaded Shurtleff to pursue leadership of African-American soldiers during the remaining years of the conflict. For two years Langston had been encouraging the state of Ohio to enlist black soldiers. When he was

3 denied he told the governor that black soldiers would be ready when they were needed. In 1863, that need was finally realized by the state and Shurtleff was an early leader.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of Shurtleff’s military life occurred during the war on September 29, 1864. On that day, General Benjamin F. Butler ordered an attack on the

Confederate defenses of Richmond during the summer-long siege that began in Petersburg and grew to include the southern capital. The three-pronged attack by Butler’s Army of the James was conducted by an unusually large number of African-American soldiers. Butler had been an outspoken proponent of using black soldiers and had divided his army into two wings, one white and one black. Butler purposefully created one of the largest black forces in the war and hoped that his soldiers of color could capture fortifications that had foiled white troops on two previous occasions. His aim was to settle once and for all the fighting ability of African-Americans. The attack that day involved two major infantry thrusts and one cavalry movement. During the assault, several of the black infantry brigades succeeded in taking the enemy works on New

Market Heights. The heroism shown by the soldiers in the black regiments resulted in no fewer than thirteen Congressional Medals of Honor, more than half of all such honors awarded to black soldiers during the Civil War. The results of the battle were mixed. The Union forces were able to gain control of several Confederate fortifications and the men in blue successfully moved the lines of battle closer to Richmond. Union soldiers were, however, stopped before they were able to directly threaten the southern capital, and although quite a fright was experienced in

Richmond, things quickly settled down. The siege and the war would to continue.4

4 Benjamin F. Butler, Butler’s Book: Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of major-General Benj. F. Butler, (: A. M. Thayer & Co., 1892), 721. The battle on September 29, 1864, is often referred to as the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm. It is more correctly three different battles: New Market Heights, Fort Gilmer, and Fort Harrison. Giles Shurtleff participated in the New Market Heights portion of the fighting.

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Giles W. Shurtleff was the newly-minted regimental commander of the 5th United States

Colored Troops (USCT). Like many volunteer officers in the war, Shurtleff was not a trained military professional, rather he had gained his leadership skills and rank through a mixture of politics, examination, and experience. Shurtleff’s men accounted for about a quarter of the

Medals of Honor awarded for the day’s efforts and while their leader could justifiably point to his unit’s successes, he was not able to share fully in it. Early in the attack a bullet struck

Shurtleff’s hand and another ripped through his mid-section. The severely wounded commander was limited to encouraging the advance of his men, instead of leading them. Shurtleff was later promoted to the rank of full , and stayed with the regiment until the war was decided.

Commanding General Butler observed that during the battle of New Market Heights:

The enemy directed its fire upon them….The leading battalion broke, but its colonel (Shurtleff) maintained his position at its head…calling his bugler to him the rally rang out, and at his call his men formed around him. The division was at once re-formed, and then at double quick they dashed up the first line of abattis….Then with a cheer and a yell that I can almost hear now, they dashed upon the fort.5

This dissertation traces Shurtleff’s life before, during, and after the Civil War. One of the focal points of this study will be Shurtleff’s Civil War service, which adds to the historiography of the leadership of black regiments during the war. Currently only a handful of Civil War officers stand in for all of the officers of the USCT: , commander of the famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry, Edward A. Wild, the who helped recruit Shaw, and the prolific writer Thomas Wentworth Higginson of the First Infantry. Even

Joseph T. Glatthaar’s highly acclaimed (and deservedly so) Forged in Battle: The Civil War

Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers uses a relatively small sample of white officers in

5 Benjamin F. Butler, quoted in “General Shurtleff.” The Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Vol. VII, No. 9, June, 1911. (Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College). All four winners in the 5th USCT were cited for taking command of their companies after all of their officers had been killed or wounded.

5 order to determine trends and draw conclusions. While Shurtleff certainly shared traits with these men he differed from them in significant ways. This examination of Shurtleff’s career helps bring to the fore the diversity of white Northerners who helped break the color barrier in the Union army. Like other white officers, Shurtleff was an ardent abolitionist. His Oberlin education helped form his radical sentiment. President Charles Grandison Finney’s precepts of

Christian reform included, but were not restricted to, the ending of slavery. Finney demanded much more than just an abolitionist kind of Christianity from his students. Shurtleff’s work as an officer in both the 7th OVI and the 5th USCT reflected his deep-seated Christian perfectionism, of which abolition was only a part. Shurtleff’s life was an interesting window into the abolitionist heritage of Northern Ohio, as his experiences both belie and reflect ardent Oberlin anti-slavery stereotypes. Like many in the North, he came more gradually to his views on enslavement.

Perhaps this is why, unlike many of his peers, his name is not on the roster of liberators involved in the famous Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of fugitive slave John Price in 1858. Prominent men, both black and white, came to the fore attracting local, state, and national attention. Yet

Shurtleff, nearing the end of his college studies was silent. 6

Still, the abolitionist fervor of Oberlin had a powerful impact on the young man. Oberlin, and indeed significant sections of Northern Ohio, were hotbeds of anti-slavery sentiment. But

Buckeye abolition, as it was practiced especially in Ashtabula and Oberlin, had unique characteristics. Historian Joseph Brent Morris points out in his article “‘All the truly wise or truly pious have one and the same end in view’: Oberlin, the West, and Abolitionist Schism,” that the abolitionist world of the early 19th century could be split between east and west. Morris maintains that Oberlin was crucial in defining the western breed of anti-slavery activist, which

6 Joseph T. Glatthaar, Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers, (New York: The Free Press), see Appendix 1, 265 – 270.

6 was clearly visible in the teachings and administration of President Finney. Finney’s very presence in Oberlin was the result of abolitionist tumult. He was brought west out of his tabernacle in New York by a group of students known as the Lane Rebels. These ardent opponents of slavery felt hamstrung at Lyman Beecher’s Lane Seminary in , and began to cast about for a new collegiate home. The rebels decided upon Oberlin, but only after the very young institution agreed to more radical racial policies and the hiring of notable abolitionists such as Finney. Morris points out that although much abolitionist historiography downplays or even ignores the rift between the eastern anti-slavery men and the western Finneyites, the split was very real. In the pages of his newspaper The Liberator,

Garrison suggested that the westerners in Ohio were not sufficiently radical, while the

Oberlinites believed that the easterners refused to act practically. Importantly, Finney preached opposing slavery as part of the Christian life, not as a standalone cause. Garrison and Finney seemed to have a sort of rapprochement only a few years before Shurtleff arrived. During the commencement exercises of 1847, when both Garrison and visited Oberlin,

Garrison pronounced that he was pleased with Finney’s address to the students, which included the admonition that they be “anti-devil all over,” and he was equally impressed with the crowds that came to hear Douglass and he speak. Although Douglass, like Finney, would break with

Garrison and outline his own western abolitionist philosophy not long after this trip, the

Christian anti-slavery atmosphere of Oberlin certainly played a large part in the education of young Giles Shurtleff.7

7 Joseph Brent Morris, “‘All the truly wise or truly pious have one and the same end in view’: Oberlin, the West, and Abolitionist Schism,” Civil War History, Vol. LVII, No. 3, September 2011. Morris has expanded his work in his monograph, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism: College, Community, and the Fight for Freedom and Equality in Antebellum , (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of Press). 2014. William Lloyd Garrison to The Liberator, from The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison, Volume III: No Union with Slaveholders, 1841 – 1849, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973), 522.

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Christian abolition meant that fighting slavery was only part of a completely godly life.

This has been missed by historians. Alice Felt Tyler, the prolific social historian, in Freedom’s

Ferment, Phases of American Social History from the Colonial period to the Outbreak of the

Civil War, speaks more to Finney’s rejection of slavery than to his revivalism. Writing thirty years later, Ronald G. Walters in his American Reformers, 1815 – 1860, leaves Finney out of his chapter on abolition, but does compellingly describe the revivalist rivalry between Finney, who ended up in Oberlin, and Lyman Beecher who for a time was based in Cincinnati. Morris more clearly defines the Finneyite doctrine at Oberlin as being an evolutionary offshoot of perfectionism in which abolition was, “an essential yet partial element….” Indeed, Finney’s autobiography, though hardly silent on the subject of the anti-slavery movement, is overwhelmingly a memoir of his service to God, not one political issue. The popular understanding of Oberlin leaves one with the faulty impression that abolition was the great driving issue of the college’s 19th century existence. Walking around the campus today one finds monuments to the underground railroad and abolitionist causes, but the memory of reforms such as temperance and women’s rights are much harder to find. Shurtleff’s life demonstrates that his understanding of abolition, while incredibly strong, was only part of his Oberlinite identity. 8

A study of Shurtleff also adds to the historiography of Oberlin College and the town itself, both of which were historically significant during the 19th century. Shurtleff’s contributions to his adopted community extended beyond his military career. He was a consummate Oberlinite who was involved in both the town and college for most of his adult life.

8 A quick perusal of Tyler’s Freedom’s Ferment, Phases of American Social History from the Colonial period to the Outbreak of the Civil War, (New York: Harper and Row, 1944), bears this out. See Finney as revivalist p. 41, and as abolitionist p. 490-491. Ronald G. Walters, American Reformers 1815 – 1860, (New York: Hill and Wang, 1978). See chapters one and four. Morris, Oberlin, Hotbet of Abolitionism, 61. Charles Grandison Finney, Memoirs, (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., and Oberlin College, 1876).

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Shurtleff’s life story helps to shed light on the Oberlin experience, since writings on Oberlin are surprisingly sparse and many are dated. There are monographs on important events, such as Nat

Brandt’s 1990, The Town That Started the Civil War, essays such as those found in Geoffrey

Blodget’s 2006 collection of essays, Oberlin History, and an on-line historical archive, “The

Electronic Oberlin Group,” that was spearheaded by Oberlin College historians Gary Kornblith and Carol Lassser, and to which many other Oberlinians contributed. The most comprehensive look at Oberlin College is decades old and ends in the 1860s; Robert Samuel Fletcher’s A

History of Oberlin College From its Foundation Through the Civil War, published in 1943.

Joseph Brent Morris’ Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism, is by far the most current and complete look at Oberlin’s history, but it too ends with the demise of the institution of slavery. A comprehensive Oberlin history does not exist. When one finally is written, this biography of

Shurtleff will be an important chapter.9

Giles Waldo Shurtleff provides an interesting study on several levels. His military experiences are an obvious starting point. His story closely mirrored that of the more famous

Massachusetts Colonel, Robert Gould Shaw. Shaw’s heroic leadership of the 54th Massachusetts

Infantry regiment was widely reported on at the time, memorialized in the Boston with a dramatic monument designed by the renowned artist August St. Gaudens in the 1880s, and depicted a century later in the motion picture, Glory. Like Shaw, Shurtleff joined the Union army and began his career fighting in a white regiment, saw serious action, but still had time to woo his hometown sweetheart and marry her. Both men were shot and unable to lead their men

9 Nat Brandt, The Town That Started the Civil War, (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1990). A word on naming conventions. When traveling to Oberlin today, it is not unusual to hear Oberlin residents and graduates of the college refer to themselves as either Oberlinians, or Obies. In the 19th Century, however, people from Oberlin were referred to as Oberlinites. That is the term that will be used in this biography, the term that Shurtleff would have recognized. Robert Samuel Fletcher, A History of Oberlin College From its Foundation Through the Civil War, (Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College, 1943).

9 to the end of their most important battle. Unlike Colonel Shaw, who met his death at Battery

Wagner in South Carolina, Lt. Colonel Shurtleff survived his wounds at New Market Heights and enjoyed a vigorous post-war career. Consequently, the people of Oberlin viewed their hero with as much pride as Bostonians viewed Shaw. In the early 20th century, artist Emily Peck completed a statue of Shurtleff. It is one of the only statues of a person in a town that takes art and symbolism very seriously. It is notable that Shurtleff, and not Finney, has this honor. At the dedication of the Shurtleff statue, local Judge Ulysses L. Marvin commented, “General Shurtleff had no desire for military glory except as it came as the result of an imperative duty in the conduct of a war for the liberties of a great people.” Marvin’s characterization of Shurtleff’s motivation is very near the mark. If Finney helped to create the Oberlin Christian ethos, perhaps it was Shurtleff who best personified it.10

Prior to Shurtleff’s duty as an officer of the 5th USCT, the Ohioan was captured in August

1861, at the Battle of Cross Lanes, Virginia, and as above mentioned, was imprisoned by the

Confederacy. During that time, he was housed in several different prisons including Richmond’s infamous Libby Prison and Castle Pinckney in Charleston, South Carolina, where a fire in the town nearly incinerated the prisoners there. Although there are tens of thousands of books about the Civil War, there is a dearth of studies on prisons during the conflict. This dissertation supplements what literature there is on prisons, especially as it pertains to those captured early in the conflict. The great horrors of the notorious prisons such as Andersonville in Georgia and

Elmira in New York generally occurred after the two sides virtually stopped exchanging prisoners. Shurtleff’s experience reminds us that in the early days of the war, as both sides

10 Glory, Directed by Edward Zwick, distributed by Tri-Star Pictures, 1989. The largest performance space and one of the most visited buildings on campus is Finney Chapel, named for the past president. “General Shurtleff.” The Oberlin Alumni Magazine, 9 June, 1911.

10 struggled to find answers to the problem of massive numbers of prisoners, for a while there were exchanges. Shurtleff’s post war experience and memory of his wartime incarceration are more in the norm. As Benjamin Cloyd points out in Haunted by Atrocity: Civil War Prisons in

American Memory, a great many northerners used southern prison atrocities as an excuse to wave the bloody shirt. At that same time, the survivors themselves wanted their experiences of horror to be remembered as authentic and desperate. Shurtleff’s actions mirror this in that his only published memoirs are of the year he spent in rebel confinement. He never published accounts of his experience leading men in battle, financing a small college, or travelling the world. He lectured and gave speeches on all of these topics, but he only thought to leave his prison story as his printed legacy. This helps support current historiographical thinking on Civil

War memory.11

Shurtleff decided to rejoin the Union army and acted as an Inspector General on the staff of General Orlando B. Wilcox during the December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. Shortly afterwards he was stricken with a respiratory disorder that provided ample cause for him to leave the army with honor. Instead, with the encouragement of local black leaders such as Langston, and O. S. B. Wall, Shurtleff helped to raise and train Ohio’s first black regiment, the 127th OVI

(later renamed the 5th USCT). With the 5th, Shurtleff did much more than lead his men on

September 29, 1864. He acted as Chaplain to a condemned man at a controversial court-marshal and execution of an accused Confederate spy. He fought in the Army of the Potomac’s initial and unsuccessful drive into Petersburg, and was present at the infamous Battle of the Crater.

After recovering from wounds received at New Market Heights he rejoined his regiment, leading

11 Benjamin G. Cloyd, Haunted by Atrocity, Civil War Prisons in American Memory, (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2010). See, “A Year With the Rebels,” from Sketches of War History 1861 – 1865, W. H. Chamberlain, Ed., prepared for the Ohio Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, (Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1896).

11 them in smaller skirmishes for most of the remainder of the war. As a volunteer officer Shurtleff had an important and diversified career.

Shurtleff was fortunate to return home after the war. He devoted himself to his beloved

Oberlin College and worked his way from instructor to professor, and ultimately became treasurer of the school. Upon his retirement he was appointed a trustee and held that position until his death. He traveled extensively in Ohio, New England, and the East Coast of the United

States to raise funds in order to keep his alma mater vital. He also was part of the little publicized late 19th century trend of using mortgages as a way of financing institutions.

After the housing market crash in the recession of the 21st century, it is instructive to see how institutions such as Oberlin College acted as mortgage brokers in the 19th century.

Shurtleff remained a supporter of racial equality in his post-war life, but this proved difficult. Oberlin, which had been a hotbed of abolitionism before the Civil War, lost its egalitarian zeal during the late 19th century. Eventually Jim Crow numbed Oberlin. As retired

Oberlin College Archivist Roland Baumann points out in his Constructing Black Education at

Oberlin College, Oberlin’s ability to “turn its back” on its commitment to equality has intrigued historians, even though it “has been inadequately covered.” Though Shurtleff bucked the Jim

Crowism that came to Oberlin, his enthusiasm for equality was not what it had once been. A new issue burned inside his breast and that passion was temperance. He had returned to Oberlin with his new bride, Mary Burton Shurtleff and almost immediately became a community leader.

Not only did he briefly serve as mayor of the town, he was also one of the founders of the

Second Church of Oberlin. None of these causes, however, focused his attention the way the

Oberlin Temperance War of 1882 did. Shurtleff’s leadership in the war against alcohol reflected his Finneyite education. He was quite a bit more than an abolitionist, he was a Christian

12 reformer. In the decades following the Civil War, temperance was Shurtleff’s reform battleground of choice. 12

Shurtleff was also extremely active in keeping the memory of the Civil War alive.

Historian David Blight in his 2003 Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory correctly tells us that in the half century that followed the Civil War, “death on such a scale demanded meaning.” In addition to his work of the college and his struggles to keep whiskey out of Oberlin, Shurtleff spent much time recounting his Civil War story to others. He was a regular speaker at memorial occasions, published his essay on his prison experience, and even gave a resounding defense of his former commanding general, Benjamin F. Butler. In addition to being an integral part of Oberlin’s Civil War memory, Shurtleff lectured on a variety of subjects. He actively promoted his vision of appropriate education and upon the great value of political parties.13

The General, as Shurtleff was affectionately known, remained a fixture in the Oberlin community until his death in 1904, and his legacy lives on. Two of the houses he built remain standing: the Monroe House, current home of the Oberlin Heritage Center, and Shurtleff Cottage, where his statue currently resides. Shurtleff sold his first home to Oberlin professor and politician James Monroe and his wife Julia, the daughter of Charles G. Finney. He built his third home, the cottage, as his final domicile and regularly housed students on the upper floors. After his death the college briefly used this home as a dormitory.

12 Roland M. Baumann, Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College, (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2010), 72.

13 David W. Blight, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003), 64.

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Shurtleff’s life also has some interesting blemishes. He was, as mentioned above, not among the Oberlinites who helped to rescue runaway slave John Price in the famed Oberlin-

Wellington Rescue. Shurtleff did not stay with the 5th USCT to the end of the war, but merely until he was satisfied that Union victory was assured. Shurtleff strongly urged his junior officers to stay with the regiment until it was mustered out, but he himself skedaddled back to Oberlin months earlier. Shurtleff allowed temperance to crowd out other important reforms of his post-

Civil War life. Limits on the availability of alcohol became more important than any access black students might have to an equal education at Oberlin. These lapses will be examined, and where possible, explained.

This dissertation is divided into eight chapters. Chapter one describes his arrival in

Oberlin and his Oberlin education. He began as most students did in the Oberlin Institute and graduated to the College, and finally achieved an advanced degree. From religious instruction to debating societies, Shurtleff was involved and experienced so much success that Oberlin offered him a teaching post. Shurtleff’s education as a Finneyite can be seen in the decade of the 1850s.

Chapter two takes the young man into the army. Shurtleff’s determination to become either a minister of the gospel or an educator was interrupted by the tumult surrounding the election of

Abraham Lincoln and the schism the country experienced thereafter. This chapter traces his volunteering, training, and early fighting in Company C of the 7th OVI. The chapter ends when he and his men were virtually surrounded at the Battle of Cross Lanes and where Shurtleff and some of his men were captured. Chapter three looks at Shurtleff’s year with the Rebels. He spent time in several different prisons, and experienced the deprivations of incarceration and the joy of exchange. Shurtleff’s experience in southern prisons is a good illustration of the experiences of those prisoners who were taken early in the war. Neither government had

14 developed a clear policy for dealing with their captives. Rumors of release were often false and disappointments were frequent. Some prisons were places of great filth and overcrowding, while others were relatively comfortable. This was especially true for Shurtleff as an officer; prisons for officers, both north and south, tended to be healthier and more carefully maintained.

Chapter four covers Shurtleff’s time after he returned to the fight, not as a leader of soldiers, but as an Inspector General for General Orlando B. Wilcox. Wilcox and Shurtleff met in prison, and shared many of the same experiences. Wilcox took Shurtleff onto his staff after both had been released. Shurtleff developed a good relationship with Wilcox, and might have stayed with him to the conclusion of the war had not the defeat at Fredericksburg altered the command structure. Shurtleff’s ability to stay on with Wilcox was also complicated by the severe illness of Shurtleff.

Chapters five and six deal with the Oberlinite’s time training and leading the 5th United

States Colored Troops. After heeding the advice of John Mercer Langston, Shurtleff began to lobby for the Colonelcy of the 127th OVI, Ohio’s first foray into the world of black soldiery.

Shurtleff lost out on the colonelcy because of party politics, but accepted the number two position. Chapter five will explain Shurtleff’s requirement to pass an army examination in order to receive his commission. As a college graduate, an experienced officer, and the creator of tests himself, Shurtleff had no problem with the exams. The chapter also reveals that while the regiment was being trained, the colonelcy was not always filled. As the Lt. Colonel, command devolved upon Shurtleff. He excelled at this and when the time came for the unit to move out, he was often in command. Chapter six will deal almost entirely with the unit’s operations during the Petersburg campaign, and culminates with Shurtleff’s near fatal wounding at the Battle of

New Market Heights.

15

Chapter seven recounts Shurtleff’s recovery from his wounds, his marriage to Mary

Burton, and his return to Oberlin. There, the Shurtleffs began a family and their post-war

Oberlin life. This chapter includes Shurtleff’s time as mayor as well as his initial fundraising trips east. Chapter eight describes the end of Shurtleff’s life and follows his rise to become the first development officer of Oberlin College. In that capacity he traveled much of the east coast and helped to integrate the mortgage as a profitable funding scheme for both the college and himself. The chapter also includes a detailed look at one of two European trips that Shurtleff took to repair his failing health. Chapter eight concludes with a discussion of the mind of Giles

Shurtleff by analyzing his writings and lectures.

This dissertation relies heavily on Shurtleff’s own writings. His papers include his musings on many issues, his memories of war and captivity, but mostly it contains his letters. He and his fiancée and later wife, Mary Burton Shurtleff maintained a very active correspondence during the war years and later in life when Shurtleff traveled. Piecing together local news accounts, along with important monographs and other writings, Shurtleff’s story begins to come to life.

Shurtleff has not been studied in any scholarly or extensive way and this is somewhat surprising. During his life he was a pivotal figure in Oberlin. Unlike many of Oberlin’s other famous alumni of the era, Shurtleff stayed in Lorain County. Other prominent mid-century

Oberlinites went on to find success in politics such as Shurtleff’s friend and teacher James

Monroe, his brother-in-law Theodore Burton, and the man who lobbied Shurtleff to lead the 5th

USCT, John Mercer Langston. Some found success in the military like . Still more found their way into the ministry such as James T. Thome and several of his fellow Lane

Rebels. They served in churches in Ohio, around the country, and in some cases around the

16 world. With the exception of his two European tours and his military experiences, Giles

Shurtleff remained in and devoted to, Oberlin. Shurtleff’s descendant, Catherine Durant

Voorhees has compiled some of Shurtleff’s military writings and several of his letters to Mary

Burton in order to create a military memoir of sorts, The Colors of Dignity: Memoirs of Civil

War Brigadier General Giles Waldo Shurtleff. Shurtleff’s writings on the war have made their way into some texts, but rarely as more than a passing reference. 14

Shurtleff was the kind of man that Oberlin founders John J. Shipherd and Philo P.

Stewart had in mind when they carved their school out of the woods and swamps of Lorain

County. He was a western man who was primed to serve God in the ever expanding American republic. Shurtleff’s education, however, was far more influenced by the reform zeal of preacher and college president Charles Grandison Finney. Shurtleff’s drive for reform and a Christian betterment of society lasted throughout his life. He was a leader of both the college and the town. It was, however, his Civil War career that fired the imagination of Oberlinites. They were endlessly proud of the General, and a biography of him is long overdue.

14 Giles Waldo Shurtleff, The Colors of Dignity: Memoirs of Civil War Brigadier General Giles Waldo Shurtleff, Catherine Durant Voorhees, ed., (Bloomington, IN: Author House, 2013).

17

Chapter One

The Making of the Man: An Oberlin Education

Oberlin College was anomalous in Lorain County, and indeed in the state of Ohio. The school which had been built upon strict Christian principles had also been fortified by a radicalized student body. The philosophic father of Oberlin’s religiosity was Charles Grandison

Finney, and the young activists were led by a group of eager abolitionists known as the Lane

Rebels. Together, they created an enclave in Lorain County, Ohio, that was unusually open to students black or white, male or female. Oberlinites, as they were known, believed that theirs was a favored position, and reformist zeal was integral to their being.

* * *

The thoughts of a young Giles Waldo Shurtleff arriving in his new hometown are unknown. If he shared them with anyone, they are lost. In all likelihood, they mirrored the experience of his contemporary Edward Ward. Writing to his mother from Oberlin College in

October 1853, Ward said, “I could not find a hotel, so I had to wander about these miserable muddy streets till half past six.” Like Shurtleff, Ward was a prospective student from the West, not the East as were most of the school’s out of state students. Unable to transport his luggage,

Ward left his trunk at the train depot and began to explore his new home. Like many new students Ward, and most likely Shurtleff, struggled with the mud. The clay soil of swampy central Lorain County could be counted upon to cake up and generally make a mess of things after every rain. Students struggled to move between the dozen or so dormitories, recitation halls, and other classroom buildings that were not joined by regular sidewalks. Ladies in their long skirts found the mud especially treacherous. An earlier frustrated and unhappy student,

Delazon Smith, described the community he was being compelled to leave a “mud-hole, frog-

18 pond, morter-bed, swamp.” He went on to question why any student would bother with such an

“impolitic and very unnatural location.” Mud was the first thing that many 19th century students seemed to notice in Oberlin during and after a downpour. Edward Ward continued his search about the town and after some time was able to secure a bed and a meal at a local tavern. He complained to his mother in a letter home that the beef steak was tough enough to break his teeth, but the bed provided a few hours of sleep.1

Ward, like Shurtleff, did not arrive at the beginning of a new term, so they were forced to find accommodation where they could, and wait until they could attend classes. Like most students, Ward located a comfortable, if small, room, where he found himself responsible for both his own wood and lamp light. After doing battle with Oberlin’s omnipresent mud Ward’s next observation was the remarkable diversity in town. In another letter to his mother he wrote about the number of black people he had seen. “There is one thing in this town and that is there is more niggers here than there is in the whole of Mich. Why it aint day light here till an hour after sun rise. Think of that. Just on account of the darkes.” Ward, and likely Shurtleff, noticed one of the seminal aspects of the Oberlin community, and that was the openness to people of color. Whether free or former slave, Oberlin welcomed black people into both the town and the college. The 1852-1853 school year saw the greatest enrollment of African-Americans at

Oberlin up to that time. Of the approximately 1,000 students at the Oberlin campus, forty-four were black. People living a lot closer to Oberlin than Ward echoed his sentiments. People throughout Lorain County referred to Oberlin as “Niggertown.” In the decade preceding

1 Edward Ward, to his mother, 20 October, 1853, Oberlin College Archives, hereafter OCA; The General Catalog of Oberlin College, 1833 – 1908, indicates that the great majority of Oberlin’s students were Ohioans, followed by New Yorkers with a large number of Pennsylvanians. States immediately to the west of Ohio were well represented, but not to the degree of New York plus New England. See General Catalog of Oberlin College, 1833 – 1908, (G. S. Hurrell Printing, , OH: Oberlin College, 1909), Int. 115 – 124. Delazon Smith, as quoted in J. Brent Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism: College, Community, and the Fight for Equality in Antebellum America, (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2014), 81.

19

Shurtleff’s and Ward’s arrival in Oberlin, the town’s black population had nearly tripled to nearly 200. This represented just under 10% of Oberlin’s inhabitants. While Shurtleff was in school, the black population continued to climb, so that on the eve of the Civil War African-

Americans represented nearly 25% of the 2,000 residents.2

In his next letter home, Ward described to his mother the sickness in town. “Typhoid fever is very malignant. There has been quite a number of deaths. A great many students have left on account of it.” He related that everything was overpriced, and the food “aint fit for a dog to eat…. I tell you Oberlin aint what it is cracked up to be.” Perhaps Shurtleff too longed for home as he tried to fit into his new world. What is certain is that both he and Ward got over any initial doubts about Oberlin, and by the end of his first month Ward assured his family that he was fitting in fine, and had no plans to return home until the following spring. Shurtleff’s stay in

Oberlin would be even longer.3

Shurtleff was safely ensconced in Oberlin when Ward arrived in October 1853. He had arrived eight months earlier in February. Perhaps the mud was frozen and easier to deal with, perhaps not. Probably with feelings of nervousness and excitement he stepped off the train and into his new home while it was the middle of the school’s three-month winter recess. He was lonely, broke, and chopping wood to pay for his room at a local hotel. He overcame his discouragement and his living arrangements changed when he befriended a local deacon and arranged for a comfortable room in exchange for doing chores. Oberlin’s claim on Giles Waldo

Shurtleff was very strong. He took the lessons that Oberlin taught him to heart, and determined

2 Edward Ward, to his mother, 20 October, 1853, OCA; J. Brent Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism: College, Community, and the Fight for Freedom and Equality in Antebellum America, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014), 265; E. H. Fairchild, Historical Sketch, Oberlin College, (Springfield: Republic Printing Co., 1868), 9; Cally L. Waite, Permission to Remain Among Us: Education for Blacks in Oberlin Ohio, 1880 to 1914, (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2002), 27.

3 Edward Ward to his mother, 28 October, 5 & 16 November, 1853, OCA.

20 to be the kind of man that Charles G. Finney and Oberlin College intended to create. During his collegiate career in the turbulent 1850s, young Shurtleff debated between pursuing a career in the ministry or in education. He chose education, and then Oberlin chose him. They asked him to return to be first a tutor, and later a professor. What Shurtleff learned as a new Oberlinite, he tried to instill in later generations of students.

***

Winter and spring mud may have been the geographical commonality that Oberlinites shared, but Charles Grandison Finney was the intellectual underpinning that all of Oberlin

College’s students knew. Finney was president of the college when Shurtleff arrived and he fostered an educational philosophy that featured entire sanctification, or Oberlin perfectionism.

President Finney’s concern was for his charge’s immortal souls. This passion burned in Finney since the early days of his preaching during the Second Great Awakening, and was key to his invitation by Oberlin College to become one of its leaders. He wanted to nurture students to be fully Christian, and embrace all aspects of their faith. Finneyites would necessarily be reform- minded as they continued to strive to make their lives righteous. This would have the effect of building Oberlin up to what its founders had hoped it would become, “the pinnacle of [the city set upon a hill]…for Satan wars against us with a vengeance.” Finney and his Oberlinite philosophy ran counter to many of the Calvinistic precepts well known in puritan New England.

Not only did Finney reject the idea of predestination, he claimed that a person’s free will gave them the opportunity to completely reject sin. Their lives could be sanctified as they strove for

Christian perfection and sanctification. The sanctified attempted to always please God, and their lives bent toward altruism. Antebellum altruism meant reform. Shurtleff’s education steeped him in a reverence for God and a desire to reform the world so that it would better reflect the will

21 of the Almighty. During his lifetime, those reforms would vary. During the 1850s and 1860s, one reform stood out amongst all others, and that was ending slavery.4

The Oberlin ethos was certainly and immediately obvious to the twenty-one-year-old. He arrived just as the town was beginning to settle down after a community wide commotion over a runaway slave. Runaways had been welcomed in town, so the slave’s presence was not cause for concern, rather the owner’s son created the ruckus. After being encouraged to flee by his owner, the runaway slave made his way to Oberlin, and finding a welcoming environment had stayed three years. It certainly was odd for the owner to encourage her property to escape, but she was suffering financial difficulties, and did not want her slave property to become a part of any settlement, hence she told him to run. Just a few weeks before Shurtleff’s train came to Oberlin, the slave owner’s son traveled from along with the runaway’s father to encourage the fugitive to return to the Bluegrass state. They said that freedom would be granted to the young man on the condition that he returned home and worked for four years. Voluntary return to a state of servitude seemed unlikely, and soon the town was caught up in the debate. A public meeting was held, which like many Oberlin functions mixed race. Local black and white citizens attended, as did some white students, including W. D. Patterson. Patterson described the meeting to his father as contentious and that local black Oberlinites threatened the father, who was himself free. The meeting featured a speech by Oberlin’s most famous African American graduate, John Mercer Langston. Patterson described Langston as “half-nigger” and “the smartest student in Oberlin and worth $30,000 or $40,000.” Langston was at that time enrolled in Oberlin’s Theological Seminary and he argued that the runaway should stay in Oberlin. The

4 Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism, 63-64, 90; John Jay Shipherd, quoted in Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism, 61. Historian Ronald G. Walters gives us a helpful definition of reformer as one who wishes to improve society, while the radical wishes to blow it up and start over. See Walters, American Reformers, 1815 – 1860, (New York: Hill and Wang, 1978), xii.

22 meeting was boisterous and violence appeared imminent. Before fisticuffs could ensue, a second meeting was scheduled for the next day. The results of this meeting are unclear. Langston did not address this runaway debate in his autobiography, and Patterson decided not to attend the second meeting. He explained to his father that he had studying to do. Abolitionist activity was a mainstay of the Ohio college, and the controversies that surrounded slavery greeted Shurtleff immediately. In his time at Oberlin, Shurtleff would grow to be as ardent an abolitionist as

Langston. He traveled from Illinois to Ohio in order to deepen his religious convictions and in the process developed a social conscience.5

The original purpose of Oberlin was not abolition, but religion. Presbyterian pastor John

Jay Shipherd was living and working near the shores of Lake Erie in Elyria, Ohio. Shipherd longed to create an education center in the west that would produce qualified young men to preach the gospel in the wilds of the frontier. He found a willing ally in young Philo Penfield

Steward, one of the three students then boarding with him. Only twenty years before Shurtleff found his way into Ohio, the religious duo spent hours debating and discussing how they might create an institution that would bring the gospel to the Valley, which they called the

“Valley of Moral Death.”6

Shipherd’s dream revolved around a three-tiered school. A preparatory school would be available for those who needed basic grounding in education, and that would lead to a college.

For those whose spirituality was strong enough, a theological seminary would be the capstone.

Additionally, he wanted his school to be based upon a popular education model revolving around

5 W.D. Patterson to his father, 31 January, 1853, OCA; see also, John Mercer Langston, From Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol, (Hartford, CT: American Publishing Co., 1894). Although Langston does not discuss this incident, he does remember the great quantity of mud on his first day of school! 77.

6 Fletcher, 87.

23 manual labor. Initially Stewart agreed with a labor-based school, but maintained that the preparatory school for young men, and a seminary for young ladies fit their goals more completely, and that graduates could go on to college at one of the many established schools such as the Lane Seminary in Cincinnati or Western Reserve College in Hudson. Shipherd ultimately won the debate and convinced his young partner that they could build an institute that embraced all three levels and their beloved labor model.7

The pair decided to name their institute after John Frederick Oberlin, a German pastor who had been highlighted by the American Sunday School Association for his work spreading the gospel in the region of Alsace. In addition to determining the name of their college, the two had to find the land on which to build it. Shipherd traveled east to Connecticut and spoke with the owners of land in central Lorain County, Ohio, that the pair felt would work. Land owners

Titus Street and Samuel Hughes liked what Shipherd had to say. They shared the pastor’s vision, and also saw a chance to turn a profit from their swampy Ohio ground. The three struck a bargain. Street and Hughes would donate 500 acres of their land to the Oberlin , on the condition that the institute would be built and acreage would be made available to sell to local farmers.8

The Oberlin Institute’s initial claim to fame was its status as co-educational. The three- tiered school, Preparatory Institute, and Female Seminary constituted a segregated lower school, but the College included both men and women, making Oberlin the first co-educational school in

7 Ibid., 81, 117-122. Fletcher also points out that philanthropist Arthur Tappan’s man Theodore Weld was looking for a labor based institution to support in the west. 43. Although Weld initially selected Cincinnati, he later moved to Oberlin with the Lane Rebels. His appreciation of Oberlin’s Labor model is detailed in Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolition, 21-25, 78.

8 “The Life of John Frederic Oberlin, Pastor of Waldbach, in the Ban de la Roche,” (: American Sunday School Union) 1830; Fletcher, 94.

24 the United States. Shipherd’s theme of labor was initially a mainstay of the educational program, with students performing up to four hours of labor daily. Young men would sweat clearing and then farming the fields around the infant institute, while women learned housecraft and silk culture work. Shipherd and Stewart were inculcating skills that they believed hardy preachers would need when proselytizing to frontier folk and Native Americans. To this day the motto of Oberlin College is “Learning and Labor.” 9

However, like many new colleges in the early 19th century, Oberlin almost immediately found itself in financial trouble. Within a year of its founding, the President of the Board of

Trustees had resigned, and Shipherd had been ordered to tour the country in order to raise needed funds. Coincidentally, trouble was brewing at the Lane Seminary in Cincinnati as well.10

Lane’s problems were not primarily financial, but ideological. Presiding over Lane was the prominent preacher of the Second Great Awakening, Lyman Beecher. Father of the even more famous novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, Beecher led his school between contending forces.

Radical abolitionist students, and money from their supporters maintained the school, while slave owners across the Ohio River eyed them warily. Beecher, an anti-slavery man himself, wanted to maintain as moderate a position as possible, but was unsuccessful when radicalized students demanded an end to the movement of recolonizing former American slaves in Africa. When the trustees of Lane said no to even a debate of the issue, nearly a hundred students bolted, taking funding with them. Shipherd was more than happy to invite the disgruntled students to Oberlin.

Many of these Lane Rebels, as they were later dubbed, agreed so long as Oberlin installed a Lane

9 Fletcher, 117-120.

10 Ibid.

25 professor as president, hired New York preacher Charles Grandison Finney as a professor, and admited students to the college without regard to race.11

Shipherd happily agreed to the terms, although a majority of Oberlin students opposed the racially inclusive admission policy. The objections of a divided student body were outweighed by the thousands of dollars that flowed into the Institute with the arrival of the Lane

Rebels, and in 1835, by a single vote, the trustees of Oberlin enacted all the rebels’ demands. As other colleges emulated Lane’s attempt at a moderate position on slavery, Oberlin became a destination for students who wished a more radical abolitionist education. Prominent abolitionist

William Lloyd Garrison noted in his paper The Liberator the exploits of the Lane Rebels. He also urged students at any college that suppressed abolitionist zeal follow the example set by the rebels. Ironically, one of those colleges was Shurtleff (no relation) College in southern Illinois.12

Of all of the additions to Oberlin, Finney proved to be Oberlin’s shining star. Indeed, two decades later it was Finney’s reputation that enticed Giles Shurtleff to join the tide of young travelers to Ohio. The changes that Finney brought, however, spelled the end of both Shipherd and Stewart’s association with the college. All three men shared the vision of training preachers for missionary work in the west, but Stewart was never able to reconcile the decision to accept black students. Consequently, he headed east and became a successful inventor and engineer.

He and his wife continued to provide financial support to Oberlin from afar for the next three

11 For a comprehensive discussion of the Lane Rebels, see Lawrence Thomas Lesick, The Lane Rebels: Evangelicalism and Antislavery in Antebellum America, (NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1980). Not only does Lesick give a detailed account of the student exodus from Lane, his introduction includes an interesting, if dated, historiographical look at the topic as well. A briefer, and more recent account can be found in Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolition, chapter 1.

12 Fletcher, 171; see also Roland M. Baumann, Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College: a Documentary History, (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2010), 20-21, 26, 27; Morris, 38. William Lloyd Garrison to business partner with The Liberator, from, The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison, Volume I: I Will Be Heard! 1822-1835,(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 472.

26 decades. Shipherd by contrast, welcomed Finney’s brand of abolition, and was thoroughly satisfied with the direction of Oberlin. So much so that he headed west determined to recreate his success in Michigan. He died in 1844 before he was able to accomplish the task.13

The seeds that were planted by Finney and the rebels blossomed in the 1840s, as Oberlin became one of abolition’s strongholds in the West. Oberlin’s anti-slavery fame is, in the opinion of historian J. Brent Morris, underrepresented in modern historiography. He maintains that there was a significant schism between the eastern abolitionists led by William Lloyd Garrison, and western foes of the institution centered in Ohio, if not Oberlin specifically. Morris maintains that the Ohio brand of abolition primarily was moral and spiritual imperative rather than a political urgency. “Concentrating exclusively on the activities of historical actors in the East who left the heaviest paper trail misses a vital part of the antislavery story. Secular as well as religious leaders of the early decades of the nineteenth century held up the West as the salvation of a growing nation.” Understanding and locating the split between eastern and western abolitionism, represented at least symbolically by Frederick Douglass’ split with Garrison, was necessary to fully grasp the anti-slavery movement. Viewing abolition as a monolithic movement is incomplete and inaccurate. Giles Shurtleff’s life was molded by the western religious and abolitionist zeal he learned in Oberlin.14

Douglass understood the division between eastern and western abolitionism, saying, “The

West is decidedly the best Anti-Slavery field in the country. – The People are more disposed to hear – less confined and narrow in their views, and less circumscribed in their action by sectarian trammels, than are the people of the East.” He had visited Oberlin in 1847 and had spoken there

13 James H. Fairchild, Oberlin: The College and the Colony, (Oberlin, OH: E. J. Goodrich, 1883), 272-273.

14 Morris, 5.

27 with Garrison. It was a noteworthy moment of unity between Garrison and Finney. They witnessed the graduation exercises that year, and were impressed with nearly all aspects of

Oberlin. Douglass was clearly impressed, as he sent his daughter Rossetta to the Oberlin

Preparatory Department at very nearly the same time Shurtleff attended.15

***

The Oberlin that Giles Shurtleff came to in 1853 was the Oberlin of Finney, not Shipherd and Stewart. This was what Shurtleff wanted. Finney was nationally renowned, and the young man had been told of Finney’s passion and power by his pastors. While living with a sister and her husband in Wisconsin, Oberlin and Finney became real possibilities for Shurtleff. With the encouragement of John G. McMinn, the Kenosha Superintendent of Schools and later

Superintendent of Education for the State of Wisconsin, Shurtleff decided upon Finney’s college.

Shurtleff wrote to the school and received a college catalogue. Shurtleff determined that radical

Oberlin was best for him, but first he had to be accepted. For instance, he knew to be armed with letters of recommendation and any “certificates of honorable dismission” he might possess.

Dismission is an interesting word, and demonstrates the uneven education available in the United

States at that time. Oberlin could not demand a diploma from a high school because it was not commonly available. However, they could ask the incoming students to provide proof of whatever educational experience they might have had, such as Shurtleff’s from the Kenosha

Schools in Wisconsin. Shurtleff also understood that he would have to complete a six-month probationary period before he could be fully accepted as a student at Oberlin. He likely

15 Frederick Douglass, as quoted in Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism, 131; see also pages 128 – 130. Steven Lubet, “The Oberlin Fugitive Slave Rescue: A Victory for the Higher Law”, Faculty Working Papers, Paper 22, 2011. Garrison’s reaction to his long awaited Oberlin visit can be seen in his letters. See The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison, Volume III: No Union With Slaveholders, 1841-1849, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973), 520-523.

28 understood that he would have to enroll in the Preparatory Department so that he might prove his worthiness in order to be accepted into the College. Most Oberlin students were in the

Preparatory Department when Shurtleff arrived on campus. In the 1850s, a look at the three tiers of the school showed that the Theological Department regularly had a couple dozen students, while the college enrolled a little under one hundred. The “Prep Department,” as it was called by the students, had five times that number. By adding the numbers from the Female Department

Oberlin had nearly a thousand students, and those numbers were rising. By the time Shurtleff graduated from the college in 1859 there were nearly 1,200 students.16

One of the first things that young Shurtleff had to do was to find work so that he could support himself. The formal inclusion of manual labor as a curricular requirement had been dropped. Labor was not as important to Finney as it had been to Shipherd, and as such the drive to keep it was lost, and it did not pay for itself. The Oberlin Institute tried several times in the

1840s to make a college farm pay by making use of student labor, but each attempt failed. The plan of teaching students the value of hard work, while the school earned some hard cash was simply hard luck. Students were never able to make nearby fields profitable. One of the more fascinating failures came when the Institute imported hundreds of mulberry trees as homes for silkworms. The worms found the Oberlin environment too harsh and the enterprise failed. Since the institution was no longer providing work for students, Shurtleff had to find a job. The college did maintain arrangements with local residents who leased property from the school, so that college publications boasted that healthy young men could find enough work to pay for their board, and maybe even their washing and room rent, although they cautioned young women that

16 Oberlin College Catalogue 1855-56, 46, OCA; General Catalog of Oberlin College, 1833 – 1908, Int. 117.

29 their earning potential was much lower, unless they had a specialized domestic skill. Shurtleff found work chopping wood and doing chores to defray his expenses.17

Those expenses were not particularly unusual for a western college student in the mid- nineteenth century. Tuition for all of the college’s programs was $15.00 per year, with board costing between $1.25 and $1.50 a week. Rooms in college facilities ranged from $4.00 to $6.00 per year for men and slightly less for women. College rooms for men came with only a stove, while the women’s rooms were furnished. A cord of firewood could be purchased for $1.50 and washing was available for 50 cents per dozen items. When books were added to the equation,

Shurtleff had to find between $100.00 and $150.00 per year to stay at Oberlin, and he had to pay in advance.18

The schedule Shurtleff and his classmates followed consisted of three terms per year plus one several month long break. The timing of these terms differed from what students experience today. The first term began with the Annual Commencement on the fourth Wednesday of

August. That term concluded at the end of November and was followed by a lengthy winter break. School did not reconvene until the fourth Wednesday in February with the second term, which ended in May. The third term began on the fourth Wednesday of May, and classes continued through the summer, with a one week break for the national holiday on July Fourth.19

Shurtleff arrived in Oberlin and entered the Preparatory Department in the first level of education offered there. This two-year program offered a general education and provided a path

17 The Oberlin Institute changed to Oberlin College officially in 1850. Shurtleff attended Oberlin College’s Prep Department, and then was admitted to the college. Before that students entered the Institute and attended one of the three schools within the Institute; Fletcher, 652-656; Oberlin College Catalogue, 1855-56, 47, OCA.

18 Oberlin College Catalogue, 1855-56, 46. Graduate students in the Theological school were exempted from tuition.

19 Ibid.

30 to entering the Collegiate Department. He followed a schedule much like this two-year program published in the College Catalogue:

Junior Class: 1st Term – Latin – Andrews and Stoddard’s Grammar, and Andrew’s Reader, commenced, Greek – Crosby’s Grammar, Elocution. 2nd Term – Latin – Andrew’s Reader Finished, Greek – Crosby’s lessons, Elocution Continued. 3rd Term – Latin – Jacob’s Second Reader, Greek – Anthon’s Reader, begin Arithmetic.

Senior Class: 1st Term – Latin – Cicero’s Orations, begin, Greek – Anthon’s Reader finished, History – Wilson’s America. 2nd Term – Latin – Cicero’s Orations, completed, Greek – Four Gospels, History – Ancient, Taylor’s Manuel and Mitchell’s Ancient Geography 3rd Term – Latin – Cicero, review, Greek – Anthon’s Reader reviewed, History – modern, Taylor’s Manuel, Algebra to Equations of the second degree.20

Shurtleff was a dedicated student during his Preparatory Department years, which took its toll. He also understood that that he did not have the same cultural background as many of his peers nor did he have the financial backing that they had. “I first left home against the will of my father, penniless and friendless, ragged and uncouth without culture or tact…. I went among men who had enjoyed the advantages of early culture.” Shurtleff was working long hours at study and recitation, and more hours to obtain the money to pay for it all. The stress caught up with him in the beginning of his second year of the institute and he failed his fourth term. In response to this disappointment he changed both his work habits and his goals. He set aside personal ambition and focused more closely on the gospel. Spreading the gospel became the focal point of his studies, not academic success. He also consciously set aside time to relax. He especially enjoyed reading novels and lesser literary works. He confessed that at times in his

20 Courses of Study, Oberlin College Catalogue 1853-54, OCA.

31 collegiate career he experienced a kind of intellectual malaise in which he would “[pass] many a long winter night in perusing the weird stories of Edgar A. Poe, the wild flights of eloquence in

Carlyle and the beautiful sophisms of the infidel.” He often completed only two terms a year as opposed to the usual three. This explains why it took him nearly twice as long to graduate from the Preparatory Department and the College as others.21

Like most college aged students, he spent a great deal of time turning over in his mind what career path to select. An early choice was the pastorate. After his failed term and his new found focus on the gospel he wrote to his brother Ephraim back in Illinois to tell him that he had been called to preach at some nearby country churches. Christianity had become the mainstay of

Shurtleff’s belief system and he undoubtedly was excited by the challenge. The extra money he received from the enterprise was encouraging as well. Saving souls must have seemed a better way to earn a living than chopping wood, but there is no doubting young Shurtleff’s devoutness.

His seriousness of purpose could be seen in an admonition to his brother, “let me caution you about one thing, Ephraim, be careful about engaging in levity. I did not set a good example while I was home.” Shurtleff neglected to elaborate on what bad behavior he had engaged in, but pointedly warned his younger brother that, “levity destroys spirituality.” Later in life

Shurtleff placed a high value on decorum and appropriate public behavior. He was clearly learning these lessons in his Prep Department years. 22

21 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 20 December, 1862, OCA

22 Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 1854, OCA.

32

The payoff for keeping his

nose to the grindstone was seen in

several ways. For example, his

letters home do not include

complaints about money. His hard

work and some judicious loans

allowed him to pay his way through

school. He was awarded the honor

of speaking at the Preparatory

Department’s graduation exercises

on August 4, 1855. Out of the

hundreds of students graduating,

only nine were asked to recite an

original oration, essay, or poem.

Figure 1: Program from the 1855 Preparatory School Exhibition, Oberlin College Archives. Shurtleff was one of those top nine and his oration was entitled, “Intellect on the Altar.” There is no extant text of the young man’s oration. Perhaps it presaged the choice he would have to make between a career in academics and a career in the pulpit. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, he graduated from the

Preparatory Department with an eye on entering the college. His pride in this accomplishment could be seen in his next letter home to Ephraim which was written on the back of one of the

Commencement Exercises program, featuring himself as one of the nine chosen speakers.23

23 “Senior Preparatory Class Exhibition,” 1855, Oberlin Academy File, OCA.

33

Shurtleff had arrived in Oberlin in 1853 and in six years completed both the preparatory and college programs. He was heavily invested in the Finney style of education, and he lived an

Oberlin life, which deserves some description. Oberlin student Sarah Merion described an average day to her parents in 1858. She explained that students had to be up at 5:00 am in order to be ready for breakfast an hour later. After breakfast, students returned to their rooms for mandatory study hours between 8:00 am and noon. Students were not permitted to leave their rooms, unless they were meeting with a professor to recite. Then there was then a two-hour mid- day break, and classes and studying resumed from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Students then went to dinner, which was followed by evening prayers. Merion explained that during prayers a professor would read a chapter of the Bible which was followed by a hymn sung by all. The professor then concluded with a prayer. She also reported to her parents that students were required to attend church services at least twice a week, on Thursday evenings and Sundays. The

Thursday evening services were a Congregational holdover from Puritan New England, sometimes called the Thursday lecture. They were primarily sermons. Preaching the Word of

God was omnipresent in Oberlin (of which President Finney undoubtedly approved). Merion likely did not have to tell her parents that ladies faced a well enforced curfew. According to school policy, “Young ladies are required to keep their rooms after eight o’clock in the evening, during summer months, and after half past seven during the winter months.” Shurtleff and his fellow students did not have a strict theological curriculum as either a prep department student, or even a college student, but they were constantly subject to prayer meetings and bible study.

There was no need to have many courses in religion, for the community was steeped in gaining the Christian perfection that Finney had planned for them.24

24 Sarah M. Merion to her parents, 3 March, 1858, OCA. Fletcher, 572-582. Oberlin College Catalogue 1855-56, 46, OCA.

34

Shurtleff and his classmates had other rules to obey. There was a total ban on alcohol as

Oberlin was a dry community. Likewise, all tobacco products were forbidden, as was travel on the Sabbath. Not surprisingly, visiting persons of the opposite sex in their rooms was strictly prohibited. Oberlin’s hierarchy believed that these were not merely breaches of good conduct, but were violations of moral law. Infringements were handled promptly and sternly. If a student was suspected of a violation an investigation followed. Should the investigation reveal damning evidence, the student was charged with the infraction. The most serious scofflaws were expelled from the school, and perhaps even excommunicated. More common rule contravention was met by either private or public punishment. Students feared public punishment the most. Erring students’ wrong-doings were publicly aired and rebuked during evening prayers. This was a thing to be avoided. Occasionally confessions would result in a private punishment when students were dressed down by the faculty in their offices and not in front of their peers. On the whole this made the Oberlin student community of the 1850s fairly well-behaved.25

Figure 2: Oberlin College, circa 1846. Wood Cutting by Henry Howe. Oberlin College Archives. Note First Church to the far right, Tappan Hall to its left.

25 Fletcher, 672-680.

35

Some students lived in college housing and others in private homes. Shurtleff’s lodging changed nearly every year. Available records indicate that he spent about half of his time in campus rooms and half with community members. He was often listed as having a room in one of the college’s main dorms, Tappan Hall; in other years he rented from Mr. Keep or Mrs.

Warren. His letters home do not indicate discontent with his lodgings. Indeed in 1857 when he underwent a painful wisdom tooth extraction, he found some comfort from the family with whom he was living. Mr. Keep was probably the deacon he spoke of living with early in his

Oberlin life. John Keep, in addition to his religious duties, was an early Oberlin Institute

Trustee. He was an aggressive promoter of Shipherd’s vision of the school. He was a confidant of Shipherd and was one of the first people to learn of the Lane Rebels from the Oberlin co- founder. He was also the deciding vote among the trustees to mandate the Rebels’ demand that blacks be admitted in full equality to whites. It was Keep who welcomed Finney to the college and charged the new faculty to carry on Shipherd’s mission. Not long before Shurtleff arrived in

Oberlin, Keep had been travelling in England raising funds for the college. Father John was both a calming and inspirational force in young Giles Shurtleff’s life, and he emulated his landlord in his devotion to the place.26

In addition to the room and board, lamp oil, and firewood expenses, students had other incidental living expenses. One student, Ebenezer B. Hayes, complained to his parents that he had only eighty-eight cents to his name. Shoes and clothing costs were far more than he had anticipated, for “A person has as much occasion to be dressed up as though he went to Church all

26 Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 15 August, 1857. OCA; Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism, 23, 26, 34, 37, 104, 119, 239; See also Baumann, Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College, 27.

36 the time.” He also admitted to his shame of wasting money on whale oil instead of lard for his lamp.27

***

Honors came to Shurtleff after his graduation from the Preparatory Department. He was one of the few selected to continue on and gain admittance into the College Department.

Additionally, he was named a Latin tutor in the Preparatory Department. After having had some experience with preaching, now the young man was teaching. It had a profound effect upon him, opening up another potential career path, a path he ultimately selected. Shurtleff’s College

Department course work was classical. His schedule looked something like this:

Freshman Class: 1st Term – Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, commenced, Cicero de Amietia et de Senectute, Algebra, Ray’s 2nd Part, commenced, Practical Lectures on Physiology and Hygine. 2nd Term – Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, continued, Livy, commenced, Algebra, continued. 3rd Term – Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, completed, Acts of the Apostles, Livy, completed, Davies’ Legendre’s Geometry, commenced.

Sophomore Class: 1st Term – Xenophon’s Memorabilia, commenced, Cicerode Officiis, Geometry, continued. 2nd Term – Xenophon’s Memorabilia, completed, Aeschines, commenced, Tacitus, Germania and Agricola, commenced, Latin Poetry, Geometry, completed, Plane and Spherical Trigonometry. 3rd Term – Aeschines, completed, Tacitus, completed, Coffin’s Conic Sections and Analytical Geometry, Botany, Evidences of Christianity.

Junior Class: 1st Term – Greek Testament – Epistles, Demosthenes on the Crown, commenced, Olmsted’s Natural Philosophy – Mechanics and Hydrostatics, Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene. 2nd Term – Demosthenes on the Crown, completed, Natural Philosophy – Pneumatics, Acoustics, Electricity, Magnetism and Optics, Chemistry, commenced, Whately’s Logic.

27 Ebenezer B. Hayes to his father, 14 April, 1856, OCA.

37

3rd Term – Olmsted’s Astronomy, Descriptive and Physical, Chemistry, completed, Whately’s Rhetoric, Mahan’s Intellectual Philosophy, commenced.

Senior Class: 1st Term – Conant’s Roediger’s Hebrew Grammar, and Conant’s Chrestomathy, optional, Intellectual Philosophy, completed, Mahan on the Will, Kames’ Element of Criticism. 2nd Term – Hebrew Bible – Genesis, optional Prometheus Vinctus, Butler’s Analogy, Hitchcock’s Geology. 3rd Term – Hebrew Bible – Psalms, optional, Mahan’s Moral Philosophy, Political Economy, Lectures on Law.

Lessons in English Bible, Compositions and Declamations, or Extemporaneous Discussions, weekly; and public original Declamations, monthly throughout the course.28

Examining the texts assigned in this course of study shows the challenging nature of

Shurtleff’s college curricula. His Preparatory courses used readers and anthologies, including

Stoddard’s famous grammar books. In the College, however, Shurtleff was reading and studying the texts in their original form. Declamation and recitation continued to be an important part of lessons, but analysis and discussion became an integral part of learning. Although Shurtleff did not choose it, there were courses of study for those with a more scientific bent, and they would have more exposure to subjects such as Movement and Astronomy. Oberlin had joined the trend in higher education started at Harvard and Johns Hopkins universities to allow more elective and practical courses. Oberlin’s decision to follow the lead of her eastern colleagues was not the norm in the west. Many liberal arts institutions in the west held strictly to the teaching of the classics. Oberlin not only wanted to encourage an independent mind, but feared that the classics might better teach heathens than Christians. After a semester of recitation, declamation, and

28 Course of Study, OCA.

38 analysis, Shurtleff and his peers were subject to final examinations. A special examination period was scheduled during the last week of each term and each test lasted about two hours.29

Of the nearly twenty professors and tutors at Oberlin during Shurtleff’s student days, almost half were Oberlin graduates. Yale in the east and Hillsdale in the west accounted for many of the remaining faculty. These instructors inspired great admiration and affection. Jacob

Dolson Cox, an Oberlin graduate, a Civil War General, and a member of the House of

Representatives told an alumni gathering in 1889 that in the mid-century, “our classmates and our teachers were unusually close to us. The reverence with which I looked up, not simply to the professors in the college department, but also to some of the tutors, seems perfectly natural to me…. That it was our own fault if we didn’t get an education.” Shurtleff concurred with Cox’s assessment. When he looked back at his student days he also remembered the close ties to professors. Indeed, many students lived in professor’s homes, and that helped to defray the expense of the endeavor as well as adding to the educational environment.30

Outside of classroom time and other visits with faculty, Shurtleff and his fellow students created or participated in several extra-curricular organizations. College records show that

Shurtleff was an active member of at least two student groups, The Student’s Missionary Society and Phi Delta. The Missionary Society’s creators designed it to be an auxiliary to the American

Missionary Association. Meetings were held on each Sunday evening preceding the first

Monday of the month. These get-togethers lasted about a half an hour, and included informational reports and prayer. Members received updates on missionary activities occurring

29 Barbara Brown Zikmund, “The Legacy of This Place: Oberlin, Ohio,” The Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Vol. 42, No. 4, Fall, 2007, 506; Fletcher, 744.

30 Oberlin College Catalogues, OCA. Jacob Dolson Cox, “Address”, Oberlin Alumni Association of Illinois, Palmer House, Chicago, February 23, 1889, OCA; Shurtleff, Writings About Education, OCA.

39 around the globe, prayed for their success, and donations were collected for their furtherance.

Some of those donated funds came from the monthly student fees. Shurtleff joined the society during his second year at Oberlin and by his junior year in the College Department he was elected vice president of the group. This was the highest post the young man could hope for in the club as the president was generally a member of the faculty. Professor James Fairchild, later president of Oberlin College, served as president of the Missionary Society during Shurtleff’s tenure as vice president. Doubtless the professor got a good look at the man who would later work for him in the college. Shurtleff continued to attend society meetings after his elevation to the faculty in the 1860s, and in 1867 addressed the society on “the subject of the Moravians and their Missionary.”31

Shurtleff’s other extracurricular activity was Phi Delta, sometimes called the Philo-

Dialectic Society. It was one of several rhetorical societies at Oberlin in the 19th century. Four societies dominated the scene; for the men, in addition to Phi Delta, there was the Young Men’s

Lyceum, for women there was the Young Ladies’ Lyceum and the Ladies’ Literary Society. In mid-century these clubs sponsored presentations and talks, and later debates. Shurtleff joined

Phi Delta and maintained a social membership after his graduation. He was undoubtedly proud of the club’s competitive success as the decades passed. To win membership in the Philo-

Dialectic Society students had to be members of the College Department and receive approval from two-thirds of the current members. New members then had to pay a one-time entrance fee of $5.00. Considering that was equal to one-third of tuition, members made a considerable

31 Records of the Student’s Missionary Society of Oberlin College, OCA.

40 commitment. Like the Student’s Missionary Society, adults were welcomed into the club as honorary members after they successfully graduated from the College Department.32

The four college societies on Oberlin’s campus reflected a mid-century reality; information and entertainment were much harder to come by unless it was created by the people themselves. Shurtleff and his friends and club-mates made music, gave speeches, and recited essays and poetry as primary sources of entertainment. Students depended upon themselves more than the college for amusement. It was in this era that Lyceums and the Chautauqua

Movement thrived. The Phi Deltas and the other rhetorical societies of Oberlin were part of this nationwide movement. Some of the topics discussed or debated by the Oberlin societies included:

1850 – “Resolved that the United States government ought to provide a homestead for every man who does not possess one.” 1852 – “Resolved that the recent publication of Mrs. Stowe [Uncle Tom’s Cabin] will be productive of more good than the efforts of Anti-Slavery lecturers.” 1854 – “Resolved that the question of slavery’s extension should be left to the inhabitants of the territories.” 1855 – “Resolved that the friends of progress have reason to rejoice in the success of the Allies at Sevastopol.” 1858 – “Resolved that the citizens of Kansas should resist the Lecompton Constitution.” 1860 – “Resolved that [J] Brown should have the sympathy of true friends of freedom.”33

32 Phi Delt Society Constitution and By Laws, OCA; Fletcher, 760-767.

33 Fletcher, p. 771, The Phi Delta records at OCA indicate that one of the debate topics in the 1890s was “Resolved: That the American Humorists are exerting an injurious influence.” Samuel Clemmons, who once spoke at Oberlin, would have been amused.

41

Regular meetings of the society were not always centered on debate. Essays and orations were regularly presented by members. The group would then discuss these with a club member designated to lead the critiques. Annually, the society held an anniversary celebration, and in

1856 it ran thus:

Music, Prayer, Music Oration – Permanency of American Institutions Oration – Literary Mechanics Music Oration – The Irish Representative Oration – The Church of England Music Oration – Know Thyself Poem – Reality in Fiction Oration – The Development of Revolutions Figure 3: Cover Plate and Page 15 of Phi Delta, Oberlin College Archives circa 1858. Note Music G. W. Shurtleff listed as an Active Member, Oberlin College Archives. Diplomas Presented Benediction34

Perhaps this inspired Shurtleff to find the five dollars and join Philo Dialectic. In 1857, he became a member in good standing. In his first year in the society, Shurtleff was scheduled to give an oration, later to present an essay, and three other times to lead discussions. If he had missed any of these scheduled obligations, he would have been fined between five and fifty cents. Shurtleff’s membership continued through his graduation from the College Department in

1859, and he was named an honorary member. He continued his association with the club through his faculty days as well, and was most likely involved in the society’s first Mock

Convention in 1860. Just a few years after Shurtleff’s death in 1904, the Philo-Dialectic Society

34 1856 – Seventeenth Anniversary of Phi Delta, Student Life, Organizations: Phi Delta, Box 2, OCA.

42 celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a grand reunion. They published a song book which included the following lyric to “Phi Delta Forever”,

For we are jolly students of Phi Delta, Phi Delta Our colors are crimson and white, crimson and white. We bear on high the banner of championship, hip, hip, hip. We are always in the fight.

Shurtleff would have smiled, for he understood the competitive nature of these debating societies. They fiercely challenged one another in physical as well as mental combat, and their game of choice was cricket. Phi Delta influenced him greatly as the presentation of the spoken word was crucial to him for his entire life. Shurtleff may not have ultimately chosen the ministry, but he did sermonize. He also taught from carefully prepared lecture notes, and he regularly gave speeches. He never lost his affection for a well-thought out and well-presented argument.35

The young man’s training in argumentation was not restricted to his college studies.

Indeed, all of Oberlin, the college and the community, felt the sting of the 1850s and debate was ubiquitous. During this time Oberlin’s black population swelled by over 300%, many of whom were fugitive slaves. The Oberlin citizenry welcomed these newcomers with almost as much passion as they denounced the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. College leaders began to argue that neither the Whigs nor the Democrats were willing to take on slavery in the South so they encouraged support of new and more radical parties. In 1852 President Finney urged support of the Free Democracy Party, and then after the debacle called the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854,

35 Shurtleff’s membership and responsibilities are recorded in the handwritten Constitution and By Laws, also Phi Delta Mock Republican Convention 1860, OCA; 75th Anniversary Reunion Book, 20 June, 1908, OCA; Giles Shurtleff, “Some Army Reminiscences,” 4, OCA.

43

Oberlin began to turn toward the nascent Republican Party. At the end of the decade the Dred

Scott decision and ’s raid at Harpers Ferry were all part of the public discourse.36

As the country moved deeper into the 1850s and closer to separation and disunion,

Shurtleff’s Phi Deltas debated, and he developed as a thinker, writer, and speaker. That the societies on Oberlin’s campuses kept close tabs on the tumultuous events of the decade can be seen from the scheduled topics. From the merits of Uncle Tom’s Cabin to the relevance of John

Brown’s raid, the members were well informed. The sectional hostility discussed and debated at meetings finally came home to Oberlin in the form of a slave rescue, commonly called the

Oberlin-Wellington Rescue.37

***

In the summer of 1858, a Kentucky slave catcher named Anderson Jennings came to

Oberlin in search of a runaway named Henry. He did not find Henry, but recognized John Price the runaway slave property of a Kentucky acquaintance. He briefly left Oberlin in order to obtain legal and human reinforcement. Price’s owner provided Jennings with an assistant and a promise of $500.00 for the return of his chattel. Jennings and his assistant were joined by two others, one a Deputy U.S. Marshal, and headed back to Oberlin. Using some subterfuge they captured Price and retreated to the Wadsworth hotel ten miles south of Oberlin in the village of

Wellington. There they waited for the train.38

Word of the kidnapping spread quickly through Oberlin, and the community was outraged. A posse of Oberlinites head south to recapture Price. They surrounded the Wadsworth

36 Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism, 164-186. 37 The most comprehensive analysis of this event can be found in, Nat Brandt, The Town That Started the Civil War, (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1990).

38 Lubet, p. 1-2; Brandt, xvii.

44 hotel, and after a failed attempt to negotiate his release they stormed the hotel. Lead by an aptly named student, William Lincoln, and John Mercer Langston’s brother Charles, the successful posse marched back to Oberlin with John Price safely in their hands. The rescuers were met by a large crowd of college and townsfolk. Amidst the cheers and speeches Oberlin student Jacob

Shipherd, nephew of the founder, called for “three terrific groans: for the United States government and three glorious cheers for Liberty.”39

The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, as it became known, garnered national attention.

Southern sympathizers called on President James Buchanan to arrest the rescuers for treason.

Although Buchanan did nothing, thirty-seven of the rescuers were indicted for violation of the

Fugitive Slave Act, a law that was reviled in Oberlin. Newspapers around the country followed the Cleveland trial of the accused. The trials began in March 1859, with the high point coming when Charles Langston confronted the issue of race in his defense. Cleverly citing the Dred

Scott decision and echoing the arguments of abolitionist New York Senator William H. Seward,

Langston’s attorney confronted his accusers. Prominent Ohioans from the governor on down rallied to the defense of the rescuers. Ultimately the court released them, and the charges against the slave catchers were also dropped.40

On July 6, John Price’s rescuers gathered in Oberlin for a great fete. Following a triumphant parade through the town featuring the Oberlin Brass Band, speeches were given and

39 Lubet, 2-4; Brandt, chapters 4-5, p. 110. The tradition of ‘three groans’ has not survived in popular culture the way ‘three cheers’ has. Oberlinites of the day, however, were well aware of the practice.

40 Lubet, 6; Many of the articles have been collected on-line by the Oberlin Electronic Group, see http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/Oberlin-Wellington_Rescue/rescuemain3.htm . Langston did not make this argument himself. Ohio did not allow a criminal defendant to testify on his own behalf at this time. His attorneys made the argument. Langston was free to address the court before his sentencing, however. See Lubet, 8-9; Catherine M. Rokicky, James Monroe: Oberlin’s Christian Statesman & Reformer, 1821-1898, (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2002), 47-49; Brandt, 203-216, 230-235.

45 prayers of thanksgiving offered at First Church. Professor James Monroe, one of the more politically active professors was one of the speakers, as was Shurtleff’s former landlord, John

Keep. It lasted until midnight. The Cleveland Plain Dealer editorialized that “The Government has been beaten at last…and Oberlin, with its rebellious High Law creed is triumphant.” The paper continued, “As goes Oberlin, so goes the United States in 1860.”41

Twenty years later, Shurtleff recalled the great impact the rescue had on his fellow students. “It is impossible for the students of this generation to realize the strength of conviction and the fervor of feeling that swayed [our] minds.” Still, Shurtleff was nowhere to be seen during the crisis. He is not a part of the honor roll of rescuers, nor did he write home about the experience. Perhaps he was focused upon his studies. Perhaps he was involved but left no written record. Regardless, he and his fellow students were even further radicalized by an event they would never forget. 42

Nationally the turmoil in Cleveland and Oberlin was soon overshadowed by another

Ohioan’s actions, John Brown’s raid on the Federal Arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown had been in Cleveland during the rescuers’ trials, and though he was being sought by the government for his actions in , he was ignored by the federal Marshals. He visited Charles Langston in jail and proclaimed to the public in a lecture that it was a man’s duty to liberate slaves when that possibility presented itself. A few months later he sent his son, John

Brown, Jr. to John Langston in order to recruit men for his planned assault in Virginia. Although

Langston was dubious about the prospects of the raid’s success, he was willing to suggest two

Oberlinites who subsequently followed Brown to their deaths at Harpers Ferry. Oberlin resident

41 Plain Dealer, quoted in Brandt, p. 235-237.

42 Giles Shurtleff, “Some Army Reminiscences,” 4-6, OCA.

46

Lewis Sheridan Leary was shot and killed during the raid. John Anthony Copeland, a Prep

Department classmate of Shurtleff’s, was captured, charged with murder and hanged. From his prison cell he wrote to his parents in Oberlin, “I am not terrified by the gallows…. Could I die in a more noble cause? Could I die in a manner and for a cause which would induce true and honest men more to honor me, and the angels more ready to receive me to their happy home of everlasting joy above?”43

The abolitionist fervor seeded in Giles Shurtleff can be seen in the rescue of John Price, and the words of his contemporary John Copeland. It was also reflected in the results of the election of 1860. It must be admitted that Oberlin’s enthusiasm for Lincoln was not as powerful as their zeal for John Price and his rescuers, but Oberlin was a decidedly Republican town, and their support helped the Republican candidate to win Ohio. Unlike the Oberlin-Wellington

Rescue, in this cause Giles Shurtleff was vocal and energetic. First, however, he had to graduate from Oberlin College.

***

One possible explanation for Shurtleff’s absence from the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue roster involved his studies. Shurtleff was completing his sixth year at Oberlin and preparing to graduate from the college. He had to finish his classes and complete his final examinations and he needed to find a job. Two weeks before his graduation he wrote to his parents to explain to them that he had found a part time teaching assignment in another part of Ohio. Full time work outside of Oberlin would keep Shurtleff from attending the Theological School, which certainly remained in his plans. Yet he found teaching a very satisfying vocation. He needed to decide if

43 Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism, 226-228; see also, Steven B. Oates, To Purge This Land With Blood: A Biography of John Brown, (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1984), 266-268, 296, 337-338; Oberlin College Catalog, 1833 – 1908, 220.

47 his future would be one of sermons or students. These weighty choices were set aside in his communications home to his parents. More pressing issues were on the young man’s mind.

Shurtleff rarely got home to Illinois to see his family. Travel was expensive and usually beyond his means. As he prepared to graduate from college he expressed his fear that he would not see his parents again before they died. Death did not trouble him as much as eternity, however, and he wrote to them that he feared they would die unsaved. “The more I study, the more do eternal things seem real. The things of this life seem of little importance to me.” His focus on life after death seems reminiscent of Anthony Copeland’s letter to his parents. Shurtleff, however, was not facing a death sentence. Oberlin’s religiosity had become a part of his soul. A diploma was about to be his as well. 44

He explained to his parents that there were twenty-five men in his graduating class, and twenty-six in the ladies’ class. He told his brother Ephraim that the graduates got five minutes to speak before a crowd he estimated at 4,000. He did not, however, fully explain to his family the extent of the days-long celebration that marked the end of the Oberlin experience. Students had to complete their final examination week. The students of the Preparatory Department had their exercises on Tuesday and Shurtleff undoubtedly recalled his own exercises, and the oration he delivered. On Wednesday students of the Theological School were featured, and on Friday the regular monthly gathering of the rhetorical societies. The bustle and celebrations spilled over into the weekend. On Saturday, the Phi Deltas held their anniversary celebration, and on Sunday

President Finney presided over a Baccalaureate for the graduates. The next day more societal anniversaries and a concert by the Oberlin Musical Union. The Cleveland Morning Leader announced that the choir, under Professor Foote, would perform a beloved oratorio by Chevalier

44 Giles Shurtleff to his parents, August, 1859, OCA.

48

Neukomms. On Tuesday morning the Ladies graduated with Juniors acting as Marshals.

Tuesday evening a faculty member gave a lecture to the rhetorical societies, including Shurtleff’s

Phi Deltas, and then on Wednesday the men commenced.45

The exercises for the College graduates were held in the morning. Thousands had gathered at First Church which was packed for the event. An organ voluntary began the ceremonies and then Professor Henry E. Peck gave the invocation. He noted the somber feeling of the day as he remembered two students who died during the course of the year. The 150- member choir sang, and then each graduating student was introduced and they spoke to the assembly before receiving their diploma. Shurtleff was the fifteenth speaker, and gave a brief address entitled, “Mental Characteristics,” which the Cleveland Morning Leader called, “an able comparison between Paul and John.” Shurtleff went on to point out the valuable leadership these saints give the graduates. Father Keep concluded the ceremonies with a benediction. That afternoon another overflow crowd gathered and the students of the Theological Department graduated. The years of preparation and the days of excitement culminated in graduation where the seniors could “[display] their eloquence, and [receive] their sheepskins” in front of a crowd of several thousand. Shurtleff and the other newly-minted graduates must have been exhausted.46

After Shurtleff’s graduation, he almost immediately headed for eastern Ohio and a teaching position in Austinburg. Teaching had at least initially won the duel in the young man’s

45 Giles Shurtleff to his parents, August, 1849, OCA; Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 8 August, 1859, OCA; Cleveland Morning Leader, 20 August, 1859; George W. Keys letter to a friend, 8 August 1863, OCA. The Musical Union was founded in 1837, and continues to perform today. MU, as it is now called, is proud of its place in American choral history. It is the second longest continuous choral group in the country behind only Boston’s Handel and Hayden Society which was founded in 1815. MU has concerts every semester and specializes in larger choral works. They are not, however, part of modern Oberlin Commencement Exercises.

46 Cleveland Morning Leader, 25 August, 1859. Keys to a friend, 8 August, 1863, OCA.

49 mind between education and the ministry. Austinburg was a bustling little community of more than 1,200 and boasted the first protestant church in the Northwest Territory. It was also home to the Grand River Institute, founded by the church. Located in Ohio’s other abolition stronghold, Ashtabula County, the Grand River Institute had excellent reformist credentials. For several years prior to Shurtleff’s arrival, the school was headed by Betsey Cowles, an Oberlin alumna and early advocate for women’s voting rights in Ohio. She had served as President of the 1850 Ohio Women’s Convention held in Salem. Less than two years after the famous

Seneca Falls, New York Convention, Cowles led Ohio’s women in demanding their rights.

Austinburg was also the home of young Mary Burton, who was destined to become Giles

Shurtleff’s wife. 47

Teaching was quickly becoming Shurtleff’s occupational choice. Two months after accepting his Oberlin diploma, he wrote to his brother and explained to him how very much he enjoyed education, and that perhaps his “calling will be in that direction.” He even encouraged

Ephraim Shurtleff to put his affairs in order and come east so he could be one of his older brother’s students. Though a career in education seemed to be his calling, his spiritual life was never far from the surface. In the same letter, he bemoaned to his brother the lack of religiosity of their other siblings. Just as Shurtleff fretted over his parents’ souls, he worried about the rest of the family’s place in eternity. Teaching in Austinburg did not last long. In 1860, he was offered a spot in the graduate program at Oberlin which he desired, and a Tutor’s position in the

Preparatory Department which helped him to pay his way. With the exception of the United

47 See, “Biographical Note,” Papers of Betsy Mix Cowles, Oberlin College Archives, http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/resources/women/group30.html#48, accessed 30 September, 2016.

50

States Army, Shurtleff never had another boss. The year 1860 was pivotal in Shurtleff’s life, and also a critical election year in the country. As noted above, Oberlin was a Republican town.48

***

The Republican Party in 1860 was an odd amalgamation of political groups. Oberlin

Republicans, like Shurtleff, tended to be zealous abolitionists. Other Republicans were ardent anti-immigrants who were leaving the crumbling Know-Nothing movement. Still others were so-called Conscience Whigs, who opposed slavery in varying degrees, or perhaps members of the faltering Liberty Party. Many Republicans simply feared the expansion of slavery into the territories, while others merely opposed the Democrats. Ironically, in a party that welcomed members of the Nativist movement there were also a number of urban immigrants. In 1860, the

Republicans gathered in Shurtleff’s home state of Illinois to select a standard-bearer. Shurtleff and indeed all of Oberlin was watching. Attention was also being paid to the party in power, a party that Oberlinites presumed to be pro-slavery. Democrat was the label pinned upon opponents of John Price’s rescue in 1858. In 1860, the Democrats were hopelessly deadlocked.

In an extraordinary measure, they met for a second convention in order to select a presidential nominee. Much to the Republicans’ delight they struggled. Shurtleff followed the political debate closely and remarked that, “The democrats are fighting seriously and I hope fatally.”49

As the Republicans gathered in Chicago, Shurtleff declared his support for New York

Senator William H. Seward. In 1859, the Oberlin rescuers’ defense had in part called upon

Seward’s concept of Higher Law. Shurtleff was one of many abolitionists who admired the

48 Giles Shurtleff to his brother Ephraim, 20 October, 1859, OCA. 49 A detailed description of the formation of the Republican Party can be found in Eric Foner’s classic, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970), while a more Lincoln-centric and recent examination can be found in Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of , (New York: Simon and Shuster, 2005); Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 4 September, 1860, OCA.

51

Senator’s outspoken opposition to slavery. Seward was opposed in 1860 by several Republican hopefuls, most prominently Ohio’s Salmon P. Chase and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. “I hope they will nominate Seward,” Shurtleff explained to his brother, for the New Yorker was clearly the most qualified man. Shurtleff had a great deal of respect for Chase and noted that “Lincoln is a noble man, but not quite [as] much a statesman as Seward.”50

Ardent abolitionists such as Shurtleff had a hard time getting behind Lincoln. Both

Seward and Chase were much more passionate about the ending of slavery than the Illinois lawyer. In addition to his higher law doctrine, Seward declared that there was an “irrepressible conflict,” between North and South over slavery. Chase’s abolitionist bona fides were equally strong. The Ohio governor was credited by some historians with converting abolition from a social issue into a political issue. On this very important issue Lincoln was a moderate. Wendell

Phillips famously decried him as a first rate example of a second rate man and “that slave hound from Illinois.” In Oberlin, Shurtleff was aware of campaign speculation that Lincoln had pro- slavery sentiments. The newly-minted graduate student and tutor’s contention that both Seward and Chase were clearly superior to Lincoln, and the rest of the field simply too conservative, reflected his core abolitionist beliefs. Giles Shurtleff was truly an Oberlin man.51

Lincoln’s moderate stance, which was so off-putting in Oberlin, may well have won him the party’s nomination. Word reached Oberlin of Lincoln’s convention victory on May 19,

50 Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 9 April, 1860, OCA. 51 William H. Seward, quoted in James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 198; Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War, (London: Oxford University Press, 1970), 73; Foner’s third chapter is an excellent mini biography of Chase, and chronicles his effort to make abolition the keystone of the newly formed Republican party; David Donald, “Getting Right With Lincoln, The online, http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/95nov/lincoln/lincrite.htm, accessed July 22, 2016; and Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), 128. See Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 9 April, 1860, and 19 May, 1860, OCA.

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1860. The news, Shurtleff reported, “was received here rather coolly.” The young man was not discouraged, instead he harkened back to his Illinois roots and attempted to elicit support for the nominee. Although many of the community leaders would have none of it, Shurtleff joined with a few others who called Illinois home and started their own Lincoln celebration. Just as Lincoln supporters, called ‘wide awakes,’ marched in torch lit processions around the convention facility in Chicago, Shurtleff and his colleagues formed a torchlight parade around the village square.

Shurtleff joined in the speech-making on behalf of “old Abe…. I made a short speech explaining his position on the slavery question and denying charges of proslavery sentiments which have been alleged against him. On the whole we had a huge time.” Editors of the Oberlin Evangelist were not so enthused. In remarking upon the Republican selection they remembered

“[Lincoln’s] humanity towards the oppressed race was low. It did him no honor.”52

Shurtleff explained to his younger brother that Congressman Joshua Giddings was said to be coming to Oberlin in the next few days, and that the Congressman’s endorsement would bring the town leaders over to Lincoln. Invoking the name of Giddings was no idle matter for he was a longtime member of Congress from Ashtabula County and one of the country’s most powerful voices against slavery. He was a big, stocky, loud legislator, sometimes called “The Lion of

Ashtabula,” who entered the House in 1838, and in many ways was the leading congressional abolitionist after the death of . His presence in Oberlin would certainly have assuaged the most ardent opponents of slavery in the village and the college. Giddings could garner full, if not enthusiastic, support for Lincoln. Oberlin did go heavily for Lincoln in

November 1860, and Shurtleff helped to lead the charge, even contemplating traveling back to

52 Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 19 May, 1860, OCA; Oberlin Evangelist, “Republican Convention at Chicago,” 23 May, 1860.

53

Illinois to stump for the rail splitter. He was confident that Lincoln would carry Ohio by 30,000 votes.53

* * *

Shurtleff entered Oberlin a penniless westerner who was looking for his future. In

Oberlin he found it. The young man had been steeped in the Oberlin ethos, which was largely

Finney’s philosophy of Christian perfectionism. Shurtleff had dedicated his life to God and the reforms that he believed were part of that commitment. In the years to come he had the opportunity to prove his Oberlinite metal. He proved to be both a dedicated Christian and a lifelong reformer.

53 A good description of Giddings’ efforts in the House can be found in Chapter 28, “Hisses and Murmurs; or, the Lion of Ashtabula”, in William Lee Miller’s Arguing About Slavery: The Great Battle in the , (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996); Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 5 November, 1860, OCA. In fact, Lincoln carried Ohio be an even more comfortable margin.

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Chapter Two

Enlistment & Early Fighting

The excitement of Lincoln’s election quickly turned into dread. The country split apart and nearly everyone chose sides. For Giles Shurtleff there was no question about what side he was on, but rather what appropriate action he should take. Upon his graduation he was trying to determine if he would be a pastor, or he might find a job as a teacher. The relentless events of 1861 gave him a yet third choice: soldier. That was the path he took.

* * *

Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860, celebrated in many parts of the North, including

Oberlin, did not immediately solve any of the myriad divisive problems the nation as a whole faced.

Lincoln was not able to take charge of the government for several months, as mandated by the

Constitution. While the northern regions of the country awaited the new president’s inauguration, the deeper reaches of the South left the union. As southern states followed South Carolina’s lead and seceded, federal installations, including military forts, were claimed by the newly independent states.

Before long it was clear that only two installations were going to be contested by the United States government; one in the Florida Keys and the other in South Carolina. The drama being played out in

Charleston harbor held America’s attention as three federal forts, Sumter, Moultrie, and Castle Pinckney, were claimed by both the United States and South Carolina. The disposition of these forts was a question of property in the south and a point of honor in the north.1

Caught in the middle of the struggle was Major Robert Anderson of the .

Anderson, a Southerner by birth and an artillery expert by training, realized that Castle Pinckney’s location just offshore of the city of Charleston was untenable. Likewise, Fort Moultrie, situated in an area of the harbor shoreline that was a favorite spot for picnickers, was deemed an insufficiently defensible

1 An excellent description of the complexities of the Fort Sumter affair can be found in Adam Goodheart’s 1861: The Civil War Awakening, (New York: Vintage Books, 2011).

55 location. It was not a good place for his small garrison to hold out. On Christmas day his men packed up, and on Boxing Day they withdrew all Union troops to Fort Sumter, the fortified island fort in the middle of the harbor. Sumter’s ability to face all sides of Charleston harbor and its thick brick walls made it the logical choice in which to wait while the politicians fumbled through this crisis. 2

During the four-month interval between Lincoln’s election and his formal swearing-in, lame duck president James Buchanan remained in command. Buchanan’s actions at this pivotal time have not been judged favorably by historians. He did not seem to control his own cabinet, which featured several prominent southerners, some of whom, such as Secretary of War John B. Floyd, would become officers in the Confederate army. The president’s stated policy on secession was at best muddled if not contradictory. He denied any constitutional right to secession but claimed no presidential authority to do anything about it. Anderson’s orders from the War Department during this time were equally frustrating and were part of the reason the Major withdrew his troops to the fort in the middle of the harbor. By the spring of 1861, with Lincoln in the White House, Anderson’s position was precarious. He needed provisions and had only limited success in procuring them from the local citizens. He requested aid from

Washington, but for various reasons no US vessel came to resupply his garrison. As the Confederacy consolidated its power in the harbor, Anderson and his crew waited. Although they had firepower in the form of the fort’s cannon, they understood that Sumter’s arsenal was far smaller than those of the southern forts ringing the harbor, each with its guns pointed at Sumter. Firing even a single volley could trigger a catastrophe.3

Political handwringing over what to do with Sumter ended on April 12, 1861, when, at about 4:30 a. m. Confederate shells began to slam into the fort’s walls. Commanding the southerners was a former student of Anderson’s, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard. For the next thirty-six hours, Beauregard’s

2 Goodheart, 1861, 14-15.

3 Goodheart, 1861, 82, 136-164. Two interesting discussions of Buchanan’s handling of the secession crises can be found in J.G. Randall and David Herbert Donald’s The Civil War and Reconstruction (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Co., 1969) 144-162, and James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 246-255.

56 guns transformed the island into a smoldering pile of rubble. The eighty-five Union defenders could return only a fraction of the fire they received, and under this great strain finally surrendered. The impact of Anderson’s capitulation was immediate and nationwide. Great thinkers of the age such as Walt

Whitman, , and Henry Ward Beecher wrote or preached about the meaning of the bombardment. Fist-fights broke out in hotels, Wall Street business came to halt, and newspaper editors used their largest fonts and many exclamation points in their headlines across the country. The Civil War had begun.4

Oberlin, like the rest of the country, followed Anderson’s saga closely, and when the president issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 militia men from the several states, the young men of Lorain

County were ready to do their part. Oberlin student Theodore Wilder remembered, “The news of the attack on Fort Sumter, by a rebellious force in arms, was received by the students with a sad enthusiasm.”

Students dashed out of daily recitations and headed to the reading room in order to get any breaking news of the crisis. Giles Shurtleff recalled the “irresistible tide” that swept him and other Oberlinites into the army. Like many of his age, he felt that at last here was a way for patriots to fight “the demon of

American slavery arrayed in arms against the Gov[ernment]…. Our hearts were swept into it as by a whirlwind.”5

Although the Oberlin community was unusual in many ways, in their thundering patriotism they were not unique. Ohio, and indeed all of the Midwest, provided a disproportionate amount of the leadership and manpower that helped hold the Union together. The Oberlin enlistees were among

300,000 Ohio troops who served. Forty-percent of all Union forces came from the Midwest, a greater share than provided by any section of the north. Among the many generals provided by the Midwest perhaps the three most important were Ohioans Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and Phillip

4 Goodheart, 1861, 176-177.

5 Theodore Wilder, The History of Company C, Seventh Regiment, O.V.I., (Oberlin: J.B.T. Marsh Printer “News Office”, 1866), 2; Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 2, OCA.

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Sheridan. So great was the enthusiasm to be part of this great crusade that Shurtleff contended, “the difficulty was not to obtain volunteers among the students but to prevent those from going who ought not to go.”6

One of the Oberlin volunteers was William W. Parmenter, who quickly rose to the rank of sergeant. He explained his motivation to his mother in a letter he composed shortly after enlisting. He told her that he knew she was frightened by the prospect of his soldiering but that he had no choice.

Parmenter explained that he was joining with the finest and most patriotic of his generation in enlisting.

Moreover, he claimed a higher calling.

This is not a mere sentiment of patriotism, either. Christian people throughout the North have been praying for this time, and God has answered their prayers. The conflict is now between Liberty and Slavery, Christianity and Barbarism, God and the Prince of Darkness. There never was a time when Christians were so united in one common cause, and there never was a cause which received so many prayers from praying people. No man is worthy of the name of Christian, who shrinks from any duty which the Lord places before him…. [W]hen duty plainly calls, I cannot, I will not shrink, and I am going.7

Shurtleff, just a few months shy of his thirtieth birthday, was equally excited to sign up. His enthusiasm was tempered, however, because of the nearly $400 in college and personal debt he had incurred during his collegiate years. He was reluctant to leave town with so large an outstanding obligation. Shurtleff was relieved when two men of the town promised to act as guarantors of his debt.

One of the two was James Monroe, a former professor who was at that time serving in the Ohio State

Senate, and who ultimately rose to become United States Ambassador, and later a United States

Congressman. The other benefactor Shurtleff referred to only as Mr. Plumb. It may have been Ralph

Plumb, local lawyer and one of the Oberlin-Wellington rescuers, or it could have been Samuel Plumb,

6 Goodheart, 1861, 91; Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 4, OCA.

7 Wilbur Greeley Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications, (Vol. XX, 1911), 316-317, accessed from the Ohio Memory project online at http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/siebert/id/7160/rec/22, accessed July 21, 2016.

58 banker and future Mayor of the town. This gesture was enough to encourage the newly-minted tutor and graduate student to join up.8

The excitement generated by so many students committing themselves to their country’s service must have been in many ways very familiar. Oberlin’s president and leading citizen, Charles G. Finney was a revivalist. He excelled in rousing audiences to action. If there was one thing Oberlin audiences understood it was publicly committing themselves to a cause. This time it was their country requesting a commitment, not their preacher, and this call presented a distinct difference from Finney’s religious or reformist altar calls. In this instance Oberlinites were not simply committing their lives to a beneficial cause, they were risking death in a war.9

Exactly one week after Major Anderson struck the colors at Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, a grand Saturday night meeting was held at First Church, Finney’s house of worship. Requests for donations were met with pledges of $10,000 to supply the boys who volunteered. Enlistment then commenced and one by one sixty Oberlin men approached the pulpit and affixed their names to the roll.

During and after church the next day, dozens more young men came up and enlisted. By Monday morning one hundred and thirty Oberlinites were pledged to the United States Army, thirty more than the maximum number allowed in a volunteer company. A committee of faculty determined who would be the first to go, mandating that any student under the age of twenty-one get permission from their parents to enlist. Shurtleff was one of the scrutinizers, and remembered the zealousness of some, and the determination of others.

One young man whom I had known as a thoughtless, aimless, trivial boy, was rejected by the committee, and appealed to me…. When I told him that we could not accept him, because of his lack of character, he said with the deepest emotion: “I know I have been a worthless boy, but it has been because I have never felt as if there was any thing I could

8 The Electronic Oberlin Group references both Plumbs in their catalogue of significant Oberlinites. See http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/Default.html.

9 Although Finney was an excellent exhorter for God, he was not so for the Union. He is not listed as being present at the enlistment of Oberlin students, and scarcely makes any mention of the Civil War in his autobiography. See Charles G. Finney, Charles G. Finney, An Autobiography, (Albany, OR: Sage Software), http://hopefaithprayer.com/books/Charles-G-Finney-An-Autobiography.pdf, accessed June18, 2016.

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do, but I know I can fight, and I must go. If I can’t go with this Co[mpany] I must go elsewhere and enlist.” We took him and he kept his promise.10

Shurtleff followed the young man’s military career noting that he rose to the rank of , only to die of disease “brought on by expo[sure] and hard service.” The final tally of eligible Oberlinites was greater than one company could hold, so the recruits were divided into two Companies, A and B.

Company A gave themselves the name The Monroe Rifles in honor of their professor turned state senator, and they elected Shurtleff as their Captain.11

Newly-minted Captain Giles Shurtleff reported immediately to Camp Taylor in Cleveland in order to enroll Company A into the army. Initially, he and his Oberlinites were rejected. Officials informed Shurtleff that they had already filled their quota, and did not need his company. The young captain promptly telegraphed Senator Monroe for help. Monroe was able to pull strings in Columbus, and by Wednesday morning Shurtleff had orders from the Adjutant General of Ohio, H. B. Carrington, to report with his Company “for immediate service,” to the Commandant of Camp Taylor. On Thursday,

April 25th they took the noon train to Cleveland. Shurtleff, and indeed much of the Oberlin community, was amazed at the speed with which the soldiers had been organized. Years after the war he remembered that “[t]he first step was taken Sat[urday] eve[ning]. And by the following Thursday 100 young men were enlisted, organized, officered, uniformed and on the way to camp….There was great earnestness.”

Classes had been suspended for part of the week so that students, especially the female students, could make those things their soldiers might need. The Lorain County News applauded the inspirational work of the Oberlin women, who outfitted both companies “with a good supply of underclothing, and fine

10 Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 5-6, OCA. Wilder says the initial meeting was the day before, on Friday. Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 316; Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 8-9, OCA.

11 Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 8-9, OCA; Lorain County News, “The Monroe Rifles,” 1 May, 1861, page 2, column 5.

60 uniform of greyish blue shirts and military caps.” While Company A was off to war, Company B was informed that there was no room for them in the regiment and they disbanded a few days later.12

***

The Monroe Rifles left Oberlin in style. On the day of their departure, eighty of the recruits gathered on the village square and were met by much of the town. It was there that Mr. Plumb, probably the same Plumb who was Shurtleff’s benefactor, acting on behalf of the Relief Fund Committee, put five dollars into each man’s pocket. The company and the crowd then walked the half-mile south to the train station where they gathered on and around the platform. The recruits received hearty handshakes from their friends, bouquets of flowers from the ladies, and heard speeches from college and community leaders. The Lorain County News reported that the soldiers were cheerful, but also determined. They understood the seriousness of their purpose. One of the soldiers said that the day they left their alma mater was unforgettable, “the crowd of thousands at the depot, the speeches, sensations, and the tears, shed by friends at the parting. It was a sad day when these young men realized that they were called to engage in their country’s battles.” He also marveled that none of the soldiers required or even thought about recruitment incentives or their monthly wage.13

The train took the Oberlinites to Cleveland, and at Camp Taylor on April 30th they were officially mustered into the United States Army as Company C of the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). Like the rest of the volunteers flocking to the Union army, they signed up for three months as President Lincoln had requested. The 7th OVI included companies from several communities in northeastern Ohio; they hailed from Cleveland, Painesville, Huron, Franklin Mills, Ravenna, Warren, and Youngstown. Like the

Oberlinites, the companies adopted nicknames such as the Sprague Cadets, the Franklin Rifles, and the

12 “Records of the Adjutant General’s Office” Book Records of Volunteer Union Organizations, 7th Ohio Infantry, Order Book Companies A thru K, National Archives, Washington, DC; Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 5-6, OCA; Lorain County News, “The Monroe Rifles.” Shurtleff remembers one hundred and thirty men enlisting. The News reports the number closer to two hundred, maintaining that “There are men enough here yet to send another hundred when the cause needs it, or the President calls for it.” Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 316.

13 Lorain County News, “The Monroe Rifles,” 1 May, 1861; Wilder, The History of Company C, 3.

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Painesville Union Guards. Their stay in Cleveland was brief, and included a rousing visit by Governor

William Dennison at the newly created Camp Taylor. Camp Taylor was located on the corner of

Kinsman and Hudson streets, about a mile from Cleveland’s Public Square on land that served the

Cleveland Agricultural Society as its fairgrounds. Recruits quickly found the existing buildings and barns insufficient and began constructing barracks. These hastily fabricated structures were about eighty feet long and sixty feet wide, with straw bunks lining a center aisle. The camp had been built to hold 1,000 troops, and was quickly peopled by nearly 1,200. The regimental colonelcy had yet to be determined, and went ultimately to a Brigadier General in the state’s militia, E.B. Tyler. Shurtleff did not approve. He and his company cast their ballot for a young and ambitious state legislator, James A. Garfield. Garfield’s

Christian and abolitionist zeal were undoubtedly known to Shurtleff and the Oberlinites, and they were proud to cast the only vote against Tyler. Years later, Shurtleff bemoaned regimental politics, and their

“tendency to allow supposed training in a special line to outweigh character and a broad general education.”14

The 7th OVI’s time in Cleveland was short as Special Order No. 4 ordered the regiment to a new training facility. On a beautiful Sunday morning, May 5, 1861, they boarded a train bound for Camp

Dennison, located northeast of Cincinnati. Nearly 8,000 Northern Ohioans lined the streets for the sendoff of the champions. The Monroe Rifles and their Captain must have thought back to the smaller, but just as emotional sendoff they received in Oberlin. Here in Cleveland, “[b]oth sides of the street were lined with people…a large portion of them women, and waving handkerchiefs and tearful eyes bore witness to the sympathy which was felt for those young men…. Never did the several companies march better or look better.” They reached the state capital that evening, and Shurtleff and his men spent the

14 Itinerary of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Lawrence Wilson, Ed., (New York: The Neal Publishing Company, 1907), 25, 27, 30; Timothy J. Mieyal, A Study of Valor: The Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, (Unpublished MA Thesis, Kent State University, 1998), 7-10, 16, 19; Giles W. Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels”, from Sketches of War History 1861 – 1865, W.H. Chamberlain, ed., prepared for the Ohio Cmmandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, (Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1896) Reprinted by Broadfoot Publishing Company, 389 - 390. This is especially poignant, as Shurtleff would experience similar political rejection when trying to obtain the colonelcy of the 127th Ohio Volunteer Infantry later in the war.

62 night at the grand Ohio statehouse. The next day they arrived at their new home, located in a valley between some rolling Ohio hills and a rail line. Shurtleff described it as a “stubble field” whose hard clay had been softened by a recent rain. The camp was not yet completely built, but the men found lumber and supplies and went to work constructing shanties and bunks. Theodore Wilder remembered the cleverness of the men in creating their new homes. These new dwellings were pleasant enough, and, he added wryly, “might well move the envy of many a city pauper.”15

The northern Ohio regiment was joined by several other units bringing the camp population to about 8,000. In the midst of thousands of raw recruits, the Oberlin men quickly made a name for themselves. Dubbed “The Praying Company” by their peers, the Oberlinites were regularly ridiculed.

There was a difference between the praying Monroe Rifles and many of the other Union soldiers. The

Oberlinites were generally better educated and more genteel in their manner than their comrades. They did not drink and few smoked or chewed tobacco. Shurtleff specifically disdained smoking and drinking.

Most notably, however, they prayed daily. Often their prayer meetings took place outside their barracks and in view of others. This was probably part proselytization, and part necessity, as inside facilities were often insufficient.16

The Oberlin men, like nearly all of the volunteers, were ignorant to the ways of soldiering. They needed to learn the basics. Shurtleff was clear that the Monroe Rifles were no more or less educated about drill and camp life, “not one of us knew the meaning of the orders ‘file right’ or ‘shoulder arms’.

The drill for the men of Company C was no less grueling than it was for other Union men. Reveille came early, and the first roll call was at 5:00 a.m. After breakfast came tidying up; not simply breakfast dishes,

15 Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 318. Some sources say that the 7th stayed at a Camp Jackson while in Columbus, personal narratives indicate that at least Company C stayed in the statehouse itself; See, for example, Theodore Wilder, The History of Company C, Seventh Regiment, O.V.I., (Oberlin: J.B.T. Marsh printer ‘News Office’, 1866), 5; Regimental historian Lawrence Wilson explained that when Camp Jackson proved too small for the entire regiment, two companies, the Sprague Cadets and the Monroe Rifles were sent to the capitol. He further explained that the Cadets spent the night in the basement, while the Oberlinites lay down in the Senate chamber; See Itinerary of the Seventh, 35; Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 10. Wilder, A History of Company C, 6.

16 Wilder, A History of Company C, 6. Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 319; Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 11.

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but the entire camp. Policing the barracks and cleaning weapons all had to be finished in the morning.

Squads drilled for two hours, then companies drilled for four hours. Finally, the entire regiment drilled

for yet two more hours. Fainting during dress

parade was not uncommon. Soldiers often

viewed both drill and guard duty as tedious.17

Brigadier General Jacob D. Cox, an

1851 Oberlin graduate, commanded the

camp, and on May 13th, he informed the

officers of the 7th OVI that the government

Camp Denison as it appeared when construction was complete. From Ohio History had recognized that the three month Connection, http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/File:Camp_Dennison_ (LC).jpg enlistments were inadequate. Officials in

Washington realized that this was not going to be a short war, and about a month and a half later, the First

Battle of Bull Run seemed to prove their point. Within twenty-four hours of being notified of the

importance of a three-year enlistment, all but one of the officers of the 7th OVI had re-enlisted for the

longer term. About ten days later, the men of Oberlin’s Monroe Rifles gathered on “the little grassy hill”

at the east end of the camp where they heard speeches from their commanding general as well as from

their namesake, Professor James Monroe about the importance of extending their enlistments for the full

three years. A day or two later, Shurtleff marched his company out to the same hill and ordered all those

willing to re-enlist to step forward eight paces. About half the company immediately moved up eight

steps. After an awkward moment or two, others stepped forward so that most of the company would stay

together. Approximately eighty percent of Company C re-enlisted for the full three years, and each man

who committed to an extended term received a ten-day furlough. This was slightly higher than the total

regiment’s re-enlistment rate of seventy-five percent. As there were many Oberlin College students in

Company C, those who were seniors at that time were graduated. The newly formed three-year company

17 Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 9; Wilder, A History of Company C, 11.

64 was ordered on June 17th to their company street where they were to hold new officer elections. Shurtleff was re-elected Captain.18

Shurtleff then returned to Oberlin to fill out his company. The local paper reported that “His visit quickened the war fever.” At least two meetings were held at the chapel where Shurtleff successfully recruited enough men to fully staff Company C. It should be noted that many others of the company took advantage of their furlough to return to Oberlin and assisted Shurtleff in recruiting for the Union. They were successful. It continued to be an entirely Oberlin regiment.19

Saturday, June 22, 1861, was a

special day for Company C and the entire

7th OVI. On this day the men received

their muskets, other equipment, and their

uniforms. The excitement of having the

weapon and uniform of a soldier

undoubtedly inspired pride, regardless of

From "Itinerary of the Seventh" Lawrence Wilson, Ed., inset after page 38 how ill-fitting the trousers may have been, or how uncomfortable the shoes proved to be. The following Tuesday they were reviewed by their commanding officer, General George B. McClellan of the Army of Occupation, West Virginia,

Department of the Ohio. The excited young men had only been in Camp Dennison for eight weeks when they learned that they had been ordered into enemy territory. They would be going into action in

Virginia. They packed their knapsacks and got ready to board a troop train on the 26th of June, headed northeast to Columbus. On the 27th their expedition moved to just south of Wheeling, Virginia (now

West Virginia). They had taken the Central Ohio Railroad to the Ohio River town of Bellaire. Here they

18 Meiyal, “A Story of Valor,” 25-26; Wilder, The History of Company C, 9 and appendix showing enlistments. Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 320; “Records of the Adjutant General’s Office,” Book Records of Volunteer Organizations, 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Order Book, Companies A to K, National Archives, Washington, DC.

19 Lorain County News, 5 June, 1861, 2; Wilder, The History of Company C, 9.

65 required a ferry to cross the mighty Ohio River so that they might board the northern branch of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The crossing was not difficult, and several hours remained before they could board a B & O train. The men took time to swim in the Ohio, write letters home to their sweethearts, or simply nap. The 7th OVI then received orders to bivouac right there, and they spent their first night on Confederate soil. They were awakened in the middle of the night so that they would be ready to board the one o’clock train. Sleepy, but excited, they boarded the early morning train heading south towards Grafton. They reached their destination about noon. At Grafton, the men were reunited with their Colonel, who had gone ahead of his regiment. The men were happy to see their commander and gave him a rousing cheer. With their commander now accompanying them, they boarded another train west to Clarksburg and arrived at about three in the afternoon. In Clarksburg they once again pitched their tents and made camp on a farm owned by a secessionist. The farmer had been imprisoned, and the newly-minted Union soldiers took some pleasure in defiling his land. Their final destination was

Weston, Virginia (now West Virginia), but rail service was not available, so the regiment prepared for their first long march.20

Their mission, although Shurtleff did not know it until later, was to capture Weston and arrest important southern sympathizers. They were also to take control of the local bank which was known to have $40,000 in gold that had somehow escaped the Confederate government’s grasp. On Saturday, June

29th, the men of the 7th OVI moved south through the western Virginia mountains. For Giles Shurtleff this must have seemed a wonder. The thirty-year old Captain had not seen hills like this since he was a little boy travelling west with his mother. Twenty-five years earlier, he and his family crossed the

Appalachians on an Erie Canal boat. Since that time his life had been spent almost completely in what geologists call the Great Lakes plain, primarily flat land smoothed over by receding ice age glaciers.

Although he had certainly seen hills near the Ohio River, and the gorges cut out by rivers such as the

Black in Lorain County and the Cuyahoga in the county of the same name, the ancient mountains of the

20 Mieyal, “A Story of Valor,” 33; “Our Trip,” The Ohio Seventh, Vol., No. 1, 2. Elliott Grabill Papers, OCA.

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Appalachians must have seemed powerful. As he most likely rode horseback, his men marched through the mountains in a scorching heat. The company’s greatest recollection was not of the spectacular tree covered hills, but the sun’s blistering heat and their inferior footwear. Covering the approximately twenty-five miles took nearly three days. An officer in the company, Judson N. Cross, remembered the men slowly discarding their gear until some finally threw away their knapsacks altogether:

Before midnight the men began to drop out one by one and hurriedly to pick out the most useless articles to throw away. First went books, razor-strops, and articles little needed on an active march. Then extra clothing went to the side of the road; and finally at every resting-place the men left something which could be spared to lighten their loads. The stiff army shoes with soles made of pine shaving-stuffings blistered the feet, and all cakes of soap, which had not already been thrown out, came into play to soap the feet and relieve the blisters caused by such a forced march by men wholly unused to carrying the knapsack, cartridge-box and musket.21

By the first of July, the men of the Seventh had surrounded Weston, Virginia, and captured it.

They also successfully obtained the gold they were sent to impound. The 7th OVI’s successful completion of their mission was hardly a military action, however. Like many towns in the western reaches of

Virginia, Weston was mostly loyal to the Union. They viewed the Ohioans not as invaders, but liberators.

The town feted the regiment in a substantial Fourth of July celebration a few days later. One soldier of the 7th OVI wrote home and raved about the food prepared for the soldiers by the townsfolk that included,

“pies, cakes, biscuit, bread, butter, and

everything else that was eatable, almost.” In

addition to the speeches and a parade by the

regiment to celebrate the anniversary of the

Declaration of Independence, members of the

Seventh, led by Company C’s own Eliot Grabill,

Figure 1: Page one of "The Ohio Seventh" the irregular publication of the published perhaps the only volume of the regiment, Oberlin College Archives

21 Mieyal, “A Story of Valor,” 38, 40-41; Judson N. Cross, “The Campaign of West Virginia of 1861,” Glimpses of the Nation’s Struggle: Minnesota Commandery, A Series of Papers read before the Minnesota Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 1887-1889, (St. Paul, MN: St. Paul Book and Stationary Company, 1890, reprinted by Broadfoot Publishing Co., 1992), 155.

67 regimental newspaper called The Ohio Seventh. The masthead of this two-page publication featured the motto “We Come to Protect, Not to Invade.” The articles of the paper instructed the locals on army policy. One article was an open letter from Commanding General McClellan in which he assured the loyal residents of Virginia that their army was acting in concert with local loyal authorities and was in full accord with the United States Constitution. “We are enemies to none but armed rebels, and those voluntarily giving them aid. All officers of this army will be held responsible for the most prompt and vigorous action in repressing disorder and punishing aggression by those under their command.”

McClellan went on to tell the local citizenry that any persons fighting against the Union troops would find themselves in jail. Elsewhere in the paper was an entertaining caricature of a ‘secesher.’ The men of the

7th OVI enthusiastically faced the prospect of battle. They also experienced their first taste of death; after the celebrations of the national holiday, accidental death and death from disease struck the Seventh.

Elegant orations accompanied the lavish funerals.22

***

The battles of western Virginia which the 7th OVI marched into are not as famous, nor as regularly retold as later, more famous Civil War battles. They comprised a small part of the modest campaign in which General McClellan experienced his only real success against General Robert E. Lee.

Although southern papers complained that Lee was outgeneraled and out maneuvered, both commanding generals’ subordinates really determined their fate. McClellan was better served by William S. Rosecrans and Jacob D. Cox than Lee was by John B. Floyd and Henry A. Wise. Military action rose out of calls from unionists in western Virginia that President Lincoln could not answer, but that Ohio Governor

William Dennison could. The troops being trained at the camp bearing the governor’s name, including the 7th OVI, were sent west to shore up Union control of an area of western Virginia that stretched from

Wheeling and the northern panhandle southward to the Kanawha River and westward to the Kentucky

22 W.D. Shepherd, reprinted in, Itinerary of the Seventh, 45; “Headquarters, , To the Inhabitants of Western Virginia,” The Ohio Seventh, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1, Elliott Grabill Papers, OCA. As of July, 2016 an original of this newspaper was listed for sale on-line, and the asking price is nearly $2,500! Mieyal, “A Story of Valor,” 41-43.

68 border. These military successes allowed for unionists gathered in Wheeling to ultimately declare independence from Virginia, and to create the new state of West Virginia. For Shurtleff and Company C, the minor battles of the Kanawha River valley had important and long lasting consequences.23

Most of the country was unaware of this campaign as their attention was fixed on the gathering storm in eastern Virginia that would be unleashed near the capital city at the .

Union officials in Washington had little attention or troops to spare for the Unionists of western Virginia, so concerned were they with their own safety and security. Fortunately for the Union, Dennison’s

Ohioans were available, ably assisted by regiments from Indiana and two loyalist units from Virginia.

McClellan’s force was then of formidable size, and they moved in to secure generally friendly ground.

Their main goal was to keep control of rail lines, bridges, and passes so that the conventioneers in

Wheeling could complete their break from Virginia. McClellan’s counterpart was not initially with his troops, rather Robert E. Lee worked primarily out of Richmond. His generals on the ground were Floyd and Wise, both of whom were more politician than military leader. The months of July, August, and

September 1861, were filled with maneuver, strike, and counter strike by both Union and Confederate leaders. It also saw a change of Union commanders. After the Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull

Run in late July 1861, Washington tapped the seemingly victorious McClellan who was ordered east to take command of forces there. was promoted to overall command in western

Virginia. Rosecrans was a more effective commander than McClellan and was able to solidify Union positions in nearly every instance. By October, Lee had conceded the ground to his foes, only to be branded by the Confederate press as “Evacuating Lee.”24

Most of the soldiers and officers on both sides were amateurs. After only a limited amount of training, both armies were trying to navigate the densely wooded hills and mountains of western Virginia.

23 See for example James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 299-304; Or, Jacob D. Cox, “McClellan in West Virginia,” Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 1, (New York: The Century Company, 1887), 126-148.

24 For specific descriptions of the campaign, see McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 296-303.

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The little training they had was designed for open field fighting where long ranks could open fire on the enemy. Communication was as difficult as the terrain. Shurtleff and his company, like virtually everyone else with a musket, were compelled to undertake on the job training. The Seventh moved several times during the months of July and August, pawns in the greater chess match being waged by their commanding generals. Their first move was from Weston to Glenville. Two companies of the Seventh,

B and H, were ordered to march in relief of Union forces at Glenville. Shurtleff and Company C followed shortly after. The 7th OVI was often split, with companies shuffled about to wherever they served the best purpose.

As July wore on, Shurtleff’s company experienced the regiment’s first blood shed when Corporal

Theron E. W. Adams was shot through the torso. Amazingly, his wound was not fatal and he was taken back to Weston to recuperate. Shurtleff also came under fire when his horse was shot out from under him as he ferried messages from his Colonel to McClellan. One of Shurtleff’s men recalled that his Captain was three miles out of camp when the shooting started, but was able to obtain another mount, and speed on to the general. Succeeding under fire certainly made an impression on the young officer, and undoubtedly built up his self-confidence. He referenced this incident in his army reminiscences, but only briefly. In the remarks he wrote up recalling his time as a soldier, he only listed “horse shot.” So many bullets, battles, and life threatening moments piled up for Shurtleff in later years that this harrowing moment seemed trifling in retrospect.25

25 Itinerary of the Seventh, 50-52, 429; Cross, “The Campaign of West Virginia of 1861,” as found in MOLLUS, 157; Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 12.

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As the summer of 1861 wore on, Shurtleff and Company C continued to be moved about.

Rosecrans and his Union commanders were trying to maintain control of Unionist positions, and continue their push south. Meanwhile, under Lee’s guidance, Confederate units were probing for weak spots in order to turn the Union tide. During the third week of August these moves became more sudden and for

Shurtleff and Company C, more consequential. At this time, the 7th OVI was the only regiment at a small crossroads called Keys’ Cross Lanes.

7th OVI's Camp at Cross Lanes, from "Harpers Weekly", 14 September, 1861. Available at the Internet Archive, https://archive.org/stream/harpersweeklyv5bonn#page/588/mode/2up Sometimes called “The Meadows” and sometimes called “Kessler’s” Cross Lanes, Taylor and the 7th were precariously positioned in Confederate territory. Their position was an important link between

Rosecrans’ headquarters in Clarksburg and Cox’s position at Gauley Bridge. Cross Lanes was part of the

Union line, but not as significant as Gauley Bridge. When Confederate General Floyd appeared to be mounting an attack aimed at Gauley, General Cox ordered Tyler to move his regiment to Twenty Mile

Creek so he could support the Union’s Gauley Bridge position. Floyd’s move toward Gauley was merely

71 a diversion, but Cox believed that he had successfully defended his position. He had actually fallen for

Floyd’s feint and left a significant gap in his line.26

To fill the gap, he ordered the 7th OVI back to Cross Lanes. As they approached their old camp ground the regiment met and repulsed fifty or so Confederate cavalry. Tyler was mistakenly convinced that he and his men were out of immediate danger. The next day he ordered a haphazard defense of Cross

Lanes with three companies acting as pickets, one of which was the Monroe Rifles. Although General

Cox had warned Colonel Tyler that the enemy might be in the vicinity, Tyler incautiously placed his troops with the three picketing companies too close to the rest of his regiment.27

When Cox had ordered the 7th from Cross Lanes to Gauley Bridge, the Carnifax Ferry over the

Gauley River was left completely unguarded. This enabled Floyd and his southerners to cross and establish a strong position not far from Cross Lanes. Tyler did not understand what was in front of him.

Floyd had approximately 7,000 soldiers, 300 cavalry, and ten cannon. He planned a surprise attack for the next morning, August 26th. Tyler arranged his regiment in the following fashion: instead of reclaiming his old campground near the intersection of the roads to Summerville and Carnifex Ferry, he set Companies A and C straddling the road to Carnifex Ferry, Company K in front of them near the road to Summerville, and his remaining companies behind Companies A and C.28

The 7th OVI’s previous camp was a more defensible position, yet Tylor chose to locate most of his regiment upon a hill behind the Zoar Meeting House. His three companies of pickets spent the night just outside a general store and the two story Vaughn House. Undoubtedly some of the men took refuge in those shelters. At five o’clock the following morning Floyd’s men began moving toward Tyler’s regiment. Confederate forces included 22nd, 36th, 45th, and 50th Virginia Regiments and some horse artillery under the command of Lt. Thomas E. Jackson. Southern success seemed guaranteed, and it was

26 Terry Lowry, September Blood: The Battle of Carnifex Ferry, (Pictorial Histories, Charleston, WV), 11- 12.

27 Mieyal, “A Story of Valor,” 49-52; Lowry, September Blood, 16-17.

28 Itinerary of the Seventh, 68, 80 and following page.

72 aided by Tyler’s careless preparations. Floyd’s forces formed a line that paralleled the Carnifex Ferry road, effectively isolating Companies A, C, and K in front of the rest of the Ohioans. Company K was furthest out, and quickly began to retreat toward a small hill where Companies A and C had reformed and were putting up a ferocious defense. In brief, the three companies in the advance were able to slow a significantly larger force long enough for the remainder of the regiment to escape. However, the fighting was chaotic and the retreat was especially disorganized. In delaying the Confederates so that most of the regiment could escape, Company C saw the fiercest fighting.29

Sergeant Parmenter of Company C recorded in his diary that the night before the battle he believed the enemy was nearby in some numbers. He based that on his discovery of more than a half dozen slaughtered oxen. He also heard other members of the regiment exchanging fire with the enemy.

He remembered that the night before the attack was cold. Men were struggling to keep warm, and began to fan out trying to find houses or other structures to stay in. Some found a church, others found log homes, while others stayed out in the cold and began to light fires. Colonel Tyler had issued an order prohibiting any fires so that the enemy might not know their exact positions. This order clearly was not followed. The Monroe Rifles were up early the morning of the 26th as two wagons of supplies had arrived. Corn, beef, and more were available, and the men were beginning to cook breakfast. Scattered firing then began in front of them, and grew so that they knew a fight was brewing. The morning surprise attack had been successful. Of the three companies that were in front acting as pickets, K was routed and in full retreat; A and C were ordered to a small hill just behind the road they were on to make a stand against the approaching men in grey.30

Giles Shurtleff, his company, and Company A scrapped in a brief and frenzied fight that Monday morning. Bullets were whizzing past, several men where hit. Some remembered Shurtleff using his

29 Mieyal, “A Story of Valor,” 53-59; Lowry, September Blood, 17-18.

30 Frederick T. Brown, “Gauley Bridge” Cleveland Herald, 9 September, 1861, reprinted in Itinerary of the Seventh, 75. Note, Brown was the Seventh’s Chaplain; W. W. Parmenter, from his diary as quoted in, Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 321-322.

73 sword to lead and inspire his men as they “fought like tigers.” Outnumbered by the advancing

Confederates, the Union defenders of that little hill noticed that artillery was being deployed against them.

Still, Shurtleff stayed on that hill for as long

as he felt he could. At least one bullet tore

through his shirt as he spoke with his

Sergeant about retreating. Parmenter agreed

that there seemed little military necessity to

stay on the hill, and it also appeared that the

majority of the regiment had retreated as well.

So, Shurtleff ordered his men off the hill and

into the woods nearby. The combination of

Figure 2: Lt. T.T. Sweeny’s Map of the Battle of Cross Lanes, Original Map from "Itinerary of the Seventh," p.80, additional information added by the gun fire and the rebel yelling from their Oberlin Heritage Center enemy meant that not all of the men in the company heard the order. So Parmenter dashed to those not falling back and calling them by name directed them into the woods. Six wounded men of the Monroe

Rifles were left behind.

Shurtleff remembered the battle this way,

As it is possible I may never return to the North, I must speak of the bravery of the boys in our unequal conflict. The boys were all brave, and cool and manageable. Cross was wounded as I was passing him. He cried out, “I am wounded, but keep firing boys.” Morry was wounded in the head so as to cause quite a sore and the blood flowed quite freely, but he paid no attention to it, kept steadily at his work. Of Orton’s courage you have doubtless heard. He told me after he fell that the enemy was coming over the hill at our right. I stepped forward in front of the tree behind which he had stood, to get a fair view of the enemy, and a volley of bullets whizzed by me on every side – one passed through my blouse. There was a detachment of the enemy on…our right advancing and firing. I ordered an oblique fire of the first platoon and was passing back to the rear as I met Parmenter. Bullets were whizzing through our ranks like hail stones, a whole regiment was firing upon us in front, a strong detachment pushing upon our right flank and a cannon was being placed on a hill which perfectly commanded our position. We were entirely cut off from the main body of our regiment, who were already retreating and only firing scattering shots. But I had been ordered to hold the hill and had thus far done so, keeping back a full regiment….

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Shurtleff then ordered the retreat into the woods. 31

Hidden by the cover of trees, Shurtleff next had to gather his men and try to make it back to his regiment, a regiment that had retreated from the battlefield. Some of his men were already in the woods, having retreated before receiving the command. The enemy seemed content to gather up the wounded on the little hill and not pursue the Ohioans into the woods. Shurtleff’s plan was to stay off the roads in order to avoid capture, and make his way to the Gauley River. From there he would follow the river to

Union encampments near Gauley Bridge. For several hours, the Oberlinites marched in silence and in single file through the woods. Scouts were sent out ahead, and silent signals passed from man to man down their line. At about eleven o’clock that morning this slow movement became so tedious that

Shurtleff decided to risk travel on a road. He and his officers believed that they were far enough from the field of battle that they would be safe from the Confederates. They emerged from the woods and

Shurtleff ordered his men to lay down while he scouted ahead. It was clear, so the men rose and marched forward. About a quarter of a mile later Company C was discovered by Southern Cavalry, and ordered to halt. Those in the front of the column, including Shurtleff, were captured; many in the middle and the rear, however, took the opportunity to run when one of the called out, “Skedaddle!”32

One of the skedaddlers remembered that it was Shurtleff’s “parley” with his captors that gave

Lieutenant Baker time to order the retreat. He further recalled that those members of Company C who made it to the woods took widely circuitous routes back to safety. Some hid in caves without food, others found unionist households, hid with them and were wonderfully well fed. All seemed to gather in squads of two to six in order to proceed “through the thick laurel, and over mountains that seemed no less than second cousins to the Alps.”33

31 Mieyal, “A Story of Valor,” 54-55; Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 323-324. “From Captain Shurtleff,” Lorain County News, 14 May, 1862.

32Martin. M. Andrews private journal, reprinted in Itinerary of the Seventh Ohio Volunteers, 82-84.

33 Wilder, History of Company C, 13-14.

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The Oberlinites’ first report of their company’s action was not at all accurate as the local paper announced Shurtleff’s death: “The Seventh Attacked. Co. C Terribly Cut Up, Capt. Shurtleff Killed!!”

The story went on to say that they would “present, as soon as they can be obtained, full obituaries of all our honored dead.” They still managed a slight obituary, reminding their readers of Shurtleff’s popularity as a tutor, the esteem with which he was held by the faculty, and that “[t]he blood of such men consecrates our cause.” Fortunately for the Captain’s friends in Oberlin and especially for Shurtleff himself, the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated.34

Shurtleff and a handful of his men were now prisoners of war. They were heartened to learn that their wounded comrades were being taken care of, for after having left them on the battle field, the

Confederates took them prisoner immediately and began medical care. Shurtleff was able to meet with them briefly, and his men were grateful for their Captain’s concern. What he did not know until many months later was that when the southerners retreated, they left his wounded Union boys behind. Before long, those who were able were in Cincinnati convalescing.35 The confusion over how to handle enemy prisoners and their dead and wounded was an issue on both sides in western Virginia. The Seventh’s

Chaplain tried, but was frustrated in his dealings with General Floyd to in his effort recover Union soldiers.36

* * *

While Shurtleff referred to himself as one of the “Illinois boys” on campus at Oberlin at the time of Lincoln’s nomination, he was truly an Oberlin man. Oberlin appreciated their graduate. He had his spot in the graduate program and his job as tutor in the college. Oberlin would be his home for the rest of his life and Oberlin College his employer. The thoughts he had toyed briefly with of leaving Ohio to preach or teach were waning. He had entered the village of Oberlin less than a generation after the Lane

34 Lorain County News, 28 August, 1861.

35 Cross, “The Campaign of West Virginia of 1861,” 167.

36 Cross, “The Campaign of West Virginia of 1861,” 167; Brown, “Gauley Bridge, August 31, 1861,” Cleveland Herald, printed in Itinerary of the Seventh Ohio Volunteers, 95-99.

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Rebels redefined the place as one of the nation’s most fervent centers of abolition. He matriculated shortly after the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. The Oberlin community helped Giles Shurtleff to develop a strong sense of who he was: a Lincoln man, an abolitionist, a Christian, an Oberlin man, and when the country was severed by secession and the firing on Fort Sumter, he was a Union man.

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Chapter Three

Imprisonment

The next year of Giles Waldo Shurtleff’s life was equal parts chaos and calm. As a prisoner of the Confederate States of America, he was constantly moved about. Over the next twelve months he spent time in seven different prisons in three different states. He was unsure of where he might be shipped next. The tenor of each of the confinements also varied dramatically.

Some of his experiences were relatively mild, while others were life threatening. Yet for all of the anxiety he must have experienced in his various movements about the South, Shurtleff was confronted with days and weeks of monotony. He read what he could, organized religious services where possible, and tried to write home as often as possible. These diversions only partially alleviated the tedium. Food was often scarce, clothes turned into rags, and the local populace found ways to ridicule their charges. There is no question that Shurtleff’s year with the rebels made an indelible impression. It is the only aspect of his life that he published for a wider reading audience. In the late 19th century, as many aging Civil War veterans were compiling their memoirs, Shurtleff penned an essay to be published as part of a growing collection of works being compiled by the Military Order of the Loyal Legions of the United States (MOLLUS).

Civil War officers were eligible for membership in MOLLUS and they regularly met. They modeled themselves after the organization of former officers founded after the Revolutionary

War called the Society of the Cincinnati. Shurtleff’s essay, which he entitled “A Year With the

Rebels,” was published in 1896 by the Ohio chapter, called the Ohio Commandery.1

1 Shurtleff, “A Year With the Rebels,” from Sketches of War History 1861 – 1865, W.H. Chamberlain, Ed., prepared for the Ohio Cammandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, (Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1896), reprinted by Broadfoot Publishing Company, 388-410.

78

* * *

In the heat of late August, 1861, and in the hills of what is now West Virginia, Shurtleff mournfully said to his men, “Fall in boys, I shall have to give you up.” With that, he handed over his sword to his captors. The same sword he used to inspire his troops just a few hours earlier was now a symbol of his defeat. He and his fellow Oberlinites became part of a growing system of Confederate prisons, paroles, and confusion. The perception of Civil War prisons, both Union and Confederate, has changed dramatically over the years. In the decades that immediately followed the war, there was great vitriol expressed by both sides in describing their enemy’s prisons. The anger can best be seen in the legion of first-person prison accounts. It was also apparent in the execution of Henry Wirz, the notorious commandant of the infamous

Andersonville prison. Wirz was the only Confederate executed after the war. No other rebellious soldier or politician was treated as harshly as he. The anger and contempt shown by each side was called a “psychosis” by William Best Hesseltine, who described the prison experience in Civil War Prisons: A Study in War Psychology. Hesseltine moved the discussion of Civil War prisons away from intentional cruelty, concluding that the horrors were more a product of accident, supply, and lack of preparedness. As the war dragged on, military matters mattered more than prison concerns and, especially in the South, officials did not maintain the prisons. More recently, historians have begun to argue that the political and military leaders did, in fact, have the ability to alleviate the horrors soldiers experienced on both sides of the Mason-

Dixon Line.2

2 Edgar M. Condit, “An Episode of the Battle of Cross Lanes,” from Itinerary of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 347. William Best Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons: A Study in War Psychology, (Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 1930). A wonderful, and quite complete discussion of Civil War Prison historiography can be found in Paul J. Springer and Glen Robbins’ Transforming Civil War Prisons: Lincoln, Lieber and the Politics of Captivity, (New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015) 117-125.

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Understanding the prison experience is crucial to understanding the war; one out of every seven combatants, North and South, found themselves in prison(s). The prison experience of soldiers like Shurtleff, who were incarcerated early in the conflict was substantially different from those who were captured later. Shurtleff and his comrades had gruesome and ugly experiences, but there was no Andersonville or Elmira until after 1863. Perhaps he benefitted from the lack of preparedness exhibited by both sides.3

Although the United States had prisoner of war experience prior to the Civil War, neither side conceived of the thousands of prisoners that came flooding in as the war dragged on.

During the Revolutionary War, the Americans struggled to create a prisoner of war policy with the British, and were generally successful. In both the War of 1812 and the Mexican American

War, the United States created prisoner exchange policies that were somewhat humane and successful. The three wars that preceded the Civil War featured treatment of prisoners that was summed up simply: after a prisoner was taken, especially an officer, they were likely to be paroled and then exchanged. Paroled meant that the captive was free to travel in a defined location, but not able to resume fighting until they were officially exchanged. Exchanged meant that enemy prisoners were swapped for each soldier returning home. After being exchanged, the former captive was free to fight again. This system was widely understood by the men who were taken captive, but it had not been put in place by either side at the beginning of the war. Neither side was prepared, especially considering the volume of prisoners it was forced to deal with.

Moreover, neither side believed that the war would be long enough to require a large scale prison

3 Charles W. Sanders, Jr. While in the Hands of the Enemy: Military Prisons of the Civil War, (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2005), 1; Civil War prisons have not garnered as much ink from historians as other subjects over the years. This is odd considering the sheer number of prisoners and the testimonies they left behind.

80 system. However, after the Confederate victory at First Bull Run and the Union victory at Fort

Henry and Fort Donaldson, both sides were compelled to deal with thousands of captives.4

Civil War prison history is best divided into three periods. The first period began after the firing on Fort Sumter and continued until the creation of the Dix-Hill Cartel in July 1862.

The second period covered the exchanges that occurred during the cartel’s roughly one year of existence. The third and longest period witnessed the general collapse of prisoner exchanges after the failure of the cartel. During the early days of the conflict both Union and Confederate officials, up to and including both presidents, hurriedly tried to create a prisoner of war policy that was humane, effective, and beneficial to the war aims of each. Initially Jefferson Davis urged Lincoln to practice parole and exchange; it was humane, required fewer Confederate resources to oversee a massive prison system, and returned to the South much needed manpower.

At first Lincoln balked at this idea. He did not want to return southerners to fight. Even more, he did not want to tacitly acknowledge the Confederacy as an actual government. Parole and exchange were the actions of sovereign states. Lincoln carefully maintained that there never was a rebellious country called the Confederate States of America, but simply rebellious individuals who needed to be defeated. Giving captives official prisoner of war status came too close to giving official recognition, and a lawyer like Lincoln did not see how he could allow it.

However, as the prisoner of war count mounted, pressures on both presidents did as well. Davis felt the constant burden of needing more space, more guards, and more money to deal with the

4 There were exceptions to the orderly transfer of prisoners, for example the brutal prison ships used by the British in the Revolution. See Springer and Robbins, Transforming Civil War Prisons, Chapter 1, and Sanders, While in the Hands of the Enemy, Chapters 1 and 2.

81 mounting number of Union soldiers in his care. Lincoln, on the other hand, had to deal with the pleas of northerners to bring their men home.5

The solution was an agreement to work out an exchange system, now known as the Dix-

Hill Cartel. This cartel used earlier models of prisoner of war exchange and worked for a little more than a year. It broke down as both sides found reason to stop the exchanges. Commanding

General of the Union Ulysses S. Grant especially saw the value in keeping as many southerners from rejoining the fight as possible. He and other northerners realized that they could replenish their ranks more readily than could their enemies. This was the third and most brutal phase of prison life during the Civil War. The camps grew more crowded and inhumane. Considering these three periods of imprisonment during the war, Shurtleff was captured during phase one, and released fairly early in phase two. He was spared phase three, the worst deprivations, that occurred from 1863 until the end of the war. This in no way minimizes the experience and the hardships that he experienced in his year as a prisoner; it was never easy, beginning with his initial capture.

Shurtleff surrendered with about a dozen of his men. Another dozen were captured in the woods, while the rest of Company C managed to return to the Seventh. Shurtleff was brought back to General Floyd’s camp, where he was reunited with the wounded members of his company. The Richmond Dispatch reported on their meeting,

On yesterday, I attended one of our Yankee captain prisoners to the hospital to see the wounded men. It is on the opposite side of the Gauley, distant, two miles. His meeting with his men was quite affecting. Shaking them by the hand, he said he was glad to see them, “under any circumstances.” He was a tutor in one of the Ohio colleges, and among the most dangerously wounded were four of his old scholars. One of them died before we left, and some of the rest will.

5 Some historians would argue the prison issue began even before Sumter. They would include those Union soldiers in southern forts who were forced to evacuate, to be paroled, if they chose not to join the Confederacy. See Sanders, While in the Hands of the Enemy.

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The dying boy was Joseph Collins, a freshman at Oberlin, who asked Shurtleff to relay to his mother that he died “trusting my Savior, and am glad to give my life to my country.”6

During the next several days the enlisted captives were tied together with ropes and marched about a hundred miles to a rail line that could carry them to Richmond. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and ropes linked each man at the elbow. Shurtleff thought that his men were being treated no better than “a gang of slaves.” They were given a little food, including some beef, flour, and coffee, and a couple of pans for cooking. They gathered around a fire at night to cook and eat and sleep the best they could without blankets. A fellow prisoner,

E. W. Morey, remembered that on the second day of their own “On to Richmond” campaign, it rained heavily. The mud they marched through may have reminded them of Oberlin, but proved to be a great impediment. Knee deep at times and soaked through, he felt as if they were “in heavy marching order.” That night they were allowed to sleep in a barn, but the newly mown hay stuck to their soaked clothing and no one slept much. The following day Shurtleff and one of the 7th OVI’s Lieutenants, Arthur T. Wilcox, were paroled and sent ahead to make provisions for their next night. Although unable to procure any food, they were able to obtain a large kettle and had the water boiling when their fellow prisoners arrived. Private Morey remembered that they ate well that night. The treatment prisoners received often reflected their rank; that

Shurtleff and Wilcox had the opportunity to go ahead of the enlisted men, without ropes, was not unusual.7

6 Richmond Dispatch, 7 September, 1861, quoted in Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict” 325; Shurtleff, “A Year With the Rebels,” 390; Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 325.

7 Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 390-391; E.W. Morey, “Prison Life,” from Itinerary of the Seventh, 330-332. It is unclear why a Lieutenant from Company E was captured with the rest of the men of Company C. Likely he was fleeing through the woods at about the same time Shurtleff and his men were. Regardless, Shurtleff was pleased to have a fellow buckeye officer with him.

83

The Oberlinites continued on through the mountains of western Virginia, finding the panoramic view spectacular and uplifting. They marched through the little village of Lewisburg making camp on the bank of the Greenbrier River. There they had the chance to bathe. The next day they marched through the resort town of White Sulphur Springs, which featured a fairly new and grand hotel. Private Morey ironically noted that he would never have seen this gracious and famous southern resort had it not been for his captor’s courtesy. He also remembered that a

Georgia regiment, also in White Sulphur Springs, taunted them mercilessly. The following day their marching came to a close when they reached the town of Covington, the terminus of the

Virginia Central Railroad. At 1:00 p.m. they boarded a train for Richmond. The four day one- hundred-mile march had taken its toll. Many of the men were “played out,” and “barely able to stand.”8

They were relieved when the train stopped in Staunton, Virginia, and all were greeted by a hearty supper of fried bacon, shortcake, and coffee. Morey remembered that a Virginia regiment had taken pity on them, but that others teased them. Southerners taunted, “I guess you’uns would like to see your mammas about this time.” “Oh, we were weaned some time ago,” came the Ohio reply. Confederate officers stepped in and demanded that they behave like prisoners. Shurtleff was able to intervene and quell the disturbance. From Staunton they rode through Charlottesville and pulled into the Confederate capital at about 5:00 p.m. on September

2, 1861. They were immediately billeted at the Atkinson’s Tobacco Warehouse. This was the first of a half dozen prisons that would be Giles Shurtleff’s home for the next eleven months.9

8 Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 332. Shurtleff, A Year with the Rebels,” 391.

9 Morey, “Prison Life, 333; Wilder, The History of Company C, 14-15.

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Giles Shurtleff and his Oberlin companions were part of a flood of newcomers to

Richmond. Some like Shurtleff were prisoners, many were not. Richmond had acquired its capital status only four and a half months prior to the Captain’s forced visit. During those months, the new capital city more than doubled in size, transforming from a fairly quiet city of some 38,000 to a military center with thousands of soldiers and support personnel pouring in.

Along with this shocking growth came drunkenness and crime of all sorts that required the new government’s attention. The Southern army’s victory at the battle of First Bull Run created a need to house thousands of Union army prisoners and some civilian captives as well. The decision was made to hold them in tobacco warehouses. The Confederate government first commandeered the tobacco factory of Ligon and Company, followed by Howard’s factory, and then quickly acquired a dozen more large warehouses, including Atkinson’s, to accommodate the

2,685 prisoners who were in Richmond by the end of October 1861.10

Shurtleff and Wilcox did not immediately report directly to prison. They assumed that they were still on parole and explored the city. They were arrested by a Confederate sergeant and taken to Atkinson’s, where they remained. Shurtleff remembered the sergeant to be none other than Henry Wirz, the future commandant of Andersonville. Fellow Company C prisoner

E.W. Morey remembered Wirz as well. It was possible that they remembered rightly, as Wirz was a sergeant in Richmond at that time managing prisoners in the tobacco warehouses. It was during this time that the sergeant caught the eye of Confederate general John Winder, who was in charge of all prisons. Wirz’s career as a jailer began at just about the time of Shurtleff’s imprisonment.11

10 Sanders, While in the Hands of the Enemy, 40-47.

11 Shurtleff, “A Year With the Rebels,” 391; E.W. Morey, “Prison Life,” from Itinerary of the Seventh, 334. Biographical sketch by the ,

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In the three-story warehouse that was his prison, Shurtleff and his fellow commissioned officers were housed on the first floor, while privates and non-commissioned officers were on the floors above. Eighty or so officers were crammed into this space, only half of which was useable because of all of the tobacco equipment that was stored there as well. They were fed three times a day; breakfast and dinner were wheat bread and boiled beef. A light meal of simply bread was served in-between. Those captives who had money could buy food from the prison suttler as well as blankets and mattresses. Most, however, slept on the floor using wood blocks for pillows. Shurtleff sold his watch to obtain a little money, which he used to buy books.

He purchased both Livy and Virgil, as well as two of Thackeray’s novels, and Louis Adolphe

Thiers’s Napoleonic history, Consulate and Empire.12

Purchasing literature instead of food may seem odd, or a bit of self-aggrandizement in his memoir; however, it was very much in keeping with the education of an Oberlin man and was repeated by other Oberlinite prisoners. The enlisted men from Company C were segregated in

Richmond, and later sent to separate prisons from their officers. In far off Louisiana they insisted upon maintaining and cultivating their education by creating a prison lyceum in which they worked to improve their French and German, even if it was, as E.W. Morey remembered, “an up-hill business,” in such an environment. They also sponsored debates, including one that was entitled: “Resolved, That the present war will be ended by the spring of 1862.” It was hard not

http://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/historyculture/captain_henry_wirz.htm; See also, Washington Evening Star, 10, November, 1865, 1. Accessed from the , http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1865-11-10/ed-1/seq-1/.

12 Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 391-392.

86 to think of the debating societies, such as Phi Delta, that these young men and Shurtleff had been members of such a short time earlier.13

The conditions in Shurtleff’s tobacco warehouse home were harsh. While not as harsh as circumstances would become for prisoners of war later in the conflict, the situation was extremely trying. Shurtleff was probably too genteel to include in his memoirs that in addition to no mattresses or blankets, most warehouses lacked bathrooms, or access to water. Prisoners generally determined where low spots in the floor were, so as to keep their excrement from draining throughout the room. One New Hampshire prisoner held at Ligon’s Tobacco

Warehouse remembered that “the foul stream of mud and water from the sink settled on one side of the room to a depth of one to two inches. We succeeded in huddling on the other side of the room, and so most of us kept out of the mud at night.” A captive from First Bull Run who described in his memoir a prison so similar to Atkinson’s that he might have been a floor or two above Shurtleff described his prison like this,

A more gloomy and revolting spectacle can hardly present itself to the imagination, than was afforded by these filthy quarters….picture a hundred haggard faces and emaciated forms – some with hair and beard of three months growth – so miserably clothed, in general, as scarcely to subserve the purposes of decency; and many limping about with pain from healed wounds; and then some faint conception may be obtained of the wretchedness of the conditions of these Union prisoners.14

Yet in these difficult circumstances, Shurtleff was proud of the moments of defiance he was able to display. For example, he practiced a little civil disobedience. When summoned for a

13 E. W. Morey, “Prison Life,” from Itinerary of the Seventh, 337-339; Burrows, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” 328-329.

14 Sanders, While in the Hands of the Enemy, 52-53; W. H. Merrell, Five Months in Rebeldom; or Notes from the Diary of a Bull Run Prisoner, at Richmond, (Rochester, NY: Adams & Dabney, 1862), 24-25. Another prison memoir that corroborates Shurtleff’s accounts is William C. Harris, Prison-Life in the Tobacco Warehouse at Richmond by a Ball’s Bluff Prisoner, (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1862).

87 roll call in their dingy and foul smelling room, Shurtleff did not look up from the novel he was reading. While he read, the other officers gathered in the usual sloppy line along one of the walls of the room. His Confederate minder ordered him to fall in, so Shurtleff sauntered over to the wall, leaned against it while never looking up from his Thackeray. When the guard pointedly asked him why he was not in line, Shurtleff responded by asking him what line he was referring to. The prisoners laughed and the guard stormed out of the room, only to return with two armed men who handcuffed the Oberlinite. When his fellow prisoners complained of his treatment to the commanding officers of the prison, Shurtleff was unbound and received an apology.15

In the fall of 1861 the number of Union prisoners in Richmond was stretching the limits of warehouse space in that city. The Confederacy decided to make other prisons available throughout the South, and transfer their captives. The plan was to make Richmond a sort of clearing center for prisoners, and then move officers to certain prisons, enlisted men to others.

That plan was put in place, and in early September, Shurtleff was sent to Charleston, South

Carolina. It was quite possible that the Captain’s insubordination dictated his move to

Charleston. Other prisons were being established in South Carolina at the same time, such as the one in Columbia, to handle the South’s prisoner glut. Prisoners going to Charleston were reported to be those with “the most insolent and insubordinate dispositions.”16

One of the many places being prepared as a Confederate prison was Castle Pinckney.

This aging stonework was the same island fortification in Charleston harbor that had been abandoned by Major Anderson and his Union soldiers earlier in the year. It was located about a

15 Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 392-393.

16 Charleston Mercury, quoted in Sanders, While in the Hands of the Enemy, 49; Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 393.

88 mile off the shoreline of the city. A Major Potter, one of the Union prisoners with Shurtleff, had been to Charleston before the war. He told his follow captives that it was a “delightful place.”

The trip to Charleston included a change of trains in Petersburg. Their captors marched them through the city to another train station while the locals jeered at the prisoners, urging the guards to “gun down” the prisoners at that very moment. Their troop train proceeded south and the prisoners spent the next night at Weldon, North Carolina. Here the officers received a comfortable night, as they were paroled and spent the night in the local hotel. The enlisted men were marched to the local warehouse. The next day and night were brutally hot, and when the train stopped in Wilmington, North Carolina, all the prisoners spent their night on the train. One of the officers with Shurtleff compared their sweltering box car with “the black hole of

Calcutta.” When they arrived in Charleston they were again publically humiliated. The guards held them at the station for several hours so that they could be marched to their new jail when the town was awake. The southerners even provided a brass band and a troop of cavalry to announce the captives to the town. The parade did not, however, end at Castle Pinckney. It was not yet ready for them, and they stopped at the local jail.17

The City Jail, located in southeastern Charleston was a fortress of stuccoed masonry and included a forty-foot tower. A few decades earlier conspirators in the trials were housed here. Vesey was incarcerated across the street in the Work House. Prisoners, including pirates, would continue to be housed in the City Jail until 1939. A gallows stood in the yard clearly visible to the prisoners, reminding them of the macabre retaliations that might befall them. The conditions in the jail seemed more suitable for pirates than prisoners of war. Seven or eight officers confined to a ten by fifteen room. Fifteen enlisted men in the same size room.

17 Shurtleff, “A Year With the Rebels,” 393; Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 309.

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Food rations were not only totally insufficient, but maggot infested and rancid. Men often finished in three days the food they had been given for five, meaning two days without food.

Shurtleff was wearing the same clothes he had been captured in and he complained that he “had no underclothing at all, and what clothing I have is in rags.” Shurtleff complained that he was suffering from his imprisonment, he had trouble sleeping on the hard floor with only a blanket over him and another blanket to serve as a mattress. He also complained of acute symptoms of rheumatism. Shurtleff was painfully aware of the other prisoners who were dying, or who had been struck with illnesses from which they would suffer for the rest of their lives. It was the death of his sergeant William Parmenter that affected him the most. Parmenter, along with the other Oberlin enlisted men, had been shipped to a prison in New Orleans. Word reached

Shurtleff that Parmenter had died there. Shurtleff grieved in his South Carolina cell. After departing Weston, he and Parmenter had become quite close. Shurtleff viewed him as a friend even dearer than a brother. He admired Parmenter’s faith, wisdom, and coolness under fire.18

Yet the Oberlin tutor turned soldier refused to give in to his grief and confinement. In a letter sent to his friend and fellow Oberlin tutor Edward H. Merrell he said, “Now don’t suppose that my courage is in the least abated…. I would rather drag out a miserable existence here and finally die an ignoble death, than have these base miscreants recognized by our Government as anything but the traitors which they are.” He may not have been defeated, but he was clearly

18 This is from an 1864 description of the jail by Union prisoner Lt. Edmund E. Ryan; See William M. Armstrong, “Cahaba to Charleston: The Prison Odyssey of Lt. Edmund E. Ryan,” Civil War Prisons, ed., William B. Hesseltine, (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1962/1972), 115; David Robertson, Denmark Vesey, (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1999), see photo inset after page 114; “Old Jail,” from Charleston: Historic Religious & Community Buildings, National Park Service, www.nps.gov/nr/travel/charleston/old.htm; “From Captain Shurtleff,” Lorain County News, 14 May, 1862.

90 angry. He maintained that the depravity of his enemy was more than his friends back home in

Oberlin could ever comprehend.19

After about a month in the Charleston City Jail, Castle Pinckney was ready for occupation. Shurtleff and the other prisoners were ferried out to their new island home.

Contrary to the positive reports the prisoners had heard, Castle Pinkney was even worse than the jail. The island elevation was exceedingly low, and as a result much of it was submerged during high tide. The castle prison was not flooded at these times, but was still cold and waterlogged.

The bitter, damp cells caused rampant sickness among the men, so all were returned to their cramped cells on the mainland in the City Jail. One of the few bright spots for Shurtleff was the visitation by a local Catholic clergyman. Archbishop Hughes visited on several occasions, and

Shurtleff remembered that “though he indorsed the doctrine of secession, he always manifested a genuine Christian spirit and kindly disposition.” Shurtleff also managed to get a letter home which was published in the local paper. He gave a quick listing of the wounded from the Battle of Cross Lanes, in case his earlier correspondence had not reached them. He also pled ignorance as to any possibility of his release. He concluded, “Of course, our imprisonment is intensely irksome, but if our Government can make better use of us here than by securing our release, I am content to abide my time.”20

During his brief stint back in the jail cells, one of the most dramatic events in

Charleston’s history occurred. As this was the same year as the firing on Fort Sumter, it can be safely said that for Charlestonians, 1861 was an eventful year. The second major event was a destructive fire. The Charleston fire of 1861 could easily be listed with other memorable

19 Ibid.

20 Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 394-395, 401; “Castle Pinckney,” Lorain County News, 4 December, 1861.

91 catastrophes in United States history, such as the Johnstown flood, the Great Chicago fire, and the San Francisco earthquake. The devastation of the city by the fire was often overlooked because during the course of the war Charleston was subjected to significant Union bombardment. In the postwar era, damage from the fire was often mistakenly attributed to military attack. For the citizens of the city the hours of fire were terrifying. Many of the historic homes of Charleston were razed, including the former home to the colonial Royal Governors.

Residents were briefly cheered when, as the tide was rising in the harbor, a light rain began to fall. Hopes were sparked that God might put out the flames. The rain did not last, and the fire continued to spread further. Instead, it appeared to the citizens that God was purifying them with fire.21

Union prisoners locked in their jail cells feared the approaching fire would be deadly.

They did not know if they would survive, or if they would be burned alive, or if they might be suffocated from a lack of oxygen. Shurtleff remembered that the fire lasted for a full day and a half, and that as the flames approached it seemed as if the entire city was doomed. No attempt to free the prisoners from their keep seemed to be contemplated, however, and the men began to plot their own rescue should it be needed. A sympathetic guard helped the Union men to get an axe, and they planned to use it if necessary. The flames from the fire reduced all the nearby buildings to ruins. They lit the night sky so well that the inmates might “read without difficulty.”

However, reading was hardly on their minds. The flames began to lick against the outer walls of

21 Marie Ferrara, “Moses Henry Nathan and the Great Charleston Fire of 1861,” The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 104, No. 4 (Oct., 2003), 258; “The Charleston Fire of 1861 as Described in the Emma E. Holmes Diary,” ed., John F. Marszalex, Jr. The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 76, No. 2 (Apr., 1975), 61-64.

92 their prison, and the bars became so hot they burned human flesh when touched. When the fire finally was extinguished, the jail was still standing, and the frightened men inside had survived.22

Not long after the fire, and perhaps because it had consumed so much of the city,

Shurtleff and the other prisoners in the Charleston Jail were transferred to the city jail in

Columbia. They traveled to the South Carolina capital in box cars on New Year’s Day, 1862.

Shurtleff described his time there as being easier than in other pens. According to Shurtleff,

Captain Shriver, the Confederate officer in command, “was a Christian Gentleman, and treated us as honorable prisoners of war (which cannot be said of the officers of any other prison in which I was confined).” Shurtleff and his compatriots were treated to actual straw mattress covered beds, and at the same time new uniforms arrived from the Union. They were able to make a little spending money by carving figurines out of bone and selling their artwork.

Shurtleff made crosses. They were also visited by local clergy. This went well until the local

Episcopal priest asked for a prayer for Jefferson Davis. Shurtleff and his fellows staunchly refused to pray for the Confederate President, shouting the priest down with cries of “We are not traitors!” and, “We are not Confederates!” The Episcopal Rector was most likely Peter Shand of

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. Trinity, which was visited by Mary Chesnut during her Columbia stay, was a growing parish during the early days of the Civil War, only to be shelled during

Sherman’s march in 1865. The Reverend Shand was pistol whipped by some of Sherman’s men as he tried to flee the Union onslaught. Shurtleff remembered that Shand “slipped out at the side door and gave us up as a hopeless lot.” The Oberlinite also managed to get another letter home that was again published in the local paper. It was brief and included his concerns that his letters

22 Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 395-396; Another prisoner of war who commented on living through the great fire was Wilcox, see Forgotten Valor, 317. This is significant, for Shurtleff went to work for Wilcox after his prison years.

93 were not getting home. He had not received any mail. He also remarked that he had requested a transfer to the prison in New Orleans so that he could once again be with his men. This was especially important to him since learning of Sergeant Parmenter’s death. Although the request was denied, there was growing optimism about an exchange. He wrote to his brother Ephraim that though it was three-and-a-half months away, an April exchange seemed possible.

Undoubtedly the exchange of fellow 7th OVI prisoner Captain John W. Sprague encouraged the

Oberlinite. Sprague, who had been captured a few weeks prior to the battle of Cross Lanes was at Columbia when Shurtleff arrived. Five days later he was exchanged. It was likely that

Sprague carried with him some of the correspondence that Shurtleff sent home to both his family in Illinois and his friends in Oberlin.23

Not long after Sprague’s train ride north, several other officers were exchanged. All signs pointed toward an exchange, and a return trip to Richmond where the formal process of reuniting with the Union would take place. Shurtleff and his fellow captives were jubilant on

February 23rd when they learned that they would all be traveling to Richmond for a formal exchange. Their road to Columbia had been very difficult. It had included capture in the western Virginia woods, hundreds of miles of marching, taunting by civilians, deprivations of sleep, food, clothing, bedding, and a spectacularly dangerous fire. They were as excited as little children on Christmas Eve and that sleepless night included an impromptu banquet, replete with toasts and speeches.24

23 Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 317; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 December, 1862; Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 397; Walter Edgar, “Chapter VIII: The War Years: 1860-1865,” Chapters in Trinity History, (Trinity Episcopal Cathedral), www.Trinitysc.org/about/history/chapters-in-trinity-s-history; “A Cheering Word from Capt. Shurtleff,” Lorain County News, 5 February, 1862; Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 12 January, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Itinerary of the Seventh, 59.

24 Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 319; Shurtleff, “A Year With the Rebels,” 397.

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The next morning they boarded trains and retraced their route back to the Confederate capital. All of the officers signed parole papers, and expected to stretch their legs a bit in

Richmond. Instead, their paroles were cancelled and they were hustled into one of the tobacco warehouse prisons. Their hopes were dashed. What they could not know was that the negotiations that brought them new uniforms and set up the possibility of their exchange had broken down, and the Dix-Hill Cartel had not been completed. The cancellation of their exchanges signaled the continuation of their lot as prisoners. On March 26th they were hustled to

Libby Prison in Richmond, destined to be Shurtleff’s most difficult period of incarceration.

Libby was another Richmond warehouse pressed into prison duty. It was much like the tobacco warehouses, large marginally furnished rooms with more men than they could handle. The overcrowding came from the Union prisoners captured during McClellan’s doomed campaign up the Peninsula toward Richmond in the spring of 1862. These extra prisoners strained the

Confederate prison system more than ever, and to make matters worse, Libby was commanded by two young, inexperienced, and ineffective officers. The overcrowding and malfunctioning of

Libby, and a sister prison on Belle Isle, convinced the Confederacy that they needed additional prison space and they decided to build an additional prison. That new prison was Andersonville in Georgia. Shurtleff’s experience was harsh, but he was fortunate not to stay in Libby long enough to endure the kind of deprivations that Union soldiers did later in the war.25

At Libby, Shurtleff was one of 150 officers crammed into a second floor room measuring about forty by one hundred feet. Guards had quarters taking up about a third of that space. Iron bedsteads with straw mattresses were provided by their captors, and blankets provided by the

25 Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 320-321; Sanders, “While in the Hands of the Enemy,” 103-107; Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons, see Chapter VI, “Libby and Belle Isle”; “A General Behind Bars: Neal Dow in Libby Prison,” ed., Frank L. Byrne, Civil War Prisons, ed. William B. Hesseltine.

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Union. There was little light, and even less circulation of air. The stinking air and the general filth of their prison cell made a gloomy contrast with the view they had out their window.

Outside they saw the , and beautiful green fields illuminated by a warm southern sun. Water was available, but it flowed in from the muddy and polluted James. “Our situation is about as excruciating as it can be,” the Captain wrote his parents in May 1862. But he qualified his complaints this way, “you need not be alarmed about us we are too mad to get sick or die unless it seems absolutely necessary.” He informed his folks that there was talk of an exchange, but no real prospects of one. He also said that he played a lot of chess, read whatever he could get his hands on, and slept. Shurtleff mentioned that he regretted that in a hurry to leave the prison in Columbia, he had left his Latin books behind. As he had no money, he had no prospects of getting anything new. He also said that the as bread and beef he was eating was not very good, he simply did not eat much. Desperate for the diversion of mail from home, Shurtleff asked his parents to write.26

Perhaps the conditions of Libby prompted Shurtleff to attempt his only escape. Working with his comrade from the Seventh, Lieutenant Wilcox and another Lieutenant named Kent, the trio managed to trade their uniforms for civilian garb. They also procured a pocket knife. The escape plan involved cutting holes in the oaken floor, and a brick partition in order to sneak into a ground level room that was unguarded and had a window exit to the street. Each man took turns hiding under a bed and used the knife to cut through the floor. There was an anxious moment for Shurtleff when, after he had successfully carved out a hole in the floor, with his face effectively in a hole in the ceiling of the room below, a guard walked into the supposedly unguarded space. Shurtleff was so close that he felt he could have reached down and lifted the

26 Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 397-398; Sanders, While in the Hands of the Enemy, 107; Giles Shurtleff to David and Ruth Shurtleff, 2 May, 1862.

96 hat off the guard below. He held his breath and stayed as still as he possibly could and fortunately the guard did not look up. Their escape route was undetected. Unfortunately, before the three potential escapees could put their plan into action, they were foiled by other Union men who successfully escaped using a similar route. The guards realized they needed to post a sentry in the ground floor room, effectively stopping Shurtleff and his trio from fleeing.27

Of all his various prison experiences, Richmond was where he observed the most shocking behavior by his captors. When Union officers strayed too close to the windows they were frequently shot, but the most heart wrenching moment involved an imprisoned southerner.

He was a Union loyalist who had not been charged with a crime, but nonetheless was housed with the Union prisoners on an upper floor at Libby. The man’s daughter regularly came to the prison hoping to see her father, but permission was denied. On her last attempt, her father spied her through the upper floor window. Shurtleff believed that the man was driven slightly mad at the inability to be with his daughter. He threw himself out the window and crashed to his death on the stone pavement below. His daughter rushed to his side, but she was roughly pulled away from the bleeding man, who died alone on the stones amidst the broken glass.28

During his time in Richmond, Shurtleff and his fellow officers whiled away their time with games. They played whist, cribbage, and as mentioned above, chess. They also found news from newspapers smuggled into the prison. Shurtleff was proud that so few of the inmates resorted to what was, in his view, the base behavior of gambling. They also found creative ways to smuggle letters home. They were officially permitted to write six line letters which were read by their captors. Clandestinely, they also wrote longer letters that exchanged prisoners secretly

27 Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 398-399.

28 Ibid., 401.

97 carried north. Letters were sown into the linings of uniforms, or written on tissue paper and folded up and carefully hidden in buttons. One of Shurtleff’s concealed letters was sent to

Professor Fairchild at Oberlin College. Shurtleff once again complained that he had no letters from home. He also reported that he was again trying to communicate with the other imprisoned members of Company C. He knew that they had been transferred to a prison in Salisbury, North

Carolina, but he had heard nothing from them at all. He lamented his prison time, and found it irksome, but consented to his deprivations if it would ultimately help the war effort. He closed by assuring Professor Fairchild that although regular church worship was impossible, regular prayer was always an option. He said, “God is just as accessible to the individual heart here as anywhere in the universe.” He closed his letter with love and good wishes for those back home in Oberlin.29

Ironically, after complaining of not getting letters, just four days later a letter arrived from his good friend Merrill. He wept with joy. In his response to his friend he noted that

Merrill made reference to the two of them seeing each other soon. Shurtleff knew of no exchanges planned, but conceded that perhaps Merrill may have known more than he, “the whole question of exchange has lost its interest to us, we have been so frequently disappointed.”

Although he may have given up on learning about exchanges, he had not given up on trying to get information about his men in North Carolina. He asked Merrill to send more complete information on the wounded from the battle of Cross Lanes. Knowing that so many good men died, especially his beloved Parmenter, weighed heavily on him.30

29 Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 399-400; “From Richmond Prison,” Lorain County News, 16 April, 1862.

30 “From Captain Shurtleff,” Lorain County News, 23 July, 1862; “From Captain Shurtleff – Again,” Lorain County News, 30 April, 1862.

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A few weeks after penning this letter, Shurtleff received news that was both good and bad. The good news was that he was being transferred out of the hell-hole that was Libby prison.

Even better, he was being moved to the same prison in Salisbury that housed the enlisted men of

Company C. When Benjamin F. Butler’s forces occupied New Orleans in May 1862, the

Confederates were forced to move the prisoners in that area, and to Shurtleff’s satisfaction they were all to be in the same facility. The bad news was that he was moving deeper into

Confederate country, so exchange appeared to be even less of a possibility. On May 15th they boarded the train south.31

In Salisbury, the Confederates had commandeered a brick factory and surrounded it with a large stockade. Ten feet inside the stockade a wire was strung; the ‘dead line.’ Any prisoner crossing the wire and getting close to the fence would be shot. There were a series of frame houses within the confines of the prison that had been quarters for the workers in the brick factory. These were set aside for officers such as Shurtleff. This meant that in addition to less crowded, and cleaner facilities, the prisoners had access to a prison yard. Shurtleff and his fellow prisoners took full advantage of outdoor exercise that was available to them on a daily basis.32

31 Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 402; Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 325. 32 Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 325.

99

Every day he had three hours of outdoor exercise. He used much of this time to play baseball. Baseball had come to Oberlin about two years before he enlisted. Prior to that, cricket

Figure 3: Civil War Prisoners Playing Baseball at Salisbury Prison circa 1862. From the National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/research/military/civil- war/photos/images/civil-war-071.jpg was the sport of choice. Shurtleff liked the game, and remembered fondly a special game, played on the Fourth of July. He was in right field when a fly ball came his way. It was hit well, and was going to land over the deadline, but inside the stockade. Shurtleff had to decide if he would risk crossing the wire and being shot, thus saving the game as his team was clinging to a one run lead. He chose to risk the deadline. He caught the ball and they won the game.

Shurtleff maintained that he was confident the guards would not shoot after an escape he witnessed a few days earlier.33

The camp at Salisbury encompassed about sixteen acres of land, surrounded by the eight- foot stockade. The principle factory building, which was fifty feet by ninety was accompanied by an engine house, a superintendent’s house, four six-room tenements, and a couple of small

33 Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 404- 405. The transition from cricket to baseball can be seen in Shurtleff’s referring to games as ‘matches’.

100 sheds. It was designed to hold 2,000 prisoners, who were overseen by guards stationed on the parapets along the stockade. Overcrowding was a regular problem for this prison, and though they were often able to send overflow prisoners to Alabama, the influx of prisoners kept the prison over capacity.34

After his experience in Richmond, Shurtleff did not notice the overcrowding. He was too busy writing long letters home. He told his parents that he expected the non-commissioned men to be sent home on May 21st. Which meant he would not be seeing his men from Company C, but officers were being compelled to stay. He was upbeat about the entire prison experience. He explained to his parents that he believed that God was tempering him for the struggles of life and that he truly believed he was strong enough to overcome them. Shurtleff was once again able to study Latin and Thiers’s history, and he organized regular religious services and a Sabbath

School with himself as the superintendent.35

About one hundred of the prisoners incarcerated with Shurtleff were southerners still loyal to the Union or military deserters. Their facilities were separated from the Union prisoners, a prison within a prison, and were quite a bit worse. The imprisoned southerners had little protection from the elements, and they appeared to be starving. It was not unusual for Union prisoners to try and secret food to their fellows. The deserters and loyalists determined to tunnel under the deadline and the stockade and come up outside the prison. They fashioned rope ladders and successfully dug the tunnel. The night they escaped the remaining prisoners watched closely to see if they would succeed. A thunderstorm raged as the escape took place, and when

34 Sanders, While in the Hands of the Enemy, 48-49.

35 At least two of the letters made it into the Lorain County News in June and July of 1862. The tone and length of the letters demonstrate Shurtleff’s improvement in mood. Giles Shurtleff to David and Ruth Shurtleff, 20 May, 1862. Shurtleff Papers, OCA; “From Captain Shurtleff,” Lorain County News, 23 July, 1862, and Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

101 the southern guards realized a prison break was occurring, they reacted poorly. They ordered the men to “halt,” but when the escapees did not stop, the guards did not shoot. Confusion reigned amongst the sentries and they did not succeed in organizing themselves for some time. All of the loyalists escaped. Unfortunately for the escapees, about three quarters were recaptured within the week. Some of them were brutalized upon their return.36

Both Union and Confederate officials were trying hard to organize a system of prisoner exchange. These attempts were delayed when one side or the other threatened something rash.

One of these threats came to Shurtleff’s doorstep in the summer of 1862. All twenty-five captains in the prison were summoned into the commanding officer’s quarters where they learned that two were to be sentenced to death. This was in retaliation for two Confederate captains who had been captured and were being held as spies. The Confederate government determined that two Union captains would be likewise detained. They would be hanged in retaliation should their men be executed. Shurtleff and the other captains devised a selection process whereby each man would select a numbered slip of paper. The unlucky men who drew the slips numbered nine or ten were selected. Shurtleff remembered that each man bravely approached the task, “[n]o hand trembled and no cheek blanched as the little slip was drawn out which it was thought would decide between life and death.” Fortunately for Shurtleff he did not draw either number, rather a Captain Austin and a Captain O’Meara did. In the end, the Union did not execute the rebel captains, and both Austin and O’Meara were released after two weeks of solitary confinement.37

36 Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 326; Shurtleff, “A Year with the Rebels,” 403-404.

37 Shurtleff gives a dramatic account of this incident and it is corroborated by Wilcox in his memoirs. The two recollections do vary a bit in the particulars, but they agree on the main points. See Shurtleff, “A Year With the Rebels,” 402-404, and Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 326-327.

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The high point of Shurtleff’s time at Salisbury seems to have been the Fourth of July celebration that included his game saving catch in right field. It also featured several other games, such as sack races and wheelbarrow races, and even a greased pig. They read the

Declaration of Independence and sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” It was a grand time. Their joy may have been tempered, however, for none of the enlisted men were included. The officers in their outlying tenements had access to the prison yard. The other soldiers were confined to the three stories of the brick factory, and dead men were removed from it daily. Doubtless, it was frustrating for Shurtleff to be so near the captured men of his company yet unable to be with them.38

In August the Dix-Hill Cartel was in place, and the soldiers in Salisbury prison were alerted that they would be exchanged, and all left except Shurtleff and Captain Cox, who attended a dying Union soldier for an extra day before heading north to Richmond and their exchange. Once in Richmond, as outlined in the Cartel, they boarded transport boats on the

James River to be ferried to freedom. Shurtleff remembered the thrill of being once again under the stars and stripes. The grateful soldiers sang hymns. His ‘year with the rebels,’ had begun with a firefight in western Virginia, it then traced a route to three prisons in Richmond, three in

South Carolina, and one in North Carolina. He was at last headed back to Oberlin and to freedom.39

* * *

Shurtleff’s year of confinement featured anxiety and boredom. He had escaped the great fire in Charleston, survived countless deprivations, and witnessed much that horrified him. In all

38 Shurtleff, “A Year With the Rebels,” 405.

39 Ibid., 408.

103 of this, he had no control over his life. His fate was in the hands of both his captors and the

Confederate and Union negotiators who finally arranged his exchange. Shurtleff had no idea what was coming next. In many ways, as he returned to Oberlin a weakened man, he still did not know what direction his life would take.

104

Chapter Four

War and Romance

Though physically weakened, Giles Shurtleff’s resolve was strong, as was his desire to be the man that God wanted him to be. His faith in his country was equally strong, and so there was little question that he would continue his service to the United States Army. Shurtleff was anxious to continue his military career, but he was also aware that one day the war would end and he would begin his vocation in earnest. Part of his post-war life, or so he hoped, would be a family and a home. The young woman from Austinburg, Ohio, whom he had met while on a summer teaching assignment intrigued him. He was ready to fight. He was ready to begin his life. He was ready to love. First, however, he had to get home.

* * *

The Sabbath was always special for Giles Shurtleff. Throughout the war he strove to make time for his faith, especially on Sundays. Of all his Sabbaths, however, Sunday August 18,

1862 must have been amongst his sweetest. This was the day he traveled from Richmond and imprisonment to the Union and freedom. Shurtleff’s voyage to freedom was not long. He and his newly exchanged peers traveled only about ninety miles down the James River, to its mouth at the Chesapeake Bay. There the former prisoners disembarked at . He stepped onto the grounds of the Union fort as a pale, markedly thinner, and weaker man than when he had entered Virginia a little more than a year earlier. But he entered the fort a free man.1

Although still in Virginia, Shurtleff was safe within what was considered to be one of the strongest Union positions at that time. Fort Monroe was a grand and well-fortified structure surrounded by a kind of moat. Robert E. Lee had been one of the talented young engineers who

1 Lorain County News, “Captain Shurtleff at Home,” 27 August 1862.

105 helped create as impregnable a structure as then existed in North America. The newly freed

Shurtleff may not have known it, but the fort had important links with slavery and abolition. The fort was built almost exactly on the site where, in 1619, twenty or so Africans were deposited by

Dutch traders, thus opening the way to race-based slavery in the United States. It was also here that General Benjamin Franklin Butler moved the United States one step closer to emancipation.

Three slaves, Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend, escaped their owner and made their way into the fort, where they were questioned by the fort’s new commander General

Butler. Prior to this meeting, Union officers, in an attempt to respect constitutionally mandated property rights, returned runaways to their masters. Butler saw things differently. First he questioned the three and found out they had been used to help build fortifications that might threaten Butler’s. When the owner arrived at Fort Monroe to claim his property, Butler said no.

A lawyer and a politician before he was a general, Butler stated to Confederate Colonel Charles

Mallory that he would take Virginia at her word, and therefore not bother with any constitutional requirements set up by her former mother country. Additionally, as the slaves had been used in

Confederate military construction, Butler considered the slaves contraband of war and not returned. All this happened while Shurtleff was imprisoned in Charleston, and he may or may not have been aware of the first successful attempt by the Union of wresting slaves from their

Confederate masters. He most certainly did not know that in the near future would be his commanding general.2

Six days after stepping into Fort Monroe and liberation, Shurtleff was receiving the heartfelt cheers of a large crowd back home in First Church in Oberlin. “Applause on applause

2 John V. Quarstein, “Union Bastion in the Old Dominion,” America’s Civil War, 15, no. 4; EBSCOhost, accessed July 8, 2015; Goodheart, 1861, 295-300, 314.

106 swelled and filled the church as the Captain…ascended the stand.” Oberlinites welcomed their hero back with an exceedingly warm reception; as he took his place in front of the church

Shurtleff must have felt grateful d that he had come home. Although two years earlier he claimed his Illinois roots in his politicking for Abraham Lincoln, it was clear that his allegiances had changed, and Oberlin and Ohio was truly home. He told the assembled crowd that he had long awaited this moment, and then told them some of his stories from his year in Confederate prisons. The ceremony ended with many hurrying up to the front of the church to shake hands with their long lost friend. It was an emotional homecoming, followed by an extended furlough.

Shurtleff needed to regain his health and strength so that he might return to the fight.3

In the days following Shurtleff’s homecoming bad news came home from the front.

Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia had pummeled a Union army under the command of John Pope at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Just as prison time did not diminish

Shurtleff’s enthusiasm for the war, neither did disappointing news from the front. In less than two weeks he was in the state capital looking for his next assignment. There were two military prospects for Shurtleff at this time, one of which he clearly preferred. He was certainly able to return to his old position with the 7th Ohio Volunteers, many of his Oberlin companions still made up Company C, and they would welcome him back. However, while he was imprisoned

Shurtleff shared his jail time with a Colonel from Michigan named Orlando B. Wilcox. Wilcox was captured at the First Battle of Bull Run and was an early notable catch for the Confederates.

Commanding one of the brigades that attacked on the famed Henry Hill,

Wilcox continued to lead his men even after being shot in the arm. He received the

3 Lorain County, News, “Captain Shurtleff at Home,” 27 August, 1862. Shurtleff’s release was also reported in the Oberlin Evangelist, “Captain Shurtleff released at last,” 27 August, 1862.

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Congressional Medal of Honor for his feats that day. Released from prison at very nearly the same time as Shurtleff, Wilcox was taken immediately to Washington where he dined with

President and Mrs. Lincoln. There the president handed him his promotion to Brigadier

General.4

Wilcox made a quick trip home to Detroit, and then returned to the Army of the Potomac where he was given command of a division within the Ninth Corps. He led his men bravely and well at South Mountain and was in the thick of the fighting at Antietam. The general had two horses shot out from under him, and was at the forefront of the Union advance across Burnside’s

Bridge. He was disappointed and dismayed when he was ordered to fall back, just when he believed his men could take the village of Sharpsburg. After the great command shuffle prompted by George McClellan’s relative inaction, Wilcox was promoted to Corps Commander of the Ninth. He was friends with both the incoming General of the Army of the Potomac,

Ambrose Burnside, and the outgoing commander, McClellan. This is the point where Giles

Shurtleff and Wilcox’s stories come together again. Shurtleff was assigned as Inspector General on Wilcox’s staff.5

Shurtleff’s journey to Wilcox’s staff was hardly direct. He certainly hoped that he could land a position on the staff of his former prison mate, but he also knew that he might end up with his old company again. On the 10th of September he was in Columbus and chagrined to learn that his exchange had not formally gone through. This meant that he was technically only out on parole, and therefore not free to rejoin the Union army and fight. He lamented to his brother that

4 A concise military biography of O.B. Wilcox can be found in Robert Garth Scott’s Introduction to Wilcox’s posthumously published memoir Forgotten Valor, 1-8.

5 Ibid.

108 this delay might cost him the opportunity to work on Wilcox’s staff. He was planning a trip to

Washington in the next few days in order to finalize his exchange. All of the news was not bad however; before he left for the nation’s capital, he would be speaking in both Norwalk and

Austinburg, Ohio.6

Austinburg was Shurtleff’s home briefly when, after his graduation, he taught at the

Grand River Institute located there. It was there he had met a young woman named Mary

Elizabeth Burton, and by 1862 he was in love with her. Burton was five years Shurtleff’s junior, and had a younger brother destined for political fame in Ohio. The Burton family’s commitment to education can be seen not only in Mary’s schooling, but in her brother’s graduation from

Oberlin as well. Mary attended Mount Holyoke for two years before returning to Ohio and enrolling in the first graduating class of the Lake Erie Female Seminary, now Lake Erie College.

The Lake Erie Female Seminary was modeled after Mount Holyoke, and staffed in large part by

Holyoke graduates. Mary and one other girl made up the first graduating class in 1860. Like

Shurtleff, Burton remained to teach at her alma mater, and was an early instructor there. 7

The details of their first meeting are sketchy. Neither Burton, nor Shurtleff has left a detailed account of their any of their initial encounters. One of their many letters refers to a party in Austinburg where they first met, but that is all. What is apparent is that they developed a relationship fairly early on. Undoubtedly Shurtleff admired this young woman whose

Christianity he thought sound and who was as dedicated a student and tutor as he was. She, like

6 Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 11 September, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

7 Theodore Elijah Burton, an 1872 Oberlin Alum, was both a United States Congressmen and United States Senator from Ohio. His papers are housed at the Western Reserve Historical Society. Mary Burton’s Lake Erie accomplishments are retold in several of the school’s alumni bulletins. See for example Twenty-fifth Anniversary Lake Erie Female Seminary, 1859-1884, (Cleveland, OH, J.B. Savage), 47, or Fiftieth Anniversary of Lake Erie College, (Cleveland: The Alumnae Association), 76-77, or Lake Erie College, the First 150 Years, 1856 – 2006, (Supplement to Lake Erie Magazine: 2006), 7.

109 all the Lake Erie girls, was well acquainted with Oberlin, and admired the school that admitted women to classic studies and full collegiate status. By 1862, Shurtleff was professing his love for her, as in a letter to her at the end of September which included, “Oh, how much I want to know you and be known. My heart longs for such knowledge of your feelings, your hopes, your fears, your trials and your joys as that there shall in the closest sympathy between us, that what effects you should effect me…. Yours with much love, Giles W. Shurtleff”. The Oberlinite had thought of the Austinburg girl while imprisoned just a few months earlier, but now courted her with a brisk correspondence.8

Prospects of military posting, and a serious relationship with Burton meant that

Shurtleff’s recovery from prison time was swift. The love-struck captain travelled far and wide during September and October of 1862. In addition to Austinburg, Shurtleff was in Columbus,

Washington, and Louden Heights near Harpers Ferry. During all of this time, he was attempting to finalize his exchange and secure a place on General Wilcox’s staff. At the end of September, he was once again in Columbus where he expected orders that would return him to the Seventh, or send him to Wilcox. Initially it looked as if his hopes for a staff position were doomed. By

October he had returned to his compatriots with Company C, and wrote to his brother that his delay in exchange probably cost him the better opportunity to serve with General Wilcox. He commented on the spectacular view he was afforded on the hills looking down at Harpers Ferry, and that Louden Heights offered a “a very pleasant commanding view…In the evenings we can see the camp fires of fifty thousand soldiers and sometimes in a clear morning can see the smoke arising from the camps of the enemy.” The men of Company C were pleased to see their old

8 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 9 November, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; “Historical Sketch,” Twenty- fifth Anniversary Lake Erie Female Seminary, 10; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 24 September, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

110 commander, but the reunion was brief. On October 17th he was named Inspector General to

Wilcox’s staff. He proudly received his papers from General McClellan, his old boss from

Western Virginia.9

Shurtleff’s move from field commander to Inspector General on the staff of Orlando

Wilcox occurred as the entire Army of the Potomac was reorganizing. After the bloody battle at

Antietam, President Lincoln was desperate for General McClellan to follow Lee’s army south.

McClellan stayed put. In early November, Lincoln ordered McClellan relieved of all command and promoted Ambrose Burnside to take his place. Burnside was uncomfortable with this order.

He was good friends with McClellan and was uncertain of his own abilities. However, he was a good soldier who followed orders. He also may have feared that should he refuse the commission, it would go to another general, Joseph Hooker, whom Burnside detested. Burnside divided his army into three Grand Divisions. The right division was commanded by the oldest corps commander in the army, sixty-five year old Edwin V. Sumner whose division was comprised of the Eleventh and Ninth Corps. Wilcox was in command of the Burnside’s old corps, the Ninth.10

Shurtleff remembered that he joined the Army of the Potomac, and Wilcox’s staff, on

September 29, 1862. The army, he felt, was in its glory. Earlier in the month they had defeated

Lee’s legions at South Mountain, and repulsed the entire Army of Northern Virginia at Antietam.

The army was, “[t]horoughly disciplined, fully equipped and…. under its favorite commander

McClellan.” After his brief stint near Harpers Ferry, he and the army were heading south. He

9 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 28, September, 1862, and 26, October, 1862; Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 10 October, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Wilder, The History of Company C, 34.

10 James K. Bryant II, The Battle of Fredericksburg, We Cannot Escape History, (Charleston: The History Press, 2010), 30. See also, George C. Rable, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002, 51-62, 241.

111 was unsure why the army was moving south, later learning that McClellan was shadowing Lee’s movements, keeping the Union forces between their enemy and Washington, DC. When the

Army reached Warrenton, Virginia, McClellan was dismissed and Burnside elevated. Shurtleff’s new boss was in the thick of the change of command. On the morning of the 7th of November he was ordered to Burnside’s tent. Wilcox found his superior “in a state of prayerful anxiety.”

Burnside handed his friend the orders from Washington that placed him in command of the

Army of the Potomac, and relieved McClellan. The two talked, and Wilcox asked him if he planned to accept. Burnside said he did not want to, but could see no way of refusing without acquiescing to Hooker’s forces. Wilcox later said, “I very much pitied my friend for the honors thus thrust upon him, and I withdrew, leaving him to pray for Higher Help.” In his first experience of war, Shurtleff reported to a colonel whose competency was tested and questioned.

Now the Oberlinite reported to an officer who was very close to the highest ranks of power.11

The Army of the Potomac that Shurtleff joined was marching south, and he was no stranger to marching. Shurtleff and his men from Company C had experienced a brutal, hot march to Weston, Virginia. That march was a struggle, as raw troops discarded all sorts of provisions to lighten their load. The Oberlinite also experienced the brutal and sometimes humiliating march to Confederate prison camps. This time, however, Shurtleff observed a new type of marching. The scope of the size of the army was the first difference. The Army of the

Potomac was gargantuan compared to his sole regiment. Trains now assisted in the delivery of all sorts of supplies. Orderly troops, four abreast, marching, and carrying packs of up to fifty pounds covered forty miles in a day. Inexperienced units, behaving not unlike Shurtleff’s 7th

11 Shurtleff, “Some Army Reminiscences,” 13-14; Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 382-383.

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OVI had a year or so earlier, represented a clear contrast to the more battle worn veterans, who would finish a quick breakfast, rush to pack their tents and fall in for the day’s march.12

Marching in the middle of November Shurtleff got his first taste of battle with his new command. In the time Shurtleff was out of the war things had changed. The Army of the

Potomac was truly a fine fighting unit and very well equipped. This was nothing like the skirmishing he had experienced near the Vaughn House outside of Cross Lanes fourteen months earlier. He was especially captivated by Union artillery. When rebel cavalry unit under J. E. B

Stuart, with light artillery, attacked Wilcox’s supply train, Shurtleff was ordered by Wilcox to ride to the firing and report back his findings. There he found General George Washington Getty bringing his division to bear, and a Union artillery battery opened up on the rebels. The

Confederates were quickly chased away. As grand as the artillery barrage seemed, Shurtleff had only chanced upon a small skirmish. Later Shurtleff stood with Wilcox on a hill about a mile away from the action. Wilcox said, “now boys look out for some shells this way,” but none came. Shurtleff felt his confidence as a soldier rise. Delivering messages during battles was something he had done in his days with the Seventh. He had even had horses shot out from under him while he raced from officer to officer. He had not, however, felt the thunder and thump of large scale battles. He was gaining the confidence that he could hold his nerve during the peak of any battle.13

Within a few days Shurtleff’s unit was in Falmouth, Virginia. Wilcox’s Grand Division

Commander, Edwin Sumner, asked Burnside if he could cross the Rappahannock River and enter the village of Fredericksburg. Although no bridges remained into the village, Sumner was

12 Rable, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, 61-67, 80.

13 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 18 November, 1862; Wilcox, Forgotten Valor, 384.

113 certain his troops could ford the river upstream and take the town. Permission was denied. A small force of Confederate troops in the village plus the lack of any real bridges into

Fredericksburg worried Burnside. He did not want some of his men to get trapped on the other side of the river when the main body of federal troops was on the other. Sumner was ordered to wait until pontoons arrived from Washington, and new temporary bridges could be built. So

Sumner and his grand division made camp on the north side of the river while the rest of the

Army of the Potomac joined them. Meanwhile, Robert E. Lee and his army were gathering on the south side of the river, just outside of Fredericksburg.14

Shurtleff was the Inspector General on General Wilcox’s staff. His staff officer duties were not defined by the United States army. The history of the Inspector General (IG) in the

United States military was amorphous. The first IGs were appointed during the Revolutionary

War at the behest of General George Washington. Washington was in need of someone to oversee the general training of his men, and to assess troop readiness. The first IG in American military history was Friederich von Steuben, whose success inspired the Continental Congress to approve two more IGs to work as von Steuben’s assistants. After independence, the American military changed often, and the role of the IG fluctuated greatly. Not until a dozen years after the

Civil War did the role of the IG become instituted formally as a part of the military hierarchy.

During the Civil War, most flag officers, like General Wilcox, appointed an IG in order to oversee the smooth operations of their office. As in the case of von Steuben, they were often involved in the training of troops, and in addition they often took charge in cases of malfeasance that might manifest itself in the ranks. Each general defined those duties as they might.

Shurtleff’s duties were up to Wilcox to determine. Shurtleff served with Wilcox for a brief time,

14 Rable, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, 80-81; and Bryant, The Battle of Fredericksburg, 57-59.

114 and neither he nor Wilcox left information about the day to day jobs that the Inspector General might have. Certainly carrying dispatches and reconnoitering were part of the Oberlinite’s job, but there was more. Shurtleff was immersed in the bureaucratic machinations of the army. He learned how to get things done and how to deal with his superiors. Later in his career, his understanding of how the burgeoning American army worked was beneficial. In November of

1862, however, Shurtleff’s paper pushing was secondary to the large scale fight that was clearly brewing between the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia.15

Burnside’s Army of the Potomac continued to mass on the northern side of the

Rappahannock River with a clear view of Fredericksburg on the other side. There they waited for pontoons to arrive so that they could cross the river in force, take the town, and continue on to Richmond. While they waited, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia also gathered in the hills that lay outside the town. Burnside’s overall plan was to move his army quickly toward the Confederate capital. He understood that his superiors, including the president, were fed up with the dithering and slow movement that characterized his predecessor. Unfortunately, the delay caused by the pontoons recreated a McClellan-like situation fairly completely. Burnside’s subordinate and sometime rival Joseph Hooker secretly communicated this concern to War

Department. Hooker wanted to hit the southerners before they had a time to consolidate their

15 von Steuben’s full name was Friedrich Wilhelm Augustin Freiherr (Baron) von Steuben. His success was remarkable considering he spoke no English when he began working with American troops. He spoke in French, and had translators convey information to and from the men. Inspector General Reference Guide, US Army Inspector General School, (Fort Belvoir, Virginia, 2015), 1-7, 1-8, http://tigs- online.ignet.army.mil/tigu_online/studenttext/IG%20Reference%20Guide.pdf, accessed July 3, 2016. For more information, see: Clary, David A. and Joseph W. A. Whitehorne. The Inspectors General of the United States Army 1777-1903, (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Inspector General and Center of Military History, United States Army, 1987).

115 forces, complaining, “The Enemy…have counted on the McClellan delays for a long while, and have never failed in their calculations.”16

Burnside also understood that the delays were hurtful and said as much to his superiors in

Washington. He complained to General-in-Chief that his understanding of

President Lincoln’s desire for swiftness was being thwarted by the delay in the delivery of supplies, but he was unable to conceive of another course of action. He lacked the imagination needed to cope with the problems facing him, and stubbornly waited with his army for the pontoons to arrive. This mistake proved costly, and made the words of Charles Francis Adams,

Jr. seem prophetic. This grandson and great-grandson of presidents expressed to his brother that his fear of his new commanding general was that Burnside, “must learn…by his own mistakes and in the blood of the army.”17

The stage was being set for a great and bloody Union debacle. While the men in blue waited for temporary bridge material to arrive from Washington, their butternut clad foes dug in south of town hoping for a chance to demolish the approaching federal army. The scene unfolding filled Shurtleff with a sense of impending dread. He worried that they were facing an entrenched enemy that could not be moved. He was a very educated man, but his education had in no way been military. A degree from Oberlin College, and a spot in the graduate program did not qualify him to comment on the military circumstances he found himself in. Yet more than a week before the battle, he did. “If we do march to Richmond by way of Fredericksburg as

[everyone] is now anticipating, then I say these delays are unpardonable and ought to cause our

16 Joseph Hooker to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, as quoted in Rabel, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, 83.

17 Rabel, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, 88; Bryant, The Battle of Fredericksburg, 30.

116 defeat.” The prospects for defeat were so plain that Shurtleff, who had spent time discussing possible strategies with his tent mate, the Provost Marshall, Major Crosby, that he determined that what they were preparing to do must actually be a feint. He surmised that the real fight must come elsewhere, as the situation in front of him was so clearly doomed.18

Three days before the Battle of Fredericksburg, Shurtleff learned that this was no feint, their men would cross the river, take Fredericksburg and march into the teeth of enemy fire in order to defeat them. He was more than a little mystified. The prospect of crossing the narrow pontoon bridges, which had finally arrived, taking the town and marching in an open field toward an incredibly well entrenched enemy seemed destined to fail. He felt the enemy

“perfectly commanded” the battlefield, and that their approach was mistaken. He found consolation in the fact that his military superiors were trained in battle, and he was not. Surely they understood things that he simply did not have the training to see. “Of course my opinion is of no weight in comparison of those military leaders who have experience and military knowledge,” he wrote to his sweetheart Mary Burton.19

He also understood that a great many men would die in the conflict to come. He observed a “shade of sadness and deep solemnity,” as he contemplated the thousands of men faced with the prospect of death or dismemberment. He assured Mary that he was ready should his time come. “My trust is in God. I am willing to meet any fate he has in store for me, if I can but do his will.”20

18 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 1 December, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

19 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 10 December, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

20 Ibid.

117

The days before the battle he was privy to much of the Union planning. In his work attending to General Wilcox he rode with his boss to meet with Generals Sumner and Burnside.

He learned that Burnside’s plan was to use both the Left Grand Division and the Right Grand

Division to move against the enemy in concert with each other. The Center Grand Division was left in reserve to aid either side as was necessary. Shurtleff’s Ninth Corps was situated on the far left of the Right Division, so they were destined to fight.21

Pontoon bridge construction began on Thursday, December 11th. In the early morning fog, engineers began the dangerous task of laying heavy wooden timbers upon the thin floating pontoons. They needed to break a thin layer of ice off the top of the river in order to accomplish their task. As the sun rose, the fog burned off and the Union engineers came under rebel sharpshooter’s fire. However, by eleven in the morning, the bridges were finished and that afternoon the Union army began its crossing. For the remainder of the day, and much of the next, both sides contested for control of Fredericksburg. Grudgingly the Confederates gave control of the town to Burnside and the Union, and retreated to Lee’s fortified position on the heights south of town. Saturday the 13th would prove lucky to one side, and unlucky to the other.

This was the day Burnside’s double pronged attack into the southern defenses commenced. As

Shurtleff and many others had predicted, it was a Union catastrophe. Franklin’s Left Grand

Division was thwarted in the early afternoon by troops commanded by Thomas ‘Stonewall’

Jackson. The Confederates then counter-attacked leaving the stymied Union soldiers with no gain at all. Sumner’s Right Grand Division began the long march up Marye’s Heights toward

21 Shurtleff, “Some Army Reminisces,” 15-16, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

118

Confederate defenses commanded by James Longstreet. This end of the battle was in front of

Shurtleff.22

Shurtleff spent much of the battle on horseback, ferrying messages and information to and from General Wilcox. Shortly before noon, as the morning fog burned off, he watched the

Union right, under General Winfield Scott Hancock march over a long open field and up the rise called Marye’s Heights. He saw a magnificent movement of blue up towards a large stone wall.

Under fire nearly the entire way, the Union forces struggled up toward that wall, only to be felled by torrents of bullets and shrapnel. At one o’clock he reported back to General Wilcox and offered the opinion that the Heights could not be taken. The stone wall, he said, was simply too well defended. Regardless, Wilcox informed him that the Ninth would be moving next, and that he should ride immediately to General Hooker to see if his men would move in support of the

Ninth when they attacked.23

Shurtleff found ‘Fighting Joe’ Hooker on horseback under the shade of some trees. In haste Shurtleff saluted and began to relay General Wilcox’s message. Hooker returned the salute, but asked the young officer to wait while he finished the business he was already preoccupied with. Shurtleff waited on his horse while bullets tore through the limbs of the trees above, scattering twigs and sticks upon their hats and shoulders. While he waited he remembered the “peculiar mixture of hum and hiss,” that bullets made as they flew by. He also remembered “the dead thug,” they made as they “struck man or beast”.24

22 For details on the battle of Fredericksburg, see Bryant, The Battle of Fredericksburg, or Rable, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!

23 Shurtleff, “Some Army Reminiscences,” 16-18.

24 Ibid., 18-19.

119

After delivering his boss’s message, he dashed back to Wilcox, only to be ordered to

General Getty. Getty was the brigade commander who was to lead the Ninth up towards the stone wall. He remained with Getty long enough to see his men march up the hill, to no better effect than earlier troops. Next he rode to the far end of the line to see if General Franklin could train some of his artillery on the rebel line. He was with Franklin and witnessed shrapnel rip through General George D. Bayard’s hip. The wound was mortal, ending a promising cavalry officer’s life. On horseback Shurtleff traversed the entire Union line two times. On one of his missions he stumbled upon an officer he recognized from his days as a prisoner. Shurtleff asked him why he was not up with his unit fighting. The man responded that he needed some rest in the shade. Noting that there was little shade, but ample protection from enemy bullets, Shurtleff reported the man to his Colonel. The officer in hiding was permitted to resign his commission.

On another trip to General Getty in the front of the line, Shurtleff came face to face with a retreating Union soldier. Shurtleff pulled out his revolver, aimed it at the man and asked him where he was going? The hyperventilating soldier responded that he was afraid he would be shot. Shurtleff informed him that if he did not rejoin the fight, he was sure to be shot. After assurances that he would not be reported, the soldier returned to the line. It is fascinating to note the different treatment Shurtleff levied to officer and enlisted man. He had no patience for an officer unwilling to complete his task. The enlisted man received a second chance.25

He continued on to Getty. “I carried the order and told General Getty that success depended upon his carrying the whole position.” While observing Getty and his men begin a movement into terrible fire, Shurtleff believed that perhaps the tide was turning and that this part

25 Rabel, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, 298; Bryant, The Battle of Fredericksburg, 121; Shurtleff, “Some Army Reminiscences,” 19-22, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

120 of the Ninth Corps could take the wall. No sooner did this hope well up inside the Inspector

General than renewed fired from the Confederates dashed all hopes and inflicted the most serious damage the Ninth felt that day. “Twas dark and the flash from the rebel muskets formed a continuous line of light while the sound was deafening. Our line was forced to retire a short distance and fighting ceased.”26

Shurtleff watched the failed Union assault on the Confederate line at Marye’s Heights.

He was stunned by the carnage, and anticipated there would be at least 10,000 casualties. As darkness fell, he also observed men trying to build earthen works to protect against any

Confederate counter attack. He saw the wounded being taken into city churches that had been transformed into field hospitals. All the medical staff was busy through the night, and Shurtleff remembered that members of the Christian Commission passed “among the suffering, putting cold water to parched lips, directing the dying to the Savior of men – taking down their last words to send to parents or wife or child.” At ten that evening he also learned that the main body of the Ninth Corps was to lead a charge upon the heights the next morning. Burnside himself would lead this grand assault on the Heights. The impossibility of the charge was not immediately apparent to Burnside. He called a war council the night after the battle and placed forward the idea of leading his old Corps up the long sloping hill toward the stone wall. Across the battlefield Lee was holding his own war council and anticipated just such a renewed attack.

Lee determined to have Jackson attack on the Union’s left and force the federals back across the

26 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 December, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

121

Rappahannock, or possibly destroy the Army of the Potomac. At 4:00 a.m. on Sunday

December 14th, Burnside wired the president: “We hope to carry the crest today.”27

At breakfast, Shurtleff’s boss and his fellows attempted to change Burnsides’ mind.

They met with him at breakfast and were convinced of the folly of any additional action.

Burnside seemed stunned at the unanimity of his flag officers. Wilcox told his wife, “[w]e all thought it would be a useless slaughter of our men, and could not lead to anything decisive…so

Burnside yielded his own judgment, wisely as I certainly think; for a failure would have certainly entailed the most terrible disaster of the war.” Shurtleff and the men of the Army of the Potomac that still lived had witnessed a terrible disaster. Union casualties topped 12,000 killed, wounded, or missing. This was more than twice the Confederate losses, which hovered near 5,000 killed, wounded, or missing. However, the Union army could not stay where it was. They had to re- cross the Rappahannock, for they were in the unenviable position of having an enemy in front and a river behind. They must get back across their pontoon bridges.28

The logistics of getting a hundred thousand men, including the wounded, across the river were compounded by many factors. Troops still pinned down on the hill before Marye’s Heights had to be withdrawn. Equipment had to cross the river. Confederate sharpshooters kept up a regular fire when they could, and the prospect of Lee attacking in force was a real fear. This particular Sabbath was a time of unease, and it was made eerie by the unusual arrival of the aurora borealis, the northern lights, beginning at about six in the evening. As lights streaked the sky, Shurtleff feared that an attack would come. If not an all-out attack by the army, then at least

27 Shurtleff was not far off in his casualty estimate. Union casualties surpassed 12,000. See Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones’ How the North Won¸ (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1991), 307; Shurtleff, “Some Army Reminiscences,” 22-23, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Rable, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! 269-270.

28 Orlando Wilcox to Molly Wilcox, 16 December, 1862, quoted in Forgotten Valor, 404; Rable, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, 272, 288.

122 an artillery bombardment. With so many men, about 50,000 of the Grand Right Division he estimated in the confines of the city of Fredericksburg, all the Confederate gunners needed to do was lob shells “constantly and determinedly [and] they would have caused the most fearful slaughter and eventually created a panic among the troops…they could have killed or captured half the army.”29

Under the cover of darkness, fog, and in some cases smoke from campfires, the Army of the Potomac retreated across their long delayed pontoon bridges to the relative safety of the other side of the river. The retreat was, in Shurtleff’s eyes, carried out “with the greatest dispatch and caution.” The pontoon bridges were covered with sawdust and dirt to muffle the sounds of the soldiers, the animals, and the wagons that crossed. They were aided by a strong wind that seem to keep the sound from travelling to the Confederate lines. As a light drizzle fell, Shurtleff was assigned to one of the bridges. His job was to make sure that each unit crossed quickly and quietly in their turn. The fog lifted as the Union troops were hauling the pontoons back out of the river under a steady fire of Confederate skirmishers. Eight hundred Union dead were left on the battlefield.30

In the month to come Shurtleff, like many in the country, tried to make sense of what had happened. At the beginning of December he had determined that when his enlistment came due in less than half a year, he would stay in the field for as long as the war might last. In the wake of the stunning defeat his feelings had changed. “Oh I deprecate the necessity of remaining in the army. I want to be engaged in my life work or in preparing for it…. Nothing but imperative duty

29 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 December, 1862. Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

30 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 December, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Shurtleff, “Some Army Reminiscences,” 25; Rabel, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg, 282, 284.

123 keeps me here.” He told his brother Ephraim that he thanked God that he was still alive. “The carnage on Sat[urday] was beyond description. Shot, shells and bullets whistled among us like hail stones.” He wrote his old chum from the Seventh, A. J. Wilcox, that he was under deadly fire for much of the day, and saw what an artillery shell could do to a human body. He saw shells tear apart three or four men at a time. But none of that carnage and danger was as awful as the waiting they did inside the city of Fredericksburg waiting under the shadow of Confederate guns for the order to retreat. He noted to Wilcox that attack was simply impossible. Lee’s troops commanded a two and a half mile heavily fortified line. No troops could have taken the hill. The Union boys bore up well, but under the constant fire of the enemy, they failed. To his parents, he struck a little more hopeful tone, stating that he would keep fighting to “crush this wicked rebellion. I know you will not regard my life as thrown away if I lose it in this glorious cause.”31

***

While issues of war and survival must always be on a soldier’s mind, it did not stop men in arms from other thoughts. For Shurtleff, much of his quiet time was spent thinking of the young woman from Austinburg, Mary Burton. Coinciding with Shurtleff’s elevation to Inspector

General on Wilcox’s staff was an active correspondence between the two. Letters were a primary diversion for soldiers during the Civil War. A regiment of nearly a thousand soldiers might send out six hundred letters in a week. Mail call was one of the most anticipated moments of the day, and soldiers who left empty-handed were often down-heartened. Many of Shurtleff’s

31 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 6 December, 1862 and 17 December, 1862; Giles Shurtleff to Ephraim Shurtleff, 16 December, 1862; Giles Shurtleff to A.J. Wilcox, 29 December, 1862; Giles Shurtleff to David and Ruth Shurtleff, 15 December, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

124 letters have survived, as well as Burton’s replies. They reveal a growing affection between two likeminded people that resulted in marriage, a marriage that lasted nearly forty years.32

After Shurtleff had been released from Confederate prison and returned to Ohio the two renewed their relationship. Very quickly they began to speak to one another in terms of deep affection and love. Shurtleff was acutely aware that he was no longer a youngster, “[y]ou will please remember that I am 31 years old, really an old [b]achelor.” In her mid-twenties, Mary may also have had concerns that her marriage eligibility was slipping away, but there is no record of such thoughts. By September of 1862, even before he was elevated to Wilcox’s staff, he proclaimed that his love for her “was a settled fact in my existence. I could not love you less unless it was possible for me to esteem you less.” He entreated her to write to him openly and with love, and assured her that he would keep and treasure all of her confidences. Shurtleff also hedged a bit and pre-emptively apologized if he had been too forward, or assumed too much. In one of the conversations that can be pieced together from their correspondence, Mary assured

Giles that he had nothing to worry about. She reminded him that she had feelings for him that were unlike her feelings for anyone else. She admitted that she was frightened by them, but assured him, “when I saw you last, and felt those earnest, penetrating eyes of yours, … fixed upon me, that you read there all that I did not express.” She signed her letter “Yours with increased esteem and regard.” He signed his, “Yours with much love.”33

32 Bell Irvin Wiley, The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union, (Indianapolis: The Bobbs- Merrill Company, 1951), 183.

33 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 16 January, 1863, and 24 September, 1862, and 27 September, 1862. Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

125

Shurtleff’s letters are filled with details of his camp life, and occasionally politics. Mary asked Giles about the newly announced Emancipation Proclamation. She expressed great optimism that the longed for abolition would help end the war more quickly. He responded,

I think no one can fail to see that the policy of the President in this proclamation is to destroy slavery in all states. God bless our President for that noble proclamation! But I do not see that it will hasten the defeat of the rebel armies. They will retain their slaves in spite of the proclamation and make them useful.

He anticipated the war might continue for three or four more years, but still end with a happy result.34

While Shurtleff and the Ninth marched south towards their Fredericksburg destiny his confidence in their relationship began to sag again. Her letters did not contain the open affection that his did. Shurtleff was painfully aware that he spoke in terms of love and she returned words of friendship. “Remember, my dear friend, that I am more than thirty years old and have never yet asked but one lady for her affection, and that lady is yourself.” Shurtleff assured her that his discussion of love was deeply sincere, and not “a mere fancy.” Three weeks later he softened his tone. He recognized that he had been aggressive, and encouraged her to take the time she needed to process her feelings for him. He apologized for his impulsiveness, and explained to her that his upbringing in Illinois was quite uncultured. He did not have the same graceful habits that she exhibited. Shurtleff said that he could see her superior character at their first meeting at a party in Austinburg during his teaching tenure there. He often asked her to send a picture.35

34 Mary Burton to Giles Shurtleff, 27 September, 1862, and Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 1 October, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

35 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 9 November, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

126

In the first days of December, 1862, Shurtleff believed a great battle was sure to occur.

He could not have known that he was correctly predicting the carnage of Fredericksburg. He was quick to share his feelings with Mary about what form the battle might take, and his very real concerns that it would fail. He also took strength from their relationship and told Mary that he was glad she feared for his safety. Never-the-less he said a tentative goodbye. He also reminded Mary that he would never ask for her protestation of love before she was willing to give it. Any anxiety that he felt about the upcoming battle must have been compounded by the uncertainty of Mary’s feelings for him. He remained ever hopeful.36

In January of 1863, with Fredericksburg firmly in the past, regular army life resumed.

Shurtleff was sent north to Alexandria, Virginia, were he was tasked with something he really deplored. He was ordered to scour the Convalescent Camp there for those soldiers who were actually fit for duty so that they could be returned to the Ninth. Convalescent camps were set up in several places as a holding pen for soldiers recovering from wounds, separated from their units, or simply stragglers. Sometimes paroled prisoners stayed as well. James D. Chadwick, a

Pennsylvanian who was sent to the Alexandria camp three months before Shurtleff’s inspection described it in these terms,

There are about 12,000 or 15,000 men at the “Convalescent Camp” – some stragglers – recruits –paroled prisoners – convalescents – and deserters. It is a horrible place to stay, being very dirty, filthy and infested with vermin. Such a set of fellows as those prisoners from Richmond you never saw – ragged, dirty – LOUSY and without money.

36 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 10 December, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

127

After being discharged from Georgetown Hospital, Chadwick’s main goal was to get out of the camp as quickly as he could and rejoin his unit. He did. When

Shurtleff arrived he found the camp just as unpalatable. He was able to locate about two dozen of his men and return them to duty. Once back, he needed an entire week to bring them to “a tolerable state of discipline.” Far more important to Shurtleff, however, was the photograph of Mary that she had sent Figure 4: Mary Burton Shurtleff, Circa 1868, him. It was, he told her, his most important possession. Perhaps this was in Oberlin College Archives return for the Christmas present Shurtleff had sent her, a cross of bone that he had made while in prison.37

Shurtleff shared with Mary his future aspirations, things so personal he would not share them with his mother. By this time he had given up two of his life’s ambitions. One was to study in Europe. He was, or so he believed, too old to take the five or so years he felt necessary to travel across the Atlantic. He also had decided definitely against the ministry. Shurtleff had given some thought to studying law, but like the European tour that would take too long. He very much believed his future would be as a collegiate level professor. Had the war not broken out, he was confident of a career at Oberlin. Since his departure from that school, he had not given up hope of returning, but was also considering another school. “I have a friend who is engaged in an institution recently chartered as a college at Ripon Wisconsin, who is very anxious that I should become a fellow professor with him.” That same friend renewed his offer a month later with the invitation to teach any course he would like. Shurtleff told Mary that he was very interested in getting settled as soon as he could and start his post military life. He had no

37 James D. Chadwick to his father, 1 October, 1862, Civil War Letters, Jonathan E. Helmreich, Editor, Allegany College, http://sites.allegheny.edu/civilwarletters/2012/10/01/october-1-1862/. Accessed July 22, 2016; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 16 January, 1863, and 17 December, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

128 intention of serving for anything less than his enlistment demanded, and hoped the war ended soon so that he would be free of this duty.38

In their correspondence the two became closer. Mary confided in Shurtleff that her uncle was concerned about her chosen career. As an instructor at the Lake Erie Female Seminary her uncle feared she would become haggard and no man, especially Shurtleff, would marry her. In a long and playful letter Shurtleff responded to any fears that might have been brought on by her uncle’s career advice. Shurtleff confessed that he agreed that some women become “unlovely” as a result of prolonged teaching. That, however, could never be the case with Mary. He, however, cautioned that overwork was something she should avoid so that she would not “wear out that delicate frame of yours…nor tax your mind till the freshness and vigor of your spirits are exhausted.” He also assured her that other the other women he was in communication with were not her peers. A friend named Ella wrote him in prison, and another, Ruth, had a “tinge of

[beauty] in her,” but none could rise to the level of Mary. He then said he must close for, “[t]he cocks are crowing….” They certainly were.39

After the disastrous defeat at Fredericksburg, Shurtleff described to Mary much of what he went through. The various trips to different generals, the gunfire, and the disappointment were all part of a December letter to Austinburg. He also enclosed a Christmas gift. It was the that he had fashioned while in a Confederate prison. He was hopeful that, though it was fairly artless, Mary would appreciate its value, “because its construction occupied some of the many weary hours I passed in southern prisons.” He explained that he used a small knife, a small file, and sand paper to fashion the little cross. He hoped that she would wear it for many

38 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 20 December, 1862, and 16 January, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

39 Ibid.

129 years. Mary was touched by the gift. She expressed her admiration for the handiwork, and inquired if maybe he had some lessons while in prison. She then playfully accepted the gift saying, “I shall call it a birthday gift if you please – it comes just in time for today is my birthday. Guess how old I am? Perhaps you know, for I remember I told you.”40

Shurtleff shared more intimacies with Mary in his next letter, penned on Christmas Day,

1862. After explaining that General Wilcox was in great spirits because his wife had arrived at camp, he lamented that he was “left out in the cold,” for Mary was not with him. Specifically he shared with her stories of his mother. His mother had understandably been concerned about

Shurtleff’s wellbeing after learning about the bloodshed at Fredericksburg. She was, he tells

Mary, a sainted woman who, though unlearned, taught him many lessons.

Once she found me playing cards, which I had [obtained] from a hired man. I was overwhelmed with confusion, but was surprised to see her turn away without speaking, for I knew her feelings by the expression of her face. I went to her room and there found her kneeling in prayer her face bathed in tears – Oh what a lesson! I loved my mother and though stubborn and wicked, my heart was melted. I threw my cards in the fire and did not play any more for two years…. oh what a blessing is a loving, Christian mother! How pleasant will the memory of her ever be!

He continued by speaking of Mary’s beauty in no uncertain terms, saying his love for her had not diminished since he first declared it “on the Sabbath night in Austinburg.” The only flaw in her beauty, he maintained, was that she did not see it herself. Had he the power, he would help her to understand how fair was her complexion and how “in general bearing [she was] exceedingly beautiful.” Her mind and intellectual powers were every bit as impressive as her physical beauty, but, he feared, sometimes she failed to recognize her own excellent traits. Her

40 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 December, 1862, and Mary Burton to Giles Shurtleff, 23 December, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

130 upbringing trained her to be more ornamental than intellectual. Shurtleff assured the woman he loved that she was both.41

The end of January, 1863, was a time of great joy and uncertainty for Shurtleff. The uncertainty came in the form of a change in officers and command as a result of the

Fredericksburg debacle. Ambrose Burnside had only been in command of the Army for two months, two weeks, and two days when he was relieved of command. The domino effect of officers losing their commands, or changing assignments was wide spread, and by the middle of the month hit Shurtleff’s boss, Orlando Wilcox. Shurtleff reported this to Mary, “I was surprised…to find that Gen’l Wilcox is relieved of his command here and is superseded by Maj.

Gen’l Sedgewick.” This left Shurtleff’s position in doubt. He assumed that Sedgewick would have his own staff, and therefore have no need of another Inspector General. He assumed he would stay with Wilcox, but was unsure. He promised to keep Mary informed. Shurtleff was less concerned with the shuffle of command in the Army of the Potomac than he was in the relationship he was building with Mary. “I hope as yet that the deep tide of your woman’s love flows out toward your absent friend,” he wrote to her near the end of January. While he was hoping for love from Ohio, Mary made the decision to openly profess her love for her absent

Captain. Shurtleff opened the small envelope with the Austinburg post mark and read the words he had longed for. He sat down as soon as he could to respond. “[T]he assurance from your own pen that ‘you think you love me’ now, gives me more confidence that we are destined to make each other happy.” He followed these words with a long treatise on the power of love. He

41 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 25 December, 1862, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

131 admitted that he had written to other ladies, and allowed that she might write other men, but assured her that only she would have his heart and his love.42

Just as his love life was where he wanted it, in February of 1863 Shurtleff’s health took a turn for the worse. He was still attached to Wilcox’s staff, and though in command of fewer troops, he was preparing to travel with the Ninth to North Carolina. This made him happy. He felt the Army of the Potomac “seems destined to meet reverse and disaster,” so the move towards the Deep South might portend better times. Less than two weeks later he was in Oberlin on medical leave. He shared with Mary that he was glad of his illness, for it meant that the two would be together at the end of the month. No record of their meeting is available, but upon his return to his unit in March, he expressed a sense of enhanced commitment, “I have come back with renewed courage in the good cause and with confidence in its ultimate triumph. I feel strong and eager to grapple with the duties and meet the dangers of active service, when ever and however it may come.”43

His renewed vigor was short lived. A week later he was writing to Mary that his health was deteriorating and that he was feeling depressed. He compared his circumstances with the darkness described by Edgar Allen Poe when he was suffering fits of depression. A few days later he was discharged from the Army for medical reasons and in a hospital in Baltimore. Not even the horrors of prison life compared with the ill health he suffered. For Shurtleff it seemed unendurable. The Oberlinite was honorably discharged from the army on March 18th, 1863. The

42 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 January, 1863, and 25 January, 1863, and 31 January, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

43 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 11 February, 1863, and 7 March, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

132 local papers reported that he was suffering from a severe lung ailment, and that his physician recommended he resign. His resignation was accepted and he returned to Oberlin.44

* * *

There was none of the pomp that accompanied his first return home. No crowd met him at the train station, and no great ceremony was held at the church. This likely pleased Shurtleff, for his mind was upon healing and upon Mary. He had earlier longed to return home from his year with the rebels, now he longed to make a home. Shurtleff undoubtedly would have been able to do so. After two years of strenuous service to his country, and job offers from at least two colleges, a more settled life was his for the taking. He did not, however, take it.

44 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 15 March, 1863, and 19 March, 1863, and 26 March, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. Shurtleff’s discharge was handwritten in March, and then formalized by his original unit in April. See Shurtleff Papers: Military Papers; 1861-65, OCA; “Shurtleff Discharged,” Lorain County News, 8 April, 1863.

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Chapter Five The 5th USCT Giles Shurtleff must have pondered his good fortune when he returned to Oberlin. He had served with two different Union armies and had spent a year in enemy prisons. He was certainly entitled to step away from the war without anyone questioning his patriotism, or his belief in both the sanctity of the Union and the evils of slavery. A career in education seemed to be available to him, and a woman he adored had professed her affection for him. Shurtleff had the opportunity to find a career path and build a home. He chose neither.

* * *

Seven months after his discharge from the army, Giles Shurtleff was fighting to clear his name, and defend his honor. The confrontation was with David Tod, the governor of Ohio.

Considering that only a decade earlier, Shurtleff was a young man working his way through an

Oberlin education and a clearer vision of his own faith, he had come a long way. Shurtleff had rejoined the army, this time working with Ohio’s first black regiment, and in an October 26,

1863, letter he vehemently disavowed the governor’s belief that “Shurtleff has been engaged in a damn, mean, dirty work, attempting to oust a damn site better man than he is.” Shurtleff’s row with Tod not only demonstrated the prominence to which this young man had risen, but reflected the abolitionist belief that was such a part of his Oberlin and Finneyite education.1

The war fervor that motivated soldiers north and south, was not restricted to white

Americans. Black men offered up their services to their respective sides as well. While

Shurtleff and his fellow Oberlinites were joining up and fighting, blacks in the North began to drill in Boston, Providence, New York, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia. Blacks started to mobilize

1 Giles Shurtleff to David Tod, 26 October, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

134 in the South in places such as Charleston, Nashville, Memphis, and Montgomery. In nearly all instances they were denied entry into the armies of either side. The notable exception ironically belongs to the South, where the state of Louisiana did accept about four hundred black soldiers called the Native Guards. Louisiana’s unique cultural heritage recognized armed blacks in a way that the rest of the Confederacy could not. These black Cajuns were not welcomed by the broader Confederacy and they were eventually accepted into the United States Army. Yet their importance cannot be understated since, among other factors, they were the first black regiment in the American army during the Civil War.2

Northern attitudes about black participation in the war, including the position of President

Abraham Lincoln coalesced slowly. As mentioned before, there was great consternation about what to do with the increasing numbers of runaway slaves seeking sanctuary with the Union army. Benjamin F. Butler’s idea of treating them as contraband of war partially solved that dilemma. Having blacks enter the ranks of the army, however, was not as easily accomplished.

In addition to the Louisiana Native Guards, regiments were formed in South Carolina under

General David Hunter, and later the more renowned 1st South Carolina commanded by Thomas

Wentworth Higginson. Throughout 1861 and 1862, the Union army primarily scoffed at the use

2 The literature on black soldiers and their contribution to the war is quite good and growing. See, for instance, James M. McPherson, The Negro’s Civil War: How American Blacks Felt and Acted During the War for the Union (New York: Ballantine Books, 1965); Dudley Taylor Cornish, The Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865, (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1987); and Noah Andre Trudeau, Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862-1865, (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1998). Trudeau, Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862-1865, 7-9, 26-28. It is interesting to note that the Louisiana Native Guards helped in the unsuccessful attempt to defend New Orleans from the Union army. Unlike the white Confederate soldiers who left the area, the Native Guards stayed and offered their services to the North. They were mustered at the same time the battle of Antietam was raging, the same battle that enabled Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

135 of black soldiers, so much so that Hunter’s efforts were continually rejected by the President

Lincoln. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, however, changed this.3

In the summer of 1862 Lincoln informed his cabinet that he planned to emancipate the slaves. He was met with little resistance, but Secretary of State William Seward recommended that he wait until he achieved a military victory before revealing the proclamation to the public.

The battle of Antietam was the victory he used unveil his historic decree. The wartime measure not only freed the slaves in the rebellious states, but authorized the use of men of color in the armed forces. In his proclamation, Lincoln stated:

And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.4

The specific mention of men in military service prompted several abolitionists to push for black regiments to become a prominent part of the army. Frederick Douglass’ pleas for Union troops became more meaningful, and he was aided by Massachusetts Governor John Andrew, an ardent abolitionist, who determined to raise a regiment of black soldiers. At a recruiting rally for the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers of African descent, Douglass declared, “We can get at the throat of treason and slavery through the State of Massachusetts…. You know her patriotic Governor…. Massachusetts now welcomes you as soldiers.”5

3 Famed historian Dudley Taylor Cornish says that the success of Higginson’s 1st South Carolina regiment in 1862 did much to pave the way for other black regiments in the Civil War. See Cornish, The Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865, 33-43, 92-93. 4 An excellent discussion of the Emancipation Proclamation can be found in Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), 459-472. Abraham Lincoln, “A Proclamation,” NARA, www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/ .

5 Peter Burchard, One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1965), 77, 79.

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Ohio did not have such a governor. In fact Ohio had three governors during the Civil

War, each of whom did a credible job, but none earned enough popular support to be re-elected.

William Dennison, David Tod, and John Brough did able, if not exceptional work from 1860 to

1866. Although none of the three governors achieved the success of Governor Andrew, Ohio did have an abolitionist exhorter as passionate as Douglass. John Mercer Langston, the older brother of Charles Langston who played such an important role in the Oberlin-Wellington rescue, achieved greater fame than his sibling. The son of a white father and a free mother of mixed race, he had an unusually privileged upbringing. Family money allowed him a sense of financial security, and he made his way from Virginia to Oberlin to enroll in the Preparatory Department.

He graduated from the Collegiate Department in 1849, and obtained a Masters degree in 1852.

Langston was a powerful presence at Oberlin at the very time the young Giles Shurtleff was arriving. Shurtleff was undoubtedly aware of the Langston brothers as he embarked in the

Preparatory Department himself. Ultimately, John Mercer Langston recognized the ability of young Shurtleff, but first he had his eyes set on the law. Since no law school would enroll a black student, he studied privately with a lawyer from Elyria, Ohio. He passed the bar, married, and settled in Brownhelm, Ohio, and was elected the town clerk. Langston’s victory in this election gave him the distinction of being the first popularly elected black official in the country’s history. This was all the more remarkable because it occurred at a time when suffrage was only open to white males. After the war Langston helped to found the Law School at

Howard University, served as Virginia’s first African American Congressman, and as ambassador to Haiti.6

6 William B. Hesseltine, “Introduction,” Ohio’s War Governors, (Columbus: Ohio University Press, 1962), 3-4. “John Mercer Langston,” Oberlin Electronic Group, http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/OYTT- images/JMLangston.html, and “Dedication: John Mercer Langston 1829-1897”, The Journal of Blacks in Higher

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Langston had been agitating for blacks to serve in the Union Army since the beginning of the conflict and had contacted both Dennison and Tod by this time. He was put off by them, but not by Massachusetts’ Governor Andrew, who was looking to put a black regiment in the field.

Bay State recruiter George L. Stearns recognized that the free black population in Massachusetts was small so he reached out to Langston, a fellow John Brown supporter for help. Stearns put

Langston in charge of recruiting in the west, where he had little problem. Recruiting primarily in

Ohio, but also Indiana and Illinois, Langston sent entire companies of men to Boston. Their recruiting efforts were so successful that a second regiment, the 55th Massachusetts, was formed.

Not only did Langston recruit for this regiment, he also helped procure the regimental flag from a company in Cincinnati. Langston was proud of the men he recruited as well as the flag under which they marched. Meanwhile, Governor Tod made sure that Ohio received credit for these soldiers against their quota. The number of black men willing and able to serve in Massachusetts was more than the Bay State could handle. They closed the door on further black recruits from

Ohio. Tod determined that it was time for Ohio to raise its own black regiment and he called on

Langston for help. Langston and the governor had met about a year earlier, when Langston first brought up the idea of a black Buckeye regiment. Tod had rejected the idea. Langston remembered the governor saying that Ohio had a white man’s government, and the use of black soldiers would frighten away white soldiers. “When we want your colored men, we will notify you,” concluded Tod. “Governor, when you need us, send for us,” Langston responded.

Education, No. 23 (Spring, 1999), 1. A more complete biography can be found in William and Amiee Lee Cheek, John Mercer Langston and the Fight for Black Freedom, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989).

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Struggling to meet federal quotas, and encouraged by Andrew’s experiment with the 54th, Tod notified Langston.7

Tod’s change of heart reflected some harsh realities of Ohio’s demographics. His constituents varied dramatically, from rock-ribbed abolitionists in northern Ohio to pro-slavery war Democrats in the southern part of the state. A lifelong Democrat from Youngstown, Tod supported the war and joined with the new Republican Party to form a short-lived fusion between the two, the Union Party. His initial refusal to hear Langston extended to other black leaders in the state; black Clevelander W. E. Ambush suggested to Tod that black volunteers could be employed by the state to relieve the white soldiers guarding Confederate prisoners at

Ohio’s two prisoner of war camps. Tod said no. The governor was walking a tight rope between those who believed that Ohio should take advantage of every resource, including black men, and those who could not stomach the idea. May 1863, was the turning point. At the beginning of the month he was once again telling Langston that Ohio would not sponsor a black unit, but by the end he was petitioning the War Department for permission to do just that. The idea of raising black troops was so difficult for Governor Tod that while publically decrying Ohio black troops, he was privately lobbying for them.8

7 John Mercer Langston, From Virginia Plantation to the Nation’s Capitol or the First and Only Negro Representative from the Old Dominion, (Hartford, CT: The American Publishing Co., 1894), 198-206; Richard H. Abbott, Ohio’s War Governors, 28. It should be noted that there are markers to black Oberlinites who served in the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry in both Westwood Cemetery and the town’s fallen soldiers memorial.

8 Abbott, “Ohio’s War Governors,” 22-24, 28. A good description of Tod’s dilemma and his actions at this time can be found in Kelly Mezurek’s unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, “The 27th United States Colored Troops: Ohio Soldiers and Veterans,” (Kent State University, 2008), 61-66. Mezurek’s work is soon to be released in book form; Versalle F. Washington, Eagles on Their Buttons: A Black Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press), 8-9. Tod’s views lined up more closely to those of southern Ohio, who opposed equality for blacks in Ohio. His change of heart may have reflected the reality of draft quotas more than any racial enlightenment.

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Governor Tod assigned his predecessor the formal role of leading the effort to enroll black soldiers. Dennison and Langston went about the task of convincing black Ohioans to join the new Ohio regiment. Langston turned to another Oberlinite, O. S. B. Wall, for recruiting help.

Some potential recruits balked at the idea of signing up in Ohio instead of Massachusetts. The eastern state made a concerted effort to pay substantial bounties to their black regiments, while

Ohio struggled to do the same. Dennison tried to raise bounty money through a private subscription, but it largely failed. Even without the bounties many Buckeyes of color signed up.

Ironically, most of the black recruits came not from the abolitionist north, but from the counties closer to the Ohio River. There were far more blacks living in southern Ohio counties than anywhere else in the state. The dedication of black Ohioans to the Union cause can be seen in the numbers in which they enlisted. Nearly 6,000 enlisted in regiments from Ohio and elsewhere. Considering that the 1860 census listed only 7,100 black males between the ages of fifteen and forty, the participation of Ohioans of color was remarkable. It also reflected the trend in Ohio. Over 300,000 white soldiers fought for the stars and stripes, and desertion rates among

Buckeyes was lower than most other northern states.9

The state also had to find officers for this new regiment that was initially called the 127th

Ohio Volunteer Infantry colored, was later renamed the 5th United States Colored Troops

(USCT). Giles Shurtleff seemed an obvious choice. Langston put Shurtleff’s name forward to the Governor, touting him as “a young man of extraordinarily high principal and social character, of strictly Christian principles and habits, with recognized reputation and influence as an

9 Washington, Eagles on Their Buttons, 13, 16. Langston, “From the Plantation to the Capitol,” 207-208; Whitelaw Reid, Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen Generals and Soldiers, Vol. II, (Cincinnati, OH: The Robert Clark Co., 1895), 3-5.

140 abolitionist and a friend of the negro race.” Both Langston and Wall encouraged Shurtleff to put himself forward for the colonelcy of the new regiment.10

Shurtleff’s decision to stand for the leadership of a black regiment was not an easy one to make. The months preceding the courtship by Langston and Wall had been quite busy, beginning with his convalescence and his honorable discharge from the army. In March 1863,

Shurtleff and General Orlando B. Wilcox both had rooms at the same hotel, when Shurtleff was stricken with a violent cough and severe irritation of his lungs. Next a series of eruptions formed on his face and head which prompted a local doctor to diagnose Shurtleff with smallpox.

Shurtleff withdrew to a hospital in Baltimore and asked General Wilcox and the other staff officers not visit him. He was afraid that he might spread the sickness to them. Confirming the physician’s diagnosis is difficult, if not impossible to do. Smallpox was a terrifying part of camp life during the Civil War, but medicine was not always advanced enough to correctly identify every illness. Chickenpox was often mistaken for smallpox, and enough soldiers had been inoculated against smallpox that outbreaks were rarer than popularly imagined. Regardless,

Shurtleff chose to put a positive spin on his plight. He recognized that his was a mild case of the disease, and noted that others on his ward died. He recovered, and had a chance to go home and begin his post-war life.11

Shortly after returning to Oberlin, he traveled to his family’s home in Sycamore, Illinois.

Located west of Chicago, and southeast of Rockford, Sycamore was only a village, and the

Shurtleff homestead was a few miles further out of town. Shurtleff explained to Mary that his

10 Frank Levstick, “Fifth Regiment United States Colored Troops,” Northwest Ohio Quarterly, Vol. 42, Fall 1970., 89; Langston, From the Plantation to the Capitol, 209. Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton 26 June, 1863. Shurtleff Papers, OCA. 11 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 2 April, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Jeffrey S. Sartin, “Infectious Diseases during the Civil War: The Triumph of the ‘Third Army,’” Clinical Infectious Diseases, Vol. 16, No. 4, April 1993, 583.

141 home town was even more remote than her hometown of Austinburg, Ohio. While Shurtleff was visiting his parents, he was also weighing his career options. When he first left Oberlin for the army, he was a Tutor in the Preparatory Department at Oberlin, and a fulltime student at the

Theological Seminary. He knew that the first order of business was to finish his degree. He was pleased when Professor James Fairchild offered him an abbreviated course load with an opportunity to read for his Theolog degree. Shurtleff believed that his own studies, especially while he was a prisoner, amounted to quite a bit more than the regular theology students covered.12

Shurtleff could imagine a future at Oberlin. He was already a local luminary, and a member of the faculty. Certainly, full time instructor status might be offered him. He also received several more invitations from his friend and former school chum E. H. Merrell. Merrell had offered him a position at his college in Ripon, Wisconsin, and since Shurtleff’s exodus from the service had been redoubling his efforts to get the former Captain on his staff. More importantly, Shurtleff had proposed to Mary Burton, and she had said yes. Where he created a home for his new family was of paramount importance. He looked forward to graduating in

August, and taking one of these options.13

As spring unfolded in 1863, Shurtleff was back in Oberlin and enjoying his surroundings.

He wrote to Mary that he could not remember ever seeing Oberlin so beautiful. “My room overlooks the college square and all the college buildings. Tis pleasant to look out upon the old square abounding in rich foliage and forest trees which I myself helped to transplant ten years ago.” Shurtleff was surrounded by good friends, and the woman he loved had said yes to his

12 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 13 April, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

13 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 April, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

142 proposal of marriage. Still he had some misgivings about leaving the military before the war was over. The newly-minted civilian harbored nagging feelings that his service had been a failure, and was saddened by it. He ceased to believe that his illness had a silver lining, and had doubts that the war would be won. Shurtleff especially feared the entry into the war by a foreign power, particularly England. In April he prophetically told Mary that “Three months from this date will decide our fate.” The former captain was not predicting the Union victories at

Gettysburg and Vicksburg, rather he was fearful that the national government might fail.

Especially if England or some other power aligned itself with the slave power of the

Confederacy. Shurtleff favored “fighting to the last…. Should there be such a coalition against us, I do not believe I can refrain from again taking the field if I am able to carry a musket or a sword.” At almost the same moment that Governor Tod was coming to the conclusion that black soldiers were good for Ohio, Giles Shurtleff was considering a return to the battlefield.14

Shurtleff must have known of Langston and Wall’s efforts to encourage black soldiers to enlist, and by early June, he was hearing of attempts to raise a black regiment in Ohio and was contemplating a leadership role in such a regiment. He was likely attending the Ohio

Congregational Conference of 1863, held at Plymouth church in Cleveland, where one of the main items on the agenda was a resolution condemning Copperhead Clement Vallandigham.

Shurtleff returned to Oberlin fired up about politics and preaching. He preached in East

Cleveland and lectured at Oberlin. He also enjoyed playing chess during his free time. Perhaps as he pondered what move to make on the chess board, he envisioned himself training and leading the very men whose emancipation he so believed in. Langston’s arguments for his assuming a leadership role in the new regiment clearly fell upon receptive ears. By the end of

14 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 2 May, 1863, and 13 April, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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June, Shurtleff was working hard to get the job. Langston sent word to Shurtleff that he should return to Columbus to meet with the governor regarding the regiment. Shurtleff harbored some misgivings about once again joining the army, as he was putting his own wellbeing at risk. He would also be leaving Mary at the very moment their future seemed assured.

Now my dearest Mary, have I done rights? I do not care for the position for my own sake. I prefer to continue my preparation for my cherished work and to shorten the day where I can take you to a pleasant home and with you enjoy all its blessings. But if God can use me for greater good in the field, I am sure you will agree with me that I ought to go.15

Shurtleff experienced a whirlwind of emotions. Certainly it was flattering to be

Langston’s choice for leadership of something in which he passionately believed. In Langston and Wall some of Oberlin’s finest were placing their confidence in Shurtleff. Thanks to their work he had the honor of meeting with the governor of the state. The price of all this attention was, however, time away from Mary Burton. Shurtleff believed that rejoining the war effort was part of God’s plan. Clearly the Oberlinite was a man who did not shy away from the declarative statement, and regularly spoke his mind. Some might be tempted to write off his pontification as rhetoric, for example when he wrote from his prison cell that he would rather be a prisoner for the length of the war than the cause be lost. He did not have the choice to leave that cell, which made it was easier to define his patriotism and sacrifice. In the summer of 1863, however,

Shurtleff was not controlled by captors and he could live his life according to his spoken philosophy. He proved to be a man of his word. The cause, in this case abolition, was paramount, and he did not waver from what he believed to be his duty.

15 Minutes of the Congregational Association of Ohio at its Fiftieth Annual Meeting, (Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Printing and Publishing Co., 1902), 26; Frank L. Klement, The Limits of Dissent: Clement Vallandigham and the Civil War, (Lexington: The University of Kentucky Press, 1970), 235; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 9 June, 1863, and 26 June, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA

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July 1863 marked the military turning point of the Civil War and a life changing moment for Shurtleff. The first three days of the month saw the Union defeat of the Confederacy at both

Gettysburg and Vicksburg, dramatically limiting the South’s military prospects for victory.

Shurtleff’s July was an education regarding the politics of command, and the pitfalls that could be encountered when trying to live out one’s philosophical beliefs under the constraints of the government’s bureaucracy. Logically, Shurtleff was the obvious choice to lead Ohio’s first black regiment. He had the backing of the men who did most of the recruiting for the regiment.

Langston and Wall both knew Shurtleff personally, and trusted his ability, integrity, and abolitionism. Shurtleff had a wealth of practical experience, having helped to train Company C of the 7th OVI, and then lead his men into battle. He understood the toughness and tenacity soldiering required, having withstood military defeat, capture, and imprisonment. He also worked on the staff of a flag officer, and had a thorough understanding of how an army operated.

Shurtleff’s road to the command of his own regiment was not so easily navigated, however.

New testing requirements for officers, and the attending political wrangling stood in his way.

Prior to the Civil War and during much of the conflict, army officers received training in one of two ways. A small number of men attended West Point and were graduated into the standing army. The majority of Civil War officers, like Shurtleff, were volunteers, and won their commission through a private military academy education or local election. Since less than fifteen percent of the private military academies were in the north, most Union officers received their training and their rank from local militias. Shurtleff himself was named Captain of the

Monroe Rifles not based upon military competency, but because the students of the company elected their tutor to the post. With the advent of black regiments, the army created a new form of officer selection. In what might be considered the antecedents of the Reserve Officer Training

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Corps (ROTC) and the Officer Candidacy School (OCS), the men who wished to be named an officer in a black regiment had to take and score well on an exam. In May 1863, the War

Department’s General Order 143 created the examination boards for the USCT’s white officers.

Ten examination centers were set up across the country; the nearest for the Ohio men was in

Cincinnati. A panel that usually consisted of three officers quizzed the candidates. The higher the rank being sought, the more questions were asked. Captain Shurtleff knew he would be taking the test, and so would Captain Lewis McCoy, his competition for the colonelcy.16

McCoy was Governor Tod’s choice to lead the regiment. Even before the officer candidates could appear before the examination board in Cincinnati, and in June of 1863, McCoy was placed in nominal command of the gathering regiment at Camp Delaware near Columbus.

McCoy, however, failed the examination. He was not ranked fully qualified in any of the categories tested, and was unsuccessful in the area of Military Tactics. Shurtleff met with Tod on several occasions in July 1863. He found Tod to be virtually a changed man. He shared with

Mary his belief that the governor was then fully committed to seeing an African American regiment from Ohio, and stopped by the Camp to see the first three hundred or so recruits. Still,

McCoy had command and Tod continued to back his primary choice even after his disastrous

16 Paul D. Renard, The Selection and Preparation of White Officers for the Command of Black Troops in the : A Study of the 41st and 100th U.S. Colored Infantry, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2006), 79. Accessed at http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-02162006-202721/unrestricted/RenardDissertation.pdf, July 16, 2016. Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 17-19; Renard, The Selection and Preparation of White Officers for the Command of Black Troops in the American Civil War, Prologue, 143; Cornish, The Sable Arm, 227-228; 16E.D. Townsend, General Orders 143, Adjutant General’s Office, “General Orders Affecting the Volunteer Force,” (Washington, DC, Government Printing Office), 118-119. Bob Luke and John David Smith, Soldiering for Freedom: How the Union Army Recruited, Trained, and Deployed the U.S. Colored Troops, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014), 55-56; Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 19.

146 test results. Meanwhile, in Delaware there were those in camp who hoped to see Shurtleff take ultimate control.17

Langston continued to lobby Tod and former Governor Dennison to put Shurtleff in the top spot in the regiment. It grew evident to both Shurtleff and Langston that the Oberlinite was not going to be the first choice to ultimately replace McCoy as colonel. Shurtleff had been in a position to view political infighting when he was Inspector General on General Wilcox’s staff, now however he was the subject of the tussle and he did not like it. He also had not experienced disappointment in any of his officerial ambitions. His election as Captain of Company C came easily. His appointment to Wilcox’s staff was delayed by only a week or two. Then he was unsure of his place in the regiment gathering outside Columbus. Langston urged him to travel to

Cincinnati immediately and sit before the panel that approved officers for the USCT. Shurtleff complied, but was turned away by the board after being told that he had not been authorized by the War Department to sit for the examination. “I am thoroughly disgusted with this whole matter,” he wrote to Mary Burton, “[y]ou will, I presume, regard my chances for the appointment as quite good; but, my friend, be not deceived.”18

Shurtleff felt conflicted about how to proceed. At one level he recognized that the colonelcy of the 127th was not going to be his. Politics precluded his appointment. Although both Langston and Wall were lobbying on his behalf, their efforts were not enough. They were also spending a great deal of energy trying to obtain equal pay for the black enlisted men and so they were not as full throated in their appeals on Shurtleff’s behalf as they otherwise might have

17 Levstick, “Fifth Regiment United States Colored Troops,” 87; Ohio Adjutant General’s Department, Report of the Candidates Examined for Commissions in Colored Troops, July 18, 1863 – February 13, 1864, reprinted in Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 82; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 6 July, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

18 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 July, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

147 been. Yet even as Shurtleff’s disgust with the process increased, so did his conviction that black soldiers needed to be part of the war. He was convinced that the dual victories of Gettysburg and

Vicksburg meant that the war would likely be over soon. If African-American troops did not make it into battle soon, the opportunity to showcase their bravery and ability would be lost. All of this was accompanied by calls from both Ripon College and Oberlin College for him to teach.

This must have been a heady time for the Oberlinite, meeting with the Governor and former

Governor of the state on a regular basis, and confident that his sweetheart was solidly behind him.19

During the wrangling over the leadership of the regiment, he continued to help with the training of the men. He welcomed Governor Tod to camp, who assured the recruits that only capable officers would lead them. Tod then urged Shurtleff to accept the number two post in the regiment, the Lt. Colonelcy. Shurtleff wrote to Mary Burton describing the lengthy meeting he and the governor had, and told her that he had received a special order to appear before the

Examination Board in Cincinnati. He immediately complied, and headed south for the test.

Shurtleff had little difficulty with the examination. He was well versed in both giving and taking tests, and had had a wealth of both practical and book learning. He told Mary Burton that he would accept the number two position if offered. “If I am appointed I shall rejoice in the privilege of helping to finish up the war for the union and liberty. If I am not appointed, I shall rejoice still more in the prospect of settling down and engaging in my life work.”20

He could see that McCoy remained the governor’s first choice, and that the enlisted men of the 127th liked him as well. Shurtleff had heard the rumors that McCoy might only keep

19 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 12 July, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

20 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 25 July, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 21.

148 command for a brief time if it were offered, so perhaps an elevation to full Colonel might be close at hand. He understood that his world was going to change dramatically. Shurtleff’s commitment to the 127th can be seen in the fact that he arranged to miss his own graduation from

Oberlin’s graduate program so that he could be fully involved in Delaware. He also assured

Mary Burton that his duty to the cause was clear, and he must not shirk. Shurtleff knew better than most the kind of separation that he and his fiancée might suffer. He assured her that her love would sustain him. Shurtleff was mustered into the regiment as its Lieutenant Colonel on

July 29, 1863.21

McCoy’s temporary leadership of the regiment was not without its moments. As the regiment was gathering in the summer of 1863, made his famous raid into

Indiana and Ohio. Captain McCoy called the troops together and informed them that Ohio was under attack and they might be called upon to defend the state. He was clear about the potential dangers that might be before them, and asked for volunteers. Nearly every man stepped forward.

They did not pursue the Confederate raider however. Not long after, state officials learned that the pay and clothing allowances for black troops would be substantially less than for white soldiers. The first three hundred black volunteers had been told that their pay and benefits would be equal to those of whites. Governor Tod instructed McCoy to inform the troops of the discrepancy. McCoy was also commanded to allow any man who was offended by this inequity to leave the regiment. Governor Tod feared many would bolt, but none did. A bond of affection developed between McCoy and the men of the 127th. And when Governor Tod visited the regiment he asked the men whom they would want as their leader, they requested McCoy.

21 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 29 July, 1863 & 16 August, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Individual Muster-in Roll, 5th U.S.C.T., October 2, 1863. NARA, Regimental Orders Book.

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Ultimately, though McCoy’s failing examination scores would exclude him from the colonelcy, in the meantime he remained with the 127th.22

Although the number two man in the regiment, Shurtleff was regularly in command as the training continued into the fall of 1863. He did not believe that the departure of McCoy would result in his promotion, and he was right. He also assured Mary Burton that should he face imprisonment by the Confederacy again, she should not worry. In the fall and winter of

1862, Confederate President Jefferson Davis issued proclamations making various white leaders of black troops virtual war criminals who would be subject to death if captured. This list included Generals Benjamin F. Butler and David Hunter, and was expanded by the Confederate

Congress to include all white officers of black regiments. As Shurtleff trained his men, he reflected on the Confederate declaration, and reassured Mary Burton that, “this is too ridiculous to cause the least apprehension. I do not believe of word of it. If true it is only evidence of

[Confederate] insanity.” At about the same time the regiment received a new name. At the end of May 1863, the Bureau of Colored Soldiers was created by the War Department’s General

Orders, No. 143, as part of the adjutant general’s office. The order included black units already existing, saying, “Colored troops may be accepted by companies, to be afterwards consolidated in…regiments by the Adjutant General. The regiments will be numbered seriatim, in the order in which they are raised…. They will be designated: “----Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops.” The

127th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, colored became the 5th United States Colored Troops (USCT).

The low number indicated how early in the process the Ohioans were recognized by the War

Department.23

22 Levstick, “Fifth United States Colored Troops,” 88; Langston, From the Plantation to the Capitol, 207- 208; Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 19; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 25 July 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. 23 Trudeau, Like Men of War, 60-62; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 16 August, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA: General Orders 143, United States War Department, www.ourdocuments.gov/doc_large_image.php?doc=35.

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Shurtleff enjoyed training his men, and was generally in command of the regiment, as the

5th was without a true colonel. He was very pleased with the training and the other officers with whom he was working with. He thought of them as both intelligent and moral, noting that “more than half the officers here now are professors of religion.” Ironically, he complained that they were in need of a chaplain. Considering the religiosity of many of the regiment’s leaders, it was strange that the chaplaincy remained unfilled until the end of October 1864. Officers of the 5th could not agree on early candidates for the position, and when they finally had a successful candidate in the spring of 1864, their numbers had dwindled to a place where they did not qualify for a chaplain. James Patton, an Oberlinite Congregational minister finally filled the post on

October 29, 1864. Shurtleff undoubtedly remembered Patton from his participation in the

Oberlin-Wellington Rescue.24

Shurtleff was frustrated by a few things, such as the lack of a surgeon, appropriate weapons, and a good horse. He decided to write the governor to requisition arms and a surgeon, while he continued to look for a horse. “I hire one to drill the regiment with, and do not intend to purchase till I find a good one. Good horses are very rare.” Shurtleff also found time to return to

Oberlin for the annual Commencement exercises. In late August he and at least one other member of the 5th USCT ventured north to Oberlin. The Cleveland Morning Leader reported that the festivities were not as large as usual, because many of the students had scattered during the war years. Only eighteen men and three women were granted diplomas from the college, as

Dudley Taylor Cornish explains this process in The Sable Arm, 128-131, and points out that several long serving regiments did not get low numbers as did the 127th Ohio.

24 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 14 September, 1863, OCA; Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 21-22. Washington points out that the strength of the 5th in the spring of 1864 was 34 officers and 775 enlisted men. In order to qualify for the chaplain they needed one more officer and ten more men. The muster of Presbyterian minister James R. Brown was disallowed.

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President Charles G. Finney reminded his listeners that some thirty-nine others had joined the army, six of whom had fallen. Finney was also pleased to note that six of the current graduates were serving in the military, which was probably the reason for Shurtleff’s attendance.

Company A’s Captain Orlando Brockway was one of the graduates.25

Not unlike the training Shurtleff encountered with the 7th OVI, the 5th USCT’s primary training revolved around drilling. Shurtleff’s schedule for his recruits looked like this:

Reveille 5 A.M. Squad drill under charge of non commissioned officers 5 to 6 A.M. Breakfast Call 6 A.M. Surgeon’s Call 7 A.M. Guard-Mounting 8 A.M. Company Drill 8 ½ A.M. to 10 School of non commissioned officers to be Conducted by a commissioned officer 11 to 12 Dinner Call 12 Noon Company Drill 1 to 2 ½ P.M. Battalion Drill 3 to 5 P.M. Supper 5 P.M. Retreat 5 ½ P.M. Dress Parade 6 P.M. Tattoo 9 P.M. Taps 9 ½ P.M.26

Shurtleff marveled at the progress his black troops were making. He was admittedly quite tough on his men, but insisted on “thorough military discipline.” The result was a regiment that compared very favorably with white troops, and Shurtleff appreciated that his black soldiers

25 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 6 September, 1863, and 14 September, 1863. Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Cleveland Morning Leader, 27 August 1863.

26 General Order No. 1, Head Quarters 5th U.S.C.T., Camp Delaware, O. Sept. 6, 1863, from 5th USCT Regimental Order & Letters Book, NARA. Similar schedules can be found in General Orders No. 5 of the 100th USCT, as found in Renard, The Selection and Preparation of White Officers for the Command of Black Troops in the American Civil War, 40.

152 were conscious of the role they were playing as they became soldiers in the United States army.

“I am glad to find these poor, ignorant, oppressed blacks appreciate to some extent, the sublime truth that they are making character for a whole race.” What he initially characterized as a mob had become “an orderly and well drilled [regiment],” and he boasted “I never saw men learn faster…. ours will be as good a regiment as has left the state.” He sentimentally told his wife that he was growing more attached to his soldiers each day.27

The Cleveland newspapers echoed Shurtleff’s assessment, a correspondent for the

Cleveland Morning Leader reported that he “found the order and discipline such as to surpass all expectation.” Captain Charles Oren, remembered with pride when the 5th marched from Camp

Delaware to the nearby town of Delaware. They were met by townspeople who watched and listened as the regiment treated them to nine cheers for President Lincoln and three cheers for

John Brown. Then they marched back to camp.28

While Shurtleff and the other officers of the 5th USCT were training their men, Ohio’s political scene was much on the Oberlinite’s mind. Specifically, the October gubernatorial election between the Unionist candidate John Brough and the Copperhead Clement L.

Vallandigham. Vallandigham was a former United States Representative who openly opposed the war. He called Lincoln a dictator, and in a not very veiled reference to units such as the 5th, accused the president of arming blacks in order to enslave whites. Abolitionists like Shurtleff found this kind of talk an outrage, and it did not sit well with the commander of the Union

Department of the Ohio, Ambrose E. Burnside. He believed that such talk was traitorous, and

27 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 5 October, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

28 Cleveland Morning Leader, 12 September 1863, 1, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. Accessed July 14, 2016; Charles Oren to Sattie Oren, 4 October, 1863, from Dearest Sattie: Civil War Letters of Captain Charles Oren, 5th U.S.C.T., Tim Oren, ed., (Self-published, Redwood City, CA, 2010), 6.

153 created a military tribunal which tried and convicted Vallandigham. He was sentenced to jail for the duration of the war. Lincoln stepped in and had the former legislator banished to the

Confederacy, which incurred howls from anti-war Democrats who claimed that Vallandigham was merely exercising his first amendment rights. Rather than stay in the south, Vallandigham made his way to Canada and mounted a challenge for the Ohio state house. That October the voters had to choose between the fiery oratory of John Brough or the incendiary rhetoric of

Clement Vallandigham.29

Shurtleff expressed his concern that Vallandigham and his Copperhead supporters were a danger to the state and the war effort. He worried that the heavy Copperhead presence in the

Columbus area might outweigh the abolitionist feelings in the Western Reserve. If he had picked up the local Delaware newspaper, he would have found some solace. The Delaware Gazette editorialized against Vallandigham labelling him a disgrace and a traitor. Shurtleff was not alone in his concern, President Lincoln stayed up all night as the returns came in from the Buckeye state. There was no need to worry, for Vallandigham was soundly defeated. Lincoln wired outgoing Governor Tod, “Glory to God in the Highest, Ohio has saved the Union.” Shurtleff delighted in the lack of Copperhead presence in the area after the election. While out hunting for a suitable horse he noted, “The copperheads did not show themselves at all. The result of the election is indeed glorious and will prove a scathing rebuke to traitors at home. I think it will tend strongly to hasten the war to a successful issue.” Shurtleff was not alone in voting for

29 For a quick look at the career of Clement Vallandigham see Ohio History Connection’s page, http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Clement_Vallandigham.

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Brough from the 5th. Because Ohio law allowed men with a majority of white blood to vote, some soldiers from the 5th were allowed to vote.30

At the same time as the state-wide electioneering between Brough and Vallandigham, the junior officers of the 5th banned together for their own cause, which was to have Giles Shurtleff named their Colonel. They circulated a , and forwarded it to the Secretary of War.

Shurtleff learned of the effort, and though gratified, urged the men to drop their attempt immediately. He believed that Governor Tod would not be pleased. He was correct, the

Governor was exceptionally angry when he learned of the attempt to push Shurtleff ahead of his preferred man. In his anger, lame duck Governor Tod declared that no man who signed the petition would ever receive a promotion. “Of course this is unreasonable, unjust and foolish,”

Shurtleff responded, “but is exactly like the Governor…. The Governor is the most unreasonable man in the world when his opposition is aroused.” Shurtleff told Mary Burton that he was satisfied with his current rank, and would not try for promotion. Unfortunately for the

Lieutenant-Colonel, Tod believed Shurtleff was plotting to gain the top spot in the regiment, and their cordial relationship dissolved into a feud. Shurtleff immediately sent word to the governor that he was in no way behind the petition, and that those who said so where liars. Shurtleff informed the governor that this was, “the first time in my life that I have known of any aspersions upon my character.” He went on to take “a soldier’s oath,” that he was telling the truth, and that should the governor not believe him, he would happily resign his commission.

After sending this lengthy letter to the governor, Shurtleff headed home to Sycamore, Illinois.

He said in his letter he had family business to attend to, however, it is not hard to imagine that

30 See for instance, Delaware Gazette, 16 October, 1863, 1, from Library of Congress, “Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers,” http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035595/1863-10-16/ed- 1/seq-2/. Accessed July 19, 2016; Abraham Lincoln as quoted in Abbott, “Ohio’s Civil War Governors,” 40; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, October 12, 1863, and October 19, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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Shurtleff wanted to be with family should the worst occur. The governor wrote to Shurtleff in

Sycamore saying that he had indeed been told that Shurtleff was plotting against McCoy.

However, upon the strength of Shurtleff’s “unqualified denial,” he realized that he was mistaken about the Oberlinite “being party to this outrage.” The governor concluded that he hoped that

“nothing [would] arise to disturb the entire harmony that heretofore existed between us.”

Shurtleff returned to Camp Delaware.31

As the fall wore on at Camp Delaware, Shurtleff became anxious to move out. He was hopeful that he would get to see his betrothed before they headed east, but also understood that his men were ready to go. Additional idle time spent in Ohio could lead to trouble. He expressed to Mary Burton his frustration, recounting an incident in which two of his privates were in town drinking which ended with one killing the other in a gun fight.32

31 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 12 October, 1863, and 19 October, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Giles Shurtleff to David Tod, 26 October, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; David Tod to Giles Shurtleff, 27 October, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. 32 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 10 November, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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Drunkenness was hardly restricted to the enlisted men. Recently promoted to Captain,

Charles Oren was shocked when a drunken Lieutenant Owens stumbled by mistake into his tent.

Oren was not there, but soon several other officers of the 5th had gathered, and they were joined by Shurtleff. They managed to get the inebriated Lieutenant to the correct tent, but Shurtleff determined more action was needed. He called the remaining sober officers together to discuss the matter, and he determined to get Owens dismissed from the service. He drafted a petition to the commanding general requesting just that, and got all of his officers to sign. He told them that

The 127th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in Delaware, Ohio, circa 1863. Ohio Historical Society: African American Experience in Ohio. officers who made a habit of drinking had no place in the regiment.33

In early November 1863, the governor gave up on naming Captain McCoy as the colonel of the 5th regiment. The Governor visited the camp as the regiment held its last formation before shipping out. He must have been pleased to see McCoy receive a gold watch chain, a gift from the regiment. The soldiers also presented McCoy’s wife with a gold ring. The governor might

33 Charles Oren to Sattie Oren, 4 October, 1863, Dearest Sattie, 6.

157 have been surprised not to see Lieutenant Colonel Shurtleff who had “skipped to go to Columbus to get [his] pay.” The issue of colonelcy was settled on November 11, 1863, when James Conine was given command of the 5th USCT. His career path to this point was similar to Shurtleff’s in that he had been both a captain leading a company and on the staff of a flag officer. It was decidedly different in other respects. Conine was an Ohioan, but he had strong ties to Kentucky, having spent much of his adult life in Lexington. He was not an abolitionist and had even been a member of John Hunt Morgan’s prewar militia unit. His elevation to command of a black regiment raised condemnation from the Kentucky press. Like Tod, he was a former Democrat, and most importantly served on the staff of another Democrat (and Oberlinite), Jacob Dolson

Cox. The abolitionist Republican Shurtleff would remain a Lieutenant Colonel.34

Conine’s appointment to the 5th corresponded with its moving out, although he would not catch up to his unit for a couple of weeks. On November 10th the regiment received orders to report to Fort Monroe in Virginia. The very spot that marked the end of Shurtleff’s prison experience now represented the beginning of his wartime experience with the 5th USCT. The regiment boarded a train and headed east to the war, which included stops in Pittsburgh,

Harrisburg, and Baltimore. The trip was uneventful, though Shurtleff complained of knee problems. “I feel very awkward limping around, but I notice a great many compassionate eyes directed toward me. No doubt they think I have been wounded in battle…. I enjoy the society of my fellow officers more and more. They seem brothers to me.”35

Once in Baltimore, the regiment boarded the steamer John Brooks and headed south to

Fort Monroe. As they were in sight of the fortress, they were sailing through the battlefield of

34 Washington, Eagles on the Buttons, 19-20; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 10 November, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

35 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 11 November, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

158 the famous clash of ironclads, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (more commonly called the

Merrimack). The Ohioans could see salvage crews trying to raise one of the Virginia’s victims, the USS Cumberland, and they could see the Virginia’s spars poking through the surface of the river where Confederate forces scuttled her in May of the previous year. Still in command of the regiment, Shurtleff wrote to Mary Burton, “I reported to Genl Butler and was ordered to report to

Brig. Genl Wild who commands a colored Brigade.” After this encounter, the regiment crossed the James River to the Elizabeth River, where they were ordered to set up camp in Portsmouth,

Virginia. Across from Portsmouth was the town of Norfolk. The two cities combined, Shurtleff explained to Mary Burton, were roughly the size of Cleveland. They were initially camped in an open field with no tents, but that was quickly rectified as walled tents arrived for the officers and shelter tents for the enlisted men. Amazements abounded in their new home, for example few of the men had ever before had such easy access to oysters. Nor had the officers seen this many black men and women before. Captain Oren wrote his wife to say that, “[i]t seems to me that there are nothing but blacks here. We find contrabands by the thousands.”36

It was about this time that Shurtleff first met Colonel James Conine. This might have been an awkward meeting as Shurtleff had exercised command over the regiment for much of its existence. As a commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, he was compelled to deal with a Captain as his supposed superior. Now he was usurped by a political appointee from a Democratic governor’s pen. If it was uncomfortable for the Oberlinite he did not let on. Instead, he shared with Mary Burton that his new boss was very much a gentleman, and he was impressed that he

36 Charles Oren to Sattie Oren, 19 November, 1863, from Dearest Sattie, 8; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 18 November, 1863, and 19 November, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

159 had served on Cox’s staff since the early days of the war. It could not have hurt that Cox was a fellow Oberlinite.37

The regiment began to create an entrenched camp in Portsmouth. As winter approached, the men began to upgrade their living quarters from the walled and shelter tents initially issued to more substantial dwellings with wooden floors and, occasionally, stoves. While Charles Oren described it as building fortifications, it was referred to by Shurtleff as “Intrenched Camp.” The regiment was also beginning regular military action into the countryside. General Butler was anxious to rid the area of southern guerilla fighters, destroy Confederate supplies, and liberate as many slaves as possible. In these operations select companies of the 5th, sometimes joined by companies from other regiments, traveled the countryside trying to meet Butler’s objectives.

Captain Oren described a typical action as being a few days away from camp, marching to a specific location, scouting for rebels, contrabands, and supplies. In one such outing in late

November he described a haul that included, “a Reb. Major and about a dozen others…. 400 contrabands, with a hundred horses and carts loaded with baggage of the slaves. It made a train a mile long. It was a sight not often seen, all ages and complexions.” He said that there was special delight in raiding the houses of the wealthy and taking all of their slaves. Oren remarked that the southern women would beg the men in blue to leave behind at least one cook, as they were ignorant of their own kitchens. The men enjoyed themselves and the officers came back with fine mounts.38

The most dramatic and well known of these raids occurred in December 1863, when

Shurtleff and a contingent of the 5th were being led by General Edward A. Wild himself. Wild

37 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton 28, November, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. 38 Charles Oren to Sattie Oren, 29 November, 1863, Dearest Sattie, 10; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton 25, December, 1863 & 14 January, 1864, OCA. See Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 32-34, and Trudeau, Like Men of War, 115-117.

160 was a trained surgeon, who supervised the amputation of his own left arm after an earlier battle wound. His right hand was permanently disfigured by yet another wound, but he commanded the praise of many Union officials and the condemnation of just as many southerners. That

December, he led Shurtleff and a pair of companies from the 5th who were working with two companies from the 2nd North Carolina under the command of Colonel Alonzo G. Draper. Wild had tired of the harassment his soldiers had been receiving from the local population. Black pickets were subject to random nighttime ambushes, cavalry riders were abducted, and random gunfire was a regular occurrence. On this day, the assembled Union troops took several

Confederates, including two women, an unusual occurrence. Wild determined to fight fire with fire and he convened what he called a “drum-head court.” Of the twenty southerners on trial, about half were released and the other half found guilty of being guerilla fighters. One of the convicted was sentenced to death by hanging the following day.39

December 18th was cold and wet, and over 1,000 Union soldiers met at Hinton’s

Crossroads to witness the execution. Shurtleff was chosen to be the condemned man’s chaplain.

Perhaps General Wild knew that Lt. Col. Shurtleff was a graduate of Oberlin College and began his military career commanding the ‘Praying Company,’ perhaps he did not. Shurtleff met with the condemned man, Daniel Bright, and informed him of his fate, and urged him to make his last confession and to repent before his execution. Bright fell to his knees and began to repeatedly pray the same phrase, “O merciful Father, look down upon me!”40

39 Trudeau, Like Men of War, 112-115. Drumhead court martials were improvised and irregular. The phrase ‘drumhead’ referred to the use of a drum when a table was not available.

40 The execution of Daniel Bright is covered in several places, and was relayed home to Mary Burton in one of Shurtleff’s letters. See Trudeau, Like Men of War, 115 – 116, Frances H. Casstevens, Edward Wild and the African Brigade in the Civil War, (Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Co., Inc., 2003)< 106-108, Barton A. Myers, Executing Daniel Bright: Race, Loyalty, and Guerilla violence in a Coastal Carolina Community, 1861-1865, (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2009), and Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 25 December, 1863, OCA.

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Bright claimed to be a Confederate soldier serving in a Georgia regiment who was trying to recruit new members. He may have been a civilian caught between the requirements of the

Confederacy and his Union captors. Upon hearing his death sentence it is not hard to imagine this frightened man falling on his knees and blubbering out a simple prayer. Shurtleff’s religiosity was not so simple and guttural. He felt Bright’s words had no connection to any real spirituality, and after a few moments he moved to the distraught man and urged him to “reflect and repent. I also urge [you] to reflect and repent [and] make a confession of [your] sins to God and…to confess to me.” Shurtleff did not believe that the man had a correct understanding of repentance or of faith, so he interceded with the almighty on Bright’s behalf extemporizing a brief prayer. As the prayer ended and the Oberlinite spoke, “Amen,” General Wild kicked the stand out from under Daniel Bright who jerked and wheezed for some twenty minutes before dying. Shurtleff described it this way:

After he had taken his place on the scaffold and the rope had been fastened around his neck, I made a short prayer and as I uttered the word amen, the block was struck by a guard, and the poor deluded soul was hurled into eternity all unprepared, I fear. T’was a solemn and impressive moment. The effect upon my nerves was unpleasant. It gave me a serious headache. If the proof was conclusive that he was a guerilla, he died justly and I believe the execution was wise.

A sign was hung around the dead man’s neck which read: This guerilla was hanged by order of

Brigadier-General Wild.41

* * *

Shurtleff’s description of the hanging was part of a Christmas day letter to his sweetheart

Mary Burton and fortunately for her, much of the letter dealt with issues other than executions,

41 Casstevens, Edward Wild, 108; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 25 December, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Trudeau, Like Men of War, 116.

162 such as his protestations of affection. He did not dwell on the political ramifications of the drum-head court of which he was a part. Undoubtedly, as a former Inspector General, he was aware of the normal process of military justice. He did not appear to be upset by the irregularity of this case. He was more interested in sharing a bit of his daily life with Mary

Burton. The Christmas epistle, and others from this time, demonstrate the growing love and affection Shurtleff had for his Austinburg flame, and his interest in her wellbeing. He ended his letter with, “Merry Christmas to you darling and Oh! How I do wish I could say it to you this beautiful evening.”42

Shurtleff painted a picture of his non-military hours, which over the new year included a visit from Oberlin’s Professor Henry Peck, who was accompanied by two teachers assigned to educate the growing number of contrabands in the camp. Shurtleff was impressed with their work, “[t]he contraband teachers are doing a marvelous work for a very needy class of people.”

He later detailed the work of the contraband teachers saying that he was able to spend an hour in a classroom headed by a Miss Pitts. More than Pitts’ instructional effectiveness, Shurtleff was moved by the damage slavery had done to the people in her classroom:

There were aged fathers and mothers with their children trying to learn to read, some of them separated from all their friends who were left behind, in the hands of cruel, unnatural masters…. There is a peculiar sadness in their expression of countenance, the tone of voice and all the gestures of those who have been long slaves…. The awful unspeakable crime of slavery has never appeared so vividly to my mind as now. It must be destroyed, utterly rooted out…. I rejoice that God has given me an opportunity of working so directly for the uprooting….

Shurtleff went on to say that he was certain that his work with black soldiers was more valuable to him than any similar post he might attain leading white troops. He also complained to Mary

42 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 25 December, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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Burton about the continued harassment they were receiving from guerrilla soldiers. These irregular forces were no better than murderous robbers in Shurtleff’s mind.43

Shurtleff also shared with his sweetheart the more pleasant moments of camp life. He was especially uplifted by the visit of Professor Peck. Peck’s presence reminded him of the power of his faith, something that had faded, despite his brief stint as chaplain to the condemned.

The Oberlinite was also able to take Peck along on a pleasant visit to his commanding general

Benjamin Butler. Butler invited the two into his private quarters and introduced them to his wife. They chatted amiably for over an hour.44

For her part, Burton had come to grips with Shurtleff’s reenlistment. During the summer before Shurtleff’s work with the 5th the two managed to spend a significant amount of time together. Enough so that by July she professed great love for him. A love growing strong enough that she was torn about his taking part in officering black soldiers. She told Shurtleff not to expect any congratulations from her should he be successful in winning an appointment to the

Ohio regiment. Still she remained proud of his willingness to stand on principle. “I am glad, my dear friend, that you are capable of serving your country in so noble a cause. I rejoice in your patriotism…. And if you go again into the field my heart will go with you.” Burton resumed a career teaching at the Lake Erie Seminary, and occasionally traveled between her Painesville workplace and her Austinburg home. The two sometimes tried to concoct a visit during these movements, but it did not always work. In July 1863, Burton sent word when she was taking the train back home, hoping that Shurtleff would join her on the journey. She did not see Shurtleff as she boarded the train, but hoped he was in one of the other cars. When she arrived in

43 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 30 December, 1863, and 14 January, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

44 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 8 January, 1864, and 20 December, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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Austinburg she was doubly disappointed to find Shurtleff not on the train, nor any letters from him at the post office, either.45

Even as Shurtleff’s relationship with Mary Burton was solidifying during their separation, his position in the 5th USCT lacked definition. Shurtleff had more practical experience leading the regiment than did his immediate superior. Additionally, Colonel Conine was often absent because of illness, leaving his Lieutenant Colonel in de facto command. It was at this time that the regiment learned it would be moving to Yorktown, Virginia. Shurtleff did not want to leave the quarters he and his men had created in Portsmouth, so he protested to an adjutant on General Wild’s staff suggesting that the 2nd North Carolina be sent, but to no avail.

He lamented to Mary Burton that he would, “miss our nice new quarters…. But this of course is part of the experience that every soldier must expect and be prepared for.”46

The thirty-mile trip took a great deal of time. The regiment boarded two steamers at

Portsmouth, but the weather was deemed too severe to permit a safe trip, so the men waited onboard until the next morning. When they were given the all clear to sail, they stopped first at

Fort Monroe to bring on tents for the regiment’s use at Yorktown, and then proceeded north.

When they arrived, they were placed between the 4th and the 6th USCT. The consecutive nature of the three regiments might seem to be a curiosity, but remembering that units of the USCT were numbered in the order they were recognized by the federal government indicated that here were three relatively senior colored regiments. Shurtleff acknowledged that his neighbors were

“good, disciplined troops,” whose officers seemed quite capable.47

45 Mary Burton to Giles Shurtleff, 13 July, 1863, and 28 July, 1863, and 18 July, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

46 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 19 January, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

47 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 21 January, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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Life in the new camp was initially quite pleasant. One of the 5th’s captains, Charles Oren, described a day in the Yorktown camp in a letter home. They were up at 7:00 a.m. for breakfast which was followed by an officers’ meeting at the Colonel’s quarters. The men were drilled for about an hour and then Oren headed down to the shore so that he could sail and collect sea shells.

It was discouraging when there was not enough wind to sail. He then acquired reading material from the Quartermaster and found time to nap. After supper there was a dress parade, followed by time to assemble the shells he collected for shipping back home as a gift for his wife. Oren wrote his wife that, “[a]ll is quite now, except the constant roar of the waves dashing against the beach.”48

Shurtleff found time to look around his new camp. He was impressed with the historicity of the place, noting that English General Charles Cornwallis’ headquarters still stood. He also noted that the works that had stymied General George McClellan during his Peninsular

Campaign in 1862 were also still there. So were the graves of thousands of soldiers, which surrounded their camp. He felt they bore solemn and silent testimony to what he derisively called the disgraced general’s “genius.” He toured the siege sites with some of his new colleagues. Colonel John W. Ames and Colonel Clark E. Royce of the 6th USCT, graduates of

Harvard and Williams College respectively, impressed the Oberlinite with their intellect and their manner. Their brigade commander, Colonel Samuel A. Duncan of the 4th USCT was also,

“very much of a gentleman.” His estimate of his own Colonel was less flattering. Although he found Conine to be “a pleasant man, one with whom I shall never have a particle of difficulty,” he also found him “weak…. He is very much under the influence of others.” Shurtleff believed that the ultimate responsibility of regimental effectiveness would devolve upon him. He

48 Charles Oren to Sattie Oren, 31 January, 1864, Dearest Sattie, 20-22.

166 believed that the 5th was a very good regiment, but supposed that it “might be made one of the very best in the service.”49

Shurtleff’s men soon had the chance to validate their Lieutenant Colonel’s confidence.

Colonel Duncan’s Second Brigade, of which the 5th was a part, took part in an ambitious attack at a place called Bottoms Bridge. General Butler conceived of a grand attack on Richmond that would run through Bottoms Bridge and result in the occupation of Richmond, the destruction of the Tredegar Iron Works, the liberation of Union prisoners of war, and more. The 5th was marching toward a potentially significant battle. The men were prepared for an extended march, loaded down with six days rations. The marching was brutal, and ultimately fruitless. The

Confederates had been warned of the attack by a Union deserter. Even before Duncan’s Brigade could be sent into action, they were ordered back to Yorktown. Although the 5th saw no meaningful military action, Shurtleff boasted of his men’s strength and endurance during the march. He noted that white regiments marching with them on the over 100 mile excursion left behind hundreds of stragglers, the 5th left behind nary a man. Some of his troopers discarded backpacks and other provisions, but, Shurtleff crowed, “[t]he black brigade can march the white one to death.”50

January and February 1864, was a time of rising confidence for Giles Shurtleff, but

March saw him fall both literally and figuratively. He began the month with a life threatening accident. Trench works that surrounded nearby Fort McGruder surprised Shurtleff, or perhaps his horse. Regardless, the duo crashed to the bottom of what Shurtleff described as a fourteen-

49 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 21 January, 1864, and 26 January, 1864, and 4 February, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. 50 Descriptions of the action on Bottoms Bridge can be found in Trudeau, Like Men of War, 202-204, and Louis H. Manarin, Henrico County – Field of Honor, Vol. II, (Henrico County, Virginia, 2004), 372-373; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 11 February, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

167 foot ditch. He explained to Mary Burton that he was traveling at an acute angle while they unknowingly headed for the trench. Shurtleff said that this was the happiest element of their accident, for they did not hit the ditch perpendicularly. A straight on fall could have been much worse. Their angular fall resulted in neither he nor the horse being severely injured. He and his mount were able to scramble back to their feet, but neither could climb out of the trench.

Shurtleff walked in the trench until he got to the entrance of Fort McGruder and called out of the ditch to the corporal on guard for help. In short order several dozen men were at the edge of the ditch looking down, as they hoped to see the horse and rider who managed to stumble into the trench without killing themselves. Shurtleff was pulled out, but a great debate ensued about how to extract the horse from its pen. Shurtleff left a good man to take care of his trapped animal, and hoped for a resolution the following day. The next day saw his horse freed from the ditch.

A series of logs, strapped together with boards that acted as steps were lowered into the trench and the horse climbed out. Meanwhile, Shurtleff complained that his foot had painfully swollen.

He kept it immersed in cold water to keep the inflammation down, and he snipped off the top of his shoe to accommodate the swelling. Shurtleff was unable to ride, and worried when the 5th was ordered out of camp that he might miss “their first fight.”51

He did not miss any action with the enemy. Shurtleff was, however, becoming at odds with some of his fellow officers, including Colonel Conine. He felt that he and his Colonel were cordial enough, but temperamentally opposite. “Our ideas of military discipline are totally different,” he lamented. The Oberlinite was a much more rigorous leader, a trait that led Captain

Charles Oren of Company E to complain that Shurtleff was often overbearing. Shurtleff was aware that Conine was leery of being too harsh on his junior officers for fear that they would

51 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 2 March, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

168 become angry. The school teacher-turned officer lacked no such resolve, and believed that a group of incompetent officers needed to be confronted. If Conine would not do it, then Shurtleff would. Shurtleff complained said, “[t]here are five officers who ought to be removed. They hint around that they can sustain charges against Col. C. and yet he does not move. We shall never have good discipline unless the commanding officers are independent and enforce subordination.” Shurtleff met with his brigade commander, Colonel Duncan, and his good friend and fellow Oberlinite James Marsh, who both recommended he hold his disciplinary line.

Shurtleff agreed, and contemplated resignation should shirkers hold onto their posts.52

Captain Calvin Spear, who was ultimately dismissed from the service, and Captain

Erastus Blood, who resigned his commission were chief amongst Shurtleff’s concerns. He relayed to Mary Burton that Spear was, “certainly a swindler and wholly unfit to command in the army,” while Blood, “who is from Ashtabula Co. [was] inefficient and incompetent. He lacks natural ability….” But the malfeasance of these two was nothing compared to the spiritual crises

Shurtleff was encountering. A constant in Shurtleff’s life during the preceding decade was devotion to God and observance of the Sabbath. In March 1864, he had stopped reading his bible, and felt “far away from Christ.” Shurtleff wrote a long letter to Mary Burton, but then confessed that he had burned it, for its contents “seemed so blue [and] breathed such a spirit of doubt and darkness.” Shurtleff refused to place any blame for his deep spiritual funk upon the war, or his military circumstances. He also assured Mary Burton that he was in no danger of becoming a disbeliever, but he worried that he had neglected God and asked her to pray for him.

He wanted his current trials to bolster his faith, not lessen it. At this moment of depression, he reached out to Mary Burton as a spiritual equal and confidant. At the same time, his brigade

52 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 3 March, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Charles Oren to Sattie Oren, 31 January, 1864, Dearest Sattie, 23.

169 commander determined that he was unfit for active service, and was placed in command of the camp which was then filled with several hundred sick and wounded, while the 5th marched into action. Shurtleff missed no major action during this time, for his regiment was involved in only inconsequential raiding.53

One bright spot for Shurtleff was the log home he had built for himself, which kept out the cold and rain of the early spring. As he struggled with his loss of connection to his savior, he was able to do so in relative comfort. That comfort was short-lived, however, for the 5th was ordered out of Yorktown where they would take part in the and Richmond.54

* * *

In the months since Fredericksburg and health issues compelled him to return home from the front, Shurtleff had accepted the challenge of leading a regiment. He also experienced the disappointment of receiving the rank of the second in command. As the Lieutenant Colonel of the 5th USCT, Shurtleff over saw much of the day-to-day life of his regiment and made sure that his junior officer corps was fit for service. The seamless nature of Shurtleff’s assumption of command, even when it was not officially his, was impressive. He showed the same calmness when he performed his chaplaincy duties to a condemned man as when he took his Oberlin colleague to visit his commanding general and his wife. Shurtleff’s demeanor seemed perfect for military service, and his command confidence grew with every month. Perhaps the drive for

Christian perfection overlapped with a desire for military correctness.

53 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 3 March, 1864, and 7 March, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; See Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 36-37; and J.J. Scroggs, Diary and Letters, Larry Leigh, Ed., self-published, 1996, 279-281.

54 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 March, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

170

Chapter Six

The Petersburg Campaign

1864 was a crucial year in Giles Shurtleff’s life. His education, convictions, and newly found military bearing were all put to the test. Shurtleff and his regiment found themselves involved in or very close to some of the fiercest fighting that occurred in and around Petersburg,

Virginia and the Confederate capital, Richmond. The 5th USCT was on the front lines when the

Union army unsuccessfully pushed toward Petersburg. They were part of the great trenching exercise that took place as the battle lines between the two contending armies were set, and the

Ohio regiment found themselves digging, guarding, sweating, and struggling to survive under a hot Virginia sun. Shurtleff and his men had a front row seat at the infamous Battle of the Crater, and then helped break through Confederate lines at New Market Heights. The battle, fought on

September 29, 1864, saw Shurtleff’s men attain their greatest success, while their Oberlinite commander suffered his severest wounds. Before all of this took place, however, Shurtleff had to deal with his own personal faith crisis.

* * *

Perhaps Shurtleff was thinking and pondering the third chapter of the book of

Ecclesiastes in the spring 1864. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven…. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

Shurtleff’s faith crisis centered on the contradictions of a God of peace during a time of brutal war. “[T]hat simple-hearted trust in the Saviour and consciousness…of my own weakness, which were once so precious to me, are lost, not to be restored I fear while I remain in the army.”

Later he complained to Mary Burton that “[t]he army is a terrible, fearful place for a Christian.”

Shurtleff went on to tell her that unless the officer corps at the level of Colonel and General allowed for regular worship, the integrity of a soldiers’ faith was in great danger. On top of this

171 spiritual unpinning, Shurtleff feared a conspiracy was formulating among his men. The

Oberlinite conveyed to his love in Ohio that one of the most respected officers in the 5th had come to him with information that at least three other officers were conspiring against him.

Shurtleff was astonished, and wondered to his fiancée if his old detractor Governor Tod had anything to do with this intrigue. “They are wicked unscrupulous men and, I understand, are working in cooperation with parties in Ohio.” To add to Shurtleff’s anxiety, his brother Ephraim had also written to inform him that their father was ill and needed to be moved off the family farm and into a house in Sycamore, Illinois.55

Although he was struggling spiritually, military affairs seemed encouraging and he expressed pleasure at the promotion of General Ulysses S. Grant to command all the Union armies. More immediately, he had completed a small and very comfortable log house to live in.

Crushed shell was used as mortar to hold the logs together, and the cabin featured pine flooring.

The roof and some of the walls were made from the canvas of his tent, and he used some of the tent flies as windows. “I…have a good comfortable house built even if it is to do me little service.” His spiritual questions did not keep him from leading his men in a Sabbath service. On

Sunday, March 27, 1864, Shurtleff assumed command of the 5th as Col. Conine was out on medical leave. Command of the regiment was nothing new but this time Shurtleff decided to put his theory to work about officers making worship opportunities available to their men. That afternoon he and follow Oberlinite James Marsh conducted services. Shurtleff spoke to both his officers and his men about the evils of profanity. He was hopeful that it did some good. He was confident that religious “instruction and exhortation” commanded the attention of the men. The

55 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, KJV; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 20 March, 1864, and 7 March, 1864, 17 March, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

172 reaction of Shurtleff’s men to their commander’s exhortation is hard to gage. Inveterate diarist of the 5th USCT, Lieutenant (later Captain) J. J. Scroggs did note that there was a Divine Service lead by the quartermaster Marsh. Captain Charles Oren did not mention it in his letters home.

Shurtleff’s men may have little noted their Lieutenant Colonel’s religious appeals, but he was somewhat assuaged. His faith crisis had lessened.56

Both Scroggs and Oren did note a wild storm that hit the following Tuesday. Shurtleff described the hurricane like winds that pelted his canvas roof, while the ground shell mortar was whipped away. Oren described to his wife a devastating “northeast storm…raining and blowing like destruction. My tent fairly quakes and I look for it to blow down every minute…. I wish you could see the waves. They come surging to shore, dashing the spray ten feet high. It looks wild and terrific.” The storm the men of the 5th endured in their log cabins and tents was about to be exchanged for the storm of war. Day-to-day camp life in Yorktown ended for Shurtleff and the 5th. They moved south to become an integral part of the effort to capture Richmond.

Marching, entrenching, picket duty, and hard fighting replaced camp intrigue, log huts, and spiritual lamentations.57

Shurtleff’s confidence in the new commanding general of the Union armies was well placed. Lincoln’s promotion of Grant to General in Chief was accompanied by Congress’ restoration of the rank Lieutenant General, last held by George Washington. Grant, with the help of his good friend , planned a five-pronged attack on the

Confederacy. General George Gordon Meade, the victor at Gettysburg, was to pursue Lee’s

56 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 March, 1864, and 27 March, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 291; and Oren, Dearest Sattie 52.

57 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 19 March, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 291; and Oren, Dearest Sattie, 52.

173 army wherever it might go. Sherman’s orders were to track down and destroy the second largest

Confederate army under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston. Grant would keep his headquarters with Meade’s army. Optimism was high because Union forces outnumbered their

Confederate counterparts nearly two to one. Grant’s plans did not stop there, however. He dispatched three smaller armies to attack specific Confederate targets. General Nathanial Banks was ordered to take Mobile, Alabama, and then defeat southern forces in the trans-Mississippi region. General Franz Sigel was tasked with disrupting Confederate supply lines in the

Shenandoah Valley. Finally, General Benjamin F. Butler was given an army with the orders to attack the Confederate Capital. Lincoln approved of Grant’s approach. The president could see that the Meade’s and Sherman’s armies had the ultimate responsibility of victory, but the three smaller armies would divert attention and much needed supplies away from the main Union objectives. Or, as Lincoln put it metaphorically, if the smaller armies could not skin the cat, they could at least hold one of the legs.58

Shurtleff and the 5th USCT were assigned to Butler’s new Army of the James. The Ohio regiment was, by definition, relegated to what might have become a side show of the war. While

Sherman’s army slowly pushed Johnston’s army toward a showdown in , Grant and

Meade were involved in a series of extraordinarily bloody conflicts during the Overland

Campaign. This magnificent thrust into the heart of Virginia featured the battles of The

Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Yellow Tavern, and Cold Harbor. Recently transplanted from the western theater of war, Grant changed the style of warfare. The myriad of generals who faced Lee before Grant seemed to slowly maneuver their armies toward great clashes such as

58 There are many places to find details of Grant’s plan. See for example, McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 718-725; while a more detailed description can be found in “Grant in Command,” from Hattaway and Jones, How the North Won, 501-533.

174

Antietam, Chancellorsville, or Gettysburg. Once a great battle was completed, the armies would slowly regroup and then begin their strategic dance all over again. There could be many months between major battles. This was not the way with Grant. In less than two months Grant and

Meade’s Army of the Potomac engaged Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at least a half dozen times. Unlike his predecessors, Grant did not wait to reengage with his opponent. Within days of a battle he was pushing further south; within weeks he was battling his enemy again in a major engagement.59

Shurtleff and the 5th were on the periphery of this carnage. General Benjamin Butler had at last received that which he desired, command of an army, the newly created Army of the

James. Unlike many other Union generals, Butler was anxious to showcase black soldiers. He made a conscious effort to add regiments of the USCT to his army, and at its inception it had ten regiments of black soldiers. In addition to hopefully showcasing black fighting ability, Butler tried to provide support services to his black troops. Soldiers in the Army of the James had a better chance of obtaining hospitalization, educational opportunities, and survivor benefits than in other Union armies. Butler was also mindful of the importance of the quality of his white officers. This certainly does not mean that the black soldiers under Butler’s command were living in any kind of luxury. Life for all soldiers was hard, but discrimination, reduced pay, and substandard services still faced the soldiers of the USCT, even those in the Army of the James.60

As Shurtleff and the men of the 5th acclimated to their new posting they had much to occupy their days as they waited. First, the execution of two New Hampshire deserters, and then

59 Again, many sources can be found to detail Grant’s . McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom, and Hattaway and Jones’ How the North Won, are but two.

60 Edward G. Longacre has written as much on the Army of the James as anyone, see for instance, “Black Troops in the Army of the James, 1863-165,” Military Affairs, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Feb., 1981), 1-8 and his monograph, Army of Amateurs: Benjamin F. Butler and the Army of the James, 1863-1865, (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997). Selby, “The 27th United States Colored Troops,” 372.

175 they heard of the tragic results of the attack on Fort Pillow. The 2nd New Hampshire Volunteer

Infantry, a white regiment, had recently been attached to the Army of the James. After joining the James, they experienced a spate of desertions attributed primarily to bounty jumpers,

“jumping” out of the army.61 Privates John Eagan and Henry Holt were both captured and court martialed. They were sentenced to death as a warning to other potential deserters.62

Lieutenant Scroggs recorded in his diary that the two unfortunate Granite-staters were to be subject to “the extreme penalty of military law,” at nine o’clock in the morning. Captain Oren sketched out a diagram of the execution grounds which he sent home to his wife. On a beautiful plateau overlooking the York River, the 2nd New Hampshire formed several lines facing the convicts who were seated on their coffins with their backs to the river. Behind the New

Hampshire men, the 5th USCT formed up. Perpendicular to the two units was the 6th USCT, forming the second half of a square. The two deserters removed their coats and knelt before a priest. After religious rites were completed, the condemned men shook hands with the priest and the provost marshal, were blindfolded, and sat down upon their coffins. Twelve members of the

2nd New Hampshire stepped forward as the firing squad, and upon the call to “fire,” discharged their duty. The two fell backwards on their coffins. Scroggs said that he faced the scene with calmness, congratulating himself that he was not in the doomed men’s position. He also thought this would do the New Hampshire unit some good, as they were composed of many bounty jumpers and rebels. He was right. A few days later two more jumpers were caught, these

61 Martin A. Haynes, A Brief History of the Second Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, (Lakeport, NH: 1896), 214.

62 Haynes, A Brief History of the Second, 214-215. Haynes reports that there were hundreds of bounty jumping incidents within the regiment and this must have seemed strange to the men of the 5th, for in their unit desertion was rare. Haynes also reports that Holt may actually have been an Englishman named McGuire who left a wife and children in England.

176 carrying information that might have helped the enemy. They, too, were tried, convicted, and shot. After this, desertions in the 2nd were unsurprisingly much more infrequent.63

Witnessing the deaths of two deserters on a beautiful field was significant enough, but the events at Fort Pillow were shocking. Fort Pillow was a Confederate stronghold that had been occupied by Union forces on and off since early in the war. In April 1864, it was manned by three units, the 13th Tennessee Cavalry, a white regiment of Tennessee Unionists and

Confederates who had switched sides (which earned them the sobriquet ‘Tennessee Tories’).

Also stationed there was the 6th United States Colored Heavy Artillery (USCHA) a regiment at about half strength, and about five soldiers from the 2nd United States Colored Light Artillery

(USCLA). On April 12th approximately 1,500 cavalry soldiers under Confederate General

Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked the approximately 500 Union defenders of the fort. Within a few hours the Confederates controlled the area around the fort and demanded its “unconditional surrender.” When that did not come, the southerners rushed the fort, took the fort, and slaughtered the men inside. Forrest lost but a dozen or so killed and just under a hundred wounded. The Union suffered nearly 300 killed or wounded. Both black and white Union soldiers were captured and then executed, but the black soldiers suffered the most, incurring 64% casualties. Nearly all the rest were taken prisoner. Southern forces had killed captured black soldiers before, and they would again, but the actions at Fort Pillow were especially egregious and the Confederate victors boasted that their triumph there demonstrated the inferiority of black fighters. Word of the Fort Pillow massacre raced through Union forces, especially those of the

USCT.64

63 Haynes, A Brief History of the Second, 215-216. Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 300, 303, Oren, Dearest Sattie¸62.

64 Trudeau, Like Men of War, 156-169.

177

When describing the massacre to Mary Burton, Shurtleff called the Confederate actions at Fort Pillow “butchery,” and wondered to his fiancée if it might not come to pass that black soldiers would show no quarter to white southerners. Lieutenant Scroggs recorded it this way in his diary,

We have just heard of a brutal massacre perpetrated by the rebels under Gen. Forrest, on the colored garrison of Fort Pillow. Possession was obtained of the fort by violating a flag of truce. The rebels once in, and the garrison which was largely outnumbered threw down their arms, resistance being useless. Then commenced a scene which will stand unrivaled in history even by the barbarities of savage warfare…. Wounded men were bayoneted on the field without regard to color or rank. Prisoners were formed in squads and mercilessly shot down. Colored soldiers were tortured, buried alive, and numbers of helplessly wounded thrown on piles of the dead and all burnt. Not one of the officers escaped and of 350 colored soldiers, but 50 escaped.

The story of Fort Pillow became for Shurtleff, his officers and his men, and indeed for all black soldiers during the Civil War the cruelest symbol of Confederate barbarism. Not only did it fire their hearts with hatred for their foe, but it steeled their determination to prove that black soldiers could and would fight as well as whites.65

At the end of April, the 5th USCT was moved from Yorktown twenty miles south to

Hampton, Virginia. Near a former female seminary that had been transformed into a hospital, the regiment was situated upon a bluff overlooking the James River. Scroggs felt that the twenty-mile march was easy enough and was impressed by the fair climate that typified this part of Virginia. He must also have been impressed by the firepower he saw floating by. The camp was located near Fort Monroe where the James River flows into the Atlantic, and Monitor-class ironclads routinely sailed by. Shurtleff noted that the regiment was being severely limited in the amount of baggage it could carry on the march to Hampton (which he called Camp Hamilton).

He was hopeful that it meant that they were soon going into action soon, and that the lack of

65 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 17 April, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 304.

178 excess supplies meant they could fight harder and faster with the enemy. He was ready to fight to avenge Fort Pillow, and he warned Mary Burton that when they did go into action he would be unable to write as often. She might have to depend upon the press for accounts of the 5th’s whereabouts. He reminded her that the papers “are very unreliable,” and advised her to wait for word from him. Perhaps he was remembering that he himself had been pronounced dead after his first battle, when in fact he had been taken prisoner.66

On May 4, 1864, the regiment boarded two steamers and waited with the rest of the Army of the James to head up the James River. They spent a quiet night on the boats, and then on the next day the 5th proceeded upriver passed the scant remains of Jamestown, the first permanent

English settlement in America, and then past several beautiful plantation homes. The men were impressed with the steamer that General Butler and his staff were on as it passed them by. The

Greyhound was a “beautiful steamer… [which] sleaves the water at a fearful rate.” Early in the afternoon they debarked at City Point, Virginia, an important rail link that connected Petersburg with the James River. The 5th moved quickly into the small scattering of houses, capturing a rebel Lieutenant and about thirty signal corpsmen. Scroggs recorded that the first thing they did was to haul down the Confederate flag. He remembered that, “[t]he rebel rag was hauled down and the crimson battle flag was run up the halyards. As it was unfolded by the breeze and its three glittering stars sparkled in the bright sunlight it was greeted by thundering cheers by our men.” Captain Oren felt that they were close enough to Petersburg to march on that important rail and supply center just south of Richmond. Shurtleff concurred that Petersburg was their probable target. He, however, felt a siege was more appropriate, and he wrote Mary Burton to say “It would seem to me a just retribution upon the people of Petersburg to suffer the terrors of

66 Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 304-305; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 2 May, 1864 and 4 May, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

179 a protracted siege as a punishment for their…insolence to unarmed prisoners.” Undoubtedly

Shurtleff was remembering his own humiliation when he was marched through Petersburg, sometimes called the Cockade City, with other Union prisoners of war in 1861. Then citizens of the town urged the rebel soldiers to shoot down Shurtleff and his fellow Union captives. He was happy to be in a position to pay these southerners a return visit.67

The next few weeks saw neither the attack predicted by Oren, nor the siege hoped for by

Shurtleff. Instead, they endured seemingly endless picket duty. Reveille was moved up to 3:00 a.m., and the men were back on duty facing near constant harassment from Confederate scouts and raiders. Shurtleff complained that from this sniping his troops were occasionally wounded, and one was killed. Still, his men made the “most excellent soldiers. I never saw better pickets.”

Shurtleff was proud of his men. He believed that though they discharged their picket duty well, he reminded Mary Burton how dangerous the assignment was, especially if a soldier approached it carelessly. In one instance, a picket from an artillery company was standing resting his hand upon the barrel of his musket. Somehow the weapon discharged, sending a bullet through his hand and head, killing him instantly. The dead man slumped down upon his rifle so that “the barrel of the gun [ran] through his hands and completely through his head.”68

What Shurtleff did not tell his fiancée about was the ever-present cannon fire of which the 5th was either part, or within earshot. The batteries caused Captain Oren to leap out of bed, for “[i]t seemed as though the very demons of hell were let loose.” Oren went on to explain to his wife that they, and all of Butler’s army, had been forced into a defensive position. It was a

67 Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 310. Oren, Dearest Sattie, 74. GWS to MB, 12 May, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. President James Madison coined the phrase Cockade City to describe Petersburg as he congratulated Petersburg volunteers after the War of 1812.

68 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 23 May, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

180 strong position, and he did not fear being overrun, but there was fighting nearly every day.

Scroggs was less generous to Butler. He maintained that Butler had missed his opportunity to capture Petersburg. Scroggs believed that their brigade and one other could easily have defeated the Cockade City, even if it was defended by the experienced Confederate general, Pierre

Gustave Toutant Beauregard. Instead, they were being pushed back by Beauregard’s forces and clearly digging into a defensive position. They could not in this way aid Grant and Meade in their pursuit of Lee. He was right. Butler was not able to move swiftly toward either Richmond or Petersburg, and his Army of the James was effectively halted by Confederate forces. A change in strategy was needed, and it would occur in tandem with the Army of the Potomac.

They ultimately made the siege of Petersburg a reality.69

Shurtleff’s position with the stalled Army of the James was as part of Samuel A.

Duncan’s second brigade. The Oberlinite liked and respected Duncan, and appreciated being grouped with the 4th, 6th, and 22nd USCT. The brigade was part of the XVIII Corps commanded by General William F. “Baldy” Smith, an old friend of Grant’s and a rival of his current boss,

Benjamin Butler. During this period of stagnation, Grant and Meade fought with Lee at a series of brutal and bloody battles, including the horrific clash at Cold Harbor. As the magnitude of the blood shed at Cold Harbor was sinking in, Grant ordered Butler to move on Petersburg. He was hopeful that Butler’s Army of the James could punch through any defenses and capture the strategic city. Butler ordered “Baldy” Smith and XVIII Corps to lead the effort.

On June 15th, Shurtleff and the 5th were marching toward the outer defenses of

Petersburg, and their first major battle. Though Duncan’s brigade, and most of Smith’s force, did not get involved until quite late in the day, they achieved some initial success. They were

69 Oren, Dearest Sattie, 80; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 319-320.

181 able to overrun Petersburg’s outer defensive line and threaten its inner defenses. Captain Oren described it as a “fiery ordeal,” in which the 5th was heavily involved. “We stormed and captured three lines of breast works, 6 redoubts and 12 guns.” Lieutenant Scroggs was stationed in the rear of the regiment, and did not experience the battle. Shurtleff’s description of the colored regiment’s first action was more revealing. Unfortunately some of his narrative, which is found in a letter to Mary Burton, is lost. But in what remains, Shurtleff described taking command of his men while his colonel cowered with fear. The 5th was not in a forward position in its brigade, but was ordered up to support the front line brigades. Shurtleff said that as they were moving forward they were met by “a terrible shower of bullets,” so they commenced to forming their line of battle. Not everyone in the regiment was orderly at this point, and according to the Lieutenant Colonel, “a few ran to the rear,” but the great majority of the men began to rush forward in a confused charge. Shurtleff knew that the moment called for leadership, but Colonel Conine was “in the rear hugging the ground and trying to dodge the bullets and shouting unintelligible orders which the regiment did not hear, much less pay heed to.”70

Most of the regiment continued to hurry forward in great confusion. Shurtleff dashed to the front of the line shouting orders to halt and reform their line. He remembered that the men were far too excited to hear and obey his orders, so he drew his sword and struck several of the men hard, found the flag bearer and ordered him in to position. It was then that Shurtleff was able to regain order and the 5th was able to assist the brigade in their part of the battle. All of this was over in about fifteen minutes and regimental losses totaled about thirty. Shurtleff wanted

Mary Burton to know that his words were not “egotism when I say that my action alone saved

70 Oren, Dearest Sattie, 89; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, letter fragment probably 21 June, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

182 the regiment from disgrace.” Rather he wanted to make clear the chaotic nature of battle, and more importantly the flawed character of his Colonel. “How can a man think of personal safety at such a moment, when upon his action depends the honor of the regiment – the lives of hundreds and perhaps the issues of a battle.” Shurtleff concluded that Conine would probably not receive any rebuke for his poor performance. Neither did Shurtleff feel he would receive credit for his assuming command.71

Shurtleff and the 5th were able to capture several guns and portions of the Confederate defenses of Petersburg. The overall Union objectives, however, were not obtained. General

Smith did not follow up on his initial successes, and did not order his army into Petersburg on

June 15th. This was a mistake confirmed by none other than his opponent, General Beauregard, who said, “Petersburg at that hour was clearly at the mercy of the Federal commander, who had all but captured it.” General Butler, however, was very pleased with the actions of his black soldiers. He reported to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, that “Negro troops fought magnificently.” The day after the battle, generals Butler and Grant toured the battlefield and inspected the captured Confederate works. Butler noted that the defenses were formidable, and that Smith’s black troops did the heaviest fighting. He went on to tell the Secretary of War that

After the affair was over General Smith went to thank [the black troops] and tell them he was proud of their courage and dash. He says they cannot be exceeded as soldiers, and that hereafter he will send them in a difficult place as readily as the best white troops. They captured six of the sixteen cannons they captured.72

71 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, letter fragment, probably 21 June, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

72 Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 43. Beauregard’s comments are quite well known, and recounted in many of the accounts of the Petersburg campaign. Some of them include: Richard J. Sommers, Richmond Redeemed: The Siege at Petersburg, (New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1981); Noah Andre Trudeau, The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia June 1864 – April 1865, (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991); Earl J. Hess, In the Trenches at Petersburg, Field Fortifications and Confederate Defeat, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009); and Ed Bearss and Bryce Suderow, The Petersburg Campaign, 2 Volumes, (Digital, Savas Beatie, 2014); The War of the Rebellion, A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol XL, “Reports,” (Washington, GPO, 1895), 21. Hereafter OR.

183

After the battle Shurtleff grieved the loss of one of his fellow officers. Captain Orlando

Brockway, a fellow Oberlinite was shot, and taken to the Chesapeake Hospital at Hampton.

Shurtleff found himself at the same hospital not long after the battle suffering from severe dysentery. “Poor Captain Brockway died here before I arrived. He was a good friend of mine, a fine officer and a worthy Christian.” Brockway was an Oberlin Theological Seminary graduate, and his wife was with the 5th where she had found work teaching contrabands. Shurtleff noted that they “loved each other with striking devotion,” and that she had accompanied her husband’s remains back home.73

A week after leading his men in front of Petersburg, Shurtleff sent a note to Mary Burton saying that he was “quite ill, though not at all dangerously.” He encouraged her to write him at the female seminary turned hospital that had been established near their camp some weeks before. His self-diagnosis gave Mary Burton a few more details, as he described something like a very severe flu, diarrhea, fever, “and, I think, some ague.” The symptoms were severe enough that the doctors at the Chesapeake Hospital prescribed opiates for the pain. Use of the drugs brought on a series of hallucinations that Shurtleff said he understood were delusions, but that he had some power to control them. He said he was able to eliminate the more disagreeable characteristics of these phantasms.

Through them all, there was a profound sense of perfect quiet, of repose. Sometimes I would be moving through space resting on and surrounded by huge masses of beautiful flowers, or something much like them, they seemed like clouds transformed into huge flower beds. When I would partially wake to reality I would think of you and wonder why in these visions of bliss I was not accompanied by you and as the dream would gradually steal over me, I would try to reach you in vision, but in this I always failed.

73 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 24 June, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. See also, Washington, Eagles on the Buttons, 44. It is interesting that Washington refers to Brockway as a native of Illinois. The Oberlin College Catalogue lists him as a New Yorker.

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Although unable to conjure up visions of his beloved, he told her that throughout his hallucinations he felt the presence of God. Shurtleff was heartened in the manifestation of divine love. He once again felt a closeness to the Almighty that he had lost for so long. This was a far cry from the crisis of spiritual confidence he experienced just a few weeks before.74

Shurtleff’s convalescence at Chesapeake Hospital took more than two weeks. He did not rejoin his regiment in the field until July 5th. During this recuperative respite from the front,

Shurtleff did more than renew his faith. He contemplated his marriage to Mary Burton, which had been delayed by the war. Shurtleff and Burton’s original plans were to marry in the early summer of 1864. Shurtleff shared with his fiancée that only his duty to God and country could have taken him away from the anticipated sweetness of marital bliss. He wrote to her that, “[n]ot a day passes but my heart is filled with unutterable longings to run from the army and take my darling to my home and heart.” Shurtleff also worried to Burton that army life was making him old before his time. He feared that his youthful spirit would be spent before they could be wed.

He did not want to rob her of that.75

Shurtleff found much of his time at the Chesapeake Hospital pleasant. Although it often wore him out, he enjoyed long walks in the fields nearby. If he did not venture outside, he could enjoy the view from his third story window. It overlooked Hampton and its fine harbor.

Shurtleff judged the hospital building was somewhat larger than the seminary building Mary

Burton taught in, and noted that it was reserved for officers only. He was pleased to have visitors from Oberlin, local merchant C. D. Reamer and the Reverend J. L. Patton visited several times and accompanied him on his walks outside the hospital grounds. He also found time to

74 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 23 June, 1864, and 24 June, 1864, and 26 June, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA

75 GWS to MB, 30 June, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA.

185 correspond with several friends, including the persistent Edward Merrell who continued to encourage Shurtleff to relocate to Wisconsin to teach at Ripon College. Shurtleff expressed his concern to Mary Burton that his constitution might not be up to the rigors of the hot Virginia summer. He determined to return to the regiment and see. He shared with her the renewal of his faith. He also repeatedly wrote of her beauty, and the tenderness of their intimate times together.

He playfully signed one of his letters, “A hearty kiss from….”76

Much of Shurtleff’s trip back to the front was on foot. This was a mistake. By the time he got back to camp, he found himself ill again. He did not return to the hospital however, but was cared for by friend and fellow Oberlinite, Quartermaster James Marsh. While recuperating from severe illness, Shurtleff caught wind that his commanding officer had applied for sick leave. Shurtleff explained to Mary Burton that Conine was scrutinized by the medical board of examination whose surgeon found his illness to be “trifling, not entitling him to be absent from his command.” Shurtleff took time to send Mary Burton a clipping from The Boston Dailey

Advertiser, which included the headline, “Gallantry of the Colored Troops.” No doubt he was proud of the description of his brigade’s successes in taking six redoubts and seven pieces of artillery. Even more, Shurtleff was pleased with the public plaudits their brigade had received from their commanding general, William Smith who was quoted as saying, “no nobler effort has been put forth today and no greater success achieved than that of the colored troops.”77

As the hot summer of 1864 wore on, Shurtleff and his men were involved in building and manning the trenches that had become the battle lines for both the armies of the United States and the Confederate states. In virtually no time at all, miles of trenches were constructed by both

76 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 4 and 3 July, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA.

77 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 8 July, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA; Undated clipping of The Boston Dailey Advertiser, “The Army of the Potomac, Detailed Account of Recent Events,” Shurtleff Papers OCA.

186 sides. At this time, the 5th USCT was part of the XVIII Corps, and they dug trenches by first setting up a row of perpendicular logs about four feet high. Soldiers could then work behind their wooden log walls to dig the trenches, and throw the excavated dirt upon the logs to create a kind of parapet. In addition to the main trenches, the men constructed secondary trenches further away from the enemy, and picket trenches closer to the enemy. Soldiers were rotated from one position to the other, although soldiers in the rear trenches were considered to be resting, they were still in range of enemy fire. As the months wore one, the number of reserve trenches increased. At some points along the line they were seven deep. Shurtleff took one of his walled tents and secured it to some log breastworks so that he had a slightly safer and shady location.

Seeking refuge from enemy fire, however, could not stop the shelling and the shooting. In mid-

July, Shurtleff was visited by John M. Ellis, Professor of Greek at Oberlin College. Ellis had been studying at the Theological Seminary as Shurtleff was graduating from the College and becoming a tutor there. They had been colleagues, Ellis teaching Greek and Shurtleff tutoring in

Latin. Shurtleff believed him to be one of the strongest members of the faculty, and when Ellis arrived for an extended visit, Shurtleff was more than pleased. After much conversation and catching up, Shurtleff and Marsh took Ellis to the front so that he could view the trenches. As

Ellis was getting a chance to see Shurtleff’s men at work in the trenches Confederate shelling of a nearby artillery battery commenced. Shurtleff remembered that, “[a] large mortar shell burst close by us one piece striking near the professor which he picked up [to] preserve. Minnie balls too whistled around our ears too close to seem comfortable. The Prof values this part of his

187 experience very much.” Shurtleff did not value the Virginia heat, however, which he claimed got as high as 110 degrees.78

Shurtleff was often in command of the regiment that summer, even though he complained of his faltering health, but with Conine trying to obtain sick leave, the Lieutenant Colonel was stuck. Officers besides Shurtleff began to question Colonel Conine’s dedication to the 5th.

Captain Charles Oren complained to his wife, confidentially, that he thought his Colonel was a coward. Conine had been absent from the regiment for nearly a month, and was applying to the surgeons for a sick leave. Oren told his wife that, “[o]ne of the Surgeons told me nothing was the matter with him, but he was playing off.” Complaints about health were almost as regular as were grumbles about food. The men lost weight. Lieutenant Scroggs explained to his wife that he was thin as a rail, though he wryly reckoned that this was a plus. Were he a bit more “fleshy” he might be an easier target for the sharpshooters. Rifle fire and mortar shelling became a constant in the lives of Shurtleff and his troops. Men learned that they needed to stay low in the picket and front line trenches if they were to survive. Shurtleff described trench life as “ugly, noisy, [and] filthy.” The monotony of the shelling and the heat was “terribly dull and not a little wearing.” Shurtleff did boast to Mary Burton in mid-July that none of his officers had been felled by snipers.79

Their good luck ended on July 28th when Captain Charles Oren was mortally wounded by a sharpshooter. Leading a work detail at a mortar battery he stepped into the clearing for just a moment and was shot. The bullet hit him in the thigh and cut through his bowels. He died later

78 A good description of the entrenching that occurred in the Union lines during June and July of 1864 can be found in Hess, In the Trenches at Petersburg, 50 – 77; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 335; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 21 July, 1864, and 13 July, 1864, and 10 July, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA.

79 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 13 July, 1864, and 21 July, 1864, and 23 July, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA; Oren, Dearest Sattie, 99; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 332-333.

188 in the day. J. J. Scroggs wrote that all his brother officers grieved the loss of “[a]n efficient officer, a genial companion, a faithful friend and an honorable man. None dare cast an imputation against his character.” Two-and-a-half weeks later Shurtleff wrote to Oren’s widow to add his condolences to the many she had undoubtedly received. “You know his worth infinitely better than anyone else, but it may be a pleasure to you to know that his excellence was fully appreciated by his fellow officers. God bless you, my dear madam, and your dear children deprived of so noble and loving father.” Shurtleff received a return note from the widow, Sattie

Oren thanking him for his letter, and asking if Charles had any last words, or perhaps her name was on his lips.80

The most well known incident during the Siege of Petersburg was the Battle of the

Crater. The commander of the 48th Pennsylvania, mining engineer Lieutenant Colonel Henry

Pleasants, believed that he and his men could tunnel underneath the Confederate lines and place enough explosives to blow a large hole in their lines. He took his idea to General Ambrose

Burnside who in turn took it to generals Meade and Grant. The project was approved, even though earlier tunnels had been unsuccessfully attempted. Those digs had been too close to the surface, and the enemy above heard them coming, or were met by countermining. This time, however, the coal mining veterans from the Keystone State tunneled so deep that their work could not be countered. They loaded the shaft up with four tons of explosives. The morning of

July 30th was set for the detonation. Troops were ready to charge into the hole created in the

Southern lines. A chance to influence victory seemed at hand, but unfortunately the only thing

80 Lorain County News, “From the Fifth USCT,” reprinted in Oren, Dearest Sattie, 105; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 340; Giles W. Shurtleff to Sattie Oren, 17 August, 1864, from Oren, Dearest Sattie, 108; Sattie Oren to Giles W. Shurtleff, 4 September, 1864, from Oren, Dearest Sattie, 110-11.

189 that worked in the Union plan was the explosion. It was tremendous, creating a huge crater in the ground and instantly killing hundreds of Confederate soldiers.

Union soldiers did not follow up quickly enough. Instead of exploiting the breach in the

Confederate lines, they dashed into the crater and were effectively trapped. When the

Confederate defenders were able to regroup, they found their enemy at the bottom of a crater, and the Union soldiers were easy targets. Hundreds died and over a thousand were taken prisoner. The fact that some of the forces in the crater were USCT only fired the fervor of

Southern riflemen. It was a slaughter. Grant called the mine a “stupendous failure,” caused by the inefficiency and incompetency of the officers involved.81

The day before the scheduled blast, Shurtleff and the 5th USCT were ordered into a support position, from which they were sure to have a spectacular view of the explosion.

Shurtleff and his men were hopeful that this move from the trenches would give them some rest from the duty. They were dreaming of clean clothes, cold water, and a few days of rest. Their hopes were dashed at about midnight when they took their position. They were informed of what was to happen before them, and sleeplessly waited for the explosion scheduled for 3:30 a.m. In describing these hours Lieutenant Scroggs recalled the tremendous anxiety they all felt just before a fight. Scroggs recorded in his diary that “[t]he moment of awful stillness preceding a battle, when brigades and divisions have silently filed into the places assigned them and then with bated breath await their orders to commence their sanguinary work, then it is that thought of

81 Ulysses Simpson Grant, Personal memoirs of U.S. Grant, (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1995), 360. Several good sources can be found to describe this famous moment in the Petersburg Campaign. In addition to references in the Petersburg texts referenced above, see, Earl J. Hess, Into the Crater: The Mine Attack at Petersburg, (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2010); Michael A. Cavanaugh and Will Marvell, The Battle of the Crater: “The Horrid Pit,” June 25-August 6, 1864, (Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1989); John Cannan, The Crater: Burnside’s Assault on the Confederate Trenches, July 30, 1864, (Pen and Sword, on-line distribution, 2000); Alan Axelrod’s The Horrid Pit: the battle of the Crater, the Civil War’s Cruelest Mission, (New York: Carrol & Graf Publishers, 2007); and John F. Schmutz, the Battle of the Crater: A Complete History, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2009).

190 home and dear ones that blanch the cheek and almost unnerve the bravest of the brave.” Scroggs explained that their anxiety only heightened when the explosion did not occur at the appointed hour. When the blast came, however, all hell broke loose. He likened it to the roar of an earthquake, as if a “mighty giant broke through the imprisoning walls lifting the rebel fort, guns and garrison high in the air.” The several tons of explosive that ripped open the ground was followed by a “more terrible roar…from the iron throats of our hundred pieces of artillery.” For the next hour the 5th listened as hundreds of projectiles flew overhead creating a sound as deafening as if “forty thousand juvenile hogs had attempted a passage through a fence and stuck.” Stunned, they watched as the doomed Union regiments started into the crater.82

Shurtleff remembered that he had just begun to doze, but had awakened in time to see the explosion. Earth and debris were lifted 200 feet into the air, where it seemed to pause before tumbling back to earth. He was aware of the instant death to the hundreds of Confederate soldiers who had been stationed at that point. He also had to send word back to the Union artillery positions that their shells were hitting his men. He lost fourteen killed and wounded from this friendly fire. The Union artillery officers apologized, explaining that they had been using defective fuses. They promised the commander of the 5th USCT that the correct fuses would be used and no further harm would befall them.83

The power of the mine and the artillery follow-up buoyed the spirits of some in the 5th.

They thought they saw Union soldiers capturing Confederate prisoners, but all of their initial hopes were dashed by what came next; Shurtleff and his men witnessed Union soldiers marching into the crater and “lost all organization.” He then watched as USCT fighters charged in with

82 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 1 August, 1846, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 341, 345.

83 Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 33-35, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

191 great spirit but were met by both retreating white soldiers and Confederate guns. Shurtleff remembered that those soldiers who tried to make it back to Union lines, especially those who were injured, became easy targets for Southern sharpshooters. The nearly 100-degree heat added to everyone’s discomfort. Scroggs hoped that some officer would pay for this disaster. Shurtleff feared that it would be the black troops who would be blamed, although he believed they had advanced further than any white troops would have even if they were an untested black regiment.

His gloom increased when he was informed that the 5th would be returned immediately to the trenches.84

Duty in the trenches for the next two months was brutal and monotonous. Lieutenant

Elliott Grabill jokingly called their trench duty a “rest [but] a rest of skirmishing, deadly and constant.” He then added that their respite came under the scorching Virginia sun, accompanied by not enough water. Lieutenant Scroggs wrote home to his wife Maggie that the 5th endured stretches of nine days without regular sleep, seven days of constant frontline trench duty, and regular exposure to shelling from the enemy. At times, he told her, they were but a stone’s throw from the enemy trenches. On August 17th, Rebel artillery began “a terrific cannonading” at one o’clock in the morning. Shurtleff and his men hunkered down and waited for an enemy charge that never materialized. There was no sleep that night. As the Lieutenant Colonel’s quarters were only about ten yards away from a Union mortar that was either firing, or under fire from the enemy, sleep was often difficult for Shurtleff. To add to the discomfort of the heat, the shelling, the lack of food and sleep, the 5th experienced a flood. On August 15th, the 5th was not on front

84 Shurtleff, Some Army Reminiscences, 35-38, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 342. Some officers were held accountable. Congressional hearings focused on the role of Generals James Ledlie and Ambrose Burnside. Ledlie was effectively dismissed from the Army and Burnside reassigned to operations in West. Even Shurtleff’s old boss General Orlando Wilcox received censure. Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 1 August, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA.

192 line duty, but encamped near a small creek. A torrential rainstorm caused the creek to overflow its banks and begin to sweep away not only their equipment but also some of the men. Supplies, including those of the camp sutlers, were strewn about the area when the flood waters receded, and the men of the 5th sifted through the waterlogged goods to see what they might find.

Shurtleff told his fiancée that he found himself carried away by the flood waters, and had to straggle back to camp where he found things in utter confusion. He ordered the regiment to higher ground to build a new camp. In the weeks to come he added ‘mud’ to the list of hardships faced by his men.85

With Col. Conine’s absence, Shurtleff found himself once again in charge of the regiment. At the end of August, during one trench deployment, he gained command of a second regiment. With men stationed two yards apart, he reckoned that his lines were fairly weak and was concerned about a Confederate attack. Those fears heightened when the enemy began heavy firing. For thirty-six hours his men stayed awake and held their post. During that time Shurtleff felt he had become a virtual “walking machine” as he paced up and down the trench inspiring and admonishing his men and officers to remain vigilant. He was pleased afterwards to have a respite on the banks of the James River where he could enjoy the cool breeze and take a moment to write to his fiancée.86

In the months that followed the Battle of the Crater, Shurtleff’s leadership of the 5th was cemented. Shurtleff had been the de facto leader of the regiment while it was going through basic training at Camp Delaware in Ohio. Captain McCoy may have had the Governor’s seal of approval, but Lieutenant Colonel Shurtleff held the reins much of the time. Shurtleff was in

85 E.F. Grabill, quoted in Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 45-46; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 18 August, 1864, and 22 August, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 352, 354-355, 258.

86 GWS to MB, 29 August, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA.

193 command as the regiment headed east until Colonel Conine could assume control. Even then

Shurtleff often found himself in command, as Conine was frequently away, and had most recently been angling for a medical discharge. In addition to front line duties such as reorganizing the 5th during its action in front of Petersburg at the beginning of June and trench duty such as the two days in August when he was commanding two regiments, the Oberlinite had to handle much of the day-to-day work of command.

Shurtleff’s responsibilities included working with the 5th’s officer corps, and dealing with the commander of the Army of the James, General Benjamin Butler. The Oberlinite had a complex relationship with his commander. In his dealings directly with Butler he found him affable and open. His and Professor Peck’s visit was one example of this, and he took advantage of what he called Butler’s “open door” policy. Shurtleff relayed that Butler was more accommodating to a “lowly Lt. Col.” than he had to be. At the same time, Shurtleff viewed many of Butler’s decisions with scorn. He was especially concerned when his regiment was moved from Duncan’s brigade and assigned to Alonzo Draper’s brigade. The 5th was now part of a brigade that included the 36th and the 38th USCT, which he judged to be made up primarily of undisciplined contrabands. Shurtleff feared that the 5th’s exposure to what he considered to be lesser troops would hinder their development. He felt that his hopes of the 5th becoming one of the finest regiments, white or black, in the army had been dashed. “I am vexed and disgusted….

Truly the ways of the great Benjamin are inscrutable,” he explained to Mary Burton. He went on to share with her the general contempt and unpopularity of Butler in which the officers of the 5th held their commander. Some of his fears seemed to be played out when three soldiers from the

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5th deserted. None of the three were Ohio men, all were contrabands, one of whom said that the officers of the 5th were no better than his former master.87

Shurtleff’s junior officers were a mixed bag. The Oberlinite was generally pleased with those officers from his alma mater, but others often did not measure up. Shurtleff was constantly admonishing any officer who did not live up to his high standards. Colonel Conine was, in

Shurtleff’s view, no help. The Colonel did not have the backbone to discipline officers that were profiting from their own companies or mistreating the men in them. Unlike Shurtleff, Conine did not have the zeal to prove the worth of black troops. In September, Conine got the medical discharge he had requested. Shurtleff finally assumed command of the regiment and was able to purge many of the lesser men in his command. He told his fiancée that, “I have made personal applications to Genl Butler and Genl Ord. I have succeeded in removing four of the most worthless two by dismissal and two by persuading them to resign. I hope to get one more out and several good ones appointed.” He likewise lobbied General Butler to fill these new openings with Oberlin men. He was successful. He bragged to Mary Burton, “The strong combination of unprincipled, unscrupulous officers of which I wrote you last winter is thoroughly broken up.

They are all gone but one and he is despised by all.” On September 28th, Giles Waldo Shurtleff was rewarded with full command of the 5th United States Colored Troops.88

* * *

87 Giles Shurtleff address to the Loyal Legion, Cleveland, OH, 7 February, 1895, Shurtleff Papers OCA; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 10 August, 1864, and 5 August, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA; T. M. Chester, Dispatch: Deep Bottom, Sept. 1, 1864, found in Thomas Morris Chester, Black Civil War Correspondent: His Dispatches from the Virginia Front, Ed, R. J. M. Blackett, (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989), 114-120. Records of the 5th USCT indicate that recruiting continued throughout the war, and many of the newer recruits were from Virginia and likely former slaves. These soldiers presented a challenging contrast from the free Ohioans that predominately peopled the regiment at its beginning. See Regimental Book and Company Books, 5th USCT, NARA.

88 Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 47-49; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 6 September, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA.

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There is no denying Shurtleff’s commitment to the excellence of the 5th USCT. He set very high goals for his regiment and did everything in his power to help his men meet them.

However, in the summer of 1864 the Oberlinite’s thoughts were not completely focused on the effectiveness of the 5th. Some of the same questions that he was pondering before the war, and even during his captivity, never left him. How would he serve God? What career would he choose? With whom would he share his life? Several of these big issues came into finer focus during this important summer.

His career choices were becoming clearer. He had settled on teaching and not preaching as his vocation and there were immediate collegiate two options, Oberlin and Ripon. The persistence of Shurtleff’s friend and former classmate Edward Huntington Merrell was unrelenting. Merrell graduated from Oberlin College with Shurtleff in 1859 and the two continued graduate work there. Each was offered a tutoring post at the school’s Preparatory

Department. When the war broke out, Shurtleff enlisted, and the younger Merrell stayed in

Ohio. Like Shurtleff, Merrell obtained his graduate degree in 1862, and he then continued in the

Seminary through 1863. While Shurtleff was fighting with both the 7th OVI and the 5th USCT, with a year as a POW in-between, Merrell made his way to Wisconsin. In the town where the

Republican Party was born, a struggling college, called Brockway College, was fighting to remain viable. Like Oberlin, many of Ripon’s young men had gone to fight in the war. The departure of the Ripon Rifles put the institution at some risk. In 1862 school leaders determined that they would continue, but with a new name: Ripon College. Merrell was named the

Preparatory Department’s principal. As the fairly new principal of a rebuilding Preparatory

Department, Merrell understood the value of Shurtleff’s experience and the quality of the man.

Over the course of a year he repeatedly encouraged the Lieutenant Colonel to move west to

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Wisconsin where he could define the job he wanted. Merrell was also certain that Shurtleff could get a job in the college, and not be limited to the Prep students.89

A good example of Shurtleff’s pondering about Ripon can be seen in a July 1864 letter to

Mary Burton. Shurtleff explained to his fiancée that Merrell was urging him to accept a professorship in the college. He continued, “[h]ere is a very strong temptation. I could certainly accept and resign my position in the army.” Shurtleff declined, however, explaining that leaving his post during a campaign would appear to be his shirking his duty, something he was not willing to do. Interestingly, this was a letter dated July 4th, and while Shurtleff spent considerable time on his professional prospects, he did not mention the national holiday.90

While Merrell persistently contacted Shurtleff about a job, the Oberlinite was hoping for an offer from his alma mater. In mid-August the possibility of a job at Oberlin College seemed very real, and Shurtleff spent time while in the trenches before Petersburg weighing his teaching options. He very much wanted to be back home in Oberlin surrounded by his “dear good friends,” whose dedicated Christianity he knew. He believed he might be able to get a slightly higher wage than when he left, perhaps $600 per year. Certainly the string of visitors he received from Oberlin must have been an encouraging sign of his popularity back home, however, Merrell’s offer gave him much more freedom. It was likely that he would not have had to teach during his first year there, and Shurtleff told Mary Burton that his “labor would be

89 Piecing together Merrell’s career takes some doing. The following sources were used for this brief biographical sketch: Letters from Giles W. Shurtleff to Mary Burton, OCA., William Greeley Burroughs, “Oberlin’s Part in the Slavery Conflict,” Ohio Archeological and Historical Publications, Vol XX., (Columbus, OH: Fred J. Heer, 1911), 333; William F. Allen and David E. Spencer, “Ripon College,” in Higher Education in Wisconsin, (Washington, DC: GPO, 1889) 55-56; Historical Timeline, Ripon College, http://www.ripon.edu/library/archives/historical-timelines/, accessed August 21, 2016; General Catalogue of Oberlin College 1833 - 1908, (Oberlin, OH, 1909), Int. 163.

90 GWS to MB, 4 July, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

197 lighter at Ripon. Merrell has promised me that I should have my own way in all the particulars if

I would only accept.”91

In September 1864, Merrell again wrote Shurtleff, telling him that he would have twice the impact at Ripon than he ever could in the army or at Oberlin. He penned his plea on a copy of the “Ripon College Annual circular 1864-65” as an extra inducement for his old friend.

Shurtleff also heard from Mary Burton. She was not enthused about moving to Wisconsin, but if that was Shurtleff’s path, she assured him that she would follow. Mary Burton need not have worried, however, for in September the Trustees of Oberlin College sent word that they had voted to name Shurtleff a Tutor, and determined to keep the position open until he returned from the front. He accepted and told his fiancée that he hoped the war would end soon so that he could get back to work. Mary Burton joyfully concurred.92

Mary Burton was deeply in love with Giles Shurtleff. She had been telling him so for a year. She was reluctant to have him reenlist in the army, and though she was disappointed that their marriage was postponed she understood what her betrothed was doing. She viewed her love for him as her single greatest devotion, and realized that Shurtleff’s aims were necessarily split by the needs of the army, the country, of God, and her. While the 5th was training at Camp

Delaware she wrote, “you are called so much into public life, and have so many things of really

[great] importance to think of. But do your thoughts turn naturally and with pleasure to me in your moments of retirement and freedom from care?” They did.93

91 GWS to MB, 10 August, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

92 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 10 August, 1864, and 2 September, 1864, and 15 September, 1864, Mary Burton to Giles Shurtleff, 11 September, 1864, and 22 September, 1864, Shurtleff Papers OCA.

93 MB to GWS, 13 July, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

198

Shurtleff’s thoughts regularly turned to his Ohio flame, and he depended upon her and her letters. He shared with her the crisis of faith that he suffered in the spring. Considering that

Shurtleff’s faith was in many ways his very grounding, the fact that he shared it with Mary

Burton indicates a depth of intellectual and spiritual intimacy that characterized their relationship for decades. He also shared with her the mundane day to day descriptions of his life and quarters. This allowed Shurtleff to give voice to his fantasies of the domestic life the two of them would share in the future. In his mind’s eye the house they would one day build would not be a castle, but a modest, Godly home that the two could share. He also expressed his own passionate love for his fiancée. In the spring while encamped at Yorktown he wrote a lengthy letter in which he reminisced about his visits to her hometown of Austinburg, Ohio. He

“wonder[ed] how Austinburg is looking this spring…. I can scarcely feel that I have really ever been there, walked its streets, held pleasant social converse with its people and learned to ‘love with a love that is more than love’ my own darling Mary.” Army life so intruded into his world that all of his past seemed to fade away “except the happy hours I have passed with you and the strong absorbing love you awoke in my heart, Darling. I thank you….” Later in the spring he jokingly suggested that he would come home immediately to marry her, more earnestly he added that should he get any leave “I’ll go north almost wholly to see you and shall insist upon monopolizing your time.” By the summer of 1864 he was referring to Mary Burton as his

“darling little wife,” even though the two had not been married.94

He was very mindful of her life as well. Mary Burton was a school teacher who was supporting herself while her fiancée fought a distant enemy. During their separation, her father died and her mother moved west to live with family in Iowa, and her younger brother also

94 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 9 June, 1864, and 12 April, 1864, and 15 April, 1864, and 23 July, 1864, and 6 September, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

199 enlisted in the Union army. The stresses in her life were many and Shurtleff tried to be mindful of them. In addition to talking of love and their future home, the two wrote about practical issues, such as money. Mary Burton disclosed that her father’s estate was not insubstantial, and wondered if Shurtleff could live on a $2,500 per year church position of which she was aware.

Shurtleff gave her advice on investing, suggesting that she buy government bonds. He believed that as long as the government remained sound, the investment would hold. If the government failed, however, no investment would be safe, not even land. Shurtleff informed Mary Burton that he was able to save about $100 per month, and that he had about $1,000 in savings. Much of that was in the hands of his brother Ephraim, the rest with the National Bank of Oberlin. 95

Shurtleff was not alone in corresponding with his sweetheart. Captain J. J. Scroggs and

Captain Charles Oren regularly wrote home to their wives. Captain Elliott Grabill, Captain

Orlando Brockway, and Quartermaster James Marsh, like Shurtleff, all corresponded with sweethearts they intended to marry. Certainly the ability to have this epistolary contact helped the officers of the 5th stay grounded in part by stockpiling their dreams of a happy postwar home.

Shurtleff’s love was reciprocated. Mary Burton often closed her letters with affection, such as

“Accept a parting kiss from your own Mary.” She even feared that Shurtleff’s desire for her might wane, though she need not have worried. On September 19, 1864, he shared with her that earlier in his life he had read of the “ecstasy of love,” by some of his favorite German authors.

He felt that such fantastical love was only a fiction created by novelists. Now, however, he understood their meaning, the “strength of love concentrated on its object, filling all the soul, influencing all the life and forming the under current of all one’s thoughts. Oh how I wish I could see you, tell you all the feelings of my heart….” Only his duty to God and the country

95 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 10 August, 1864, and 8 July, 1864, and Mary Burton to Giles Shurtleff, 18 July, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

200 could keep them apart. In the same letter he spoke of a meeting he had with General Butler as they discussed promotions in the 5th. He believed Richmond would fall by Christmas.96

The next communication Mary Burton received from Shurtleff was a Western Union telegram at the end of September: “Wounded but not dangerously. Write me here G.W.

Shurtleff.” ‘Here’ was Chesapeake hospital.97

* * *

General Butler had experienced success in politics, but not on the battlefield. Indeed, the former Democratic Congressman who had once supported Jefferson Davis in the confusing conventions of 1860 had triumphed as a general with political ultimatums, not with arms. In

September he went to his boss General Grant with a plan to surprise the Confederates and take

Richmond. He also wanted to showcase the abilities of his black brigades. He devised a three- pronged attack against Richmond, and Shurtleff’s 5th USCT would be integrally involved.98

Butler’s plans were approved by Grant, who coincidentally had been planning another assault on the city of Petersburg and wanted the Army of the James to make a demonstration against Richmond. Thanks to some excellent luck with their intelligence, the Union commanders had a fairly good understanding of the Confederate defenses around both Richmond and Petersburg. Butler’s army would attack at a weak point. Further, Butler would divide his forces so that the predominantly white XVIII Corps would attack on the Varina Road. The black

96 Carol Lasser, “Rules of Engagement: Civil War Courtship and the ‘Homefront Imaginary,’” Ohio history, Vol. 123, No. 2, (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2016), 26-47; Mary Burton to Giles Shurtleff, 23 August, 1864, and 22 September, 1864, and Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 19 September, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

97 Telegram from GWS to MB 30 September, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

98 Longacre, “Black Troops and the Army of the James, 1863-165.” Longacre, Army of Amateurs, 15-17; Benjamin Butler, Butler’s Book. Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benj. F. Butler, (Boston: A.M. Thayer & Co., 1892), 25-263; Michael Thomas Smith, “Benjamin Butler,” Encyclopedia Virginia, http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Butler_Benjamin_F_1818-1893#contrib. Accessed October 26, 2016.

201 brigades, having been consolidated with some white brigades into the were ordered to attack to the right up New Market Heights. Both corps would capture Confederate outposts and proceed to the capital city. The third part of Butler’s attack was a cavalry unit that would swing far to the right and support both thrusts with another move toward Richmond. Grant’s belief in the success of Butler’s plan is debatable, but he was more than ready to have Butler attack. Any successes that Butler had in the Richmond area would divert enemy supplies away from the thrust he was planning toward Petersburg to the south. Shurtleff and the 5th, now a part of X

Corps, were to be part of the attack on the right.99

September 29, 1964 was a pivotal day for Giles Shurtleff, the 5th USCT, and the reputation of black fighters in the war. By the end of the day, although Butler’s overly ambitious goals were not met, the Army of the James captured several Confederate fortifications and shrank the lines around Richmond. Ground that had been successfully defended early in the

Petersburg campaign was now in Union hands and would never be regained by the Confederacy.

Additionally, fourteen Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded to black soldiers who fought that day – four to fighters from the 5th. The Battle of New Market Heights may have been a minor military affair, but it conclusively proved what Giles Shurtleff hoped to prove; that black soldiers, especially his men, were the equal of any soldiers in the army.100

As the morning of September 29th dawned, the Army of the James began its three thrusts toward Richmond from about six miles to the south and east of the city. The XVIII Corps under

99 James S. Price, The Battle of New Market Heights: Freedom Will Be Theirs by the Sword, (Charleston, The History Press, 2011), 41-49.

100 Within the last twenty years the events of September 29, 1864 have been covered in greater detail. The Battle of New Market Heights as a part of that day have been chronicled in Price, The Battle of New Market Heights, and in even greater detail in “Deep Bottom Breakout,” in Manarin, Henrico County Field of Honor, Vol. II, 567- 667. There is an active debate among historians about the impact of September 29th and black soldiers. While many historians, such as Trudeau feel that this was a key day for black troops, other such as Sommers feel its importance has been overstated.

202 the command of General Edward O. C. Ord were finding success on the Varina Road.

Confederate defenses here were not up to the task of slowing the Union soldiers. General David

B. Birney’s X Corps, including Shurtleff and the 5th, were not so lucky. After crossing the James

River at a place called Deep Bottom, the corps had to cross a swamp and ascend a well defended hill at New Market Heights. Birney had arranged most of his black brigades on his left and they were to break through the Confederate defenses with the white brigades providing support on their right. Shurtleff’s old brigade under Colonel Samuel A. Duncan was first in. Duncan’s third brigade was comprised of the 4th and 6th USCT. The 10th USCT was assigned elsewhere, so he only had the two regiments at his command. Shurtleff’s 5th was joined by the 36th and 38th

USCT as part of Colonel G. Alonzo Draper’s second brigade. Both saw bloody action early in the morning.101

Shurtleff remembered that the morning started at 3:00 a.m. when “we took our hot coffee and hard tack and started to the field as the first streaks of dawn were appearing.” After marching about a mile, sharpshooters were ordered to the front of the advancing corps and they effectively flushed out the enemy’s location. Not long after that Duncan’s brigade charged.

Shurtleff’s old friend found myriad disadvantages in this fight. To begin with, the geography was rough. First they had to cross an open field, then move through fairly thick woods, only to have to cross Four Mile Creek, before they could begin their ascent of New Market Heights. In addition to difficult terrain, the southerners had constructed two lines of abattis, both a line of slashed trees and a row of chevaux-de-frise. Finally, the Union forces were outnumbered. At the top of the hill nearly 3,000 butternut defenders protected New Market Heights, 1,800 of whom lay in front of Duncan’s attacking USCT. The defenders were also very anxious to fight

101 In addition to the above sources for battle information, see Trudeau, Like Men of War, 285-294.

203 and kill black troops. One Texan remembered that sending black soldiers up that hill was “like flaunting a red flag before a mad bull. No man in our old Brigade would have retreated from, or surrender to Niggers. When they charged…the fun began.” About the only thing going for

Duncan was a heavy morning fog that helped to hide his brigade’s movements.102

The 4th and 6th USCT were able to make it all the way to the hill before things started to unravel. Duncan’s men were arranged with the regiments virtually side by side, and they were two ranks deep. They were no match for the southern firepower from the top of the heights and they retreated. Then it was time for Draper’s Brigade to try and take the heights. Rather than attacking side by side, Draper organized his regiments one in front of the other, to more effectively punch their way through the enemy line. The 5th USCT was in the lead. By this time, the fog had lifted. Shurtleff described being under heavy artillery fire before they began their charge. As they crossed the field, the enemy added rifle fire to the action. In addition to the bullets, the defenders derided their attackers, “Come on you smoked Yankees, we want your guns.” When they arrived at the abattis, Shurtleff ordered his men to get down while some of the soldiers cut new holes through the obstructions. Duncan’s brigade had slashed their way through some of the obstructions, Shurtleff and the 5th opened yet more holes.103

Shurtleff used his sword to gesture while ordering his men down. While doing this he felt a sharp pain in his right hand. He looked down to see that a bullet had lodged in his hand. It appeared to him that the charge had been checked, so he glanced around to see if there were new orders. Not far behind him he made contact with a member of the brigade staff who verified that

102 Shurtleff, Army Reminiscences, 36-37, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 367. This kind of defense works is called abattis. Slashings are sharpened logs and tangled plants designed to slow an attacking army chevaux-de-frise are long wheels of sharpened logs that can be more easily moved by defenders to a new location. D. H. Hamilton, quoted in Price, The Battle of New Market Heights, 60.

103 Shurtleff, Reminiscences, 38-39, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

204 there were no new orders. Upon learning this, Shurtleff got to his feet, raised his sword and with all the energy he could muster called out, “Forward double quick!” His men immediately responded. They rose to their feet, went over and through the abattis. Charging up the heights,

Shurtleff could see his men carrying the works. Then a bullet tore through him and he fell unconscious to the ground.104

The commander of the 5th USCT had been shot for the second time, this time in his thigh.

Captain Scroggs recorded that the wounding of Shurtleff and several other officers “tended to discourage the men of the 5th but they pressed forward bravely following their colors.” Shurtleff recalled that when he began to regain consciousness, he did not feel any pain, and was barely aware of any sensation. He wondered if he was alive or dead. He did not speak, but began to try moving his arms and legs to determine the extent of his wounds. Shurtleff remembered as his eyes opened he “saw…the boys of my reg’t chasing the rebels over a hill a quarter of a mile beyond the works they had captured.” Shurtleff then gazed around him to see “[t]he ground all about me covering perhaps two acres, was literally covered with the dead and wounded.”

Shurtleff’s brigade commander, Colonel Alonzo Draper reported Shurtleff’s courage in his report to General Butler. Draper wished to “enumerate” particular acts of bravery during the battle and said, “Lieut. Col. G. W. Shurtleff, Fifth U. S. Colored Troops, though repeatedly wounded, still strove to lead his regiment.”105

Shurtleff lay on the battlefield until he was taken back to the Chesapeake Hospital to recover. While he was making the slow and painful journey from the foot of New Market

Heights, his men fought on. The rest of Draper’s Brigade, and indeed the rest of the X Corps

104 Shurtleff, Reminiscences, 39, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

105 Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 367-368; Shurtleff, Reminiscences, 40-41, Shurtleff Papers, OCA OR, Vol. 42, 820.

205 made it up through the heights and joined the XVIII Corps in attacking toward Richmond. The left thrust of the Union advance, the XVIII Corps, had taken a Confederate outpost called Fort

Harrison, and were pressing on when the X Corps, including the 5th USCT joined in the fight for forts closer to Richmond. The fighting stalled at these forts, and the Union forces were either captured or forced back.

Benjamin Butler’s desire to capture Richmond, like virtually every military operation he headed, was again thwarted. He did, however, throw a considerable scare into Richmond. The citizens of the Confederate capital were more than used to hearing shelling in the distance, but the Richmond Whig reported that the city was “thrown into a state of martial excitement.”

Further, the local papers downplayed the Union capture of Fort Harrison, and played up the capture of black soldiers. Afternoon editions of the same paper suggested that Libby Prison, the facility that housed Shurtleff years before, was accepting them. The Daily Dispatch went further saying that a great number of prisoners, many believed to be black, had been taken. The

Dispatch also said that the home guards had been called up, and that the Governor had declared that “employees liable to service must be ready ‘at a moment’s warning.’” Clearly the capital city was shaken, for even though the Sentinel praised the local citizenry for their calmness during the crisis, the Whig testified that guards had to be posted in town to arrest members of the reserves who failed to report as ordered.106

Although full military victory may have been out of reach, Butler did achieve his goal of showcasing the abilities of his black soldiers. It came at the cost of heavy casualties. The general remembered over 500 of his “dead and wounded colored comrades. And, as I guided my horse this way and that way that his hoof might not profane their dead bodies, I swore to myself

106 Richmond Whig, 30 September, 1864; The Sentinel, 1 October, 1864; Daily Dispatch, Richmond, 30 September, 1864; Richmond Whig, 1 October, 1864.

206 an oath…that they and their race should be cared for and protected by me…as long as I lived.”

The 5th regiment suffered as many casualties as any USCT unit during the Petersburg campaign, and most of them occurred on September 29th. Only one other regiment in the Army of the

James had casualty numbers as great as the 5th, and only a couple of regiments in the Army of the Potomac suffered as much.107

Four men of the 5th USCT won the Congressional Medal of Honor for their deeds that day. Only twenty-five black soldiers and sailors earned the Medal of Honor during the war; that half of these were earned during Butler’s attack signifies the ferocity of the action. For the 5th to claim four of these honors demonstrates the success with which Shurtleff and his officers readied their men for the test of battle. This is all made more impressive when remembering that over

2,000 medals were issued to white soldiers during the war. The four from the 5th came from very different backgrounds. Milton M. Holland was a freed slave from Texas. As a teenager he was sent to Ohio for education where he learned the shoemaking trade. He was only sixteen and anxious to fight when the war broke out, and pleased to enlist when given the chance. He was very fair of complexion, and had achieved the rank of Sergeant Major by September 29th. Much less is known about James H. Bronson, a Pennsylvanian who listed his occupation as a barber when he enrolled with the 5th at age twenty-five. The regimental descriptive book lists Bronson as mulatto. Powhatan Beaty was twenty-four when he enlisted in his hometown of Cincinnati.

Born a slave in Virginia, Beaty was very near his birthplace during the Petersburg campaign.

Robert Pinn was twenty-one and at six feet, quite tall. He also listed his occupation as a farmer when he enlisted in Massillon, Ohio. Pinn was also eager to serve when the war broke out, and

107 Butler, Butler’s Book, 733; Sommers, Richmond Redeemed, Appendix B.

207 he did so as a civilian laborer for the 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry where he took part in some battles.108

The four had several things in common. All had achieved the rank of at least 1st

Sergeant. Each enlisted with the 5th at their earliest opportunity. Each of the four was, to some degree, trained under the watchful eye of Giles W. Shurtleff. It should be noted that Shurtleff’s junior officers did most of the direct training of their enlisted men; still, it was the demanding nature of Shurtleff’s training, and his desire to have the 5th become an elite regiment that resulted in the heroism of these four. Each of the four won their medal for the same thing, assuming command when all of their officers were incapacitated. With the exception of the company designation all four citations read, “Took command of his company after all of the officers had been killed or wounded and gallantly led it in battle.” Shurtleff was taken away from the battle field fairly early on September 29th to Chesapeake Hospital where his survival was in doubt. The men he led, however, had the ability, the character, and the desire to carry on without him, and they did so.109

For the rest of Shurtleff’s life, he proudly looked back to this day and the heroism of his men. It should not be forgotten that they were the Medal of Honor winners, and not Shurtleff.

The Oberlinite’s accolades would come in time, but it was Holland, Bronson, Beaty, and Pinn who led the black enlisted men of the 5th for the remainder of the 29th. As a teacher, perhaps

Shurtleff appreciated that his students, his men, achieved glory that day.

* * *

108 Robert P. Broadwater, Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients: A Complete Illustrated Record, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2007), 6; Broadwater points out that 900 of the medals were revoked by a military panel in 1917; 5th USCT Regimental Descriptive Book, NARA; http://www.blackpast.org/aah/pinn-robert- alexander-1843-1911; http://grosvenor-cwrt.org/our-moh-recipients/more-about-master-sergeant-milton-holland/, The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, http://www.cmohs.org accessed August 19, 2016.

109 The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, http://www.cmohs.org, accessed August 19, 2016.

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As the battles of September 29th raged in Virginia, back in Austinburg, Ohio, Mary

Burton worried. She had not heard from her betrothed in over a week. This was unusual, and she began to have doubts. Perhaps his love was “growing cold,” or maybe he had been wounded. Possibly it was even worse. Two days after the battle she was returning to her house when her brother raced to her exclaiming, “Oh Mary, here’s a dispatch for you, and I’m afraid it’s bad news.” He handed her the telegram. When she read the telegram containing Shurtleff’s short message she feared the very worst as she tore the envelop open. After reading the contents she was both relieved and filled with questions. Why was the telegram so brief? Why had

Shurtleff not written? She hypothesized correctly that his right hand might be wounded and so writing might not be possible. Later that day she saw in the papers a dispatch from General

Grant saying that Shurltleff’s division had gone into battle and carried some Confederate entrenchments. This, she hoped gave Shurtleff pleasure as he endured whatever pains he might be suffering. She wrote her beloved that she would give anything to be at his side at this crucial moment so that she could “take your dear hands in mine and try to make you forget your pain!

Wonder if love and painstaking wouldn’t constitute me a good nurse,” even though she had no training. She realized that his injury might be severe, and she assured him that neither scar nor injury would dampen her love, and she prayed God would “prepare us both for what is before us

– make us submissive to his will, always rejoicing in his abounding goodness and love!”110

110 Mary Burton to Giles Shurtleff, 1 October, 1864. Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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Chapter Seven

Recovery and Returning Home

The next several months proved quite consequential to Oberlin’s Giles Shurtleff.

Desperately wounded at the end of September, in less than two months he was back in Ohio marrying his sweetheart. With no time for a honeymoon, Shurtleff left his young bride to rejoin his regiment as the war wound down to a successful end. Shurtleff was faced with making the choice of staying with the army and holding on to a Colonel’s paycheck, or returning home to

Oberlin and beginning a new life with his new wife. Not surprisingly, he chose the latter.

* * *

As the wounded Giles Shurtleff lay in Chesapeake Hospital in Hampton, Virginia, his companions feared his injuries would be fatal. Outside the hospital word of his regiment’s, and indeed of all the black regiments’ success spread across the country. “The negroes did…a good degree of very heavy and very gallant fighting. They carried rifle pit after rifle pit with the greatest possible energy and success,” raved the New York Herald. “Their valor was so desperate and determined that they intermitted the firing of their pieces and went to work relying upon the bayonet alone in their good and strong hands,” the article continued. The Cleveland papers also described the fighting at New Market Heights, and included reports from officers of the 5th who relayed Shurtleff’s fate. Captain E. C. Ford wrote to the Cleveland Morning Leader,

“speaking of our Lieutenant-Colonel, allow me to say a braver officer or a better man can not be found than Lieutenant-Colonel Giles W. Shurtleff.” Captain E. F. Grabill’s description of the valor of both Shurtleff and his men was published in the Lorain County News. Grabill noted that of the 540 men who went into battle on September 29, 1864, only 200 were fit for duty the next day. 340 officers and men where either killed or wounded. Said Grabill,

210

The men did as well as men ever did on the field of battle. Marching over that long slope, subjected to the deadly artillery enfilading and crossfire, right on to where they could see the rebs massing against their small force, and were heroic in the highest sense of the word-it was truly charging ‘in the face of death, into the jaws of hell.’ The Lieut. Colonel was wounded in the charge of the morning. I speak of him because he is known to your readers. A braver man was never born than Giles Waldo Shurtleff. He knew no danger; everywhere he was leading on the men. And then falling with sword in hand, waving forward the noble Fifth, his last command was “Forward!” And the troops swept by and carried the works.

Shurtleff’s impending death was reported in that same paper by none other than General

Benjamin F. Butler almost a month after the battle. Butler errantly said that the Lieutenant

Colonel had “received a third and probably mortal wound close to the enemy works.”1

In Painesville, Ohio, Mary Burton anxiously awaited word from her fiancée. A telegram announcing his wound, and newspaper reports of the battles of September 29, 1864, were all that she had. Assurance that he was alive and well came the first week of October in a note written in a very shaky hand. The injuries Shurtleff suffered to his writing hand did not leave him much ability to correspond. He explained to her that he had an “ugly wound in my right hand and can’t write much…. The wound in my thigh will doubtless prevent traveling some weeks. I shall try to make you a visit as soon as able.” He reassured Mary Burton that she need not worry as he was not in “very serious pain.” Shurtleff sugar-coated the facts for his fiancée. He was badly wounded and several of his comrades thought he might die. As stretcher bearers were carrying the incapacitated Oberlinite to a field hospital, Shurtleff was greeted by his old friend Colonel

John W. Ames who himself had been “partially scalped by a Minnie ball, but who was not wholly disabled.” Ames saw how badly Shurtleff was bleeding and used his handkerchief to

1 William H. Merriam, New York Herald, 10 October, 1864; E.C. Ford, Cleveland Morning Leader, 13 October, 1864; E. F. Grabill, Lorain County News, 19 October, 1864; Benjamin Butler, Cleveland Morning Leader, 27 October, 1864. The same information was printed in the Lorain County News, early in the next month. For the second-time Shurtleff’s presumed death was reported in Oberlin. See Lorain County News, 2 November, 1864.

211 partially stem the flow of blood. He then wryly said, “Now don’t you die till I see you again.”

Several other officers in his ward, which included his friend and former brigade commander,

Colonel Samuel A. Duncan believed that Shurtleff would not recover from the loss of blood and the shattered hip. In an attempt to raise the spirit of the very weakened Oberlinite, Duncan offered to trade his wounded leg for Shurtleff’s shattered hip. Shurtleff was too weak to answer at the time, but noted years later that a trade would have been a poor one for Duncan as his ankle never fully healed and “remained quite stiff.”2

Shurtleff’s recovery was slow but steady and he was bedridden for nearly two weeks.

Doctors informed him that he had lost liver function. He tried to ease any anxiety that his fiancé might have by telling her that he would recover in due time, and thanked her for “tender, loving letters,” which were the best possible medicine for him. He read them “over and over.” He was happy to have his old friend Samuel Duncan in the bed next to his and felt that the good spirits shared between the sixty or so officers on the ward helped immeasurably. When Shurtleff was in severe pain, Duncan would playfully challenge him to a foot race to the bay and back. Before the charge at New Market Heights, Shurtleff, like all soldiers, had wondered what the horror of being shot might be like, and he feared it. Now it had become a reality and he had lived through the nightmare. He felt sure that his fellow officers and the comradery they offered made the experience bearable. Shurtleff’s military career had included a year as prisoner of war, and several earlier stints in the hospital. It was remarkable that he was so consistently able to find the bright side. Perhaps the image of his and Mary Burton’s future together helped him as much as the good humor of his wardmates.3

2 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 1 October, 1864, and 20 October, 1864; Shurtleff, Reminiscences, 42-43, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

3 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 7 October, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

212

Two weeks after the Battle of New Market Heights, Shurtleff was able to get up and walk a little with the aid of crutches. His movements were quite restricted and the wound to his hand was painful and prevented him from manipulating his crutches with dexterity. Still striving for the positive, Shurtleff called his lack of mobility a blessing in disguise, because it assured him that he would not overdo his rehabilitation. He passed much of his time reading and playing chess, and writing as many letters as his painful right hand allowed. Three weeks into his recovery he was beginning to get cabin fever and applied to General Butler for thirty days of leave. He shared with his fiancée that he hoped to travel home and spend as much time with her as possible, but reminded her that he felt obligated to see his friends in Oberlin and his family in

Illinois. He lamented that they were not already married, which prohibited him from taking her to visit his parents and siblings in Sycamore, Illinois, and his faculty friends in Oberlin. He longed to “monopolize” all of her time.4

Shurtleff’s spirits were buoyed by several events at the end of October. First, his good friend and the 5th’s Quartermaster, J. B. T. Marsh visited Chesapeake Hospital to see his fellow

Oberlinite. Marsh was a favorite of Shurtleff’s. He could be depended upon for solid, Christian friendship and he was a good officer as well. After the war Shurtleff remembered fondly

Marsh’s capabilities as a Quartermaster, recalling that, “Much of the efficiency of a Regt.

Depends upon the Q.M. He has to make requisitions for rations and clothing and attend to the whole matter of transportation.” Marsh completed these tasks skillfully and always displayed good sense. He even managed to trap a stray cow during the summer months before the trenches in front of Petersburg. Quartermaster Marsh marched that cow wherever the regiment went for the remainder of the war. The temperate Shurtleff was glad that the officer’s mess was never

4 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 14 October, 1864, and 20 October, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

213 without fresh milk. Marsh had just returned from Ohio where he had taken advantage of his leave to marry his sweetheart. Shurtleff’s pleasure in seeing his old friend may have been tinged with jealousy, but he did not mention it. Instead, Shurtleff relayed to Mary Burton that Marsh’s wedding had rekindled in him worries that she not work too hard. He wrote, “I feel sure that you are teaching too long and too steadily…. You will feel the evil effects of [this] sometime, though it be years hence.” He threatened to marry her just so he could force her to settle down in their new home. Shurtleff was also pleased to be promoted to full colonel. General Benjamin Butler praised the regimental commander of the 5th, “Lieutenant Colonel G.W. Shurtleff, 5th US

Colored Troops gallantly led his regiment…. He has notably earned his promotion as Colonel of his regiment.” Butler had incorrectly suggested that Shurtleff was near death after being wounded three times. Shurtleff confessed to Mary Burton that he had no idea why the general made such a mistake. Butler promoted Shurtleff while he was in the hospital and made the promotion retroactive to September 29th, the day of the charge up New Market Heights.

Shurtleff must have felt somewhat vindicated, after all he had been in command of the 5th so often, dating back to the regiment’s days in Camp Delaware, the formal recognition was warranted.5

At the end of October, Shurtleff wrote to his bride-to-be that he was well enough to walk occasionally without crutches. He had met with the 5th’s Chaplain-elect J. L. Patton, and the two of them were to return to the front. Shurtleff explained that once at the front he would request a leave of absence so that he could return home. Should the leave be granted, he planned to stop first in Austinburg to see Mary Burton. He further relayed to her that Professor Peck strongly

5 Shurtleff, Reminiscences, 43-44, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 20 October, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Cleveland Morning Leader, 27 October, 1864. See Special Orders, Benjamin Butler, In the Field, 21, October, 1864, NARA. Shurtleff may also have wondered why the date of the battle was listed as the 26th of September and not the 29th.

214 recommended to him that they marry as quickly as possible. Peck believed that Mary Burton

“would be well provided for by pension if [she] were a widow, and that [she] would be better every way as a widow then as a bereaved betrothed.” When Shurtleff and Patton returned to the

5th he visited with his men and officers while hobbling on his crutches. Shurtleff then hoped to find General Butler and begin his leave, but was disappointed to learn that the general was away,

“in the saddle.” This delay was only temporary, however, and Shurtleff was soon off to Ohio where he spent most of November with Mary Burton, and the two made time to wed.6

Shurtleff came back to a soggy Oberlin. For two months the weather had been wet in

Lorain County, so Oberlin mud was more like mushy spring-time levels, not as Shurtleff would have expected in the fall. The local paper reported that it was the wettest fall in memory, and quipped that “We intend to send out a dove, and if dry land is discovered you will be duly notified….” Water-logged or not, Shurtleff was happy to be home in time for the November presidential election. There was no secret that the colonel would once again be voting for

Abraham Lincoln.7

While Shurtleff was voting back at home, members of the 5th were also voting in the field. Ohio was one of sixteen northern states to pass absentee voting laws. Lieutenant J. J.

Scroggs was in the field with the 5th on November 8th and recorded the stark choice between the

Republican Abraham Lincoln, and the Democrat George B. McClellan clearly. Lincoln, he believed had “piloted the ship of state through four years of bitter sanguinary internecine war with an ability entitled to the admiration of the world…” while McClellan would receive “the

6 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 26 October, 1864, and 28 October, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 381. Shurtleff’s application for a 30-day leave predates his letter to Mary Burton about two weeks. National Archive records show that Shurtleff applied with the Officers Division of the US General Hospital at Fort Monroe on the 14th of October. The doctor in charge granted the 30 day leave for medical reasons the same day. See Shurtleff’s personnel records, NARA.

7 Lorain County News, 9 November, 1864; Shurtleff, Reminiscences, 48, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

215 votes of all Copperheads and traitors.” The black soldiers of the 5th were pleased and proud to exercise their constitutional right to vote. They “attracted much attention from the McClellan men,” reported black Civil War reporter Thomas Morris Chester. Chester reported that a small clutch of Democratic supporters gathered and would have approached the 5th polling station were it not heavily guarded. He further reported that all of the votes of the 5th USCT went to Lincoln.

Any supporters of “the little general” would be faced with armed resistance that would result in

“fearful consequences should they attempt to vote.”8

Correspondent Chester recorded the votes in the Army of the James. Abraham Lincoln received 6,053, to George B. McClellan’s 3,263. These numbers show a greater level of support for McClellan than otherwise might be expected. Black soldiers, and a majority of their officers supported the reelection of Lincoln. This is not surprising, for the officers and men of the USCT had the Great Emancipator to thank for their regiments. Many black soldiers wrote to newspapers back home urging the reelection of the president. The 5th was the only black regiment voting in the Army of the James, and when the 5th USCT’s votes were counted

President Lincoln received 194, the former commander of the Army of the Potomac, got none.9

In addition to casting his vote for the reelection of the president, Shurtleff was approached by a committee from a newly formed auxiliary of the National Equal Rights League

(NERL) to address their group ten days after the election. Shurtleff’s old colleague John Mercer

Langston was helping to organize this predecessor of the National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at both the local and national level. Another former

8 Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 381,384; Chester, Thomas Morris Chester, Black Civil War Correspondent, 188-189. Jonathan W. White outlines some of the fraud practiced by both Democrats and Republicans as the country not only implemented absentee balloting on a large scale, but held open elections during a major war in “How Lincoln Won the Soldier Vote,” New York Times, 7 November, 2014, Opinionator Blog – Disunion.

9 Chester, Thomas Morris Chester, Black Civil War Correspondent, 189-190; Glatthar, Forged in Battle, 207-208.

216 recruiter for the 5th USCT, O. S. B. Wall was selected President of the Oberlin chapter. There is an irony in Shurtleff’s invitation, as white membership in NERL would lead W. E. B. DuBois to leave the group and co-found the NAACP, however, in November, 1864, Shurtleff was a welcome speaker.10

Safely ensconced in Ohio, Shurtleff proceeded to the most important mission of his trip home, his marriage to Mary Burton. On November 23, 1864, in Austinburg, Ohio, Shurtleff and

Mary Burton stood before Professor James Fairchild and took their vows of holy matrimony.

The local papers reported that Shurtleff’s wedding was held the day before Thanksgiving, and undoubtedly the happy couple had many reasons for thankfulness, adding, “May the long and valuable service he has rendered his country be rewarded in the future with many years of domestic happiness….” Just a few days after the wedding the new Mrs. Shurtleff was heading back to the Lake Erie Female Seminary in Painesville, and the beaming Mr. Shurtleff was in a sleeper car heading back to the front.11

Shurtleff’s train ride to Baltimore was followed by a stateroom in a steamer to Fort

Monroe where he met the 5th already on transport ships ready to head further south and into action. The warm glow of wedded bliss and comfortable travel was replaced by an overcrowded steamer packed with nearly 1,000 men plus their horses, mules, and equipment. To add to the discomfort, a cold rain was falling. For the next week the men of the 5th moved about the

Chesapeake Bay as they awaited weather conducive to travel. Specific information on their next objective was not available, but the officers of the 5th speculated that they would be heading to a

10 Cleveland Morning Leader, 21 November, 1864; See, “National Equal Rights League,” Blackpast.org, http://www.blackpast.org/aah/national-equal-rights-league-1864-1915. It is interesting to note that Langston does not mention NERL in his autobiography.

11 Lorain County News, 30 November, 1864; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 9 December, 1864, OCA.

217 campaign in either North Carolina or the Shenandoah Valley. Early in this saturated adventure

Shurtleff did not dwell on the discomforts of the voyage so much as did his men. Instead, he waxed philosophically about the increased meaning he felt his life had now that he was married.

The love he had felt for her prior to their marriage seemed to pale before the affection he presently felt for his wife. He desperately wanted to build a small Christian home with Mary, and the prospect of a future with her made him feel a greater “dread of danger than before we were married.”12

For more than ten days the men of the 5th were shuttled about on different steamers and transports as they waited to be taken to their next posting. As their fleet of ships grew, they all understood a significant campaign was on the horizon. Before they could breach that horizon, however, they had to weather terrible storms. Heavy seas not only slowed their progress, but sickened the men. Shurtleff finally succumbed to the nausea just days before Christmas. He wisely chose to ride out his illness on deck, while many other officers stayed in their cabins.

Shurtleff was joined by Lieutenant Scroggs who did not suffer as much from seasickness, but enjoyed spending much of his time up top. The junior officer was well enough to marvel at the beauty of the seas they were traversing, especially at night. He noted that the light from the moon gave the water a kind of shimmer that he likened to many campfires scattered as far as one could see.13

Shurtleff complained that the bouncing around on the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic

Ocean was counterproductive to any significant military movement. He hoped for calmer

12 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 9 December, 1864, and 10 December, 1864, and 18 December, 1864, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 396. Both Shurtleff and Scroggs believed North Carolina was the target, but as their delays shipboard mounted, Scroggs speculated that perhaps they would join forces with Union troops in Virginia.

13 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 21 December, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 396.

218 weather and correctly surmised that their target would be , a mammoth structure that protected Confederate blockade runners as they moved in and out of Wilmington, North

Carolina. Fort Fisher was located on a narrow strip of land that separated the Atlantic Ocean from the Cape Fear River about twenty miles from Wilmington. Speedy blockade runners were able to dash up and down the shallow river under Fisher’s watchful eye. To this point in the war,

Union gunboats had been unable to stop the blockade running. Butler’s infantry forces, joined with Admiral David Porter’s naval forces were tasked with silencing the fort, capturing the town, and shutting off this important source of southern supplies.14

Perhaps inspired by the explosion at the crater earlier in the year, Butler hit upon the idea of loading a ship with explosives, sailing it next to the fort and detonating it. After the devastating explosion, his infantry could easily capture the fort, leaving Wilmington virtually defenseless. Porter was skeptical of both Butler and his idea, but willing to give it a try. The

USS Louisiana, an aging warship, was stripped and loaded with over 500 tons of explosives, more than one hundred times more than used at the Battle of the Crater. In the early hours of

December 23, 1864, the Louisiana was anchored next to Fort Fisher, and her complicated fuses lit. The explosion was timed to occur just after 1:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Like at the Battle of the Crater the explosion did not occur on cue. But it did come. The shock wave it caused was felt miles away, and the smell of sulfur permeated the air. But Fisher was unharmed. The plan was a folly, for only a small part of the shock of the explosion went towards the fort. Unlike the

Battle of the Crater, where the explosion caused direct harm to the enemy line, the Louisiana was

14 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 23 December, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. Shurtleff misnamed the fort in his letter to his wife, but correctly guessed that a joint naval/infantry assault was planned in order to capture Wilmington. Several good accounts of the First Battle of Fort Fisher can be found, see for instance, McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 819-821; Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 66-68; and Shelby Foote’s notoriously under documented The Civil War, Volume 3: Red River to Appomattox, (New York: Random House, 1986), 715-721.

219 next to and not underneath the fort. Most of the shock wave created by the massive blast dissipated harmlessly in the air. Nonetheless, Porter ordered his fleet to open fire on Fisher.

Porter had gathered the largest naval armada North America had ever seen, and his nearly sixty ships and their over 600 guns lit into Fort Fisher and her defenders. Fisher’s 600 guns answered back. For much of Christmas Eve the two sides raged at one another, inflicting little harm. The Confederates were not accurate enough to do much damage to Porter’s fleet, while

Fort Fisher’s walls, made of sand and dirt over twenty feet thick absorbed the union shells with relative ease.15

On Christmas Day, the Sabbath, Butler order his infantry onto the beach to attack.

Shurtleff and the 5th were near the front of the line. Shurtleff recalled that he had gotten to within 100 yards of the fort, and could plainly see damaged gun placements. He believed that the fort was theirs for the taking. J. J. Scroggs, leading Company H of the 5th USCT agreed.

“The fort was weakly defended,” he said, “and could easily have been taken.” Butler disagreed.

Although his troops had managed to capture several dozen Confederate skirmishers, and were confident of success, Butler feared that the defenders were too entrenched, and that the mine field in front of the Fort’s walls was too dangerous. He called off the operation. Shurtleff,

Scroggs, and all the men of the 5th returned to their transports, many were disgusted with their commanding general. Shurtleff called the whole thing a “perfect failure.” The transports headed back to the safety of Fort Monroe where Shurtleff hoped to receive the first letters from his wife.16

15 Foot, The Civil War, Vol. 3, p. 719.

16 Shurtleff, Reminiscences, 50-5, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 400; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 30 December, 1864, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

220

The fiasco at Fort Fisher, “a very inglorious affair,” according to Shurtleff, was followed by another attack in mid-January. General Benjamin Butler was not involved in the Second

Battle of Fort Fisher, as he had been relieved of command. Grant had lost what little faith he had in Butler’s military ability, and Lincoln no longer needed his political support. Shurtleff was also missing when the Union army, including the 5th headed back toward Wilmington.

Shurtleff’s health was rattled by the nearly three weeks’ shipboard, including two significant storms during the previous campaign. He was moved back near the trenches outside of

Richmond. This left Shurtleff with time to write his “little wife” and he was able to read a few novels. Shurtleff told Mary that Butler’s removal was best for the army, and probably should have happened sooner. However, it was not a good thing for the 5th. Butler admired Shurtleff, and the two had a good working relationship. Shurtleff knew that he could get what he wanted for his regiment most of the time. He was not sure other generals would be as supportive of black soldiers. Butler’s undying belief in his USCT regiments can be seen in his farewell address to the Army of the James. In it he lauds all of his soldiers, and states that his greatest honor was to be able to say, “I, too, am of the Army of the James.” He concludes his valedictory by addressing his black soldiers specifically,

To the colored troops of the Army of the James: In this army you have been treated not as laborers but as soldiers You have shown yourselves worthy of the uniform you wear. The best officers of the Union seek to command you. Your bravery has won admiration even of those who would be your masters. Your patriotism, fidelity, and courage have illustrated the best qualities of manhood. With the bayonet you have unlocked the iron-barred gates of prejudice, opening new fields of freedom, liberty, and equality of right to yourselves and your race forever. Comrades of the Army of the James, I bid you farewell! Farewell!17

17 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 2 January, 1865, and 15 January, 1865, and 26 January, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. After his marriage Shurtleff regularly referred to Mary as “my dear little wife,” and “my little girl,”

221

Mary was less interested in military maneuvers than she was in the return of her husband.

She was still teaching in Painesville, and she expressed her concern that the two effectively had no home together. When her soldier-husband returned she recognized that there was much work to be done to set up their new lives. Shurtleff understood and shared her concerns. He explained to Mary that he would come home if it could be done honorably. He told her candidly that his leg was not healing as well as it might, and “[if] my limb remains as weak as at present, I shall certainly tender my resignation.”18

The first two months of 1865 saw Shurtleff disconnected from his regiment. In his time away from the 5th he managed to find a real house as his quarters. He was assigned administrative duties that he likened to a brigadier general’s, and that required a staff. Shurtleff’s responsibilities revolved around supply. He was organizing supplies that would ultimately be delivered to the 5th at Fort Fisher, and he was delighted when Quartermaster Marsh arrived from the 5th. The two spent a pleasant day and half together. Shurtleff’s relative ease can be seen in the letters he received from Mary. Prior to this fewer of her letters survived the war. They were lost or discarded by Shurtleff. Beginning in 1865, however, a detailed epistolary dialogue can be recreated between the two. Occasionally, Mary became intimate and recalled their wedding night together. Shurtleff must have been delighted to read that his wife “never [closed her] eyes without thinking how sweet it would be to nestle close to my husband’s heart, and have a ‘good night kiss’ from him before I composed myself for sleep.”19

and he was reading Charles Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge at the time. See GWS to MBS, 4 January, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Benjamin F. Butler, “Soldiers of the Army of the James,” reprinted in Butler’s Book, 888-889.

18 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 10 January, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

19 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 22 January, 1865, and 5 February, 1865, and Mary Shurtleff to Giles Shurtleff, 1 February, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

222

Shurtleff regained his strength and on February 25th, he and some others returned to the

5th. Lieutenant Scroggs noted wryly in his diary that “Col. Shurtleff and the ‘Dead Beats’ arrived.” Shurtleff rejoined the 5th in North Carolina. He was relieved to escape the mud of

Virginia, and found the sandy soil of North Carolina far preferable. Mary was less happy. Her husband was further away, and the time between letters would grow. She was also concerned that so little notice of their wedding was in the newspapers. Only the Lorain County News and

Ashtabula Telegraph had notices, and as the newlyweds had not sent out notices, she bemoaned the fact that many were still calling her ‘Miss Burton.’ She also feared that her wedding dress was not nearly as nice as she could have prepared. Meanwhile, Shurtleff was alarmed that his wife had taken on extra duties at work. Mary was nursing sick students at the seminary, and although Shurtleff felt she would gain useful medical knowledge he was ever fearful that she would over work herself. He was certain that teaching Cicero and Virgil to her students was quite enough for her and dealing with her pupils’ illnesses was too much. She maintained that her newly found medical skills would prove beneficial to both, for she would be better able to nurse him when he returned home. Mostly she dreamed of the life they would create in Oberlin.

She wrote to Shurtleff that, “I have a very exalted opinion of the place, and then, too, it is within visiting distance of the dear friends here (Painesville) and at Austinburg. But I must not allow myself to build air castles. I pray God will lead us in his own right way!”20

Oberlin would have to wait because the 5th was transferred to General Sherman’s army.

Shurtleff had been very impressed with Sherman’s military accomplishments during the war and hoped that the 5th might get a chance to march with him. The Oberlinite was to be disappointed.

Sherman’s army used black troops primarily in support roles, so the 5th was generally in the rear

20 Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 426; Mary Shurtleff to Giles Shurtleff, 18 February, 1865, and 2 March, 1865, and Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 4 March, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

223 with the teamsters and the supplies. Additionally, Shurtleff was appalled at the looting done by his new comrades. He felt the plundering done by the Union army was disgraceful. Certainly, he argued, an army had the right to obtain needed supplies, but the theft and destruction he witnessed went way beyond military need. He complained in a letter to his wife that, “I believe it is cruel and wicked on the part of our army.” Shurtleff did not understand how the civilians of the area could survive. He ordered that the 5th not take part in this sort of plundering, and to make sure that his men leave enough for the subsistence of local families.21

April, 1865 featured some of the most important moments in American history. At the beginning of the month, Robert E. Lee determined that his forces could no longer stand the siege they had been under since June of the year before. He alerted other Confederate officials, such as Confederate President Jefferson Davis, that Richmond and Petersburg were no longer defensible. He ordered an attack on the Union line as a diversion, and his troops raced westward.

Grant had his troops take Richmond. The liberation of Richmond elated the enslaved population, who marveled at the black and white Union soldiers who rode into the city. As this spectacle was going on, Ulysses S. Grant pursued Lee, and Abraham Lincoln visited Richmond. The president was mobbed by the newly freed men and women who strained to get a glimpse of their liberator. Lincoln returned to Washington while Grant cornered Lee near Appomattox

Courthouse. On April 9, 1865, Lee signed the instrument of surrender. It was Palm Sunday.

The following Friday (Good Friday) Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s theater, and the jubilation the Union had felt was abruptly upended. April ended with the surrender of Joseph E.

Johnston’s last major Confederate army to William Tecumseh Sherman.22

21 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 29 March, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

22 A detailed study of this transitional month in American history can be found in Jay Winik’s April 1865: The Month that Saved America, (New York: Harper Collins, 2001).

224

For Giles and Mary Shurtleff the month marked the real beginning of their marriage.

Although they were not yet together, Mary was in Painesville at the Lake Erie Female Seminary and Shurtleff in North Carolina, they both began to make serious plans about their future together. Prior to April, the war and Giles’ survival was paramount to both. As news of the fall of Richmond and the surrender of Lee reached each of them, they began to consider what would come next.

Shurtleff, like many union officers, began to seriously entertain the idea of resigning his commission. His men probably did not know this as he encouraged many of his junior officers to stay with the 5th until it was mustered out, even though Shurtleff was making plans to skedaddle. Fellow Oberlinite, and staff officer E. F. Grabill wrote to his wife, “Col. Shurtleff

…made strong [a] strong effort to persuade me to remain for a time longer…. that it would be for my own good as well as the good of the service.” Lieutenant Scroggs was getting the same message from Shurtleff, and Scroggs wrote his wife to say that Shurtleff did not want any of the

“efficient” officers to leave early. Scroggs noted that he, unfortunately, was “one of those he wishes to retain.” Less than a month later Shurtleff resigned his commission.23

During April Shurtleff met with his brother in law, Mary’s younger brother Willie. Mary had hoped that her husband could check in on him, for she had concerns about Willie’s abilities to stand the physical and moral rigors of war. Shurtleff reassured Mary that her brother was a capable and fine young man, and that she need not worry. Shurtleff also met with Willie’s

Lieutenant and reported that he spoke highly of her brother as well. After hopefully setting his bride’s mind at ease, he shared with her his worries that “the bliss of the honeymoon is still to be ours.” He explained that their wedding five months earlier was overshadowed by his need to

23 Elliot Grabill to his wife, 22 April, 1865, Elliot Grabill Papers, OCA; Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 442.

225 immediately return to the front. As the war was winding down, he hoped they could plan their future and become man and wife in a fully Christian and spiritual way. Shurtleff believed that life together would mark their marriage more than the ceremony had.24

April ended for Mary Shurtleff with a somber to Cleveland where she joined the throng of 100,000 mourners who paid their respects to the assassinated president. She reported to her husband that the procession of the grieving went two by two on each side of the open coffin which had been placed in a temporary building pavilion. She was glad she had made the journey, and said that the funeral carriage and draperies “were well worth seeing, but I was not satisfied with my view of the body itself. The complexion was of a leaden color, and the face seemed shrunken – ‘dried up’ as I heard others say. It probably bore but little resemblance to the living reality.” Just two days before Mary saw the body of the slain president, Shurtleff was writing to her that the new president was less likely to be as lenient in his reconstruction plans as Lincoln might have been. He explained to his wife that the soldiers were adamant that

“[t]he country needs to feel more fully the guilt of the crime of treason; and some of the leading traitors must be executed in order to impress the truth and prevent such crimes in the future.”25

By May, 1865 Shurtleff was ready to either leave the army or have Mary come south to join him. Mary travelling south would be the quickest way to a reunion. Mary was not dismissive of this idea, and suggested that should she come south she could be useful as a

Christian missionary to his black soldiers. Should she join her husband, Shurtleff would be able to hold on to his army pay which was much better than Oberlin College, and his expected salary of $600. That would be quite a substantial cut, especially when the loss of Mary’s teaching

24 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 26 April, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

25 Mary Shurtleff to Giles Shurtleff, 2 May, 1865, and Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 26 April, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

226 salary was factored in. Her moving to the front was rejected, however, as Shurtleff feared exposing Mary to the many diseases common to the camps. He was ready to come home. He tendered his resignation to his friend Brigadier General Samuel Duncan. Duncan and Generals

Alfred Terry and Charles Paine all tried unsuccessfully to talk Shurtleff out of resignation.

Sir: I have the honor to tender my resignation as Col. 5th U.S. Colored Troops for the following reasons, viz. In entering the service I sacrificed a position as member of the Faculty of Oberlin College. That position is now tendered me again provided I enter upon its duties next August which I can only do by leaving the service at once. I entered the service only because I believed the peril of the Government demanded the personal sacrifice. The war being virtually ended this imperative demand no longer exists. I have served in this war nearly four years. Three in the field; one in rebel prisons. My health and natural vigor are much impaired. By reason of the serious illness and probably insanity of a member of my family, my wife is left without a house and my immediate presence is imperatively required. Major W.R. Brazie of the same regiment is present and is a most faithful and efficient officer, fully competent to command the regiment or perform any duty which may be assigned him. Your Obdt Srvt, G.W. Shurtleff Col. 5’ U.S.C.T.26

While the paperwork of his resignation moved slowly through the system, Shurtleff and the 5th were moved to Goldsboro, North Carolina, where they were to defend railroads and bridges against disgruntled southerners. The duty was light and Shurtleff was able to spend time creating the kind of orderly camp he favored. The Goldsboro camp they made was comfortably

26 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 2 May, 1865, and 10 May, 1865, and Mary Shurtleff to Giles Shurtleff 11 May, 1865, and 14 May, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Shurtleff, Letter of Resignation to the US Army, 6 May, 1865, NARA. Shurtleff refers to a sick and possibly insane family member. This was probably his father. He mentions in several letters to Mary that his father has been ill and that his brother Ephraim was taking care of him. No mention of insanity appears in his letters, but senility was certainly a possibility. Mary’s mother also suffered from depression and was moving west to Illinois, but neither mentions serious mental instability prior to this.

227 nestled into a pine forest, and Shurtleff had all of the quarters arranged by company. He described the camp to

Mary this way, “[e]ach company has 18 houses, in one line

10 ft. long 7ft. wide 8 ft. high made of boards covered with tents. Each company has a street 15 paces wide, between its quarters and those of the next company.” The entrance to the camp featured a jaunty pine trellis “festooned with pine and holly” which he sketched in a letter to his wife. The tar heels of Goldsboro came to respect the black soldiers who were their pseudo guards, and when the 5th was moved to

New Berne, North Carolina, at the end of the month the Shurtleff's pencil sketch of the 5th USCT's Gateway Arch from his local population were disappointed to see white Union letter to his wife, Oberlin College Archives soldiers move in.27

For her part Mary Shurtleff was concerned with the slow process of her husband’s resignation. At the end of May, she expressed relief that military events in Texas made it less likely the he and the 5th would be transferred west before he was released from the army. She also assured her husband that she was ready to live on a college professor’s meager salary, and she promised to make the best use of her dollars. She wrote her husband saying that he should not, “fear to accept a small salary on my account. I hope I shall be able to be a help mate to you, and if God blesses us with good health, I think we have nothing to fear.” She also suggested that they might be able to be teachers together at Oberlin. Special Order 297 from the War

Department Adjutant General’s Office discharged Shurtleff officially on June 12, 1865. Shortly

27 Washington, Eagles on their Buttons, 73; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 19 May, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. E. F. Grabill, “Grabill on Col. Shurtleff,” Lorain County News, 12 July, 1865.

228 thereafter, he received a letter from Mary saying that he should meet her in Painesville. She felt honor bound to stay at her teaching post for the remainder of the term, although an invitation he had tendered to meet in Washington, D.C., was tempting.28

In June, 1865 Giles W. Shurtleff’s official connection with the Union army ended with a farewell to his men. One of his last actions was the issuance of General Order 3 on June 24th, it read:

Fellow Soldiers: The relation which has so long existed between you and myself is severed. For nearly two years your interest have been my interest, together we have had our part in hard marches, trying sieges and bloody battles. Together we have wept over fallen comrades--together rejoiced in success achieved and victories won. Your record is one of which you may well be proud. God will reward you for your sacrifices and a grateful country appreciate your services. Thanking you for your uniform kindness and prompt obedience I bid you an affectionate farewell. Giles Waldo Shurtleff, Colonel

Shurtleff left the 5th and headed north to begin his life as a husband, father, teacher, fundraiser, world traveler, and college administrator. 29

***

In the late summer of 1865 the newlyweds began to fashion for themselves a life in

Oberlin. Shurtleff’s old friend and boss, General Samuel Duncan wrote Shurtleff congratulating him on his recent move to the civilian world, and he expressed his jealousy. Like Shurtleff,

Duncan had been wounded at New Market Heights, and like Shurtleff he found his wife during the war. Duncan confessed that “procrastination [that] good easy, lazy fellow” kept him from

28 Mary Shurtleff to Giles Shurtleff, 30 May, 1865, and 5 June, 1865, and, 9 June, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Giles Shurtleff, Field and Muster Roll, “May & June, 1865,” NARA.

29 Giles Shurtleff, “Farwell,” General Order 3, USCT, NARA; This is also reprinted in Scroggs, Diary and Letters, 448, and by E.F. Grabill in the Lorain County News, 12, July, 1865. Company record books show that the order was issued on the 24th of June. Grabill records it as the 23rd.

229 writing earlier to tell Shurtleff that he had met “the sweetest girl in New Hampshire.” Mary heard from her brother Willie who inquired how she was acclimating to Oberlin life. He especially wanted to know about the “rabid abolitionists.” Willie Burton surmised that Mary was very happy in a town that he supposed was a “young heaven on earth,” especially when married to an appreciative man such as Colonel Shurtleff. Shurtleff must have been pleased to hear from his brother Ephraim that his wife had had a baby girl, “9 pounds, plump and fat and good looking.” Mother and child were both doing well, although dysentery was affecting the area, claiming the life of one child. Ephraim prayed that his “little darling be permitted to remain with us, and that we shall have wisdom to guide [her] in the way of truth and righteousness.” Later in the year Ephraim informed his older brother that their father was not doing well. David Shurtleff suffered a great deal of pain, and along with his wife Ruth, moved in with Ephraim and his young family. Two months after her birth, Ephraim and his wife Susie still had not named their little girl. Perhaps they were frightened of the dysentery, but by the end of 1865 they were openly contemplating naming the child Ruth after both grandmothers.

Ephraim confided to his brother that he thought Ruth was an old fashioned name, but felt he must bend to the wishes of the grandmothers.30

Giles and Mary Shurtleff did not jump into parenthood as quickly as Giles’ younger brother, instead they determined to build a house in Oberlin. Shurtleff returned home with at least $1,000 in savings. Mary brought her own savings to Oberlin, as well, putting the young couple in a position to build a home together. They settled on a location in Oberlin not far from the village green called College Place and for $850.00 purchased land for their first home. The

30 Samuel Duncan to Giles Shurtleff, undated letter, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; William Burton to Mary Shurtleff, 10 September, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Ephraim Shurtleff to Giles and Mary Shurtleff, 22 October, 1865, and 10 December, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

230 house they built at 47 College Place was an Italianate style two story brick home with a low- pitched roof, atop of which stood a square cupola. Narrow double hung arched windows were featured in all of the front rooms, each with hand-carved stone window hoods. The symmetrical front façade included double front doors with an arched glass panel above. It was an elegant place for the two in their early Oberlin years. 31

One of the major questions facing the new Oberlin residents was a surprising one, specifically they had to determine which church to attend. Church selection would have seemed obvious, for Shurtleff’s affinity for Charles Grandison Finney was well established. First Church in Oberlin was Shurtleff’s church before he left for the service, it was the place where he dedicated his service to both God and the army. Surely Giles and Mary Shurtleff would attend that church. While away at the front, however, things had changed. While Shurtleff was training with the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and even later when he was languishing in southern prison camps, Finney’s church was overflowing with members. A second church was created to deal with the number of Oberlinites who wished to worship in a Congregational fashion.

1n 1859, shortly after the Oberlin-Wellington rescue, First Church’s membership had increased from its original sixty-one charter members to nearly 1,500. The large meeting house built upon Finney’s entrance to Oberlin was too small to accommodate the regular Sunday crowd, even with the addition of seats that had been set up in the aisles and against the side and back walls. Services were standing room only events, with overflow worshippers sitting on the

31 Geoffrey Blodgett, Oberlin Architecture: College and Town, A Guide to its Social History, (Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College, 1985), 99; Lorain County, News, 5 16, 1866; Oberlin Heritage Center, “City-wide Building Inventory,” Monroe House, 72 ½ South Professor St., http://www.oberlinheritagecenter.org/platform/cms/files/inventory/monroe.pdf. Accessed September 8, 2016. It is interesting to note that the Shurtleff’s first house is now home to the Oberlin Heritage Center.

231 stairs to the pulpit. The Oberlin Evangelist editorialized that “Nothing remains but to organize a new church.”32

Unlike other church schisms, the newly constituted Second Church worked in perfect harmony with First Church. “There was the assurance of mutual love and confidence…as when children leave their homes to set up a new home for themselves,” proclaimed Professor James H.

Fairchild, one of the leaders of the new congregation. While Shurtleff was in the army, Fairchild and over a hundred other charter members began to create this new congregation. They had no church building, so the break-away worshippers met in the College Chapel, and continued to do so for the next ten years. During the tumult of the Civil War, the size of both First and Second

Church’s congregations declined. The number of students serving in the conflict, and the attention the war commanded briefly inspired thinking that the new congregation was a mistake.

Additionally, funding the new church was difficult, and if this was not challenge enough, their first pastor, Miner Wynn Fairfield, resigned. Stepping into the pulpit in 1865, and becoming

Acting Pastor was none other than James Fairchild. A year later he would be named President of

Oberlin College, replacing the venerated Finney upon his retirement. Fairchild became the first of several college faculty who served Second Church as an Acting Pastor, and was able to solidify the church’s foundation in the town. Fairchild wrote, “while the war has increased to some extent the difficulties of our work, it has not rendered the movement any less necessary.

The reasons exist in their full force today as when we commenced.”33

32 Sarah Cowles Little, “Historical Sketch of the Second Church, Oberlin, Ohio – From 1860 to 1889, Semi- Centennial Celebration of the Second Congregational Church of Oberlin, (Oberlin, 2nd Church, 1910), 16-17, OCA.

33 Little, “Historical Sketch, 18, 23 OCA; “Pastors of Second Congregational Church,” OCA; Little, “Historical Sketch,” 23, OCA; J.H. Fairchild, quoted in Little, “Historical Sketch,” 23, OCA. See “Oberlin College Presidents | 1835 to the Present”, http://new.oberlin.edu/inauguration/timeline.dot.

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The Shurtleffs likely followed their friend Fairchild, and others such as Professor Henry

Peck into the Second Church fold. Almost immediately Shurtleff was made a member of the congregation’s Board of Trustees. Clearly the folks of Shurtleff’s adopted hometown, viewed the Colonel with great respect and they wanted his proven leadership at the helm of their Second Congregational Church circa 1870, Oberlin Heritage Center, http://www.oberlinheritagecenter.org/thenandnow/second congregation. For Shurtleff this must have been both comforting and rewarding. As a young man he had struggled to determine his career path.

Would he be a preacher, or would he be a teacher? His wartime years and his marriage to Mary helped lead him to his teaching career, but certainly he was happy to be an instrument of God’s work through the Second Church in any way he could. On October 24, 1866, Shurtleff was asked to lead the board. The Board of Trustees that Shurtleff joined were involved in all aspects of Second Church’s development. They needed to take care of the mundane, such as hiring custodial staff, and at the same time they needed to build their own church building so that they could expand now that the war was over. An aggressive fund raising campaign was commenced, and over the next five years a 1,100 seat sanctuary was completed across the square from

Finney’s First Church. A year later they were borrowing thousands to purchase an organ.34

Shurtleff served one five-year term on the Board of Trustees, with one year as its president. When he left the board, he was named Superintendent of the Sabbath School. The school was an important and large part of Sunday services. Sabbath School met before regular

34 Book of Minutes, Second Congregational Church of Oberlin, 1861 – 1874, OCA. Minutes from the Board of Trustees indicates that the land they bought from the college was sold because the college felt the addition of the second church building dovetailed nicely with their mission. President Fairchild’s prominence in both organizations must have helped. Little, “Historical Sketch,” 23-24, 27-28, OCA.

233 services, and membership exceeded 500, with an average weekly attendance of over 250.

Twenty-five teachers were engaged to teach various levels of Christian education. One of

Shurtleff’s first actions was to get additional money from the Board of Trustees to bolster the school’s library.35

Just as Shurtleff had integrated himself fully at Second Church, he also quickly became a valued member of the Oberlin College faculty. Just a few months after his return from the front

Shurtleff was teaching winter-term classes at the college. Oberlin advertised Shurtleff and the other instructors in notices in the local papers. The first day of class was just five days after the first anniversary of his marriage. Shurtleff was putting down solid Oberlin roots, and it was becoming clear that a life in and around the college was his choice. Not only did he and Mary put forth the money to build a beautiful house, but he helped those he felt worthy to join him.

Shurtleff was in regular contact with others, such as classmate Judson Smith about teaching at

Oberlin. Smith kept up a regular correspondence with Shurtleff, and was grateful for his old friend’s assistance in helping him join the Oberlin faculty. In the meantime his old friend

Edward H. Merrell kept trying to coax Shurtleff to Ripon College in Wisconsin. Merrell had written Shurtleff many times. He had others on his staff write him, and even had his wife drop him a line while still serving in the army. Most telling of Shurtleff’s dedication to an Oberlin career came in April 1866 when the newly established Ohio Soldiers House offered to double his salary and provide him a home should he accept the home’s superintendency. He declined. 36

35 “Yearbook,” Second Congregational Church of Oberlin, 1873, OCA; Book of Minutes, OCA.

36 Cleveland Morning Leader, 7, 11, and 20 November, 1865; Judson Smith to Giles Shurtleff, 2 February and 3 April and 6 June and 12 July and 24 July, 1865, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Julia H. Merrill to Giles Shurtleff, 28 January, 1865, E.H. Merrell to Giles Shurtleff, 7 April and 13 April and 7 August, 1866; W. E. Morrison to Giles Shurtleff, 27 September, 1866, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. Ohio Soldiers House to Giles Shurtleff, 13 April, 1866, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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In the spring of 1866, as Shurtleff honed his skills as a professor and Second Church trustee, he received word that President Andrew Johnson had signed his Certificate awarding him the honorary rank of Brigadier General. The brevet was honorary in that Shurtleff would not be paid at the rate of a one-star general, nor could he act on the battlefield as a general without specific orders from the president. His Brevet Certificate stated that he was receiving this honor “for gallant and meritorious service during the war.” The practice of brevetting officers of volunteer regiments was widespread after the war. Nearly 1,500 men received post- war brevets to the rank of Brigadier General, leading some to feel the award was virtually meaningless. For Shurtleff it was not. For the rest of his life, Oberlinites and others referred to him as ‘The General,’ or ‘General Shurtleff.’ The people who knew Shurtleff, and who knew what happened at New Market Heights believed that he was very deserving of the promotion.

The Lorain County News editorialized

Well Placed. Col. G.W. Shurtleff, late of the 5th U.S.C.T. has been appointed and confirmed by the Senate, Brevet Brigadier General to date from March 13, 1865. Were all Brevet appointments so well deserved, there would not be so many of them…. Not one half the generals in the service so well deserve or were so well fitted for the ‘star’ as he.37

After an application for a brevet was accepted by the War Department, the recipients were asked to formally accept the promotion, and sign an oath that they were not colluding with any enemy. Once the letter of acceptance was returned, along with a notarized copy of the oath, then the Senate would ratify the brevet, the president and the secretary of war would sign the certificate, and the promotion was complete. It was not clear who applied for Shurtleff’s brevet.

He may have done so himself, or it may have been his old friend Samuel Duncan. It may have

37 Brevet Certificate, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. A good overview of and brief history of brevetting can be found in the Introduction of Roger D. Hunt & Jack R. Brown, Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue, (Gaithersburg, MD: Olde Soldier Books, 1990). Lorain County News, 18 April, 1866.

235 been someone else. What was clear was that this honor, bestowed upon Shurtleff the spring after the war, was not unexpected and was accepted.38

All was not rosy for Shurtleff in 1866, for in that year his father died. Two years later word arrived from Illinois that his mother passed away. No mention of these deaths appears in

Shurtleff’s papers, but it is likely that he and Mary made trips west to both funerals.39

Shurtleff had taken Oberlin by storm. He had quickly become an important part of the faculty of the college, was appointed to the Board of Trustees of Second Church, was building a beautiful new home, and would from this time forth be Oberlin’s ‘General.’ Shurtleff was proving to be an excellent financial steward. He was able to parlay his wife’s modest inheritance and his army savings into a fine home. In the next few years, fundraising became a pivotal part of the Shurtleffs’ lives. Ultimately his financial acumen elevated Shurtleff to treasurer of the college and finally trustee.40

The transition from professor to treasurer took decades, but the Shurtleffs close association with the college’s finances began almost immediately. In 1867, the year after he was promoted to assistant professor, there was serious talk that financial troubles were dooming the seminary program. Shurtleff was opposed to the idea of closing down the crown jewel of

Oberlin’s educational offering, but was told that money was not available to keep the graduate program viable. According to Oberlin legend, Shurtleff scoffed at the idea of closing the

38 See Hunt and Brown, Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue, x.

39 The dates of Shurtleff’s parents can be found on the family gravesite, and in Giles’ brother Edward’s application to join the Illinois chapter of the Sons of the . See http://interactive.ancestry.com/2204/32596_242136- 00224/265267?backurl=http://person.ancestry.com/tree/45037763/person/6298716081/facts/citation/10314113615/e dit/record. Accessed October 22, 2016.

40 General Jacob Dolson Cox was an Oberlinite general who might have claimed the title Oberlin’s General, but he did not return to his alma matter as Shurtleff did.

236 theological school and maintained that $10,000 could be raised in Lorain County alone. Not unexpectedly, he was challenged to prove the county’s liquidity, and he did. He raised so much money locally that the college decided to send Shurtleff further afield, and over the next few years he regularly toured the eastern United States raising money for the college. 41

Part of Shurtleff’s gift for raising funds may have come from his fearlessness about failure. He maintained that asking people for money was like gambling without any guilt. The gamble was whether he would receive anything after making the request. Unlike gambling, however, anything he won went to the good and Godly cause of Oberlin College. During these excursions east, Shurtleff travelled alone, staying in hotels and boarding houses throughout the northeast. His territory seemed to stretch from Buffalo in the west to Boston in the north, and then south to Philadelphia. It is not surprising that he spent most of his time in the so-called burned over district that his mentor Charles Finney helped to make famous in antebellum times, and in the former strongholds of abolition such as Boston.42

Shurtleff prepared himself for his trips with lists of Oberlin alums as well as other wealthy donors who might find the college a worthy recipient of their largess. He then traveled for a month or two, often during regular breaks from the college year, to various cities and called upon potential donors. Hotels that he frequented regularly included the Astor House in New

York City and Young’s Hotel in Boston. Less often he checked into boarding houses. Perhaps this was because he viewed their clientele with suspicion. In 1875, he described his fellow

41Shurtleff’s promotion was announced in several Ohio newspapers, see for example, Lorain County News, 27 June, 1866; Wyandott Pioneer, 24 May, 1866; A.A. Wright, eulogy reprinted in “Gen. Giles W. Shurtleff,” Oberlin Review, 10 May, 1904, 664-665.

42 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 10 November, 1875, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. Examining the letters to both the Treasurer of the College and to Mary Shurtleff, many come from New York and Massachusetts. Other places in the east do not occur as frequently. None come from former Confederate states. Later in life, when Shurtleff was college treasurer, he focuses on the west, primarily Kansas. See Chapter 8.

237 boarders at a Boston boarding house as “rough,” and complained that his toiletries had gone missing, specifically his hair brush and combs. He loudly complained, and threatened to involve the police. At that point, he reported that his missing items were returned. Although the fourth- floor room of this boarding house was quite nice, featuring a large bay window in the 20 x 15 foot space, and included both hot and cold water, two rocking chairs, and heat, these comforts did not compensate for the unconscionable behavior of his fellow boarders. 43

During these trips east, he regularly reported back to the college treasurer, who at this time was his old friend and fellow officer from the 5th USCT, J. B. T. Marsh. Shurtleff often sent home notices of donations, asking that appropriate receipts be sent to the benefactors. Some of the gifts were made in the form of scholarships, while others went simply to the college.

Many of the people he worked with were quick to give, and others were not. Shurtleff reported that his meetings were often difficult, such was the case with a Mrs. L. from Jamestown, New

York, saying, “[s]he is a selfish old Termagant [who] bulldozes her family and everyone else.”

Similarly, in Jamestown he worked with a widow who was anxious to give to the college, but her money was tied up as the family of her second deceased husband wrangled over the her claim to his estate. His expenses on theses journeys were sometimes paid by the college, and other times by the money he raised. Often he wrote back to Marsh requesting $25.00 or so, but at least once he expressed gratitude for a $50.00 donation from one man, “for I had just 75 cts left.”44

Not unlike the war years, Shurtleff expressed great longing for Mary while he travelled.

In 1875, he was away from the end of October until the end of December. During the two- months he missed both his anniversary and Thanksgiving. He hoped to be home in time to

43 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 11 December, 1875, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

44 Giles Shurtleff to J. Marsh, 10 March, 1877, and 25 April, 1885, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 20 November, 1875, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

238 celebrate Christmas with his little family. On November 23, he wrote to Mary, “This I suppose, is the anniversary of our marriage. I have at all events celebrated it as such in my thought. I am so apt to get dates wrong in my mind once or twice a twinge of suspicion has of my mind that the

24th is the day....” Penned on the stationary of the Lincoln House hotel, he thanked God for her and their daughter. 45

The Shurtleffs had been childless for the first six years of marriage. That had ended in

1871 when Mary had given birth to their first child, Laura Elizabeth. Shurtleff lamented that he had missed Laura’s birthday, but was excited for Mary was pregnant again. Said the father-to- be, “I think constantly about your condition…as well as about little Laura and the importance of your both being properly cared for in the matter of warmth and comfortable provision.” A few days later he confessed that he should stay on the road, but he says that he did not have the strength to be away from Mary, “and the dear little one God has given us and our pleasant home.” A few weeks later Shurtleff wrote to Mary that he had purchased two outfits for the baby. Although he was fearful that Mary would object to this extravagance, “I am not quite sure but you will think them too nice and too expensive. The two cost $9.00. I could have got two for $7.00 but they seemed coarse as compared with these.”46

He arranged to leave Boston the next day and planned to be home by the 23rd of

December. He shared with his wife that every day seemed a little bit shorter as each day brought him closer to her. He did not, however, know what to get her for Christmas and was worried about coming home empty-handed. Presumably the December reunion was warm and loving.

The three Shurtleffs celebrated Christmas together that year, and the following March Mary gave

45 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 23 November, 1875, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

46 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 23 November, 1875, and 26 November, 1875, and 11 December, 1875, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

239 birth to another girl. Mary Grant Shurtleff came into the world on the 24th of the month, and the family was complete. The four Shurtleffs continued to be a mainstay of the Oberlin community for decades to come.47

* * *

Shurtleff had survived his wounds and the war, and in the immediate post war years was able to build the comfortable college life he had long sought. He valued his home, his employment, his church, and his family. He was tireless in providing for each of these.

Shurtleff had quickly become a leader in Second Church, both a fundraiser and professor at

Oberlin College, and built a house and provided for his growing family. The general did everything in his power to make sure his three ‘girls’ were well provided for.

47 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 11 December, 1875; Twelfth Census of the United States, Schedule 1, Russia Township, Oberlin Village, Sheet 17.

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Chapter Eight

The Ideal Oberlinite

Giles and Mary Shurtleff enjoyed life in Oberlin. They continued to serve their church, the college, and most especially their family. Shurtleff’s prominence in the town is attested to by his promotion to both Treasurer and Trustee of the college. Additionally, his home increased in size and prominence as well. Shurtleff was also able to realize his dream of studying abroad.

Although this was partially brought about by nagging health problems, he was able to visit some of the most important cities in Europe. The proud Oberlinite also continued to be involved in the political life of the state. He was a regular speaker at ceremonies commemorating the war, and he was deeply involved in Republican Party politics and the temperance movement.

* * *

Shortly before the birth of their first child they moved from College Place to Elm Street where they built another Italianate home. This second home was larger and sided with wood instead of brick. It included a porch in front of the main door that wrapped part of the way around the right side of the home. On the opposite side, a conservatory allowed for light and space for the growing family. The Shurtleffs sold their College Place home to Oberlin professor

James Monroe, and for the next twenty years Elm Street would be their home.1

1See Blodgett, Oberlin Architecture, 99-100, and “Architecture of Oberlin College: Elmwood Cottage,” http://www.oberlinlibstaff.com/omeka_oca/items/show/72 . Images can be found at http://www.ohio.org/events/upstairsdownstairs-guided-house-tour, and http://www.oberlinlibstaff.com/omeka_oca/items/show/72. Accessed August 21, 2016.

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The Shurtleff's first home from 1866 to 1870, was sold to James The Shurtleff's second home, built in 1870, and sold to the Monroe after he returned from his diplomatic duties in Brazil. college in 1892. The structure was demolished in the 1960s It is home to the Oberlin Heritage Center today. to make room for a dormitory.

.

Before coming to Oberlin, indeed before her marriage, Mary Shurtleff had wondered if she would continue her teaching career once in town. She did not. Undoubtedly a teaching opening or two came available at the Preparatory Department, but Burton did not avail herself.

Oberlin also had a public high school that had been established during the war, but she did not teach there either. Instead she spent her time as a homemaker and a volunteer in many activities at Second Church. In the 1870s she gave birth to two girls, and much of her time was devoted to their care; Laura Elizabeth Shurtleff was born in November, 1871, Mary Grant Shurtleff March,

1876. Their mother also travelled to visit family. Shurtleff’s family were primarily located in

Illinois, while Mary’s kin were in Iowa and Austinburg, Ohio. Mary took the girls with her to

Iowa in the summer of 1880 while Giles stayed in Ohio. He fretted about his wife’s health, and took extra time to pen notes to his children. “My dear Mary,” he wrote to his youngest, “Papa thinks about you a great deal. I hope you will not forget your pap. It has been raining here nearly all day. Your affectionate, Papa.” To his older girl he wrote, “Dear Laura: I am always pleased to hear from you. I think about you a great deal. I hope you will be careful not to give

242 momma trouble. You know we want her to get well as fast as possible. Your affectionate,

Papa.”2

Shurtleff was spending his spare time fundraising in Lorain County and counties nearby.

He was having a great deal of success, and though he complained that his back was giving him a lot of trouble, he was bringing in enough cash to the college that he was hopeful that he would not have to travel to the east coast. Shurtleff was also politicking throughout north central Ohio with two election races on his mind. The first was James Garfield’s presidential bid, the second was the race to fill his friend James Monroe’s congressional seat. Ohioan Rutherford B. Hayes, keeping a commitment he had made earlier, did not run for reelection in 1880. The Republicans met in Chicago to determine who they would put forward after the tumultuous election of 1876.

The front-runners were Ohioan and former president Ulysses S. Grant, Ohioan and Secretary of the Treasury , and a senator from Maine, James G. Blaine. After days of wrangling and dozens of votes, the convention turned to another Ohioan, James Garfield, a dark horse. Garfield had a distinguished career in the war and in the U. S. House of Representatives where he was the Republican minority leader. He had just been selected senator from Ohio when the convention nominated him on the 35th ballot. Shurtleff, an ardent Republican, wanted to see the reform minded Garfield in the White House, not the Democrat’s choice, former Union general Winfield Scott Hancock. Shurtleff reported to Mary that in his campaigning, he had

“visited every township in the county except three, viz, Black River, Avon and Sheffield.”3

2 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff and family, 28 June, 1880, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

3 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 28 June, 1880, and 20 June, 1880, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. For details on the Garfield election see for example, Kenneth D. Ackerman, Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of James A. Garfield, (Viral History Press, 2016), and Candice Millard, Destiny of the Republic: a Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President, (New York: Doubleday, 2011).

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While stumping for Garfield, Shurtleff was also concerned about who would take the congressional seat being vacated by James Monroe. Monroe had purchased Shurtleff’s house ten years earlier, but he did not spend much time there. The professor for whom the Monroe Rifles were named spent much of his time in the capital, and though his wife Julia and their son were in

Oberlin, Monroe was not. In 1880 he determined it was time to come home. “I have thought it not unlikely that I might take some position in some northern Ohio college which would not too severely task the brains of a man of sixty,” Monroe told his friend and congressional colleague

Jacob D. Cox, “but I don’t know that any of them would want me.” Shurtleff toyed with running for the seat himself, but his candidacy did not amount to much. Regardless, Shurtleff worked to keep Monroe’s former district out of the hands of a Republican upstart, Addison S. McClure of

Wooster. Shurtleff’s efforts failed. In a Republican convention held in Medina, McClure was nominated on the 8th ballot. Shurtleff lamented that had Monroe been on the ballot then McClure could have been easily blocked. McClure then beat David I. Wadsworth in the general election, held in October 1880, by 5,000 votes.4

Shurtleff may have been disappointed in the Republican Party’s selection of McClure, but he was jubilant over the country’s choice of Garfield as president. He was not alone. Over

80% of Oberlin’s voters cast their ballot for their fellow Ohioan. Upon receiving word of

Garfield’s election, bells throughout the town rang out the news. The distraction was enough so that the college dismissed classes, and before long thousands of happy Republicans were in the

4 James Monroe, Rokicky, James Monroe: Oberlin’s Christian Statesman & Reformer, 1821 – 1898, 165. Rokicky explains that this was a bit of false modesty on Monroe’s part. Not only would an Oberlin job be in his future, but he felt the new president Garfield planned a presidential appointment for him. Even before Garfield’s assassination, it was clear and a bit embarrassing that no appointment was tendered. Rokicky covers Monroe’s determination to leave Congress, 164-167. Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 28 June, 1880, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. Shurtleff was a dark horse candidate in this election. History of the Republican Party in Ohio, Joseph E. Smith, Editor, (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1898), 434. Ohio held its general election in October and not in November.

244 streets. One report stated that, “[s]ome students built a bonfire and burned up their hats in excess of joy.” Students marched with banners, placed their hats (those that had not been incinerated) upon poles, banged tin pans together, and generally expressed their joy. Townsfolk helped out, as local store owners passed out horns and other noise makers to the jubilant students. The revelry did not end in Oberlin, however. President James Fairchild wired the president-elect at his home in Mentor, Ohio, sixty miles to the east of the college asking if some students could personally congratulate him. Garfield approved. A special train with nine cars was arranged, and filled with students and other college dignitaries, including President Fairchild, Treasurer J.

B. T. Marsh, and Professor Giles Shurtleff. Shurtleff had the distinction of acting as emcee during the train ride as the students sang college songs. After stops in Elyria and Cleveland,

Shurtleff announced the order of the festivities that were to occur at Lawnfield, Garfield’s home.5

Upon their arrival at the train depot a grand parade formed with the students marching in four columns toward the president-elect’s home. The band led the procession, and they were followed by Shurtleff and the rest of the faculty. The Theological Seminary students came next, followed by the rest of the college students in their respective classes. Upon their arrival at

Lawnfield, they found their hero on his front porch, and President Fairchild gave a quick speech introducing the students and congratulating Garfield. Garfield responded with an impromptu speech of his own, thanking the students for their support, and telling them that although their visit was not planned, it was certainly welcome. The president-elect went on to say that a visit from such a group of scholars was a good omen. He lauded Oberlin’s tradition of melding

5 Ashtabula Daily Telegraph, 19 November, 1880; A.L. Shumway and C. DeW. Brower, eds, Oberliniana: A Jubilee Volume of Semi Historical Anecdotes Connected to the Past and Present of Oberlin College, (Cleveland, OH: Home Publishing, 1883), 62-64.

245 politics and scholarship, unlike other schools that tended to shy away from the practice. Garfield continued, “I know of no place where scholarship has touched the nerve of public life so effectually as Oberlin.” The college glee club then gave a rendition of “All Honor to the Soldier

Give,” which was followed by a group sing of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” Everyone was invited to shake hands with the president-elect, and by 5:15 that evening the happy crew of

Oberlinites were back on their train headed home.6

Giles Shurtleff had become an integral part of the Oberlin community. He won praise for his work for the college. Shurtleff worked with many of the most powerful people in town, including the president of Oberlin College James Fairchild, through his different positions at

Second Church both as trustee and superintendent of the Sunday School. He even spent a year as mayor of the town. Shurtleff’s tenure as mayor resulted in no real changes in town policies. He only served in 1868, but he represented a turning point in the post of Mayor of Oberlin. Prior to

Shurtleff’s term most of the mayors, like J. M. Ellis, had been associated with Oberlin College.

After Shurtleff’s term the men who held the post tended to be tied more to the town than the college. They were often independent businessmen, Republicans, and sometimes army veterans.

Shurtleff was all of these. Shurtleff was clearly tied to the college, a veteran, a Republican, and he would later become an investment banker. 7

Although Shurtleff’s mayoral career was short-lived, his temperance work was not. In

1881, the national struggle over the sale and consumption of alcohol found strong expression in

Oberlin. The Oberlinites called it the Temperance War and Shurtleff was in the middle of it. For years the Oberlin community had been fighting against the sale of alcohol in the town. This was

6 Shumway and Brower, eds, Oberliniana, 64.

7 Aaron Wildavsky, Leadership in a Small Town, (New Brunswick, NJ: 2004), 34-38.

246 in complete accord with collegiate policies, especially those of former president Charles

Grandison Finney. Finney’s vision of temperance as part of a Christian life was embraced by

Shurtleff, his family, and his friends. There were two places where liquor could be purchased in an Ohio town in the late 19th century. One was a saloon, and the other a drugstore. Saloons were rare to non-existent in Oberlin. Temperance advocates pressured one saloon keeper so successfully that he closed his establishment within two weeks. Oberlin’s paucity of drinking establishments differed greatly from nearby towns with similar populations that might have as many as twenty saloons. The other source of alcohol was the drugstore. Druggists were empowered to keep alcohol on hand in order to fill physicians’ prescriptions for its medicinal uses. Some druggists saw fit to make liquor available without a doctor’s order.8

During the students’ summer vacation of 1881 the successful sale of alcohol in at least three drugstores encouraged the opening of a saloon just outside of the business district. This enraged many Oberlinites, but clearly not all. Thaddeus H. Rowland was the druggist who was most responsible for the growth in liquor sales in the village. Rowland understood that college and community pressure would be used against him, so he planned a way around it. Rowland created a pledge that he said he would sign if all the other alcohol providers would also agree to sign. He vowed that he would agree to sell no liquor at all, as long as no one else in town sold any liquor either, including for medicinal use. Rowland understood that temperance Oberlinites were not against what they believed were appropriate medicinal uses of alcohol. Perhaps he believed his pledge was so outrageous that it would not be agreed to. If that was Rowland’s hope, he was wrong. In his pledge Rowland challenged Oberlin, “if you are thoroughly in earnest, and mean abolishment totally, I am with you; but, if you must draw a line and sell to the

8 History of the Oberlin Temperance War: The Whole Story, unattributed, (Cleveland, Leader Printing Company, 1882), 5-6.

247 favored few and refuse the unfavored many, I shall have nothing to do with the matter.” He further said that he would stand by his pledge to the last, “that Oberlin might be known throughout the world as a strictly total abstinence town.” Oberlin druggists and physicians quickly signed on. Doctors did not stop administering alcohol, they simply agreed to the inconvenience of stocking and delivering the liquor themselves. This left all the druggists in town able to sign the pledge. Rowland’s bluff had been called.9

This did not end the controversy, however, it merely ushered in more controversy.

Rowland turned the bar over to Frank E. Bronson. It was not clear if Bronson was the new owner of the drugstore, or if he was merely acting on behalf of Rowland. Regardless, Shurtleff and two other prominent Oberlinites immediately went to meet with Bronson. The new druggist refused to talk. Shurtleff’s committee did have the chance to remind Bronson that if he were to begin selling alcohol in any way, the pledge would be violated and other druggists and saloon owners would be released from their pledge. Bronson did not respond, and refused to speak with any prominent townsfolk. Shurtleff and his neighbors went into action. Daily prayer meetings were scheduled at Second Church, activists practiced a kind of ‘sit in’ civil disobedience at

Bronson’s store, and a meeting of temperance supporters was called with Shurtleff as its president. Shurtleff opened the Oberlin Temperance Alliance meeting by reminding his listeners of a student from a decade before. The young man, Shurtleff recalled, wanted a temperance revival in Oberlin, for “young men here are subject to temptations.” Shurtleff said that Oberlin still needed to fight the scourge of alcohol abuse, saying that there were drunkards in the village and the surrounding township. He, President Fairchild and Professor Monroe put forth two resolutions that called for Oberlinites to, “use all lawful and Christian measures to continue [the

9 Ibid., 5-7.

248 use of the pledge],” and to “[punish] with the severest legal penalties,” anyone who violated the pledge. These and similar resolutions were passed by unanimous voice votes, and the meeting concluded with the singing of “Work, for the Night is Coming.” 10

Meetings of the temperance warriors continued, local businessmen were cajoled into supporting the pledge and opposing Bronson, and the anti-alcohol activists continued their sit-ins at the drugstore. Bronson tried to get the unwanted guests out of his store. He implored them to leave and when that did not work, he denounced them as a mob and peppered them with profanity. Finally, he poured red pepper upon lighted coals and created a kind of tear gas that drove the temperance fighters, and probably everyone else, from his establishment. Not long after, the college went back into session and students joined with the town folk to fight against the threat of a saloon-filled Oberlin. More protesters frequented his store imploring Bronson to sign the pledge and give up alcohol sale. Bronson again resorted to smoking his opponents out, but this time he armed a few of his employees with fragrant cigars called “stinkers” and attempted to puff his opponents away. This worked with some of the temperance women, but angered some of the students, and fisticuffs occasionally resulted.11

One Ohio newspaper, with a bent toward support of the druggist, reported the feud this way:

The Temperance war at Oberlin still rages, Bronson, the druggist who sells liquor, is being prayed for, prayed at, besieged by women, threatened by men, coaxed, abused, plead with and bullied, but he still holds the fort. Says he has a right to run his business in his own way and intends to do it. Says he does not sell any liquor to be drank but only as medicine on prescription. Says the Oberlin people are howling fanatics. Receives letters threatening his life and declaring that his store will be laid in ashes. One writer, signing himself “A Christian,” says that the

10 Ibid., 7-9. It is interesting to note that in the History of the Oberlin Temperance War, Bronson’s first name is never given, but we know from newspaper and court accounts it was Frank. See, for example, The Stark Democrat, March 20, 1882.

11 Ibid., 10-11.

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Christian people of Oberlin have been inspired by the “Deity” to close up the store and they will do it “if it takes blood.” Meantime prayer meetings are being held and the crusade goes on.12

Bronson continued to struggle against the temperance fighters and their sit-ins, which they called “visitations.” The embattled druggist tried to employ some of the Cleveland newspapers in his cause, claiming that he only wanted to sell liquor to those with doctors’ permission. The temperance fighters responded that the doctors in town had already come to terms with dispensing any needed alcohol on their own. In the meantime, the ladies of Oberlin visited Elyria to try and speak with Bronson’s wife in order to persuade her to change her husband’s stance. When that failed, the ladies redoubled their visitations of the store and began to proselytize to other customers about the evils of drink.13

Oberlin’s sizeable temperance community annually elected the Oberlin Temperance

Alliance’s executive committee and they selected Shurtleff as their president. As the group’s leader, he stated the Alliance’s aims plainly. The Alliance asked law enforcement to act upon any illegal alcohol sales, and noted that the alcohol sales were being shielded by fees paid to a fictitious billiards club. Shurtleff said that,

We are fighting against the establishment of a grog-shop in the very heart of the village and under the shadow of our college halls…. The proprietor has drawn into his meshes and made wrecks of large numbers of young men from the surrounding country, sons of farmers; made drunkards of many heads of families, and held out to boys, who are here away from home and parental influence, the temptation to drink and gamble. So strong is the hold he has gained upon some of his customers that they are ready to perjure themselves rather than convict him. Evidence of all this hideous work is before the executive committee of the Temperance Alliance, and in due time will be developed before the courts.14

12 Democratic Northwest, Napoleon, OH, 26 January, 1882.

13 History of the Oberlin Temperance War, 12.

14 Giles Shurtleff, quoted in History of the Oberlin Temperance War, 15.

250

At an Alliance meeting, not only did Shurtleff rail against the drugstore owner, be it

Rowland or Bronson, but he put forward a scheme for funding their fight. Members of the community would be listed publicly, and then a dollar amount was posted after their name. Each person listed would be asked to commit a percentage of that amount as a sort of temperance tax.

The plan was well received and many paid their toll. Druggist Frank Bronson responded to all of this by suing Shurtleff and three others for $10,000 on the grounds of “malicious prosecution.”

Shurtleff did not immediately find out that he had been sued, for he was on his way to Europe.15

Shurtleff took time away from his temperance and college work in order to attend to his health. He and his wife believed this trip would help strengthen his overall well-being, but matters of the Alliance were very much on Shurtleff’s mind as he headed east to take a steamship across the Atlantic. He was pleased to get a quick note from Mary as he was waiting to sail saying that the state legislature had heard the Alliance’s pleas and had passed a law banning liquor in college towns. Additionally, two small notes scrawled with words of love from his two young daughters made him smile. He was moved by Mary’s statement that she felt lost since he had left. The two had spent much of their lives apart. Much of their courtship occurred via correspondence while Giles served in the military. His regular fundraising trips to the east meant weeks apart. This time, Shurtleff was headed for Italy so that he might regain his health and learn more about the country. Mary worried about the impending separation and she was nervous about her husband’s safety as he crossed the Atlantic. Amidst her sincere concerns for her husband’s safety, she playfully added that she also feared he might develop a continental pronunciation of Latin while he was abroad.16

15 History of the Oberlin Temperance War, 16-17. This odd fundraising by taxation scheme was also reported on in Oberliniana, 163-164. The Stark County Democrat, 20 March, 1882.

16 Mary Shurtleff to Giles Shurtleff, 27 March, 1882, and 30 March, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

251

Shurtleff’s health had been problematic ever since his return from the various

Confederate prison camps. He had been a regular on the sick list for the remainder of his military career. Sometimes he was excused from service for disease, sometimes for wounds, but consistent healthfulness evaded him. Neither he, nor his wife, detailed the illness that prompted him to take a five-month tour of Europe, but headaches and chronic pain bedeviled Shurtleff for the rest of his life. Shurtleff’s prestige in the Oberlin community was such that he could get the sabbatical needed for his extended leave. Shurtleff also had the money needed to finance such an excursion and it was the fulfilment of a dream. He had hoped to tour Europe and sites from the ancient world as a younger man as part of his education. His plans were interrupted by war and his growing family in Oberlin. At last he was travelling to see the places in Italy that he had taught his students about in their recitations.17

Shurtleff boarded the Gallia, a steamship of the Cunard Line that had been launched four years earlier. The 430-foot steamer had three masts, the forward two square rigged and a gaff rigged mizzen mast, which enabled wind power to augment steam power during the crossing.

She was a reasonably seasoned vessel with more than twenty Atlantic crossings under her belt when the Oberlinite boarded in . Shurtleff’s cabin mate was a Spanish sea captain with an oversized trunk and a little command of English. The professor expressed his pleasure that the captain spent most of his time outside their cabin. He also marveled at his good fortune saying, “I can hardly make it seem possible that I am off on such a long trip and with no responsibility except care for myself.”18

17 Mary Shurtleff to Giles Shurtleff, 9 April, 1882, and Giles Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 16 January, 1863, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

18 See “Norway-Heritage Hands Across the Sea,” http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=galli. Accessed August 25, 2016. Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 6 April, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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The crossing, which took less than then ten days, started in New York City and landed in

Great Britain at Queenstown, followed by a final stop in Liverpool on April 9, 1882. Initially the weather was pleasant, and Shurtleff was pleased that he was not suffering from any sea sickness.

Back in Oberlin, his wife worried that “a fleet of icebergs” that had been reported in the press might prove dangerous. Shurtleff recounted no icebergs, but said the ship was assailed by gale winds as they neared the British Isles. At about the same time his health took a turn for the worse, and he spent much of the end of his trip in his cabin fighting off seasickness and a bad headache. He arrived in Liverpool in the first week of April, and because of lingering effects of the journey stayed quietly in the North Western Hotel for a few days.19

Shurtleff regained enough strength to board an English train for a fifteen-mile trip to

Chester. He purchased a second-class ticket, and when he entered his compartment found that four persons were already seated in the corners, so the disgruntled American had to take a center seat. He shared with Mary his belief that both American trains and hotels were superior to the

English. Once safely ensconced in Blooms Hotel in Chester, Shurtleff “thought it best to keep quiet.” His back and head were continuing to bother him, so he spent much of his time resting in his room. He did venture out to visit his first cathedral. He admired the stone work, and observed that he could identify different centuries in which construction occurred by the differences in ornamentation he observed. He also was impressed to find an American flag amongst the cathedral’s relics. It had been captured at the battle of Quebec during the

Revolutionary War. Shurtleff wrote to Mary that she should not, “be anxious about my health. I am entirely free from the sense of responsibility which constituted so large a share of the

19 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 6 April, 1882, and 8 April, 1882, and Mary Shurtleff to Giles Shurtleff, 9 April, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

253 discomfort of being ill at home.” He told her that he would lie in bed as long as he needed in order to get well. He closed by asking her to “Kiss the dear little girls for papa.”20

By the second week of April, Shurtleff was in London hoping to see enough of the place so that he would not feel the need to return. At the same time Mary was writing to him from

Oberlin to update him on the legal actions being taken against him. She told him that Sheriff

Corning had left papers with her demanding an answer to Bronson’s complaint by the middle of

May. Clearly Shurtleff could not comply, nor did Mary believe it would be necessary. She had heard from several friends and her brother Theodore Burton, who was by this time a practicing attorney, that, “Bronson had spoiled the case,” when he admitted some level of guilt to the mayor. She did not want Shurtleff to worry. As she penned these lines of encouragement,

Shurtleff was travelling on to Paris. During this leg of his trip he met up with Walter Harriman, the former governor of New Hampshire and a former colonel in the Union Army. Shurtleff had met Harriman while serving on General Orlando Wilcox’s staff before the battle of

Fredericksburg. The Granite stater had been a colonel of the 11th New Hampshire and part of IX

Corps. Shurtleff, “knew him a little.” The two had a pleasant ride from Calais to Paris, through a countryside that Shurtleff felt was beautiful. On the train ride, and then during their first few days in Paris they spent more time talking about the war than they did sightseeing.21

Shurtleff still saw much of Paris during the few days that he was there, and he wrote

Mary, “Paris is surprising for its beauty, the magnificence of its buildings, the cleanliness of its streets and the splendor of its boulevards and gardens…. I have become convinced that I must return to Paris.” Shurtleff and Harriman toured the Louvre, the Palais Royal and the Palais

20 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 10 April, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

21 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 13 April, 1882, and 16 April, 1882, and Mary Shurtleff to Giles Shurtleff, 16 April, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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Elysée together, which only cemented the Oberlinite’s affection for Paris. It also began to strain the relationship he was forming with Harriman. Harriman, Shurtleff maintained, had different interests than he. Though the two would be traveling to Rome together in the next day or so, the general thought it fortuitous that the colonel was then heading off to Jerusalem. Harriman would be on his way in a day or two, while Shurtleff would happily remain in Rome. The scenery during their trip to Rome was stunning. The train hugged the coast of the Mediterranean through rugged mountains. Shurtleff believed that they traveled through at least forty miles of tunnels.22

After Harriman left Rome for the Holy Lands, Shurtleff found himself alone in a large city. He was ready to begin his convalescence and did so by touring the famed sites of a city he had read about for decades. He admired the statues on Capitoline Hill, and recounted them in some detail to his wife and children. Later he visited the prison where legend held that St. Paul had been confined. Shurtleff’s guides assured him that the legends were true, and that they were

“certain that this really was the place.” He wrote Mary that there were more wonders in Rome than he could include in his letters. Shurtleff thought he could easily spend six months in such a wonderful city. The Oberlin College newspaper reported that Shurtleff’s time in Rome was very productive. The paper was enthusiastic that Shurtleff’s health must surely be improving, citing a sixteen mile hike he completed upon the Appian Way.23

While in the city that cradled Roman Catholicism, Shurtleff gravitated to protestant houses of worship and ministers. He attended a service at the American Episcopal Church, but complained that the sermon was quite ordinary, and that he needed help from others to navigate

22 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 16 April, 1882, and 18 April, 1882, and 21 April, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

23 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 27 April, 1882, and 3 May, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Oberlin College Review, 20 June, 1882.

255 the liturgy. He met Pastor Jones, a Methodist minister from Wisconsin, with whom he visited the famed St. Peter’s. Jones seemed to be the very model of a Midwestern preacher, as he was

“full of gab, rather coarse, very ignorant and devoid of all refinement but ready to talk on all subjects and then reveal his ignorance – but a true and earnest Christian man.” He noted that

Jones and he were the only people who did not take wine with their meal. Shurtleff also went to a Baptist prayer meeting. He was unable to follow most of the meeting, as it was completely in

Italian. He was, however, moved by the solemnity of the proceedings and pronounced to Mary that the Baptists were doing good missionary work in Rome. He was hopeful that in the very seat of the Roman Catholic church there would be an improvement in morals.24

Shurtleff found himself alone much of the time. “I am never so lonely as when in a great city with no pressing duty,” he lamented to his wife. He was also alarmed at how long it took for mail to reach him. Letters routinely took more than six weeks to make the crossing and catch up to him. In June, he finally received a letter from his wife that had been sent in the middle of

April letting him know that their youngest daughter Mary, whom they called May, had gone to her first day of school. “Dear little May is going to school,” he wrote back, “how I wish I could see the dear chick! It seems almost impossible for me to think of staying away so long as I planned, but I suppose it is my duty.” He told his wife that he wished he could cut the trip short and return home in time to share summer vacation with his family. At about the same time one of the few letters he wrote to the girls had arrived in Oberlin. He had written his daughters about the Tuileries gardens in Paris. There were, “a great many little children,” and they were having

24 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 23 April, 1882, and 2 May, 1882, and 3 May 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

256 such a wonderful time amongst the, “large and beautiful flowers and great fountains as [well as the] charming statues.”25

Although he repeatedly told Mary that he needed to slow down for health reasons,

Shurtleff took a decidedly physical adventure to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. Perhaps his loneliness inspired him to the task, but upon arriving in Pompeii he hired a guide so that he could walk to the summit of the ancient volcano. The two began a difficult trudge up the mountain. It was not very long into the ascent Shurtleff began to feel that his handler was not on the right course. It then occurred to him that his escort was more interested in getting an increased tip, or perhaps a drink, than he was in getting his client to the peak. Shurtleff was furious and decided to act. He explained to Mary that he, “seized [the guide] vigorously by the collar and said to him that I had been a Col. In the American army, that I knew how to kill men, [and] that I should kill him if he did not take me to the [correct] path.” His guide was appropriately cowed, but

Shurtleff kept up the pressure, explaining to the man that he was friends with the American

Consul, and that if he continued his trickery, punishment would follow. This proved effective, and the guide led the American to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and when they reached the peak the wind, rain, and clouds kept them from enjoying a good view. The trip down the mountain, however, was worth the journey up.26

The two took a short and very steep path down that was nothing but volcanic cinders.

Shurtleff described the descent this way:

We ran all the way down, it seemed to me that I was flying. One only has to raise his feet to make a leap of thirty or forty ft. And it is not dangerous because the material which seems to make up the mountain on this side is so soft and light that

25 Gils Shurtleff to Mary Burton, 23 April, 1882, and 1 June, 1882 and to his children, 18 April, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

26 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 8 June, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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it yields to the foot and yet is coarse enough to improve you from sinking very deep. I hardly remember anything so exhilarating as that run down the mountain.

It is hard to imagine that a trip down an Italian mountain could be more exhilarating than being released from Confederate prison, or being part of the victorious Union war effort, but Shurtleff told Mary it was. Shurtleff loved his dash down the mountainside, and admired Naples and

Pompeii. Naples and the bay nearby were beautiful, and while there, smoke billowed out of

Vesuvius, darkening a large part of the sky. Other mountains were visible in the distance as well as picturesque villages and the rocky cliffs of Capri. He was also taken with Pompeii which he said, “was just as I had pictured it in my mind.” The accompanying museum was equally impressive. He returned to Rome and prepared for the next phase of his European tour which took him to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany.27

He traveled by train north out of Italy and into Trieste, an important port city in the

Austro-Hungarian Empire. Here he decided to spend more time than he had originally planned in the German-speaking lands, though he knew this might rob him of some extra days in Paris and London later in his trip. He boarded another train to Vienna and said he was dazzled, “with the scenery from Trieste to Vienna. I never saw so long a stretch of beautiful country.” He marveled at how the locals were able to use every inch of arable land, considering that so much of the territory was rugged and forbidding. The train traveled up to the summits of several peaks, only to wind its way down again. Finally he was in Vienna, a city he found beautiful, expansive, and expensive. He spent only a few days in Vienna before boarding another train, this time to travel about 300 miles north to Dresden, which was then the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony and part of the German Empire. Shurtleff was impressed with the city, though it was not as grand as Vienna. Still it was “wealthy in art and in museums of natural history.” He was

27 Ibid., Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 12 June, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

258 enthralled with many aspects of the German character. He found Germans to be direct and welcoming. Shurtleff wrote to his wife that their homes were clean, flowers were abundant, and,

“I see less attempts to humbug strangers [and] less unseemly solicitation.” Not all was rosy, however, as he noted that some Germans, especially older women, seemed care worn and beaten down by the hardships of life. The cost of photographs was also exorbitant. He regretted not buying more while he was in Rome where they were much less expensive.28

From Dresden, Shurtleff travelled to Berlin. There he received a treasure trove of letters and cards from home, and delighted in them and his chance meeting with a former student, J. M.

Vincent. Vincent was working toward a post-graduate degree at a Berlin university and living in a small apartment with his young wife. He had graduated from Oberlin three years before, and though Shurtleff felt the couple was living a Spartan existence, they seemed happy enough and the Latin professor enjoyed touring the city with a fellow Oberlin alumnus.29

Shurtleff’s travels may or may not have been as healthful as he hoped. His reports back to America were filled with statements that he was feeling better, followed shortly by another report that his headaches had returned. His adventure did, however, increase his appreciation for fine art. He lamented to Mary that his art education was quite minimal, and when confronted with spectacular paintings he was quite moved. Shurtleff felt that had he a better understanding of the process of painting and sculpting, he might more fully appreciate what he was seeing. He thought that should the college obtain a collection of original art it would be extremely valuable to the students. Shurtleff explained to his wife that students already have access to, “copies and photographs etc., but they seem trivial in comparison with the great galleries [he has seen].” A

28 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 30 June, 1882, and 2 July, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

29 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 4 July, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

259 few days after penning these words he complained that he was again, “suffering from that very uncomfortable dizziness and depression which sometimes attend my headaches.”30

In the fourth month of his sojourn, Shurtleff was in the Alps. He found the natural beauty of his surroundings remarkable. Descriptions of snow peaked mountains and glaciers filled the pages of his letters home. He spent a great deal of time hiking, and told Mary that his endurance was markedly improved from his mountain climbing. He described to his family back home his various hikes which included terrifyingly small paths that clung to the sides of steep mountains.

One wrong move and Shurtleff would have plummeted a thousand feet to his death. He labelled the Matterhorn, “the most striking Mt. in Switzerland,” and walked upon glaciers. Other times he walked about the towns and villages carrying few items, but never without his ‘Alpine Stick,’ a five-foot pole with a metal tip. At the end of the month he ventured up a 4,000-foot peak.

Two-and-a-half hours of steep trails yielded spectacular views. These alpine mountain climbs were in many ways far more serious than his trek up Mt. Vesuvius early in his trip. He had become a serious hiker, and the temperament of his guides was equally more somber. Perhaps he was reminded of some of his war time marches, and maybe he wished he had a horse. He did begin to express in his letters home an urgency to return. He clearly enjoyed the great cities of

Europe with their museums and boulevards. Shurtleff also marveled at the natural beauty of both the farmland of the low country and the majesty of the high peaks. Yet he wrote to Mary that she should never keep from him descriptions of everyday life back in Oberlin. She should not think for a moment that her travails were too small for a European traveler such as he. Shurtleff

30 It is interesting to note that another former student of Shurtleff’s, Dudley Peter Allen of the class of 1875, went on to become a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art. In the early 20th century Oberlin built the Allen Memorial Art Museum in his honor. It now houses a collection of over 14,000 original pieces making it one of the premier collegiate art museums in the country. For more see, http://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/art-museum/, and “The Dudley Peter Allen Memorial Art Building at Oberlin College,” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Vol. 4, No. 5 (Jun. - Jul., 1917), pp. 86-92; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 11 July, and 16 July, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

260 eagerly awaited any and all information from his wife and his dear girls. He also expressed to her that, “I cannot tell you what sense of relief I experience…to hear that you are all well.”31

As his trip entered its last stages, Shurtleff’s plans were to return to Paris for an extended visit where he hoped to meet up with Mary’s brother Theodore Burton. After that he would travel to London and Queenstown, and then sail home. In the beginning of August, however,

Shurtleff changed his plans. He made a quick detour south to visit some of the alpine lakes in northern Italy. He had been told that the beauty of these lakes was beyond compare, and when he arrived there he realized that they were “as advertised.” Shurtleff also began travelling with a

Scottish clergyman and a silk merchant, both of whom he found excellent companions. After this side trip, the Oberlinite returned to his scheduled journey, travelling to Cologne in Germany after stopping in Mayence in France. Shurtleff was startled to find Theodore Burton waiting at the train station in Mayence. Burton was about to board his train when the two spotted each other. Burton delayed his departure to the next train, giving the two about an hour to visit.

Shurtleff was grateful to see someone from home, and they probably talked about the lawsuit that had been filed against him. He wrote Mary that, “[i]t was a great comfort for me to have seen

[Theodore].” Burton may have brought with him good news regarding the lawsuit Frank

Bronson had brought against Shurtleff and others who were trying to stop the druggist from selling alcohol. In June, Burton had written Shurtleff that he need not have “any uneasiness about [the case].” He may also have brought Shurtleff news that the village of Oberlin was getting ready to pursue criminal charges against Bronson. 32

31 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 27 July, 1882, and 23 July, 1882, and 30 July, 1882, and 3 August, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

32 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 9 August, 1882, and 15 August, 1882, and Theodore Burton to Giles Shurtleff, 10 June, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. Mayence is the traditional French name for the current city of Mainz, Germany.

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By the middle of August Shurtleff was at the Grand Hotel De L’Athénée in Paris. He

once again began to tour museums, especially the Louvre. He resumed his complaints about his

health. He hoped that some brisk walks in the city might help, as might a dose of quinine. In his

last letter home he told Mary that he would go to London, where he hoped to see his friend and

fellow professor Judson Smith before sailing home. Shurtleff would be back in Oberlin in early

September. During his European journey Shurtleff was often able to find traveling companions

when he wished, and solitude when that suited him. When he was in great cities the professor

tended to spend a great deal of time indoors; from the great museums and cathedrals to hotels

and cafes, he was often inside. When he was in smaller

towns he took advantage of the outdoors and was in many

ways quite adventurous. He wrote home as regularly as

he had when he was in the army, and anxiously awaited

letters from home. Just as in his army days, his most

important correspondent was his wife Mary. He rarely

wrote to his daughters, but as he explained to his eldest

daughter Laura, his letters to their mother were also for

them. When Shurtleff did write to his children he tried to The Shurtleff Children: Laura (far right), May (down center), with cousins Grace and Mary Burton. OCA. include information that they would enjoy, such as a

description of the little girls in Switzerland, who seemed to be quite poor and worked very hard.

He also compared goat’s milk with cow’s milk and judged that, “I like it just as well.” Shurtleff

gave this detailed description of his trip to his youngest daughter, May. He wrote:

We started…yesterday morning in a very large stage. There were twenty passengers. Part of them were below and part above. I sat above so that I could see better. My seat was as high above the ground as our chamber. There were six great horses and every one had little bells around his neck and a large tassel on the

262

side of his head. The driver cracked his whip almost as loud as a pistol. We went very fast, 54 miles in 7 hours. It was a beautiful road and a charming country on both sides.33

Shurtleff booked his return passage on the S. S. Bothmia in late August. Records of the

Cunard Line do not, however, indicate a sailing of that ship in 1882. It was likely that

Shurtleff’s return voyage was similar to his first upon the S.S. Gallia. In September, the reunion of Shurtleff and his family must have been wonderful. While gazing at the Matterhorn, Shurtleff told Mary that the “mundane items” of household life was what he was looking forward to most.

Now he had them at last. He was free to resume his work for the college and watch his girls grow. Less than five years later he travelled to Europe again. He was again by himself and this time he took an entire year. At the end of that year he pronounced the trip useless. He wrote,

“The year has been a failure. I do not think I am in better health than when I left home and my studies have amounted to nothing.” He never again traveled abroad for his health or to study.34

* * *

During the decade leading up to and following the ‘Temperance War’ in Oberlin, Giles

Shurtleff traveled frequently to raise funds for the college. In some years he was relieved of his teaching duties for two of his three teaching terms so that he could travel and secure donations.

Sometimes his trips were fruitful, sometimes less so. By the mid-1870s Shurtleff was becoming frustrated with the college’s expectations of his part-time development work. He reminded the trustees of the college that he had only agreed to leave his teaching post, “for a few years until the college should be relieved from its serious embarrassment.” In 1876, the Latin professor

33 Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 18 August, 1882, and 3 August, 1882, and Giles Shurtleff to Laura Shurtleff, 30 July, 1882, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. . 34 See, “Norway Heritage,” http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=bothn. Accessed August 29, 2016; Giles Shurtleff to Mary Shurtleff, 27 July, 1882, and 21 May, 1887, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

263 traveled away from Oberlin for five months of the year, visiting Chicago, Indianapolis,

Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City, locations throughout New England, and

Ohio. He noted that financial distress in the country at large had limited his success, and that income from various investment instruments was diminishing. Shurtleff bemoaned that he had become the de facto treasurer, and his attempts to solicit scholarship monies and other donations were not as positive as they had hoped. He attended to his fundraising with great zeal, but wondered if the expense of a “general agent in the field,” was wise. In a report to the trustees,

Shurtleff noted that in twenty-six weeks of fundraising travel he was able to obtain only

$6,796.68. His top donation was only $500. His expenses over that same time were $2,240.45, leaving a net to the college of only $4,556.23. Although efforts to endow a scholarship in the name of President Charles G. Finney had yielded some success, Shurtleff believed that simply asking for money in order to raise the salaries of underpaid professors was ineffective. A new financial tool was needed.35

The banking instrument that changed much of the fundraising fortunes at Oberlin, and for

Shurtleff himself, was the mortgage, specifically western farm mortgages. The industrial growth and expansion of the late 1800s was well known to Shurtleff who benefitted from the industrial production as a soldier, and lived near the growing industrial city of Cleveland. Agricultural growth, partially because of the Homestead Act of 1862 and other pressures, was less obvious but almost as stunning as the industrial development. While Shurtleff struggled to find the time to both raise funds and teach Latin in the 1870s, the number of acres of American farmland increased by 44%. The agricultural output in places like Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas soared in some instances by over 200%. These farmers often needed cash to expand their farms

35 Giles Shurtleff memorandum to Oberlin Trustees, 1876, memorandum to Oberlin Trustees, 1877, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

264 or upgrade their equipment and they mortgaged their property so that they could make needed improvements. Farmers in Kansas, Nebraska, and to a lesser extent the Dakotas, used this strategy, but there were few banks nearby. Other institutions stepped in to provide loans. The need for mortgages was met by many different lenders, one of them was Oberlin College.36

One of Oberlin’s primary sources of funding from the 1870s through the 1890s was lending money to farmers in the plains states and charging up to 8% interest. These loans could then be bundled and resold, not unlike the mortgage backed securities of late 20th and early 21st centuries. Giles Shurtleff found himself traveling west to gauge the quality of loans, and to help westerners obtain needed cash and the college a funding stream. Shurtleff described it as the chief duty of the college’s treasurer to invest the school’s endowment, which at times was as great as $500,000. He said, “These funds are mainly invested in first mortgages on farms in the

West-and…when judiciously made are exceedingly safe and productive.”37

The college began fundraising through mortgages in the late 1870s as the land boom in the west continued. Shurtleff saw the power of this financial tool and began to use it personally.

Shurtleff created his own investment banking service that sold interest in western mortgages. He called his firm G. W. Shurtleff & Co., and it is fair to say that he was in the right place at the right time. Shurtleff understood funding, a new and exciting instrument was producing at a high yield, and he had both the time and availability to travel. G. W. Shurtleff & Co. was successful.

36 John Levy, “The Mortgage Worked the Hardest: The Fate of Landed Independence in Nineteenth- Century America,” from Capitalism Takes Command: The Social Transformation of Nineteenth-Century America, Michael Zakim and Gary J. Kornblith, Editors, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012), 45. Levy describes in great detail how farmers secured these loans, and then often purchased life insurance to make sure they could pay them off should something bleak befall them. The love-hate relationship the farmers had with their mortgages is a fascinating look at pioneers trying to obtain landed independence. See p. 39-66.

37 G. W. Shurtleff, “Selected Farm Mortgages,” Pamphlet, (Oberlin, OH: G.W. Shurtleff & Co.), Treasurers Papers, OCA.

265

The most visible example of Shurtleff’s monetary success can be seen in his final home.

In 1892, Giles and Mary Shurtleff bought a new parcel of land and built a large new house. In

June 1892, they spent $1,485 to buy a parcel of land located only a block or two from their home on Elm Street home. The property boarded South Professor and Morgan Streets, and sided on

Plum Creek. The land sloped up from both Plum Creek and South Professor creating a hilltop upon which they built their third and final home. They engaged the Akron firm of Weary and

Kramer to both design and build a shingle-sided wooden house that was large and fashionable, but not showy. They did not seem to mind that the spot had once been an Oberlin graveyard.

The house, built in a Victorian style, featured a long gabled roof and a large porch overlooking the creek and South Professor Street. The large home featured multiple bedrooms, so that college students could board there. One of the many students to live in Shurtleff Cottage during

Shurtleff’s lifetime was Karl Gehrkens. Like his landlord, Gehrkens arrived in Oberlin during the middle of winter break with little money, and needed to find work in order to pay for his education. Shurtleff allowed him to work off his third-floor room and board at the Cottage by grooming the general’s horse, and accompanying Shurtleff on rides throughout the county looking for interesting flora. Gehrkens remembered the old gentleman to be kind, but irascible,

“he wanted things to be just so, and did not hesitate to ‘give me hell’ if I did not groom the horse perfectly…or if I slighted my work in any way.” Eight years after Shurtleff’s death the college purchased the home and converted it to a dormitory.38

38 Blodgett, Oberlin Architecture, 147-148. The graveyard was moved after the Civil War to its current location further west on Morgan Street. All of the bodies were exhumed and moved, yet rumors that Shurtleff Cottage is haunted remain. See Ohio Historic Inventory of Shurtleff College, Oberlin Heritage Center, http://www.oberlinheritagecenter.org/cms/files/File/inventory/professorsouth159.pdf. Accessed August 29, 2016; Karl Gehrkens, letter to the Editor, Oberlin News Tribune, 24 January, 1946.

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While a soldier, Shurtleff had written Mary Burton that he longed to set up a little home with her and make a life together. Certainly he had achieved that goal, and even more. In May

1887, while touring Europe and again trying to recover his good health, he received a letter from

President Fairchild informing him that he had been named secretary and treasurer of the college.

Fairchild told Shurtleff that a committee of trustees had recommended that he take the job, and that the faculty, “heartily approve[d].” By this time, Shurtleff had been in Europe for nearly a year, and Fairchild was hopeful that his new secretary and treasurer could be on the job and checking on their “western agencies…& investments,” as soon as possible. He spent more than five years as secretary and treasurer, maintaining the various funds of the college, while monitoring his own private investment banking work, part of which was helping to create the

Oberlin Banking Company in 1889. In 1893, he stepped aside as Treasurer, and the next year was named a trustee of the college, a position he held until his death.39

Shurtleff had become one of the most prominent citizens in the town he anxiously entered as a penniless student. He had a fulfilling career, an active community and church life, as well as a wonderful family. He seemed the very model of an Oberlinite. An examination of the mind of this Oberlin ideal is in order.

* * *

Giles Shurtleff was throughout his life a man of principle and a man of action. As a young person, he travelled hundreds of miles to a strange new town so that he could advance his faith and education as he became part of Oberlin’s Finneyite tradition. Immediately after the

Civil War broke out he enlisted and served for years with distinction. In the middle of that

39 James H. Fairchild to Giles Shurtleff, 10 May, 1887, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Wellington Enterprise, 20 February, 1889; “Giles W. and Mary Burton Shurtleff,” Oberlin College Archives, http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/holdings/finding/RG30/SG32/biography.html. Accessed August 27, 2016.

267 service, when illness gave him a way out of military service and the dangers that came with it,

Shurtleff chose to fight on. Again and again, Giles Shurtleff acted on his Christian beliefs. At wars end, Shurtleff returned to Oberlin carrying the scars that bullets and battle experiences left upon him. The physical and emotional wounds he carried home did not slow his determination to continue working for God and country. For the rest of his life he promoted reform causes and his patriotic beliefs.

Political movements almost immediately claimed his attention as reconstruction issues dominated both state and national politics. In Ohio, Shurtleff argued strongly that the Ohio

Constitution be altered to enable black suffrage. Ohio drafted a new constitution in 1851, and that document outlined privileges and duties that were open only to white Ohioans. Shurtleff argued that anywhere the word ‘white’ was included in the law it should be stricken, therefore opening jury duty, suffrage, and military service equally to all citizens regardless of race. He received support from former governor Dennison. Dennison wrote Shurtleff stating his agreement, and the letter was reported in several newspapers. Shurtleff’s activism went beyond just guaranteeing black suffrage in Ohio. In the post war conflicts between the Radical

Republicans in the Congress and the former Democratic president Andrew Johnson, the

Oberlinite pronounced himself fervently on the side of the Radicals. “It is now the duty of the people,” Shurtleff said to a mass meeting in the College Chapel, “to see to the support of

Congress, and, more especially to the enfranchisement of the eighteen hundred brave colored men in the State of Ohio, who at the peril of their lives, had helped sustain the Government.”

The local papers said that the general’s “bold and decisive words were greeted with deafening applause from the audience.”40

40 See for example, Wellington, Enterprise, 22 February, 1867; or Wyandot, Pioneer, 28 February, 1867; “Mass Meeting at Oberlin,” Cleveland Daily Leader, 5 March, 1866.

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Shurtleff’s disgust with the Democrats may well have sprung from his reluctance to forgive his former enemies, at least as it pertained to governmental policy. He explained his fears of the South in a speech he gave to a soldiers’ association in nearby Lagrange, Ohio. The very character of southerners was, Shurtleff believed, the real enemy. Slavery, nullification, and secession were manifestations of the anti-republican nature of the South. He called upon the words of John Adams to prove his point, that “[a]ll our misfortunes come from…the reluctance of the southern states to a republican Gov’t.” Shurtleff’s evidence was the growing ‘lost cause’ sentiment in the south that he said kept blacks from equality and suffrage opportunities in eleven states. He cautioned his audience to not let the United States once again be unmindful of the warning signs in the South. The former colonel explained that two centuries of civil and religious liberty which had developed in the United States must not be allowed to be destroyed by the same “demonic hatred…determined to kill our national gov’t,” that had been experienced in 1861.41

Shurtleff’s anti-Democratic party feelings softened over the years, but his strong support of the Republicans never waned. He briefly toyed with running for Congress, and entered a

Republican nominating convention as a dark horse, and like most long shots finished out of the money. He nonetheless commented on the important political issues of the day, key amongst them was civil service reform. In one presentation, Shurtleff lamented the inability of President

Grant to make changes that would inspire people to trust in government. He reminded his audience that, “the best people of the country,” clearly distrust their elected officials and that,

“[t]he term ‘politician’ is fast coming to be a term of reproach…. a successful and active politician is [prima] facia evidence that he is not…of high moral tone.” Shurtleff pointed to

41 John Adams quoted by Giles Shurtleff, “Address Before the Lorain Co. Soldiers Association – Lagrange,” Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

269 successful government service organizations in Prussia and France as exemplars for the United

States. Near the turn of the 20th century, he returned to the subject, saying that things had much improved since President James A. Garfield’s death spurred on reform. The legislation signed by his successor, Chester A. Arthur, appealed to Shurtleff. It set up a series of tests to determine the capability of potential government workers. Perhaps Shurtleff was reminded of the tests he took in order to be considered for a position with the United States Colored Troops in 1863. In addition to helping guarantee a higher quality of worker, he maintained the reforms helped women. Specifically, in Washington, D. C. many women were employed by the government, and were subject to termination with every new administration. “The gain to women in independence and permanency of employment is very great.”42

Shurtleff was very interested in all aspects of education and he regularly spoke about the subject. He wrote about the common school, methods of study, and the needs of college curricula. Oberlin was a singular community in many ways, including in education. The village was home to both a public high school and the Preparatory Department of the College. High

Schools were quite rare, which is why so many colleges created a prep department, so that younger students could be readied for collegiate studies. The fact that Oberlin had both was, indeed, unusual. Shurtleff felt that it was a redundancy that the community did not need. His concern was that the public high school not only produced too few students that met the high expectations of Oberlin students, but that many wealthy families were sending their children to the tuition free high school instead of the Preparatory Department. He noted that the percentage of students in the Oberlin High School was nearly twice that of other high schools around the state. He also felt that the work professors did to examine students at their end of the high school

42 Wellington Enterprise, 30 July, 1880; Giles Shurtleff, Musings on Civil Service, circa 1902, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

270 careers was an undue burden upon them. This could explain why he altered how his own daughters were educated. His eldest, Laura, was a graduate of the Oberlin High School, while his youngest, May, graduated from the Preparatory Department of Oberlin College.43

He also commented on how education had changed at the college itself over the years.

Many of the changes, Shurtleff believed, were not for the better. Some of the things that concerned him were the “undue prominence given to athletic sports,” the deterioration of

“college manners,” the lack of equality extended “to fellow students who are colored,” and the profligate ways many students approached the school. Shurtleff’s objection to sport was not physical education. He played cricket as a student, and at one point recommended that the college hire a physical education expert, whom he called “an experienced director of gymnasium,” to be added to the faculty. However, he feared that sports pulled students’ minds out of their studies. He warned against giving too much importance to the baseball diamond. In terms of manners, Shurtleff seemed a bit of a tyrant. He remarked that as a thirty-year member of the Oberlin community, he did not remember a time when students were so loud in public

(including whistling). He chided his listeners for playing ball in public spaces and clogging the streets. He also fretted that the modern Oberlin student did not understand how much hard work went into an education, and therefore were not fully disposed to understand the value of both hard work and money. He noted that earlier Oberlin students worked as a part of their education, while students of the 1880s had incredible amounts of discretionary cash.44

43 Giles Shurtleff, “Writings on Education,” Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Giles Shurtleff, “The Relation of the Oberlin High School to the College,” circa 1874, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Seventy-fifth Anniversary General Catalogue of Oberlin College 1833 – 1908, (Oberlin, OH: 1909) 881, and www.Oberlin-high.org/1888/ .

44 Giles Shurtleff, Undated address on education at Oberlin, circa 1889, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; Giles Shurtleff, “Athletic Contests Grow in Schools,” an examination of athletics in education in Europe and the United States, undated, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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He also encouraged his students to reexamine the way in which they treated Oberlin’s black students. Jim Crow had come to Oberlin, as was seen in the drop in black enrollment. By the 1880s, students of color were only 3% of the population, less than half of what they had been. One of Oberlin’s benefactors Julia Wilson, a black teacher from Kansas, wrote about her concerns to President Fairchild, stating that she was, “watching with anxiety and fervent prayer…the issue of the present controversy at Oberlin in regard to…the treatment of colored students.” Wilson had provided scholarships for several young black men to attend Oberlin, and encouraged an Oberlin education over those found in black colleges. She believed that students living in an interracial environment would better understand the concept of equality. However, what she was hearing from her charges was not good, and she told Fairchild that, “For the educated colored man there is no home in this world as things are now.” And that included

Oberlin. Shurtleff was equally discouraged, and noted that white students cared little for their classmates of color. He cited the example of a particularly excellent black alumna, who when travelling by train was forced into the smoking car. He also noted that many of the families in town that took in students would only board white students. “No race of men,” Shurtleff explained, “since the beginning of history has been subjected to governmental tyranny and social obloquy so terrible, and it would seem as if any other race would have been driven to the final wail of a despairing pessimist like that of the wife of Job, ‘Curse God and die.’” The former soldier encouraged equality in the chapel, in the recitation hall, and in rooming opportunities. 45

However, two subjects more than any other dominated Shurtleff’s thoughts and lectures during his post war years. They were temperance and the war. Shurtleff was active in

45 Roland M. Baumann, Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College: A Documentary History, (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2010), 75. Julia Wilson to James H. Fairchild, 1882, quoted in Bauman, Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College, 86-87; Giles Shurtleff, Undated address on education at Oberlin, circa 1889, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

272 organizations that worked for temperance, and he regularly spoke at memorial days and other commemorations of the war. He also published an account of the year he spent as a prisoner of war. He was concerned about Republican politics, equality on campus, and education. He was passionate about temperance and memory of the Civil War.

Shurtleff gladly accepted the leadership of Oberlin’s Temperance Alliance, and his passion for the cause can be seen in a speech he gave to supporters in Elyria, Ohio, in the mid-

1890s. In it he argued that prohibition alone was not an answer, nor was it practical. He noted that in his many trips to Kansas where prohibition had become law, it was at first quite effective.

Shurtleff smiled when he heard a small boy asking his father what was a saloon. However,

Shurtleff noted that prohibition required a governmental integrity and capability that could not be guaranteed. The government officials who implemented an effective prohibition might be replaced by less savory types who let the policy lapse. That, he noted, was happening in Kansas.

Vigilance was key if prohibition was to work and people fighting to keep the government on track were key. He expressed great admiration for the Police Commissioner of New York City in whom he believed and in whose integrity he admired. That official was .

Roosevelt sometimes used unorthodox methods to reign in corruption, and Shurtleff suggested that temperance workers not be afraid to do the same. He repeated a metaphor used by

Roosevelt of the surgeon’s knife: it’s cutting and bleeding and pain ultimately yielded good health. It was not always pleasant, but must be done.46

Certainly Shurtleff’s role in Oberlin’s Temperance War of 1882 demonstrated his passion to the cause. He did travel to Europe while the struggle continued, however he came back to the fight when he returned home. The battle against Frank Bronson fizzled over time. Bronson had

46 Giles Shurtleff Speech in Elyria, Ohio, circa 1894, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

273 been found guilty of violating the law forbidding the sale of alcohol in college towns by the

Mayor’s court of Oberlin. He was sentenced to a fine of $50.00 and twenty days in the city jail.

When Bronson appealed, the county court upheld his conviction, but the Ohio Supreme Court overruled it. Ohio’s highest court exonerated Bronson, stating that village officials were too broad in their application of the law. Likewise, Bronson’s defamation suits were dismissed. In addition to the $10,000 he sought from Shurtleff and others, he sued the Reverend James Brand for $30,000. The case against Brand was dismissed in 1883, and by 1885 Shurtleff’s case was closed. He paid his brother-in-law Theodore Burton a final fee of $15.00 for his work in closing

“the Bronson case.”47

Shurtleff also promoted the work of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

He believed that the non-partisan nature of the organization gave it power that partisan politicians could not wield. The WCTU was in a position to unite the various agencies and factions that supported the cause, and move it forward. Indeed, the success of the entire movement required their efforts. In a speech to the WCTU he likened their work to that of

Harriet Beecher Stowe. Shurtleff maintained that Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin did more to move the country toward abolition than all of the works of abolitionist leaders such as William Lloyd

Garrison or . Shurtleff concluded that “[l]atent forces need to be roused, united and set to work; and this can be done by the Non-Partisan W.C.T.U. as by no other agency.”48

From civil service reform to temperance, Shurtleff was an unrepentant reformer for virtually all of his life. Perhaps his greatest post-war passion was not a reform, but the careful

47 American and English Corporation Cases: A Collection of Corporation Cases, both Private and Municipal, Vol. IX., Adelbert Hamilton, Editor, (Long Island, NY: Edward Thompson, 1886), 529-535; The Jackson Standard, 22 November, 1883; and T.E. Burton to G.W. Shurtleff, receipt, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

48 Democratic Press, Ravenna, Ohio, 12 March, 1890.

274 maintenance of Civil War memory. The decades following the war saw the country struggling with political reconstruction, while culturally constructing a framework to explain the horrific schism that split the country asunder. Cemeteries became local parks, monuments sprang up in town squares, reunions of regiments became annual events, and speeches were given about every aspect of the conflict. In many ways Giles Shurtleff became Oberlin’s Civil War memory.49

Early after Shurtleff’s return to Oberlin at the close of the war, he became the personification of the community’s participation in the war. He led the first Oberlin volunteers as the Captain of the Monroe Rifles. He embodied strength and courage in enduring a year’s captivity in Confederate prisons. Shurtleff became the embodiment of the abolition spirit that had gripped Oberlin since the time of the Lane Rebels when he led the 5th USCT into battle. A grateful nation rewarded him with the rank of Brevet Brigadier General, a grateful village took unmeasured pride in his service. For the remainder of his life Shurtleff was just as often referred to as General Shurtleff as he was Professor Shurtleff. The General did many things to promote this and was ultimately immortalized in .

Shurtleff was regularly invited to speak to soldier associations, reunions and

Decoration/Memorial Day events. Early speeches reveal Shurtleff’s lingering distrust of the

South, while later speeches expound on the heroic nature of the veteran. In a speech given at

Lagrange, Shurtleff admonished his listeners not to close their eyes to the danger that southern states still presented to national unity. “We are in the midst of a gigantic conspiracy more covert and therefore more perilous than that of ’61,” he warned his audience of former soldiers. After

49 He combined both subjects in a speech on Civil Service saying, “no person habitually using intoxicating beverages to excel can be appointed to, or retained in, any office of employment of the civil service.” See Giles Shurtleff, “Musings on Civil Service,” circa 1902, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. For a listing of the Civil War in historical memory, The Center for Civil War Research at the University of Mississippi has compiled the following list: http://www.civilwarcenter.olemiss.edu/resources_memory.shtml.

275 the turn of the 20th century, and near the end of his life he said to a Memorial Day audience that the soldiers were the true heroes, and not in the way of a Napoleon or an Alexander the Great.

Rather those who sacrificed their all deserved the sincerest appreciation. The dead were heroes, he maintained, and he shared this anecdote:

A young man of marked ability and unbounded ambition said to me in those first days of enlistment, “I feel that I ought to go, it is the duty of the hour; but it conflicts with all my ambitious plans. If I go, I must go as the servant of God.” – and in the same act he gave himself to his Lord and to the service of his country. A few months later we were both in the hands of the enemy, he with a mortal wound. As I lifted his head and touched his parched lips with cold water, racked with pain, his breath coming quick and tremulous, he said with painful effort, “Tell my mother I die content, glad to give my life to my country.”50

Shurtleff wrote an essay for publication by the Military Order of the Loyal Legions of the

United States (MOLLUS). MOLLUS flourished in the late 19th century and produced volumes of reminiscences from soldiers both north and south. Shurtleff’s essay chronicled his year of captivity which he called, “A Year With the Rebels.” Shurtleff also wrote and spoke about his time with both the 7th OVI and the 5th USCT, but did not publish those memories. Perhaps this reflected the vitriol that many Americans felt about how their sons were handled by the enemy during the war. In February 1895, Shurtleff addressed a MOLLUS gathering in Cleveland on the subject of his former boss, General Benjamin F. Butler. Although Shurtleff reminded his listeners that, “[e]gotism and vanity were prominent traits of his character,” and that Butler was a flawed person, Shurtleff believed that, “these blemishes were kept constantly before the public in an exaggerated form by a hostile press.” Taken all together, Butler was an important general and politician in American history. At age seventy-one, Shurtleff gave his last public speech. It was

50 Giles Shurtleff, Memorial Day Address, 1901, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

276 given in Oberlin and entitled, “From Oberlin Seminary to Rebel Prison in 1861.” It was well received and noted for its “intensity of interest and inspiration to patriotic duty.”51

Shurtleff became a part of Oberlin’s Civil War memory when a sculptor commemorated him in statuary. The sculptor was Emily Ewing Peck, a woman young enough to be his daughter and gracious enough to make the summer heat of 1897 a little more bearable. He donned his old uniform and made his way to her Main Street studio and, with his heavy sword strapped on, posed for the artist. As he modeled for her, perhaps he remembered the heat of the trenches outside Petersburg, and maybe he realized that the general’s uniform he wore was never worn in battle. The process took several days, and despite constant pain from a failing lung, Shurtleff patiently stood so that he could be immortalized in bronze.52

The artist displayed a plaster cast of her work at Oberlin College’s Speer Library the following September. It featured Shurtleff with his arm extended. Any one of the visitors who had seen Shurtleff lecture recognized the familiar pose. Peck unveiled her work and said that the plaster model on display was incomplete. She intended to add another figure, specifically a

“negro to whom the General is presenting a gun.” The artist intended to salute Shurtleff’s contribution to the acceptance of African American soldiers during war. After discarding earlier ideas of having the figure of Shurtleff protecting a former slave with an American flag, she decided to have the General handing the black man a gun. “He will be at the general’s left

51 Giles Shurtleff, A Year with the Rebels, from Sketches of War History 1861 – 1865, W.H. Chamberlain, ed., prepared for the Ohio Cammandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, (Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1896) Reprinted by Broadfoot Publishing Company, 390. Historian David W. Blight has said, "No wartime experience . . . caused deeper emotions, recriminations, and lasting invective than that of prisons." See his Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory (Cambridge, 2001) (Cambridge, 2001), 152; Giles Shurtleff, “Address Before the Loyal Legion, Cleveland, Ohio,” 7 February, 1895, Shurtleff Papers, OCA; The Oberlin News, 10 May, 1904.

52 Laura Shurtleff-Price to M. Swetland, 13 November, 1950, excerpt, Alumni Records, Former Faculty and Staff, Shurtleff, Giles W. folder, OCA.

277 hand,” explained Peck, “a contented, rather rough figure, just leaving his old life of slavery, awakening to the new possibilities, seeing a new idea, wondering, hesitating, deciding to act.”

Shurtleff, his wife, fellow faculty and friends who were at the library to see the unveiling must all have been a bit nostalgic thinking about the historic events they had witnessed through or with the general.53

* * *

By November 1903, Shurtleff’s health was declining noticeably. He and his wife decided to travel together for his health. Their destination was not Europe again, but Jacksonville,

Florida, where they stayed long enough to realize that Shurtleff was not improving. They headed north to Baltimore where they met with a specialist, Dr. Young, who operated on Shurtleff with the intent of alleviating the effects of diabetes. The general then convalesced in the Union

Protestant hospital in Baltimore for a month before returning to Oberlin.54

Shurtleff’s breathing continued to be an issue, and his strength was fading. April 1904, was the last time that the long time Oberlinite saw the springtime mud of his adopted home town.

By May he was bedridden and a death watch had begun. On Friday evening, May 6, 1904,

Shurtleff died peacefully in his home, Shurtleff Cottage, at the age of seventy-two. An impressive funeral took place the following Sunday afternoon at Second Church. A large crowd of both college and town folk gathered to say goodbye to Oberlin’s general. The president of the college, H. C. King, presided at the funeral and the casket was brought in by six pallbearers, four members of the faculty, one minister and one army officer, and the choir sang, Happy and Blest

Are They. Another prayer was offered by Professor G. F. Wright, and the choir returned with

53 “Statue of General Shurtleff by Mrs. Peck Placed on Exhibition in Spear Library,” Oberlin News, September 1987, clipping, Alumni Records, Former Faculty and Staff, Shurtleff, Giles W. OCA.

54 “Death Came,” Oberlin Tribune, 13 May, 1904.

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One Sweetly Solemn Thought. Geology Professor A. A. Wright and President King then both gave eulogies, and the service concluded. A small party accompanied Shurtleff’s casket to

Westwood Cemetery where the general was laid in the family plot. A grave side service was read by Professor G. F. Wright. Wright was a theologian and a geologist, who graduated from

Oberlin in Shurtleff’s class of 1859. Gathered for the service were his widow and their children,

May and Laura. Laura’s husband, S. H. Price was there as was Shurtleff’s brother Ephraim.55

An autopsy had been performed on Shurtleff the evening of his death. R. H. Cowley’s post-mortem examination showed that Shurtleff’s body had deteriorated badly. The doctor found an invasive carcinoma of the urinary bladder, acute bronchopneumonia in the right lung, marked cachexia, fibrinous pericarditis and pleuritis, and severe calcific atherosclerosis.

Shurtleff’s immediate cause of death was most likely brought on by the bronchopneumonia.

This infection was likely related to the bladder cancer and resulting kidney damage and emaciation.56

* * *

Giles Waldo Shurtleff’s life of service and reform, his Oberlin odyssey, was over. The town both grieved the loss and celebrated his life. Shurtleff had come to Oberlin as a young man looking for an education and a future and he found both. He had debated between a vocation of preaching or teaching, but had to be a soldier first. His military career had been one of great drama and consequence, but his great joy was coming home to Oberlin. It was in the sometimes- swampy middle of Lorain County that he could be with his beloved, raise his family, and push

55 Ibid.; “Gen. Giles W. Shurtleff,” The Oberlin News, 10 May, 1904.

56 56 R. H. Cowley, M.D., “Report of Autopsy performed on General Shurtleff,” 6 May, 1904, Shurtleff Papers, OCA. Jesse McKenney, MD., Pathologist with the Cleveland Clinic analyzed Dr. Cowley’s report and determined that bladder cancer most likely brought on the infection that killed Shurtleff. He notes that Cowley’s notes are not definitive, and it was possible that Shurtleff also had prostate cancer. Still, McKenney argues, bladder cancer was the most likely.

279 for the many reforms that had become so important in his life. He lived a life attempting to reach the perfectionism that his onetime professor Charles Grandison Finney tried to create. To the best of Shurtleff’s abilities, he succeeded.

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Conclusion

On Memorial Day 1911, a small group of Oberlinites gathered on the grounds of

Shurtleff Cottage to unveil the statue that Emily Peck had completed. Shurtleff’s granddaughter

Betty Price, squirming and impatient with the day, pulled away a heavy cloth revealing not

Peck’s original plan of two figures, but only Giles W. Shurtleff. Gone was the figure of the black man accepting a rifle and the responsibility of freedom from the Shurtleff. In the hand that would have held the gun was placed instead a rolled paper, perhaps a map. The life size memorial was not imposing, as Shurtleff rose only to about five feet nine inches tall, and weighed less than 150 pounds.1

Over time the statue became a regular target for mischief. In 1946, the editors of the

Oberlin News Tribune lamented the general’s fate, and in return received a letter from an Oberlin alumnus who had lived with the Shurtleffs on the third floor of their Cottage, with two other students in the final years of the old Oberlinite’s life. Karl Gehrkens regretted that the statue was regularly defaced. He was at the time of his writing an elderly man, remembering an elderly man. He relayed to the editors that he would not trade places with the young statue spoilers, for although they had the fire of youth, he had had the chance to know Giles Waldo Shurtleff. To

Gehrkens that was the better bargain. Students have continued to decorate the statue in the ensuing decades, sometimes dressing it in unusual clothing, or adding hats and scarves, and even the occasional feather boa. Many of the costumers had (and have) no idea who the statue was memorializing.2

1 Laura Shurtleff-Price, “Excerpt from a letter,” Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

2 Oberlin News-Tribune, 24 January, 1946.

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Mary Burton Shurtleff lived for twenty years after her husband’s death and was buried next to him in Westwood Cemetery. In those years, she applied for and received a widow’s pension and membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution. She remained active in

Oberlin, especially in Second Church. She moved out of the Shurtleff Cottage and into a house on West College street only a block from the church. Their eldest daughter Laura married

Samuel H. Price and moved to Chicago, and their youngest daughter May married Carroll

Lawrence Storey and moved to Wisconsin. Laura Shurtleff

Price contacted the college in 1950 to urge that they do something to preserve the statue of her father. “It should be preserved somewhere as the statue of a long ago Oberlin graduate done by another long ago Oberlin Graduate. But it should be in an inconspicuous place and there should be some explanation what Peck intended to do. This is all ancient history….” The statue remained near the corner of

South Professor and Corner, with a bronze plaque reading, Statue of Giles W. Shurtleff, Oberlin, Ohio. Note Shurtleff Cottage in the background and the scarf added around the statue’s neck. Photograph by Kara Freedom can not be given, it must be achieved. Fidling, 2016 Giles Waldo Shurtleff (1831-1904): Believing in the ability of the negro to aid in the fight for his freedom, he organized the first regiment of colored troops raised in Ohio. Inspired by his leadership they offered their lives for the freedom of their race. Captain Co. C. – Oberlin Students – 7th Regt., Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 1861 Prisoner of War, August 1861-August 1862 On Staff of General Wilcox, 9th Army Corps, October 1862-March 1863 Engaged in Battle of Fredericksburg, December 1862 Lieut. Colonel and Colonel, 5th US Colored Troops, July 1863-June 1865 Before Petersburg, this regiment lay two months in the trenches under daily fire. Nearly half its men were lost and he was severely wounded in the charge on New Market, September 1864. Brevetted Brigadier General, March 1865. 3

3 Laura Price-Shurtleff, Letter, November, 1950, Shurtleff Papers, OCA.

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Peck and her father must have seemed ancient history when she wrote the college in mid- twentieth century America. The role of the United States Colored Troops had been overtaken by

Jim Crow and other pressures in the late nineteenth century. In the ensuing decades historians began the slow process of reviving the USCT and the role of black soldiers, and the predominantly white officers who led them. Shurtleff’s story today is perhaps more current than it was sixty-five years ago, and certainly worthy of telling.

In many ways, Shurtleff was like a great many of the white officers of colored regiments.

He started his career in a white unit and received a promotion when he moved into the ranks of the USCT. He lamented the times when his unit was passed over for duty, and longed to prove that his regiment was as fine as any that had ever marched. Shurtleff left the army convinced that his men were the equal of any unit in the service. Yet, Shurtleff’s story offers more than this simple narrative.

Shurtleff’s early military career involved the hardship of a year in enemy prisons followed by severe illness. Shurtleff’s exit from the Union army in the middle of the war was hardly an act of cowardice, nor was it an attempt to flee the danger of the battlefield. His body had taken quite a pounding and few would question his remaining in Oberlin if he had chosen that path. Thanks in part to the lobbying of John Mercer Langston and O. S. B. Wall, Shurtleff found himself in Columbus angling for the colonelcy of a new regiment and exposing himself to dangers anew. It would be unfair to the hundreds of brave men who served as officers in the

USCT to say that Shurtleff was somehow braver, but certainly he was one of the few who had a way out of the army. He chose not to escape, but return to the front leading a regiment that Ohio had steadfastly refused to be allowed for years.

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It was Oberlin that made the difference. This can be seen in several ways. Shurtleff’s closest sibling Ephraim, was near his age and the two corresponded throughout their lives. The elder Giles Shurtleff took a very different path from the younger Ephraim Shurtleff. Giles left

Illinois and ventured east to the young Oberlin College. Ephraim stayed at home, and like his father became a farmer. The elder brother tried to convince the younger to come to Oberlin and study, but with no success. Neither Ephraim nor any of his other brothers chose to volunteer during the Civil War. It is easy to speculate that had Giles Shurtleff never traveled to Oberlin, a military career would have escaped him. Certainly he would not have viewed the schism in the country as the idealistic and Christian crusade that his Oberlin education had led him to believe.

Charles Grandison Finney shaped much of Oberlin’s Christian ethos while Shurtleff was a young student. Shurtleff developed a deep and encompassing Christian faith that for much of his student years included an acceptance of African-American peers. Oberlin’s vision of

Christianity also preached abolition during this same time, creating in Shurtleff an idealistic drive to fight and risk death for the cause. Other Oberlinites shared Shurtleff’s zeal and their company in the 7th OVI was dubbed “the Praying Company.” They faced ridicule from some of their comrades in Union arms, but held fast to their faith. Prison time could not dull their conviction, and perhaps even fired it. As a POW, Shurtleff regularly tried to attend or lead religious services. He took pride in the fact that his enlisted colleagues did the same in the southern prisons in which they found themselves confined. Shurtleff took pains to point out the depth of faith of his students who served with him, especially Sergeant William W. Parmenter.

Shurtleff grieved his death deeply.

Shurtleff’s Oberlin education also marked him as unique. The fact that he was an educator before the war was not in and of itself, unusual. His comrades in arms noticed his

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Oberlin religiosity and education. General Edward A. Wild tapped him to act as chaplain to a condemned southern prisoner, and even the Richmond Dispatch noted Shurtleff’s role as tutor when commenting on his meeting with his wounded men before being shipped off to prison.

However, more than the novelty of his profession, his work as an educator helped him to succeed as an officer. Shurtleff was an able officer, growing in ability with each command. While with the 7th OVI, Captain Shurtleff had a direct supervisory role over his men, many of whom had been his students. He had no problem maintaining a superior relationship with his men. His

Oberlin education undoubtedly helped him gain his position as Inspector General on General

Orlando B. Wilcox’s staff. Shurtleff met Wilcox while imprisoned, and the Oberlininte undoubtedly impressed him with his intellect. Wilcox depended upon his Inspector Generals to perform a variety of tasks, and Shurtleff stayed with Wilcox until illness made his presence untenable. Lieutenant Colonel Shurtleff was later in charge of an entire regiment, and here again he had no difficulties instructing his officers on how to train their companies. He worked easily with his staff to post orders of the day and make sure the regiment ran smoothly, even when his superior was out ill.

Even after the war was over, Oberlin’s ethos was part and parcel of the man. Upon returning home to Oberlin he immersed himself in the activities of both the village and the college. He also helped to expand the church as one of the founders of the Second Church in

Oberlin. Far from being a competitor to Finney’s First Church, Shurtleff’s Second Church acted as a kind of overflow and assisting congregation. One of the greatest passions of his postwar years was temperance, and here again the Oberlin influence was unmistakable. Shurtleff was not unaware of Jim Crow’s devious and destructive presence even in a bastion of abolition such as his adopted home town had been before the war. However, his active fight against Jim Crow

285 was minimal. He spoke in favor of better treatment for black students at the college and in the town. However, he organized to fight the evil of drink. He confronted the enemy face to face, and was even sued by the local druggist. If it is true that actions speak louder than words, it is obvious that Shurtleff had become a temperance man, and his days fighting for racial justice were past. This reflected his relentless Oberlin Christian faith. Struggles could be seen in many places and reform was a constant. Those reforms were subject to change with the times.

Shurtleff’s post-war career also reflected the business growth of the era. He spoke publicly about the war and the current political scene. His job, however, was to raise money for the college. He used the tool of the mortgage to enrich Oberlin’s coffers, and started his own investment business on the side. To be sure, some of Shurtleff’s wealth went to fund his faith.

Mary and Giles Shurtleff always paid an annual pew fee at Second Church, along with other charitable giving. Still, the general managed to amass a significant amount of wealth, enough to furnish two trips to Europe. Giles Shurtleff retained his reformer’s zeal, but adopted a credo of wealth that can be seen in the size of Shurtleff Cottage, a house built for his small family which boasted three stories, and enough space that when acquired by the college it became a dormitory.

The farm boy from Illinois who entered Oberlin nearly penniless, was a Gilded Age business man.

All these aspects of Shurtleff conspire to make him much more than an abolitionist Civil

War officer. The poor boy from Stanstead, Canada, grew into a prosperous, Christian scholar, who fought the devil alcohol while raising significant funds for his alma mater. Those who pass by his statue, or know a little something about Giles Waldo Shurtleff have a nearly permanent view of him as Civil War leader of black troops. He was so much more than that. Perhaps it was for the best that Emily Peck’s original conception for the Shurtleff statue was never realized. A

286 bronze memorial showing Shurtleff aiding a poor and hapless man would only further bury the complexity of the man. For Shurtleff did not view his men as poor and hapless. They were men who rose to greatness at New Market Heights of their own volition and hard work. Just as they had risen, so had Shurtleff.

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VII. Interviews

Voorhees, Catherine Durrant. Shurtleff descendant and author. Interview and email correspondence – summer 2016. McKenney, Jesse. Cleveland Clinic pathologist. Interviewed and received report of Shurtleff autopsy – spring 2015.

VIII. Miscellany Glory, Film – Directed by Edward Zwick, distributed by Tri-Star Pictures, 1989.

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