OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 726 Today's Topics: #1 Fw: Bio History -- Know Your Ohio ["Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <01ea01bf16a7$153975e0$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Bio History -- Know Your Ohio -- Ohio in The Civil War -- Pt 3 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: kathi kelley To: Sent: Thursday, October 14, 1999 3:20 PM Subject: Bio History -- Know Your Ohio -- Ohio in The Civil War -- Pt 3 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley Oct 13, 1999 *********************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio From the diaries of S.J. Kelly Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley *********************************************** Ohio In the Civil War -- part 3 Newspapers, Politics. and etc. How the newspapers gathered news played an important role in the north and the south. Not much had been written about the southern press. In many ways editorial reactions were the same in both the north and the south. For example, southern editors were highly critical of military strategies, and journelists such as Robert Barnell, editor of the Charleston Mercury, attacked the Confederate administration just as violently as Lincoln was being attacked in the north. War aims were not as much an issue as they were in the North, however, nor was there anything quite corresponding to the Copperhead press. When the war began, the south had no system for preparing or transmitting news of public interest to replace the severed connection with the New York Associated Press. An Augusta editor began sending out a brief daily summary to be telegraphed to a few newspapers willing to pay for the service, but this was never widely used. In 1862, the papers of Richmond tried to establish a more effective organization. Publishers realized that to meet the expense of covering the war, they all would have to work together. They also saw that in order to place correspondants where they would be needed, they would have to pool resources. It was evident that the Richmond papers could not achive these results by themselves. Following a series of conferences, Joseph Clisby of the Macon Telegraph summoned the editor of every daily in the south to attend a meeting in Augusta on Feb 4,1862. The Association of the Richmond Press had just been organized, and the plan was to expand the idea by organizing a National Press Association. On the whole, the Press Association served its clients well. When Gen P.G.T. Beauregard began to hold up dispatches, the press association approached him and presented that the association's aim was to obtain accurate reports for the good of the public, consistent with military security, the Gen was impressed but somewhai concerned. As a result, a compromise was worked out-- reporters were instructed NOT to send opinions or comments on events. They were furthur warned to sift rumors and to offer no information that would aid the enemy. The objectivity of the Press Association stories has been regarded as constituting a complete revolution in journalistic writing. Newspapers that seldom had sucess to regular wire news budgets were now able to keep readers up to date on the war. Short, but complete, reports supplanted the rambling, confused accounts of prewar days. The development of the Press Association was a big step in both the north and the south journalism. Dispatches were transmitted over Military Telegraph lines, the Army system, at half the price. There was also a satisfactory arrangement with the private Telegraph systems. Many reports now could come in from New York and visa versa. Ohio also relied on the outside news as their military units could count on reliable telegraph messages especially from the larger newspapers. Railroads-- The civil war is renowned for the introduction and employment of many new weapons, including rifled artillery, and machine guns and submarines. To the list should be railroad weapons, which were the predecessors of modern armored fighting vehicles. During the war, railroads were second only to waterways in providing logistical support for the armies. They were also vital to the economies of the divided nation. Large military forces were, of course, the worst danger to railroads, because they supplied the units that were on the campaign. Railroads were often major objectives-- an army without supplies cannot operate for long. Since the only sure way to deal with large scale threats was with a force of simular size, armies often stayed near the railroad tracks. While armies campaigned, locomotives and rolling stock provided logistical support, and some also performed tactical missions. These missions included close combat, especially when the situation was fluid or when the railroad provided a convenient avenue of approach to an opponent. In such situations, commanders sometimes sent locomotives to reconnoiter the terrain and gain information on enemy troop dispositions. While this may seem like a risky venture, gathering information was often worth the risk, and lone locomotives could quickly reverse direction and move as fast as 60 mph, far faster than pursuing cavalry. With such great mobility, locomotives were useful as courier vehicles when commanders had to rush vital intellience to headquarters. This communications service was an important advantage in a war where raiders frequently cut or tapped telegraph lines. They also transported to the newspapers pertinent information when telegraph lines were down. Useful as they were for tactical and logistical support, locomotives were vulnerable to derailments and sharpshooters, who might perforate a boiler or a crewman. Federal officers accordingly inspected rails and armored some of their engines against small-arms fire. Unforunately, their crews found that the armor trapped too much heat inside the cabs and limited egress if there was an accident. This was an important considertion, since a ruptured boiler could scald a crew in their iron cab like lobsters in a pot. This grisly prospect encouraged many crewmen to take chances by jumping from the cab in the event of a derailment. An eventful compromise included applying armor to some parts of the cab and installing small oval windows, thus reducing the chances of a sharpshooter's bullet penetrating the glass, while still affording adequate visibility for the crew. In special situations, locomotives served as rams. Troops might start a locomotive down a track with a full head of steam to damage an enemy train or facilities, or to attack troops. On one occasion, Confederate soldiers lurking near a burned bridge suddenly saw a burning ammunition train hurtling straight toward them, forcing them to retreat. Troops sometimes launched individal cars, also set ablaze, against opponents, or used them to burn bridges. The potential for such railborne threats prompted commanders to build obstructions on the tracks. Frieght trains might also deceive an enemy. A train might run back and forth into an area, tricking scouts into reporting that the enemy was reinforcing his position, when in fact he was leaving. One Federal ruse involved sending a deserted train down the tracks to entice Confederate artillery into firing, thereby revealing their location to counterfire. While the trains might serve as artilery bait, they could also transport heavy guns to the battlefield. Commanders took this idea a step further during the war by mounting heavy artillery pieces, which were very cumbersome to maeuver in the field, on flatcars for combat operations. Locomotives or manpower propelled these railroad batteries, dispensing with the horses that normally were the prime movers for the guns and eliminating the need to hitch and unhitch the gun from the horse team. This enabled a battery to fire on the move, a significant advantage over its horse-drawen counterparts. To protect railroad batteries against counterfire, builders mounted thick iron and wooden shields on the flatcars at a 45-degree angle to deflect enemy projectiles. Batteries fired through the shields' embrasures and then recoiled along the length of the cars, arrested by ropes. The crews then reloaded the weapons and pushed them back into battery position. Not all railroad batteries had armored potection. Some relied on mobility, covered firing positions, and firing during low visibility to limit their exposure to enemy artillery. Other railroad batteries relied on their superior range to batter opposing forces from afar. With such capabilities, railroad artillery was appropriate for seige and harrassment operations as well as head-to-head encounters between armies. As an Army advanced. it often had to rebuild railroads that the fleeing enemy had destroyed. Construction trains, forerunners of modern engineer corps vehicles, thus became indispensible to military operations. These trains required armed protection, and infantrymen and cavalrymen often accompanied them. Also useful in railroad warfare were armed trains, which, as their name implies, carried combat-ready troops and, at times, artillery. Their march order, or sequence of cars, is noteworthy. The locomotive was placed in the train's center, where it received some protection from the train's cars and its own tender. Generally speaking, flatcars--sometimes laden with troops and artillery-- rode at the train's ends to provide the best fields of fire. Passenger or boxcars might ride between the flatcars and the locomotive. Armored trains performed several missions. In some instances they doubled as construction trains. They also patrolled tracks, conducted reconnaissance missions, and escorted supply trains. Individual armed cars also accompanied supply trains, usually coupled to the front of a locomotive. On one occasion, armed Federals stole a Confederate train and wreaked havoc on the line. Meanwhile, another Federal armed train, only recently commandeered from the Confederates, carried a conventional force through Confederate territory to rendezvous with the renegade train. Some armed trains carried sandbags or another form of shielding for the troops on board, but this was not always the case. In the first few months of the Civil War, troops disdained cover, since they were accustomed to tactics best suited for the smoothbore musket. They considered cowering behind cover during combat to be less than manly. ********************************************* to be continued in part 4. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 20:51:14 -0400 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <01f101bf16a7$62498c80$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Bio History -- Know your Ohio -- Ohio in the Civil War -- pt 4. Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: kathi kelley To: Sent: Thursday, October 14, 1999 6:49 PM Subject: Bio History -- Know your Ohio -- Ohio in the Civil War -- pt 4. Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley Oct 14,1999 *********************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio From the diaries of S.L. Kelly Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley *********************************************** Ohio in the Civil War -- part 4. Railroads-- and etc As the war progressed and the lethality of rifled muskets became all too evident, soldiers' attitudes changed toward using cover in combat. Navel events at Hampton Roads, Va., which included a duel beteen ironclad vessels Monitor and Merrimack, convincingly illustrated the efficiency of iron plating in stopping projectiles. Shortly thereafter, " Moniter" fever swept the nation as ironclad enthusiasts lobbied for the construction of a huge ironclad fleet. Army officers also caught this fever, and ironclad railroad cars soon appeared across the nation. Ohio was one of the first to use this method. Fittingly, troops called them railroad "Monitors". in honor of the Federal Vessel that inspired the fever. The first railroad monitors resembled iron boxcars. Light artillery pieces were fired from hatches cut in the hull. Small-arms apertures cut in the sides allowed infantrymen to suppliment the fire of the main guns. The car's armor was only thick enough to withstand small-arms fire. however, so commanders generally relegated the boxcar-shaped monitors to areas known to be infested with partisans. Railroad monitors carried several infantrymen. However, firing artillery and muskets from within the cramped confines of a railroad car must have been confusing and dangerous. Ultimately. montors carried riflemen with repeating rifles inside the car, which had an artillery piece mounted on the top of the car that commanded all sides of the train. This arrangement separated the infantry from the artillery while substantially increasing fire-power, but a least one unimpressed reporter from Ohio referred to it as a " hermaphrodite." Another means of segregating the infantry from the artillery was the rifle car. Rifle cars resembled ordinary boxcars, but their shielding was placed inside of the cars. Musket apertures on all sides offered their crews wide fields of fire for small arms. Like the artillery-bearing railroad monitors, rifle cars could guard key railroad features. protect repairmen, supervise railroad guards and escort supply trains. Just as rife monitors foreshadowed modern tanks, rifle cars were early versions of infantry fighting vehicles. Along with rifle cars came a new type of railroad monitor that used thick, sloped iron casemates that could deflect light artillery projectiles-- an important capability when Confederate horse artillery lurked nearby. These new railroad monitors resembled elongated pyramids and were the same shape a casemated ironclad vessels ( turrets were not used with the light artillery on railroad monitors, though armored railroad cars in subsequent conflicts did use turrets). With their thick armor and cannons, these railrad cars were similar to modern tanks. Rifle cars and monitors coupled to a locomotive formed an ironclad ( or armored) train. A simple ironclad train consisted of a locomotive and a railroad monitor. Optimally, however, an ironclad train employed a number of cars in a specific sequence as had armed trains. A railroad monitor rode at each end of the train. Coupled to these were rifle cars, with the locomotive and tender positioned in the middle. This march order distributed firepower evenly, provided mutually supporting small-arms and artillery fire, and afforded the locomotive some protection. Not all ironclad trains had the same number of cars, but this efficacious march order became the ideal for armored trains subsequently used by many nations. Indeed, modern armored forces today use a simular combined-arms approach of mutually supporting firepower, although the vehicles operate independantly rather being coupled together in units, and, of course, are not limited to the rails. While armor might protect rolling stock from projectiles, explosive devices planted in the railroad posed serious threats to trains of all types. Those torpedoes ( known today as mines ) included simple artillery shells with percusson fuses as well as specially constructed pressure-detonated contrivances filled with gunpowder.When buried in the roadbed under a crosstie, torpedoes could be detonated by a passing train. Some torpedoes, especially those using arillery shells, lifted locomotives completely from the tracks and shattered freight cars. Because of the many hazards that might be present on the tracks, some Federal locomotives pushed loaded flatcars over the rails to inspect the tracks or to detonate torpedoes before the valuable locomotive passed over them. These flatcars, known today as control cars, pusher cars, or monitor cars ( not to be confused with railroad monitors), also protected locomotives from rams. Another method of preventing attacks on Federal trains was to put hostages wit Confederate sympathies on th trains. Some Federal commanders even issued draconian decrees threatening to deport local inhabitants or destroy their farms if depredations occurred on local railroads. Beligerents also used other vehicles on the railroads. Handcars-- small but utilitarian vehicles--were used to inspect rails, transport important personnel and evacuate the wounded. They also helped troops escape superior forces and reconnoiter in fluid tactical situations. In this role they were far more stealthy than locomotives, although they lacked a locomotive's speed and protective cab. Some handcars were large enough to transport several men, including guards, and were valuable mode of transport if a locomotive was unavailable. In one instance, a large handcar carried a 10-pounder Parrott gun to duel with a much larger Confederate railroad battery. Since operable locomotives were at a premium during the war, it was not always economical to use them on missions for which a smaller vehicle would suffice. The Federals therefore applied off-the-shelf technology to warfare, using recently developed steam passenger cars ( self-propelled railroad coaches) to inspect the tracks and deliver pay to isolated posts. On such missions, the cars carried some interior armor that protected the steam engine as well as the crew, making the steam passenger cars forerunners of self-propelled armored railroad cars or, as the Russians called them, rail cruisers. These heavily armed railroad cars proved good substitutes for armored trains, since several cars were not dependant on a single locomotive for mobility. Civil War railroad operations were characterized by the widespread use of locomotives and rolling stock to support armies tactifully as well as logistically. Americans set precedents for a variety of modern armored fighting vehicles, including armored railroad cars, armored trains, railroad batteries and other railroad weapons. Moreover, tanks, armored personnel carriers, engineer vehicles and self-propelled artillery can also claim American railroad weapons as their conceptual ancestors and Ohio certainly did their part in its concept. *********************************************** To be continued in part 5. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #3 Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 21:25:36 -0400 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <03f401bf16ac$2f1d5260$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Obituary; Anna M. (Coleman) Hively Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: gking1 To: Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 7:47 PM Obituary; Mrs. Anna M. (Coleman) Hively; (23 Aug 1969) Mrs. Anna M. Hively of Danville, RD 2, died in University Hospital at Columbus yesterday after a long illness. She was born in Knox County and lived there most of her life. She was a member of the Zion Lutheran Church at Jelloway. Surviving besides her husband, Richard H., is a daughter, Miss Shirli Ann, at home; two sons, Daniel R., U.S. Army, and Bruse D., at home; parents, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Coleman of Danville, RD 2. Services will be conducted Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at the Zion Lutheran Church, Rev. William Winszellor, officiating. Friends may call at Banks Funeral Home in Loudonville from noon Monday until noon Tuesday and at the church one hour before services. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Gerry B. King mailto:gking1@neo.rr.com) Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223 10/13/1999 ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #4 Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 21:26:06 -0400 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <03fa01bf16ac$40dbdd00$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Obituary: Carl D. Franks, 1960, Holmes County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: gking1 To: Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 7:53 PM Obituary: Carl D. Franks, 58, Shreve RD 2, (Holmes County), had a heart attack while working near Dalton and was dead on arrival at Dunlap Hospital in Orriville. He was a casing laborer in oil fields for over 40 years and was working recently for Patton Drilling Co. of Millersburg. He was born in Holmes County June 4, 1902, to Ellsworth and Mary Roberts Franks. He was married Nov. 23, 1930 to Pearl Conrad Franks, who survivies. Other survivors include a son, Earl D. at home; a foster-daughter, Mrs Howard Bower of Danville; a brother, Ralph of Shreve RD2; a sister, Mrs Mable Harmon of Shreve; and two grand-childred. He was a member of Bigelow Church. Services will be at 1:30 p.m. EST Monday at the Johnston Funeral Home in Shreve with Rev. James Kilgrove officiating. Burial will be in Loudonville. Gerry B. King mailto:gking1@neo.rr.com) Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223 10/13/1999 ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #5 Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 21:26:39 -0400 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <040001bf16ac$54780140$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Obituary: Dorothy Evangaline (Snively) Mutchler,1992, Ashland Co. Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: gking1 To: Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 8:00 PM Obituary: Dorothy E. Mutchler Dorothy E. Mutchler, 88, formerly of 528 E. Main St., Loudonville, died Wednesday evening at Colonial Manor Health Care Center 1, Loudonville, after a long illness. She was born Aug. 8, 1901 in Holmes County, the daughter of Jacob and Josephine Breitenbucher Snively. She was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Loudonville. Mrs. Mutchler was a charter member of the Loudonville Fraternal Order of Eagles. She is survived by nieces and nephews. In April of 1951, she married Cloyd Mutchler, who preceded her in death on April 29, 1972. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #6 Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 21:27:23 -0400 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <040601bf16ac$6ec12180$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Obituary; Eileen (Conrad) Bower, 1983 ,Holmes Co. Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: gking1 To: Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 8:03 PM Obituary; Eileen (Conrad) Bower Eileen Bower, 63, of Danville, died Wednesday evening in Mansfield General Hospital following a short illness. Born March 2, 1920 in Perrysville, she was the daughter of Albert and Mary McKee Conrad. She was married in 1946 to Howard Bower, who preceded her in death May 1, 1974. Survivors include one son, Charles Bower of Danville; one daughter, Susan Myers of Wapakoneta; two sisters, Betty Hyatt of Newark and Gladys Sodam of Bellville, Ill.; two brothers, Gerald Conrad of Hayesville and Henry Conrad of Cuyahoga Falls and one grandchild. Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Fischer Funeral Home, Danville, with Stanley Ratliff officiating. Burial will be in Mount Vernon Memorial Gardens. Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday in the funeral home. Gerry B. King mailto:gking1@neo.rr.com) Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223 10/13/1999 ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #7 Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 21:28:14 -0400 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <040c01bf16ac$8d65aca0$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Obituary; Elise (Conrad) Kudika, 15 Jan 1980 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: gking1 To: Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 8:11 PM Obituary; Elise (Conrad) Kudika, 15 Jan 1980 Elise Kudika, 68, of 206 1/2 Harker St. died Monday morning at Mansfield General Hospital after a short illness. She was born Jan 26, 1911, in Loudonville and had been a resident of Mansfield most of her life. She was a retired employee of Westinghouse Electric Corp. She was a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church. She is survived by her husband, Frank Kudika; two step sons, Thomas Kudika of Mansfield and Frank Kudika of Worthington; three brothers, Paul Conrad and Richard Conrad, both of Mansfield and Kenneth Conrad of Travares, Fla.; and three sisters, Mrs. Sara Solomon of Mansfield, Mrs. Lucille Walters of Mansfield and Mrs. Pauline Brendel of Loudonville. The Funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Geiger-Herlihy Funeral Home, with a priest from St. Peter's Catholic Church officiating. Burial will be in Mansfield Catholic Church Cemetery. A vigil service will be held at 7:30 p.m. today at the funeral home. Friends may call today from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Gerry B. King mailto:gking1@neo.rr.com) Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223 10/13/1999 -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #726 *******************************************