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The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument - Cleveland, Ohio, 3 Public Square, Cleveland, OH (2026)

10/19/2026

The 23rd Ohio was one of the most veteran volunteer regiments in United States service by October 1864. Enlisting in northern Ohio in July 1861, the men of the 23rd had recently reenlisted, choosing to see the war to its end. Over their years of service, the 23rd had seen hard fighting in Maryland, West Virginia, along the Ohio River, and most recently in the Shenandoah Valley. Just a few weeks earlier the Buckeyes of the 23rd had taken part in the Union victories of Third Wi******er and Fishers Hill, which had seemingly driven rebel forces from the valley. However, the morning of October 19, 1864, along the banks of Cedar Creek, would prove to be quite shocking for many Union soldiers.

Shortly before dawn, thousands of rebel troops moved across the creek and attacked the Federal troops as they lay in their camps. The men of the 23rd had a few moments to prepare as the rebel attack rolled towards them, but confusion reigned in the early morning darkness. Men and horses ran about, screams and shouts came from every direction, muskets and cannons roared from the front and from behind. Commanding a division this day, the 23rd's Colonel Rutherford Hayes tried to hold his men together, but they were greatly outnumbered. James Hayr, a man recently promoted to sergeant for his bravery at Fisher's Hill, attempted to aid a cannon as its crew pulled back but was severely wounded in the process. Hayr barely managed to escape as the line collapsed. Colonel Hayes was also caught in the rout, as his horse was shot and killed, throwing him and knocking him temporarily unconscious. He awoke just in time to join his men as they reeled from the rebel onslaught.
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10/18/2026

We often get asked who the most famous person on our walls is, and you answer might vary per caretaker! We have a Rockefeller, a Severance, a Hanna, among others. Sometimes however a man might be obscure today but would have been quite famous when the monument was erected. One of those men was Charles Whittlesey, who passed away on this date in 1886.

Charles Whittlesey was born in Connecticut and graduated from the United States Military Academy in West Point in 1831. He only served for two years before resigning, taking up law, and moving to Cleveland. In 1837 he was appointed assistant geologist for the state of Ohio and he helped to map many of the coal deposits in the state. His geologic work also led him in to contact with many Native American historic sites, which he also catalogued. Whittlesey's geologic work eventually led him all across the Great Lakes.

When the Civil War began Charles Whittlesey was named assistant quartermaster for Ohio, but was soon made colonel of the 20th Ohio Infantry. He led his regiment at Fort Donelson and commanded a brigade at Shiloh, but his age and ill health forced him to resign his commission in late April 1862. However, when rebel forces threatened Kentucky in October of that year Charles Whittlesey volunteered his services again, helping to plan the defenses of Cincinnati.

After the war Charles Whittlesey continued his surveying and literary endeavors. He helped found the Western Reserve & Northern Ohio Historical Society (now the Western Reserve Historical Society) in 1867 and was the organizations first president. In his life he wrote or contributed to over 200 publications and today his name is used for the Native American culture he studied.

10/16/2026

At 11 P.M. on October 16, 1859, about 20 men crossed a bridge over the Potomac River into the town of Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia) The men were led by John Brown, an abolitionist who had become increasingly violent in his attacks on slavery and those who supported the practice. Most recently Brown had been involved in the bloody border war in Kansas and Missouri, which saw anti- and pro-slavery factions fight to decide if Kansas would become a free state. Now, John Brown looked to start an insurrection of enslaved peoples across the South.

John Brown's actions were ultimately not successful, and we covered the flow of events in detail last year. One of the interesting aspects of this event is the many notable names that were attached it. John Brown attempted to recruit both Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman, but Harriet Tubman was ill and Frederick Douglas considered Brown's plan suicidal.
Involved in the operations against Brown in Harper's Ferry where Robert Lee, James Stuart, and Thomas Jackson. Lee commanded the Federal troops sent to apprehend Brown, while Stuart (better known as Jeb) was a lieutenant that joined Lee's command.
Jackson, who became far more famous as "Stonewall" was a professor at VMI and led his cadets as part of the Virginia militia forces present when Brown was executed in Charlestown, (West) Virginia in December 1859. Also among the Virginia militia was a young actor whose name became notorious five years later, John Wilkes Booth.
Perhaps one of the most ironic

10/13/2026

Although the 1864 Presidential Election has garnered far more attention, Buckeye soldiers also went to the polls in the fall of 1863, this time to choose a new governor. The incumbent David Tod had done a respectable job of raising and supplying Ohio soldiers, but his reaction to raid of rebel cavalry into Ohio in the summer of 1863 was considered lackluster and his stance on recruiting black soldiers was not in step with Federal Government. He was not chosen for reelection, with the nod instead going to John Brough (rhymes with rough.)

Brough, like Tod, was a lifelong Democrat that ran as a member of the Union Party in 1863, which was a coalition of War Democrats and Republicans. Brough's opponent was Clement Vallandingham, a notoriously anti-war politician who had been arrested and exiled to the Confederacy. Vallandingham left South and went to Canada, where he ran for Governor in absentia. Although many in Ohio were weary of the war, the participation of active-duty soldiers would be very telling. These were the men with their lives on the line, and a repudiation of Brough could be seen as a condemnation of the Union war effort. Which way then, would Ohio soldiers vote?

An answer can be found in the "Itinerary of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry" by Lawrence Wilson, which includes this rather terse entry: "On the 13th an election was held for Governor, and Brough received the unanimous vote of the regiment." Ohio soldiers stationed all across the country overwhelmingly voted for John Brough, with only one unit (the 107th Ohio stationed in Florida) voting for Vallandigham. Brough won the election for governor by over 100,000 votes and Ohio remained a major supporter of the Union war effort. The vote by Ohio soldiers could also be seen as a good omen for the next year's presidential election, although much fighting would be seen before then.

10/08/2026

Dr. Joel Morse and the Battle of Perryville.

The battle of Perryville, Kentucky was fought on this date in 1862 and one of the regiments involved was the 52nd Ohio Infantry. Commanded by Colonel Daniel McCook of the "Fighting McCooks", the 52nd Ohio was involved in the fighting in the afternoon on the Federal right flank. McCook later wrote in his report "With great pleasure I can call your attention to the conduct of my staff. Dr. Moore, brigade surgeon, coolly dressed wounds under the hottest fire and personally superintended the removal of the wounded." Researching this post brought up an interesting question; who was Dr. Moore?

McCook says that Moore was the brigade surgeon, so he likely would have come from one of McCook's four regiments, which at Perryville were the 52d Ohio, 85th Illinois, 86th Illinois, and the 125th Illinois. However, none of those four regiments have a Dr. Moore on their roster. The 52nd Ohio does have a Dr. Joel Morse, who was appointed as regimental surgeon in July 1862 and so should have been at Perryville. Dr. Morse also served with United States Colored Troops later in the war, and was unfortunately murdered in Texas just after the end of hostilities, robbed and killed when he was serving with the 117th U.S.C.T.

So, is Colonel McCook's "Dr. Moore" our Dr. Morse? Should Joel Morse get the credit for cooly dressing wounds under the hottest fire? Or is Dr. Moore someone else entirely?

10/04/2026

Birthday of Rutherford Hayes

Born on October 4, 1822 in Delaware, Ohio, Rutherford Hayes was a successful lawyer and politician in Ohio by the time the Civil War began in 1861. A confirmed abolitionist, Hayes wasted no time in joining the Union army and was named Lt. Colonel of the 23rd Ohio Infantry. He and his regiment spent much of their service in what is now West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, but Hayes was also present at the battle of Fox's Gap in Maryland where he was wounded. By the end of the war Rutherford Hayes had been promoted to brigadier general and was given an honorary (or brevet) rank of major general.

After the war Hayes continued in politics, being elected to the House of Representatives and then elected governor of Ohio. In 1876 Hayes was nominated as the Republican candidate for the United States presidency, but the election was hotly contested and neither candidate was able to secure enough electoral votes. After much controversy Hayes was ultimately elected, but with an understanding that Federal troops would be withdrawn from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction. This move heralded the beginning of the "Jim Crow" era in the South.

Rutherford Hayes served only one term, keeping a pledge he had given when elected. He retired to Spiegel Grove, his home near Fremont and was made a companion in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a veterans organization made of former Union officers. Hayes eventually was named Commander-in-Chief of MOLLUS, which he served as until his death in 1891.

10/01/2026

As this is International Coffee Day, we will let Lieutenant Thomas Galwey of the 8th Ohio Infantry speak of a feeling all coffee drinkers can well understand:

"The poor devils who have to leave their half-boiled coffee to go on picket should not be blamed if they give vent to many a rough oath and sonorous imprecation. A man utterly tired out, sore in every limb, whose eyes are heavy for sleep, for hours looks forward to the time when he can leisurely sip a cup of hot coffee and then extend his limbs for rest. To him nothing could be less pleasant than to be ordered to set down his coffee kettle..."

09/29/2026

September 29, 1864 - The Battles of Chaffin's Farm and New Market Heights

As the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, continued into the early fall of 1864, Federal forces under Lt. General Ulysses Grant continued to probe and prod rebel defensive lines, both at Petersburg and nearby Richmond. In late September General Grant ordered the Army of the James under Major General Benjamin Butler to assault a rebel defensive line south of Richmond. Grant was also threatening other portions of the rebel lines, and if the defenses in front of Richmond had been weakened to deal with those threats it might be possible for Butler's troops to break through to rebel capitol.

In the ensuing actions, the troops of the 10th and 18th Corps assaulted the heavily defended rebel lines. At New Market Heights, United States Colored Troops, including Ohioans from the 5th U.S.C.T., were initially driven back by heavy fire from the rebel works. Rallying on the surviving officers and NCOs, the U.S.C.T. troops waited for another opportunity to advance. Hearing the Federal troops had succeeded in storming the rebel lines at nearby Chaffin's Farm, the U.S.C.T. once again prepared to attack. Lt. Colonel Giles Shurtleff of the 5th U.S.C.T. called to his men "brave soldiers, the stigma…denying you full and equal rights of citizenship shall…be swept away and your race forever rescued from the cruel prejudice and oppression which have been upon you from the foundation of the government” if his men succeeded intaking the rebel lines.

The second attack swept up the steep sides of New Market heights and overran the rebels, many of whom were some of the best troops in the rebel army. The price paid was steep, with over 3,200 men killed, wounded, or captured. The heroism exhibited by Federal troops is exemplified by the 25 Medals of Honor presented to Federal troops after the battle, with 14 of those going to U.S.C.T. troops.

09/23/2026

The men of the 7th Ohio Infantry were certainly very experienced by September 1863, having served for over two years in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and what is now West Virginia. As the Roosters rested in camp near Brandy Station, Virginia, they began to hear rumors that would ultimately add several more states to their service record. The Buckeyes of the 7th, as well as their comrades in the 11th and 12th Corps, were about to trade the rolling northern Virgina countryside for the rugged Appalachian terrain of eastern Tennessee.

On September 19-20, 1863, the Federal Army of the Cumberland had suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga in northern Georgia. The Union troops had fallen back to Chattanooga, Tennessee and were now in a state of semi-siege, with rebel forces cutting off supply routes. Now on the September 23, President Lincoln ordered the 11th and 12th Corps to be sent westward by train to relieve the beleaguered Federal troops in Tennessee. One of the largest troop movements of the Civil War was about to begin, one that would have unfortunate consequences for the Roosters of the 7th Ohio.

09/22/2026

On this date in 1862 President Abrahan Lincoln called his cabinet together to announce a document that would have a dramatic effect on not only the American Civil War, but the United States as a country. President Lincoln had been considering a declaration of emancipation since July, as formerly enslaved black men and women had flocked to Federal lines and had advocated for an increased role in the conflict. The president had already shown an advance copy of his document to Vice President Hannibal Hamlin but said he was waiting for a Federal victory to announce the declaration so it would not seem a desperate measure by a failing government. The Union victory at the battle of Antietam on September 17 gave the president the opportunity he needed, and by September 22 he was ready to reveal the proclamation to his cabinet.

This Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation seemingly gave an olive branch to states in rebellion, claiming that any state that ended its participation before January 1st would be able to maintain the practice of slavery. However, this was not considered to be a likely outcome, as all but one of the rebelling states had declared the maintenance and preservation of "African slavery" as the primary reason for secession in their secession documents. The Emancipation Proclamation also drew a line that would prevent foreign powers from recognizing the nascent Confederacy. Great Britain and France had already abolished slavery and would not openly support a government that had so closely aligned itself with the barbaric practice.

While the number of men and women actually freed by the Emancipation Proclamation would depend on Federal troops occupying the area, the document did have a more immediate effect. It removed restrictions on black men serving in the United States Army, and regiments began forming even before the declaration went into effect. By the end of the war over 200,000 black men had served in the United States military, forming nearly twenty percent of all those involved on the Federal side.

The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument - Cleveland, Ohio

10/19/2026

10/18/2026

10/16/2026

10/13/2026

10/08/2026

10/04/2026

10/01/2026

09/29/2026

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