HISTORY OF THE 78TH REGIMENT O. V. V. I., FROM ITS "MUSTER-IN" TO ITS "MUSTER-OUT;" COMPRISING ITS ORGANIZATION, MARCHES, CAMPAIGNS, BATTLES AND SKIRMISHES.
BY REV. THOMAS M. STEVENSON, CHAPLAIN OF THE REGIMENT.
(SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION.)
ZANESVILLE, OHIO: PUBLISHED BY HUGH DUNNE, NORTH-FOURTH STREET, ADJOINING THE COURT HOUSE. 1865.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by HUGH DUNNE, PUBLISHER, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of Ohio.
TO THE HON. CHARLES W. POTWIN, WHOSE PATRIOTIC DEVOTION TO THE INTERESTS OF OUR SOLDIERS WAS CONSPICUOUS DURING THE WAR – WHOSE TIMELY BENEVOLENCE RELIEVED FROM WANT THE FAMILIES OF MANY OF THE "SEVENTY-EIGHTH OHIO," THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. TO THE READER.
In introducing this Book to the reader, we do not propose to present a history of the slave-holders' war and suppression of the Great Rebellion, but a minute and unvarnished narration of the battles and campaigns of the SEVENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT OF OHIO VOLUNTEERS. No body of men in the service have taken part in a greater number of skirmishes and battles – traveled over more territory, and participated in more important campaigns.
It has for nearly four years been constantly in the front, and during the summer's heat and winter's cold has been actively engaged. Its heaviest and most important marches have been performed during the winter months; through a country thought by rebels impracticable for active operations. The leaders of the enemy were confident of victory, believing that the army of General Sherman must, sooner or later, be utterly destroyed in the rivers and swamps of a country through which the inhabitants could scarcely pass in times of peace.
The Regiment has passed through nearly every State of the would-be Confederacy, going in at Paducah, Ky., marching nearly all the way to Grand Gulf and Vicksburg; passing through Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.
A history of these long wearisome marches and their battles, will certainly be of interest not only to the brave soldiers of the Regiment, but to every true patriot interested in the welfare of the Federal Army.
Never in the history of the world, did an enemy fight with more obstinate determination than the rebel army. The whole power of church and State combined stretched every nerve and sinew of war to their utmost tension, to accomplish their vile and ambitious purpose – the establishment of a Confederacy whose corner-stone should be slavery. For the attainment of this object every species of misrepresentation, falsehood and fraud, were resorted to, to arouse the passions of the Southern people against the North and northern institutions.
With the details of this volume the soldiers of the Seventy-Eighth Regiment are familiar. It has been, therefore, written as a text book to guide you in your conversation with families and friends of the honored dead; and will be a reminder of what you have done in vindicating and upholding the liberties of your country – the hardships and privations you have endured, the sacrifices you have made for the Union. It has been published in a durable form, that you may preserve it for your children, that they may read what their fathers have done in suppressing a Rebellion which has created a new era in the history of this Great Republic.
Such a record is justly due the brave men of the Seventy-Eighth, to whom this work is dedicated. Let the father, during the long winter evenings, gather around him his children, the son his parents and sisters, and read it chapter by chapter, and tell them what part he took, and his position in every battle.
The facts and events here recorded will furnish material for many an evening's conversation, and pleasant recollections.
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