The regiment left Atlanta with Sherman's army, but was detached on the 19th of December at Marietta, Ga., there the colonel was detailed to conduct eighty men, whose terms of enlistment had expired, to Chattanooga, Tenn., to be mustered out. At that time that section was overrun with Mosby's guerrillas. Coming up to the rear guard of the Fourteenth Corps, in command of General Davis, he learned that the guerrillas were harassing our men and that further advance was exceedingly dangerous. He called upon General Davis, who advised him to halt. The colonel, upon consultation with the men, decided to make the attempt. As soon as he had left the protection of the rear guard he directed his men to cut sticks, which they carried to represent muskets, their arms having been taken from them on leaving the regiment. At Kingston they came upon a force of rebel cavalry. The colonel immediately deployed his men as skirmishers, and giving his commands in a loud voice, convinced the rebels that it was the advanced line of a heavy force. The rebels retreated, and he ordered his men to charge, and pursued them for eight miles, when he learned that they had gone into camp. By taking a devious course he got in the advance, and at midnight they got into the camp. This illustration is given to show that while possessing other qualifications of an officer, he was not lacking in expedients. At this time his health had become so impaired that he tendered his resignation, which was accepted November 25, 1864. January, 1865, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for "meritorious services." After resigning his commission he returned to Middleburg, and engaged in merchandizing until 1869, when he began milling in which he is now engaged. April, 1864, he was married to Miss Margaret, daughter of Alfred Ogle. She died in February of 1877, and in December following he was married to Miss Frances Simmerman. Four children were the result of the first marriage - Alfred O., Norville E., Mattie S. and Bertha M. In closing this biography it is but just to say that the career of Colonel Shaklee, both as a citizen and a soldier, is an unspotted one, and that he is entitled to a prominent position amoung the officers from Noble County. He was a rigid disciplinarian, and still retained the confidence and esteem of his command. He was regarded by his superior officers as not only brave and daring, but entirely trustworthy.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Noble County in the War

COLONEL JOHN C. PAXTON was born in Gettysburg, Pa., Feb. 22, 1824, and died in Marietta, Ohio, Feb. 28, 1881. He began life for himself at the age of ten years, and for some years was engaged in the mercantile business at Sharon, where he remained until his removal to Marietta in 1853. In 1845 he wedded Agnes, daughter of Alexander Greenlee, one of the pioneers of Olive Township. They had five children, of whom three survive - Augusta J., wife of M.W. Downing, an oil operator at Dexter City; Mary A., wife of D.C. Blondin, of Nebraska, and Margaret H., wife of Dr. A.E. Osborne, Santa Clara, Cal. In 1857 he married Sophia L. Reed, a native of Pennsylvania, who is still living. Mr. Paxton was a man of strong talent, ready wit and generous nature. In was in Louisiana in 1860, when the vote was carried to tear down the old flag upon the capitol, and witnessed the raising of the first rebel flag in that state. He hastened north and was soon enlisted for the great contest. He served in the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry as quartermaster for a term of three months, and at its expiration in August, 1861, returned to Marietta and recruited a regiment from the border counties of Ohio, which entered the service as the Second Virginia Cavalry. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, Sept. 16, 1861, and on the resignation of Colonel William M. Bolles, was made colonel July 18, 1862. He proved a bold, persevering and dashing leader, and was spoken of in the highest terms by his fellow officers and his command. He left the service in 1863, and after the war ended was heartily in favor of "burying the past."

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Noble County in the War

CAPTAINS WILLIAM L., JOHN M. and H.H. MOSELEY - Captain William L. Moseley was born in Barnesville, Belmont County, Oct. 23, 1826. The following year the family removed to Summerfield, where they found but one family - that of James W. Shankland. Here the elder Moseley resided until 1839, when he removed to a farm in the immediate vicinity. He removed to Enoch in 1843, and died in Cambridge in 1880. He kept a hotel in Caldwell for quite a time, and was extensively known as a man of strict integrity and great enery. He had a family of seven children, of whom only three are now living - W.L., H.H. and Martha M. (Askey). In 1846 William L. was married to Miss Jane, daughter of James Hesson, one of the pioneers of Enoch Township, and soon after settled in Middleburg, where he followed his trade - that of a carpenter - until 1862, when he received from Governor Todd a recruiting commission. In company with Colonel Teeters he enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Sixteenth regiment. He was mustered into the service as second lieutenant. The regiment was attached to the command of General Crook's, and did service in West Virginia and the Valley campaigns. The captain was with his company in all the battles and skirmishes in which it was engaged until the battle of Opequan, where he was severely wounded. Soon after he was promoted to first lieutenant and to captain in February, 1864. He was in command of a company, however, during the campaigns of 1864. One noteworthy fact in connection with the military history of this family is that there were but three sons, and that all were in command of Noble County organizations. John M. was captain of the first company that went from Noble County (I, 25th). He died at Cheat Mountain, in 1861. Had he lived he would no doubt have distinguished himself, as he was a brave officer. Henry was sergeant in the same company, and after the death of his brother took command. He was taken prisoner at Gettysburg on the first day of that battle, and confined in Libbey; thence removed to Charleston, S.C.; where, with other officers, he was placed under the fire of Union war vessels during the siege. From Charleston he was removed to Millen, Ga. Here he attemepted his escape. In company with Lieutenant Roach and a captain of a battery, they passed through almost incredible hardships, and when so near Sherman's army that they could hear the bugle calls, they were recaptured and taken to Columbia, S.C. Twice again he made the effort to escape. On one occasion he got his comrades to bury him in the sand just previous to the removal of the prisoners, but through the perfidy of an Illinois captain, his hiding place was revealed, and he was again closely guarded. His last attempt - which was successful - was made while they were being taken to Charlottesville. The train stopped in a swamp; he jumped from the train, took to the swamp, and through the kindness of a negro was concealed and cared for until the arrival of Sherman's army. He was a prisoner for twenty-one months. He now resides in Orville, Wayne County. After the close of the war William L., returned to his home, and in 1870 was elected treasurer of the county, and in 1872 was re-elected. He served the people with credit. During Hayes' admininstration he was appointed to a position in the Navy Department, where he remained three years. He now resides upon a farm near Dexter City. As a soldier, official and citizen, Captain Moseley has met all the requirements of each position. Throughout the county he is known as one of its valued citizens and a gentleman of unimpeachable character.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Noble County in the War

CAPTAIN JOSEPH PURKEY was born in Sharon, Noble County, Ohio, February 20, 1836. He came of a robust German family, noted for their strength, indomitable courage and deep religious convictions. In the early days they built a church and a school-house of logs, which for nearly a century was know by their name.

Captain Purkey here resided until 1850, when he removed with his parents, to Iowa, where the elder Purkey died of cholera, devolving the care of his widowed mother and his younger brothers and sisters upon himself. Eager for education, and seeing no prospect for it in the West, he returned to Ohio with the family, and settling upon a farm undertook the support of his almost helpless charge and the acquisition of the rudiments of an education. In 1856 he entered Sharon College, and there remained as a student, alternately teaching, laboring on the farm, and attending college until August 12, 1862, when he enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was chosen orderly sergeant of the company, the duties of which office he discharged with the satisfaction of his officers until the battle of Piedmont, Va., where he was severely wounded, taken prisoner , and started off for Andersonville. While passing through North Carolina he was again severely wounded while endeavoring to effect his escape. He was re-captured, and confined in Andersonville for eight weary months. He finally succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the guards, made good his escape and returned to the Union army, more dead than alive.

After recuperating his health at home he returned to his command with the rank of second lieutenant, and took part in the final struggle at Appomattox. Soon after, he was made first lieutenant and brevet captain for "gallant conduct in the field." He was a brave soldier, and wears his scars and promotions with becoming modesty to this day. In October, of 1862, during a short absence from his regiment, he married Miss Augusta, daughter of James Canaday, of the old Globe Hotel, where he was a guest in his college days, and where their courtship ripened into love. The union has been indeed a happy one, surrounded by an interesting group of intelligent children, in whom Captain Purkey takes pardonable pride.

Returning home at the close of the war, he commenced the study of law with the Hon. W.H. Frazier. After his admission to the bar he removed to Cumberland, Ohio, where for the past eighteen years he has prosecuted his profession with success, at the same time managing large agricultural interests and holding the humble but honorable office of justice of the peace.

A good scholar, a brave soldier, a successful lawyer and magistrate; a genuine gentleman of the old schools, respecetd and trusted by all who know him, the life of Captain Purkey furnishes to the young another example so frequently seen in American life of what industry and pluck will accomplish without regard to the adverse circumstances of early life.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Noble County in the War

CAPTAIN I.C. PHILLIPS was born in West Virginia, April 5, 1837. In 1844 the family moved to Guernsey County, Ohio, and the following year came to what is now Noble County. His youth and early manhood were spent upon the farm and as a clerk in a dry goods store. August 13, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and upon the organization of the regiment was made orderly sergeant. He participated in the numerous scouts and skirmishes of the regiment during the winter of 1861 and 1862; was in the battle of Louisburgh, and accompanied his command when ordered east to reinforce General Pope. He was present at the second battle of Manassas, and was engaged in the battle of South Mountain and Antietam. The regiment was then ordered to join General Rosecrans, at Nashville, Tenn. January 8, 1863, he was promoted to second lieutenant and transferred to Company F, which he commanded at the battles of Chickamauga and Mission Ridge. At the latter engagement his regiment formed a part of the column which stormed the Ridge. During the fight some of the enemy's artillery was being drawn down the eastern slope of the Ridge. Captain Phillips with a squad captured the guns and drew them back into position. After this battle the regiment veteranized and returned home on a furlough, at the expiration of which they returned to West Virginia, and on the 9th of May fought the battle of Cloyd Mountain, Phillips being in command of his company.

He joined General Hunter at Staunton, Va., and participated in the assault upon the outworks of Lynchburg and endured the sufferings of that disastrous retreat to the Kanawha Valley. The command were compelled to march day and night without sleep or rations for more than one hundred miles, and were harassed by the enemy's cavalry until the mountain passes were reached.

July 24, 1864, the battle of Kernstown was fought, Company F losing twenty-two men of sixty-one who went into the fight. September 3, 1864, the battle of Berryville was fought. In this engagement Captain Phillips was severely wounded. December 30, 1864, he was promoted to first lieutenant, and to captain January 20, 1865. His wounds incapacitated him for active service and he was honorably discharged by order of the War Department, Jan. 23, 1865.

During the time Captain Phillips was a member of the regiment he participated in fifty-two battles and skirmishes, never missing a march nor an engagement. After his return from the service the captain engaged in merchandising in Summerfield, where he remained until his removal to Caldwell, in 1880. In 1870 he married Miss Ella, daughter of Stephen Wilson.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Noble County in the War

CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. BEIDENHARN, merchant of Harrietsbille, is among the leading business men of the county. He was born in Batesville, Noble County, in 1840. In his boyhood he acted as a clerk in a store at Louisville, Monroe County. August 11, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company C, One Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry (Captain Arcknoe), and served until discharged by order of the War Department, June 11, 1865. Entering as a private, he was chosen orderly sergeant; promoted second lieutenant June 15, 1863; promoted first lieutenant January 12, 1865; and "for gallant and meritoriuos service" was brevetted captain to rank from March 13, 1865. He served as aide-de-camp and acting adjutant general on the staffs of Lieutenant Colonel Wells, Thirty-fourth Massachusetts; Colonel Thomas F. Wildes, One Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio; Major Potter, Thirty-fourth Massachusetts, and Colonel William S. Lincoln, Thirty-fourth Massachusetts. He was with the regiment in all its engagements except one (Hilltown), and was a gallant soldier and good officer, as the record shows. After the war he came to Harrietsvile, where he has been engaged in the merchantile business since August 21, 1865. He has been extensively engaged in tobacco packing ever since he came to the place; first as a member of the firm of Miles & Biedenharn until 1884, and since alone. As many as 225 hogshead of tobacco have been packed in a single year by the above firm. Of late years the business has been less extensive. Captain Biedenharn was married in 1882, to Fannie Davenport, of Washington County. They have one child - George Frederick.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Noble County in the War

LIEUT. CHARLES J. ENGLER. John Engler came from Susquehanna County, Pa., with his family in 1832 to Caldwell, where he remained until 1842, when he removed to a farm near Macksburg. He followed his trade, that of a wagon-maker, in connection with farming, until age compelled him to retire. He is still living in Macksburg, at the good old age of seventy-nine; his wife died oin 1875, aged seventy-seven; both wer Methodists in their religious belief. To them were born a family of eight children - Elizabeth, William S., Joseph T., Lydia M., John G., Charles J., Nancy J. and David H. John died in the service. He belonged to Company B, Seventy-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was taken prisoner at Mark's Mills, Ark., April 8, 1864. He died a prisoner of war. Charles J. was born in Noble County in 1839. Nov. 22, 1861, he became a member of the same company. He distinguished himself at the battle of Shiloh, and at the same time suffered a great injustice from one of those accidental matters to which soldiers as well as every one else are liable. The night preceeding the battle he was sergeant of the guard, and reported the enemy advancing in force. The report was carried to General Sherman who, disbelieving it, ordered his arrest, for causing what he thought to be a false alarm. A few hours later the general learned that Lieutenant Engler's statement was correct, and had his report been accepted and acted upon, the present debatable question as to whether the Union forces were on that occasion taken by surprise would not exist, and many valuable lives would have been saved. As soon as the facts were known he was released, and in the great battle he wiped out by his conspicuous bravery every vestige of the undeserved stigma. At this time the papers had been forwarded to headquarters recommending his promotion to a first lieutenancy, but on the receipt of the information that he had been arrested, and with no knowledge of the facts, they were destroyed. Some time afterward, however, slight reparation was made by his appointment as second lieutenant of his company. He followed the fortunes of his regiment, and was in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Fallen Timber, Mark's Mills, Little Arkansas, Little Missouri River and other minor engagements. In April of 1864, he received a first lieutenant's commission, and in December of that year was mustered out of the service, his term of enlistment having expired. His brother Joseph was in company D, Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was in all the battles in which the Forty-second was engaged. In 1865 Charles J. was married to Miss Margaret C. Keller. They have two children - Burt M. and Mary C.

0 History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Noble County in the War

LIEUTENANT HENRY CLINEDINST, son of Adam and Julia A. Clindinst, was born in York County, Pa., January 16, 1840, and came to this county with the family when three years of age. He was raised on a farm and in July of 1861 entered the three months' service. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned to his home, and upon the organization of the Seventy-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry he re-enlisted in this regiment and became corporal of Company B. He soon rose to first sergeant, and was finally made first lieutenant of his company. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Fallen Timber, Little Rock, Ark., Mark's Mills and other lesser engagements. At the battle of Mark's Mills he was severely wounded in the foot, from which he never fully recovered, although he remained with his command until mustered out of the service in the autumn of 1864. A braver heart than that of Lieutenant Clinedinst never beat under a blue coat. He did his whole duty unflinchingly and without a murmur. He possessed all the requirements of an officer and was better qualified to command than many of his superior officers. His bravery and integrity said to have been one of the best soldiers in the service. He was twice married. His first wife, Miss Almira Warren, to whom he was united in 1866, died the following year. His second wife was Miss Jane M., daughter of Samuel and Marrilla Hussey. By this union there were three children - Mary E., Samuel H. and Adam B. She died in 1877, aged twenty-nine years. After his first marriage he settled on a farm, where he died in 1874, aged thirty-four years.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Noble County in the War

FREEMAN C. THOMPSON was born in Washington County, Pa., February 25, 1846. In the autumn of 1854 the family removed to Noble County and settled in Stock Township. Shortly after he had passed his sixteenth birthday he enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Sixteenth regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and although but a mere boy he was with the regiment in all its marches, skirmishes and battles, and on many occasions he evidenced a degree of bravery and coolness under fire that would have done credit to a veteran. In the assault on Fort Gregg, April 2, 1865, he distinguished himself for his pluck and daring. In this engagement (which General Grant in his memoirs says "was the most desperate that was seen at any time in the East") through a perfect tornado of grape and canister, he and his comrades reached the last ditch. How to scale the parapet was a question requiring only a moment for solution. Using each other as ladder they commenced the ascent. Almost at the top one was shot and fell back into the ditch. Thompson was struck twice with a musket, and fell into the ditch with several ribs broken, but in a short time was again on the top of the parapet fighting with muskets loaded and handed him by his comrages below. Soon the advantage was taken possession of, and the whole army swept in, and the fort was ours. In appreciation of thie, "the greatest feat of personal heroism recorded during the war," Congress voted the "gallant thirteen" medals of honor. The order under which Mr. Thompson's medal was bestowed is as follows:

Thompson participated in the closing events of the war, and witnessed the surrender of the Confederate army at Appomattox. He was one of the number selected to carry the rebel flags surrended by General Lee to Washington. They were conveyed by special steamer and were received by the Secretary of War with great ceremony. He took each of them by hand and in language which evidenced his sincerity and gratitude, he thanked them for the great service they ahd done their country. On the muster out of his regiment he returned to his home. He had not at this time attained his majority although for three long years he had been fighting his country's battles. In 1875 he was elected sheriff of the county, and upon the expiration of his term was re-elected. In 1866 he was married to Miss Mary Archer. She died in 1879, and in 1883 he was again married to Miss Amanda Archer, a cousin of his first wife. By the first marriage there were six children, only two of whom, Clara and Frank, are living; by the second, two - Lulu and Hugh.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Noble County in the War