Calvin Day French-43 Ohio Volunteer Infantry Civil War Diaries

This episode details Calvin's Civil War Pension, Civil War deaths from the battlefield or disease and Calvin's life after the war including his courtship, marriage and employment with the Delaware & Hudson Railroad and National Express.

This episode covers Calvin's participation in the Union Army Grand Review in Washington, D.C., the Trial of Andersonville Commandant-Henry Wirz, the history of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his travels back home to Ohio where he musters out of service with the Union Army.

Calvin Day French continues marching north through North Carolina and Virginia nearly 600 miles under the command of General Sherman in April and May 1865. He marches in April through the North Carolina towns of Kinston, Goldsboro, Raleigh, Huntsville and Ridgeway. After the surrender of the Confederate armies by Generals Lee and Johnston in April 1865, Sherman continues marching his army in May through the Virginia towns of Petersburg, Manchester and Alexandria arriving in Washington, DC. On May 26, 1865, Calvin marched with Sherman's Army in the West of 65,000 in the Grand Review totaling 165,000 troops down Pennsylvania Avenue from the US Capital Building past the reviewing stand in front of President Andrew Johnson and his cabinet concluding at the White House. Sherman's Army of the West was loose and lean and sparked fever of enthusiasm among the spectators. Former slaves followed Sherman's army as they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue with southern prizes such as dogs, goats, mules, raccoons, gamecocks, and even a monkey. The men wore ragged uniforms and hung chickens and hams from their bayonets to the crowd's delight. The band played the same songs they had played when they began the march to the sea, including Battle Hymn of the Republic. After concluding his Civil War service, Calvin then begins his travels back to his home in Ohio.

In January, February and March 1865 Calvin and the 17th Corp are marching north from Georgia into South and North Carolina in Sherman's Carolinas Campaign of nearly 425 miles. Calvin marched and skirmished through the South Carolina towns of Beaufort, Humboldt, Pocotaligo, Robertsville, Lawtonville, Branchville, Midway, Orangeburg and Columbia. After reaching the outskirts of Columbia by February 16th, Sherman's army then continued north from Cheraw, South Carolina to the North Carolina towns of Bennettsville, Johnsonville, Averasboro ending at Goldsboro.

After a three week furlough following his escape from the Confederate prisoner train, Calvin travels 900 miles by train from his home in Ohio to Atlanta. There he joins up with General Sherman's Army on November 18, 1864 and marches nearly 300 miles across Georgia reaching Savannah on December 10, 1864. During the "March to the Sea", General Sherman and his troops destroy and burn towns and railroads and forage the land. In this episode, a female family member of a descendent of Calvin reads from a woman's historic diary of her account of the destruction of the railroad and railroad station at Gordon, Georgia.

The Confederate government began the construction of their Union prisoner of war camp in Andersonville, Georgia beginning November 1863 and started accepting prisoners in February 1864. The prison was designed to house 10,000 prisoners. During the operation of the prison 400 prisoners arrived daily resulting in nearly 45,000 Union soldiers being transported to Andersonville. Nearly 13,000 Union prisoners died at Andersonville from disease, exposure, and malnutrition. The dead were buried in mass graves dug by the prisoners outside the prison walls. There was an extreme lack of shelter, food, and water. By August 1864 32,000 prisoners remained within the 26-acre prison site. The Union gained control of Atlanta during battles in September 1864 which resulted in 14,000 Confederate and 6,000 union casualties. Fewer Union soldiers were being transferred to Andersonville due to the Confederates concern that the Union would attempt to continue south of and liberate the prison camp. Attempts to liberate the prison by the Union had failed. Prisoner exchange was not agreed to by General Grant nor President Lincoln. As a result of the Union capturing Atlanta and concern of further attempts to liberate Andersonville, on September 7, 1864, the Confederate government began transporting the well bodied prisoners out of Andersonville. The prisoners were told they were being transported by train for a prisoner exchange. Instead, they were being transported to other Confederate prisons located as far east as Savanah, Georgia.

Calvin travels nearly 300 miles through Alabama and Georgia. He marched east through the Alabama towns of Mooresville, Huntsville, Woodville, and Stevenson. In Georgia Calvin marched south through the towns of Chickamauga, Lafayette, Taylor's Ridge and met up with the command of General Sherman at The Battles of Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, and Marietta just north of Atlanta. Calvin is assigned to the front line as a skirmisher. The Battle of Dallas during late May 1864 consisted of 100,000 Union and 65,000 Confederate soldiers. Losses to the Union were 4,500 and to the Confederates 6,000. Food was in limited supply. Breakfast consisted of coffee, meat and hardtack made from flour, water, and salt. Calvin's diary from July 13, 1864, to November 2, 1864 can't be located as it would have been the one he carried when captured. While as a skirmisher, he was captured by the Confederates on August 4, 1864 near Marietta and transported 150 miles south by train to the Confederate's prison at Andersonville, Georgia. During a railroad prisoner transfer from Andersonville in September 1864, he jumped from the train and walked 150 miles back to the Union lines north of Atlanta arriving on September 21, 1864. Calvin's capture, imprisonment, escape and travel back to the union lines north of Atlanta will be documented in the next few episodes. Photo of fighting at Marietta, Georgia

Calvin is marching with his company north from Prospect, Tennessee to Columbia, Tennessee then back track south to the Tennessee towns of Lynnville, Pulaski and Mill Creek then continued south to Alabama towns of Athens and Decatur. His company traveled north then backtracked south ending up Decatur, Alabama located on the banks of the Tennessee River marching nearly 260 miles. Although Calvin's diary reflects his Company is going to march to Nashville, Tennessee, the furthest north they march is to Columbia, Tennessee about 40 miles south of Nashville, Tennessee. By 1864, Union forces had advanced from Tennessee into Alabama and Confederate territory. The food, ammunition, clothes, and weapons required to for the Union soldiers were transported primarily by railroad.

Calvin is marching about 300 miles from the Mississippi cities of Luka and Eastport to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to the Tennessee cities of Pulaski, Prospect and Bethel and then on to Mills Creek Alabama all the time skirting the Tennessee and Alabama border. Calvin crossed the Tennessee River several times by bridge on his travels.

Saturday, August 1, 1863 through Saturday, October 31, 1863: Calvin is marching from Memphis, Tennessee to Luka, Mississippi to Eastport, Tennessee a distance of approximately 125 miles. He is travelling by foot and crossing swampy rivers on his way to meet up with the Union Army battle to take place in Alabama and the occupation of Nashville in February and March 1864 and then the march to Savannah, TN.

Calvin and his company under the Command of General Grant travels form May 1, 1863, to July 31, 1863, through 37 cities and towns through the states of Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Arkansas covering more than 4,500 miles while transporting Confederate prisoners by boat and train. Calvin departs from Barnesville, Missouri and ends his travels at Helena, Arkansas.

Beginning March 7, and ending April 30, 1863, Calvin under the command of General Grant began his travel of nearly 300 miles in the area of Southern Tennessee, Northern Mississippi, and Northeastern Alabama. He traveled from the Tennessee towns of Bolivar, Middleburg and Davis Mills by foot and train on their way Corinth, Mississippi a distance of approximately 75 miles. From Corinth, the troops traveled by train north another 55 miles to Jackson, Tennessee, and camped 20 miles south of Jackson. At Jackson, Calvin is detailed to travel by horse Southeast to Purdy, Tennessee a distance of approximately 35 miles. At Purdy, Calvin witnessed the burning of the city at the order of Colonel Fielding Hurst. Calvin again boarded a train to return to Corinth for another 25 miles and camped 8 miles south at Biggersville, Mississippi. Calvin then traveled by foot to Burnsville and East Port, Mississippi and then to Tuscumbia, Alabama all on or near the Tennessee River for a distance of nearly 55 miles. Calvin then returned to Corinth, Mississippi for a distance of nearly 55 miles.

Calvin continued to be assigned to Grant's command. Grant had resolved to take control of the Mississippi, River from the Confederacy. To do so, President Lincoln and the Union Army and Navy were determined to take the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Vicksburg campaign started in December 1862 and lasted six months before the Union Army finally took the fortress. The campaign combined many important naval operations, troop maneuvers, failed initiatives, and was divided into two stages. The prize of capturing Vicksburg would ensure success and would divide the Confederacy into two eastern and western parts. At the opening of the campaign, Grant attempted to capture Vicksburg over land from the Northeast; however, Confederate Generals Nathan B. Forrest and Earl Van Dorn thwarted the Union Army advance by raiding Union supply lines.

Following the Battle at Corinth, Mississippi comprising 45,000 Union and Confederate troops, General Ulysses S. Grant's Union army began their move into Western Tennessee. Grant hoped to secure control of the Mississippi River for the Union to split the Confederacy in two and control an important north and south route to move men and supplies. For next 76 days from October 5 through December 20, 1862, Calvin and his company marched through the Tennessee towns of Shiloh and Grand Junction and the Mississippi towns of Corinth, Holly Springs, Waterford, and Oxford before traveling by train to the Tennessee towns of Bolivar and Jackson, a distance of nearly 300 miles.

By the afternoon of September 19, 1862, Confederate Major General Sterling Price withdrew his soldiers from Luka when a scout reported that Union General Ord had formed a column and was on the advance. The Confederate army left Luka and marched to rendezvous with Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn to participate in the second Battle of Corinth on October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. For the second time in the Luka-Corinth Campaign, Union Major General William Rosecrans defeated the Confederate army at Luka and now at Corinth. Corinth was a critical rail junction in northern Mississippi and was a major transportation line for the Union. Van Dorn's objective was to disrupt the Union lines of transportation. The fighting began on October 3, 1862, as the Confederates pushed the Union from the rifle pits that had been constructed by the Confederates during the first siege of Corinth. The Confederates exploited a gap in the Union line and continued to press the Union troops until they fell back to an inner line of fortifications. Union soldiers engaged at the Battle of Corinth was 23,000 of which 355 were killed, 1,841 wounded and 324 captured or missing for a total of 2,520 men or 11% of the total Union soldiers. Confederal soldiers engaged at the Battle of Corinth was 22,000 of which 473 were killed, 1,997 wounded and 1,763 captured or missing for a total of 4,233 men or 19% of the total Confederate soldiers.

The battle of Luka and Calvin's company involvement was on September 19, 1862, at Luka, Mississippi. This was the opening battle of the Luka-Corinth Campaign where Union Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans stopped the advance of the Confederate Army of the West commanded by Maj. Gen. Sterling Price. In preparation of the battle at Luka, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant brought two armies to confront General Price in a double envelopment. Rosecrans's Army of the Mississippi was to approach Luka from the southwest and three divisions under Maj. General Edward Ord would approach from the northwest. Grant and Ord planned to attack as soon as they heard the sound of battle between Rosecrans and Price. An acoustic shadow suppressed the sound of battle and prevented Grant and Ord from realizing that the battle between Rosecrans and Price had begun leaving only Calvin's company and Rosecrans's soldiers to battle the Confederates. The battle in Luka on September 19, 1862, by Calvin's company and Rosecrans's men was a long and difficult day. By the afternoon the Confederates withdrew from Luka when a scout reported that Union General Ord had formed a column and was on the advance. The Confederate army left Luka on a road that had not been blocked by the Union army and marched to rendezvous with Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn. Total participation by Union soldiers 4,500 of which 144 were killed, 598 wounded and 40 captured or missing for a total of 782 or 17%. Total participation by Confederate soldiers 3,179 of which 263 were killed, 692 wounded and 561 captured or missing for a total of 1,516 or 48%.

The Union forces arrive at Boonville, Mississippi on May 30, 1862, and after a battle with the Confederates, destroyed 10,000 pieces of small arms and artillery pieces and took possession of large quantities of clothing and ammunition. 2,000 Confederate soldiers were taken prisoner and later paroled as they could not keep up with the Union forces. Calvin's company was assigned in the front of the Union Soldiers as skirmishers putting them in arms way. Calvin contracted the “Camp Disease” and was hospitalized from dehydration for the month of June 1862. Calvin's diary entries end on Independence Day, July 4, 1862, with no entry until September 1, 1862.

Calvin is now engaged in The Siege of Corinth, Mississippi which was the First Battle of Corinth lasting from April 29 to May 30, 1862. It took 19 days for Calvin and the other Union soldiers to travel by boat from New Madrid to Corinth. A collection of 120,000 Union forces under the overall command of Major General Henry Halleck engaged in a month-long siege of the city of Corinth, Mississippi. There were 65,000 Confederate soldiers commanded by General P.G.T. Beauregard. The siege resulted in the capture of Corinth by Union forces. Both the Union and Confederate sides lost approximately 1,000 soldiers each. Corinth was a strategic point at the junction of two vital railroad lines, the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Former General Halleck argued: "Richmond and Corinth are now the great strategic points of the war, and our success at these points should be insured at all hazards”. The siege of Corinth ended when the outnumbered Confederates withdrew on May 29. This effectively cut off the prospect of further Confederate attempts to regain western Tennessee. The Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant took control and made it the base for Grant's operations in the siege of the Mississippi River. Grant in his memoirs recalled the importance Corinth: "Corinth was a valuable strategic point for the enemy to hold, and consequently a valuable one for us to possess ourselves of". The Confederate armies had been driven from the Ohio River, almost out of the States of Tennessee and Kentucky reaching the Gulf States. Sherman wrote of the importance of Corinth: "In Memphis I could see its effects upon the citizens, and they openly admitted that their cause had sustained a death-blow".

Calvin was under the command of Major General John Pope and was one of the nearly 25,000 union soldiers comprising the Army of the Mississippi. Confederate forces had established encampments at a narrow section of the Mississippi River at New Madrid in order to destroy Union boats carrying troops and supplies as they attempted to gain access to the deep south. River transportation was the most efficient and easily traveled access to the south as travel by road resulted in continuous engagements with confederate forces and southern sympathizers. It was impossible for the Union to protect their transport boats past Confederate embankments. Confederate canons on shore produced tons of cannon balls that could easily destroy Union boats containing hundreds of soldiers and supplies. Union paddle wheel steamers were only equipped with soldiers with rifles which provided no defense to the Confederate canons.

Calvin's 43rd Regiment of nearly 2,000 solders joined with the Union Army of the Mississippi to prepare for a battle at Island No. 10 at a bend on the Mississippi River near New Madrid, Missouri. This is the 1st of 42 battles that Calvin's 43rd Regiment participated in during the Civil War. The Army of the Mississippi would eventually grow to nearly 25,000 soldiers. The battle at Island No. 10 became the most impactful battle at this time in the Civil War. By defeating the Confederates at New Madrid and Island No. 10, the Mississippi River was open for the transportation of Union troops and supplies both north and south with little or no resistance from the Confederates. Preparations for the attack on the Confederates at New Madrid and Island No. 10 began on February 23, 1862, with Major General Pope being placed in command of the Union Army of the Mississippi, assembling at Commerce, Missouri. Pope soon had his army numbering 10,000 men arriving at New Madrid early in March 1862, and in preparation for a siege, Pope requested that his army be supplied with heavy artillery, which arrived on March 12, 1862. The iron clad flotilla of six gunboats under Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote were sent down from Cairo, Missouri on March 14, 1862. The Union fleet was augmented by the addition of 14 mortar rafts each mounted with single 13-inch mortars. On March 4th, 5th, and 6th the commander of the Army of the Mississippi, Major General Pope, ordered a reconnaissance in force on the Confederate positions near New Madrid. Then on March 7th a general demonstration against the Confederate works was ordered. General Stanley's Division was ordered to move on Fort Thompson and Colonel Worthington's Brigade was to move on Fort Bankhead and occupy the trenches. The Confederate's discovered the deception and the Confederate gunboats opened up on Worthington's men. Now, caught in crossfire between the Confederate gunboats and heavy guns in the forts, the Union force of approximately 7,000 withdrew from New Madrid without engaging the enemy. Pop and his Division commanders agreed that an all-out frontal assault would be suicide and decided to surround the Confederates. He telegraphed for siege guns and kept his command well distanced from the Confederates to await the big guns arrival. Pope also continued with other strategies. On March 6th Brigadier General Plummer 's Division was ordered five miles downriver to Point Pleasant, Missouri. To set up batteries on the river to cut off Confederate supply boats from reaching New Madrid and No. 10. Plummer's men dug in along the riverbank; although the Rebel gunboats attempted to dislodge the Federals with their wooden fleet of gunboats, they failed. Plummer's men riddled the boats with small arms fire and scored several direct hits from their field pieces. The Confederate fleet proved it had little offensive value. The Union siege guns, three 24-pounders and one 8-inch Howitzer, arrived on March 12 and were planted in front of Fort Thompson that night. On the morning of the 13th the Union began returning the Confederate artillery fire in earnest. A daylong artillery battle ensued, and although not terribly bloody, the losses on both sides in excess of 100 killed and wounded. The Union showed themselves to be good marksmen, dismounting two heavy guns in Fort Thompson and scoring several direct hits on the gunboats. The Confederates, not to be outdone, placed an 8-inch ball directly into the muzzle of one of the 24 pounders. Pope ordered an infantry assault on Fort Bankhead by Palmer's Division; however, the Confederates discovered the plan and trained the big guns on the Union solders. That evening Generals Stewart, McCown and Commodore Hollins met aboard the Confederate Flagship McRae and concluded that the situation at New Madrid was hopeless.

Calvin left Washington Township, OH in mid-September and traveled by foot or horseback nearly 60 miles to Camp Chase located 4 miles south of Columbus. Camp Chase comprised 160 acres and was a Union mustering Camp that serviced nearly 150,000 Union soldiers from 1861 through 1865. Camp Chase was also a Confederate prison for nearly 25,000 officers and sympathizers. The camp, now closed, was converted into a cemetery for the 2,500 prisoners who died there. Camp Chase was used as a staging area for Union soldiers for issuing their clothing, muskets, and packs and training in marching drills and guard duties. Once the 43rd Regiment of 1,931 soldiers received their clothing and equipment they left Camp Chase on November 6, 1861 and traveled by train and river boat for Camp Andrews in Mount Vernon, OH 50 miles northeast of Columbus. Camp Andrews was established for just the 43rd Regiment for training prior to engaging in the Civil War. Calvin remained at Camp Andrews for 104 days before leaving for New Madrid, Missouri on February 21, 1862.

Calvin arrives at Camp Chase on Saturday, September 28, 1861 and gets ready to depart for Mt. Vernon on Tuesday, November 5, 1861

During the reading of Calvin's diaries, he refers to different Civil War terms and words. This episode explains to you in advance to the reading of his diaries this information so that you will understand the whole of his daily life.

Calvin enlisted in the 43rd O.V.I. on September 14, 1861. His regiment consisted of 2,904 soldiers under the command of Colonel Joseph L. Kirby Smith, a West Point Military Academy graduate. They called him "Our Kirby".

Calvin grew up in Ohio after leaving New York at the age of five. Calvin was his mother's constant companion. In 1857 when he was 15, his father had built a two story frame house allowing the family of 8 to leave their one room log house. 1861 was an impactful life for Calvin. Both of his parents died and the Confederates fired on Fort Sumpter which was the beginning of the American Civil War. President Lincoln called for troop and Calvin and two of his brothers enlisted in the Union Army.

During the summer of 1847, when I was five years old, my father told us that we were going to move from New York to Ohio. He told us this would be a nice place to live where he could do farming and raise crops and animals. My father told us that he had visited this new town and had made arrangements with a man from the new town to buy a log house for our family. I did not know a lot about log houses. The only log houses I knew about were those lived in by my friends here in New York. They were always cold in the winter and hot in the summer and had very few windows. My father told us that the town where we were moving to was Washington Township, Ohio.

My name is Calvin Kirk French and I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I obtained my great grandfather's diaries several years ago and just recently transcribed them into a Word document. Calvin Day French, the youngest of thirteen children, was born May 4th, 1842, at the small hamlet of Decatur, Otsego County, New York. His father, Samson French, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts January 7, 1796 and died April 11, 1861. His mother, Elizabeth Seaward, was born in Decatur, New York February 7, 1798 and died August 24, 1861, just 4 months after the death of her husband. We will begin with Calvin telling you of his early life growing up in New York and the move his family made when he was five years old to Ohio and up to his date of enlistment. These real stories will capture your imagination.