Union soldier and other names in Horseskull Cave, Alabama

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UNION SOLDIER AND OTHER NAMES IN HORSESKULL CAVE, ALABAMA

By Marion 0. Smith

In 1973 I visited Horsesrull Cave, on Sand Mountain across the Tennessee

River from Bridgeport, and noted a few ante-bellum and Civil War era names,

about which I published a half page article in the Georgia Underground. My

visit was hurried and I wrote that no military organizations were indicated

and it could be assumed that the names "were either local citizens or Confed-

erate saltpeter workers."4

On October 17, 1982, along with Merilyn Osteriund

and Gerald Moni, I returned to the cave to do'a thorough search for any sign

of saltpeter mining, and in the process we found additienal names.

The entrance to this cave is large, and immediately leads via a twenty-

five foot climb-down to about a half mile [Bill Torode says 2946 feet] of pre-

dominately walking passage.

Just inside, we noticed the names of a number of

Union soldiers which had escaped observation nine years earlier, aiong with many

non soldier names, many of which had also not been seen in 1973.

and semi-legible names we recorded are listed below:

J W Williams
May 24 96

e Saries

A Burton

[also appears as Albert
Burton, Cleveland, Ohio]
F Fiiok

A Cain

J,,Bluim

Battery B

ist OI Art

N L Litten 1864

Cement

J S$ Snow

~

W C Glover 1853
J D Cunningham
I P Jernigan

George H. Houston
[also G W Houston 186? ]

‘A P Cutting

/ 82 OVVI
. April 12 1864

J B Lone 1905
M[N?] H Glasscock 1862

AA Bridge Portall [?]

/ 1865[?] C lempeel[?]
GWA Hile

F A Raulston
W R Ladd

A J Boynton 1927

John Hulvy 1861[& 1862]
B Nov. 3 1834

G. W. Robeson 1861

B 1840

August 24

[also G W Robertson 1861]

‘P A Hulvy 1861 J. G. Howard
B 1836
Oc 13 J S Reid 1864 _
W. M. Howland Citi 8 Bil? ler
April 10, 1864 BI 7] S Coch[?]ran
WM L Manshez [Maughen? ] W H McGee
184th 7] 0 Al21 JL? Sunday Sep 27 1896
P[?] W McClusky 1853 Sunday

Yacenice -FickNick
B Jernigan J F Brown Ga
WK Harris RSC ZL) LOOT.

March, 3, 1693

At least fourteen of these names are those of Federal soldiers, representing
at least three military organizations: Battery B, lst Ohio Light Artillery, and
the 82nd and 184th Ohio Infantry regiments.

Battery B participated in the Chickamauga-—Chattanooga campaign from mid
August through late November, 1863. On December 4 it was sent to Nashviile
where it remained untii March, 1864. Then from the 26th of that month until
July, 1865, it formed part of the garrison at Bridgeport. *

The 82nd Ohio served ir West Virginia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania previous
to being shifted west after the Union arcu at Chickamauga, Georgia. It was
on duty at Bridgeport and in Georgia*s Lookout Valley during October-November,
1863, before reenlisting to become a veteran volunteer infantry regiment.
Prior to participation in the May-September, 1864, Atlanta campaign, the regiment
was among those "performing guard duty" along the railroad “from Bridgeport to
Wauhatchie [near Chattanooga]."> :

The 184th Ohio was organized late in the war, February 21, 1865, and was
immediately sent to Nashville. On March 21 it was transferred to Bridgeport,
Alabama, where it guarded the railroad bridge over the Tennessee River and the

railroad between there and Chattanooga. * a 8 ee ye

—,

—_

Nae
_—— proms

In order to obtain biographical data about the Federal soldiers, I con-

sulted the Ohio adjutant general‘s report and then ordered various individual

> «J

B4

pension records. Fairly complete data was obtained for five men, including
three from Battery B, and two others were positively identified by their ser-
vice records only. Three additional cave wall names had similar counterparts
in the military rosters, but their identification, at best, will remain suspect:

Benjamin H. Sarles (c1843-April 22, 1877), a farmer and
native of Milan, Ohio, was at the time of his enlistment,
September 5, 1861, described as being 5 feet, 8 inches
tall with blue eyes, black hair, and a fair complexion.
He served as a corporal and was wounded at Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, December 31, 1862. After leaving the service
July 22, 1865, he lived "for about nine years" in East
Norwalk, Ohio, where he married Anna . .After her
death in July, 1875, he lived at Clyde, Ohio, where on
September 5, 1876, he married Jessie M. Wickwire. A
few months later he died of "Lung disease."

Albert Burton (b. cl1845) was a private, September 24,
1863, through July 22, 1663.

Frederick Hollister Flick (c1845-June 18, 1901), a paper
maker or paper hanger, enlisted as a private at his
birthplace, Cleveland, Ohio, June, 1863, and was des-
cribed as being 5 feet, 9 inches tall, with dark eyes,
sandy hair, and fair complexion. After his muster out,
July 22, 1865, he continued to live in Cleveland, and
was a bookkeeper, foreman of the Cleveland & Pittsburg
Railroad iron ore dock, and an associate of an insurance
company. He was twice married, first to Helen M. Stewart,
who died March 5, 1885, and second to Mary W. Russell
(April, 1863-March, 1945).

Albert C. Cain (b. c1845) was a private February 23, 1864-
July-22, 1865. In 1874 an Albert Cain was a partner in
the Cleveland firm of Hamilton and Cain, which sold fruit,
butter, and eggs. However, it is not certain this was

the same man who had been in Battery B, lst Ohio Light
Artillery.

Po eee Bluim (May 12, 1844-September 2, 1918), a Cleveland,

i“™\ Ohio, native and resident, served as a private September
5, 1861, through July 22, 1865. At enlistment his occu-
pation was listed as clerk and he'was described as being
5 feet, 6 or 10 inches tall, with brown eyes and hair and
fair complexion. After the war he lived in Brooklyn, New
York (1865-66 or 67), Cleveland (until 1902), and South
Euclid, Ohio. During the 1870's he ran a grocery with
Michael E, Edelman; in 1881 he was clerk of the city
infirmary; and during the 1890's was a circulator of the
Cleveland Plain Dealer, a newspaper. On September 1,

1868, he married Johannah Louisa Edelman (died September
21, 1921), and they became the parents of three sons and
one daughter. 7

Alle

‘ “ Alanson P. Cutting (November 18, 1832-August 24, 1920)
AX. was born in Crawford [now Wyandotte] County, Ohio. Mus-
tered in as private, Company A, 82nd Ohio Infantry, Octo-
ber 21, 1861, he was appointed sergeant two months later.
Becoming a commissioned officer, he was transferred as

a 2nd lieutenant to Company F May 3, 1863; as a Ist
lieutenant to Company K July 5, 1863; and as captain
[although he was never mustered as such] to Company D.
August 30, 1864, before his release from service March
31, 1865. He was wounded July 20, 1864, at Peachtree
Creek, near Atlanta, Georgia. After the war he lived

in Kenton, Hardin County, Ohio, with his wife Mary Anna
Thew whom he had married October 2, 1860 [in Marion
County, Ohio], and they had nine children.

, Jasper S. Snow (February 3, 1836-May 9, 1907), a Chester-
ville, Ohio, native and carpenter, had married Annette
Price at Kenton, Ohio, November 3, 1857. Enlisting as

a private, Company C, 82nd Ohio Infantry, November 2,

1861, he was successively promoted to corporal, sergeant
(July 1, 1862), sergeant major (June 8, 1863), 2nd

(August 11, 1864) and lst lieutenant and regimental
adjutant (December 30, 1864), before his muster out

July 24, eee At enlistment he was described as being

5 feet, 10 1/2 inches tall, with light hair and complexion,
and grey eyes. After the war he lived in Hardin and
Ottawa counties, Ohio, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Coffeyville,
Kansas, and at the Nationai Soldiers Home at Marion,
Indiana. His wife claimed that he deserted her about 1885.

J. @. Howard may have been Joseph Howard (b. c1846),
private, Company E, 184th Ohio Infantry, January 23-
September 20, 1865.

George H. Houston (b. c1845) may have been the private of
the same name in Company I, 184th Ohio Infantry, February
17-September 20, 1865.

G. W. A. Hile may have been George W. Hile (b. cl836),
ah oh 184th Ohio Infantry, January ee oe. 20,
1865.2

I also made an effort to identify the civilian names found in Horseskull
Cave. The 1850 and 1860 Jackson County, ebee censuses were checked, in
addition to cemetery indexes and a few newspapers. The results, given below,
were not very satisfactory:

John and Philip Hulvy were Alabama-born sons of laborer
Henry Hulvy (b. c1807).

George W. Robertson was listed as Robinson and was an
Alabama-born son of Thomas Robinson, a North Carolina-
born laborer. In 1860 George W. was a laborer with
personal property worth $200, and had a wife named

Rebecca.

oa Bile

i W. K. may have been the Alabama-born William (b. c1833),
son of James D. Harris, a Methodist minister.

M[?]. H. Glasscock may have been one of the following
three Glasscocks named Moses: a North Carolina-born
farmer (b. cl1794) and his Alabama-born son (b. c1837),
or the son (b. cl1836) of farmer Basil G. (b. c1810).

J. D. Cunningham may have been John D., the Tennessee-
born (ci810) farmer and laborer who lived in the Long
Island area.

William C. Glover (September 17, 1828-July 20, 1903), son
of Jane Glover (b. c1810), was a Tennessee native who

lived in the Long Island and Bridgeport communities and
was a pre-Civil War grocer. His obituary indicated that

he had “been an active business man and successful farmer,"
and was "a great admirer of Hon Grover Cleveland and his
son and daughter were named for the ex-president and his
wife."

Our 1982 visit to Horseskull Cave located absolutely no physical evidence,
such as pick marks, disturbed dirt, tally marks, and wood fragments, to indicate
that it was ever mined for saltpeter. Clearly, however, a number of local
individuals did visit the cave in 1861 and 1862, but we do not know why they
did so, other than guessing it was for recreation or possibly for hiding. Many
of the civilians whose names we found were then of military age, but we do not
know if they served. The main accomplishment of our visit, other than noting
the absence of saltpeter evidence, was the "discovery" of the Union soldiers'
names, which raised the number of known Jackson County Civil War soldier name
caves to five.

FOOTNOTES

iy. 0. Smith, "Horse Skull Cave, Alabama," Georgia Underground, X (March-
April; 1973), 47.

“Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (DeMoines,
Lowa: The Dyer Publishing Co., 1908), 1483.

3tbid., 1534; Official Records of the Rebellion (128 vols., Washington,
D. Ce, 1880-1901), Bers 4, XXXII, Pr. I,':26-

4nver, Compendium, 1554.

official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the
Rebellion, 1861-1866 (12 vols., Cincinnati, Akron, and Norwalk, Ohio: The

Al7

Werner Printing and Manufacturing Company, 1886-95), VI, 511, 521, 526, 537, 561;
IX, 741, 734; X, 372-74; Pension Records, Record Group 15, National Archives;
Cleveland [Ohio] city directories (1868-81), passim.

61850 and 1860 Jackson County, Alabama, censuses; Pauline Jones Gandrud,
Jackson County: 40 Cemeteries (Easley, §.°C:, 1980). Volume 144 of Alabame
Records, 54; Stevenson Chronicle, July 22, 1903.

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