Munfordville, Kentucky, Soldier Cave

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MUNFORDVILLE, KENTUCKY, SOLDIER CAVE

Sarah A. Blankenship, Joseph C. Douglas,

Lynn K. Roebuck, and Marion O. Smith

Between mid-December 1861 and early March 1862, a number of Union soldiers from
Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania visited a small cave on the northern outskirts of Munfordville,
Kentucky. The duck under crawl entrance is in a steep sinkhole on the west side of what was
then the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and leads to about 500 or 600 feet of up and down
meandering passage with a vertical extent of perhaps thirty-five feet.

Some 146 years later caver Chris Clark toured part of the grotto, noted some of the
soldier names, and even learned a bit about one of them. On August 11, 2009, Chris graciously
led Joseph C. Douglas, Sherry Persons, Elliot Stahl, and Marion O. Smith to the cave to record
and photograph the names. While there, Joe found in the back upper level names which Chris
had not seen. A few months later, on November 5, Marion returned on a solo visit and copied
additional soldier and suspicious old names. The following names and initials were recorded on

these two trips:

E W Brent 1862

JEFF. McDowell
Co. B. 18,0. V. USA: 1862

J.B. M 1862

D. Vornhork(??)
CAT Gy Oy

Feb 15 62

W. Fies

Co.B, 64. REG

OHIO; VOL

HERD

O. Culbert OV

A. M. Burns

0:1 154) ¥.

1861 H. A. Miller
A2V

John Waters

G. W. Cummins

W.S. Iler
Co. C:.15 Re OV. USA 1862

A. B. Harry
Co. E65 REG OVM

W" Pumfrey
Co E 65 Reg OVM
Feby 17 1862

N. McD. Coe
64" Ohio
Mach 3 1862

M. J. HALSEAD

DEC 30 1861

G

Isaac A. Mills 1862
JM Y
Cri]

H. Seiters
Corl 15. OV

F. H. KLAINE
Co F. 65 Regt
Feb 20" O.V.1 62

2™" Lieut Comp I
1s0 OV F. B. SPELMAN
Co E 65 Re OV. USA
RE LINE
R M DAVIDSON
Jacob Somerville Co I 1* Regt OVM
CoC. 38 Ind 1862
J H WELLS
J M GRADEN
Co A 78" Reg THOMAS YOE(?)
OM 1862

A. J. NEEL

Co A, 78 PV A P(?) HAITY(?)
65 OVM

oe RURSEET Feb 17" 1862

_____ March(?) 1862

L Q Fletcher 1862
A DENNIS Fremont

H YOUNG P.(?) B.S
ive teat

SMITH FREY
B P Doyel

MRC 1862
R O Lucas

W A Lowry
Co H 78 PV W Bettinghaas

W. F. HINMAN'

As inscribed on the cave walls, soldiers from six regiments are represented, the 1° 15"
64" and 65" Ohio, 38" Indiana, and 78" Pennsylvania. But research has revealed that men from
other outfits were there too, certainly the 49™ Ohio and 57" Indiana. These military visitors saw
the cave during at least two periods: December 1861-early F ebruary 1862 and middle February-
March 1862. There is a chance that other soldiers found the cavé six months later.

The 1° and 15™ Ohio, 38" Indiana, and 78" Pennsylvania, distributed among three
brigades, were all part of the recently organized 2™ Division of the Army of the Ohio,
commanded by Brigadier General Alexander McD. McCook. On December 9, 1861, the 2"
Division was ordered to move forward from its position near the railroad below Nolin. The
experience of the 15" Ohio for the next two months was probably typical of McCook’s soldiers.”

On December 10 the 15 moved “to the village of Munfordville on Green river where”
they “went into camp about one-fourth of a mile north of the town.” Their camp was named
Camp Wood for a local resident, “George Wood, a member of the Kentucky Military Board.”
Within a few days “the men set about making their quarters more comfortable. The regiment was
encamped on a steep hillside” where sometimes “the ground had to be graded and leveled off

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before the [Sibley] tents could be properly placed.” The 78" Pennsylvania camped on the north
bank of the river.”

While at Munfordville the regiments all took their turn on picket duty. Many of the days
were inclement, with Captain Amos Glover (1832-1890) of Company F and other members of
the 15" Ohio recording “cold & sleeting,” “too cold for drill,” “unsettled & snowy, and rainy
weather. The historian of the 38" Indiana wrote that “The winter was unusually severe and much
sickness prevailed.” He claimed the “ground around the camp was tramped until the mud was
like mortar.’*

Sergeant Andrew J. Gleason (c1837-1910), a diarist from the 15" Ohio’s Company F, on
December 30, 1861, alluded to “exploring a noted cave in the vicinity.” It is assumed that it was
the same Munfordville soldier cave under scrutiny in 2009.°

On February 14, 1862, McCook’s 2" Division marched north to go to the Ohio River,
board steamboats, and reinforce Major General U. S. Grant’s army in front of Fort Donelson,
Tennessee. En route, the news was received that operations at the fort were going well, and the
division was counter ordered back south. On the 16" some portions of it, including the 15" Ohio,
crossed the Green River and camped about a mile south of Munfordville. From there the 2™
Division took part in the Army of the Ohio’s long, slow march to Nashville, with various
commands arriving there February 25 to March 6.°

The 57" Indiana and 64" and 65" Ohio regiments provided a number of the second wave
of soldier visitors to the cave at the north end of Munfordville. The latter two units were part of
the Sherman Brigade raised under the authority of Ohio’s governor by U.S. Senator John
Sherman. The 57" was organized at Richmond, Indiana, and from late December 1861 until mid-
February 1862, it was stationed in the Bardstown and Lebanon, Kentucky areas as part of the 21*
Brigade. Both the 64" and 65" Ohio were organized at Mansfield, Ohio, and in mid-December
1861 they moved by rail to Cincinnati and then by steamboat to Louisville. By the 30" of that
month they had marched to a camp four miles east of Bardstown. There they stayed just over two
weeks becoming part of the 20" Brigade, which like the 21" Brigade, was in the 6" Division of
the Army of the Ohio under Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood.’

The 64" and 65" Ohio were among the regiments which marched in stages, J anuary 14-
24, some seventy-six miles to Hall’s Gap, Kentucky. There the decent road ended, and they were
put to building “corduroy roads to facilitate the movement of supplies to General [George H.]
Thomas’s forces at Somerset.” This was hard work since “the road was almost impassable .. .
one great channel of mud.” Their job was “to fell trees, cut the trunks into lengths of twelve feet,
split these into sections, and lay them transversely, covering them with a few inches of earth.”
By then Thomas had eliminated the Confederate threat in southeastern Kentucky by defeating
General Felix K. Zollicoffer’s army at Mill Springs. About February 8, Wood’s 6" Division was
ordered back west to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and southward to Munfordville as
part of the Union army buildup there. The 64" and 65" Ohio by February 10 had trudged forty-
four miles back to Lebanon. On the 12" they boarded railroad cars, slowly moved to Lebanon

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Junction, and then south. At 2 AM on February 13 they reached Munfordville and passed the
remainder of the night in a cornfield.®

At Munfordville were many soldiers massed for a forward movement. “There were
camps everywhere—infantry, artillery and cavalry. Tents covered every field for miles.” After
daylight the men of the 20 Brigade set up tents a half mile from Green River. By the 15'" men
of the 21 Brigade, including the 57" Indiana, were present. There “were some very wet and
dismal days” at the camps. The Sherman Brigade’s “cornfield was decidedly too muddy for
comfort,” and the men “were obliged to resort to some desperate shifts” to get by. By February
24 Wood’s division began crossing Green River to join in Major General Don C. Buell’s Army
of the Ohio advance to Nashville.’

The following September 14-17, in their movement toward Louisville, the Confederates
under General Braxton Bragg forced the surrender of over 4,000 Federals at Munfordville. The
Union defenders were a hodgepodge of detachments, companies, recruits, and large portions of
the 60", 67", 68", and 89" Indiana regiments. It is possible that a few men sought the safety of
the cave by the railroad during this attack. However, so far no names found in the cave
substantiate this notion.’

Identification of the soldiers who left evidence of their existence on the walls of the
Munfordville cave is uneven. For some almost too much is known. For others just the barest of
facts have been found. A continued and determined effort would no doubt expand biographical
knowledge. For those who want to know more about the less developed individuals feel free to
continue the research. Below is what has been learned about twenty-five of the cave’s Civil War

visitors.

Edward W. Brent (c1840-c1920/21) was possibly a son of English-born Edmond Brent, a
school teacher, and his wife Frances, who in 1850 lived in Knox County, Ohio. On December 14,
1861, he joined Company F, 65" Ohio Infantry as a private, and only served until July 4, 1862,
when he was discharged due to disability. Sometime thereafter, he married a woman named Ellen
G. By 1868 he moved to Jefferson County, Missouri, where he worked on a farm. At a later date
he lived in St. Louis and made his livelihood as a builder. He died there between January 3, 1920,
and June 16, 1921. 1870 Census, Mo., Jefferson, Plattin Twp., Hillsboro P.O., 23; (1890) Veterans
Census, St. Louis, St. Louis, 179" Enum. Dist.; (1890), 39" Enum. Dist., 6A; (1920), St. Louis,
Ward 18, 1A; Official Ohio Roster, 5: 499; Civil War Pension Index, 1861-1934.

Andrew M. Burns (c1840-/11876), a son of Andrew Burns ( 1813-11876) who served as
the 1861-63 chaplain of the 65" Ohio, was a resident of Richland County, Ohio. He served as a 1*
sergeant in the three months service of the 15" Ohio. Then on September 9, 1861, he entered the
three years organization of the same regiment as 1“ lieutenant of Company I, serving briefly the
next winter as a member of General A. McD. McCook’s staff. On April 30, 1862, he was
promoted captain. On the following July 5, while the regiment was about two miles north of
Huntsville, Alabama, he returned from a leave. Later, about January 24, 1863, from Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, he again went home on leave, carrying lists from the several company commanders “of
. .. men who were absent with or without leave, with instructions to look them up and have them
returned to the regiment.” Soon after, March 18, Burns resigned his commission. 1850 Census,
Ohio, Ashland, Dist. 139, Milton Twp., 25; Official Ohio Roster, 2: 497; A. A. Graham, comp.,

History of Richland County, Ohio: Its Past and Present (Mansfield, Ohio, 1880), 335;
Biographical Encyclopaedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century (Cincinnati, 1876), 72; Cope,
Fifteenth Ohio, 21, 172, 261; The Ohio Historical Society Civil War Documents, Series 147-34:
96.

Nathaniel McDowell Coe (May 26, 1834-February 15, 1897), a son of James and Maria
McDowell Coe, was born at Sugar Creek, Wayne County, Ohio. By 1860 he had become a
permanent resident of Ashland County. During the war Nathaniel served in the Union army three
times. The first enlistment was in the three months version of Company H, 15" Ohio, April 23-
August 29, 1861. Then on the following October 10 he became a member of Company E, 64"
Ohio Infantry, gaining promotions to corporal November 28, 1861, and later to sergeant. He was
wounded at Chickamauga September 20, 1863, and held prisoner eight days. On November 30 the
next year he was slightly wounded at Franklin, and mustered out only ten days later, having
fulfilled his term of service. Finally, he was active March 27-May 30, 1865, in Company H, 6"
U.S. Veteran Volunteer Infantry (Veteran Reserve Corps). On February 28, 1867, he married
Letitia J. Tannehill (1838-1921), and they eventually had seven children. After Nathaniel’s
passing she recorded that “He was a very energetic practical man and good financier” who “served
the Presbyterian Church at Perrysville [Ohio] for 24 years preceding his. death.” 1860 Census,
Ohio, Ashland, Hanover Twp., Loudonville P.O., 10; (1880), Green Twp., 991; (1890) Veterans
Census, Enum. Dist. 2: 2; (1900); Ancestry.com/One World Tree re James Coe and Maria
McDowell; Ancestry.com, genealogy, rootsweb, re Letitia Tannehill Coe; Hinman, Sherman
Brigade, 966.

George Wallace Cummins (c1839-c1867/68), a son of William and Jane Cahill Cummins

of Crawford and Richland Counties, Ohio, was a clerk before the war. On September 9, 1861, he
enlisted in Company I, 15" Ohio Infantry (three years service) and three days later became its 2"
lieutenant. His brother, Abraham C. Cummiins, was the company’s first captain, until his
resignation on April 20, 1862. George was successively promoted 1* lieutenant two days later, and
captain March 18, 1863. At Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863, he was one of seven captains
of the regiment who “were conspicuous for their gallantry, and were with their men cheering them
on.” On June 21, 1864, the 15" captured Bald Knob near Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, and
defended it against a counterattack. There, Cummins, with his and two other companies plus a few
other detachments fortified the Knob “under a most terrific fire from two or three batteries of the
enemy.” Soon after the capture of Atlanta, starting September 3, Cummins escorted north “sixty
seven of the non-veterans of the regiment whose terms of service had expired.” He rejoined the
15" Ohio at Marietta the following October 4, having come down on the train from Chattanooga
the day before, passing Big Shanty (now Kennesaw) ten minutes before the Confederates struck
and began tearing up the track. On January 12, 1865, Cummins was mustered out of service at his
own request, and the next day started for home from northern Alabama, where his regiment had
been engaged in the pursuit of Hood’s army after its crushing defeat at Nashville. At some point
George married a lady named Harriet, but whether or not they had children is undetermined. The
war apparently affected his health because between October 31, 1867, and April 1, 1868, he died.
1850 Census, Ohio, Crawford, Auburn Twp., 659; (1860), Richland, Shelby Sharon Twp., 249;
Official Ohio Roster, 2: 497; Graham, Richland County, 935; Official Records, Ser. Lt; Vol: 31. Pt
2: 276; Vol. 38, Pt. 1: 409; Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 21, 560, 568, 684; Civil War Pension Index,
1861-1934.

Robert M. Davidson (b. c1841), possibly a resident of Hancock County, enlisted in
Company I, 1* Ohio Infantry (three years version) on September 10, 1861. He gained promotion

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to corporal September 23, 1862, and was mustered out September 14, 1864. Official Ohio Roster,
2. 20.

William Fies (October 17, 1841-November 22, 1920), a son of Wilhelm Fiess and
Magdalena Egel, was born in Ellmendingen, Baden, Germany. During spring 1847, the family
emigrated to America, settling at first in New York City. In August 1852 they moved to Marion,
Ohio, and six years later young William was apprenticed to Widman and Diebold to learn cabinet
making. On October 30, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company B, 64" Ohio Infantry, and
subsequently gained promotions to corporal November 16, 1862, and sergeant April 1, 1864. By
his own statement William took part in all the campaigns, battles, and skirmishes the company and
regiment were participants “except . . . Chickamauga, at which time I was on detached duty and
engaged in recruiting service.” At Stones River he was slightly wounded. Late in the war at
Franklin he and five others of his company were captured and were sent south to Corinth, Selma,
Montgomery, Meridian, and finally to Andersonville prison in south Georgia. On March 26, 1865,
he was among a sizeable party of prisoners sent to Vicksburg and released. Eventually, he and
many hundreds of former prisoners and others were crowded onto the steamboat Su/tana to be
carried up the Mississippi River. Not far north of Memphis, about 2 AM, April 27, 1865, a boiler
exploded, triggering a fire and great loss of life, probably over 1,700 men. Fies initially suffered
“the left side of my face bruised and bleeding, my left hand badly scalded, and my left shoulder
disabled, which afterwards proved to be a very bad dislocation.” The boat was ablaze and he
jumped overboard. After a number of adventures he ultimately drifted into a cottonwood sapling
which he climbed. After daylight a steamboat came up the river and launched a row boat to rescue
him. He was taken back to Memphis, but later was sent on another boat to Cairo and from there to
Columbus, Ohio. He received ill-treatment there and took “French leave” for home. But he was
called back and was mustered out of the army at Columbus May 30, 1865.

On November 17, 1867, William married Anna C., daughter of Justus Haberman, and
they had at least eight children. From 1866 until 1877 he was part of the firm Fies, Schaffner, and
Dreyer in the furniture and undertaking business. After then he continued those occupations alone.
At various times he served the town of Marion as city clerk and councilman. Official Ohio Roster,
5: 439; Hinman, Sherman Brigade, 945; Chester D. Berry, ed., Loss of the Sultana and
Reminiscences of Survivors (Knoxville, 2005 [1892]), 124-33; Ancestry.com, One World Tree,
Wilhelm Feiss genealogy; Leggett, Conaway and Company, The History of Marion County, Ohio
(Chicago, 1883); 1880 Census, Ohio, Marion, Marion, tc Ward, 214C; (1900), 3" Ward, 14A;
(1920), 9B.

LaQuinio Fletcher (b. c1841) joined Company F, 49" Ohio Infantry August 16, 1861. He
was detailed as a printer in the quartermaster department October 24-December 31, 1863, and was
advanced to corporal a month and a day later. On May 27, 1864, he was wounded at Pickett’s
Mill, Georgia, and January 1, 1865, he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps. Official
Ohio Roster, 4: 518. .

Smith Frey (b. c1834), perhaps from Morrow County, was an enlisted man in Company
C, 15" Ohio Infantry (three years) August 30, 1861-September 20, 1864. Official Ohio Roster, 2:
469.

James M. Graden (d. 1862), probably a resident of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, was
mustered in as a private of Company A, 78" Pennsylvania Infantry on October 12, 1861. He died
at Nashville November 1, 1862. Bates, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 2: 1036, 1038.

Matthew J. Halstead (d. 1863), who was likely an Armstrong County, Pennsylvania,
citizen, entered service October 12, 1861, and served as 2™4 lieutenant, Company K, 78"
Pennsylvania Infantry, until his death at the battle of Stones River, January 2, 1863. Bates,
Pennsylvania Volunteers, 2: 1070.

Abraham B. Harry (b. 1836), on November 14, 1861, became a private in Company E,
65" Ohio Infantry. He was wounded at Stones River, December 31, 1862, and mustered out at
Nashville, December 14, 1864. Official Ohio Roster, 5: 496; Hinman, Sherman Brigade, 1035.

Wilbur Fisk Hinman (October 17, 1840-March 21, 1905), a student with a “mild
stammer” in his speech, enrolled at Berea, Ohio, October 12, 1861, as a private in Company E,
65" Ohio Infantry. He was then described as five feet ten inches tall with grey eyes, brown hair,
and a light complexion. During his service he was successively promoted to 1° sergeant
November 5, 1861; 1° lieutenant June 16, 1862; captain of Company F June 14, 1864; and major,
October 10, 1865. He was commissioned lieutenant colonel November 24, 1865, but never
mustered as such, being released from duty six days later at Victoria, Texas. At Chickamauga,
September 19, 1863, his right arm was hit by a bullet near the elbow which necessitated several
months of recovery time. |

After the war, until 1885, he lived in Cleveland, Ohio, making his living as a reporter for
the Herald and then city editor for the Leader. He also twice served terms as clerk of the local
county common pleas court. In early 1870 he married Sarah M. Everett, and within six years they
had two sons and a daughter. For a decade, until 1895, he lived in Washington, D.C., working first
as the Leader's correspondent and then as an associate editor of the National Tribune. He moved
back to Ohio, where in Stark County he edited the Alliance Review and Evening Star. In 1902 for
a short time he was an editor for Success, a magazine in New York, and again returned to
Washington, D.C., where he was employed in the Census Bureau. A few years later he died from
pneumonia at his home, 1306 Spring Street, N.W., and was buried at Arlington National
Cemetery.

Hinman wrote three books: Corporal Si Klegg and His Pard, Cleveland, 1887, a fictitious
account of his wartime experiences; Camp and Field, Sketches of Army Life, Cleveland, 1892; and
The Story of the Sherman Brigade, Alliance, Ohio, 1897. Official Ohio Roster, 5: 494, 498:
Hinman, Sherman Brigade, 690, 787, 1004; Corporal Si Klegg (2002 [1887]), biographical sketch
of Hinman by Brian Pohanka, ii, v, xiii; Arlington National Cemetery Website, Wilbur F. Hinman.

Wilson S. Iler (c1841-September 14, 1864), son of David (1814-1877) and Bithynia
Truex Iler (1816-1900), resided with his parents before the war in Morrow County, Ohio, where
he was a farm hand. On August 30, 1861, he entered Company C, 15" Ohio Infantry (three years
service), becoming the regiment’s “Principal Musician,” meaning bugler, June 1, 1863. The author
of the regimental history many years later recorded that Iler was among those on the roster who
was fond of singing. While the regiment was camped at Bellefonte, Alabama, in August 1863 Iler
and others “got together and sang the songs which were popular at the time: ‘When this Cruel War
is Over’ and ‘a Response By a Soldier,’ and selections from the ‘New York Glee and Chorus
Book.” Another time singers from another regiment came over and Iler “got together a quartette
who sang, ‘Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming.’”” Some few days later, September 6, at
Winston’s Gap, Alabama, Iler again had a “little concert” with members of another regiment. On
May 27, 1864, during an assault at Pickett’s Mill near Dallas, Georgia, after he “had blown. . . the
bugle,” Iler “seized the musket of a comrade who had fallen” and went “forward with the line.” He
“was soon laid low by bullet wounds in his arm and leg.” At a field hospital his arm was
amputated. While there the adjutant of the 15" Ohio saw him, acknowledged that Iler’s “sunny

disposition and cheerful manners” had “endeared him to everyone who knew him,” and observed
that “although suffering from pain he was as cheerful as ever, said he would soon be back, and
added, ‘Adjutant, a bugler only needs one arm.’” But, a few months later, at a hospital in
Chattanooga, Iler succumbed to gangrene. He was buried in the National Cemetery there, Section
F, grave 567, now 2169. 1850 Census, Ohio, Morrow, Gilead Twp., 1001; (1860) 25; Official
Ohio Roster, 2: 456, 470; Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 302, 303, 473, 474, 475; Ancestry.com, P.
McCarrell Family Tree; Roll of Honor. Names of Soldiers who Died in the Defence of the
American Union, Interred in the National Cemeteries at Chattanooga, Stone’s River, and
Knoxville, Tenn. (Baltimore, 1994 [1866]), No. XI: 152.

Francis H. Klaine (April 1840-/11920), a native of New Jersey whose parents were from
France, apparently lived in or near Holmes County, Ohio, before the war. On October 28, 1861, he
entered Company F, 65" Ohio Infantry as a corporal. On June 20, 1862, he was commissioned 24
lieutenant to date the previous March 30. Later that year, November 8, he resigned and left the
army. By May 1865 he was in Nevada making $600 a year, probably as an engineer for the Potosi
Works. He resided in Tuscarora many years, continuing to work as an engineer. About 1876 he
married a woman named Mary and by 1884 they had two daughters. Sometime after 1890 he
moved his family to Santa Clara County, California, where he became an “Orchardist.” Official
Ohio Roster, 5: 498; Reid, Ohio in the War, 2: 382; U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918,
RGS8 (M779, Roll 1), National Archives, Divs. 3 and 11, Dist. 1, Nevada, May 1865, p. 30; 1880
Census, Nevada, Elko, Tuscarora, Enum. Dist. 4, p. C43; (1890) Veterans Census, Nevada,
Tuscarora, Enum. Dist. 4, p. 1; (1900), Calif., Santa Clara, Santa Clara Twp., 76" Enum. Dist.,
4A; (1920), San Jose Twp., 9A; Civil War Pension Index, 1861-1934.

William A. Lowry, a probable resident of Butler County, Pennsylvania, was mustered in
October 12, 1861, as a private, Company H, 78” Pennsylvania Infantry. He was elevated to
corporal February 1, 1862, and in March 1863 discharged to accept another promotion, the nature
of which is thus far undetermined. Bates, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 2: 1063.

Robert O. Lucas (b. c1838), likely a resident of either Holmes or Coshocton County,
became a private in Company K, 65" Ohio Infantry October 26, 1861. He was promoted to
hospital steward April 1, 1862, and presumably served until November 30, 1865. Official Ohio
Roster, 5: 500.

Jefferson McDowell (c1841-November 23, 1863) was one of three sons of Guernsey
County farmer Christopher McDowell who served in Company B, 15" Ohio Infantry (three years
unit). Jefferson enlisted September 6, 1861, and died in a Nashville hospital from a wound
received at Chickamauga, Georgia, September 20, 1863. 1860 Census, Ohio, Guernsey, Madison
Twp., Antrim P.O., 91; Official Ohio Roster, 2: 463, 465; William G. Wolfe, Stories of Guernsey
County, Ohio: History of an Average Ohio County (Cambridge, Ohio, 1943), 275, 283.

Henry A. Miller, sergeant of Company H, 78" Pennsylvania Infantry, was mustered in
October 12, 1861. On February 18, 1863, he was made sergeant major. He is perhaps the person
who scratched “1861 H. A. Miller” on the cave wall. Bates, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 2: 1063.

Isaac A. Mills of Buena Vista, Indiana, was most likely the man who left his name in the
Munfordville cave. He served in Company E, 57" Indiana Infantry from December 21, 1861, until
November 6, 1862, when he was discharged because of disability. Another candidate, a “plain”
Isaac Mills (b. c1831) was a private in Company D, 49™ Ohio Infantry, which was brigaded with

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the 15"" Ohio. But the Mills with the middle initial “A” is thought to represent a higher probability.
Official Ohio Roster, 4: 511; Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana (8 vols.,
Indianapolis, 1865-69), 5: 636.

William Pumfrey (c1815-f11880), a native of Berkshire, England, was a prewar farmer in
Royalton Township of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. He was married to a lady named Maria Ann, and
they had before 1860 seven children of whom one apparently did not survive. Pumfrey was the
oldest soldier to visit the Munfordville cave, serving as a private in Company E, 65" Ohio Infantry
from October 18, 1861, until his muster out at Nashville December 14, 1864. He returned to
Cuyahoga County and resumed farming, dying sometime in the mid to late 1880s. Official Ohio
Roster, 5: 497; 1850 Census, Ohio, Cuyahoga, Royalton Twp., 160; (1860), 103-4; (1870), North
Royalton, 20; (1880), Strongsville, Enum. Dist. 76, p. 363C; (1890) Veterans Census, Strongsville
Dist., Enum. Dist. 175, p. 1; Civil War Pension Index, 1861-1934.

Henry Seiters (b. c1833), likely from Richland County, enlisted as a private in Company
L153" Onis Infantry (three years) September 7, 1861, and was discharged August 16, 1862, ona
surgeon's certificate of disability. Official Ohio Roster, 2: 498.

Jacob Somerville, a resident of Scott County, was mustered in September 18, 1861, as a
private in Company C, 38" Indiana Infantry. At some point he was transferred to the Veteran
Reserve Corps. Indiana Adjutant General Report, 5: 203; 8: 165.

Festus B. Spelman (c1834-November 13, 1915), whose mother, Elizabeth (b. c1806), was
widowed before 1850, was a laborer in Marlboro Township of Stark County, Ohio. He became a
private in Company E, 65" Ohio Infantry, November 11, 1861, gaining a promotion to corporal
January 1, 1864. For a while, beginning the following September 28, he was on detached duty at
Chattanooga. His discharge by order of the War Department was dated November 30, 1865, at
Columbus, Ohio. Curiously, in the 1890 veterans census, he only claimed service through
December 25, 1863. He returned home, became a farmer, and sometimes lived with his brother,
William. He never married, and eventually became a resident of the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors
Home near Sandusky in Erie County, where apparently he died. Official Ohio Roster, 5: 495; 1850
Census, Ohio, Stark, Marlboro Twp., 843; (1880), Enum. Dist. 145, p. 149C; (1890), Veterans
Census, Marlboro Twp., Enum. Dist. 20, p. 6; (1910), Erie, Perkins Twp., Enum. Dist. 51, p. 1B;
Ohio Department of Health Death Index, p. 8071 (Ancestry.com).

Dolsen Vankirk (c1843-December 31, 1862), who probably lived in either Ashland or
Erie County, began service in Company G, 65" Ohio Infantry, as 1° sergeant, October 5, 1861. He
was promoted to 2" lieutenant August 12, 1862, and a few months later, at the battle of Stones
River, was “struck squarely in the forehead” and fell dead. Official Ohio Roster, 5: 502: Hinman,
Sherman Brigade, 47, 348.

James H. Wells was mustered in September 18, 1861, as a private in Company H, 38”
Indiana Infantry. He was killed in action, but the date and place are not named in the regimental
history. Henry F. Perry, History of the Thirty-Eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry (Palo
Alto, Calif., 1906), 352, 384.

The above sketches bear out what is already known about most Civil War soldiers, that their
military experience was not easy. Seven of the Munfordville cave signers were killed, mortally wounded,

C8T

or died of disease; five were wounded (including the person captured); one captured; three discharged for
disability; three transferred to the Veterans Reserve Corps (including one of those wounded); and two
resigned. Why did they visit the cave? The most probable reason was curiosity, but it may also have been
to escape the nasty weather. Those there during the winter of 1861-62 were mostly new to the army and
had not been in combat. One wonders that when they innocently placed their names in the cave how much
death and suffering did they foresee.

SOURCES

1. Diary of Marion O. Smith, Aug. 11, Nov. 5, 2009.

2. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
(70 vols. in 128 books, Washington, D.C., 1880-1901), Ser. 1, Vol. 7: 460; Thomas B. Van Horne, History of the
Army of the Cumberland (2 vols., Cincinnati, 1876), 1: 65

3. Alexis Cope, The Fifteenth Ohio Volunteers and Its Campaigns War of 1861-5 (Columbus, Ohio, 1916),
47; Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers (5 vols., Harrisburg, Pa., 1869-71), 2: 1030-35.

4. Harry J. Carmen, ed., “Diary of Amos Glover,” The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical
Quarterly, 44 (1935), 258-59, 263; Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 51-54; Henry F. Perry, History of the Thirty-Eighth
Indiana Volunteer Infantry (Palo Alto, Calif., 1906), 18.

5. Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 3, 53; Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the
Rebellion, 1861-1866 (12 vols., Akron, Cincinnati, 1886-95), 2: 455.

6. Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 77-78; “Diary of Amos Glover,” 263-64; Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of
the War of the Rebellion (Des Moines, Iowa, 1908), 1503.

7. Ibid., 1140-41, 1526-27; Wilbur F. Hinman, The Story of the Sherman Brigade (Alliance, Ohio, 1897),
34-35.

8. Whitelaw Reid, Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers (2 vols., Cincinnati, 1868),
2: 378-82; Dyer, Compendium, 1526-27; Hinman, Sherman Brigade, 85, 87, 92, 93, 95-96.

9. Ibid., 96-97, 103; Reid, Ohio in the War, 2: 378-82.

10. Official Records, Ser. 1, Vol. 16, Pt. 1: 959-67.