Charles E. Minor – Civil War service

My 3g grandfather, Charles Minor, is an ancestor I have written about before (here and here) but in the spirit of Veterans Day, I want to write a little about his overall service in the Civil War.  He enlisted on 18 November 1861 (although the transcription of his diary says 19 November), in Capt. Heckman’s company of the 45th Regiment.  Two fractional regiments, the 45th and 67th Regiments of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry were joined together and constituted the 67th .  From 19 January 1862 when the Regiment left Camp Chase in Columbus until 24 August 1862 they were on the move through West Virginia and Virginia, fighting.  

On 24 August 1862 orders were given for one from each company to go on recruiting service, and Charles was the one from his company to go.  Two days later he was in Pittsburgh and 4 days after that in Cleveland Ohio.  He did not make any entries in his journal from then until May 1863.  On 21 May 1863 he reported leaving Columbus Ohio to join the regiment near Charleston, S.C.  This trip included a stay of a number of days in New York city which he enjoyed exploring while waiting for the ship that would take him south.  

By 11 June 1863 he was back with the regiment and was happy to rejoin the men.  His regiment was camped on Folly Island, with the goal of dislodging the Southerners from Morris Island and taking Fort Wagner.  He described their attempt to take and hold the Fort in July 1863, which did not succeed until the siege drove out the Southerners in  September 1863.  In late August he had been wounded by a sharp shooter in both legs, although he noted “no bones broken”.  Unfortunately, his diary seems to end with the notation for 1 October 1863 that he left the hospital.  

Regimental histories show the troops movements from autumn 1863 through April 1865 when they were at Appomattox Court House.  A Regimental furlough took the men back to Ohio for February 1864 through March of that year.  Although he didn’t write about these dates, this photograph of Charles shows that he was in Cleveland Ohio again in August 1864.  It isn’t known at this time if he was on recruiting service again or in Cleveland for another reason.

Although he had thought that his regiment would be mustered out in June 1865, not all of them were.  Charles was one who was not.  He was appointed Provost Marshall on 26 July 1865 to the Sub District of Fluvanna quartered at Columbia Virginia (if I have read the original letter correctly). A letter he wrote in July 1865 to a distant cousin in Ohio gives an idea of some of his experiences around that time, saying he was stationed in Louisa Court House Virginia and serving as the Quartermaster for the regiment.   In August 1865 he was also charged with taking care of all affairs to do with the freedmen in his county.  

Charles and the rest of his Regiment were mustered out 12 December 1865.  In May 1866 he and Mary Adelia Hall were married.