Description: William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), prominent military leader from Ohio, helped to lead the Union Army to victory in the Civil War. In this portrait photograph he is shown in old age. His hair and beard are white, and he is wearing civilian attire. His signature appears at the bottom of the portrait. Below the signature is the name and business address of a photography studio: "C. Parker / 447 Penn. Ave. Washington, D.C." Sherman was born on February 8, 1820, in Lancaster, Ohio. He was named after Tecumseh, the famous Shawnee leader. Sherman's father died in 1829. Sherman's mother could not take care of all of her children and had several of them adopted into other families. Thomas Ewing, a neighbor and close family friend, raised William Sherman as a foster son. Sherman attended common schools and received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1836. He graduated in 1840, ranking sixth in a class of forty-two students. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of artillery. He participated in the Seminole War from 1840 to 1842. During the late 1840s, he was stationed in California and helped Californians secure their independence from Mexico in the Mexican-American War. He resigned his commission in 1853 and went into banking, at which he was not successful. n 1859, Sherman became the superintendent of the Louisiana Military Academy. He also served as a professor of engineering, architecture, and drawing. At the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861 Louisiana's seceded from the Union. Sherman resigned his position and returned to the North. In May 1861, Sherman joined the Union army and was immediately commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers. He commanded the Third Brigade, First Division, of the Army of Northeastern Virginia at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. His men suffered numerous casualties in the battle. He was transferred to the Department of the Cumberland in August 1861, and Sherman assumed command of that department in October of that year. In this position, Sherman played a vital role in securing Kentucky for the Union. Following the fall of Atlanta, Sherman set out on a "March to the Sea." He determined to break the will of the Southern population between Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia. Sherman left his wagon train behind and ordered his men to feed themselves with what they could find along the way. The Northerners even requisitioned food from the slave population. Sherman realized that the civilian population was supplying the Confederate military with food and other supplies. He decided that one way to win the war was to break the will of the civilian population and to end its ability and desire to equip an army. He left Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and traveled the more than two hundred miles to Savannah by December 21. He faced little resistance from the Confederate military. In 1865, Sherman led his army into the Carolinas, using the same tactics that he had used on the "March to the Sea." General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered at Durham Station, North Carolina, on April 26, 1865 and the Civil War soon came to an end. Sherman remained in the military following the Civil War, serving first as the commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi and then commander of the Military Division of the Missouri. When Ulysses S. Grant became President of the United States in 1869, Sherman replaced him as General of the United States Army. He retired on November 1, 1883, and was succeeded by General Philip Sheridan. Sherman moved to New York City in 1886. He died on February 14, 1891, and was buried in St. Louis, Missouri. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06605
Subjects: Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891; Civil War 1861-1865; Portraits; 1861-1865--Military officers--Union
Places: Lancaster (Ohio); Fairfield County (Ohio)
 

Description: A proclamation recognizing May 17, 2014 as Colonel Charles Young Day in the state of Illinois. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_MSS2009_B01F04_E
Subjects: African Americans; African American soldiers; Young, Charles, 1864-1922.; Buffalo Soldiers; National Minority Military Museum Foundation (NMMMF); Certificates
Places: Illinois
 

Description: A resolution dedicated to Colonel Charles Young, urging the United States Congress to pass House Resolution 5308 allowing the promotion of Young to Brigadier General. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_MSS2009_B01F04_B
Subjects: African Americans; African American soldiers; Young, Charles, 1864-1922.; Buffalo Soldiers; National Minority Military Museum Foundation (NMMMF); Certificates
Places: Kentucky
 

Description: A certificate remembering, honoring, and recognizing Colonel Charles Young for his military service by Senator Robin L. Webb and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_MSS2009_B01F04_H
Subjects: African Americans; African American soldiers; Young, Charles, 1864-1922.; Buffalo Soldiers; National Minority Military Museum Foundation (NMMMF); Certificates
Places: Kentucky
 

Description: Bruce Rauner, Governor of the State of Illinois, proclaiming June 1, 2016 as a day of recognition honoring Colonel Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers in Illinois. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_MSS2009_B01F05_G
Subjects: African Americans; African American soldiers; Young, Charles, 1864-1922.; Buffalo Soldiers; National Minority Military Museum Foundation (NMMMF); Certificates
Places: Springfield (Illinois)
 

Description: This photograph of a hand-drawn military map shows the encampment and disposition of forces during St. Clair's Defeat on November 4, 1791, near the future Fort Recovery, Ohio. St. Clair's Defeat is also known as the Battle of the Wabash and the Battle of Kekionga. The sketch shows the battle lines and location of battalions, artillery, the American Indian forces, and line of retreat. A handwritten caption reads: "The light I am in will not give me time fully to explain this plan of the action of the [indecipherable]." In November 1791, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, led a U.S. military force against the Miami tribe in the area of the Wabash River in western Ohio, near several Miami villages. On the morning of November 4, under the leadership of Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle), a large alliance of seasoned volunteer warriors moved against the attacking forces. The American Indians engaged in the battle came primarily from nine different tribes, including the Wyandots, Seneca, Cherokee, Ojibwe, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Delaware, and Miami. Many of the militiamen under St. Clair immediately fled as the American Indians surrounded their’ camp. After three hours of fighting, the remaining U.S. soldiers fought their way out and began a lengthy retreat. The survivors reached Fort Jefferson late that afternoon and evening. Facing limited quantities of food and supplies at Fort Jefferson, St. Clair ordered his forces to Fort Washington. Of the 1,400 men who served under St. Clair, 623 soldiers were killed and another 258 wounded. One of the survivors stated, "The ground was literally covered with the dead." The American Indians had soundly defeated St. Clair's army; this loss, one of the worst defeats of the American military at the hands of the American Indians, would come to be known as "St. Clair’s Defeat." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06996
Subjects: Military maps; Military encampments; Kekionga, Battle of, Ohio, 1791; St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818; Little Turtle, 1747?-1812; Miami Indians; Fort Recovery (Ohio);
Places: Fort Recovery (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: House Resolution 1070 recognizing the opening of the Colonel Charles Young temporary exhibit and the presentation of the bronze maquette in his honor. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_MSS2009_B01F04_D
Subjects: African Americans; African American soldiers; Young, Charles, 1864-1922.; Buffalo Soldiers; National Minority Military Museum Foundation (NMMMF); Certificates
Places: Illinois
 

Description: Carte de visite of Major General George B. McClellan, ca. 1861-1865. McClellan was a prominent 19th century American military and political leader. He was born on December 3, 1826, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1842, McClellan received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1846, ranking second in his class. McClellan resigned his army commission in 1857 to become involved in the railroad industry, and using his training in engineering from West Point, he served as an engineer for the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad and the Illinois Central Railroad. During this time, he lived primarily in Cincinnati, Ohio. With the beginning of the American Civil War in April 1861, McClellan reenlisted in the United States Army and played an important role in Ohio's early defense. Early in the war, General McClellan enhanced his reputation as a skillful military leader and was appointed as commander of the Army of the Potomac by President Abraham Lincoln. But after his unsuccessful assault on Richmond, Virginia, and his failure to defeat General Lee’s forces in the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln removed McClellan from his command in November 1862. McClellan never received another military command and later became one of Lincoln’s chief critics. In 1864, the Democratic Party selected McClellan as its presidential candidate to oppose Lincoln’s reelection, but Lincoln won the election by an overwhelming margin. McClellan resigned his commission in the United States Army and later became the governor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881. He died on October 29, 1885. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC3535_E1_05_01
Subjects: McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Generals--United States; Military officers
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: A declaration by Gary Richard Herbert, Governor of Utah, honoring Colonel Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers with their own day. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_MSS2009_B01F05_E
Subjects: African Americans; African American soldiers; Young, Charles, 1864-1922.; Buffalo Soldiers; Buffalo Soldiers Day; National Minority Military Museum Foundation (NMMMF); Certificates
Places: Utah
 

Description: This photograph is a formal portrait of Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) in uniform at age 21. The portrait likely was taken in 1843, the year that Grant graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. In this portrait the clean-shaven Grant is wearing a uniform decorated with epaulets and metal buttons. Ulysses Simpson Grant was a U.S. military leader and the eighteenth President of the United States. He was born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. In 1823, his family moved to Georgetown, Ohio. Grant lived there until he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in July 1839. The congressman who appointed Grant submitted his name as Ulysses Simpson Grant rather than Hiram Ulysses Grant. It was because of this mistake that Grant changed his name. Grant graduated from West Point in 1843. He ranked twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine students. His first assignment was in the Southwest. Grant served under General Zachary Taylor in the Mexican-American War. He remained in the West following the war. In 1852, after quarreling with a higher-ranking officer, Grant resigned his commission. At the outbreak of the Civil War he organized a company in Galena and later accepted command of the 21st Illinois Regiment. In August 1861, President Abraham Lincoln made Grant brigadier general of volunteers. In 1864 Grant became lieutenant general commanding all the armies of the U.S. He served as U.S. president from 1869-1877. Grant's first term as president was troubled with corruption. Numerous political leaders, including Grant's vice president, were accused of providing political favors for monetary compensation. Grant remained above the corruption, but much of the U.S. public faulted him for his poor leadership and his inability to control his cabinet. In the South, violence was also increasing between whites and the African American population. The nation seemed no closer to healing its wounds from the Civil War. Grant sought reelection in 1872. He won easily, receiving fifty-six percent of the popular vote. Grant promised to end the violence in the South but did little about it during his second term. A growing number of Republicans began to oppose equality for African Americans and encouraged Grant to withdraw Union troops from the South. An economic depression in 1873 further alienated the public from Grant. More than eighteen thousand businesses closed over the next five years, leaving thousands of workers unemployed. Due to Grant's declining popularity, the Republican Party nominated Rutherford B. Hayes as president, although Grant had desired to seek a third term. Grant also sought the party's candidacy in 1880, but the Republicans selected James Garfield instead. Grant spent his last years in New York, writing his memoirs. When he was elected president, Grant had resigned his commission in the military. In 1885, the United States Congress reappointed Grant as General of the Army. His salary helped him pay rising bills. He died on July 23, 1885 from throat cancer. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05763
Subjects: Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885; Ohio History--Presidents and Politics; Military uniforms; Epaulets
 

Description: Caption on reverse reads: "Cinci., O., Mar 1938. Copy. O.M.I. Parade Grd. College Hill." This photograph shows the Ohio Military Institute Parade grounds in on Belmont Avenue in College Hill near Cincinnati, Ohio. From the OMI alumni website: Ohio Military Institute was established in 1890, on the site the former Belmont College. Freeman Carey, a graduate of Miami University at Oxford (Ohio) had established Carey Academy in his home on the family farm in 1832. It was a success, and within a few years, Carey built a small brick school building, apparently on the site of what later became Carey Hall. Carey Academy was "the leading private school west of the Alleghenies." Dr. Robert H. Bishop, first president of Miami University, joined the faculty of Carey Academy during its final year in 1846. In 1847, the academy became Farmers' College, and it was at this time that Carey Hall was erected. This combination class-room building and dormitory would serve for the next 111 years. Dr. Bishop laid the cornerstone and stayed on to fill the chair of Philosophy and History in the faculty of the college. Shortly before his death in 1855, he ask that his body and that of his wife "might find a final resting place on the College grounds." [Old Boys will remember the Bishop burial mound, which was located at the edge of the woods directly behind Henshaw Hall. This gymnasium/drill hall was built in 1949. When the school closed in 1958, the remains of Dr. and Mrs. Bishop were dis-interned and reburied on the grounds of Miami University. There was, it turned out, no truth to the rumor that Dr. Bishop's horse had also been buried with him!] Farmers' College claimed that "its distinctive feature [was] the practical character of its course of instruction.... to qualify our youth for a higher position in any of the industrial pursuits." With the coming of the Civil War, fully two thirds of the student body rushed to enlist in the Union or Confederate forces. Farmers' College was forced to close, but not before it became a stop on the "underground railroad", assisting escaped slaves to migrate to the north. After the war the school re-opened as Belmont College, offering a curriculum more typical of the classical model of education. But Belmont debuted just as the land grant colleges were beginning to demonstrate that modern "vocational" education at the collegiate level was of more immediate utility in the dawning Industrial Age than was a classical education of philosophy, Greek, Latin, etc. With a shrinking student body, the school began to shift toward the education of younger men. In 1890, Belmont College closed, and the Ohio Military Institute opened on the same site in 1890. But the past was not completely abandoned: Portraits of Mr. Carey and Dr. Bishop hung on opposing walls of the main Study Room in Carey Hall until the buildings were torn down in 1958. Originally, the grounds comprised about ten acres of woodland, fronting on Belmont Avenue and extending westward to a deep ravine. To this was later added a large tract of virgin forest land, nearly sixty acres in extent, surrounding the original property on three sides. This land had originally been part of the Carey farm and was acquired by that family from John Symmes, who secured the grant from the U.S. Government at the close of the Revolutionary War. Harrison Hall (the old Daller House), which was used as a dormitory and recreation building for Lower School cadets, was acquired sometime in the late 1940's, and yet another four acres to the campus. The school buildings included Carey, Belmont, Bishop, Perry, Henshaw and Harrison Halls. Of these, only Henshaw Hall remains and it is apparently still used as a community center for basketball. The other school buildings were razed to make way for Aiken High School, which opened in 1961 View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F14_008_1
Subjects: Military academies; School Buildings--Ohio; Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works; Education; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: College Hill (Ohio); Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Portrait print of Philip Henry Sheridan in uniform. Sheridan (1831-1888) was born to Irish immigrants John and Mary Sheridan, who settled in Somerset, Ohio. As a young man, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. When the Civil War broke out, Sheridan was a captain in the army; by the end of the war, he had been promoted to major general. Just before his death he became the fourth man to receive the rank of full general, following George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, and William T. Sherman. Over the course of his career he held numerous important positions, including Commander of the Army of the Shenandoah, military governor of Texas and Louisiana, and commander in chief of the U.S. Army. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC2855_01
Subjects: Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Military officers--Union; Military Ohio; Military uniforms
Places: Somerset (Ohio); Perry County (Ohio)