The monument of the battery should stand immediately in the rear of its position on the investment line, on Steele's front. FIFTH OHIO BATTERY. This battery was in Lauman's division, Sixteenth A. C., and carried six brass guns: Four six-pounders James rifles, two twelve-pounders James smooth bore. Their casualties during the campaign and siege, according to the official records, and the roster of Ohio soldiers in the war of the rebellion, were as follows: Wounded, 2. The monument of the battery should stand immediately in the rear of its principal position on the investment line. . SEVENTH OHIO BATTERY. This battery was in Lauman's division, Sixteenth A. C., and carried six brass guns: Four six-pounders James rifles, two twelve-pounders James smooth bore. The monument of this battery should stand immediately in the rear of its principal position on the investment line, near the center of Pugh's brigade. EIGHTH OHIO BATTERY. This battery was in Blair's division, Fifteenth A. C. The name and caliber of their guns has not yet been definitely ascertained. The monument of the battery should stand immediately in the rear of its position on the investment line, to the right of the graveyard road. TENTH OHIO BATTERY. This battery was in McArthur's division, Seventeenth A. C., and carried four brass guns: Four 3 80/100 inch caliber. They were cast. by Miles Greenwood & Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio. The monument of the battery should stand at Fort Ramsom, in the rear of its position on the investment line during the siege. ELEVENTH OHIO BATTERY. This battery was in Quimby's division, Seventeenth A. C., and carried six brass guns: Two six-pounders rifled Napoleons, two sixpounders smooth bore Napoleons, two twelve-pounders howitzers Napoleons. The monument of the battery should stand near the center of Boomer's brigade on the investment line. FIFTEENTH OHIO BATTERY. This battery was in Lauman's division, Sixteenth A. C., and carried six guns: Four twelve-pounders (brass) smooth bore Napoleons, two twenty-pounders (steel) Parrott rifled solid shot. The monument of the battery should stand immediately in the rear of its position on the investment line. SIXTEENTH OHIO BATTERY. This battery was in Hovey's division, Thirteenth A. C., and carried six guns: Four twelve-pounders (brass) smooth bore Napoleons, one twelve-pounder (captured at Champion's Hill), one ten-pounder rifled. Its casualties during the campaign and siege, according to the official records, and the roster of Ohio soldiers in the war of the rebellion, were as follows: Killed, 1; mortally wounded, 2; total, 3. The monument of the battery should stand immediately in the rear of its position on the investment line, near the center of McGinnis's brigade. SEVENTEENTH OHIO BATTERY. This battery was in A. J. Smith's division, Thirteenth A. C., and carried six guns: Six ten-pounders (steel) Parrott solid shot. Its casualties during the campaign and siege, according to the official records, and the roster of Ohio soldiers in the war of the rebellion, were as follows: Wounded, 3. The monument of the battery should stand immediately in the rear of its position on the investment line during the siege. Such a record as the foregoing deserves more than a passing notice. Frequently during the campaign and siege, honorable mention was made of different Ohio organizations by brigade, division, and corps commanders, commending them for their bravery and dash in time of battle. And no state represented in the campaign and siege, bore from the field greater honors than the troops from the State of Ohio. And in proportion to the number of regiments and batteries engaged, Ohio's list of casualities stands second to none other of all the States represented on the federal line of investment. Attesting to the fact that Ohio in all the battles of the campaign was always in the thickest of the fight. No other campaign during the civil war inspired such hope and faith in the ultimate success of Northern arms, than did the campaign and siege of Vicksburg. Its successful termination severed the confederacy in twain, and made it almost impossible for one-half of the confederacy to receive aid, comfort, or subsistance from the other half, and fully demonstrated to the entire civilized world that the United States was fully capable and strong to maintain and enforce the constituted and lawful authority of the government and laws under which we as a Nation had lived in peace with ourselves for nearly three-fourths of a century. The defeat of General Robert E. Lee at "Gettysburg" in the east, and the defeat of General John C. Pemberton at "Vicksburg" in the west marked the beginning of the end of the war of the rebellion. Gettysburg in the east has long since been honored by a loyal, patriotic and grateful people, in converting the entire battlefield into a National Military Park, and erecting thereon monuments commensurate to the valor and heroism displayed by her noble sons in defence of the flag of our Country on the Federal side, and the heroism and bravery displayed by the sons of the south under that military chieftain "General Robert E. Lee," on the Confederate side. And now after a lapse of thirty-eight years the same patriotic and liberty loving people are converting the battlefield of Vicksburg into the grandest and most picturesque military park in the United States. And everything seems to combine in making it one of the most historic and prominent military parks on this continent. And the commemoration of the services here rendered, and the sacrifices here made by the thirty-eight Ohio organizations deserves substantial recognition along the thirteen miles of Federal avenue, embraced in the boundaries of the park, and which substantial recognition should not be in any sense inferior to any other State represented on that historic line of investment. Therefore, we, the members of the Ohio Vicksburg Battlefield Commission, respectfully ask that your Excellency, in your next message to the Legislature of Ohio, recommend an appropriation of fifty-eight thousand an dfive hundred dollars ($58,500.00) to be expended in the erection of an appropriate monument, or monuments, and tablets on the Federal investment line of the Vicksburg National Military Park near the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, or such an amount of said appropriation as will properly commemorate the services there rendered, and the sacrifices there made by the eleven thousand nine hundred and eighty-four (11,984) Ohio soldiers who participated in that campaign and siege, and the one thousand three hundred and twenty sons from Ohio who fell in battle, or was more or less wounded during the campaign and siege which opened May 1st with the battle of Port Gibson, and closed with the surrender of General John C. Femberton to General U. S. Grant July 4, 1863. Respectfully submitted, JOSIAH P. ALLEN, President, COL. A. H. BROWN, Capt. E. Z. HAYS. |