| Members of the Grand Army of the Republic Neal Post in Sidney, Ohio pose for a photograph during their 20th reunion in Sidney in July about 1897. The Union veterans from the Civil War are (l-r) William Clawson, unidentified, Calvin Shaw, William H. Mumford, Byron Joslin, A.H. Hite, David Coffman and A. Throckmorton. |  |
| Veteran Reunions |
[Back] [Next] [Up] 'Civil War' segment written in July, 1998 by Rich Wallace |
For a decade or more from
when the war ended, the memories of it were too painful for most of the men to relive.
Many of the regiments never regularly had their own reunions. The survivors of the 20th Ohio decided in 1876 to hold a reunion in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Enough time had passed so that the soldiers could relive some of the events and remember their comrades. Amid laughter and tears, the warriors recalled their days together. The men decided to elect officers to organize the next year's event, and thus began a series of annual reunions that would continue at least through 1916. Many of these were held in Sidney, with a meeting of the veterans in the soldiers' room of the Monumental Building followed by a picnic at the Fairgrounds. The 99th Ohio also had annual reunions, beginning in 1876. To start each reunion, the roll call was taken, as was the practice during the war, and the names of the comrades who had departed during the year were intoned. Various veterans were then called upon to give their recollections of the war. Many family members attended these events. A typical reunion was the 15th annual event held by the 20th Ohio in Sidney. A summary of the event appeared in the August 22, 1890, edition of the "Shelby County Democrat." Those who could not attend sent their regards. Former Lt. H. O. Dwight of the 20th, who became a missionary after the war, wrote a letter to his fellow soldiers at the 15th reunion from his post in Constantinople, Turkey. He concluded it by saying: "Tell the members of the regiment for me that my warmest regards go out to my comrades...We did not know what we were doing in those days; but we were given a work to do which, in its whole, was of essential and permanent value to the world. To that work every one who had a part in it may look back with justifiable pride. Our number is rapidly diminishing now, and taps will sound for all of us before many years have gone by." |