[Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] 'Civil War' segment written in July, 1998 by Rich Wallace |
Manning
F. Force, once the commanding officer of the 20th, seemed to typify this sentiment in
his remarks to the veterans of the 20th at one of the reunions: "All of the time
of which I can speak with personal knowledge, the Twentieth never gave back under fire,
never failed to carry a position it was ordered to take, never failed to hold a position
it was ordered to hold, and never lost a wagon by capture. Bless the survivors of that
gallant band. It is worth more than pensions or money to be able to say and I, too,
belonged to the Twentieth Ohio." The Grand Army of the Republic (known as the GAR) was formed by veterans after the war. It served as a present day American Legion. Capt E. E. Nutt of Sidney served as its commander in 1894 when the Ohio GAR had 44,000 members. Some of the veterans attended national reunions, such as those held at Gettysburg on the 50th and 75th anniversaries of the battle. Byron Joslin, who was the last surviving Shelby County veteran of the war at his death in 1943, attended many of those events. |
