The Colonels of Spring Grove - William Hopkins Lathrop

As I continue to do research into various Civil War topics, I stumble across other stories and people.  I thought I had covered all the "full bird" colonels buried in Spring Grove, then come across a Confederate (covered in a previous post), and now another colonel, who commanded the 111th U.S.C.T. and died during the war.

Colonel William H. Lathrop was born May 4th, 1833 in New York and was living in Cincinnati before the start of the Civil War.  Lathrop was first commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant with the 39th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was eventually promoted to Major.  He was later assigned to the 3rd Alabama U.S. Colored Infantry as a field officer.  The unit was later consolidated into the 111th U.S. Colored Infantry.  Lathrop attained the rank of Colonel when the 111th U.S.C.T. was formed in June 1864.  The regiment was involved in action at Pulaski, Tennessee and then ordered to defend captured territory near a railroad line at Athens, Alabama.  The soldiers built an earthworks fort that they were forced to defend when attacked by Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest.  A sharp fight erupted on September 24th that carried into the following morning.  The black soldiers feared capture to Forrest knowing that he and his men ruthlessly murdered the black soldiers who surrendered at Fort Pillow in April in what was labeled as a massacre.  Colonel Lathrop was either killed in the battle trying to defend the garrison and save his men from slaughter or died of disease at Camp Dennison, the latter indicated on the roster of the 111th.  Despite his courageous attempts the fort was eventually surrendered the following day and most of the Union defenders were captured (this action is known as the Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle).  Lathrop was initially buried near the scene of the battle but was removed and brought back to his home in Cincinnati where he was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in March 1865. 

William H. Lathrop is buried in Section 46, Lot 30.

More on the 59th OVI

Lieutenant Colonel Granville Adolphus Frambes

I've been able to get out the last couple of weeks and find some of the gravesites of men from the 59th in Brown and Clermont Counties, east of Cincinnati.  The Find A Grave virtual cemetery for the 59th is up to 287 names now.  As I look to add pictures to Find A Grave for those men without one, I often come across other 59th OVI men in the same cemetery that I did not have on my list, an it just adds to the enjoyment of this project.  I've also been going through the 59th's roster and adding men to the list, but that often takes some effort using a few resources.  The men of the 59th, for the most part, have Anglo last names and very common first names, so searching, especially when one does not have a date of death, can be problematic.  

I am also doing some research through old newspapers with accounts of the 59th.  One source mentioned an interesting tidbit that I hope to verify - that during the election of 1863 70 of the 300 or so men who voted in the 59th that election selected Clement Vallandigham instead of John Brough for governor.  This was unusual as the vast majority of Ohio men serving in the war voted for Brough.  This election result of the 59th was reported in The Daily Gate City (in Keokuk, Iowa) on November 3rd, 1863.  If another source can be found to verify this result, it would indicate that the men of the 59th were a mixed group when it came to political persuasion and then finding out why some voted for Vallandigham would also make an interesting story.

The fine folks at Stones River National Battlefield have provided me with their file on the 59th.  There are some letters written by men of the 59th that I need to go through.  I soon hope to have the 59th's files from Shiloh and Chickamauga as well.  Putting these together will help determine if there is enough interesting material to write a regimental history of the 59th.  

More on the 59th to come as I continue to plug away!