Henry Houseworth and the Battle of Chickamauga

Henry Houseworth(1845-1863)

Henry was 17 when he joined the Union Army at Columbus, Ohio, in 1862. Henry, like his brother Gilman, and several cousins, served with the 26th Ohio Volunteer Army, Company C. This unit was quite active in the Civil War and fought in West Virginia, Kentucky[where is took part in the siege of Corinth and the Battles of Perryville and Stone River, where it lost 1/3 of it's troops], and the infamous Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, where Henry went missing. For excellent reading I recommend the book.

"This Terrible Sound" The Battle of Chickamauga, by Peter Cozzens.

The History of Delaware County(Ohio) 1880 documents the battle and the death of Henry.

The major battle of Chickamauga took place on September 19 and 20, 1863, and was the only major defeat suffered by the Union Army.

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FROM MY FORTHCOMING BOOK.....A Murder in Waldo by Patrick R. Houseworth.

Viniard Field

Chickamauga, Georgia

3PM

September 19, 1863

As 20 year old Gilman Houseworth lay in the scrub grass about a hundred yards of so away from the woods to the north, he hoped to catch a glimpse of younger brother Henry, or at least catch a breeze as relief from the heat and humidity. The north Georgia day had dawned damp and cool on the Lookout Mountains, but it had become hot and humid as the day and the fighting had progressed. The air hung heavy with the smell of gunpowder and death.

18 year old Gilman with nothing going on in the small berg of Waldo, Ohio, had made the trip down to Columbus in June 1861, along with him went his 15 year old cousin, Maish Houseworth, they had decided to see what the Ohio Voluntary Infantry had to offer. Both boys signed up with the men of the Ohio 26th OVI. It didn't take long for the officers in charge to figure out that the diminutive Maish(who signed up under his dad George's name) was nowhere near the required 17 years of age. After a week, Maish was sent packing back to Waldo.

Meanwhile Gilman was assigned to Company C, where most of the men and boys were from Morrow County, Gilman's childhood home county.

Back at Chickamauga, the battles had been hot and heavy with the Johnny Rebs, but Gilman had kept his head low and the rifle clean, he had the skill and luck to avoid the death, disease, and illness that plagued the armies of the Unionn and the Confederacy. That was all about to come to and end on the Chickamauga Battlefield on a hot September weekend in the year of our lord 1863.

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Gilman would survive the battle, with a head wound, Henry would not be seen again.

For more on the 26th OVI Company C go to this excellent website:

http://www.geocities.com/ovi26th.

[photos...I took these at the Viniard Field battle site on a wet February day in 2004. This is where the men of the OVI Company C fought and died at this southwest corner location...the stone is a tribute to the men of the OVI.