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Milo Lewis Adams |
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Co. K, 121st O.V.I |
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by John Quist |
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Farmer and later life insurance agent Milo Lewis Adams was born on June 29, 1844 (1) in Berlin Township, Delaware County, OH. (2) His farmer father, Samuel Nathaniel (went by his middle name) Adams was born on November 1, 1812 in Philipstown, Putnam County, NY. (3) On September 12, 1839 in Delaware County, he married Delia Adams, (4) born on November 27, 1817 in Berlin Township. (5) The Adams and Lewis families arrived in Berlin Township from Connecticut on October 30, 1809. The company of those arriving consisted of four families totaling forty individuals. (6) The Adams family owned the farm on which the village of Cheshire was platted. (7) Two children were reported born to Samuel N. and Delia Adams: Emma Carrie (1840) and Milo Lewis (1844). (8) Samuel and Delia (Lewis) Adams died in the township, he on August 14, 1847 (9) and she on March 23, 1893, (10) and were buried there in the Cheshire Cemetery. On August 15, 1862 at the age of 18, Milo L. Adams enlisted as a Private in the 121st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment (121st O.V.I.), (11) which was organized at Camp Delaware at Delaware City, Delaware County – the old camp of the 96th O.V.I. – with recruits from Delaware, Knox, Logan, Marion, and Morrow counties and mustered in for three years on September 11, 1862, (12) with Private Adams assigned to Delaware County’s Company K. (13) The next day, September 12th, he was appointed Sergeant. On an unspecified date (probably in September or October 1863), he was promoted to Company First Sergeant. (14) The 121st Ohio was ordered to Cincinnati, OH (September 11), Covington, KY (September 15), and Louisville, KY (September 20), pursued General Braxton Bragg through the Kentucky countryside (October 1-15), and fought in the great major Union victory in the Battle of Perryville, KY (October 8), the largest Civil War battle fought in Kentucky. They were at Lebanon, KY through October, at Columbia, TN through November, operated against General John Hunt Morgan (December 22-January 3, 1863),were ordered to Louisville, KY and then to Nashville, TN (February 9) and Franklin, TN (February 12-June), took part in the Tullahoma or Middle Tennessee Campaign (June 23-July 7), remaining in the State during the summer and being stationed at Fayetteville, TN (August 25-September 5). (15) The 121st Ohio was mauled in the bloody Union defeat at Chickamauga, GA (September 19-21), while part of the 2nd Brigade under Colonel John G. Mitchell, of the First Division under Brigadier General James B. Steedman, of the Reserve Corps under Major General Gordon Granger. (16) On September 20th, the second day of the battle, General Granger, seeing the situation, but without orders, reinforced Major General George H. Thomas’ XIV Corps on Horseshow Ridge (also called Snodgrass Hill), which staved off the Confederate attackers under Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest until dark, permitting the Union forces to retreat in good order. (17) It was Steedman’s division, including the 121st O.V.I., which led the vanguard of the reinforcements to Thomas’ aid. They arrived about 2:30 p.m., just in time to stop Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet’s push. (18) “The division … charged up the heights, General Steedman performing the most conspicuous act of personal courage recorded of any general officer on the Federal side, leading his men, most of them raw recruits, then for the first time in action, and, seizing the flag of the 155th Illinois, gained the crest and drove the Confederates down the southern slope of Missionary Ridge.” (19) The regiment was next involved in the Siege of Chattanooga, TN (September 24-November 23), the Chattanooga, TN-Ringgold, GA Campaign (November 23-27), and the quick relief of Knoxville, TN (November 28-December 17). They were then stationed at Rossville, GA (a few miles south of Chattanooga) through April, 1864. Next came the long Atlanta, GA Campaign (May 1-September 8), including the Battle of Resaca (May 14-15), the capture of Rome (May 18), the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (also known as Big Shanty) (June 27), Battle of Ruff’s Station (now Smyrna) (July 4), action at Chattahoochee River (July 5-17), Battle of Peachtree Creek (July 19-20), and the Siege of Atlanta (July 22-August 25), followed by actions against Jonesboro (August 25-September 1). Following the Atlanta Campaign, the 121st Ohio Infantry operated against Generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Bell Hood in northern Georgia and northern Alabama (September 29-November 3), went with General William Tecumseh Sherman on his “March to the Sea” (November 15-December 10), were in the Siege of Savannah, GA (December 10-21), and took part in the Campaign of the Carolinas (January-April 1865), including the Battle of Bentonville, NC (March 19-21), occupation of Goldsboro, NC (March 24), occupation of Raleigh, NC (April 10-14), movement to Cape Fear, NC, movement to Holly Springs, NC and encampment (April 22), and the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston and his armies at Bennett’s Farm near Durham, NC (April 26). They then moved to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, VA (April 29-May 19). On May 24th, the regiment participated in the Grand Review of the Armies at Washington, where, on June 8, 1865, First Sergeant Adams and the 121st O.V.I. were mustered out. (20) On June 12, 1865 at Camp Jackson, Columbus, OH, they were “paid off” and discharged. (21) Milo returned to his mother and farm in Berlin Township, where, on April 4, 1867, he married Lydia A. Nettleton, (22) born on June 5, 1841 at Cheshire, Berlin Township. (23) Her farmer father, Daniel Nettleton, was born on January 7, 1809 in in Newport, Sullivan County, NH. (24) He married Margaret E. Thomson, born on March 15, 1808 in Connecticut. Four children were reported born to them: Selina B. (1838), Lydia (1841), Baron (1848), and Charles (1855). (25) Margaret (Thomson) and Daniel Nettleton died in Berlin Township, she on July 19, 1877 (26) and he on October 9, 1886, (27) and were buried there in the Cheshire Cemetery. During the Civil War, Lydia’s brother, Barron B. Nettleton (as his name was listed), was a Private in the 100-day Company H, 145th O.V.I. from May 2, 1864 until mustered out on August 24, 1864. (28) Two children were reported born to Milo and Lydia Adams: Hattie B. (1876) and Carroll (1881). (29) Milo and Lydia lived in Berlin Township until 1917, when they moved to Delaware City. In 1923, they moved to Washington Township, Morrow County, OH, (30) where their daughter, Hattie (Mrs. Charlie) Seif, lived. (31) On September 22, 1885, Milo L. Adams applied for a U.S. government pension as an “invalid” Union veteran of the Civil War. (32) The George B. Torrence Post, Number 60 of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was organized on April 21, 1881 in Delaware City, and W.L. Adams (as his name was printed) was mustered in as a member on September 5, 1882. (33) While Milo was a member of the G.A.R., Lydia was a member of the Woman’s Relief Corps, the women’s auxiliary of the G.A.R. (34) Lydia (Nettleton) Adams died on June 6, 1925 at a Columbus, OH hospital and was buried in the Cheshire Cemetery. (35) Milo Adams died on October 6, 1926 (36) in Morrow County at the home of his daughter, Hattie, and was buried with Lydia in the Cheshire Cemetery. (37)
Compiled by John W. Quist Delaware, Ohio, August 10, 2014 |
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Footnotes |
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1 “Milo Lewis Adams.” Find A Grave Memorial, findagrave.com (online) 2 “Milo Lewis Adams.” Schaeffer Family Tree, trees.ancestry.com (online) 3 “[Samuel] Nathaniel Adams.” Schaeffer Family Tree 4 “Delia Lewis.” Ohio, Marriages, 1800-1958, familysearch.org (online) 5 “Delia Lewis.” Schaeffer Family Tree 6 History of Delaware County and Ohio, O.L. Baskin & Co., Chicago, IL, 1880, pages 192 & 453 7 Ibid, page 463
8
Footnote 5 9 “Samuel N. Adams.” Find A Grave Memorial 10 “Delia Adams.” Ohio, Deaths and Burials, 1854-1997, familysearch.org ‘11 “Milo L. Adams.” U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 search.ancestry.com (online) 12 Footnote 6, page 301 13 Footnote 11
14
“Milo L. Adams.” Company K, 121st O.V.I., Official
Roster of the Soldiers of 15 “121st O.V.I.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org (online) 16 “Chickamauga Union Order of Battle.” Wikipedia 17 “Gordon Granger.” Wikipedia 18 “James B. Steedman.” Wikipedia
19
Gracie, Archibald. The Truth About Chickamauga, Houghton
Mifflin 20 Footnote 15 21 Reid, Whitelaw. “121st Ohio Volunteer Infantry,” Ohio in the War: Her
Statesmen, Her Generals, and
Soldiers;
Volume II, The History of Her 22 “Lydia A. Nettleton.” Ohio, Marriages, 1800-1958 23 “Mrs. Lydia N. Adams.” The Journal-Herald, Delaware, OH, Tuesday, June 9, 1925, page 5 24 “Daniel Nettleton.” Charlotte Mystrom, trees.ancestry.com 25 “Margaret E. [Thomson].” Charlotte Mystrom 26 “Margaret E. Nettleton.” Find A Grave Memorial
27
“Daniel Nettleton, Jr.” Find A Grave Memorial 29 “Lydia N. Nettleton.” Schaeffer Family Tree 30 Footnote 23
31
“Mr. Milo Lewis Adams.” The Journal-Herald, Delaware, OH,
Friday,
32
“Milo L. Adams.” Civil War Pension Index: General Index to
Pension Files, 34 Footnote 23
36 Footnote 1 37 Footnote 31 |
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