CWTS Article of the Month!

January 2000

"Ohio 710A"

by Lloyd Brumely

Extracted from The Civil War Token Journal, Volume 5 Number 2.


    It was April 13, 1861.  The day began as usual for the students of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.  Suddenly the small southwestern town was shocked from its complacency by the rapidly spreading news:  "Charleston Harbor...General Beauregard...Fort Sumter".

    That very day 160 young men, both students and village youths, placed their names on a roll of volunteers which made up The University Rifles.  The word soon came from Governor Dennison for the newly formed group:  "Report to Camp Jackson, Columbus, Ohio at the earliest practical moment to become Company B of the 20th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry."

    Picture in your mind the Oxford brass band and the cheering townspeople caught up in the mighty current of war, seeing off the students as they marched up High Street on the way to the station.  There the boys of North and South made solemn and final farewells as they boarded separate trains.

[Editors Note about the 20th OVI (3 months): Organized at Columbus, Ohio, April and May, 1861. Mustered in May 23, 1861. Ordered to West Virginia, and attached to Kelly's Command. Action at Richter June 23. Pursuit of Garnett July 15-16. Duty along Baltimore & Ohio Railroad till August. Mustered out August 23, 1861.  20th OVI (3 years)  Organized at Columbus, Ohio, August 19 to September 21, 1861. Moved to Camp King near Covington, Ky., and mustered in October 21. Duty at Covington and Newport, Ky., till February 11, 1862. Attached to 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Tennessee, February to May, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Army Tennessee, to July, 1862. Unattached, District of Jackson, Tenn., to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Right Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee and Army of Georgia, to July, 1865.  SERVICE.--Investment and capture of Fort Donelson, Tenn., February 14-16, 1862. Expedition toward Purdy and operations about Crump's Landing, Tenn., March 9-14. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Guard duty at Pittsburg Landing till June, and at Bolivar, Tenn., till September. Action at Bolivar August 30. Duty in the District of Jackson till November. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign November 2, 1862, to January 10, 1863. Action at Holly Springs, Miss., December 21, 1862. Lafayette, Tenn., January 14, 1863. Moved to Memphis, Tenn., January 26, thence to Lake Providence, La., February 22, and duty there till April. Movement on Bruinsburg and turning Grand Gulf April 25-30. Battle of Port Gibson, Miss., May 1. Forty Hills and Hankinson's Ferry May 3-4. Battle of Raymond May 12. Jackson May 14. Champion's Hill May 16. Siege <dy_1506> of Vicksburg May 18 to July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19-22. Surrender of Vicksburg July 4. Duty at Vicksburg till February, 1864. Stevenson's Expedition to Monroe, La., August 20-September 2, 1863. Expedition to Canton October 14-20. Bogue Chitto Creek October 17. Regiment reenlisted January 1, 1864. Meridian Campaign February 3-March 2. Canton February 26. Veterans on furlough March and April. Moved to Clifton, Tenn., thence march to Ackworth, Ga., April 29-June 9. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign June 9 to September 8. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Assault on Kenesaw June 27, Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Howell's Ferry July 5. Chattahoochie River July 6-17. Leggett's or Bald Hill July 20-21. Battle of Atlanta July 22. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Sandtown August 28. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 2. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama September 29-November 3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Pocotaligo, S.C., January 14. Barker's Mills, Whippy Swamp, February 2. Salkehatchie Swamp February 3-5. South Edisto River February 9. North Edisto River February 11-13. Columbia February 16-17. Battle of Bentonville, N. C., March 20-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 20. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June. Mustered out at Louisville, Ky., July 18, 1865. (A detachment participated in the Battle of Nashville, Tenn., December 15-16, 1864.)  Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 87 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 4 Officers and 267 Enlisted men by disease. Total 360.]

    Further up High Street was McGraw and Richey's drug store, a name familiar even today to Civil War token collectors.

    Earlier, in 1854, Sutton Richey had come to Oxford to attend Miami University.  When Mr. Richey first struck Oxford he was worth exactly $7.50.  He had nothing as he embarked in the drug business, his start being derived from money advanced by his father.

    Mr. Richey became remarkably successful by strict attention to business and by treating everybody fairly.  He later became postmaster, village treasurer, treasurer of Miami University and secretary of the Building and Loan Association.

Bibliography: The Miami Years by Walter Havinghurst, The History of Oxford, Ohio, by Ralph J. McGinnis
 


Tokens Issued by McGraw and Richey
Obverse
Reverse
Metal
Rarity
710A-1a 1124 Copper R-6
710A-2a 1180 Copper R-4
710A-3a 1225 Copper R-7
710A-4a 1324 Copper R-9
710A-5a 1058 Copper R-8


CWTS Article Archive
Winter 2016 A Reminiscence
Winter 2016 My First Sulter Token
Spring 2016 Protesting Union Civil War Policies
Winter 2015 Slave Owner Issued Civil War Tokens
Fall 2014 Hill the Barber & African American Store Card Issuers
Fall 2014 Gustavus Lindenmueller: The Myth, The Man, The Mystery
Apr. 2004 Henry Varwig - OH165GD
Mar. 2004 Dating Mr. Sayre's Tokens
Feb. 2000 Knowledge of Civil War Tokens
Jan. 2000 Ohio 710A
Dec. 1999 Speculations About Yankee Robinson
Nov. 1999 Hussey's Private Message Post
Oct. 1999 The Great Central Fair
Sep. 1999 Wm. S. Wilcox of Adrian, Michigan
Aug. 1999 Grading Isn't Really a Monster
July 1999 The 1860 Presidential Campaign Medalets
June 1999 The Other Store Cards of Central New York
May 1999 George McClellan - The Peace Maker?
Apr. 1999 Sutler Tokens at Gettysburg
Mar. 1999 More on the Monitor and Merrimac
Feb. 1999 Civil War Token Mini-Set -- General Franz Sigel
Jan. 1999 Die Sinker Errors on Civil War Tokens
Dec. 1998 The Abraham Lincoln Mini-set
Nov. 1998 Civil War Token Errors
Articles reprinted with permission of The Civil War Token Society.
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