Warren County
Local History by Dallas Bogan |
Contributor: |
Dallas Bogan on 17 August 2004 |
Source: |
original article by Dallas Bogan |
Return to Index to see a list of other articles by Dallas Bogan |
A former Morrow resident, Thomas Worthington, Jr., was the
son of the fourth Governor of Ohio, Thomas Worthington, and
the nephew of the first Governor of Ohio, Edward Tiffin.
Thomas Worthington, Jr., being one of ten children, was born
March 18, 1807. This was four years after his father had been elected one of
the first U.S. Senators. Thomas spent his boyhood days at Adena,
near Chillicothe.
Thomas entered West Point in 1823, graduating twelfth of thirty-eight
in the class of 1827. Perhaps because of his father's death in 1828, Thomas
resigned from the army and returned to his home in Chillicothe.
The Worthington's had huge land and other entrepreneurial holdings in several
different counties of Ohio. In 1834 Thomas acquired the commitment,
through his father's estate, of some eighteen hundred acres of land and a flourmill
near Logan. He was then engaged in the flour business and farming for the next
twelve years.
Thomas joined the State Militia and in 1839 he was promoted
to brigadier general. He served in the Mexican War and applied the skills he
had obtained at West Point. He resigned in January 1847, claiming he was suffering
from what he described as Rio Grande fever. He clearly thought his skills were
not acknowledged to their full ability.
At the age of forty, Worthington, still unmarried, again was
occupied in farming and milling near Logan. He was considered to be an anti-social
and bitter man at this time. Claiming that his Mexican War service had "cost
him a lawsuit involving his patrimony of 1,800 acres of land," tended to
create a hardening attitude.
Worthington sold his land in Hocking County and moved, in the
late 1850's, to Morrow. Here he distinguished himself as a "vine grower."
The fall of Fort Sumter in 1861 found him working on his estate. Throwing his
working utensils aside, he immediately rushed to recruit a company of volunteers
in Warren County.
He was in Washington on business when the first battle of Bull Run (First Manassas)
was fought. He asked for and was authorized to raise a regiment on July 29,
1861, by Secretary of War Simon Cameron. This regiment was
the Forty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, organized and trained at Camp Lyon,
Worthington, Ohio. The regiment's first assignment was Savannah, Tennessee,
arriving March 8, 1862.
Colonel Worthington, through his hostile attitude, was, after
three weeks of service, having conflicting views with his fellow officers. His
high-handiness and self-impelled motivation caught the attention of Sherman.
Constantly squabbling over his regiment's lack of provisions, in a situation
where provisions were generally hard to come by, was an issue in itself.
Sherman's arrival at Savannah was three days after the Forty-sixth
had arrived; he recalled that Colonel Worthington was "stalking
about giving orders as though he were commander-in- chief." Colonel
Worthington was the senior in age over General Halleck,
General Sherman and General Grant, which his
attitude exhibited. Sherman alleged that Worthington
"claimed to know more about war than all of us put together."
The Battle of Shiloh was the straw that broke the camel's back. Colonel
Worthington published a history of the battle of Shiloh, entailing
his "side of the story." The Colonel steadfastly asserted that before
the battle, the Confederates were on the move. Sherman ignored
the frequent warnings. He was ordered not to provoke an attack until Buell
arrived.
On the morning of April 6, 1862, the Confederates attacked. Colonel
Worthington claims his regiment, "was, without notice, transferred
from the center to the extreme right of the Union line, far detached from the
main army; that its right being suddenly threatened, the 46th, by a prompt charge
of front, attacked and repelled a superior flanking force, until ordered back
about 2 P.M., thus holding the extreme right of the line long enough to make
advancing aid available."
General Sherman claimed credit for this maneuver, which totally
enraged Colonel Worthington. The Colonel at this time started
releasing parts of his diary, which accused Colonel McDowell,
General Grant and General Sherman of neglect
of duty at the Battle of Shiloh.
General Sherman's brother, Senator John Sherman
of Ohio, on the floor of the Senate in August, 1861, detailed reports which
stated: "the highest credit is given to Col. Worthington
for courage and good conduct" at the battle of Shiloh.
The study of the Battle of Shiloh shows that Colonel Worthington
was right in his assessment of his superiors.
Worthington was brought before a court of his superiors principally
because of the release of his diary contents. He was relieved of his command
on September 6, 1862. The court-martial of Colonel Worthington
found him guilty of some charges and not guilty of others.
President Lincoln solicited his resignation and received it
on November 21, 1862.
The Colonel skirmished with General Sherman for years over
the embitterment of the Battle of Shiloh. He ventured to Washington for years
during Congressional sessions, searching for reprisal for the injustice he thought
was done him. Congress officially granted him a pension through a special act.
Colonel Thomas Worthington died in Washington, D.C., February
23, 1884. The Colonel's later years in Morrow were spent as
a recluse separating himself from the average every day village life.
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This page created 17 August 2004 and last updated
28 September, 2008
© 2004 Arne H Trelvik
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