This page is under construction - it still needs to be edited and fact checked

As I was doing the adjoining biographical page on my great-great grandparents Harry and Harriet Kinney - for the first time I understood the breadth of Harry’s civil war service.  He enlisted in the summer of 1861 and was mustered out two months after the war was over, his service spanning a few weeks short of four years.  Above is an item from Wm. H. Kinney’s civil war service - noting his unit and company with his name - in the possession of descendant Debbie Ellison.

By getting Harry’s pension and service records and thought I had the full story - but later I came across accounts from fellow unit members, and a trove of photos collected by the 20th Ohio’s commanding general Manning Force.  The photos, donated by Force’s son to Harvard University’s Houghton Library in 1946, were of the Officers of Harry’s unit - photos now in the public domain as long as they are credited.

This history of Harry and his unit tells a larger story of the civil war. With this summary page of the 20th Ohio’s service, along with Harry’s biographical page and three pages of the photos of the 20th Ohio from Harvard, I am pleased to tell some of the story - integrating Harry’s service into it.

The 20th Ohio was raised in the summer of 1861 and the regiment was mustered out in July 1865.  The 20th was at the Battle of Shiloh, in the Mississippi campaign, was at the siege of Vicksburg for months, was at Atlanta and Sherman’s March to the Sea.  They were in the Carolina Campaign at the close of the war, and participated in the “Grand Review of the Armies” in May 1865 in Washington, D. C. before going on to Louisville, Kentucky to be mustered out.

The 20th Ohio played a major role at the siege and battle of Vicksburg - and was in the area for a total of nine months.  The National Park Service has featured a monument to the 20th Ohio at the battle site and the link is here.  In the accompanying pages of photos of General Manning Force - many photos contained in Folder Three were like calling cards to General Force - and the link for photos of those not in the 20th Ohio tended to be that they were of officers who also served at Vicksbrug. 

William Harrison Kinney served during almost all of the American Civil War - enlisting in early September 1861 in the Ohio 20th Company A, re-enlisting in Mississippi in September 1864, was promoted to Corporal near the end of the war, and served until the regiment was mustered out in July 1865.

Harry was one of “the boys” from Morrow and Knox County, Ohio that enlisted in company A - the term “the boys” was used in his letter from him to General Force in 1880. Other companies had soldiers from Fayette, Delaware, Shelby, Preble, Trumbell, and Mahoning Counties, as well as two other companies of soldiers from Knox County.

Early on in my genealogical research almost twenty-five years ago, I got Harry’s civil war pension file. In subsequent trips to Salt Lake City I was able to get his service cards - and the service cards for his company and regiment. For the longest time, I thought that would tell what I needed to know about the story.  Then - in googling Harry’s name a few years ago, I uncovered a letter he had written to General Force of his unit in 1880, in holdings at a Harvard University Library. That opened a door. The library also had photographs of the leaders of Harry’s regiment. Then I found many accounts of the regiment’s activities during the war.

I have gathered the following:

• the 1880 letter from Harry Kinney to General Force (posted on this page in the “after the war” section).

• over 75 photographs of the officers of Harry’s 20th Ohio Regiment, including a very few photos of soldiers at ease - also at the same Harvard library, donated by General Manning Force’s son in the 1940’s.  I asked if the photos were available, they scanned them and sent them - and indicated there was no copyright! The library just asked that all the photos be credited [all of the photos are posted on this website - the first page with an index and introduction is here.]

• a history of the 20th Regiment in the Siege of Vicksburg, written by a Sergeant in Company E of the 20th Ohio - Osborn Oldroyd - a photo of whom is in those posted on an accompanying page. There is also an Oldroyd Studio in Mount Vernon where one of the other photos was taken. The Google books public domain copy of “The Soldiers Story of the Siege of Vicksburg” is here.

• The book “Four Years A Scout and Spy”, written by Major Downs of the 20th Ohio. Major Downs photo is also in the Houghton Collection.  The google books public domain copy of this book is here.

• Memories of Captain Henry Dwight of the 20th Ohio, published in the Civil War Times magazine over four issues in 1980 - February, April, May, and June 1980. Dwight had a journal through Vicksburg, and then the articles were supplemented with graphics of regiment activities through the rest of the war.  The title of the articles are “The War Album of Henry Dwight, Part I” (and then II, III, and IV). These issues are copyrighted and available through Amazon or Ebay as available - or historynet, the successor organization to the Civil War Times.  I have written historynet about the possibility of quoting from these articles, and have not received a response.

• a history of the 20th Ohio and speeches given at an 1876 reunion in Mt. Vernon, Ohio - titled “History of the 20th O. V. V. I. Regiment - Proceedings of the First Reunion at Mt. Vernon, Ohio April 6, 1876”.  The public domain copy on Google books is here.

• General Manning Force’s own book on his service, “From Fort Henry to Corinth”. The public domain copy at Google books is here.

• Charles Whittleley, the commander of the 20th Ohio for the first part of the war, before General Force, wrote a history of that early period: “War Memoranda: Cheat River to the Tennessee, 1861-1862”. Cleveland, OH: W.W. Williams, 1884. The public domain copy at Google books is here.

• recaps of the units service from Knox County histories.  The public domain copy at Google books of the 1881 Knox County history is here.

• Whitelaw Reid of the New York Post, edited a list of the individual Ohio regiment officers, “Ohio in the War” (the Ohio 20th is in Volume Two) and there were also a few pages on the history of the 20th Ohio.  The public domain version of that book can be accessed through Google books here.

• the service cards of Harry Kinney’s Company A, detailing the monthly location of the unit during the war.

• the service cards for Harry Kinney himself - which are not very helpful, but include his muster in and muster out details; and just that he was “present” each month. Yet matched with the service cards of his company, that show where the unit was each month, being “present” indicates where he was.

• Harry Kinney’s pension file.

• Various newspaper articles of the period, primarily detailing some of the annual 20th Ohio reunions.

Given that so much has been written about the 20th Ohio, there is not a lot of new ground to cover. But the service cards for both Harry and the regiment - as well as his pension file - can place one soldier in the context of the service of the 20th Ohio, which served during almost the entire Civil War. This page is a high level history taken from these items, presented as chronologically as possible, and interspersed with a few of the photos from the Houghton Library (Harvard) collection and images from the relevant records. The photographs are posted in their entirety on three adjoining web pages, with a complete index, even though a few will be mixed in on this page.

What started out in the accompanying page on Harry and Harriet Kinney - a brief history of his civil war service - I now believe is better served by its own page incorporating the most relevant of this information to tell the story. I welcome feedback, additions, or corrections.

The photo above is in the Houghton Library collection - which is primarily of the 20th Ohio and members. There are few photos of soldiers in the field and this is one. On the back of the photo is written: “First Brigade, 3 Division of ?? A. C ., Big Black River Bridge, Mississippi”. There was a battle of the Big Black River Bridge in Mississippi in May 1863. The 20th Ohio was in the region at the time.

The story of the 20th Ohio in the Civil War - with a focus on Company A and Private (and later Corporal) William Harrison “Harry” Kinney

It has been a very difficult task to figure out how to organize the material posted below - and to decide of the mounds of material what rises to the level to post.  A brief introduction to Harry and his unit’s service is just below, with the first service cards for each posted.  Then there is a photo and description of General Force, followed by the Knox County 1881 history listing of soldiers in the Knox County units.  Then posted is the history of the unit by General Force, with the service cards interspersed, the service cards indicating where Harry’s company was during the key campaigns - which matches up to the story told by General Force. 

Harry enrolled for service in his home town of Fredericktown, Ohio on August 18, 1861. The enlistment date is also shown as September 2, 1861, and the location of the earlier enlistment is also shown as Chesterville, Ohio. - which matches the information that enlistees were from both Knox and Morrow Counties.  At enlistment he was 21 years old, six feet one half inch tall, complexion dark, eyes brown, hair brown, born in Ohio, and with the occupation of laborer. 

For reference, William Harrison “Harry” Kinney was born in 1840 in Knox County, Ohio - the year that William Henry Harrison was elected President of the United States. That is likely how he got his name. Harry grew up in the Fredericktown area of Knox County, Ohio - named for Frederick County, Maryland where his father and other settlers had come from - and Berlin Township, named after the small town in Connecticut where his mother’s family had come from. While the only son of David and Julia Norton Kinney (his only other sibling was a half sister through his mother), Harry grew up in the middle of a larger community that included family members from his father and mother’s side of the family. In fact, a brother of his future wife was in Company A at the beginning (William Crill), and there is a listing for a John Darling - a John Darling having married his half-sister (John Darling’s pension file lists his service as in the 2nd Ohio).

Harry’s age and history are shown in his first service card for Company A, posted below. His service cards throughout the war seem of less interest than the cards for Company A - which regularly listed their location.  Harry’s cards just listed him as “present”.

He was shown to have reported for duty on September 3, 1861 at Camp Chase (in Columbus, Ohio) for a period of three years.  His pension file includes statements that he contracted a life-long case of chronic diarrhea at the Tennessee River in Tennessee in the latter part of February, 1862.  The pension records show he was with his unit in this period in Cincinnati, Ohio and East St. Louis, Illinois. 

The company "A" record in the National Archives states that it was organized by Captain Elisha Hyatt at Chesterville, Monroe (Morrow?) County in the month of August [1861], marched to Camp Chase near Columbus, arriving September 3, a distance of 58 miles." Below left is the first “Muster-In Roll” card, from the beginning of the company’s service.

There are three sets of service cards relevant to Harry. There is a set for the 20th Ohio. There is also a set for Company A of the 20th Ohio, which shows where the Company A was. Then there are personal service cards for Harry.  Except for his first cards, his re-enlistment cards, and his last cards, they generally show that he was “present”.  So if you match the location of the Company A cards, with the fact that Harry was “present” for the locations where the company was posted throughout the civil war - it gives you an idea of where he served.

On December 21, 1861, it was written, the company "marched from Camp King to Warsaw, Gallatin, KY by order of General Wade December 26, 1861.  At that place took four prisoners, prominent seccessionists.  Same night marched to Napoleon in same County and took six prisoners and returned to Warsaw same night.  On December 28 marched to Eagle Creek to Sandler Mills.  On 29th marched to New Liberty, Owen County KY, and at that place took 66 carbines, same number of sabers and seventy muskets.  In the meantime have done much to restore quiet among the Union men."

The Company "A" record places them at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee in March/April 1862 (This is where and when the brother of Harry’s future wife - William Crill - was discharged from the same regiment and company - he died a few months later, indicating he was sick at the time of discharge); at Grand Junction, TN in May/June; at Bolivar, TN in July/August; at Camp King KY (dated Oct 31, 1861); at Bolivar TN in September/October; at camp near Abbeville, Mississippi in November/December; at Lake Providence, Louisiana in Jan/Feb 1863; at Vista Plantation, LA, dated April 10, 1863; at Hard Times Landing, LA in March/April, 1863; at Tiffin, Miss. in May/June; at Bayou Macon, LA in July/August; at Vicksburg, Miss. from September/ December; at Canton, Miss. On January 1, Harry Kinney re-enlisted, remained in the Ohio 20th, but moved to Company K. The declaration of Harry to do this is shown below:

He was honorably discharged on December 31, 1863 in Vicksburg, Mississippi and re enlisted for three years the next day. William's muster records show that at the time of re-enlistment, he was a resident of Middlebury, Knox County, Ohio. Muster records do not show locations for William, except that he was in Vicksburg on February 1, 1864. He was appointed corporal on January 28, 1865. He was honorably discharged on July 15, 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky.

The company’s further records after Harry’s re-enlistment (in a different company), showed the 20th Regiment was in Jan/Feb, 1864; at Cairo, Miss, March/April; at Marietta, GA, May/June; at New Jonesboro(?), July/August; at Cave Springs, GA, Sept/Oct; at Savannah, GA, Nov/Dec; in the field in South Carolina, Jan/Feb, 1865; In the field, North Carolina, March/ April; and May/June, near Louisville, KY, disbanding July 15, 1865 at Louisville, KY."

Harry was mustered out on at Louisville, Kentucky on July 15, 1865 - he was shown in the 20th Ohio, Company K after his re-enlistment:

The 1881 History of Knox County, Ohio tells the story and lists the solders from Knox County in the 20th Ohio. The first pages list various members of the units tied to the Knox County area, and are posted below. Later are pages describing the exploits of the 20th Ohio, interspersed with General Manning Force’s memoir, and the location cards for Harrison Kinney, Company A, and the 20th Ohio - so that the times they spent in these carious locations are documented next to descriptions of their service.

The National Park service has a good summary of the overview, service, and regiment members lost: “Overview: 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 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 re-enlisted 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 Swamps 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.”

A copy of the regimental flag, or colors, is here.

The remaining pages about the 20th Ohio in the 1881 Knox County history covers the “exploits” of the regiment during its service. For background, those pages are posted below, interspersed with the 1876 General Force recounting of the unit during the war - the 1881 Knox County history gives the view from the viewpoint of the Knox County  units, and the General Force narrative gives the viewpoint of the entire 20th Ohio regiment. Also posted are various personal, unit, and regimental service cards, describing where the soldiers were each month during the war.

General Force’s 1876 speech starts on how the unit was put together, and where they first served:

In General Force’s narrative above, he mentions Quartermaster Hitchcock. There are two photos of him in the collection - shown in Folder One on an adjoining page. General Force further mentions the formation of the unit, and various locations where the unit was in the first months - Camp Chase, Camp Dennison, and Camp King; Covington, Newport, and Warsaw Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio, and Fort Donelson.

The Knox County history page below, picks up on Fort Donelson, and in one page goes to the winter of 1862-63, not really mentioned Shiloh by name, mentioning Raymond, and then to Vicksburg. The names of Bostwick, Mellick, Fry, Kaga, Ayers, and Hill are mentioned, all of whom have photos in the adjoining pages.

The 20th Ohio Company A service cards for the first year, posted below, take the company through Kentucky, Fort Donelson, by Shiloh and around Vicksburg.

It takes a number of pages of General Force’s account to catch up with the Knox County history, as these pages below bring the narrative to match the Knox County history in getting to Vicksburg. In the pages below, the names of Stevenson and Oldroyd are mentioned - for whom there are photographs in the adjoining pages. Also mentioned are the 78th Ohio, and 30th Illinois. There is a mention of the future General Leggett with the 78th Ohio - for whom there is a photo in the accompanying page. There is also a photo of an office of the 30th Illinois posted as well.

Lt. Weatherby, mentioned below, is included in the photographs in the accompanying pages.

The first half of the page below covers Vicksburg, and the second page takes the Knox County regiments into 1864. Mentions on this page is Lt. John Stevenson and Henry Davis - both of whom have photographs in the accompanying pages. The 68th and 78th Ohio regiments are mentioned, both of whom have officer photos in the accompanying pages.

Right about this time in early 1864 was when Harry Kinney re-enlisted. His first stint was up (it can be seen in the accompanying pages on photographs that some of the officers there served their three years and did not re-enlist. Harry did. The re-enlisted documents are posted below. The date is Januar 1864 and the location is listed as Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Harry Kinney’s service cards that describe his muster out and muster in around his re-enlistment are posted below, now listing Company K at the top:

General Force’s narrative below also takes the 20th Ohio to Atlanta. Mentioned are Captain Ayres and General Leggett - both of whom there are photographs of in the accompanying pages.

The two narratives take the 20th Ohio and the Knox County companies to January, 1864. Below are posted in sequence the Company A (K) services cards from the beginning of January to the end of the war, placing the Company’s location every two months as they moved through Georgia and into the Carolinas.

The first card is in Canton, Mississippi; then Cairo, Illinois; then Marietta, Georgia; then Jonesboro, Georgia; then Cave Springs, Georgia; then Savannah, Georgia; then in the field in South Carolina, then in the field in North Carolina; and then near Louisville, Kentucky. The unit probably was in the Victory March in DC in May 1865 between the time in North Carolina and the time of muster-out in Louisville.

In the two pages of the Knox County history below, the Knox County units are taken into 1865 and the Carolina Campaign where the 20th Ohio closed out the war. Mentioned are officers Bostwick, Woodmancy, and Fry - all of whom have images on the accompanying pages.

Below are the pages of General Force’s narrative that takes the 20th Ohio from the outskirts of Atlanta to the end of the war. The last pages are a summary of various parts of the service.

The last page of the Knox County war description is below, and conludes the description of the Knox County units in the Civil War. This page summarizes the locations of the 20th Ohio during the war. Mentioned is Captain Ayres, for whom there is a photograph on the accompanying pages.

There were service cards for the entire 20th Ohio regiment - and the one for May 1865, posted below, shows the 20th Ohio in Washington, D.C., which was the time of the grand review.

Below is a Stereograph photo from the Library of Congress, showing Union army veterans marching by the presidential viewing stand during the grand review May 23-24, 1865 in Washington, D.C. The 20th Ohio is believed to have marched in the Victory parade.  The Library file shows no restrictions on publication.  The photograph was colorized for this posting to bring out detail.

Below is the company’s muster-out card in Louisville, and Harry Kinney’s muster-out card in Louisville. The 20th Ohio was effectively disbanded on July 15, 1865.

After the War

After the war, the surviving soldiers of the 20th Ohio returned to their home towns across Ohio.  As can be seen by the brief biographies by the photos in the accompanying pages, some moved west after their service. Their civil war service shows up in news articles about reunions, in the 1890 civil war census, in pension records filed with the federal government, and on tombstones.  A very few wrote of their service - those links are near the beginning of this page.

In 1876, the first of annual reunions of the 20th Ohio was held in Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio. The link to the speeches from that 1876 reunion is above with 20th Ohio resources, and was the first documented time that the men of the 20th Ohio got together after the war. 

I have always assumed Harry Kinney attended the 1876 reunion, but there is no known list of attendees.  I was hoping to find a news article that might have listed some attendees, and did not find one.  The reunions continued, as the article posted below from the New-Philadelphia (Tuscarawas County, Ohio)  Democrat of February 17, 1879 announcing the 1879 reunion.  There were further reunions, articles about some of them are posted below, with an article from the 1910 reunion is posted below to close this section, listing a few of the attendees.

On June 1, 1880, Harry Kinney wrote a letter to General Force, who he had served under in the 20th Ohio. This letter, and the envelope it was sent in, were placed in the Houghton Library archives at Harvard University - along with other items donated by General Force’s family. I obtained a copy of this letter in 2008, and the library indicated in 2021 that I could post it here. In the letter Harry refers to “the 20th boys”, since the men from that company were from Knox and Morrow Counties. He does mention his physical condition, which may mean that he was hoping for a letter for his pension - as many of his pension references referred to the same condition. I enhanced the images of the envelope and letter.

There was an 1885 adjutant general statement about Harry’s service, included in his pension file:

Harry Kinney was shown in the 1890 veterans census below, showing he was living in Knox County at the time, and detailing his civil war service. Shown in the same entry was George W. Kinney - cousin of Harry and son of James, the brother of Harry’s father David Kinney.

Harry’s 1907 declaration for a pension is shown below:

Harry filed an 1898 statement that listed his children:

The 20th Ohio reunions appeared to have continued.  An article in the Shelby County Democrat of July 29, 1904 described the 1904 reunion and is posted below.

In the Piqua Leader Dispatch of July 25, 1906 is the following article about the reunion that year.

In the Mount Vernon Democratic-Banner of July 29, 1910 had an article on the 1910 20th Ohio reunion, which was held in Shelby County. The story is posted below in three parts: