A CIVIL WAR TALE OR TWO ..... PART ONE

GENERAL OTHO STRAHL

        While Otho Strahl is not a direct ancestor, he is still a Strahl to be proud of.   He would be a cousin several times removed to my generation of Strahls and a second cousin to the Isaac Strahl who raised the black Morgan horse later given by the Union Army to General Philip Sheridan.  Ortho and Isaac were both fourth generation Strahls with their common ancestor (and ours, too) being Casper Strahl who migrated to this country from Germany, but more on Casper on a future blog.  

Casper had two sons, Philip and Isaac.  Otho then is the great-grandson of Philip, and Isaac is the great-grandson of Isaac.  A little confusing since there are two Isaacs.   Coincidentally, the two brothers, Philip and Isaac married sisters, Sarah Lee and Ellen Lee.   If the lineage is followed, that would probably make me about a sixth cousin of the famous general.  So on to the saga and tragic ending of Civil War Confederate General Otho Strahl.  Much has been written about him and if you google his name, it will come up with several sources to explore.  

As I said, it all started with Casper Strahl, who as a young man, migrated to this country in1750.  He married Rebecca Barger and they had several children including Philip and Isaac Strahl.  Fast forward a couple of generations and great-grandson, Philip, Jr. Strahl, who married Rhoda Ann French.  They would become the parents of Otho French Strahl .  The Strahsl at this point were all Quakers.  Yes, I said Quakers!   Casper and Rebecca included.  In1830, Philip and Rhoda moved to Malta Township. Morgan County, Ohio where the future general was born on June 3, 1832, the third of six children.   

It would not be surprising that his sentiments would lean toward the south and states rights as both of his grandmothers had been raised in the South and would serve as a strong influence.  Incidentally, for some reason the Strahls left the Quaker congregation, and Ortho was brought up in the Presbyterian Church.   

No doubt, a  youthful urge to get beyond the influence and control of the parental circle may have motivated young Otho to leave the farm and go to Ohio Wesleyan University.  He was admitted to the bar in 1858, migrated to Dyersburg, Dyer County in west Tennessee and was practicing law there when the Civil War broke out.  He never married, thus leaving no ancestors.    

With the outbreak of the war, twenty-nine year old Otho Strahl raised a local infantry company among his friends and neighbors in Dyersburg.  Within a short time, he became the captain of his company of the newly raised 4th Tennessee Infantry (May 1861).  He and the regiment were transferred to Confederate service in August of that year.  He progressed through the ranks to lieutenant colonel.  In April 1862, the regiment was reorganized and consolidated with the 5th Tennessee Infantry after the Battle of Shiloh with Strahl promoted to colonel of the combined force. He led the 5th regiment in several actions before being promoted to brigade command.  Along with five other Confederate generals, he was killed in the Battle of Franklin also known as the "Gettysburg of the West".  His body lay on the back porch of a local plantation house, Carnton, until he was buried near the battlefield.  He was later reinterred in Old City Cemetery in Dyersburg, Tennessee.  He was just 32 years old.

The following is an account taken from the internet:

CARNTON PLANTATION BACK PORCH

Beginning at 4 p.m. on November 30, 1864, Carnton was witness to one of the bloodiest battles of the entire Civil War. Everything the McGavock family (owners of the plantation) ever knew was forever changed. The Confederate Army of Tennessee furiously assaulted the Federal army entrenched along the southern edge of Franklin. The resulting battle, believed to be the bloodiest five hours of the Civil War, involved a massive frontal assault larger than Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. The majority of the combat occurred in the dark and at close quarters. The Battle of Franklin lasted barely five hours and led to some 9,500 soldiers being killed, wounded, captured, or counted as missing. Nearly 7,000 of that number were Confederate troops.  Carnton served as the largest field hospital in the area for hundreds of wounded and dying Confederate soldiers

A staff officer later wrote that  "the wounded, in hundreds, were brought to [the house] during the battle, and all the night after.  And when the noble old house could hold no more, the yard was appropriated until the wounded and dead filled that...."

On the morning of December 1, 1864, the bodies of four Confederate generals killed during the fighting, Patrick R. Cleburne, Hiram B. Granbury, John Adams, and Otho F. Strahl, lay on Carnton’s back porch. The floors of the restored home are still stained with the blood of the men who were treated here.

              

A CIVIL WAR TALE OR TWO ..... Part Two

     

                                  WINCHESTER

         He was a magnificent steed, a fiery black Morgan stallion that led a famous general into battle.  His name was Lion, named so because he had a fierce temperament and was high-spirited, practically unmanageable.  Lion was raised on my great-great grandfather Isaac Strahl's farm in Morgan County, Ohio, and broke to ride by my great-grandfather, Perley Strahl.  
 

        During the Civil war, horse buyers for the Union Army circulated throughout the North buying horses for the war that was fought on horseback as well as on foot. The sleek black Morgan for some reason, piqued the interest of the buyers and a sale was made.  No doubt great-great grandfather Isaac was happy to be rid of him.  What the army wranglers did to calm the three year old stallion down is unknown, but the horse apparently became controllable.

Lion caught the eye of General Philip Sheridan who was in need of a personal steed.  The year was 1862 when Sheridan took possession of the horse and renamed it "Rienzi" after a recent skirmish in the state of Mississippi.  He rode Rienzi for the remainder of the war in all of his campaigns.  In 1864, he renamed the magnificent animal "Winchester".

As the story goes, on the morning of October 19,1964, while Sheridan was quartered in Winchester, Virginia, he received news that his troops were being attacked by the Confederates at a place named Cedar Creek, some twelve miles distant.  He mounted Rienzi and rode at breakneck speed, rallied his retreating troops and thus turned the tide of the battle.  Inspired by the battlefield heroism of both man and beast, Thomas Buchanan wrote a poem about the incident entitled "Sheridan's Ride".  Sheridan then renamed the horse Winchester.

  

  A statue of Sheridan riding Winchester was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909.  Winchester is now preserved in a glass case and on exhibit in the Hall of Military History of the Smithsonian institute of American History in Washington,D.C.  The saddle, bridle, and other trappings shown on Winchester were those of General Sheridan.  (First photo) 

Of Winchester, Sheridan said that he was an animal of great intelligence and immense strength and endurance.  With his head held high and his quickness of movements, one would think him exceedingly impetuous.  However, according to Sheridan, a firm hand and a few words were all that were needed.  The horse was cool and quiet under fire, a quality sorely needed in the time of battle.   

An account of the Strahl connection was provided by my great-aunt Ella Strahl who visited the Smithsonian in 1963.  Ella knew of her grandfather's horse farm in Ohio and of Lion.  According to Ella, a neighbor of Isaac Strahl actually saw Sheridan riding Winchester while he, a farm boy, was in service. The young boy had a knack for recognizing horses as well as he did people and confirmed that indeed, Winchester was the same horse that had been raised by Isaac Strahl in Ohio. My great-great grandfather's role in this tale was unfortunately lost to history.