Stories of Highland County soldiers on Western frontier chronicled in new book
In the 1860s, as Americans were taking up arms to engage in the "brother against brother" battles of the Civil War, a group of Highland County men served their country protecting new infrastructure in remote outposts of Fort Laramie in Wyoming.
Company K of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry was recruited in Highland County, for a regiment being organized by William Oliver Collins, a well-known Hillsboro attorney. Young men signed up thinking they were volunteering to fight in the Civil War, but instead they were marched to Fort Laramie to guard the trails and telegraph lines and to build remote outposts around Wyoming.
"The Boys of Company K: Ohio Cavalry Soldiers in the West During the Civil War" by Lee M. Cullimore tells the story of Company K, largely through the writings of three soldiers. William F. Mooney was 35 years old and a schoolteacher. He wrote letters home to newspapers where they were published. Lewis Byram Hall kept a concise daily journal. Franklin Tubbs wrote letters home and over 70 have survived.
Because they tell their story using the eyes of common soldiers, rather than officers, the book offers a more personal portrayal of life on the western frontier than previous accounts and contains insights on how the enlisted “boys” dealt with boredom, violence, extremes in weather, lack of training, and loneliness.
[[In-content Ad]]Company K soldiers were involved in the Platte Bridge Battle where young Caspar Collins was killed, participated in the Powder River Expedition and build Fort Hallock, near Elk Mountain. But many of their days were filled with routine tasks.Cullimore worked for 35 years as a writer, editor, and publisher of special interest magazines, mostly in the outdoor recreation and natural history fields. He also produced a series of radio programs titled "The Great Outdoors" that was broadcast for ten years on more than five hundred radio stations. He retired as the executive director of the American Water Ski Association.