The woods to the east are from which the Confederate forces attacked that day
The monument to the 26th OVI ( pictured above) is the largest monument dedicated to the service of the 26th OVI in the country. It stands about 30 yards east of the Lafayette Road at the East Viniard Field area in the Chickamauga National Military Park. This location was chosen wisely as it is where the 26th OVI suffered its most bloody day of battle on September 19, 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga.
As we view the monument today, it is beautiful, impressive and inspiring. For many of the veterans of the 26th OVI, I am sure they felt similar reactions. However, the monument we see today is not exactly the monument that the 26th OVI veterans wanted as expressed through their 26th OVI Regimental Association.
Capt. John T Raper was chosen by the 26th OVI Regimental Association to lead a committee of the 26th OVI to represent the regiment's veterans wishes as to the location and design of the monument. Capt. Raper took his mission very seriously and was a strong advocate for the vets' desires. He traveled to Chickamauga as part of a contingent of veterans to walk their old battle field and find locations where the various regimental monuments could be placed. The key was to be historically accurate. The Chickamauga Commission endorsed Capt. Raper's location for the monument which sits on the ground where the 26th OVI suffered over 50% casualties on Sept. 19, 1863 as it repulsed and attacked again and again at this area on that afternoon. At the end of the day, the 26th OVI soldiers rested on their arms having held this critical ground.
The final design is another matter..
As reported at the 1894 annual regimental reunion and printed in The Ohio Soldier, Vol. VIII, Sept. 23, 1894, p.57:
" Your committee to whom was referred the matter of design and inscription for the Chickamauga monument, beg leave to report that we agreed upon a granite monument which was to be cut in bass relief the figure of a woman, representing Peace, standing on broken implements of war, bearing in her right hand an olive branch, the left resting on the Roman emblem of power and union, the battle axe and bundle of rods. On her left was a peaceful farm scene, a dove in the foreground in full flight; on her right the ruins of the farm house, representing war. In the background was the rising sun, in the rays of which, formed by the light and shadows thereof, these words from Psalms: ' He will speak peace unto his people; let them not turn again to folly.' This was the front of the monument toward the Lafayette road, which ran immediately in the rear of the position of our regiment, and is now the main approach to that part of the battlefield.
On the other face of the monument-- our battle front-- was a bass-relief grouping of our old battleflags, now deposited in the state house. On top of the monument was the figure of a groundhog--the regimental emblem-- agreeably to the wish of the comrades expressed at the reunion of the regimental association in August, 1893.
The base of the monument was a granite block, cut to represent a pile of ammunition boxes. The base was 7 feet, 6 inches by 5 feet, 10 inches, the shaft 4 feet, 4 inches by three feet; height of whole 12 feet, containing 209 cubic feet of granite, above which was the figure of the groundhog. We are unable to give the dimensions as finally adopted by the commission, but understand it is some 29 cubic feet samller.
The name and number of the regiment, brigade, division and corps were placed appropriately on the monument; also a bronze coat of arms of Ohio, designed by the commission. The inscription agreed upon by the committee was in these words: ' Here the tide of battle was stayed by the blood of 213 comrades of the 26th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.'
The figure of the groundhog was rejected, because, in the opinion of the commission, it as not a warlike emblem, not having the sanction of the ancients, the poets, or the artists, although the regiment burrowed and fought all over the south, under the delusion that it was, even more so than the types that have the support of the poets and other noncombatants.
The commission also rejected the legend before named... and in its place put the word ' Peace'. The committee objected to the change, and also expressed a preference that if any of the words were left off, all should be, but the commission refused to concur.
The commission also refused to allow the legend: ' Here the tide of battle was stayed by the blood of 213 comrades of the 26th Ohio Volunteer Infantry', and in its place puts on about 120 words giving the movements of the regiment during the battle, its losses, etc, matter which in the opinion of your committee is more appropriate in an official report, a statistical history, or other printed description, than for a tablet commemorating the virtue, patriotism, and sacrifice of the men who stood or fell with the regiment on the battlefield.
It is proper to add that the changes in the inscription were made in accordance with a rule adopted by the state commission requiring the inscriptions to be purely historical and relating only to the battle of Chickamauga. The national commission followed the evil example of the state commission and adopted substantially the same rule. It will be observed that this rule forbids the use of one patriotic word or sentiment on these monuments, and thus effectively destroys the value of the memorials, and the object the great body of the comrades had in favoring their erection, and, as we believe, the object contemplated by the legislature in making the necessary appropriations. It goes without saying that no offensive inscriptions should be permitted; but a rule that forbids patriotic sentiments is detestable. If this rule is continued, not one word for country or union will appear on the Ohio monuments at Chickamauga: nothing but the mere fight--the brute part of the contest--will be commemorated so far as is shown by the monuments.
Respectfully submitted,
John T Raper,
Daniel Chestnut,
S.F. Robinson,
Committee."
According to the minutes of the 1894 reunion, a heated discussion ensued with those in attendance asking the committee to approach the Ohio attorney general regarding the concern over the changes to the monument. The next day the committee met with the attorney general. Though supportive, he indicated there was really nothing he could do. He advised it would be more useful to appeal directly to the Military Park commission. The veterans at the reunion finished their business with the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the committee be continued, and be instructed to appeal to the secretary of war for a revocation of the objectionable rule, and to take such other steps as may be necessary to secure the restoration of our regimental monument as originally designed by the committee."
The effort was not totally successful. The 1895 reunion was held at the Chickamauga National Military Park on the 32nd anniversary of the battle. At that time, the 26th OVI veterans witnessed the unveiling of their regiment's monument as shown above. Though some veterans might continue to find fault with the monument's design, at the 1896 Annual Reunion held in Columbus, the association members present "gave a unanimous and hearty vote of thanks to the people of the great state of Ohio for the splendid granite monument which now stands near the Viniard house on the famous battle ground of Chickamauga. " [ The Ohio Solder, Vol. IX, p. 362 ]
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