Page News & Courier
Heritage and Heraldry
The return of Union soldiers to Page . . . after the
war!
Part I
Article of February 8, 2001
Even in the wake of defeat at the Battle of Port
Republic did Federal soldiers find some sort of
comfort in the beauty of the Page Valley in June 1862. A member of the
14th Indiana Infantry wrote his "dear wife" while near Luray or what he
referred to as "Beulahland":
"Luray is a small town 25 miles south of the Manassas Gap RR in the
Blue Ridge range of the Mountains. Our camp today is in a beautiful
grassy field, in the midst of magnificent scenery. Within three miles of
us, the tall peaks of the Blue Ridge rise away up above the clouds, for
the clouds literally hid the summits of many of them. Close by runs a
fine stream of pure mountain water, affording an excellent place for
dirty soldiers to bathe. I confess that such scenery has peculiar
attractions for me, and sometimes in viewing it I almost forget that these
lofty hills hide a hostile foe in their bosom, only a few miles away."
Interestingly, several "boys in blue" found a liking
to Page County either while in the war or after the
war during the railroad boom. In all, over two-dozen
former Union soldiers found a home in Page by the
close of the 19th century. One particularly
interesting man, and senior ranking of all of the
bluecoats to find home in Page, was Captain Robert
Russell of Co. G, 66th Ohio Infantry. He, like the
14th Indiana Infantry author, was in Page in the wake of the Battle of
Port Republic and something may have struck a cord.
Born in 1837, Robert Hill Russell was the son of
Valentine and Margaret Hill Russell. While Margaret was a native
Ohioan, Valentine had been born in Loudoun County, Virginia in 1814 - giving
Robert a tie to the Old Dominion. At age 24, Robert Russell enlisted
in the 66th in Champaign County, Ohio on October 4, 1861. Russell's
first true exposure to the horrors of war was in the wake of the Battle of
Kernstown in March 1862 when he and the bulk of the 66th were assigned
on burial detail for Union and Confederate soldiers alike. By May 1863
Russell had risen rapidly through the ranks and was appointed as
captain commanding Company G. At the Battle of Gettysburg, during the
contest for possession of Culp's Hill, Russell's regiment faced many veterans
from the Shenandoah Valley's famous Stonewall Brigade, which included
the men of Co. H, 33rd Virginia Infantry (the "Page Grays").
By the late 1863, the "white stars" of the second
division of the 12th Corps of the Army of the Potomac (to which the
66th belonged) was transferred to the war in Tennessee. On November 25,
1863 at the Battle of Lookout Mountain, Captain Russell, while
performing a reconnoitering of the Confederate line, had a tremendous fall nine
or ten feet before landing on his face, slamming his head backward,
causing a sprain to his neck and upper back. While he was fortunate
enough not to break his neck, his injury did cause him the loss of four
front teeth and would later plague him greatly later in life. A few months
later, on the outskirts of Atlanta on July 20, 1864, Russell was
prostrated by sunstroke, but refused to leave the line
as Confederates advanced on their position on
Peachtree Creek. Nine days later Russell's poor luck
continued when he was shot in the instep by a
Confederate sharpshooter and was finally forced to an officer's
hospital, ironically enough, at Lookout
Mountain.
More next time.
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