Booknotes: Buckeye Odyssey

New Arrival:

• Buckeye Odyssey: A Civil War History of the 82nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Through the Stories of Six Men by Samuel H. Fink (McFarland, 2026).

Recruitment for what would become the 82nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry regiment began in the fall of 1861, the volunteers coming from seven Buckeye counties grouped north and northeast of Columbus. Mustering into service at the end of that year, the regiment was sent to western Virginia, and in May 1862 experienced its first battle at McDowell against Stonewall Jackson. From there, the regiment fought at Second Manassas, Chancellorsville, the Gettysburg Campaign, and Fall '63 operations in northern Virginia. In the wake of the federal defeat at Chickamauga, the 82nd was one of the many regiments transferred out west to reinforce the gathering Union host at Chattanooga. The rest of the 82nd's service was with the western armies during the Atlanta Campaign, March to the Sea, and the Carolinas Campaign.

Samuel Fink's Buckeye Odyssey tells the story of the 82nd's Civil War journey primarily through the viewpoints of a half-dozen members of the regiment. As Fink explains in the Preface, he chose this structure as a way to "reflect something of the reality of life for the typical soldier" in addition to recounting the unit's field service. The author also wanted his book to "document at least a few of the more noteworthy but largely unknown stories from one regiment" (pp. 2-3).

According to Fink, the selection process was admittedly one of "practicality." These six were men who left enough source material behind to tell their stories in an "adequate" manner. All hailed from either Hardin or Delaware county. Five of the six individuals were officers, with James Robinson, David Thomson, Alfred Lee, and Solomon Hoge also assuming postwar lives of some prominence while fellow officer, John Campbell, managed a quieter existence. The only enlisted soldier of the group, Oscar Cunningham, was also the only one to not survive the conflict, dying from his combat wounds in June 1864.

From the description: The following are questions related to some of the lesser-known stories referenced earlier: "What is the real story behind a poignant Walt Whitman poem? How did an American treasure barely escape destruction and disappear for more than half a century? What obscure congressman was a groundbreaker in admitting African Americans to West Point? What influential late nineteenth-century Ohio politician was consigned to historical oblivion? These and other tales from the lives of brave men who served in the 82nd Ohio provide compelling reading."