During the Civil War, Holmes County, Ohio (60 miles south of Cleveland) supplied many soldiers for the Union effort. The residents there also created one of the more unusual internal conflicts when, in 1863, a thousand men resisted conscription. When federal troops fired on their encampment, most of the men fled — and were ultimately conscripted. Attached below is a placard describing the events at the aptly-named “Fort Fizzle.”
As is the case in many counties in Ohio, on the town square in Millersburg, the county seat, there is a monument which has a Union Civil War private atop it. But clearly the Holmes county residents were more frugal than most. As can be seen from these pictures, the monument covers the contributions of county residents to four wars, not just one! It has the names Washington, Jackson, Scott, and Grant on it, and above each name is an inscription noting that Holmes county men served in the Revolutionary, Indian, Mexican, and Civil Wars. I’d be interested to know if this frugal, efficient approach was used on other town squares.
GENE SCHMIEL, CIVIL WAR HISTORIAN, AUTHOR, AND LECTURER 