Of Sword & Shields

Duncan Virostko, Museum Assistant

EDIT:

Due to circumstances beyond their control, Woodland Cemetery has canceled their Memorial Day Event for 2024.

Captain Shield’s sword will be displayed in the Taproom of Dunham Tavern on Sunday May 26th, 1-4pm, alongside the 19th Ohio’s Muster Roll, and Civil War era flags, as part of a special exhibit originally designed for Woodland Cemetery event. I will be portraying a Civil War Quartermaster, and answering any questions you might have about the Civil War Artillery.

Perched atop the weapons rack in the Taproom of Dunham Tavern is an inconspicuous artifact that this Memorial Day is emerging into the spotlight for the first time in the 162 years since its first presentation. From the moment I first discovered and began to research the sword, a Model of 1850 Staff & Field Officers’ Sword, it was obvious that this sabre was more special than the average Civil War relic. Rather, it had a unique and important connection to Cleveland’s history.

Our story begins with its owner: Joseph C. Shields, an early Cleveland businessman. Shields was born in 1827 in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, and initially worked as a tanner and furrier. Shields had greater ambitions however, and soon learned to work as a “mechanic”, a 19th century catch-all term for skilled workers who could build and repair machines. He soon moved to bustling Pittsburgh to pursue this trade, between 1845 and 1852.

In 1852, Shields would move to the city he’d call home for the rest of his life: Cleveland. Initially, he worked for the Cleveland Transfer Co., before accepting a position as an executive with the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad in 1853.

Judah P. Benjamin, ca. 1856

Shields would have his first brush with things to come in 1858, when he decided to seek adventure building a stagecoach line across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Nicaragua. There, he found himself working for future Confederate leader, Judah P Benjamin. He kept at the job for two years, with a brief stint in New Orleans in 1860 working for the Adams Express Company, a package delivery firm that would become later famous during the Civil War as one of the few to maintain deliveries between the North and the embattled South, sending the comforts of home to soldiers at the front.

As 1861 dawned, and the country began to be rent in twain by the forces of the South, Shields found himself back home in Cleveland, and back at his old job with the Cleveland & Toledo RR. Like many loyal Union men, Shields was a member of a private militia organization before the war, appearing on the muster rolls of the Cleveland Light Artillery as early as 1860. It was obvious to many that war was brewing, and private militia organizations offered a way to express patriotism, assuage one’s anxieties about the future, all whilst also providing social and political networking opportunities. However, Shields would soon be called on to do more than dance at balls and fire salutes at the Fourth of July parade.

Col. James Barnett

On April 20th, with the attack on Fort Sumpter just eight days old, the order came to the unit’s commander, Colonel James Barnett (later a General and the highest ranking officer from Cuyahoga County during the war):

“Columbus, O., April 20, 1861.

To Colonel James Barnett,

Cleveland, O.

Report your six pieces, caissons and full battery, including Geneva company, at Columbus forthwith—Monday if possible. You can hire horses for the guns here or at your point of service. Bring harness and everything else, and twenty men to each gun. You retain Colonel’s rank. By order—

H. B. Carrington,   
Adjutant General. ”

This was followed by an even more urgent message, from the Governor in Columbus:

“Columbus, O., April 21, 1861.

To Colonel James Barnett,

Can you bring your command here tonight instead of waiting till tomorrow? If so, come armed.

William Dennison, Governor.”

The Cleveland Light Artillery was now the 1st Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, and was rushed to defend the border with Virginia, being stationed for training in Marietta. J.C. Shields served in Battery D of the unit, which saw action in the early campaigns against the Confederates in Western Virginia. After three months, and with the war barely even begun, the entire unit would return triumphant to Cleveland, their term of service being over. They had been awarded a cannon captured at the little-known Battle of Corrick’s Ford, where the commander of the Confederate troops in Western Viriginia was killed, paving the way for that region’s statehood, and paraded through Public Square to the strains of “Bold Soldjer Boy”, a popular Irish-American ballad. The cannon, called the “Sesch Gun”, would for many years be a monument on Public Square, but was stolen in the 1960s (the rumor says the thieves towed it away behind a DeSoto station wagon!). It was subsequently recovered in the 1970s, and then gifted to the Cleveland Grays, the city’s oldest militia company that had spun off the Cleveland Light Artillery early on, for restoration and display. It is now on display in the Gray’s Armory Museum, open for tours by appointment.

The “Sesch Gun”, a 3 in Rifled Iron Cannon forged by Tredegar Iron Works of Virginia. Captured at the Battle of Corrick’s Ford in 1861 and now on display at the Cleveland Gray’s Armory Museum.

For Joseph C. Shields, however, the war was far from over. Having now seen battle, he knew there was still much work to be done. Before he left again for war, however, he tended to matters of the heart: marrying Ellen S. Crawford in 1862. Sadly, the two would never have a child. He then wasted no time in recruiting a new unit: the 19th Ohio Independent Battery, aka “Shields’ Battery”, and was soon back in the fight against the forces of secession and slavery.

Capt. Joseph C. Shield’s Sword

As Captain of this new unit of cannoneers, Shields was a company grade officer, and by the customs of the day that meant he was to carry a sword into battle. It was less a practical weapon, and more of a badge of rank, his command of six cannons being his primary weapon. Shields’ sword, now on display at Dunham Tavern, reflects this: in its 162 years it has never once been sharpened! It’s blade is as blunt as the day it was made, and embellished with fancy engravings that would likely have been destroyed by any attempt at sharpening. On the scabbard of the sword, Shields’ name and rank as well as that of the man who gave him the sword are delicately transcribed in flowing letters attesting to the sword’s ceremonial nature.

“Capt. Jos. C. Shields

from

J. Vickers Painter”

J. Vickers Painter

The man who presented Captain Shields with his sword was his co-worker at the Cleveland & Toldeo RR. : John Vickers Painter. That Painter was his last name, and not his occupation, was a misunderstanding which made my initial research on him quite difficult. Painter would later in life serve on the board of directors for the Cleveland Trust Company and Republic Steel, and eventually even become a trustee of the Cleveland Museum Art. In spite of this illustrious career, however, he is principally known to history as one of the leading early stamp collectors in the United States. He died in 1903, and was buried in Lakeview Cemetery.

Shields’ sword would accompany him and his unit into battle from 1862 to 1864. Dunham Tavern is fortunate to have not only Captain Shields sword in its collection, but also a copy of the battery muster roll, or list of members, dating from 1863. That such a document has survived the ravages of 160 years is impressive, and it is an invaluable historical resource. Not amongst the names however, but nonetheless a member of the unit, was one William Johnson, who served Shields as a privately hired cook and thus was not listed on the roll. This oversight, and rank, was a product of his race: the Emancipation Proclamation had not yet allowed for the service of Black citizens in combat roles within the Army, thus those who chose to fight for the Union were forced to do so as what would today be considered “civilian contractors”. Yet, such roles were necessary in the Army, which relied on hired help for logistical support in everything from white wagon drivers to women as laundresses for men. Johnson would go on to become an early mixed-race baseball player, barber, and painter from Cleveland. His service was loyal, and he was well liked by Shields, which was in contrast to the conduct of Shields’ other servant, a cook named Layfeyette Hamilton who attempted to return home by stealing a horse in Frankfort, Kentucky. To his credit, Shields affirmed Hamilton’s status as a free Black man at his lawyer James Harlan’s request, noting his being hired in Cleveland, ending a racist jury’s inquiries into the matter.

National Colors, “19th Battery O.V.A”

(Ohio History Connection)

The 19th Ohio Independent Light Artillery was attached to the Army of the Kentucky, Department of the Ohio, and would fight primarily in Tennessee, in the Knoxville Campaign, and battles of Franklin and Nashville. According to contemporary reports, the unit was equipped with the most common artillery piece of the war, the M1857 12 pdr Gun-Howitzer, aka the “Napoleon” after it’s originator Napoleon III, then Emperor of France. These smooth-bore guns were made of bronze and, while not as long ranged or accurate as the latest iron-rifled cannon, were safer to use as they were based on proven technology. They were also popular due to their heavy, verastile firepower: these cannons fired explosive shells, solid shot, and canister (tin cans filled with iron balls which acted like shotgun shells) of roughly twelve pounds in weight and 4.62 in diameter, that could scythe through lines of charging soldiers up close or batter buildings up to half a mile away. They were accurate enough at long range to hit the broadside of a barn, whilst rifled guns could hit a barn door.

Original 12 pdr Napoleon on display at Statehouse, Columbus, Ohio

This gun has been owned by the state since 1863, and was made in Cincinnati by James Greenwood. It was ordered in response to a lack of state owned cannons in the aftermath of Morgan’s Raid.

Levi T. Schofield

The 19th would also see action at the Battle of Resaca in Georgia, where Cleveland native Levi T. Schofield of the 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry would see his units color guard decimated by Confederate fire. In the years after the war, he would turn his architectural talents to building a memorial to the 9000+ men who served in the war from Cuyahoga County, and depict the terrible scene he witnessed first hand in a statue as part of the Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument.

Confederate Gen. James Hunt Morgan

The 19th Ohio would also pursue Confederate General John Hunt Morgan, as he led his cavalry in a daring invasion of their home state, dodging Union forces in Kentucky and crossing the Ohio River. In this same pursuit, my own ancestor, Corporal George Oscar Scott of the 8th Michigan Cavalry, Co. A., would fight in the only battle of the war to take place in Ohio: the Battle of Buffington Island, where the Union forces finally trapped Morgan’s men as they attempted to cross back into the south, dividing the enemy cavalry as it tried to cross the Ohio River at the titular island. Half of Morgan’s men escaped, but half were trapped in Ohio, and made a futile dash north towards a sympathetic Canada until being captured at small town called Salinesville. Morgan would briefly be imprisoned in Columbus at the State Penitentiary, until later escaping.

In September of 1864, however, business matters in Cleveland compelled Shields to resign his commission and return home. His unit, would finish out the war under a new commander, Captain Frank Wilson, Sr., taking part in the siege of Atlanta, and Sherman’s march to the sea. They would lose only nine enlisted men through out the war, seven to the most common killer, disease. Only two died in combat.

Shields would, like many ex-Union officers after the Civil War, go on to have a impressive career in public office. He served as a Cleveland City Councilman from 1867 to 1868, and was Cuyahoga County Deputy Treasurer from 1886 until 1889, and finally Treasurer from then until 1894. He initially returned to his work in the railroad industry with another Cleveland railroad, the Lakeshore & Michigan Southern as a conductor, before changing careers once more and opening a grocery store and later a contracting firm. He was also a donor to the library of the Western Reserve Historical Society in the 1880s. He would die, without children, on December 21st, 1898, and was buried in Lakeview Cemetery, not far from his home.

In his later years, Captain Shields lived along Euclid Ave, his home being located between Cornell Rd and Abington Rd. This home was still standing ca. 1966 , according to a note in the accession records at Dunham Tavern Museum that accompanied the sword. According to Researcher and Dunham Tavern Volunteer, Janice Greda: “Abington Road was sidestreet off Euclid, just south of Cornell Road. It was covered over by University Hospitals in 1993 when the Lerner Tower and main entrance were built. Its path was approximately the main entrance driveway today. Abington Road was almost directly across from the CWRU Mary Chisholm Painter arch. She was the daughter-in-law of John Vickers Painter, the giver of the sword...”.

Although Captain Shields has long since joined the immortal regiment, the history of his sword and the muster roll of his unit is not yet totally ended. This Memorial Day, at Woodland Cemetery, the Shields’ sword will be reunited with the reenactment group that today keeps the legacy of the 19th Ohio Light Artillery alive. Usually on public display on the weapons rack in the taproom of Dunham Tavern, this will be the first time in a long while the sword has ventured into the field, and been displayed for close inspection by the public. Be sure not to miss the ceremony this year at Woodland Cemetery, commemorating by Cleveland and her residents in all wars. I will personally be in attendance, as a supernumerary with the 19th Ohio, in my capacity as a trained Civil War artillery soldier, recently promoted to Quartermaster Sargent.

Sources:

Bruson, James Edward , Black Baseball, 1858-1900, Jefferson, N.C.: Mc Farland Inc., 2019, Pg 440

Works Progress Administration, Annals of Cleveland 1818-1935: 1862 Vol. XLV, Part 1, Cleveland: Cleveland Public Library, 1935, Pg. 242 &2 45

Reminiscences of the Cleveland Light Artillery, Cleveland: Cleveland Printing Co. 1906, Pg. 13, 21, 22, 26, & 68-73

Rockenbach, Stephen I, War upon Our Border : War and Society in Two Ohio Valley Communities, 1861-1865, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016, Pg. 115

https://case.edu/ech/articles/s/shields-joseph-c

https://www.numismaticmall.com/encyclopedic-dictionary-of-numismatic-biographies/painter-john-vickers

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historical_and_Archaeological_Tracts/jeHkAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=joseph+c.+shields,+cleveland&pg=PA351&printsec=frontcover