… Maryland in 1864
"The 144th Ohio Infantry, a hundred days' regiment, arrived in Maryland in May 1864 and was promptly dispatched in detachments across the state. While Grant and the Army of the Potomac and Lee's Army of Northern Virginia hammered away at each other, Co. F found itself with light duties and time on their hands at the little town of Annapolis Junction.
"Our duties are light, and at their leisure the boys have reconnoitered the surrounding country on private account, and been rewarded by the discovery of the abundance of cherries and mulberries-of which we are welcome to all we choose to pick," recalled Private Henry S. Chapin. "The consequence is that some of our company keep up a continual skirmishing with the cherry trees and up to the present time the advantage has invariably been in our favor that we have all the fruit we can eat-which, by the way, is no small amount. There is also any quantity of blackberries and huckleberries within easy range of our camp, which are already beginning to ripen; peach and apple trees in this locality are also loaded with fruit. There need, therefore, be no fear of suffering for want of the necessities of life."
Within a few short weeks, the sense of quiet in Maryland would turn to panic when General Jubal Early led his army into the state. A portion of the 144th Ohio would fight at Monocacy on July 9, 1864 to contest Early's advance, but the men of Co. F would miss out on the action. Henry S. Chapin's letter first saw publication in the June 30, 1864, edition of the Perrysburg Journal; Chapin was the editor of the newspaper…"
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