Casement Hall
Named after Colonel John Casement
Built 1908. The first year of meeting at the Sheffield Lake location.

The 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry
Their Stories

June 4, 2024

Personal Reminiscences and Experiences: Campaign Life in the Union Army from 1862 to 1865, The Members of the One Hundred and Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. (1900, 1995, Sheffield Lake, OH: 103 O.V.I Memorial Foundation). ISBN: 0-9613635-0-2. 444 pages, including rosters. $30.00

Are you a Civil War buff?
If so, then you owe it to yourself to read this book.

In 1862 the war was not favorable to the Union. After the Union army’s defeat at the Battle of Fort Summer, the First Battle of Bull Run, and the Battle of Wilson’s Creed, President Lincoln put out the call for volunteers to serve in the army. A bit over one thousand men, almost all farmers, from Cuyahoga, Media and Lorain counties answered the call. The men were organized in Cleveland in August of 1862 as the 103rd Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. They saw action in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. The regiment was mustered out on June 12, 1865. In between, the regiment had an outstanding record of service in battle. During these almost three years of battle 248 soldiers died (139 from combat and 109 from disease).

Personal Reminiscences and Experiences is their story. The book is not someone else telling the story. The soldiers of the 103rd O.V.I. themselves are telling it—sharing their excitement, their fears and horrors, their longings and sorrows, even their laughter; their very personal experiences with us, the reader.

As a school kid growing up in Maryland, I was immersed in Civil History. In the classroom, and with visits to Antietam, Gettysburg and Bull Run. Soldiers Delight was my backyard (home to several short-term skirmishes between the Maryland Volunteer Regiments of CFS and the regular troops of the Union Army, and later a field hospital).

I mention this because learning history from a textbook, or even visiting a battlefield does not come close to hearing the experience as a firsthand account. Personal Reminiscences and Experiences are first-person accounts from soldiers fighting on the Union side. They’re poignant, insightful, and moving.

They’re told in the soldier’s own words, in their voice, making it seem all the more real—and satisfying.

Personal Reminiscences and Experiences was compiled during the late 1800s while the memories were still fresh in their mind. It flowed from the realization that the stories needed to be recorded for future generations. Not only the families of the 103rd, but for each of us who look on and remember not only the dedication of the soldiers, but also the history of how the United States of America got from their (the founding) to here.

Personal Reminiscences and Experiences was first published in 1900. The latest edition (1995) is true to the first, nothing has been changed. Following the forty-four first hand accounts, the last by Chaplain Hubbard, Personal Reminiscences and Experiences ends with the return of the 103rd as recorded by the Cleveland Daily Herald, June 1865, beginning with their reception in Medina, a scrumptious meal in Brunswick, and finally arriving at Camp Cleveland.

Following that account, there is a section on the O.V.I. Reunions, the first of which was held in Cleveland in 1867. The last Reunion recorded in the book took place August 15-22, 1899 at Randall’s Grove (situated on the Lorain-Sheffield Lake border). During the 1888 Reunion, the first at Randall’s Grove, the Ladies Auxiliary was organized, after which they became quite involved in making the Reunions a success. Although it is hard to ascertain when younger family members started attending the reunions, it was during the 1988 Reunion that the “The Sons & Daughters of the One Hundred & Third O.V.I was formed. A section is devoted to that organization. I was intrigued by the activities that took place during the reunion, as well as the role of the Ladies Auxiliary, during each reunion. The Reunions were definitely enjoyable times. Reading about them made me realize, reunions – whether military or family – are a prime method of handing down history. Something that is becoming increasingly lost these days.

There is a section on the Ladies’ Auxiliary and a roster of the Officers Ladies’ Auxiliary. This is followed by a listing of the soldiers and officers of the ten Companies of the 103rd O.V.I.

In 1907, the Association, which was founded during the very first Reunion, became a corporation. After several years of meeting at Randalls Grove, the corporation purchased the property in Sheffield Lake, OH that is now the permanent home of the organization and her reunions. The old Barracks building has been turned into a museum to commemorate and preserve the history and artifacts of the 103rd O.V.I.

The Barracks
Built 1910 to replace tents
Now the Museum

Personal Reminiscences and Experiences may be ordered from the O.V.I, 5501 E. Lake Rd., Sheffield Lake, OH 44054. Website

Residences
Now occupied by the descendants of the 103rd Volunteers