“Prisoners of the 56th- We publish a letter from Lieutenant SE Varner, containing the gratifying intelligence of the escape of Captain JC Stimmel, a brave and resolute officer and his safe arrival at New Orleans. The Captain was captured on Red River in May last. He broke through the guard at Tyler, Texas, and traveled seven hundred miles through the enemy’s country to New Orleans, marching 300 miles on foot.”
“Information has been received that Colonel WH Raynor, wounded and a prisoner is getting along very well. The report that his leg had been amputated is contradicted. Lieutenant Roberts, John Jones, James Hall and others of the same regiment, have been sent to Texas. They were enjoying good health.”1
“Company G, composed of Scioto County men, was captained by James C. Stimmel. He was captured May 1, 1864, on the Red River expedition, but escaped two weeks later at Marshall, Texas. He reached the Union lines on the Mississippi River, June 7, 1864, after having traveled more than 600 miles.”
“The First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, was a Scioto group that saw action in the Battle of WInchester.”
“A letter in an April issue of The Times of 1862 presents a vivid picture of the terrible slaughter. The following is a part of the letter:”
“‘In following up, we were frequently compelled to lift the dead and dying to one side to prevent crushing them beneath the wheels of our guns. We were frequently within 300 yards of the Rebels, and the bullets flew thick and fast about us while thick strewn with the wounded and dead was the hotly contested field.'”
“‘Here you would see an officer with both eyes shot out talking incoherently to himself, there a man shot through the his unable to help himself.'”2
