Perhaps no man during his time did more than Mr. Giddings to create public opinion in favor of the freedom of the slave. The regiment was raised almost entirely within the bounds of his old district, and it was fitting that it should bear his name. But I remember that when recruiting it a frequent objection to enlistment was that should any member of the regiment be so unfortunate as to be taken prisoner by the “Rebs,” he would be forthwith shot, hung, or burnt at the stake, particularly on Giddings’ account, and that the name would be so odious in the South, and would so advertise the regiment that every member would be especially hunted down and exterminated.
I think “Hamp” has failed utterly to ascertain that any prisoner from the Twenty-ninth was thus punished, although many of the boys were often in rebel hands.
I have ever considered myself fortunate and honored in having been associated with such a regiment.
I was duly appointed and commissioned as the first chaplain, holding the position one year, resigning at the expiration of that time, and receiving an honorable discharge from the service.
Of the officers of the regiment much might be said. Nobody who ever knew Colonel Buckley will ever forget him. A brave man, a great admirer of order and discipline, faultlessly neat and tidy, a confirmed dyspeptic; yet the most ticklish and fun provoking humor often cropped out in his conversation and intercourse with men. One morning, away down between Bull Run and Fredericksburg, when the tired and jaded men were in line for the day’s march, the Colonel was in his saddle with his toes daintily touching the stirrups, his pale, clean shaven face shaded by the visor of his blue cap, from beneath which his practiced eye swept the whole regiment at a glance, while his well-polished sword, firmly gripped, stood perpendicular, resting against the shoulder; with a stentorian voice he published the following order: “Men of the Twenty-ninth, let there be no straggling on the march to-day. But if any of you do straggle take Twenty-ninth off from your caps and put on One Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania.”
The joke on the One Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania was fully appreciated and immensely enjoyed (a regiment noted for straggling). With roars of laughter the boys shouldered their muskets and knapsacks for another hard day’s march through the pine barrens.
Lieutenant-colonel Clark is remembered as a staunch advocate of temperance, whose interests were ever for the men.
Major Clemmer, as a genial, bluff soldier, whose songs often enlivened the dreariness of the camp or bivouac; and Quartermaster Gibbs, as a man of prompt execution, who expected equal promptness from others. Many anecdotes and incidents of them could be narrated by the page, but I remember that the introduction to the volume is not the place for sketches of this kind; and I fear that I have already introduced much that does not strictly belong to this part of the book. I beg pardon for any seeming trespass in this direction.
This introduction, written in the midst of other pressing duties, with frequent interruptions, now most affectionately inscribes this volume to every member of the Twenty-ninth regiment of Ohio Veteran volunteer infantry; to their wives and their children.
I am happy to enjoy this privilege of saying a few words in Dr. SeCheverell’s book to my old comrades. My prayer is that God will bless every surviving member of the regiment, with their families, also the widows and orphans of deceased members, and that when the battle of life is over, we may wear the victor’s crown in heaven.