Great Grandfather of JOHN R. MANN
On 15 August 1862 in Farmer Township, Defiance County, Ohio, Robert Mann signed the enlistment papers making him a soldier in the 111th Ohio Infantry for the next three years. Robert was just 12 days short of his 36th birthday on that day and the father of four children. He would see service with the 111th and return home unwounded after his regiment was mustered out of service following the defeat of the Confederate States of America in 1865.
Robert was born in Muskingum County, Ohio on 27 August 1826, the fourth born of seven children, all boys, of William and Mary (nee Davidson) Mann. Robert�s grandfather William came to the United States from Ireland with his wife and six children sometime between 1800 and 1805, settling for awhile in Pennsylvania. In 1816 he moved the family to a quarter section of land in the hills about seven miles south of Zanesville, Ohio, where he died in 1818.
William Jr., the eldest of the three boys and three girls, married Mary Davidson on 10 April 1817. After dabbling in farming and the buying and selling of real estate in Muskingum County and fathering six boys there, he pulled up stakes and moved the family west to Marion Township, Putnam County, Indiana around 1834, where his seventh and last son was born. Then, in 1842, for some reason known only to him and history, he moved the family east and north to Farmer Township, Williams County, Ohio. (Farmer Township would become a part of Defiance County in 1845 when that county was created from parts of Williams, Henry and Paulding Counties.)
Robert married Mary Jane Poorman on 13 May 1852 in Defiance County and settled into the life of a farmer, until that fateful day in August of 1862, when he became a soldier. Robert mustered with the 111th on 5 September 1862 at Camp Toledo and was assigned to Company F. His Company descriptive records indicate he was 36 years of age, 5' 8 3/8", with blue eyes and black hair at enlistment. Company muster rolls show him to be on duty, save for a few days in field hospitals while sick, from the day of mustering in until May of 1865, when he was home on furlough for one month. He returned from furlough in June only to be mustered out at Salisbury, North Carolina, on 24 June 1865. The muster rolls also show that Robert was assigned as a regimental pioneer, September through December of 1863.
The 111th Ohio�s service record is as follows*: Organized at Toledo, Ohio, and mustered in September 5, 1862. Moved to Covington, Ky., September 12. Attached to 38th Brigade, 12th Division, Army of the Ohio, September to November, 1862. District of Western Kentucky, Dept. of the Ohio, to May, 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 23rd Army Corps, Army of the Ohio, to August, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 23rd Army Corps, Army of the Ohio, to February, 1865, and Dept. of North Carolina to June, 1865.
SERVICE.-Duty at Covington, Ky., September 13-25, 1862. Reconnaissance to Crittenden September 18-20. Moved to Louisville, Ky., September 25. Pursuit of Bragg to Crab Orchard, Ky., October 1-15. Moved to Bowling Green, Ky., October 16, and duty there guarding railroad to Nashville, Tenn., till May 29, 1863. Skirmish at Negro Head Cut, near Woodburn�s, April 27. Moved to Glasgow, Ky., May 29, and duty there till June 18. Pursuit of Morgan June 18-July 26. Burnside�s Campaign in East Tennessee August 16-October 17. At Loudoun, Tenn., September 4 to November 14. Knoxville Campaign November 4-December 23. Action at Ruff�s Ferry November 14. Near Loudon and Lenoir November 15. Campbell�s Station November 16. Siege of Knoxville November 17-December 5. Pursuit of Longstreet to Blain�s Cross Roads December 5-16. Operations about Dandridge January 16-17, 1864. Expedition to Flat Creek February 1. Near Knoxville February 13. At Mossy Creek till April 26. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge and Dalton May 8-13. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Advance on Dallas May 18-25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Ackworth June 2. Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Muddy Creek June 17. Noyes Creek June 19. Kolb�s Farm June 22. Assault on Kennesaw Mountain June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Chattahoochee River July 5-17. Decatur July 19. Howard House July 20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Utoy Creek August 5-7. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 26. At Decatur September 8 to October 4. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama October 4-26. At Johnsonville till November 20. The Nashville Campaign, November-December. Columbia, Duck River, November 24-27. Columbia Ford November 28-29. Battle of Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15-16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17-28. At Clifton, Tenn., till January 7, 1865. Movement to Washington, D. C., thence to Fort Fisher, N. C., January 7-February 9. Operations against Hoke February 11-14. Fort Anderson February 18-19. Town Creek February 19-20. Capture of Wilmington February 22. Campaign of the Carolinas March 1-April 26. Advance on Goldsboro March 6-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 21. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14, Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett�s House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. Duty at Salisbury, N. C., till June. Mustered out June 27, 1865.
Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 52 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 3 Officers and 158 Enlisted men by disease. Total 215.
What role Private Mann had in these battles and skirmishes is unknown as he apparently never revealed much of his service life to his family. The only insight to his years in the army is the following excerpt from his obituary in a Hicksville, Ohio, newspaper:"When our country was in peril he offered his services as its defender Aug. 15, 1862. He was a member of Co. F, 111th regiment, Ohio Infantry. He was discharged June 27th 1865. He fought in thirty-two battles."Robert returned home to Defiance County and his family and, apparently using his skills obtained while a regimental pioneer, became a carpenter. Robert and Mary had one more child, John Mann's grandfather, Robert Ellsworth Mann, born on 13 July 1866.
Robert first applied for a pension in 1883. The pension records show that he had contracted a bad head cold on a march from Bowling Green, Kentucky during the last part of May, 1863. The head cold affected him so much that he was sent to the field hospital by the regimental surgeon. The head cold developed into a catarrh (a bloody discharge) from which he suffered the rest of his life, causing him to lose most of his sight and hearing in his later years. He also suffered from dysentery caused by the hardship of his army service.
Robert died from chronic diarrhea on 15 September 1893 at the age of 67 years, 19 days. His wife, Mary Jane, died on Robert�s birthday, 27 August 1907, at the age of 70 years, 8 months and 23 days. They are buried next to each other in Forest Home Cemetery, Hicksville, Ohio.
*From the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors internet web site.