Abram S. Piatt
Encyclopedia
Abram Sanders Piatt (May 2, 1821 – March 23, 1908) was a wealthy farmer, publisher, poet, politician, and soldier from southern Ohio
who served as a general in the Union Army
during the American Civil War
. He organized the only zouave
regiment
from Ohio and later led a brigade
in the Army of the Potomac
. In 1864, he and his brother constructed the Piatt Castles
, two sprawling chateaux near West Liberty, Ohio
, that are still used today for weddings, meetings, retreats, and other social gatherings.
, to Benjamin McCullough Piatt and Elizabeth Barnett. His father was a Federal Circuit Judge and entrepreneur engaged in land development and flat boat trade in Cincinnati, who moved his family to Logan County in 1828.
On November 10, 1840, Piatt married his Kentucky-born first cousin Hannah Anna Piatt at the home of his grandfather, Federal Hall, Boone County, Kentucky
. They eventually would have eight children. He attended what is now Xavier University before deciding to return home to the Mac-a-cheek Valley in Logan County
, where he became a prosperous farmer. In 1846, Piatt studied law briefly and began editing and publishing the local Mac-a-cheek Press newspaper.
His brother Donn Piatt became a staff officer in the Union Army during the Civil War, and after the war edited and published "The Capital," a weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C. that fiercely criticized the administration of President Grant.
of the three-months' 13th Ohio Infantry
Regiment
on April 30, leaving his children in the care of a servant and his other family members. Later that summer, he raised a new three-years' regiment, the 34th Ohio Infantry
, and clothed and fed them for a month and six days with his own gold. The regiment became known as Piatt's Zouaves for their early war red pants and zouave
attire. Piatt also raised and equipped the 54th Ohio Infantry
, which went into the field under the command of Thomas Kilby Smith
.
On September 1, 1861, Piatt and the 34th moved to Camp Dennison
near Cincinnati. The regiment then was ordered to western Virginia
later in the month. It received its baptism of fire from a Virginia Confederate
regiment at Chapmanville, Virginia
, on September 25. During the fall and winter months, Piatt's Zouaves were on picket and scouting duty, and engaged in occasional skirmishing with guerrillas. In May 1862, the regiment had a sharp fight with the Confederates forces under Humphrey Marshall
near Princeton
.
In 1862, Piatt was promoted to brigadier general and assigned command of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Headquarters, Mountain Department. Later serving in the Army of the Potomac
, he saw action at the Second Battle of Bull Run
that August.
During the Maryland Campaign
in the fall of 1862, Piatt and his regiment were detached from the Army of the Potomac and served in the Defenses of Washington, thereby missing the Battle of Antietam
on September 17. He badly injured his back when his horse stumbled and brought both of them to the ground during the Battle of Fredericksburg
on December 12, 1862. As a result of his injury, he resigned from the army on February 17, 1863.
near West Liberty, Ohio.
He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives
, 1865–66, and was the Washington correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial from 1868-71. He established and edited, with George Alfred Townsend
, the Capital at Washington, D.C., 1871–72, and was its editor-in-chief, 1873-80. He was arrested in 1876 by order of President Ulysses S. Grant
on the charge of inciting the people through his paper to rebellion, insurrection and riot. He retired to his estate Mac-a-cheek in 1880 and devoted himself to literary work. He edited Belford's Magazine from 1888-89.
Abram S. Piatt died in 1908 in Monroe Township
from cancer and is buried in the nearby Piatt Cemetery.
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
who served as a general in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He organized the only zouave
Zouave
Zouave was the title given to certain light infantry regiments in the French Army, normally serving in French North Africa between 1831 and 1962. The name was also adopted during the 19th century by units in other armies, especially volunteer regiments raised for service in the American Civil War...
regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
from Ohio and later led a brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
in the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
. In 1864, he and his brother constructed the Piatt Castles
Piatt Castles
The Piatt Castles, built by brothers Donn and Abram S. Piatt in the 1860s and 1870s, are two chateaux built in a Gothic design, located and east of the village of West Liberty in Logan County, Ohio, United States. They are open to the public...
, two sprawling chateaux near West Liberty, Ohio
West Liberty, Ohio
West Liberty is a village in Logan County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,813 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Liberty is located at ....
, that are still used today for weddings, meetings, retreats, and other social gatherings.
Early life and career
Piatt was born in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, to Benjamin McCullough Piatt and Elizabeth Barnett. His father was a Federal Circuit Judge and entrepreneur engaged in land development and flat boat trade in Cincinnati, who moved his family to Logan County in 1828.
On November 10, 1840, Piatt married his Kentucky-born first cousin Hannah Anna Piatt at the home of his grandfather, Federal Hall, Boone County, Kentucky
Boone County, Kentucky
Boone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1798. The population was 118,811 in the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Burlington. The county is named for frontiersman Daniel Boone...
. They eventually would have eight children. He attended what is now Xavier University before deciding to return home to the Mac-a-cheek Valley in Logan County
Logan County, Ohio
Logan County is a county in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,858. The county seat is Bellefontaine. The county is named for Benjamin Logan, who fought Native Americans in the area....
, where he became a prosperous farmer. In 1846, Piatt studied law briefly and began editing and publishing the local Mac-a-cheek Press newspaper.
His brother Donn Piatt became a staff officer in the Union Army during the Civil War, and after the war edited and published "The Capital," a weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C. that fiercely criticized the administration of President Grant.
Civil War
Piatt's wife Anna died April 10, 1861, in Macochee, Ohio, as the American Civil War was beginning. A grief-stricken Abram became the colonelColonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
of the three-months' 13th Ohio Infantry
13th Ohio Infantry
The 13th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Three-months regiment:...
Regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
on April 30, leaving his children in the care of a servant and his other family members. Later that summer, he raised a new three-years' regiment, the 34th Ohio Infantry
34th Ohio Infantry
The 34th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It primarily served in the Eastern Theater in what is now West Virginia and in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley region...
, and clothed and fed them for a month and six days with his own gold. The regiment became known as Piatt's Zouaves for their early war red pants and zouave
Zouave
Zouave was the title given to certain light infantry regiments in the French Army, normally serving in French North Africa between 1831 and 1962. The name was also adopted during the 19th century by units in other armies, especially volunteer regiments raised for service in the American Civil War...
attire. Piatt also raised and equipped the 54th Ohio Infantry
54th Ohio Infantry
The 54th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 54th Ohio Infantry was organized at Camp Dennison near Cincinnati, Ohio in October 1861 and mustered in for three years service under the command of Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith...
, which went into the field under the command of Thomas Kilby Smith
Thomas Kilby Smith
Thomas Kilby Smith was a lawyer, soldier, and diplomat from the state of Ohio who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and then in the postbellum United States Army...
.
On September 1, 1861, Piatt and the 34th moved to Camp Dennison
Camp Dennison
Camp Dennison was a military recruiting, training, and medical post for the United States Army during the American Civil War. It was located near Cincinnati, Ohio, not far from the Ohio River. The camp was named for Cincinnati native William Dennison, Ohio's governor at the start of the war.With...
near Cincinnati. The regiment then was ordered to western Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
later in the month. It received its baptism of fire from a Virginia Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
regiment at Chapmanville, Virginia
Chapmanville, West Virginia
Chapmanville is a town in Logan County, West Virginia, in the United States. The population was 1,211 at the 2000 census. Chapmanville was founded in 1800 and named for an early settler named Ned Chapman, who owned a store and ran the post office...
, on September 25. During the fall and winter months, Piatt's Zouaves were on picket and scouting duty, and engaged in occasional skirmishing with guerrillas. In May 1862, the regiment had a sharp fight with the Confederates forces under Humphrey Marshall
Humphrey Marshall (general)
Humphrey Marshall was a four-term antebellum United States Congressman and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army and a Confederate Congressman during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
near Princeton
Princeton, West Virginia
Princeton is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 7,652 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 111,586. It is the county seat of Mercer County...
.
In 1862, Piatt was promoted to brigadier general and assigned command of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Headquarters, Mountain Department. Later serving in the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
, he saw action at the Second Battle of Bull Run
Second Battle of Bull Run
The Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen...
that August.
During the Maryland Campaign
Maryland Campaign
The Maryland Campaign, or the Antietam Campaign is widely considered one of the major turning points of the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North was repulsed by Maj. Gen. George B...
in the fall of 1862, Piatt and his regiment were detached from the Army of the Potomac and served in the Defenses of Washington, thereby missing the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
on September 17. He badly injured his back when his horse stumbled and brought both of them to the ground during the Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...
on December 12, 1862. As a result of his injury, he resigned from the army on February 17, 1863.
Postbellum career
Piatt returned to his home in Logan County and soon remarried and resumed farming. He and his brother both prospered and they built a pair of castlesPiatt Castles
The Piatt Castles, built by brothers Donn and Abram S. Piatt in the 1860s and 1870s, are two chateaux built in a Gothic design, located and east of the village of West Liberty in Logan County, Ohio, United States. They are open to the public...
near West Liberty, Ohio.
He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives
Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate....
, 1865–66, and was the Washington correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial from 1868-71. He established and edited, with George Alfred Townsend
George Alfred Townsend
George Alfred Townsend , was a noted war correspondent during the American Civil War, and a later novelist. Townsend wrote under the pen name "Gath", which was derived by adding an "H" to his initials, and inspired by the biblical passage II Samuel 1:20, "Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the...
, the Capital at Washington, D.C., 1871–72, and was its editor-in-chief, 1873-80. He was arrested in 1876 by order of President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
on the charge of inciting the people through his paper to rebellion, insurrection and riot. He retired to his estate Mac-a-cheek in 1880 and devoted himself to literary work. He edited Belford's Magazine from 1888-89.
Abram S. Piatt died in 1908 in Monroe Township
Monroe Township, Logan County, Ohio
Monroe Township is one of the seventeen townships of Logan County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,503 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southeastern part of the county, it borders the following townships:...
from cancer and is buried in the nearby Piatt Cemetery.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals
- Ohio in the American Civil War
Further reading
- Bissland, James "Blood, Tears, and Glory: How Ohioans Won the Civil War." Wilmington, Ohio: Orange Frazer Press, 2007. ISBN 1-933197-05-6.
- Reid, WhitelawWhitelaw ReidWhitelaw Reid was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.-Early life:...
, Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers. 2 vol. Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin, 1868. - U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official RecordsOfficial Records of the American Civil WarThe Official Records of the War of the Rebellion or often more simply the Official Records or ORs, constitute the most extensive collection of primary sources of the history of the American Civil War. Cornell University lists the official title as, "The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the...
of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901. - Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: The Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.