Emerson, Merritt

Shoemaker, Civil War Soldier

Birth: 1838, Pennsylvania
Death: June 13, 1863, Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee
Burial: Stones River National Cemetery, Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee
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Military Service: Second Lieutenant, promoted to First Lieutenant, 24th Regiment, Company F, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Private, promoted to Sergeant, promoted to Second Lieutenant, 105th Regiment, Company B, Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Shoemaker Merritt Emerson rose quickly through the military ranks after his enlistment as a 24-year-old Private on August 8, 1862, in the 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Within weeks he was promoted to full Sergeant, and on March 28, 1863, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant.

Interestingly, Emerson had earlier been commissioned, in June 1861, as a Second Lieutenant in Company F, 24th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was promoted to First Lieutenant. He served eleven months. He then re-enlisted, as a Private, in the 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. As H. D. Niles observed, in a letter to the Western Reserve Chronicle, Emerson had remarked "if he could not wield a sabre, he could a musket in the rear rank as a private; for I will not remain at home and see others fight out this rebellion, and I take no more part in it" (Western Reserve Chronicle, July 29, 1863; reproduced at left). On August 5, 1863, the Western Reserve Chronicle reported that "Lieutenant Butler brought home the sword and uniform of the late Lieutenant Emerson, and delivered them to his sister, at Vienna. Lieutenant Emerson was highly respected by all his comrades" ("From the 105th Regiment," p. 2).

Like many of the men who fought in the Civil War, he succumbed to diphtheria, one of the many camp illnesses that befall mass armies and unsanitary conditions. He died at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on June 13, 1863 (H.D. Niles reported the date as June 12, 1863). Emerson left no wife or children.

Twenty-one Vienna men served in the 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry: Edward O. Bartholomew, Erastus W. Bartholomew, Hugh Mackey Boys, James Culver, Merritt Emerson, Joel Hawley, Jasper P. Kingsley, Charles E. Miller, Alucius W. Mills, Ashley Moore, Charles E. Moser, Lemuel Moser, Addison Perkins, Noah H. Pound, Stephen Pruden, Samuel K. Raub, Horace Bassett Scoville, James A. Stewart, Robert J. Stewart, Albert P. Tuttle, and Osman B. Tuttle.

Regimental History, 24th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Overview: Organized at Camps Chase and Jackson, Ohio, May 29, to June 17, 1861. Left State for West Virginia July 26, reaching Cheat Mountain Summit August 14. Attached to Cheat Mountain Brigade, West Virginia, to November, 1861. 10th Brigade, Army of the Ohio, to December, 1861. 10th Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September, 1862. 10th Brigade, 4th Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862. 3rd Brigade. 2nd Division, Left Wing 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 21st Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to April, 1864. 1st Separate Brigade, Post of Chattanooga, Tenn., Dept. of the Cumberland, to June, 1864.

Service: Operations on Cheat Mountain, W. Va., September 11-17, 1861. Action at Cheat Mountain September 12. Greenbrier River October 3-4 and October 31. Moved to Louisville, Ky., November 18, thence to Camp Wickliffe and duty there till February, 1862. Advance on Nashville, Tenn., February 14-25. Occupation of Nashville February 25-March 18. March to Savannah, Tenn., March 18-April 6. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Occupation of Corinth May 30. Pursuit to Booneville May 30-June 12. Buell's Campaign in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee June to August. At Athens, Ala., till July 17. At Murfreesboro and McMinnville, Tenn., till August 17. March to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 17-September 26. Pursuit of Bragg to Loudon, Ky., October 1-22. Battle of Perryville, Ky., October 8. Nelson's Cross Roads October 18. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 22-November 7, and duty there till December 26. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26-30. Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. Action at Woodbury January 24, 1863. Duty at Readyville till June. Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. At Manchester till August 16. Passage of Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 7. Battle of Chickamauga September 19-20. Siege of Chattanooga, Tenn., September 24-November 23. Re-opening Tennessee River October 26-29. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Battles of Lookout Mountain November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. Ringgold Gap, Taylor's Ridge, November 27. Duty at Shellmound till February, 1864. Demonstration on Dalton, Ga., February 22-27, 1864. Near Dalton February 23. Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge February 23-25. Garrison duty at Chattanooga, Tenn., till June. Mustered out June 17-24, 1864, expiration of term.

Regiment lost during service 6 Officers and 62 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 106 Enlisted men by disease. Total 176.

Regimental History, 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Overview: Organized at Cleveland, Ohio, and mustered in August 20, 1862. Ordered to Covington, Ky., August 21, 1862; thence to Lexington, Ky., August 25. March to relief of Nelson August 30. Retreat to Louisville, Ky., September 1-15. Attached to 33rd Brigade, 10th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September, 1862. 33rd Brigade, 10th Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 5th Division (Centre), 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to June, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 14th Army Corps, to October, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 14th Army Corps, to July, 1865.

Service: Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1-12. Battle of Perryville, Ky., October 8. March to Munfordsville, Ky., October 12, and duty there till November 30. Expedition to Cave City October 31 and November 26. Moved to Bledsoe Creek November 30. Operations against Morgan December 22, 1862, to January 2, 1863. March to Nashville, Tenn., thence to Murfreesboro January 3-11, and duty there till June. Expedition to Auburn, Liberty and Alexandria February 3-5. Expedition to Woodbury March 3-8. Vaught's Hill, near Milton, March 20. Expedition to McMinnville April 20-30. Middle Tennessee (or Tullahoma) Campaign June 23-July 7. Hoover's Gap June 24-26. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22. Shellmound August 21. Reconnoissance toward Chattanooga August 30-31. Battle of Chickamauga September 19-21. Siege of Chattanooga, Tenn., September 24-November 23. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Orchard Knob November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. Demonstrations on Dalton, Ga., February 22-27, 1864. Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge February 23-25. Reconnoissance from Ringgold toward Tunnel Hill April 29. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8-11. 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. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Ruff's Station July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5-17. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. 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. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama September 29-November 3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10-15. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Fayetteville, N. C., March 11. Battle of Bentonville March 19-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D. C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 20. Grand Review May 24. Mustered out June 3, 1865. 

Regiment lost during service 3 Officers and 104 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 7 Officers and 126 Enlisted men by disease. Total 240.

Link

For a well-regarded history of the 105th Regiment written by one of its members, read Albion W. Tourgee, The Story of a Thousand: Being a History of the Service of the 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry... (1896).