+Mary Matilda STONESIFER
+Lydia Virginia STONESIFER
+Rachel Clara STONESIFER
+Joseph Edward STONESIFER
Macy E STONESIFER
+Katie E STONESIFER
+John Todd STONESIFER
_John BIDDLE _________________________________
| (1661 - ....)
_John BIDDLE JR______|
| (1695 - 1764) m 1715|
| |_Mary JONES possible daughter of Robert Jones_
| (1665 - 1733)
_John BIDDLE JR (first cousins)_|
| (1717 - 1760) m 1737 |
| | _Christopher MOUNCE __________________________+
| | | (.... - 1711)
| |_Mary Mount MOUNCE __|
| (1698 - 1738) m 1715|
| |_Martha ______________________________________
|
|
|--Stephen BIDDLE
| (1749 - ....)
| _Henry PENINGTON _____________________________+
| | (1660 - 1702) m 1685
| _John PENINGTON _____|
| | (1686 - 1745) m 1716|
| | |_Elizabeth BOYER _____________________________+
| | (1665 - ....) m 1685
|_Rachel PENINGTON ______________|
(1720 - 1784) m 1737 |
| _John BIDDLE _________________________________
| | (1661 - ....)
|_Sarah BIDDLE _______|
(1702 - 1739) m 1716|
|_Mary JONES possible daughter of Robert Jones_
(1665 - 1733)
[3082] [S80] Penington Pedigree
[3083] Walter Z Collings
[3084] [S208] "Colonial Families of the Eastern Shore of Maryland Vol 6"
[3081] [S59] St Stephen's Parish Church Records Cecilton, MD
_____________________
|
_Thomas JAMISON ______|
| (.... - 1864) m 1837 |
| |_____________________
|
_Edgar JAMISON ______|
| (1853 - 1886) m 1877|
| | _Abraham VANDEGRIFT _+
| | | (1793 - 1872) m 1818
| |_Mary Ann VANDEGRIFT _|
| (1819 - 1862) m 1837 |
| |_Mary BOWMAN ________
| (1797 - 1820) m 1818
|
|--Kitty JAMISON
| (1878 - ....)
| _____________________
| |
| ______________________|
| | |
| | |_____________________
| |
|_Josephine LYLE _____|
m 1877 |
| _____________________
| |
|______________________|
|
|_____________________
[6244] [S24] Journal of Susannah Elizabeth Vandegrift
+Mary Matilda STONESIFER
+Lydia Virginia STONESIFER
+Rachel Clara STONESIFER
+Joseph Edward STONESIFER
Macy E STONESIFER
+Katie E STONESIFER
+John Todd STONESIFER
[12265] [S14] "History and Genealogy of the Stonesifer Family of MD and PA"
_John RYLAND Sr______
| (1673 - 1745) m 1698
_Thomas RYLAND ______|
| (1705 - 1767) m 1725|
| |_Alee (Alice) FOUCH _+
| (1678 - ....) m 1698
_Fredus RYLAND __________|
| (1730 - 1803) m 1755 |
| | _Jacobus ALRICH _____+
| | |
| |_Mary ALRICH ________|
| (1706 - ....) m 1725|
| |_Hester FORAT _______
|
|
|--Fredus RYLAND
| (1784 - 1847)
| _____________________
| |
| _Jeremiah SUTTON ____|
| | |
| | |_____________________
| |
|_Sarah (or Mary) SUTTON _|
(1738 - 1790) m 1755 |
| _____________________
| |
|_____________________|
|
|_____________________
[4858]
"Theirs Not to Reason Why": Chickamauga, 1863
Fredus Ryland, 1836-1863
Electra Shryock (Ryland), b. 1842
O. G. M. Ryland, b. abt 1841?
Joseph H. Ryland (Alabama), b. abt 1841
Joseph H. Ryland (Mississippi), b. abt 1836
No Rylands were generals in the Civil War, or members of the cabinet or the Congress of either
the Union or the Confederacy. Like most American families, the Rylands were "ordinary" folk --
farmers and shopkeepers who put aside their work and left their families to put their lives on
the line for values and ideals and a way of life they held sacred.
Chickamauga Creek runs through the northwest corner of Georgia and into the Tennessee River at
the base of Lookout Mountain, a natural place for a town, and there stands Chattanooga,
Tennessee. The area is one of surpassing natural beauty and tranquility. It was also a place
of great strategic importance, for it was the hub of the railroads crisscrossing from north to
south, east to west. For a few days in September 1863, it was the scene of one of the most
terrible battles of the American Civil War. The Rylands were there -- on both sides.
This was a "modern" battle in more than one sense. GIs of a later war coined the acronym SNAFU
-- we all know what that means -- to describe an operation like Chickamauga. Command decisions
by brass on BOTH sides managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and at horrible cost.
They are still being taught in military command and staff schools, as examples of what not to
do.
Such occurrences may or may not ruin the careers of generals, but they do take the lives of
soldiers and officers down in the ranks. Take the case of Fredus Ryland, a regimental adjutant
from Indiana, who was 27 years old at the time.
Fredus was born about 1836 in Pennsylvania (Fulton County, Ind., 1860 census). It's not known
who his father was, but he was most likely a grandson of Fredus Ryland II (1784-1847) of
Maryland. In any case, his family had moved West, and Fredus now lived in Rochester, Indiana.
This promising young man was a protege of one of the town's leading citizens: merchant, lawyer,
and politician Kline D. Shryock (1811-1896). In fact, he had married Shryock's 16-year-old
daughter Electra Josephine Nov. 4, 1857, and in 1859 became the father of a daughter, Flora A.
Ryland.
His occupation was listed in the census as "clerk," but whether store clerk or law clerk is
unclear. Like so many young men when the Civil War came, he put aside his civilian career and
joined the Army in September 1861. As a lieutenant in the 29th Indiana Volunteer Infantry
Division, he marched to muddy encampments at Bowling Green and then to Nashville. Apparently
impatient and bored with the tedium of idle camp life, he resigned in March 1862. Had he
waited, he would have seen action. Two weeks after he returned home, his unit was in the
battle of Shiloh.
When his father in law formed the 87th Indiana Infantry, he joined as the regimental Adjutant
Aug 29, 1862. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. After a
reorganization, it was part of the Second Brigade, Third Division of XIV Corps under General
George W. Thomas. Col. Shryock resigned to accept a Presidential appointment, and he was
replaced by Col. Newell Gleason (1824-1886).
At last Fredus was in a unit on the move. For the next year, the Army of the Cumberland, under
General William S. Rosecrans, and the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg,
played cat and mouse with each other across Kentucky and Tennessee. The two opposing generals
were about evenly matched. Both were known for dramatic gestures and extravagant claims.
Rosecrans was more beloved by his troops than by his officers, who mistrusted his judgment, but
Bragg was pretty well despised by everyone under his command. Rosecrans nudged Bragg out of
Chattanooga down to LaFayette, Georgia (that's pronounced with the accent on the FAY). Flushed
with this victory, and believing Bragg to be on the run, he gave chase. And fell right into a
trap. That was SNAFU number one.
Bragg had dug in near Chickamauga Creek, 12 miles (19 km) south of Chattanooga. He intended to
divide and defeat Rosecrans and retake Chattanooga. His ace in the hole was a large contingent
of reinforcements enroute by troop trains from the Army of Virginia, 800 miles (1300 km) away,
under one of Robert E. Lee's top generals, James Longstreet. For once, the Confederate forces
would outnumber those of the Union.
SNAFU number two: It was a terrible place for a battle. The area consisted of thick woods,
punctuated by the occasional open area of farms and meadows. This made cavalry and artillery
operations virtually impossible. The line was drawn across the road from Chattanooga to
LaFayette (now US highway 27), down to a part of Missionary Ridge known as Horseshoe Ridge.
Fredus was not the only Ryland on hand. Across the lines, at least three Confederate soldiers
can be placed there as well. None of the three were closely related to him, or to each other.
An Alabama infantryman was in General Zachariah Deas's brigade on the Confederate left wing.
Private O. G. M. Ryland apparently always went by those three initials; what his actual given
name or names were, is not recorded.
Another Alabaman, Private Joseph H. Ryland, 22, was at the rear of the other end of the
Southern line as a reserve artilleryman in Lumsden's Battery of the Alabama Light Artillery.
Joseph was the son of a Tuscaloosa barkeeper named Richard W. Ryland and his wife Susan (1850
Alabama census).
Another Joseph H. Ryland, 27 years old, was a surgeon's assistant in the 44th Mississippi
Infantry. He was the son of Joseph D. Ryland who had moved from Virginia to Lowndes County,
Mississippi, around 1848, and thus seems to be a grandson of Iverson Ryland (1762-1814) of
Brunswick County, Va.
There was heavy fighting all day long on Saturday, Sept. 19, with many charges and
countercharges. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but at the end of the day neither side
had the advantage.
That night was sleepless for almost everyone. It had been a hot day, but at night a cold north
wind swept through the woods, chilling the men in their sweat-soaked uniforms. No campfires
were allowed. Throughout the night, the Confederate soldiers could hear their northern
counterparts felling trees and hurriedly putting together barricades in preparation for renewed
Confederate attacks. Even worse than the sounds made by the falling trees were the cries of the
wounded lying out in no-man's land. The lines were less than 100 yards apart, making it
suicidal to venture into the open to render aid.
SNAFU number three: Bragg wanted to attack at dawn, but in the darkness of night, couriers lost
their way and his orders were never delivered. Sunday, September 20, 1863, dawned cold and
foggy along the banks of the Chickamauga. There was frost on the ground. The morning fog was
thickened by the smoke that still hung in the air from the previous day's fighting. The quiet
was deafening. Bragg was furious as the morning grew on and his attack did not take place.
Meanwhile, the Federal forces opposite continued blithely shoring up their breastworks.
General Rosecrans was busy rearranging his forces, or so he thought. He took the time to give
one of his division commanders, General Thomas J. Wood, a harsh dressing-down in front of his
staff, for not following orders promptly enough. In light of what happened, this was a big
mistake. It led to SNAFU number four, the big one.
Rosecrans did not have a good understanding of where his own troops were deployed, let alone
the enemy. In particular, three divisions were in a row on the front line. Fredus Ryland was
with the 87th Indiana in a cornfield at the edge of the woods. They were part of General John
M. Brannan's Third Division. To their left (north) was the Fourth Division, commanded by
General John Reynolds; to the right, Wood's division, the First Division of XXI Corps.
Rosecrans, unaware that Brannan was between Wood and Reynolds, sent Wood an urgent order to
"close up and support Reynolds."
This did not make any sense. But orders were orders, and Wood, still smarting from his earlier
humiliation, complied. He held the dispatch aloft and proclaimed "Gentlemen, I hold the fatal
order of the day in my hand and would not part with it for five thousand dollars!" In order to
comply, Wood had to march his division to the rear, through the woods AROUND Brannan in order
to reach Reynolds. This did not close up a hole in the Union line, it created one -- as was
obvious to anyone on the front line.
Hardly had the last of Wood's men cleared the field at 11:10 a.m., when thousands of wildly
yelling Confederates charged out of the chilly forest into the brilliant sunshine flooding the
La Fayette Road and Brotherton Field. Fully six divisions -- 23,000 men -- poured through the
hole like water through a knothole in a barrel, leaping over the now-deserted barricades. Among
them was Private O. G. M. Ryland, the Alabama infantryman. No doubt he knew how to give the
terrifying Rebel yell. Nobody today knows exactly what that sounded like.
They fanned out behind the Union lines, cutting them in two, and fell fiercely on flank and
rear. This was not combat at a distance, but hand-to-hand, up close and personal with sabres
and bayonets, and firearms at pointblank range. A reporter from the Cincinnati Gazette wrote:
"Men, animals, vehicles, became a mass of struggling, cursing, shouting, frightened life."
The 44th Mississippi was another one of the units that broke through the line. Surgeon D. H.
Kinchloe, Joseph Ryland's superior, positioned his field surgery as best he could to look after
the wounded. It would be a busy day for them, and there would be quite a few busy days. Being
healers, not soldiers, they tended the Federal wounded who were brought to them as
conscientiously as they did their own.
The 87th Indiana was right in the middle of the bloodbath. Not only were they fending off the
infantry onslaught, they were under heavy fire from Louisiana artillery units across the road.
The artillery was apparently oblivious to the incursion of their own troops behind the Federal
lines. This "friendly fire" cut down many Confederates as well as Federal troops. Count that
as SNAFU number five.
Confusion and disorientation reigned. Fully three-fifths of the 87th Indiana were wiped out.
Fredus Ryland fought off the assault, rallying together the men around him as best he could
until he, too, was cut down. "Those who were killed fell while bravely discharging their
duty," Col. Gleason reported. "Where all behaved so well and did so much, it is with no
disparagement to others to state that the bravery of Captain Baker and Adjutant Ryland, among
the killed, was especially noticed."
SNAFU number six, under the heading of "VIP treatment"-- The U. S. Assistant Secretary of War,
Charles Dana, was on hand as an observer. He decided it would be most prudent for him to
return to Chattanooga, and demanded a proper escort. So a regiment was pulled off the line
when it was most needed, to accompany him and ensure his safety.
SNAFU number seven: The entire Union right wing was demoralized and fled toward Chattanooga in
confusion, jamming through the narrow gap that was the only escape route. Rosecrans was
convinced the day had been lost and his army destroyed. He mounted his horse and he himself
took off on the road back to Chattanooga, ostensibly to check on the city's preparations for
defense. He left General Thomas to fend for himself.
Chaos was total. On Horseshoe Ridge, Thomas commandeered every surviving Federal who had not
fled. Officers, with their commands dispersed, grabbed rifles from the dead and fought as
infantrymen. They prevented a Rebel breakthrough. This was what earned Thomas the nickname
"The Rock of Chickamauga." Thomas could have held his position indefinitely, particularly if
he could have been supported -- but Rosecrans sent orders from Chattanooga for him to withdraw.
SNAFU number eight.
"Like magic," Longstreet wrote later, "the Union army had melted away in our presence." He
attributed Thomas's withdrawal to the Confederate artillery fire. But in fact, by the time
darkness fell and Thomas withdrew what was left of his troops, the Confederates were firing
into one another more than into the Union forces. Nevertheless, the day was won for the South.
SNAFU number nine: Incredibly, Bragg failed to press his advantage. Instead of pursuing and
wiping out the Union forces fleeting in confusion, he held his ground at Lookout Mountain and
the position Thomas had left at Horseshoe Ridge. The battle of Chickamauga was over.
Being in possession of the battlefield, the Confederates were left to bury the Union dead as
well as their own. It took more than two weeks to finish policing the scene of the carnage.
Some of the Confederate remains could be returned to their families, but this was obviously
impossible for the Union fallen. Fredus Ryland, along with his slain comrades, was afforded
his own marked grave and a Christian burial in a field in the valley.
It was a Pyrrhic victory for the South. Final casualties were 16,170 for the Union and 18,454
for the Confederacy, including in the latter case, 14,674 wounded. Considering the number of
men involved, this was the bloodiest battle of the war. For all that, it was inconclusive. It
proved nothing. The Confederacy would never regain Chattanooga. Bragg laid siege to the town.
During the following two months of stalemate, the Southern troops outside suffered as much as
the Federals in town from the inability to receive provisions or supplies.
In the aftermath of the battle, General U. S. Grant came up and relieved Rosecrans of his
command, replacing him with Thomas. On the southern side, Longstreet charged Bragg with
misfeasance and called for his removal. This brought President Jefferson Davis personally to
investigate but he and Bragg were personal friends. Davis replaced subordinate generals
instead and left Bragg in command.
Bragg subsequently blundered badly by sending Longstreet away on a futile mission to Knoxville.
He could have used him. By then he was facing Grant, who was not so prone to make mistakes.
Before the onset of winter, Grant drove Bragg from the "high ground" around Chattanooga at
Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, effectively breaking the siege and ending the war in the
West. But that is another story.
All three of the Confederate Rylands survived the battle, the siege, and the war. The troopers
Joseph H. Ryland and O. G. M. Ryland went back to Alabama. In 1882, O. G. M. married a
19-year-old girl from a Louisiana family, Cornelia Patsy Voorhies. She was born about the time
of Chickamauga. In the absence of a widow's pension application, it appears that O. G. M. may
have survived into the Twentieth Century. He apparently successfully evaded any other attempts
by the hit-and-miss record keepers of his day. We may never know what those initials stood
for.
Joseph H. Ryland, the surgeon's assistant, returned home to Mississippi. He married his
sweetheart Virginia Prowell Nov. 27, 1867, and settled down to life on the farm. His little
brother Virgil, who was too young to go into the army, would later buy up a lot of land near
Huntsville, Alabama, the site of the present town of Ryland, Ala.
Back in Illinois, mourning became Electra. She was respected not only for being from a
prominent family but as the widow of an acknowledged Union hero. For a while after the war,
she served as postmaster of Rochester. She never remarried. Her daughter Flora married Victor
A. Daniels on Valentine's Day, 1878. "Mrs. Ryland is still a resident of Rochester and well
known to our people," noted her father's newspaper obituary in 1896.
The Union dead from Chickamauga were later re-interred at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.
Fredus Ryland is there, in plot F, 2353. His memorial marker gives the date of his death as
Sept. 19, 1863. It's wrong. Fredus, as his commanding officer's report makes clear, went down
fighting on the second day of the battle -- Sept. 20th. But as military errors go, that one
doesn't loom so large, does it?
LINKS:
The most complete documentary history of the Civil War was the 71 volumes of The War of the
Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, published
by the War Department between 1880 and 1901. This monumental resource is now available,
text-searchable, in Cornell University's "Making of America" website.
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html
There are many great county genealogical sites on the web. Some material was gathered from the
Lowndes County, Mississippi, site
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mslownde/
The Fulton County (Indiana) Public Library provides another great site at
http://www.fulco.lib.in.us/fc_genealogy.htm
The obituary of Col. Kline Shryock in the Rochester Weekly Republican (Jan. 2, 1896)
members.tripod.com/~debmurray/fulton/obits-5.htm
Thanks to Otis McCain for The War of the Rebellion, and to Madeline Dillman Bechtold for
valuable data about the Shryocks and Rylands of Indiana.
==== RYLAND Mailing List ====
Rootsweb has created a resource page for us, with a number of
searches
and other goodies: http://resources.rootsweb.com/surnames/r/y/RYLAND
[4859] [S88] DE Archives Probate File
[4856] [S160] Personal notes Merle R Price PRA
[4857] [S160] Personal notes Merle R Price PRA
+Anna Minner SHAHAN
+Doris Barron SHAHAN
+Emily Louise SHAHAN
+Frances McCleary SHAHAN
+Flora Margaret SHAHAN
__
|
_John SHAHAN ________|
| (1814 - 1856) |
| |__
|
_David SHAHAN _______|
| (.... - 1885) |
| | __
| | |
| |_Mary BURROUGHS _____|
| (1815 - 1885) |
| |__
|
|
|--Julian Frank SHAHAN
| (1882 - 1972)
| __
| |
| _ HARRIS ____________|
| | |
| | |__
| |
|_Emma HARRIS ________|
|
| __
| |
|_____________________|
|
|__
[1220] Frank's father died when he was 3 years old. He was an only child. Frank and Edyth lived with her parents after marriage on White Hall Farm. They moved to Travilla Farm. Emma Shahan purchased their farm near Millington and gave it to her son. Many acres had to be cleared of woods. The rest of the children were born on this farm. When they retired from farming, they lived in a home in Millingon.
[1221] [S6] Middletown Transcript
[1216] [S39] Social Security Death Index
[1217] Issued 1962 MD Residence SudlersVille MD
[1218] [S39] Social Security Death Index
[1219] [S43] Tombstone Asbury Cemetery, Millington, MD
Copyright Ruth Stonesifer [Home] [Surname List]