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Otterbein Civil War Soldiers Biography

This guide details the lives of Otterbein Civil War Soldiers.

Major Mathew H. Peters | 74th Ohio Voluntary Infantry

Major Mathew H. Peters | 74th Ohio Voluntary Infantry
by Kris Vigneron

            Mathew H. Peters was born in 1843 in a small town in Illinois.  As a young man of 18 years in early 1861, he traveled to Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio to attend college.  As soon as he arrived in Westerville, southern states began seceding from the union.  He quickly joined up with the 74th Ohio Volunteer Infantry forming in Xenia, Ohio and was sent to the fields of battle in March of 1862.  Peters was given joint command of a company and the title of Lieutenant.

            The 74th saw action throughout the war, especially at Murfreesboro, Stone River, and Jonesboro.  Peters was wounded at Stone River, receiving a bullet wound in his wrist.  He continued on in spite of his injury.  Peters and the 74th were with Sherman on his March to the Sea and up through the Carolinas.  Peters was mustered out with the rest of his regiment and promoted to Major on July 10th, 1865.  He had served with the 74th OVI from its inception to its disbanding. 

            Peters lived out the rest of his life in his native Illinois and cultivated a fondness for the written word, especially poetry.  The major even scribed a poem about his experiences in the war entitled That Little Bronze Button.  Peters lived into the 1920s in his hometown of Watseka, Illinois. 

 

Bibliography 

Eash, Carl. OHN 74th OVI Company H. http://www.scioto.org/OhioHistory/Military/CivilWar/74-OVI/74-H.html (accessed March 1, 2005).

Galloway, Julia R. 48th Annual Reunion: 74th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry.http://www.dragonbbs.com/members/ww8566/HistArt74th.html (accessed February 20, 2005).

McPherson, James. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Owens, Ira. Greene County in the War: Being a history of the Seventy-Fourth Regiment. Xenia, Ohio: Torchlight Job Rooms, 1872.

Otterbein College Civil War registry book. Courtright Memorial Library.

Stevens, Larry. 74th Ohio Infantry. http://www.ohiocivilwar.com/cw74.html (accessed March 1, 2005).

War of the Rebellion: Official Records of Union and Confederate Armies. Series I. Vol. XX. Pt. 1. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1887.