Otterbein Civil War Soldiers Biography

 John S. McLeish was born in 1811 in the country of Scotland.  He immigrated to the United States and settled in the state of Ohio.  He enlisted into the war October 11, 1861, as a private of the 9^th Artillery Infantry at Campwood in Cleveland Ohio, under a 3-year contract.  Unfortunately, McLeish became ill and was discharged from the military on December 26, 1862 at Danville K.Y. on a surgeon’s certificate of disability.  He died January 31, 1891 of Bronchitis and was buried in Harvard Grove Cemetery in Cleveland Ohio. 

The 9^th Artillery Infantry bore an honorable part in key battles:

1. Mill Spring, K.Y. January 19, 1862
2. Cumberland Gap, K.Y. March 29, 1862
3. Cumberland Gap, K.Y. June 19, 1862
4. Richmond, K.Y. August 30, 1862
5. Franklin, Tenn. April 8, 1863
6. Triune, Tenn. June 11, 1863

It is also recorded that the 9^th Artillery Infantry joined Sherman and his forces for the siege of Atlanta, July 28^th to September 2^nd 1864, and remained in Atlanta through most of the Reconstruction Era.  There are no records currently correlating Mr. McLeish to Otterbein College other than the monument.

Bibliography 

Official Military Grave Registration. Volunteer Soldiers in the Civil War.

Ohio Roster Commission.  Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio 1861-1865. United States Adjutant-General’s office. Official Army Registrar of the Volunteer Force of the United States Army for the Years 1861, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65.  Washington, D.C.: 1865-67. part 4.

Van Sickle, Ron R. General Index to Official Army Registrar of the Volunteer Force of The United States, 1861-1865.  Gaithersburg, MD: Ron R. Van Sickle Military Books, 1987.