Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 15.djvu/74



66 M. C. GEORGE

transferred to this old Fort Yamhill in May, '57, and! here was stationed with Capt. Russell still in command, until after the firing on Sumpter. In 1861 they each were ordered from Grand Ronde to the East for service in the great Civil War Sheridan, however, remaining in charge until September, 1861, when he was relieved by Capt. Owen and then went East as Capt. Phil Sheridan. The subsequent record of Sheridan and Russell is a part of the history of our nation. Gen. Rus- sell was killed at the Battle of Winchester. Major Jno. F. Reynold's, afterwards Gen. Reynolds, who was killed at Gettys- burg, and Gen. Ord, who took part in the capture of Vicksburg, Gen. Augur and Gen. Rufus Ingalls and Capt. Dent, brother- in-law of Gen. Grant, and some claim Grant himself, each visited this fort and here spent some time in special duties for the government. However, as Capt. U. S. Grant came to Oregon in 1852 and left in September, '53, while this Reserve was not created until '55, there seems to be a question as to personal visitation by Grant. Thus, as has been said by Mr. J. G. Lewis, to whom great credit is due for this auspicious occasion and gathering, "Around the walls of this old wooden Block House have gathered brave soldiers and noted army officers whose names are written on pinnacles of fame and glory; and the written pages of the history the modern world have immortalized them whose valiant deeds shall echo down the ages yet to come."

Incident after incident marks the record of this old Block House on the tablets of National as well as State history, all rich in historic material. It has been published that in Sep- tember, 1856, Capt. A. J. Smith was placed in command having under him Lieut. Jos. Wheeler, later known as Gen. Joseph Wheeler, the famous Confederate Cavalry officer, who was wounded three times, and had sixteen horses shot from under him, and afterwards one of our Generals at the battle of Santiago in the late war with Spain. There is some error in this. Gen. Wheeler did not graduate from West Point until '59, where he previously must have been four years, while his own biography as a member of Congress says he later served as