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Montgomery County Chapter Ohio Genealogical Society |
Personal Sketch
Charles F. KimmelCharles F. Kimmel, son of Augustus B. and Johanna Louisa Kimmel, was born October 15, 1843, in Dayton, Ohio. His parents were poor and honest Germans, who emigrated to the United States from Altengottern, District of Erfurt, Prussia, in 1843, and settled in Dayton May 2, 1843. At the age of six years he entered the Fourth District School, and received a common school education. At the age of ten he was put to work driving cart. In September, 1860, he entered the grocery store of Mr. John F. Edgar as clerk. In the month of April, 1861, after the fall of Fort Sumter, he enlisted in Company B, "Lafayette Yagers," 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Captain Peter Dister. Being rather small, and his parents objecting, he was sent back home. On the 23d of July, 1861, after the battle of Bull Run, he enlisted in Captain Crowe's Company F, 35th Indiana Volunteers, and was again disappointed by his father taking him home. He enlisted in Company B, 1st Ohio, Captain Louis Kuhlman, September 22, 1861. Again his parents objected to his going into the army. He then made up his mind to run away and join the army. About this time they were recruiting a company of sharp-shooters for General John C. Fremont's special service in Missouri, under Captain Calvin Reed. He enlisted October 1, 1861, and on the 5th left Dayton for St. Louis, Mo., arriving there on the 7th of October, and reporting to Captain B. D. Longstreath, at Benton Barracks, near St. Louis, was mustered in the United States service, November 23, 1861, by Lieutenant W. S. Bundy, U.S.A., in Company F. Birge's Western Sharp Shooters, Colonel John W. Birge commanding. On December 12, 1861, Colonel Birge marched the regiment from Benton Barracks to St. Louis, thence took the North Missouri Railroad for the field. Mr. Kimmel was engaged in the following battles and skirmishes.[Reference two-page listing of dates, battles, and locations from December 13, 1861 through April 16, 1865.] ...April 26, 1865, surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston, C.S.A., to General William T. Sherman, U.S.A.; April 29, left Raleigh [North Carolina] on the homeward march, via Warrenton, Louisburg, Tarboro', and Gaston, N.C.; Petersburg, Manchester, Richmond, Hanover C.H., Nottaway C.H., Concord, Chancellorsville, Gordon, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania C.H., Manassas, Occoquan, Dumfries, Mount Vernon, Alexandria, and Arlington, Va.; crossed the Potomac River on the Long Bridge, and arrived in Washington City, D.C., May 22, 1865; at the grand review of General U. S. Grant's Army of the Potomac, May 24; at review of General Sherman's Army of the Mississippi, two hundred thousand Union soldiers; June 3, 1865, left Washington City, via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, passing through Harper's Ferry, via Cumberland and Frederick City, Maryland, Piedmont, Clarksburg, Grafton, and Parkersburg, W.Va., thence down the Ohio River on steamer Star Light and Westmoreland to Louisville, Kentucky; mustered out of the U.S.A. July 7, 1865; discharged at Springfield, Illinois. After the war, he took a seventeen months' cruise through "Dixie," stopping at the following places, viz.: Covington and Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga, Tenn.' Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia; Branchville and Charleston, South Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama; Corinth, Vicksburg, and Natchez, Miss.; Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La.; Napoleon and Helena, Ark.; St. Joseph and Hannibal, Mo.
In the fall of 1867, started for the far West, via Indianapolis and Lafayette, Indiana; Galesburg and Quincy, Illinois; Macon and Chillicothe, Mo., to Leavenworth, Kansas; thence, via Kansas Pacific Railroad, through Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan, Saline City, and Hays City, Kansas, to Fort Hayes. At Fort Hayes started with an outfit for the Moreno Mines, at Elizabethtown, New Mexico; walked from Hayes, via Sante Fe trail, passed Fort Doge, Fort Aubrey, Kansas; Fort Lyon, Colorado, and Trinidad, N.M., to Maxwell's Ranch on the Cimarron River; worked seven months in the Moreno Mines, then, August 20, 1868, walked, via Pike's Peak, Pueblo, and Cherry Valley, to Denver City, Colorado; then, via Golden City, Blackhawk to Central City, Colorado; worked three months in Chase Gulch, Colorado; then walked via Denver, Burlington, and Long's Peak to Cheyenne, Decotah; went to work on the Union Pacific Railroad at Bryan City, Wyoming; Assistant Station Agent at Echo City, Utah; in the spring of 1869, he went to Salt Lake City, thence went East to New York on a visit, via Evanston, Wasatch, and Piedmont, Utah; Greenriver City, Fort Fred Steel, Laramie City, and Sherman, Wyoming. Then Sidney, North Platte, Fremont, and Omaha, Nebraska; Sioux City, Des Moines, and Davenport, Iowa; Rock Island, Sheffield, Joliet, and Chicgao, Illinois; Michigan City and South Bend, Indiana; White Pigeon and Adrian, Michigan; Toledo, Cleveland, and Painesville, Ohio; Erie, Pa.; Dunkirk, Dayton, Salamanca, Binghamton, and Hornellsville, New York; Paterson and Jersey City, New Jersey; spent two weeks in the Empire City of America. Thence to Dayton, Ohio, via the N.Y.C.R.R., through Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Dunkirk, New York, to Cleveland; thence to Crestline, Mansfield, Wooster, Canton, Alliance, and Massillon, Ohio; Manchester, Beaver Falls, and Allegheny City, Pa., to Pittsburg, on a seven days' sojourn in the Iron City; thence via Steubenville, Delaware, and Columbus, Ohio, to Dayton; thence via Troy, Piqua, Sidney, Lima, and Delphos, Ohio; Fort Wayne and Valparaiso, Indiana; Chicago, Dixon, and Fulton, Illinois; Clinton Cedar Rapids, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, thence via the U.P. and C.P. Railroad to Kelton, Utah; walked from Kelton to Boise City, Idaho, via Clear Creek, Mountain Meadows, and Snake River; thence Malad City to Boise City. Then walked to Walla Walla, Washington Territory, via Payette Station and Weiser Ranch, Burnt River, La Grande, Oro Dell, Union, and Baker City, Oregon, to Walla Walla, W.T. Then through Wallula, Umatilla, Celilo, Dallas City, Oregon, to Cascade City, W.T., General Sheridan's battle-ground in 1855; then to Fort Vancouver to Portland, Oregon; remained in the Webfoot country one year; then took the steamship Oriflamme to San Francisco, California; thence to Sacramento, Vallejo, Benicia, Rio Vista, Sancelito, Petaluma, and Roseville, California. Thence homeward via the C.P. and U.P.R.R., C. and N.W.R.R., P., Ft. W. and C.R.R., and Dayton and Michigan R.R., arriving at Dayton, Ohio, on the 27th of November, 1870; settled in Dayton. While in Colorado, was in the Indian fights at White Pass, N.M., June 17, 1868; Big Timbers, Colorado, August 28, 1868, and Kiowa Creek, Colorado, August 29, 1868. He crossed the American Plans, Great American Desert, and Rocky Mountains six different times, and traveled in all sixty-five thousand three hundred and forty-five miles,--on water, twenty-one thousand; on foot, sixteen thousand three hundred and ninety five; on cars, thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and fifty. Was married September 26, 1871, to Miss Kate Ann Stephens, the accomplished daughter of John G. Stephens, of Greenville, Ohio.
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