0. Introduction
1. Start of the War
2. Herbert Kilburn, 23rd Ohio Infantry, Jun-Nov 1861
3. Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, Nov 1861 - May 1862
4. Elijah Spencer, 23rd Missouri Infantry, ___ 1861 - Jun 1862
5. Herbert Kilburn, 23rd Ohio Infantry, Dec 1861 - Aug 1862
6. Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, Jun-Sep 1862
7. Henry Kilburn, 12th Ohio Light Artillery, Aug 1862
8. Herbert Kilburn, 23rd Ohio Infantry, Sep-Oct 1862
9. Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, Sep-Dec 1862
10. James and William Spencer, 76th Enlisted Missouri Militia, Oct 1862 - Mar 1863
11. Henry Kilburn, 12th Ohio Light Artillery, Sep 1862 - Mar 1863
12. Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, Jan-Jun 1863
13. Henry Kilburn, 12th Ohio Light Artillery, Apr-Sep 1863
14. Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, Jul-Dec 1863
15. Henry and Herbert Kilburn, Horace Cookingham, 12th Ohio Light Artillery, Oct 1863 - Mar 1864
16. Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, Jan-Jun 1864
17. Henry and Herbert Kilburn, Horace Cookingham, 12th Ohio Light Artillery, Apr-Sep 1864
18. Elijah Spencer, 23rd Missouri Infantry, May-Sep 1864
19. Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, Jul-Dec 1864
20. Frederick Hale and Theodore Willis, 43rd Wisconsin Infantry, Sep-Dec 1864
21. Henry Kilburn and Horace Cookingham, 12th Ohio Light Artillery, Oct-Dec 1864
22. Elijah Spencer, 23rd Missouri Infantry, Oct-Dec 1864
23. James Spencer, 76th Enlisted Missouri Militia, Oct 1864 - Feb 1865
24. Frederick Hale and Theodore Willis, 43rd Wisconsin Infantry, Jan-Jun 1865
25. Henry Kilburn and Horace Cookingham, 12th Ohio Light Artillery, Jan-Jul 1865
26. Elijah Spencer, 23rd Missouri Infantry, Jan-Jul 1865
27. Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, Jan-Sep 1865
This is a history of the people in our family who served in the Army during the Civil War. It covers only pieces of the War;– we had no one person who served during the entire war, and only a few of the more famous battles involved any of ours. I’ll try to include just enough general history and outside happenings so that we can relate how our people fit into the overall picture. I also include all the names of the officers who were over our people, so anyone who is interested in finding out more will be able to pick our groups out of the general histories of the Civil War.
This all started as a sideline of my genealogy hobby. I knew Henry Kilburn had been in the war, and I just wanted to find out which unit he had served in. In doing that, I accidentally came across a few others that we had not known about, and it gradually took on a life of its own. It’s not done yet – I still have work to do on some of the people we know about, and there are at least a few people on which we have no information at all.
At this time, the people I have identified and am actively researching are: Herbert Kilburn, Ohio; Henry Kilburn, Ohio; James Spencer, Missouri; William Spencer, Missouri; Elijah Spencer, Missouri; Edward Vining, Wisconsin; William Vining, Wisconsin; and Frederick Hale, Wisconsin.
Several people I found out about during this search, but for whom I have no official records and little or no information include: Horace Cookingham, Ohio; Theodore Willis, Wisconsin; Ostinello Vining, Maine; Edward Smyth, Virginia (Confederate); Lafayette Young, Virginia (Confederate); Martin Ketcham, Vermont; and Benjamin Ketcham, Vermont.
We had no one that we know of killed in battle, but several people from the family died of diseases: Herbert Kilburn, Frederick Hale and Edward Smyth. Lafayette Young and Ostinello Vining apparently died in the war, but the cause is unknown at this time. Henry Kilburn suffered permanent disability due to disease, and William Spencer may have died or been executed – the records are not clear.
1
Start of the War
November 1860 - May 1861
The North and South had been drifting apart for many years prior to the Civil War, partly due to the slavery question, but also over many other economic and states-rights issues. Lincoln opposed the further spread of slavery, though he never intended to abolish it where it was already established. He was, however, a strong supporter of the Union and centralized government over the individual states. Lincoln was elected President on November 6, 1860, and in the following month South Carolina seceded from the Union. Other cotton states followed in January 1861: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. In February these states formed the Confederate Congress and elected Jefferson Davis as President, and were joined by Texas the same month.
Lincoln was inaugurated President on Mar 4, 1861. He did not recognize the right of the seven states to separate, and intended to keep them in the Union by force if necessary. There is no declaration or official date of the start of the Civil War. Most U.S. military installations in the rebelling states had been seized in February and March; U.S. forces were being (mostly peacefully) expelled; a few shots had been fired in several places – but most people think of Fort Sumpter as the start. South Carolina began firing on the fort on April 13, 1861, and it surrendered the next day.
On April 15, 1861, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers put down the rebellion; they were expected to serve about 90 days. This action angered the other southern states, and they refused to support the call. Virginia seceded on April 17, followed by Arkansas and North Carolina in May, and Tennessee in June. Lincoln then increased his call to 150,000 men for three years.
At the start of the Civil War the U.S. army had less than 17,000 men, mostly stationed in the West to control the Indians. Many of these resigned and joined the Confederate Army. The regular army did expand a little during the war, but most of the men who served in the war were in state regiments. The U.S. decided from the start to have each state raise its own troops, rather than place everyone in a centralized U.S. Army. This was done to ensure better cooperation from the states – the northern states were also becoming nervous about the erosion of "states’ rights" and the growing Federal power; some border states, such as Kentucky and Missouri, put conditions on their service such that most of their troops would be used only for the defense of their own states. The Confederate states used the same state-regiment structure to create their army.
Most of the families related to us lived in the North at the start of the Civil War. Some branches of the Spencer family, along with the related families of Smyth, Travis and Young, had remained in Virginia and were pro-Confederate.