The "Camp & Field" articles are a series of 78 columns published in the Holmes County (Ohio) Republican newspaper between February, 24 1881, and August 17, 1882. The articles were written about 20 years after the war by Cpl. Theodore David Wolbach of Company E. The author, identified on the articles as only "Hatchet", was later determined to be Wolbach. Each column was written as a "chapter". Wolbach tells the story of the three-year 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry from its very first days, through all its marches, camps and battles and to the day it was disbanded on October 31, 1864. Wolbach's descriptions of the every day life of a soldier during the Civil War are well written, colorful and detailed and describe the optimism, fear, triumphs, tragedies, humor and sadness experienced by the young soldiers during their historic journey.

The first 35 columns, or chapters, were donated to this site by Jean and Lee Van Brederode who found them carefully pasted over the pages of an old book titled, Mortality and Statistics of the Census of 1850. It is believed the book was owned by retired 16th Ohio Captain Rezin H. Vorhes, Company H, or a descendant of his, who used it to capture the Wolbach articles clipped from the newspaper. The Brederodes graciously donated the precious old book to this website which was otherwise unaware of this wonderful account of the regiment. The donation is deeply appreciated and provides the most detailed and accurate information on the 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry currently known to exist and without which we may never have known the history of the regiment to this level of detail.

The first 35 chapters found in the "Vorhes book" cover the regiment from it's beginning, in October 1861, through the Cumberland Gap campaign, the Kanawha Valley campaign and its most horrific battle, the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou in December, 1862. Images of these first 35 chapters, taken directly from the pages of the Vorhees book, are published on this website and can be accessed from the index, below.

It has been long surmised and sincerely hoped that Wolbach continued his articles describing the history of the regiment after Chickasaw Bayou. Additional fortune shined on the website when Rob Garber, 3rd great nephew of 16th Ohio Captain William Buchanan, Company F, saw the images of the Wolbach articles and, through excellent and painstaking research, discovered the name of the newspaper in which the articles were published and was even able to determine an approximate date. Rob then contacted the Holmes County District Public Library in Millersburg, Ohio, and asked for help finding more of the articles. Reference Associate Denise Rovira Hazlett offered her help and worked diligently to research the articles and found them in the library's copies of The Holmes County Republican newspaper for 1881 and 1882. Denise went to work making digital images of all the newspaper pages containing the "Camp and Field" articles, amazingly, finding all but one chapter, covering the original 35 chapters plus 42 more! Denise sent the images to Rob who, after providing the website with full text transcriptions of the first 35 chapters, within a week or two, transcribed the remaining 42 supplied by Denise. We now have the entire history of the 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as told by Cpl Wolbach!

The website thanks Rob Garber for his tireless work on the "Camp and Field" article research and the donation of his time, energy and personal resources to help bring the true story of the regiment back to life.

Images of the final 42 chapters obtained from the Holmes County Library, covering the days right after the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou in December, 1862, through the battles of Arkansas Post, Thompson's Hill, Champion's Hill, Big Black River Bridge, Siege of Vicksburg, Matagorda Texas, Red River Campaign and mustering out of the regiment in October, 1864, are published on this website and can be accessed from the index, below.

The "Camp and Field" author, Theodore Wolbach, became an important photographer in Ohio after the war. He was active in the 16th Ohio reunions and took photographs of the veterans, one of which is available on this website. Wolbach was also captain of Company H, 8th Regiment, Ohio National Guard, also known as the Wadsworth Light Guards, for some time after the war. He lived in Wadsworth, Ohio, and was, for a time, mayor of that town.

Rezin Vorhes enlisted in the 16th Ohio's 90-day regiment as a private, serving from April 22 to August 18, 1861, when the unit was mustered out . He re-enlisted in the 16th Ohio's 3-year formation as a 2nd Lieutenant on November 28, 1861. He served with the regiment throughout it's term, being promoted to 1st Lieutenant and then Captain of Company H, on July 30, 1864. After the war he became a doctor and moved to Coffeyville, Kansas. He, apparently, was successful enough to not apply for a soldier's pension as no records of such have been found.

Each of the Camp and Field chapters are now available from the index, below. Selected excerpts also appear in the Day By Day section, helping to describe the events, dates, people and places relating to the Regiment on a particular day.

Sometimes it seems the boys of the 16th just marched over the nearby hill and we're about to catch up with them. . .

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