Weeks 1-4
War is declared - The Niners are mustered in - The regiment trains at Camp Harrison.
Week 1
War!
A day-by-day account of Fort Sumter's impact on Cincinnati Germans!
Week 2
Turner Leben
The first week after enlistment was extremely busy for the Ninth Ohio. The regiment immediately began work on drill, getting the men in shape for the service they would soon see in the field. Daily drills began first in the Turner Hall, then in the Orphanage Lot next to what would later become Music Hall.
Their presence in the city at this point served a purpose in promoting enlistment, as well. On April 21st, the Ninth Ohio held its first parade through the city at full strength. Contemporary newspapers reported on the spectacle, and as Henry Howe wrote in Historical Collections of Ohio, “none of the early city regiments at this time were in Federal uniforms. The German regiment was in the white clothing of the Turner Society with short white roundabout jackets of linen; the Sixth Ohio in the uniform of the Guthrie Grays; and the Fifth Ohio in red flannel shirts, making a gorgeous display as the marched down Sycamore Street one thousand strong in platoons stretching from curb to curb.”
On the 23rd, the regiment officially held votes for colonel and other staff positions prior to their official three month enlistment. The captains of each company were allowed to vote on behalf of their companies, and while it had been decided that Robert McCook would be the colonel, it appears that some did not receive the message; when the votes were tallied, McCook received six, and former Prussian officer August Willich received four votes from the companies he had raised. Despite this, to avoid any unpleasantries, Willich stepped back and allowed McCook the honor of commanding the regiment as its colonel.
For his part, Willich eyed the position of regimental adjutant, as in the Prussian Army the adjutant was the de facto drillmaster and commander of the regiment. His disappointment in what was essentially a staff position was great, but his desire to get the Niners in fighting shape was great. The week continued on with drill, exercises and training in the responsibilities of field and outpost duty until the 24th, when the Ninth Ohio received orders to report to Camp Harrison for swearing and mustering in.
Week 3
Camp Harrison
On April 24th, 1861, on orders from the Adjutant General of Ohio, the Ninth Ohio arrived by rail at Camp Harrison. This camp had been established by W.H. Lytle as a staging area for troops to muster in and become proficient in drill and army life before moving off to a more permanent training camp.
Upon their arrival, according to the Niners, their “accommodations were in no way cared for – no tents, no camping equipment, nothing other than the bare earth on which we then lie.” Blankets even had to be provided by private citizens and shipped up the road to the camp. The next morning the Germans set to work, building clapboard cabins capable of housing about 20 men apiece.
Despite all their privations, their spirit persevered. In their own words, “our as-yet-unsubsided joy, dominating patriotic enthusiasm and German Gemütlichkeit helped us overcome this unpleasant situation so that everything passed by just fine.” How were they able to turn the other cheek in the face of so little being provided for them? By making it as close to home as possible, with company streets marked Main, Walnut, Race and Elm Street, and marked with some of their well-known buildings in Over-the-Rhine: Turnhalle, Deutsche Republik, Arbeiterhalle, Sängerhalle, and others.
Shortly after they arrived, the Ninth Ohio was mustered in for 3 months’ service between April 26th and 28th. Here Colonel McCook and Major Linck were awarded with sabers and their officer sashes, and the regiment itself had been given a national flag by the ladies of the city. It was described by the Cincinnati Daily Press as “a beautiful silk flag, with thirty-four stars, which, for beauty and neatness can never be excelled.” Attached to the staff was a streamer which read, Kämpfet brav für Freiheit und Recht! - “Fight bravely for freedom and justice!”
Week 4
"Head clerk of a thousand Dutchmen."
The second week in Camp Harrison brought rain, rain, and more rain. In between showers, the men would perform their Turner exercises - similar to calisthenics - and military drill whenever they could find time. As the Ninth Ohio acclimated itself to military life, posting guards, work details, and the like, Robert McCook must have found himself a little overwhelmed and probably not a little disappointed at the manner of work before him.
“In Camp Harrison,” said Senator Stanley Matthews after the war, “years ago I had found your brave colonel writing requisitions, filling out orders, striving to make the all-but-impossible possible...and when I asked him the source of his agitation, he said, ‘I am just finding out, what it is to be a colonel! I am nothing but the head clerk of a thousand Dutchmen!’” (Die Neuner, pg. 252)
Some in the German language press at the time, however, got a hold of this quote and ran with it. They were not pleased! A story in the Volksfreund from May 4th put it this way:
“Colonel McCook as you know is the colonel of the First German Regiment in Camp Harrison. Yesterday’s Times reports from its correspondents that Mr. McCook, in answer to congratulations on his honorable position, is supposed to have remarked, ‘whether it was such a d----d great honor to be elected head clerk of a thousand Dutchmen.’
We doubt very much whether Herr McCook made such a joke like the Times reported, and we hope that he himself will speak more about it, because the phrasing here is considered by many a respectable German to be a bad joke.”
Was McCook just making a joke? Was it a misunderstanding? What is clear is that although the men would grow to love their colonel McCook, their relationship was not always without conflict.