Leonidas Lukemire in the Civil War

Leonidas Lukemire joined the 59th Ohio Infantry Regiment, Company E, on 18 October 1861 as a three-year volunteer.  He served 3 years and one month total, discharging on 1 November 1864.  His cousin Milton Lukemire (1840-1907) joined the same day and served in the same company for the duration of the war.

 

The 59th Ohio regiment was

At Grant’s urging, Buell force-marched his army nearly 300 miles to Shiloh, Tennessee.  Heavy, cold rain soaked the troops the night before the battle and many succumbed to colds, fevers, and pneumonia.  Leonidas was diagnosed with catarrh, which was likely pneumonia.  He never fully recovered and his lungs were damaged for the rest of his life.  Out of a total of 37 months in service, he spent at least 17 in a hospital or convalescent camp.  Much of his remaining 20 months were spent in the ambulance wagon that accompanied the regiment.(())

 

My Dad got the following story from his aunt Grace Lukemire (1910-2001).  Grace lived with her grandfather Leonidas during her senior year in high school.  This was in 1927, the year before Lon died at 84.

Grace’s older sister, Edith, came to visit with boy friend Art Ross who asked about the musket hanging over the mantel.

“Is that thing loaded, Grandpa?”

“Sure is.”

“Why do you keep a loaded musket in the house?”

“That’s the way it was when I brought it home from the war, and I never want to shoot it again.”

Art took it out in the backyard, nonchalantly put it to his shoulder, fired it, and got knocked down flat on his back.  A .57 calibre Minie musket kicked like a mule.  The girls were greatly amused and Art was embarrassed.  Leonidas said many times that he had had enough fighting and marching to last a lifetime and resolved when discharged never to leave home again and never again to shoot a musket.((Nelson Jonnes, “Jonnes Family Record 1995,” 3rd edition, p. 29; unpublished manuscript, 1995 (Stillwater, Minnesota); bound copy #6 privately held by Steven Nelson Jonnes, Ashburn, Virginia.))