Death of Col.Canfield at Shiloh leads Wife to Serve Soldiers and Others in Need The 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry was raised in Fremont, Ohio from October 1861 to February 1862 under the leadership of Col. Ralph Buckland, former town mayor and state senator. Among those assisting in raising the new regiment was a local lawyer, Herman Canfield. Former mayor of Medina, Ohio and state senator, who would become the regiment’s Lieutenant Colonel. Canfield had a reputation as an abolitionist and member of the Underground Railroad for escaped slaves. The unit would see its first action just before the Battle of Shiloh when a patrol ran into Confederate advance forces on April 4th, and Major Leroy Crockett was captured. With Col. Buckland in charge of the brigade, Canfield was left as the sole field officer to lead the men into battle on the morning of April 6th to the west of Shiloh Church on the brigade’s right flank. As the mounted Canfield rode along the line encouraging and cheering the men he was hit by Confederate fire and killed early in the action. Buckland said, “He was as brave as the bravest.” Buckland would move to the right to direct his old regiment, helping them to stop an outflanking movement by Col. William B. Bate’s 2nd Tennessee Infantry. The 72nd would fight hard during both days at Shiloh resting back in their camps when the battle was over. Herman Canfield left behind a wife, two daughters and two sons in Medina Ohio. After his death his widow went south to care for the sick and wounded soldiers. With her youngest son, Herman Jr. in tow, Mrs. Canfield set off for Memphis and Vicksburg to visit wounded soldiers in the military hospitals. She was also successful in gaining and maintaining medical supplies, more volunteers, and food to the Union bases in the South for the duration of the war. Captain Orin England of the 72nd claimed, “She did more good than all of the chaplains in the army.” At the close of the war she established the Canfield Colored Orphan Asylum at Memphis, Tennessee. This Orphanage was set up in the former Charleston Hotel in Memphis. Excerpts from her diary concerning her work at the orphanage can be read on-line at The Virtual Archive run by the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Afterwards she had charge of the Division of Orphan Asylums, Industrial Schools and Charities in the Bureau of Education at Washington. When peace finally came, Martha Canfield’s efforts to help the sick and dying did not end. For the remainder of her life, she assisted at the Bristol, Rhode Island, hospital established by her physician sons. The death of her husband at Shiloh set Martha Canfield on a path to assist soldiers and other people in need until her death in 1890. Pictures: Martha Canfield, Grave of Col. Herman Canfield, Colored Orphanage Memphis
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 17:00:00 +0000