Union Veteran Robert Hill Russell   ROBERT HILL RUSSELL Captain Company G, 66th Ohio Infantry Even in the wake of defeat at the Battle of Port Republic did Federal soldiers find some sort of comfort in the beauty of the Page Valley in June 1862. A member of the 14th Indiana Infantry wrote his "dear wife" while near Luray or what he referred to as "Beulahland": "Luray is a small town 25 miles south of the Manassas Gap RR in the Blue Ridge range of the Mountains. Our camp today is in a beautiful grassy field, in the midst of magnificent scenery. Within three miles of us, the tall peaks of the Blue Ridge rise away up above the clouds, for the clouds literally hid the summits of many of them. Close by runs a fine stream of pure mountain water, affording an excellent place for dirty soldiers to bathe. I confess that such scenery has peculiar attractions for me, and sometimes in viewing it I almost forget that these lofty hills hide a hostile foe in their bosom, only a few miles away." Interestingly, several "boys in blue" found a liking to Page County either while in the war or after the war during the railroad boom. In all, over two-dozen former Union soldiers found a home in Page by the close of the 19th century. One particularly interesting man, and senior ranking of all of the bluecoats to find home in Page, was Captain Robert Russell of Co. G, 66th Ohio Infantry. He, like the 14th Indiana Infantry author, was in Page in the wake of the Battle of Port Republic and something may have struck a cord. Born in 1837, Robert Hill Russell was the son of Valentine and Margaret Hill Russell. While Margaret was a native Ohioan, Valentine had been born in Loudoun County, Virginia in 1814 - giving Robert a tie to the Old Dominion. At age 24, Robert Russell enlisted in the 66th Ohio in Champaign County, Ohio on October 4, 1861. Russell's first true exposure to the horrors of war was in the wake of the Battle of Kernstown in March 1862 when he and the bulk of the 66th were assigned on burial detail for Union and Confederate soldiers alike. By May 1863 Russell had risen rapidly through the ranks and was appointed as captain commanding Company G. At the Battle of Gettysburg, during the contest for possession of Culp's Hill, Russell's regiment faced many veterans from the Shenandoah Valley's famous Stonewall Brigade, which included the men of Co. H, 33rd Virginia Infantry (the "Page Grays"). By the late 1863, the "white stars" of the second division of the 12th Corps of the Army of the Potomac (to which the 66th belonged) was transferred to the war in Tennessee. On November 25, 1863 at the Battle of Lookout Mountain, Captain Russell, while performing a reconnoitering of the Confederate line, had a tremendous fall nine or ten feet before landing on his face, slamming his head backward, causing a sprain to his neck and upper back. While he was fortunate enough not to break his neck, his injury did cause him the loss of four front teeth and would later plague him greatly later in life. A few months later, on the outskirts of Atlanta on July 20, 1864, Russell was prostrated by sunstroke, but refused to leave the line as Confederates advanced on their position on Peachtree Creek. Nine days later Russell's poor luck continued when he was shot in the instep by a Confederate sharpshooter and was finally forced to an officer's hospital, ironically enough, at Lookout Mountain. After Captain Russell returned to his regiment and participated in Gen. William T. Sherman's famous - or infamous, depending on your viewpoint - "March to the Sea," his three-year term of service expired Dec. 28, 1864, and he was subsequently discharged. Instead of returning immediately to Ohio, Russell opted to remain in Savannah for a few weeks and went into the grocery business (he had just received "mustering-out" pay) with a German resident of the city. Though in warmer latitudes, Russell was not quite prepared for a cold winter and, by February 1865, opted to go ahead and return to familiar surroundings and warmer clothing in Ohio. By 1867, Russell seems to have left Ohio and ended up in Rohrersville, Md. where, on Feb. 27, he married Almira J. Rohrer. Russell's return to Page County may be the greater mystery. There may be the chance that he found Page captivating during his passage through the county in 1862. However, with the enlistment of a Francis Perry Cave in August 1862, there are a few more questions to be addressed. Cave, a Page County resident who had enlisted in Russell's company in 1862, may have had some influence on Russell's decision to come to Page County in years after the war. By the 1870 Page County census, Robert H. Russell (listed as a farmer) and his wife Almira were living in Springfield, in the same house as Jeremiah H. and Malinda Rohrer (both old enough to have been Almira's parents). Another curious link to the Cave family was that Lucy Virginia Cave (age 15) was also residing in the home in addition to a Mr. Benjamin M. McCullough (age 21). Interestingly, one of Russell's residences in Page County was the famous Bell family home - which no longer stands. As some will recall, it was near there nearly 20 years prior to the war that John Wesley Bell was murdered by two of his slaves. As a resident of Page County, Russell appears to have been rather successful. A frequent guest at Page County Confederate Veteran Reunions, it seems fitting that his final resting-place can be found in Green Hill Cemetery, where also lay the remains of nearly one hundred local Confederate veterans. Return to the Page County Union Soldiers Page Return to the Maryland Dept. SUVCW Ancestor Matrix SUVCW Camp #1881 Copyright © 2006-2008.