Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center

 

Ralph P. Buckland

 

LH-253

 

Introduction

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content

Inventory

 

Introduction

 

The material in this collection consists of photocopies of the originals.  The collection was donated to the Center in 1992.  It was held by descendants of George Buckland (son of Ralph P. Buckland) until 1990. Additional material on the Civil War service of the 72nd OVI appears in the Center’s Local History File.  Also, the Center holds numerous collections of officers and enlisted men who served in the 72nd. Several original letters written by President Hayes that appeared in this collection were transferred to the Rutherford B. Hayes Papers.  The addendum was acquired by the Center in 2004. 

 

Biographical Sketch

 

Ralph P. Buckland (1812-1892) was born to Ralph and Ann Kent Buckland in Leyden, Massachusetts on January 20, 1812.  He attended Kenyon College for one year and read law in Middlebury and Canfield, Ohio law offices.  He was admitted to the bar in 1837 and located in Lower Sandusky.  Rutherford B. Hayes was one of his partners in the 1840s.  Buckland served as mayor of Lower Sandusky from 1843 to 1845 and as an Ohio State Senator from 1855-1859.  When the Civil War began, Buckland organized the 72nd OVI and rose to the rank of Brevet Major General. He later commanded a brigade and was appointed the Military Commander of the District of Memphis.  He saw action at Shiloh and the Siege of Vicksburg and thwarted the Forrests raid on the city of Memphis.  He resigned from the Army on January 9, 1865 to take his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives where he served two terms.  He returned to private practice in Fremont and served on the Board of the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphan's Home in Xenia, Ohio and was a Government Director of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1878 to 1880.  General Buckland died in Fremont on May 27, 1892 at the age of 80.

 

Scope and Content

 

The Ralph P. Buckland Papers relate almost exclusively the Civil War service of General Buckland.  Following the Civil War, George Buckland, youngest son of the general, gathered together all letters written by the general to family and Fremont, Ohio friends during the course of the Civil War. He arranged the correspondence chronologically and compiled it in a scrapbook, adding contemporary images and newsclippings.  The letters written by Buckland to his wife, children, Fremont friends, and business associates extend from the time that Buckland left Fremont with the 72nd OVI until his resignation and return to Fremont.  His letters reveal his thoughts about the war, information about battles involving the 72nd, particularly, Shiloh, the Siege of Vicksburg, and the Battle of Guntown, as well as the activities of local men serving in the 72nd and his command of the Military District of Memphis.  In the absence of a regimental history of the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Bucklands correspondence is central to understanding the participation of this regiment in the Civil Wars western theater.  Bucklands letters tell much about camp life, morale, reenlistment, health of the regiment, and command structure. The collection also includes post war 72nd OVI reunion material Bucklands pension data, as well as biographical information on his son George Buckland. 

 

The addenda consists of 12 original letters written by or to members of the Buckland family between 1834 and 1872.  Included are a letter from Buckland’s early days as a lawyer, letters from four different soldiers in the Civil War, and letters from when Buckland served in Congress.  The Civil War letters describe camp life—food, lodging, news of other soldiers, and officers’ balls.  

 

Inventory

 

¼ linear ft.

Ac. 5214

 

Folder

 

1  Papers  January 24, 1862-June 1, 1862

2  Papers  June 7, 1862- November 25, 1862

3  Papers  December 8, 1862-May 2, 1863

4  Papers  May 10, 1863-January 22, 1864

5  Papers  February 7, 1864-August 26, 1864

6  Papers  September 3, 1864-November 18, 1864

7  Papers  February 16, 1866-July 1870 and Miscellaneous

8  Papers  September 15, 1871-September 20, 1906

9  Invitations, Calling Cards, etc. 1860s

10  Pension Papers and War Records

11  72nd  OVI material

12  George Buckland Papers, 1920s and 1930s

13  Buckland Home - Jacksonville, Florida

 

Addendum

Ac. 5664

 

Folder 14:

 

1.  Ralph P. Buckland to Dr. Eli Mygatt, dtd. Toledo, March 18, 1836

2.  Private Henry Buckland to Annie Buckland, dtd. Camp Dennison, May 5, 1861

3.  Major Eugene Rawson to Ralph B. Buckland, dtd. Jackson, TN, January 16, 1863

4.  Major Eugene Rawson to Ralph B. Buckland, dtd. White’s Station, February 12, 1863

5.  Major Eugene Rawson to Ralph B. Buckland, dtd. Near Helena, AR, March 17, 1863

6.  General Ralph P. Buckland to Carrie Buckland, dtd. Near Vicksburg, April 14, 1863

7.  Lt. Milton T. Williamson to Annie Buckland, dtd. Memphis, July 13, 1864

8.  General Ralph P. Buckland to son [Ralph B.?] dtd. Washington, D.C., February 1, 1866

9.  General Ralph P. Buckland to son [Ralph B.?] dtd. Washington, D.C., April 6, 1866

10.General Ralph P. Buckland to son [Ralph B.?] dtd. Washington, D.C., June 8, 1868

11.General Ralph P. Buckland to Charlotte Buckland dtd. St. Nicholas Hotel, NY, Tuesday, February      6, 1872

12. General Ralph P. Buckland to Charlotte Buckland dtd. Mancelona [MI], July 2, 1878