Chaplain Joshua Hoblit

Civil War Veteran

Affiliation: Union

Enlisted: Jan. 16, 1862

Rank: Chaplain

Discharged: Feb. 19th, 1863

Co.: F&S

Regt.: 33rd Ohio

Note: Military service: Chaplin for the 35th Ohio Volunteers/ Infantry/ Pension Card for Invalid

Civil War Chaplins

Not long after the war started, ministers of many denominations followed both armies to fight for the spiritual souls of the participants. They officially became chaplains of the regiment with the rank of private. Originally the government said that chaplains had to be ordained ministers of Christian denomination, but by 1862 that was changed to “any religious denomination” to include rabbis.

It is estimated that northern churches provide upwards of 3,000, including about 500 Methodist ministers and 40 Catholic priests.

It is believed that about one hundred chaplains died in service. At least one, Foster Spotswood, Chaplain for the 111th U.S. Colored Troops, is known to have been a prisoner of war. A Catholic priest, Father Peter Whalen, the chaplain for the famed Andersonville Prison in Georgia administered to both the Confederate prison staff and the Union prisoners earning him the nickname “Angel of Andersonville”.

The chaplains had many duties including serving as help at the hospitals, counseling the soldiers and anything else “as needed.” They served as a bridge between the horrors of the war and the desperation of the situation. The soldiers were lonely, bored, hungry, and in many cases probably wondering if the “hellish” war was an indication that God had abandoned them. The soldiers leaned on the chaplains to encourage them to keep the faith and believe that was not the case at all.

• Link: http://www.examiner.com/article/civil-war-chaplains

Biography of the 35th Ohio Infantry'

The 35th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, also known as “The Persimmon Regiment”, was organized in the autumn of 1861 to serve for the Union Army during the Civil War. This new regiment formed in Hamilton, Ohio and most of the 900 men who served came from various parts of Butler, Preble, and Warren Counties in southwest Ohio. Colonel Ferdinand Van Derveer was selected as the commanding officer and the regiment mustered in for duty with a three year enlistment. They were involved in major engagements of the Western Theater of the Civil War including the Battles of Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, and Missionary Ridge as well as the campaign leading to the Battle of Mill Springs, the Siege of Corinth, chasing Bragg through Kentucky, defending Chattanooga, and marching to Atlanta. Among those that they served under were Major Generals George Henry Thomas and William Tecumseh Sherman. The regiment faced severe fighting at Chickamauga in September of 1863 and were nearly decimated while sustaining heavy losses of nearly half of their remaining number. The 35th mustered out of service in August of 1864 at Chattanooga, Tennessee and most of the survivors chose to go home knowing that the war was nearly over. At least forty of them continued to serve in some capacity for the remainder of the war due to the fact that some of them signed up later and still had time remaining on their enlistment. Some of the others re-enlisted and were assigned to the reorganized 18th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry. Some became commissioned officers in new regiments. It is a known fact that the tough and brave men of the 35th Ohio never turned its back upon the enemy and was never driven from the field of battle. History of the OVCWA's 35th Ohio Infantry

• Link:http://www.ovcwa.com/35thOhioInfantryPage.html'''

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Joshua became a Baptist preacher, went to Minneapolis, and later to California, He went into the hotel business. He amassed a considerable fortune, but lost practically all of it in the crash of '93'. He finally found himself possess of about $3,000.00 and with that he married his 2nd wife, moved to Clovis, California and invested it and did well making another fortune. When he died, he left the First Baptist Church and the North Western Bible and Missionary Training School each about $2,000. He died a few weeks after his wife passed away at the age of 93 years. He was buried in Minneapolis. This was learned from a Brother Preacher who accompanied Joshua and the body of his wife from California to Minneapolis. ( per Grace Hoblit Jacobs)

• Link:http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db...

Information compiled by D. Glenn