SGT. Albert West
A Soldier Who Volunteered To Die For Our Country
William Kacmar, Brady Palmer, Will Prahler, Nicky Savukas, and Parker Abbuhl
-8th Ohio Regiment Infantry-
Soldier Background Information/ Profile
Name: Albert D. West
Rank: Corporal then promoted to Sergeant
U.S. Army Unit and Company: 8th regiment Company H
Branch of Service: Infantry
Date of Enlistment: He enlisted in Company H, 8th Ohio Infantry at age 19 on 24 June 1861
Birthdate and Age: Born in 1842 and 19 when enlisted in battle
Hometown: Around Medina county
Date and Circumstances of Death: Died in action on September 17, 1862
Awards Earned: Unknown
Notes about Military Service: Served in Sunken Road/Bloody Lane
Marital Status: Married
Family: Wife the rest unknown
Religion: Unknown
This is a photo we took at the Antietam National Cemetery of our soldiers grave, as you can see we honored him by placing American flags around it. You can see his name, rank,and unit on his gravestone.
More information about your Soldier and their Military Service-Soldier Photo + Background
Albert West was a private both in and out. Before war, he enlisted in company H, 8th Ohio infantry at age 19 on June 24 1861 and was promoted corporal, sergeant, and first sergeant of his company, during war he was killed in action. After the war reinterred from his original burial on the battlefield to the Antietam national cemetery.. We also learned that he did in fact have a wife, but do not know if he had children.
In this photo you can see a undefined young soldier around the same age of Albert West. Albert West probably would have also worn the same uniform as this young soldier.
Notes about the Military Unit in which they served and events in the unit's history up to the Battle of Antietam-Monument + Unit Events
The Ohio 8th Infantry was easily found. “Following President Lincoln's call for regiments of 3 years' duration, the 3-month regiment reenlisted on 22 June. “The 8TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY REGIMENT was organized 29 Apr. -2 May 1861 at Camp Taylor, and was mustered into service in the CIVIL WAR for 3 months on 2 May.”
This Military Unit was a volunteer unit that responded to the Lincoln call for help. It participated in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign against the forces of General "Stonewall" Jackson in the units early service. The soldiers marched for days and weeks at a time to reach battlefields, carrying their entire lives on their backs or in following wagon trains.
This unit had to prepare and train for this long and bloody war by doing many drills at Camp Taylor. The soldiers would practice drills for six hours a day, doing specific drills like reloading a certain times per minute, marching in unison, forming the platoons, running for long periods, war formations, and battle strategies.
On this field Ohio's sons sacrificed life and health for one country and one flag. This is the 8th Ohio infantry monument and is located near Sunken Road, Bloody Lane.
More Notes about the Military Unit in which they served and the role it played at Antietam-Battles + Photos
Albert West was a Sergeant in the 8th Ohio Infantry, the 8th Ohio Infantry was organized at Camp Taylor during April 29 - May 3rd in 1861. The 8th Ohio Infantry served in the battles of bloody lane/ sunken rode before they were mustered into service in 1861 for three months during the civil war. During the civil war the 8th Ohio Infantry fought in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. They were most known for the battle of Gettysburg due to its repulse of confederate troops.
This is an Image of the 8th Ohio Infantry soldiers who were at the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.
Artifact #1-Weapons in the War - Parker Abbuhl
There were over 500 cannons used in the war. These cannons were powerful on the high ground as many troops could not get to them and the cannons did immense damage. There were many different types of cannons used in the war but the main two were the smoothbore and rifled cannons. A smoothbore cannon is like a pipe smooth on the inside, a rifled cannon however has grooves on the inside of the barrel which would force the cannonball to spin like a football when shot into the air. This means that the rifled cannon could shoot further and was more accurate than the smoothbore cannon. These cannons would´’ve been a huge obstacle Albert West would’ve had to face in the face of war.
-Cannons-
Smoothbore Cannon
Rifled Cannon
-Guns-
There were many guns used for war. Usually gunmen used musket rifles and Sergeants like Albert West would use pistols. Starting with the musket rifles most of them still had to be reloaded after each shot but their were also some rifles like the 7 Shot Spencer which could shoot multiple shots before needing to be reloaded. Unfortunately the war tactics developed slower than the invention and these guns resulted in many casualties to their own men. The Sergeants used pistols and revolvers which could shoot many shots from close range. To be specific these revolvers were called Starr Army Revolver in both single and double action modes. The single made the Sergeant cock the gun each time he fired. This was a lot slower compared to the double which would automatically cock and shoot.
Starr Army Revolver
Enfield rifle/ musket
Artifact #2-Training site and training drills - Brady Palmer
Training site-Camp Taylor
In 1861 the 8th ohio regiment settled for training in camp taylor. The soldiers were put through marching drills and they worked on using guns and bayonets. This was the most important part learning how to use there and saved them in battle in surviving for how long he lasted in war. The soldiers were in the camp for 3 months they worked during the hot days in april through may for the hard conditions they would face in war. The men would fight a short time after and were ready but were in the bloodiest war yet and most died but albert would survive the first part of the war but would die less than a year later
This picture shows all of the people at the camp getting ready to train on there first day there at camp taylor
Artifact #3-Rations/Meals during the Civil War - Will Prahler
During the Civil war the diet’s of the soldiers consisted of mainly Coffee, Hardtack, and Salt Pork. These foods compromised most of the civil war because rations were scares and monitored closely. All though most all soldiers receive rations, soldiers on the front line of the civil war received very little rations because it was hard to get food to them and it was dangerous. Even though the rations of Coffee Hard Tach and Salt Pork did not seem like very much food it met the nutrition requirements for people in the 1800’s. During war times the soldiers were required to cook their own meals most likely because of the mass amounts of soldiers at one camp.
This image shows soldiers most likely making there coffee for there long day of training at the camp.
Artifact #4-Uniform and Insignia - William Kacmar
Our soldier Albert D. West was a Sergeant in the Ohio 8th Volunteer Infantry. Him being the rank of Sergeant meant he would wear slightly different clothing than normal soldiers in the infantry. The key difference between the sergeants and soldiers was the three stripes and badges on the uniforms.
The Union and the Confederacy contrasted when it came to the uniform. The Union wore navy blue with slight red,gray, and gold accents. The confederacy on the other hand was entirely gray. The colors did have to be distinct enough to ensure they didn't get confused in combat, but also bland enough to not stand out.
The insignia of the union army varies, but the most notable one is the horn instrument with the regiment number inside of it. Insignias are “a badge or distinguishing mark of military rank, office, or membership of an organization; an official emblem.”
This is an accurate illustration of what a Sergeant in the Union would have looked like during the Civil War. You can see the navy blue uniform color with the stripes on the arms showing his rank.
This image shows a real union soldiers hat that was sold at auction. You can see the navy blue color with gold accents, as well as the insignia with the horn. What's unique about this is that it has an 8 in the middle which is because this came from the 8th Ohio Infantry, Albert West most likely wore something similar to this.
Artifact#5-Monuments - Nicky Savukas
^^Monument^^
8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry�Lieut. Col. Franklin Sawyer�1st Brigade Gen. Nathan Kimball�3rd Division Gen. W. H. French�2nd Corps, Gen. Edwin V. Sumner�Army of the Potomac.
Personal Remembrances 1-Brady Palmer + Parker Abbuhl
Dear Sergeant Albert West,
Thank you for the service you did for the country. Thank you for the dedication to the war and the bravery you had to go into this war and fight in the bloodiest war. Your hard work did not go unnoticed and to become a sergeant is a big deal and to risk your life for everyone and go into the war at just 19 takes a lot of courage to do. Thank you sergeant Albert West i appreciate everything you have done for the united states and everyone you risked your whole life for.
-Sincerely Brady Palmer
Dear Sergeant Albert West,
Thank you for the bravery you had to stare right into the face of war. Everything leading up to the war was brutal, tough, and extreme but you fought past these and still managed to be able to help your country and fight with many others for what you thought was right. You weren’t just fighting alongside them you were leading them and that takes tremendous leadership, passion, and dedication. For this we thank you for your service.
-Sincerely Parker Abbuhl
Personal Remembrance 2-William Kacmar
Dear Sergeant Albert West,
Though we will never meet in person, I appreciate you for your service in the bloody Civil War. I salute your military service when you knew you were risking your life. You had the choice of not volunteering and living a normal life, but no you chose fighting for a chance of winning the war. It must have been hard seeing people you have spent so much time around This is extremely inspiring to get outside my comfort zone. Me and my group was extremely honored to go to your grave and remember all you and your infantry did. Your service will never be forgotten.
-Sincerely, William Kacmar
Personal Remembrances 3-Nicky Savukas + Will Prahler
Dear Sgt. Albert West,
Thank you for your valor service in the Civil War. I am extremely grateful for your dedication to our country and giving up your own life so that us in the future could live a better one. My general personal remembrance is how you were apart of the 8th Ohio Infantry which I have been studying while learning about you, along with your unit being organized in Cleveland Ohio. Which is only a short 40 min away from me. Thank you Sgt. Albert West!
-Sincerely Nicky Savukas
Dear Sargent Albert West,
Thank you very much Sargent Albert West, I admire your courage and bravery for volunteering for the 8th Ohio Infantry. The amount of respect that I have for you is beyond imaginable and the dedication you showed to our country proves how great of a soldier you were. Without you the war could have easily had a different outcome. Every soldier counts in a war this bloody, the fact that you volunteered for this war and fought in the most bloody battle there has been in history shows how much you did for this country. I Admire everything you have done and I will always remember you for one of the huge reasons we won the civil war over the south. Thank you for everything you have done Sargent Albert West.
Sincerely William Prahler
Sources #1-William Kacmar + Parker Abbuhl
Sources #2-Nicky Savukas + Brady Palmer + Will Prahler
Nicky Savukas