Leah Hall, 91, of Columbus, and Yvonne Busby, 86, of Brushy Fork in Harrison County, daughters of Marion B. Barrett, Civil War soldier, and David Rose, who assisted with the presentation, listened to the speakers taking part in the Last Soldier Ceremony held recently at Union Cemetery in Cadiz. — Esther McCoy

CADIZ — The Last Civil War Soldier ceremony was observed recently at Union Cemetery to pay final respect to Comrade Marion B. Barrett by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

“The Last Soldier Project founded by the group is to locate and appropriately mark the final resting place of the last Civil War soldier buried in each county and each state. The Department of Ohio’s Governor William Dennison Camp No. 1 planned the dedication of a plaque on the grave site of the last Civil War veteran buried in our county and a ceremony was planned,” said David Rose, who assisted with the program.

Barrett was enlisted on Aug. 9, 1862, by A.P. Lacey in Cadiz and reported to Steubenville on Aug. 22 to become part of Company F of the 98th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

He fought his one and only battle at Perryville, Ky., on Oct. 8, 1862, almost two months to the day from his enlistment, so he could not have had much military training during that time, according to Scott Pendleton, Harrison County Historical Society president.

Barrett was shot in the ankle at Perrysville and had his haversack blown from his back, but afterward participated in other regimental activities. “He must have lost his hat at that time, too, as the hat he was wearing upon his return bore the initials of another soldier,” he noted.

Harrison County Commissioner Bill Host, one of the honored guests, said he had a great-grandfather in the Civil War. State Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville, and state Sen. Andy Thompson, D-Marietta, both had past relatives who served in the war as well.

Gentile said, “We should be grateful for the sacrifices of the past veterans and to Barrett, now the last Civil War veteran to be buried in Harrison County.”

Thompson added that respect should be given to the veterans who came back from all wars and to those now serving.

Pendleton said in November 1862, Barrett came down with diphtheria, one of the scourges of the war. “He was very sick, nearly dead when Gen. John Hunt Morgan overran the hospital where he was a patient, taking some of the least sick patients with him. Barrett and 12 other very ill soldiers were left behind to die as Confederate prisoners,” he said.

On Jan. 1, 1863, he was sent to the hospital at Camp Chase in Columbus, where he contracted measles in February 1863 and was discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability on April 25, 1863.

His father met him at the train and because of his debilitated state, the elder Barrett was unable to recognize his own son. When Morgan passed through Harrison County in July 1863, he was within 2.5 miles of the recuperating Barrett, it was noted.

Present at the dedication to unveil the plaque were Barrett’s daughters, Leah Hall, 91, of Columbus, and Yvonne Busby, 86 of Brushy Fork in Harrison County. The younger Barrett daughter said her Grandfather Barrett would babysit her and she remembers him climbing a steep hill on their property to hoe his garden each day when he was 100 years old and again riding on a horse on his 100th birthday. There were grandchildren present as well, Lynn Hennix, Carla Busby and Jackie Corder.

“I wanted the hat that he was discharged from the Army with, but instead, he gave me grandmother’s watch, one that you wear around your neck,” Busby, the daughter, said.

Jonathan Davis, past department commander of Ohio, Sons of Union Civil War Veterans, and Yvonne Busby unveiled the memorial tablet, while the Cadiz American Legion Post 34 provided a gun salute and taps. Scio American Legion Post 482 retired the colors.

“It is said that a soldier cannot leave his post without being relieved. Comrade Marion B. Barrett you are now relieved,” Davis said as the monument was unveiled.