The Long Road Home
by Pvt. Myron B. Loop

The 68th Ohio Infantry
in the Battle of Raymond

Excerpt from Chapter Four

The early morning of May 9 found us once more in motion. After a march of about 10 miles we went into camp near the little village of Utica. Early the following morning, Sunday, our brigade was ordered out to lead the advance. However, the order was revoked and we remained in camp until late in the afternoon, when we formed into line as Third Division train guard, marched 10 miles, and toward the hour of midnight went into bivouac.

On May 11 we took up our line of march in the direction of Raymond. We moved rapidly over the ground, now in bright sunshine and now in a torrent of rain, until late in the day, when we came to a halt and stacked arms on Roach's plantation, where we remained until the next morning.

The morning of Tuesday, May 12, we silently moved out of camp. Soon the enemy showed up in our front, when a heavy line of flankers was deployed on each side, and all moved forward in line of battle until about 10 o'clock, when we found the enemy strongly posted about two miles from Raymond.

"Come on Riggin, the Day is Lost"

By Rebecca Blackwell Drake

A first- hand account of the Battle of Raymond
written by Thomas. B. Riggin, a member of Hall’s Scouts,
a state company, who patrolled the Utica-Raymond road
the night before the battle.

In May 1863, as the word spread around Raymond that the dreaded “Yankees” were coming, everyone rallied to support the cause. The spirit of patriotism was exhibited not only by the women of Raymond who were busy knitting socks and making flags for the soldiers, but also by teenage boys who wanted to enter the army but were under the age of enlistment. One of the youngsters determined to do his part was Thomas Riggin, whose family lived two miles from Learned. Riggin traveled to Raymond and joined Hall’s Scouts, a local company comprised of underage boys who volunteered to serve for ninety days.

The organizer and commander of Hall’s Scouts was Robert N. Hall, a lawyer from Raymond whose father, Howell Hall, owned the Oak Tree Hotel. Hall, age twenty-two, was a seasoned soldier and a local hero. In 1861, when the war broke out, he joined the Raymond Fencibles, later Co. C. of the 12th Mississippi Infantry, and left for Virginia. He achieved the rank of sergeant but his military career ended suddenly after losing an arm during the Battle of Seven Pines. Many of the soldiers from Raymond were killed at Seven Pines. Others, such as Cade Gillespie, suffered injuries but remained in the war. Unable to continue fighting in the war with his catastrophic injury, Hall was forced to return home.

After returning to Raymond, Hall listened anxiously for news of the war. In early May 1863, he was alarmed when he heard that U. S. Grant and his army of 24,000 soldiers had disembarked at Bruinsburg Landing and were marching inland. Fearing that the war might come to Raymond, Hall organized the local teenagers to serve not only as a home guard but also as scouts. The boys who served under his command referred to him as “Captain Hall."