John Jackson Strohl was born on 23 Aug 1841 in Laurel Township, Hocking Co., Ohio. He was the son of John William Adam Strohl and Elizabeth Rittigers. His family was farmers and he also was farming in Laurel Township when he enlisted in Company H, 58th Ohio Regiment of the Ohio Infantry on October 2, 1861 at Millville, Ohio. He was 20 years old when he enlisted.
In January of 1863 he was detached from Company H, 58th Ohio Regiment of Infantry to Landgraeber’s Battery, 1 Mo. Horse Artillery where he became an ambulance driver. He was a part of the Siege of Vicksburg (May 18-July 4, 1863). Some historians believe the Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union General Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi river and drove the confederate army of Vicksburg led by Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
When two major assaults (May 19 and 22, 1863) against Confederate fortification were repulsed with heavy causalities, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. With no reinforcement, supplies nearly gone, and after holding out for more than 40 days, the garrison finally surrendered on July 4. This action (combined with the surrender of Port Hudson to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Bank on July 9) yielded command of the Mississippi River to the Union Forces, who would hold it for the rest of the conflict.
The Confederate surrender following the Siege at Vicksburg is sometimes considered, when combined with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade the previous day, the turning point of the war. It cut off the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas from the rest of the Confederacy, as well as communication with Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department for the remainder of the war.
Then John Strohl returned to the 58th Ohio Regiment. There he was a teamster and supply driver. He was injured lifting a heavy load and was not able to recover sufficiently to continue service.
He was mustered out at Camp Chase, Ohio on January 14, 1865 according to muster roll records but U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 indicate that he was mustered out at Vicksburg, Mississippi. He came to Colfax Township in Champaign County, Illinois, where he had family. He married Sarah Gordon 21 March 1867 at Centerville, Piatt Co., Illinois. John and Sarah had 14 children. John was a farmer and he and Sarah purchased land in Piatt and Champaign Co.
John developed tuberculosis so he moved most of his family to Acampo County, California where the weather was better for his health. He died at Woodbridge, Acampo County, California, on 21 March 1901. His body was brought back to Monticello, Piatt Co., IL by train where he is buried. Sarah Strohl was able to receive a pension from the government because of John’s civil war service. Sarah died in 1928 and is buried beside her husband in the Monticello Cemetery.
Family lore says when John Strohl came home after being mustered out, he walked from the train station in Champaign to Monticello where his family was, despite being injured. A family member, Dayton Strohl, had John’s musket from the civil war. When Dayton’s only son, Floyd Strohl's, plane disappeared on a flight over the Himalayan Mountains in WW II he was so upset about war that he took the musket to the University of Illinois in Champaign where Floyd was a engineering student when he enlisted. He donated the musket to the University although no record of the gun being donated has been found so the whereabouts of the musket remain unknown.
In January of 1863 he was detached from Company H, 58th Ohio Regiment of Infantry to Landgraeber’s Battery, 1 Mo. Horse Artillery where he became an ambulance driver. He was a part of the Siege of Vicksburg (May 18-July 4, 1863). Some historians believe the Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union General Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi river and drove the confederate army of Vicksburg led by Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
When two major assaults (May 19 and 22, 1863) against Confederate fortification were repulsed with heavy causalities, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. With no reinforcement, supplies nearly gone, and after holding out for more than 40 days, the garrison finally surrendered on July 4. This action (combined with the surrender of Port Hudson to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Bank on July 9) yielded command of the Mississippi River to the Union Forces, who would hold it for the rest of the conflict.
The Confederate surrender following the Siege at Vicksburg is sometimes considered, when combined with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade the previous day, the turning point of the war. It cut off the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas from the rest of the Confederacy, as well as communication with Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department for the remainder of the war.
Then John Strohl returned to the 58th Ohio Regiment. There he was a teamster and supply driver. He was injured lifting a heavy load and was not able to recover sufficiently to continue service.
He was mustered out at Camp Chase, Ohio on January 14, 1865 according to muster roll records but U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 indicate that he was mustered out at Vicksburg, Mississippi. He came to Colfax Township in Champaign County, Illinois, where he had family. He married Sarah Gordon 21 March 1867 at Centerville, Piatt Co., Illinois. John and Sarah had 14 children. John was a farmer and he and Sarah purchased land in Piatt and Champaign Co.
John developed tuberculosis so he moved most of his family to Acampo County, California where the weather was better for his health. He died at Woodbridge, Acampo County, California, on 21 March 1901. His body was brought back to Monticello, Piatt Co., IL by train where he is buried. Sarah Strohl was able to receive a pension from the government because of John’s civil war service. Sarah died in 1928 and is buried beside her husband in the Monticello Cemetery.
Family lore says when John Strohl came home after being mustered out, he walked from the train station in Champaign to Monticello where his family was, despite being injured. A family member, Dayton Strohl, had John’s musket from the civil war. When Dayton’s only son, Floyd Strohl's, plane disappeared on a flight over the Himalayan Mountains in WW II he was so upset about war that he took the musket to the University of Illinois in Champaign where Floyd was a engineering student when he enlisted. He donated the musket to the University although no record of the gun being donated has been found so the whereabouts of the musket remain unknown.