Wesley Wallick

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Wesley Wallick: 109th Indiana, Co. F

138th Indiana, Co. A

Rank: 109th Indiana- Private

138th Indiana- 1st Lieutenant

Place of enlistment: 109th Indiana- Peru, Indiana

138th Indiana- Miami County, Indiana

Mustered into Federal service: 109th Indiana- July 10, 1863

138th Indiana- May 27, 1864

Service time: 109th - 7 days

138th- 100 Days

Born: February 4, 1819 - Tuscarawas County, Ohio

Age at enlistment: 45 years old

Civilian occupation: Hotel proprietor

Family Lineage:
John Wesley, son of “Peru” Benjamin, son of Johannes, son of Esther and Hans Michael Wallick

Benjamin Wallick Sr. (AKA “Peru” Benjamin), had nine sons and grandsons who fought in the American Civil War. Born in Pennsylvania in 1772, he and his wife Mary migrated to Tuscarawas County, Ohio in 1801.  They were some of the first Wallicks to settle in the Old Northwest Territory.  Their son, Benjamin Junior, was born in 1804, one year after the Ohio Territory became a state. Both Benjamin Senior and Benjamin Junior  had sons named Wesley who served in the American Civil War. Wesley “the Elder” was Benjamin Junior’s brother. John Wesley “the Younger” was Benjamin Junior’s son. What contributes to the confusion is that both Wesleys, the uncle and the nephew, served together at the same time and in the same unit during the Civil War (Company A, 138th Indiana Infantry). Fortunately, most of their military records, with one exception, identify Wesley Wallick “the Elder” as Wesley and John Wesley Wallick the “Younger” as John W. Wallick The focus of this biography will be on Lieutenant Wesley Wallick "the Elder," uncle to Private John W.Wallick.

Wesley was one of twelve Wallick Civil War soldiers who was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Yet by 1861 only one soldier of the twelve was still resident in the county; such was the magnitude of the Wallick western migration in the mid-1800's.  The one remaining soldier was Elias Wallick, who did not survive the war, having died at the Battle of Opequon Creek in the fall of 1864. All the other Tuscarawas County soldiers had scattered across the Midwest by the time Fort Sumter surrendered. Wesley’s family had moved to Miami County, Indiana in early 1841.

The Wallicks of Miami County were primarily carpenters and millers by trade and by 1861 they had well-established businesses. Wesley chose not to follow the career path of his kinsmen and pursued other jobs before and after the war. In 1852 he traveled to California, apparently with his wife Mary Ann and two young daughters. He, along with many of his friends and neighbors, made the long journey, hoping to strike it rich in the California Gold Rush.

                        Miami County newspaper article dated September 2, 1852.

                     Wesley in the California Gold Rush

It is unknown how much success Wesley achieved as a prospector, panning for gold. By November, 1857, he was back in Indiana operating the Western House Hotel in downtown Peru. Three years later, in 1860, Wesley makes another career change and is elected to his first two-year term as sheriff of Miami County.

             Advertisement for the Western House Hotel - Dated November 12, 1857.


Wesley was 42-years-old when our nation's worst sectional strife exploded into a full-scale war. While many younger members of his family quickly enlisted, he waited to enlist until he had completed his term as Miami County Sheriff. (He did serve with the One Week Wallick Warriors in July of 1863, but they were more an Indiana militia unit than a committed Federal regiment). It wasn’t until late May of 1864 that both he and his nephew, John W. Wallick, enlisted in the 138th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. His experience as a sheriff served him well, for he became a lieutenant in Company A; nephew John was a private. The 138th Indiana was a Hundred-Days Regiment that was created to help supplement the manpower needs of the Union Army for General Grant’s 1864 spring offensive. Most of the regiment’s responsibilities were in railroad and supply depot security, seeing little or no hostile action.

                  Wesley Wallick with the 109th Indiana Volunteer Infantry

                                                         1863

Jul 10-17   The invasion of southern Indiana by Confederate General John Hunt Morgan causes a panic throughout the state and Governor Morton calls up the militia to defend the Hoosier homeland. All able-bodied males were asked to grab their rifles, mount-up and proceed to Indianapolis to be mustered into Federal service as a Minute Men Regiment. Five Wallick soldiers from Miami County responded to the call. They are Wesley, his two brothers, Benjamin and Christopher, and two nephews, Jeremiah and William F. M. Wallick.   The regiment is only activated for one week before the invaders move far enough into Ohio that the emergency expires. For more information on the Confederate invasion and the Wallicks of the 109th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, see The One Week Warriors webpage.

Wesley Wallick with the 138th Indiana Volunteer Infantry

1864

MAY 7 Wesley is commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the 138th Indiana Infantry.

MAY 11 Lieutenant Wallick reports to Camp Morton is Indianapolis, IN.

MAY 27 The 138th Indiana Infantry is mustered into Federal service.

MAY – SEP Wesley and the 138thtravel south to Tennessee and Alabama where their primary responsibility is guarding the railroads. No hostile action is reported but there is always the threat of confronting Confederate cavalry and guerrillas.

SEP 22 Wesley Wallick is mustered out of Federal service. The regiment has lost 8 soldiers to disease.

After Wesley was discharged from the army he returned to Miami County to again run for county sheriff.   He was elected to a second term and served his community in that office from 1865 to 1867. For the next twenty-four years he worked in retail as a feed store clerk and other jobs. Hard times fell on Wesley in his old age for he concludes his life as a patient at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Dayton, Ohio. This facility was primarily used as a refuge for three types of veterans: the very sick, the very destitute and those who wanted to escape their wives and live off the government dole. A fair examination of the record shows that Wesley didn't belong to the latter group.

Wesley Wallick was admitted to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers on May 15, 1890.  Here Wesley's rank is recorded as a 1st Lieutentant, which is correct. This housing assignment places Wesley in unit #82.  His name is at the bottom of the form.

We know little about the circumstances that brought Wesley to the Dayton hospital other than his being admitted by his daughter, Myra Houser, on May 15, 1890. It was not a lengthy stay, for after seven weeks he died of a bladder infection and was he quickly buried in the hospital  cemetery. His wife of forty-one years, Mary Ann (Fisher), had preceded him in death, passing away on October 17, 1884. She is buried in Reyburn Cemetery, Peru, Indiana.

Below is a copy of Wesley Wallick's hospital record from the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Dayton, Ohio. On close examination one will find that he was incorrectly ranked in this document as a private, instead of 1st lieutenant.
                Wesley Wallicks hospital record

All his life he was called "Wesley" by friends, family and himself. Yet on his headstone application from the Veterans Administration the name John W. Wallick is written instead of Wesley Wallick. Could the soldier who is buried in the Dayton National Cemetery really be John Wesley “the Younger” and not Wesley Wallick "the Elder"?   That is an impossibility. John Wesley “the Younger” died in 1889, the year before Wesley, and is buried next to his wife Rebecca in Reyburn Cemetery in Peru, Indiana. This John W. Wallick, who is buried in Dayton, Ohio, is without question Wesley Wallick. One possible explanation for the name error is that the person who filled out the application didn't realize there were two Wallicks in the 138th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Company A, one a lieutenant, and one a private.  In the Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana 1861-1865 (an account of all soldiers who served in the war from the State of Indiana) the officers and enlisted men are recorded in separate books. 1st Lieutenant Wesley Wallick would have been recorded in the book of officers, whereas Private John W. Wallick would have been recorded in the book of enlisted men. The person filling out the headstone application may have used the wrong book.

       This index card shows Wesley's headstone application with the incorrect name.
    Wesley's nephew, John W. Wallick, is buried in Reyburn Cemetery, Peru, Indiana.




                             Wesley Wallick's grave is located in Section H, Plot #141
                      in the Dayton National Cemetery. He is interred as J. W. Wallick.

Wesley Wallick is in the Dayton OH, National Cemetery

Comrades-in-Arms

Brothers
Benjamin- 109th IN
Christopher-  109th IN

Nephews
John W.- 138th & 151st IN
Charles F.- 87th IN
William- 51st IN
Jeremiah- 109th IN
William F.- 13th, 109th, 151st IN
Benjamin- 162nd OH

                                                                              Wesley Wallick 1819-1890


                  Wesley's wife, Mary Ann, is buried 160 miles from Dayton, Ohio,
           in Mount Hope Cemetery, Peru, Indiana. She died six years before Wesley.

                                                                                         Our Mother
                                                                                       Mary A. Fisher
                                                                                           wife of
                                                                                      Wesley Wallick
                                                                                       April 19, 1824
                                                                                     October 17, 1884

Song: Battle Cry of Freedom



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