Pvt 10th Ind Inf∼Oliver Smith Rankin served in the 10th Indiana Volunteer Regiment during the Civil War, and was shot as a spy by Confederates after providing valuable information before the Battle of Chickamauga.
Arrested while on a secret mission in Tennessee, his rebel captors dragged him into some nearby woods and executed him with a shotgun, leaving his body to the wolves. His wartime deeds and sacrifices remain lost to history.
Oliver Smith Rankin, from the 10th Indiana Volunteer Regiment, who was executed as a spy during the Civil War. Oliver was from Greencastle, Indiana, and resigned his commission in the U.S. Army so he could be on detached service in the Secret Service under the chief of army police, Col. Trussdail, and also under General Rosecrans of the Army of the Cumberland. Oliver gave information to Generals Rosecrans and Thomas that General James Longstreet had arrived to reinforce General Braxton Bragg before the Battle of Chickamauga.
In May 1864, General James Garfield gave a speech, recorded in the Congressional Globe, about Oliver who was "a generous and patriotic young man, engaged in a most perilous and difficult enterprise in the service of his country." In 1865, General William Rosecrans wrote: "I cannot however think Mr. Rankin is lost. It may be you will hear from him when you least expect it." This letter contains the note that Rev. B. Wilson Smith, Valparaiso, Indiana, to whom the letter was written, was the brother-in-law of Oliver Rankin, "having married Mr. Rankins' sister Ruth Anna Rankin."
In 1909, Loyd Cecil wrote about the execution of Oliver on the farm of George Polk, five miles from Columbia, Tennessee, in 1863. He stated: "After the war the bones of a human being were found there by a fox hunter and a negro." William E. Ludlow, Adjutant General of the 10th Indiana, wrote in 1911 that he had a distinct recollection of Oliver Rankin, who "was a big fine-looking fellow of pleasing personality, ... a jolly good fellow and a great favorite with everyone."
Arrested while on a secret mission in Tennessee, his rebel captors dragged him into some nearby woods and executed him with a shotgun, leaving his body to the wolves. His wartime deeds and sacrifices remain lost to history.
Oliver Smith Rankin, from the 10th Indiana Volunteer Regiment, who was executed as a spy during the Civil War. Oliver was from Greencastle, Indiana, and resigned his commission in the U.S. Army so he could be on detached service in the Secret Service under the chief of army police, Col. Trussdail, and also under General Rosecrans of the Army of the Cumberland. Oliver gave information to Generals Rosecrans and Thomas that General James Longstreet had arrived to reinforce General Braxton Bragg before the Battle of Chickamauga.
In May 1864, General James Garfield gave a speech, recorded in the Congressional Globe, about Oliver who was "a generous and patriotic young man, engaged in a most perilous and difficult enterprise in the service of his country." In 1865, General William Rosecrans wrote: "I cannot however think Mr. Rankin is lost. It may be you will hear from him when you least expect it." This letter contains the note that Rev. B. Wilson Smith, Valparaiso, Indiana, to whom the letter was written, was the brother-in-law of Oliver Rankin, "having married Mr. Rankins' sister Ruth Anna Rankin."
In 1909, Loyd Cecil wrote about the execution of Oliver on the farm of George Polk, five miles from Columbia, Tennessee, in 1863. He stated: "After the war the bones of a human being were found there by a fox hunter and a negro." William E. Ludlow, Adjutant General of the 10th Indiana, wrote in 1911 that he had a distinct recollection of Oliver Rankin, who "was a big fine-looking fellow of pleasing personality, ... a jolly good fellow and a great favorite with everyone."
Pvt 10th Ind Inf∼Oliver Smith Rankin served in the 10th Indiana Volunteer Regiment during the Civil War, and was shot as a spy by Confederates after providing valuable information before the Battle of Chickamauga.
Arrested while on a secret mission in Tennessee, his rebel captors dragged him into some nearby woods and executed him with a shotgun, leaving his body to the wolves. His wartime deeds and sacrifices remain lost to history.
Oliver Smith Rankin, from the 10th Indiana Volunteer Regiment, who was executed as a spy during the Civil War. Oliver was from Greencastle, Indiana, and resigned his commission in the U.S. Army so he could be on detached service in the Secret Service under the chief of army police, Col. Trussdail, and also under General Rosecrans of the Army of the Cumberland. Oliver gave information to Generals Rosecrans and Thomas that General James Longstreet had arrived to reinforce General Braxton Bragg before the Battle of Chickamauga.
In May 1864, General James Garfield gave a speech, recorded in the Congressional Globe, about Oliver who was "a generous and patriotic young man, engaged in a most perilous and difficult enterprise in the service of his country." In 1865, General William Rosecrans wrote: "I cannot however think Mr. Rankin is lost. It may be you will hear from him when you least expect it." This letter contains the note that Rev. B. Wilson Smith, Valparaiso, Indiana, to whom the letter was written, was the brother-in-law of Oliver Rankin, "having married Mr. Rankins' sister Ruth Anna Rankin."
In 1909, Loyd Cecil wrote about the execution of Oliver on the farm of George Polk, five miles from Columbia, Tennessee, in 1863. He stated: "After the war the bones of a human being were found there by a fox hunter and a negro." William E. Ludlow, Adjutant General of the 10th Indiana, wrote in 1911 that he had a distinct recollection of Oliver Rankin, who "was a big fine-looking fellow of pleasing personality, ... a jolly good fellow and a great favorite with everyone."
Arrested while on a secret mission in Tennessee, his rebel captors dragged him into some nearby woods and executed him with a shotgun, leaving his body to the wolves. His wartime deeds and sacrifices remain lost to history.
Oliver Smith Rankin, from the 10th Indiana Volunteer Regiment, who was executed as a spy during the Civil War. Oliver was from Greencastle, Indiana, and resigned his commission in the U.S. Army so he could be on detached service in the Secret Service under the chief of army police, Col. Trussdail, and also under General Rosecrans of the Army of the Cumberland. Oliver gave information to Generals Rosecrans and Thomas that General James Longstreet had arrived to reinforce General Braxton Bragg before the Battle of Chickamauga.
In May 1864, General James Garfield gave a speech, recorded in the Congressional Globe, about Oliver who was "a generous and patriotic young man, engaged in a most perilous and difficult enterprise in the service of his country." In 1865, General William Rosecrans wrote: "I cannot however think Mr. Rankin is lost. It may be you will hear from him when you least expect it." This letter contains the note that Rev. B. Wilson Smith, Valparaiso, Indiana, to whom the letter was written, was the brother-in-law of Oliver Rankin, "having married Mr. Rankins' sister Ruth Anna Rankin."
In 1909, Loyd Cecil wrote about the execution of Oliver on the farm of George Polk, five miles from Columbia, Tennessee, in 1863. He stated: "After the war the bones of a human being were found there by a fox hunter and a negro." William E. Ludlow, Adjutant General of the 10th Indiana, wrote in 1911 that he had a distinct recollection of Oliver Rankin, who "was a big fine-looking fellow of pleasing personality, ... a jolly good fellow and a great favorite with everyone."
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