#129--John Bayard Hannah--Civil War Soldier

Siege of Vicksburg

In a letter sent to my great aunt, Cora Hannah Parke, Phillip Hannah states that there were three John Hannahs from Edgar County that fought in the Civil War:  Old John (John M. Hannah), Little John (John Wesley Hannah) and Big John (John Bayard Hannah).  I have previously blogged about the Civil War experiences of my great grandfather, John Wesley Hannah, and of my great great grandfather, John M. Hannah.  So for this week, when the theme is military, I thought I would blog about the third one, John Bayard Hannah.  I knew nothing about him so this would be a good opportunity to learn more about my Hannah ancestors.

John Bayard Hannah was born on August 9, 1829, in Brown, Ohio, to Katherine Beard and Henry Hannah.  In 1834, his family moved to Edgar County.  After living for a short time in Indiana, John Bayard returned to Edgar County.  John Bayard Hannah married Elizabeth Frances Lawrence in Paris, Illinois, on October 27, 1857.  John and Elizabeth had four children:  Bayard Lee; Phillip Ensminger, Henry and John Gray.  The family lived in Paris, Illinois where John Bayard practiced law and also served as justice of the peace. By 1880, John and his family had moved to Ross Township in Edgar County, where he farmed.

In 1861 John Bayard enlisted in the 54th Illinois and became the Captain of Company F.  According to Parkinson in Edgar County Illinois in the Civil War, 1861-1864, the 54th was involved in two notable incidents.  First was the siege of Vicksburg.   The success of the siege cut the Confederacy in half and prevented the flow of Confederate supplies on the Mississippi.  After the siege ended, the Regiment was part of the expedition against Little Rock.  The second notable event was the Charleston Riot.  Charleston Illinois was town divided:  some individuals, knows as Copperheads, were sympathetic to the South and others supported the North.  On March 28, some Copperheads fired their rifles on the soldiers of the 54th, who were in town as part of their re-enlistment.  As lengthy fight followed, ending in nine men killed and 12 wounded.

After the war, John Bayard returned to Paris and continued to practice law.  According to his obituary, he was a mason and also active in the Methodist church.  He died on April 3, 1819 and was buried in the cemetery in Paris.

I wish I could talk to him.  I would like to know about his experiences with the Illinois 54th, his law practice, and why he left it to take up farming.