The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument - Cleveland, Ohio

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The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument - Cleveland, Ohio

Built in 1894, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument commemorates the 9,000 individuals from Cuyahoga County who served in the Civil War.

09/04/2026

25th Anniversary of 9/11/2001 Terror Attack Remembrance Ceremony
Friday, September 11, 2026

The Remembrance Ceremony will begin at 8:30 am inside the memorial room of the Monument marking the time of each of the significant moments in the timeline of September 11th, 2001. This ceremony will include wreath placement by local officials and first responders, prayers lead by local religious leaders, and the reading of biographies of Northeast Ohio's 9/11 victims.

At Noon the proceedings moved outside to the Northwest corner of the Monument's esplanade where a formal Memorial service was held with keynote speaker. Please join for either in person at the monument or live on our YouTube channel

09/01/2026

One of the topics the caretakers at the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument often get questioned on is why did Civil War soldiers fight so "stupidly". Visitors who are used to movies or reenactments are familiar with long lines of men facing one another, firing point blank while standing in the open. This is what regulations called for and it did absolutely happen....occasionally. However, the majority of Civil War combat was far less organized and much more sensible, at least to a modern audience.

Take for instance, this account of 125th Ohio Infantry at the Battle of Jonesborough, fought in Georgia on September 1st, 1864. This battle was culmination of the Federal attempts to sever the rail lines leading to Atlanta, which would force the rebel defenders to evacuate the city. After destroying 12 miles of track, Federal troops, including the 125th, reached nearby Lovejoy Station and found rebel troops entrenched. In their regimental history the veterans of "Opdycke's Tigers" wrote "The lines were, as usual, too strong to be carried by direct assault, and most of the brigades made no serious attempt to carry them, but advanced to within musket range and threw up barricades."

This line highlights that men often outright refused to charge well-defended lines, going to ground and digging in themselves. Even when fighting in the open did break out, veteran soldiers would find whatever cover they could and return fire rather than standing tall and exposed. Charges like the ones at Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg or Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg did happen, but even on those occasions many men refused to close the final distance to the enemy line and instead tried to fire back from whatever cover was available. The veteran soldiers of the Civil War knew how dangerous their opponents were and did everything they could to protect themselves.

08/28/2026

25th Anniversary of 9/11/2001 Terror Attack Remembrance Ceremony
September 11, 2026

The Remembrance Ceremony will begin at 8:30 am inside the memorial room of the Monument marking the time of each of the significant moments in the timeline of September 11th, 2001. This ceremony will include wreath placement by local officials and first responders, prayers lead by local religious leaders, and the reading of biographies of Northeast Ohio's 9/11 victims.

At Noon the proceedings moved outside to the Northwest corner of the Monument's esplanade where a formal Memorial service was held with keynote speaker. Please join us for a solemn remembrance either in person at the monument on Public Square or live on out YouTube channel

08/26/2026

August 26th, 1861 was not a pleasant day for most of the men of the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as they were surprised at breakfast by a rebel attack as the regiment was camped near Kessler's Cross Lanes in what is now West Virginia. The regiment resisted as best it could but was outnumbered 3-to-1 and was forced from the field after about 45 minutes of fighting. The regiment lost nearly 100 men captured and another 30-30 killed or wounded, and many men spent days in the West Virginia wilderness escaping rebel patrols.

One of the few bright spots of the 7th Ohio were the actions of Corporal Llewellyn Davis of Company A. Born in Wales in 1836, Davis emigrated to Cleveland in 1858 and was educated in the Cleveland Public School system. In 1861 Davis joined Company A of the 7th Ohio and was quickly appointed to corporal, likely because of his education. During the fighting at Cross Lanes, Company A became nearly surrounded and had to fight its way out. As the Buckeyes did so, they literally ran into a company of the 36th Virginia Infantry, which had been fighting another section of the 7th. As recorded in the units regimental history "We did not linger long, however, but made for the top of the hill and into the woods, where we soon met a rebel color-bearer, and Corporal L,. R. Davis demanded of him the colors, which he took and placed under his blouse; and it is my recollection that we did not bother much with the rebel sergeant, as we had about all we could do to take care of ourselves, and I think we let him go."

With the captured flag tucked away, Llewellyn Davis and most of Company A pushed through the rebel lines and eventually reached the safety of Federal lines. Davis exhibited bravery in many battles during the war and was eventually made captain of Company C. He was captured in Georgia in 1864 but was exchanged and named lieutenant colonel of the 187th Ohio Infantry. He worked in the mill and railroad businesses after the war and was active with militia units in Cleveland as well. He married his wife Carlotta in 1874, and the couple had at least three children. Llewellyn Davis passed away in 1907 and is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Cleveland.

08/20/2026

Edward Bohm was 24 years old when he enlisted in the 7th Ohio Infantry in April 1861. The young man was born in Alstedt, Germany in 1837 and emigrated to the United States in 1851 with his family, eventually settling in Cleveland. Bohm joined the all-German Company K of the 7th and was named sergeant after refusing a commission as lieutenant. Around three months later Bohm found himself running for his life in what is now West Virginia on August 20, 1861. Bohm was ordered to take a scouting party across the Gauley River and scout south of Carnifex Ferry, a key crossing point on the river. As Edward Bohm later wrote "Not very long after crossing... we discovered some secesh cavalry who on seeing us scampered off at a gallop, and we thirteen geese or goslings, with our captain, galloped after them...Proceeding a short distance up the hill, on the opposite side of the valley, we were at once surprised, shocked and scared (no use denying that fact) by a shot out of a mass of bushes."

A more shots erupted from the woods the Buckeyes turned and fled. Bohm wrote "I was running alongside of Captain Schutte in the middle of the road, bullets zipping all around and about us. My canteen fell, its string cut by a bullet; my cap fell off my head a little ahead of me, with a bullet through it. Poor old Private Charles Rich, to the right, a little ahead of me, dropped with a yell of pain and crawled into a fence corner." Next, Captain Schutte was shot and mortally wounded, and the Federals took cover in a nearby cabin, Schutte ordered his men to leave him, but Edward Bohm and Private Henry Weissenbach remained with their dying captain and were soon captured.

Edward Bohm spent the next seven months in rebel prisons before being exchanged in March 1862. He returned to the 7th Ohio and was promoted to lieutenant, rising to captain by the time his service ended in 1864. After the war he became a member of the Board of Education in Cleveland, as well as serving as a justice of the peace a number of times. He was also a key member of the Monument Commission, which oversaw the planning and construction of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument.

08/18/2026

When mentioning the 7th Ohio Infantry, we often simply refer to them by their nickname, "The Roosters". The nickname is definitely unusual, but for such an odd nickname there is a surprising lack of information on why the regiment chose it. The name began appearing in 1862, almost a year after the regiment began its service. By the time of the battle of Gettysburg pictures abound of men of the regiment proudly wearing brass rooster badges on their jackets. Most stories credit Colonel William Creighton with the creating the nickname, as it was supposedly his habit of crowing like a chicken before going into combat, after which he would be joined by the men of the regiment. However, a different story credits Colonel William Candy of the 66th Ohio with the nickname, claiming that he gave several Ohio regiments (including the 7th) bird-related names.

However the name was gained, the "Roosters" of the 7th Ohio certainly took to the title far longer than war lasted. Regimental reunion often called for the "roosters" to gather, reunion papers had a rooster seal stamped, even the regimental monuments have a bronze rooster affixed. Here at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, the bust of William Creighton also includes a carved rooster on his lapel, mimicking the badge that he and his men wore so proudly in life.

08/13/2026

Recently we have updated a few of our display cases, as we try to show more of the faces of the men and women listed on our walls. Occupying a case of its own is the "Roosters" of the 7th Ohio, and visitors can look upon the faces of William Creighton, Orrin Crane, John Molyneuax, Frank Rockefeller, Jeremiah Claflin, and many others. Nearby is another case highlighting men of the 107th Ohio, and more images for additional regiments and organizations will be added in the future. You can check out these displays for yourself daily, as the monument is open seven days a week, 10 to 5:30 daily!

08/09/2026

Continuing with our focus on the 7th Ohio, today marks the 164th anniversary of the battle of Cedar Mountain, fought near Culpeper Court House, Virginia, in 1862. The 7th Ohio was part of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks' 2nd Corps in Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia, when it was ordered to attack a rebel line at the edge of a woodlot. Marching across open wheat fields, the 7th Ohio, as well as fellow Buckeye regiments the 5th, 29th, and 66th Ohio, slugged it out with their gray-clad opponents. Under severe artillery fire as well, the 7th stood their ground for over an hour, before a rebel counterattack forced the Roosters and the rest of the Union line to fall back. In the course of the fighting Colonel William Creighton was severely wounded in the left arm, but he stayed with his men until they had fallen back to safety. Lieutenant Mervin Clark at first mistook the order to fall back and led his men forward instead, only realizing his mistake in the nick of time. All told the 7th Ohio lost over 190 men during its fight at Cedar Mountain, almost two-thirds of those who began the battle.

08/06/2026

The American Battlefield Trust's Garry Adelman and Kris White were giving a tour of Culp's Hill at Gettysburg, and that entailed a stop at the 7th Ohio Infantry's monument and a rendition of the regiment's famous battle cry! To learn more about the 7th, Colonel Creighton, or his "Roosters", stop by the Soldiers and Sailors Monument where you can put faces with some of the names mentioned!

08/05/2026

162nd Anniversary of the Battle of Mobile Bay

One of the most famous naval actions occurring during the American Civil War took place on this date in 1864, as a United States naval squadron sailed into Mobile Bay in southern Alabama. The city of Mobile was one of the largest ports still available to the Confederacy that allowed goods from foreign nations to reach the beleaguered rebel forces. Federal forces turned their attention to Mobile in late 1863, but had to wait until the late summer of 1864 to attack the port due to troop commitments elsewhere.
As Major General Gordon Granger landed Federal ground troops to attack rebel forts nears the entrance to Mobile Bay, Rear Admiral David Farragut led his naval forces against the rebel ships in the bay. Portions of the bay were protected by naval mines, or torpedoes as they were called at the time, and the CSS Tennessee, an ironclad warship, anchored the naval defense. As Federal ships sailed into Mobile Bay after dawn on August 5th, Admiral Farragut ordered his ships to stay clear of the minefield, but the USS Tecumseh, an ironclad, struck a mine and sank within two minutes. This caused the squadron to slow their momentum, right in front of the cannons of rebel-held Fort Morgan.
It is at this point Admiral Farragut is supposed to have uttered his famous phrase "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" in response to signals from the rest of the squadron. Whether or not Farragut actually said the phrase, his ships did in fact move ahead and engaged the CSS Tennessee and rest of the rebel squadron. Within a few hours the Tennessee and her supporting vessels were captured or destroyed and entrance to Mobile was sealed off. Although the city itself would not fall until the spring of 1865, another port city had been taken away from the Confederacy.

Address

3 Public Square
Cleveland, OH
44114

Telephone

+12166213710

Website

http://www.soldiersandsailors.com/

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