I hope y'all have had a fantastic week! Mine has been great but extremely busy. I continued research on William Reynolds and his story is nothing short of fascinating. I used a multitude of sources including newspapers, government records, and Reynold's own words to construct a timeline of his life.
Born on February 28, 1930, in Wayne County Indiana, William H Reynolds was the youngest of eleven sons. He learned the carpentry trade and worked as a contractor for the majority of his teenage and young adult years. He married his first wife, Martha Bewly, on February 4, 1849, and had five children (four sons, and one daughter) over the course of the next eleven years. Reynolds enlisted in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War on August 7, 1862, serving in the 73rd Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company K, where he reached the rank of 1st Sergeant. He fought in the Battle of Perryville, KY, and the subsequent expulsion and pursuit of Confederate General Bragg out of Kentucky. In the battle of Stone’s River on the morning of December 26, 1862, Reynolds was struck in the head by a Minie bullet (it is a miracle he survived, Minie bullets are incredibly deadly) and laid unconscious for several hours as the battle raged around his body. He miraculously survived and on his own made his way to the nearest field hospital, where he was sent home for two months before joining his unit again. On February 18, 1863, Reynolds was promoted to 1st Lieutenant of Company K.
During Streight’s Raid, a campaign lasting from April 19 to May 3, 1863, in which U.S. Army Colonel Abel Streight attempted to disrupt Confederate supply lines by destroying the Western & Atlantic Railroad, 1st Lieutenant Reynolds and the rest of Streight’s 1,500 soldiers were captured by Confederate General Nathan Forrest (who later became the first Grand Wizard of the KKK). Subsequently these prisoners of war were transported to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia with over two hundred Union soldiers dying en route. Libby was infamous for its harsh conditions including rampant disease and malnutrition. In December of 1863, Colonel Rose and Captain Johnson, other imprisoned Union officers, developed a plan to escape by constructing a tunnel. The tunnel was dug by two to three men at a time, working in shifts around the clock with a hatchet, a two-inch chisel, and a pie pan. It took fifty-one nights to dig out of the compound and on February 9, 1864, at 2100, 109 men, including William Reynolds, began their escape.12 Forty-eight men, including Colonel Rose, were recaptured, two drowned, and the remaining fifty-nine (including Reynolds) reached the Union lines safely. Those who were unfortunately recaptured were returned to Libby Prison, denied adequate rations, and forced to live in rat-infested buildings as punishment for their defiance.
Reynolds would be medically discharged later that year on July 23 due to the injury he sustained at the Battle of Stone’s River. After the war he moved to Muskegon, Michigan where he served as the justice of the peace for six years and as a notary public for over twenty years as well as engaging in the real estate business. His wife, Martha died on June 23, 1904, and in 1912 he married the twenty-year younger widow Mary Collings. Reynolds exclaimed, ”I feel 25 years younger than I did two years ago... I am going to live to be 90 years old.” Reynolds was one of many northerners who made their way south during the Reconstruction period for various reasons, ranging from the nice weather to those seeking to make a fortune in the post-war era. Reynolds built a fruit ranch from scratch, keeping him occupied while sharing the stories of his Civil War experience until his death. Reynolds died on October 15, 1914, after living in Orlando for several years and is now buried in Section I, the Grand Army of the Republic Section of Greenwood Cemetery.
William Reynolds lived an incredible life through unbelievable hardship and it is amazing to learn of his resilience in the face of the hardships he overcame.
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