The Coaling

The Coaling. "The Key to Victory". , You're standing at the base of the Coaling, the key position during the Battle of Port Republic. The site bristled with Union cannon that commanded the road and swept the fields below. Recollections on the exact locations of the guns differ, but at least three rested on the level plateau atop the height, at least three partway down the slope to your right, and two along the road to your left. During the battle, the fire from these guns ravaged Confederate foot soldiers and artillery attacking across the flat plain to your left rear., The guns were spread well apart - even those on the same level were separated by 14-15 yards - and cannons, equipment, men, and horses sprawled over a wide distance, up and down the ridge. Each gun had 9-10 men to serve the cannons, 6 horses to pull the guns, and at least 6 more horses to pull the caissons with ammunition., The 66th Ohio infantry was positioned 50 yards behind the cannons to protect the guns (and the lightly-armed gunners) from opposing infantry. The men of the 66th would be in the thick of the fighting that swept back and forth across the Coaling, and would suffer over 200 casualties. Two companies, one from the 66th Ohio and one from the 5th Ohio, were positioned as skirmishers in the woods to your right to protect the flank., Behind you, the ground rises to a high, wooded bluff. While the Confederate attempt to move cannons through the woods to that spot was frustrated by the thick undergrowth, the woods allowed the southern infantry to advance close to the Coaling, unseen until they burst screaming from the trees., (Sidebar):, The Coaling was a "hearth leveled for burning charcoal," mostly clear of trees; the trees had been cut down and burned to produce charcoal for the blacksmith shops at the Lewis Farm across the road to your left. That clearing, and the Coaling itself, extended far beyond the area you see today., (Captions):, Members of Battery H, 1st Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, in a photograph from later in the war. Commanded by Capt. James F. Huntington, the battery was positioned partway down the slope, "on the low ridge near where it began to descend." , Courtesy Ohio Historical Society., Union Capt. Joseph C. Clark, who commanded the guns on the highest part of the Coaling.