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346 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
AVIIO at once saAV that such a station would be of great value to trade
in the city and that the officers' quarters would be in and about the
toAvn rather than on the island.
The officer of the Avar department to whom was entrusted the duty of
selecting a site for the depot was inclined to favor Detroit, and came to
this city mainly in fulfillment of a duty and not that he desired to locate
the place of detention here; but the business men accorded him such a
warm reception, and shoAved a willingness to give the enterprise such
substantial aid, that the agent could not Avell do otherwise than accept
the offers made him.
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT
The guarding force of this important point was made up, in the
main, of Ohio troops, prominent among which Avas the One Hundred
and Twenty-eighth Regiment; therefore, the history of that regiment, a
portion of which was from Erie County, is closely associated with the
events that transpired during the occupancy of the island for the purposes
stated, and will be Avritten in connection therewith. A still greater
interest and importance was given this locality during the years of the
war, through the exploits of John Yates Beall, AVIIO made a fruitless
attempt to rescue the prisoners on the island, which attempt will be
found detailed in these pages, together with an account of the execution
of that daring young officer.
For the following account of the history of the Johnson's Island
Prisoners' Depot, and the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment,
we are indebted to the AA'ork entitled "Ohio in the War," edited by Mr.
Whitelaw Reid, later of the New York Tribune. The narrative Avas
compiled and written so soon after the close of the war that it is doubtful
Avhether any additional facts can be stated, even at this time;
therefore, we copy from Mr. Reid, giving him full credit for the original
production:
"The One Hundred and TAventy-eighth Ohio, although chiefly occupied
in guard duty within the borders of the State, Avas an organization
of three years' troops, enlisted and mustered into the United States
service, the same as other volunteers troops, and Avas liable to service
wherever required. It attained minimum strength on the 25th of
December, 1863, and consisted of four companies, before known as the
'Hoffman Battalion' raised at different'times in 1862. At and before
the time of forming the regiment the Hoffman Battalion was under the
command of a lieutenant-colonel and major. Six neAV companies Avere
mustered in at Camp Taylor, near Cleveland, betAveen the 8th and 15th
of January, 1864. The four old companies had been on duty at Johnson's
Island nearly all the time since their muster-in, but had frequently
furnished detachments for service elseAvhere, including a short and very
active campaign in pursuit of rebel troops in West Virginia in 1862.
"The One Hundred and TAventy-eighth having been chiefly occupied
at the frontier posts of Johnson's Island and Sandusky, its services