George V. Kelley

George VanStavoren Kelley
George VanStavoren Kelley
	Kelley in 1865
Born	March 23, 1843; Massillon, Ohio
Died	November 4, 1905 (aged 62); Denver, Colorado
Place of burial	Riverside Cemetery, Denver, Colorado
Allegiance	United States of America; Union
Service / branch	United States Army; Union Army
Years of service	1861 - 1865
Rank	Captain
Unit	Company A, 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Battles / wars	American Civil War
Awards	Medal of Honor

George VanStavoren Kelley (March 23, 1843 – November 4, 1905) was a line officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Franklin during the 1864 Franklin-Nashville Campaign.

Biography

Kelley was born and raised in enlisted in Massillon, Ohio. Following the outbreak of the Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers, he enlisted in his hometown in the 104th Ohio Infantry on April 22, 1861. Kelley served as a sergeant in Company A. The regiment moved to Covington, Kentucky, on September 1, 1862, in preparation for the Defense of Cincinnati against a threatened Confederate invasion by troops under Edmund Kirby Smith. It was involved in the subsequent Skirmish at Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.

Kelley and his comrades in the 104th OVI spent 1863 in Kentucky, and then moved to East Tennessee until April 1864. They were reassigned to duty as part of the XXIII Corps in Georgia, and Tennessee in late 1864. Kelley was promoted to captain and commander of Company A. He captured a Confederate flag during the fighting at Franklin in November and was awarded the Medal of Honor a few months later. The regiment subsequently served in Washington, D.C. and North Carolina. Kelley was mustered out of the army on June 14, 1865.

After the war, Kelley returned to Ohio. At the age of 24, he married Fannie Bliss on October 18, 1866. Following her death, he moved to Denver, Colorado, and became a rancher. On May 15, 1890, he married a local resident Louisa Talitha Holloway (February 13, 1865 – February 6, 1902).^[1]

He is buried in that city's Riverside Cemetery.^[2]

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Captain, Company A, 104th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Franklin, Tenn., November 30, 1864. Entered service at: Massillon, Ohio. Born: March 23, 1843, Massillon, Ohio. Date of issue: February 13, 1865.

Citation:

Capture of flag supposed to be of Cheatham's Corps (C.S.A.).^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Notes

^ "Kelley genealogy page". Retrieved October 5, 2010.
^ "Fairmount Cemetery website". Archived from the original on December 25, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
^ Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 140.
^ Sightline Media Group (2020).
^ VCOnline (2020).
^ CMOHS (2014).

References

Bentley, William Garrigues (2004). Barbara Bentley Smith; Nina Bentley Baker (eds.). Burning Rails As We Pleased: The Civil War Letters of William Garrigues Bentley, 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 226. ISBN 9780786416592. OCLC 53183450.
Dyer, Frederick H (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co. ASIN B01BUFJ76Q. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Gaskill, J. W. (1919). Footprints Through Dixie: Everyday Life of a Man under a Musket, on the Firing Line, and in the Trenches, 1862-1865. Alliance, OH: Bradshaw Printing. p. 186. hdl:2027/osu.32435015760382.
Keefer, Bradley S. (1984). They Stood to Their Guns: the 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War. Kent, OH: Kent State University. p. 224. OCLC 11253729.
Ohio Roster Commission (1888). 87th–108th Regiments-Infantry. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War on the Rebellion, 1861–1865. Vol. VII. Cincinnati, OH: The Ohio Valley Press. p. 814. hdl:2027/uiug.30112047586034. OCLC 633556.
Pinney, Nelson A. (1886). History of the 104th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry from 1862 to 1865. Akron, OH: Werner & Lohmann. p. 148. hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t6vx0kk1n. OCLC 39785111.
Reid, Whitelaw (1868). The History of Her Regiments, and Other Military Organizations. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers. Vol. II. Cincinnati, OH: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin. p. 1002. ISBN 9781154801965. OCLC 11632330.
Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare (1968). Edward M Kennedy, Chairman (ed.). Medal of Honor, 1863-1968 : "In the Name of the Congress of the United States". Committee print (United States. Congress), 90th Congress, 2nd session. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 1087. OCLC 1049691780.
U.S. War Department (1880). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 857196196.
"Hall of Valor: The Military Medals Database". The Hall of Valor Project. Sightline Media Group. 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
"MOHs - victoriacross". THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE VICTORIA & GEORGE CROSS. VCOnline. 2020. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
"CMOHS.org - Official Website of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. CMOHS. 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
"Home - The National Medal of Honor Museum The National Medal of Honor Museum". The National Medal of Honor Museum. The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.

External links

"George V. Kelley". Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients. Find a Grave. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
104th Ohio Infantry by Larry Stevens
Northwest Ohio in the Civil War
Battle of Utoy Creek

[1] "Kelley genealogy page". Retrieved October 5, 2010.

[2] "Fairmount Cemetery website". Archived from the original on December 25, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2010.

[FOOTNOTESubcommittee_on_Veterans'_Affairs1968140-3] Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 140.

[FOOTNOTESightline_Media_Group2020-4] Sightline Media Group (2020).

[FOOTNOTEVCOnline2020-5] VCOnline (2020).

[FOOTNOTECMOHS2014-6] CMOHS (2014).

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