Cleveland and the Civil War

Book excerpt: Though removed from the frontlines, Cleveland played an active role in national events before, during, and after the Civil War. President Lincoln visited this abolitionist hotbed after his 1860 election. Following his assassination five years later, his funeral train made a stop there. Cleveland and Cuyahoga County sent over 9,000 troops to war. More than 1,700 never returned. Born just outside Cleveland, James Garfield emerged from the war to become President of the United States. Most vitally, the economic prosperity of the war years began the transformation of this small but thriving village into a future manufacturing powerhouse. Author W. Dennis Keating, member and past president of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, creates a panoramic view of the city through one of the nation's most troubled times.