Description
Carte view identified as Captain Frank Lynch of the 7th and 27th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Born in Canada, Frank had moved to Cleveland at the outbreak of war. Initially he would muster as a sergeant with the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. A 3-month regiment, their enlistment would expire while at Camp Dennison. Asked to re-enlist, Frank would be commissioned captain, Co. G, 27th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in August, 1861. In late Oct. 1862, he was ordered to open a recruiting office in Cleveland, which he established on Superior St. He later returned to the 27th Ohio, of Fuller’s Ohio Brigade, which was heavily engaged throughout the Atlanta Campaign as part of the 4th Div., 16th Army Corps. During the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, Lynch was severely wounded during a charge; he never regained full use of his arms. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in March,1864 but never was mustered as such, being mustered out in mid May of 1865. Lynch returned to Cleveland and became involved in Republican politics in the 9th ward. His war wounds had debilitated his general strength and plagued him for the rest of his life. In 1869, he was elected treasurer of Cuyahoga County and was reelected in 1871. Lynch served on the committee for Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) ceremonies in 1871, chaired the Cleveland delegation to the Reunion of the Army of the Tennessee in Cincinnati, 6-7 Apr. 1872, and was a member of Creighton Post No. 69, Grand Army of the Republic. Lynch would succumb to an apparent heart problem coupled with his war wounds in 1889. This view shows Frank while serving as a recruiting officer in Cleveland, Ohio. It is back marked from a photographer which was located on the same street as his recruiting office. His cap rests on the table at his side with the numeral “27” visible on the cap itself. The front of the card is signed in ink reading “Yours Frank Lynch”. An old pencil inscription on the reverse reads “Frank Lynch Union Cavalryman Ohio Civil War”. Obviously Frank never served as a cavalryman. The name of the woman who wrote the inscription appears at the bottom of the card.
