Captain Isaac N. Dryden

Isaac Dryden was born 25 March 1842, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Dryden. His mother, Elizabeth, died of pulmonary consumption (tuberculosis) in May, 1860. Still living at home, Isaac may have contracted tuberculosis from his mother and unknowingly become a carrier of the disease. Two other officers, Armstead T. M. Cockerill and George Collings, eventually died from tuberculosis contracted during the Civil War.

Isaac enlisted 13 June 1861 at age 20 as a corporal. He demonstrated great promise as an officer. Promoted over four sergeants, Dryden received a commission as second lieutenant. Perhaps as a gesture to prevent disaffection in Company D, Colonel Jacob Ammen transferred him to Company G on 15 October 1861.

Isaac received another promotion to First Lieutenant on June 3, 1862, and was transferred to Company B.

Dryden took command of Company B when Enoch Weller was promoted to major. For his competence while commanding Company B at the Battle of Stones River, he received a battlefield promotion to Captain on 31 December 1862. Shortly afterward, Colonel David J. Higgins transferred him to Company D.

In the summer of 1863, Captain Dryden became a rising star. While crossing Lookout Mountain, he led an attack that drove off Confederate pickets. At the Battle of Chickmauga, Georgia, Dryden received a dangerous wound in the shoulder. He died at Chattanooga, Tennessee on October 1, 1863, from the wound received 20 September 1863.

Image Copyright Brad Pruden, Marietta, Georgia 1999.

Captain Dryden is interred in Sprigg Township, Adams County, Ohio. The Dryden family burial plot is in need of repairs.

Cemetery photographs courtesy of Phil Hawkins, 170 Rosselot Road, West Union, Ohio, 45693

Isaac Dryden's tombstone

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