[Illustration: COL. SION S. BASS] COLONEL SION S. BASS 1827-1862 Prepared by the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County 1954 [Illustration: Boards of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County] One of a historical series, this pamphlet is published under the direction of the governing Boards of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County. BOARD·OF·TRUSTEES·OF·THE·SCHOOL·CITY·OF·FORT·WAYNE _Mrs. Sadie Fulk Roehrs_ _B. F. Geyer, President_ _Joseph E. Kramer, Secretary_ _W. Page Yarnelle, Treasurer_ _Willard Shambaugh_ PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD FOR ALLEN COUNTY The members of this Board include the members of the Board of Trustees of the School City of Fort Wayne (with the same officers) together with the following citizens chosen from Allen County outside the corporate City of Fort Wayne: _James E. Graham_ _Arthur Niemeier_ _Mrs. Glenn Henderson_ _Mrs. Charles Reynolds_ FOREWORD At the time of the War Between the States the name of Colonel Sion S. Bass was well known in Fort Wayne; today few citizens of the Summit City recall his heroism. Only a bare outline of his life can be constructed from the meager information available. Grace Leslie Dickerson, grandniece of the Colonel, assembled most of the material for this biographical sketch. Supplementary details were found in the Fort Wayne newspapers of the Civil War years. The Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County gratefully acknowledge the kindness of Mrs. Dickerson and other members of the Bass family. This biography is presented in the hope that the life and sacrifice of Colonel Bass, Civil War hero, will become more familiar to his fellow citizens. Not many years ago, the Fort Wayne post of the Grand Army of the Republic was an active organization. Today that post, named for Sion S. Bass, is no longer in existence. His name, as well as Civil War terms like Shiloh, United States Volunteers, and Copperhead, has almost lost its significance for the average citizen. The honorable causes espoused and defended in the tragic Civil War were championed by many men of heroic stature—men worthy of the unstinted admiration and respect of each succeeding generation. These were the soldiers who acquitted themselves honorably in fighting for the causes they believed just. Colonel Sion St. Clair Bass, a successful young man who could have avoided military service, was one of the many who gave their lives in the struggle.