02/21/2026
Augustus Vignos was born, the son of French immigrants, in Louisville, Ohio, in September, 1838. On his 23rd birthday, he enlisted in Company I, 19th Ohio Volunteers. He would serve with his regiment until after the Battle of Shiloh, when he came down with typhoid fever. He was sent home to recover, and when able, was assigned to recruiting duties in Canton. Something about the young man must have impressed Col. Seraphim Meyer, who offered the him a commission in his newly organized regiment. On August 21, 1862, Augustus Vignos became Captain of Company H, 107th OVI.
The regiment arrived at Fredericksburg just too late to be engaged, but took part in the "Mud March," and saw heavy action at the Battle of Chancellorsville (220 casualties). They arrived at Gettysburg, with the Eleventh Corps, about 1 p.m. on July 1st, and went into action north of the town.
During that first day's fight, Capt. Vignos' right arm was shattered by a cannonball. He was rushed to a field hospital, and his arm hastily dressed. He lay there three days before his arm was amputated. The next day, the doctors examined his wound, and shook their heads -- they set him aside with a dozen others, with the expectation he would not survive. But, they figured without the determination of a tall young woman named Rebecca 'Beckie' Pennypacker. She had answered Gov. Curtin's appeal for nurses in December, 1862, and had nursed in Virginia and at the General Hospital in Philadelphia, before answering the call for help at Gettysburg. One of her most trying duties there was to bring food, drink, and, somehow, comfort to the "hopeless cases," like Augustus Augustus Vignos, who had been quite literally "left to die." It was particularly heartbreaking duty. Something about the attitude and spirit of this young Ohio captain made her determined to save him, at all costs. As one account says it, she "took pity on him and went outside the strict duties of her work to aid him. In violation of orders from her superiors, she procured clean clothes for him and saw him put aboard the first train that left Gettysburg."
I cannot find the record, but Capt. Augustus Vignos received the needed treatment somewhere, and was eventually sent home. After many months, he was sufficiently recovered to return to his regiment, now a Major. But, by October, 1864, it became clear service in the field was too much for the one-armed officer, and he resigned his commission, receiving an honorable discharge.
Back home in Canton, August married and had three children. He had some difficulty, with only one arm, supporting his family for a time. But, in 1877, his friend Major/now Congressman William McKinley arranged Vignos' appointment as Postmaster of Canton, a position he held for eight years. In 1886, he began a small pocket-knife manufacturing enterprise, which grew rapidly, and soon diversified into a number of industrial interests all under his leadership. By the new century, he was a millionaire.
Augustus Vignos was also active in the G.A.R., and attended almost every National Encampment, as well as local ones. Starting about 1890, he brought with him a photograph Beckie Pennypacker had given him, and showed it to all who would look at it, hoping to find someone who knew her. But was never successful. He was intending to bring the photo again to the National Encampment being held at Saratoga, N.Y. in September 1907. But in mid-August, a letter arrived:
I don't know how much August and Rebecca knew of these announcements, their respective spouses would surely have been surprised.
Well, the two, nurse and "soldier-boy" did meet at Saratoga, and spent many happy hours talking about the old times. They would meet again at other G.A.R. events, and Rebecca and her husband, Edwin Price, visited Augustus Vignos at his home in Canton.
Rebecca (Pennypacker) Price passed away May 30, 1919, at her home in Pottstown, Pa.
Augustus Vignos survived until July, 1923, when he died during a visit to Los Angeles.
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