Biography
Otho F. Strahl was born near Elliotts Cross Roads, Ohio, and raised in nearby Malta, both in rural Morgan County. His parents were Philip Strahl and Rhoda French, his great, great grandfather was Casper Strahl, an immigrant from Germany to Pennsylvania around 1755. Both of his grandmothers had been raised in the South and, through their strong influence, Strahl became an ardent supporter of states rights. Strahl was a graduate from Ohio Wesleyan University. He went south to Tennessee, reading law in Somerville and opening a practice in Dyersburg.
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Strahl raised a local infantry company among his friends and neighbors in Dyersburg. Within a short time, he became the captain of his company of the newly raised 4th Tennessee Infantry in May 1861. He and the regiment were transferred to Confederate service in August of that year. He progressed through the ranks to lieutenant colonel. In April 1862, the regiment was reorganized and consoldiated with the 5th Tennessee Infantry after the Battle of Shiloh, with Strahl promoted to colonel of the combined force. He led the 5th regiment in several actions before being promoted to brigade command. Along with five other Confederate generals, he was killed in the Battle of Franklin. His body lay on the back porch of a local plantation house, Carnton, until he was buried near the battlefield.
He was later reinterred in Old City Cemetery in Dyersburg, Tennessee.
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