Willim Wardle's name is listed on the Union Ohio Civil War Roster - Film Number M552 roll 114

http://www.ogs.org/research/results_ohcwss.php

196th Regiment, Ohio Infantry OVERVIEW:Organized at Camp Chase, in Columbus, Ohio, and mustered in March 25, 1865 for 1 year service under the command of Colonel Robert Patterson Kennedy. The regiment left Ohio for Winchester, Va. on March 26th. It was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Provisional Division, Army of the Shenandoah. They performed duties at Winchester till July afterwards moving to Baltimore, Md., and garrison duty there and at Fort Delaware till September. Mustered out September 11, 1865 at Baltimore, Maryland.

(Col. Kennedy became a U.S. Representative from Ohio, 1887-1891)

Regiment lost during service 25 Enlisted men by disease.

Prelude to 196th OVI deployment:
In the fall of 1964, Union Gen. Phillip Sheridan soundly defeated Confederate Gen. Jubal Early at the Battle of Cedar Creek which effectively broke the back of the Confederate army and ended effective Confederate resistance in the Shenandoah Valley for the remainder of the war. President Abraham Lincoln rode the momentum of Sheridan's victories in the Valley, along with Gen. William T. Sherman's successes in Georgia, to re-election. Cedar Creek was one of the two largest battles fought in the Shenandoah Valley.

Riding through sleet on March 2, 1865, Custer's and Brig. Gen. Thomas Devin's cavalry divisions advanced from Staunton, arriving near Waynesboro in the early afternoon. There, they found Early's small army, consisting of a remnant of Brig. Gen. Gabriel Wharton's division and some artillery units. Early presented a brave front although the South River was to his rear, but in a few hours, the war for the Shenandoah Valley was over. Early's army fled before the Union cavalry, scattering up the mountainside. Early escaped with a few of his aides, riding away from his last battle with no forces left to contest Union control of the Shenandoah Valley.

With the Confederate threat in the Valley eliminated, General Sheridan led his cavalry overland to Petersburg to participate in the final campaign of the war in Virginia. On April 9, 1865, after collapse of the Petersburg lines and a harried retreat, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.

Deployment:

I would imagine by that time William Wardle along with the rest of the 196th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, had joined the Army of the Shenendoah, Gen. Custer had probably defeated or was in the proess of defeating Gen. Early and they probably maintained control of the region while Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. They remained at Winchester until July.

Garrison Duty at Baltimore and Ft. Delaware:

Fort Delaware, during the Civil War, had been turned into a prison-of-war camp, and volunteer infantry units took turns guarding the fort. Here is a description of what William Wardle probably did if he was stationed at Fort Delaware:

Garrison Units

Starting in 1861, volunteer troops were sent to garrison Fort Delaware that included, Collis' Zouaves de Afrique, 19th New York Volunteers, Mlotkowski's Independent Battery A, Young's Independent Battery G (Pittsburgh Heavy Artillery), 5th Delaware Infantry, 6th Delaware Infantry, 9th Delaware Infantry, 5th Maryland Infantry, 11th Maryland Infantry, 6th Massachusetts Infantry (100 Days), 157th Pennsylvania Infantry (Battalion), 201st Pennsylvania Infantry, 215th Pennsylvania, 157th Ohio Infantry, 196th Ohio Infantry, and zouaves of the 165th New York Infantry. The fort was also used to organize and muster troops from the first state. Ahl's Independent Battery of Heavy Artillery was organized here for garrison duty. Although listed as a Delaware unit, Ahl's Battery was composed of Confederate prisoners that took the oath of allegiance.

The fort's artillery soldiers were responsible for manning the guard posts within the fort as well as serving on various duty positions on the island. Infantry troops were mainly responsible for manning guard posts along the seawall, which ran around the island. In August 1864, there were approximately 85 guard posts on the island that required about 255 men on each shift.