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144th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry

1864

In the American Civil War, Ohio provided the federal government with 260 regiments of men, including infantry, artillery, and cavalry units. Ohioans also served in several other regiments from other states, most notably from Kentucky, West Virginia, and Massachusetts, as well as in federal units.

In the American Civil War, Ohio provided the federal government with 260 regiments of men, including infantry, artillery, and cavalry units. Ohioans also served in several other regiments from other states, most notably from Kentucky, West Virginia, and Massachusetts, as well as in federal units. Almost 330,000 Ohio men, including 5,092 African Americans, served in the Union military during the conflict.

Infantry regiments formed in Ohio became known as regiments of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. They served for varying lengths of time, averaging one hundred days to three years. In 1864, the governors of several Northern states convinced federal authorities to call up state militia forces for regular military duty. The governors believed that these militiamen would free regular soldiers currently serving in forts or guarding other important sites in Northern states for duty with the Union's invading armies in the Confederacy. Hopefully this surge of men, known as Hundred Days' Men, would allow the North to defeat the South in one hundred days or less while keeping Northern states safe from Confederate attack and anti-war unrest.

On May 11, 1864, Wyandotte County's 19th Regiment Ohio National Guard and Wood County's 64th Battalion Ohio National Guard organized at Camp Chase, at Columbus, Ohio, forming the 144th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The men in the regiment were to serve one hundred days.

On May 11, 1864, authorities immediately dispatched the 144th to Baltimore, Maryland. Upon arriving at Baltimore, authorities assigned Companies G and K to garrison various fortifications. The remaining companies guarded Fort McHenry. Soon thereafter, officials assigned Company B to guard duty at Camp Parole at Annapolis, Maryland, Company E to garrison duty at Wilmington, Delaware, and Company I to garrison duty at Fort Dix at Relay House, Maryland. On May 18, 1864, the companies at Fort McHenry joined Company I at Relay House. During Confederate Jubal Early's raid on Washington, DC, Companies B, G. and I participated in the Battle of Monocracy on July 9, 1864. At the battle, these three companies of the 144th had approximately fifty men killed, wounded, or captured. Following the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Fort Stevens and the end of Early's Raid (July 11 and 12), the 144th, with the rest of the Union army, pursued the Southerners down the Shenandoah Valley. On July 13, the regiment reported for duty at Washington, DC, and then, officials ordered the 144th to advance to Winchester, Virginia, traveling via Leesburg, Virginia. Before reaching Winchester, the regiment halted at Snicker's Gap and returned to Washington. Authorities soon ordered the 144th to the Shenandoah Valley, where the regiment primarily escorted supply trains. On August 13, 1864, Colonel John Singleton Mosby's Confederate partisan rangers attacked the 144th along with portions of the 149th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry at Berryville, Virginia. The partisans killed five members of the 144th, wounded six more, and captured approximately sixty others.

In late August 1864, officials ordered the 144th to return to Camp Chase, where its members mustered out of service on August 31. During the 144th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry’s term of service, fifty-three men perished from disease or accidents, while ten men died from wounds received on the battlefield.

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