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. On March 4, 1865, the 188th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry organized at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio. The men in the regiment were to serve a one-year term of enlistment.
On March 4, 1865, authorities dispatched the 188th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry to Nashville, Tennessee, where it became part of the Military Division of the Mississippi and then was assigned to the Department of the Cumberland. The regiment arrived in Nashville on March 9, 1865, and the soldiers remained here just a short time before being transferred to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The 188th Regiment remained in Murfreesboro for approximately two months, when it then moved to Tullahoma, Tennessee for an additional two months of garrison duty. Following the regiment’s assignment at Tullahoma, the 188th moved to Nashville, where, on September 21, 1865, the regiment mustered out of the military. The men returned to Camp Chase in Columbus, arriving on September 24, 1865. Authorities officially discharged the soldiers on September 28, 1865.
Unfortunately for the soldiers, the Civil War ended approximately six weeks after the regiment’s formation on March 4, 1865, preventing the soldiers of the 188th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry from seeing any combat in the American Civil War. The regiment did lose forty-five men, including one officer, due to disease or accidents. Despite not engaging in combat as the 188th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, many of the regiment’s enlisted men had served in other regiments of Ohio Volunteer Infantry earlier in the war.
