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 25, 1865, the 196th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry completed organization at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio. The men in the regiment were to serve a one-year term of enlistment.
Authorities immediately dispatched the 196th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry to Winchester, Virginia, where the regiment joined the Army of the Shenandoah. It served on garrison duty at Winchester until July 1865, when the regiment transferred to Baltimore, Maryland. Here, the men garrisoned and protected various forts, bases, and other important sites in the city. Authorities also sent a few companies to garrison Fort Delaware, near Dover, Delaware. Military authorities mustered out the regiment at Baltimore, on September 11, 1865. Officials returned the soldiers to Columbus, where the 196th Regiment was discharged.
Unfortunately for the soldiers, the Civil War ended a few weeks after the regiment’s formation on March 25, 1865, preventing the soldiers of the 196th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry from seeing any combat in the American Civil War. The regiment did lose twenty-five men due to disease or accidents. Despite not engaging in combat as the 196th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, over two-thirds of the regiment’s enlisted men had served in other regiments of Ohio Volunteer Infantry earlier in the war.
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