With the American Civil War's outbreak, neither the North nor the South had sufficient military forces to conduct a war. Both the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, at first, relied upon volunteers either to form or to bolster their respective militaries.
With the American Civil War's outbreak, neither the North nor the South had sufficient military forces to conduct a war. Both the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, at first, relied upon volunteers either to form or to bolster their respective militaries. Typically, individual states would recruit and send volunteers to their respective federal governments. Initially, many states relied on militia forces. Historically, every British colony in North America had established a militia. The militia usually consisted of adult, able-bodied men, who would rally to defend the colonies and, following the American Revolution, states during military crises. By the start of the American Civil War, unfortunately for both the Confederate States of America and the United States of America, most state militias were in a decline and unprepared for a major war.
In Ohio, Governor William Dennison hoped to supply the United States government with men and supplies from the Ohio militia. Ohio's militia system was virtually nonexistent by 1861. While militia forces played a vital role in Ohio's history from the American Revolution to the War of 1812, most major military threats to Ohio's security ended with the War of 1812. Following this conflict, the federal government quickly removed most Native Americans further west, and in the decades immediately following the war, no European or other major power attacked the United States. Facing no serious internal or external threats, most states, including Ohio, allowed their militia organizations to weaken. Most militia groups became mere social organizations and did not actively practice or study military maneuvers or tactics.
Dennison quickly discovered that Ohio's militia system could not play an active role in the American Civil War. Following the Battle of Fort Sumter and President Abraham Lincoln’s call for seventy-five thousand volunteers to return the seceded states to the Union in April 1861, Ohio's governor sent Jacob Cox, a state politician, and George McClellan, a former United States Army officer and current businessman, to Ohio's arsenal to assess the availability of weapons and supplies. Cox and McClellan found three or four crates of smoothbore muskets, a number of inoperable six-pound cannons, and some mildewed horse harnesses. Upon learning of the dire condition of the state's military supplies, Dennison still encouraged Ohioans to reestablish militia units to defend the state from Southern attack and to assist the federal government in reuniting the nation.
Ohioans quickly responded to the governor's and the federal government's call for troops. These militia units that rallied to reunite the nation formed the basis of the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Among the militia organizations forming this regiment were the Dayton Light Guards, the Lancaster Guards, the Lafayette Guards, the Montgomery Guards, the Cleveland Grays, the Hibernian Guards, the Portsmouth Guards, the Zanesville Guards, the Mansfield Guards, and the Jackson Guards. Officials organized the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry on April 18, 1861, in Columbus, Ohio.
On April 19, 1861, Governor Dennison dispatched the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry to Washington, D.C. While traveling to the nation's capital, on April 29, 1861, the regiment was formerly mustered into the United States military while traveling through Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment participated in the Battle of Vienna on June 17, 1861 and in the Battle of First Bull Run on July 21, 1861. At Vienna, the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment lost nine men killed and two wounded. At Bull Run, this regiment suffered three men killed, two wounded, and two captured. Having only enlisted for three months of duty, on July 31, the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment mustered out of service, but many of its former members quickly enlisted in other regiments.
1st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry (Three Months Service):
Roster of Officers:
|
Name |
Rank |
Age |
Date of Entering Service |
Term of Service |
|
Alexander; McCook |
Colonel |
30 |
April 28, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Edwin A. Parrott |
Lieutenant Colonel |
31 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
John G. Hughes |
Major |
40 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
William E. McMillen |
Surgeon |
36 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Albert Wilson |
Assistant Surgeon |
32 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Joseph S. Parrott |
Adjutant |
27 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
George D. McKinney |
Sergeant Major |
25 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
James E. Jones |
Sergeant Major |
24 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
George P. Leonhard |
Quartermaster Sergeant |
24 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Enoch P. Hooven |
Hospital Steward |
20 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
William F. Robinson |
Fife Major |
47 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Joel A. Stafford |
Captain |
30 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Peter Dister |
Captain |
33 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Waller B. Pease |
Captain |
28 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
George D. McKinney |
Captain |
23 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
John Crowe |
Captain |
32 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Thomas S. Paddock |
Captain |
47 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
John Kell |
Captain |
44 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
George B. Bailey |
Captain |
38 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
John C. Hazlett |
Captain |
29 |
April 14, 1861 |
Three months |
|
William McLaughlin |
Captain |
60 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
John P. Bruck |
Captain |
42 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Jeremiah Ensworth |
Captain |
43 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Thomas M. Hunter |
First Lieutenant |
24 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Lewis Kuhlman |
First Lieutenant |
26 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
John Winder |
First Lieutenant |
29 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Patrick O'Connell |
First Lieutenant |
27 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
James B. Hampson |
First Lieutenant |
23 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Paddock S. Turner |
First Lieutenant |
26 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Obadiah C. Maxwell |
First Lieutenant |
24 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
William H. Raynor |
First Lieutenant |
27 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Isaac R. Eckhart |
First Lieutenant |
23 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Alexander McIlvain |
First Lieutenant |
41 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Moses Klein |
First Lieutenant |
31 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Eara Ricketts |
Second Lieutenant |
33 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
John Hand |
Second Lieutenant |
26 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Washington W. Woodward |
Second Lieutenant |
28 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Joseph Finch |
Second Lieutenant |
23 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Joseph Richards |
Second Lieutenant |
37 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
John N. Frazee |
Second Lieutenant |
29 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Ira N. Snell |
Second Lieutenant |
25 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Alfred Kinney |
Second Lieutenant |
31 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Frank Fracker |
Second Lieutenant |
29 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
Thomas E. Douglas |
Second Lieutenant |
29 |
April 17, 1861 |
Three months |
|
John Bruck |
Second Lieutenant |
25 |
April 16, 1861 |
Three months |
;
