1861–1865
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.
Artillery batteries formed in Ohio became known as batteries of Ohio Volunteer Artillery. They served for varying lengths of time, averaging one hundred days to three years. On August 6, 1861, the 2nd Ohio Independent Battery of Ohio Volunteer Artillery mustered into service at Camp Chase, at Columbus, Ohio. The men in the battery were to serve three years.
On August 15, 1861, officials ordered the 2nd to St. Louis, Missouri. Three days later, the battery boarded trains and departed St. Louis for Lexington, Missouri, where Confederate forces were besieging Union soldiers. The Northerners surrendered before the 2nd arrived, and the battery disembarked at Jefferson City, Missouri. The 2nd remained at Jefferson City until October 4, 1861, when officials ordered the organization to Springfield, Missouri. Four days into the march, the battery arrived at Tipton, Missouri, where the unit rested for one week before continuing the march to Springfield. A burned bridge at Warsaw, Missouri further delayed the movement, with the 2nd not reaching Springfield until November 1, 1861.
The 2nd spent the winter of 1861-1862 at Rolla, Missouri, leaving this location on February 24, 1862 to engage, with other Union forces, General Sterling Price's Confederate army at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The Battle of Pea Ridge occurred on March 6 and 7, 1862, with the battery having one man killed and twelve wounded. Following the engagement, the 2nd advanced across Arkansas to Helena on the Mississippi River.
The 2nd Battery remained at Helena until January 23, 1863, when the organization joined an expedition up the White River to Duvall's Bluff. The Northerners encountered no Confederate forces and returned to Helena. On March 20, 1863, the 2nd boarded transports and sailed to the Yazoo River's mouth, where the battery embarked upon Union General Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. The unit fought in the Battles of Raymond (May 12, 1863), Champion Hill (May 16, 1863), and Big Black River Bridge (May 17, 1863) and also participated in the Siege of Vicksburg, which resulted in the Union's capture of this city on July 4, 1863.
Following Vicksburg, Mississippi's capture, the 2nd moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where the organization participated in the Red River Campaign. After this expedition, the battery encamped at Plaquemine, Louisiana, where the 2nd performed garrison duty until February 1864.
On February 23, 1864, many of the 2nd's members reenlisted and received a brief furlough to their homes in Ohio. At the furlough's conclusion, the battery reported for duty at Ship Island, Mississippi, where the organization spent the war's duration guarding Confederate prisoners.
In early July 1865, officials ordered the 2nd to Camp Chase, where the organization mustered out of service on July 21, 1865. During the 2nd Battery's term of service, the organization had two men killed on the battlefield and forty-five soldiers die from disease or accidents.
