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35th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry

1861–1864

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 August and September 1861, the 35th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry organized at Hamilton, Ohio. Companies A and F came from Warren County, Company H from Montgomery County, Company E and a portion of Company G from Preble County, and the remaining companies came from Butler County. The men in the regiment were to serve three years.

On September 26, 1861, the 35th departed Hamilton for Covington, Kentucky, arriving the same day. That evening, General O.M. Mitchel ordered the 35th onto a train on the Kentucky Central Railroad, placing detachments from the regiment at railroad bridges along the route in Harrison and Bourbon Counties, with the regiment headquarters being located at Cynthiana, Kentucky. The members of the 35th successfully protected the bridges from Confederate attacks. Upon completing this duty, the regiment moved to Paris, Kentucky, where the 35th remained until early December 1861, when it advanced to Somerset, Kentucky.

During the Battle of Mill Springs (January 19, 1862), the 35th was not engaged, having been ordered by General George Thomas to remain at Somerset as part of the Union's reserve force. While at Somerset, the regiment was brigaded with the 18th Regiment United States Infantry, the 9th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and the 2nd Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. Following the Battle of Mill Springs, this brigade moved to Louisville, Kentucky before sailing to Nashville, Tennessee, where the entire brigade joined the Army of the Ohio. The brigade advanced with the Army of the Ohio to Pittsburg Landing, the site of the Battle of Shiloh (April 6 and 7, 1862), but the regiment did not arrive until late on the second day of the battle and did not engage the enemy.

Following Shiloh, the 35th participated in the siege of Corinth, Mississippi, and upon the capture of this city, the regiment advanced to Tuscumbia, Alabama and, on July 31, 1862, to Winchester, Tennessee. Soon after arriving at this second location, the 35th and the rest of the Army of the Ohio engaged in the pursuit of Braxton Bragg's Confederate force as the Southerners advanced into Kentucky. Traveling via Nashville, the Army of the Ohio eventually engaged Bragg's Confederates at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky (October 8, 1862), prompting Bragg to withdraw. The 35th engaged in the Union's pursuit of the Southerners as far as Crab Orchard, Kentucky. Officials then ordered the regiment to Bowling Green, Kentucky and eventually into winter encampment at Gallatin, Tennessee. During the winter of 1862-1863, the 35th joined the Army of the Cumberland and participated in the Battle of Stones River from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863.

During 1863, the 35th participated in the Chattanooga Campaign. At the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia (September 19 and 20, 1863), the regiment formed the Union left. On the first day of the battle, the regiment assisted in repulsing three separate attacks by John Bell Hood's Confederates. On the morning of the second day, the 35th's brigade assaulted John C. Breckinridge's division. After a fierce engagement, the Southerners forced the Union regiments to return to their original position, but the Northerners' efforts prevented the Confederates from flanking the Union left. At 2:30 PM, the 35th moved to a new position under the command of General George Thomas to the rear and right of its original line. The Northerners successfully defended this line against numerous Confederate assaults. Thomas's command evacuated the position during the night of September 20, retreating to Chattanooga, Tennessee. At the Battle of Chickamauga, the 35th suffered a casualty rate of fifty percent, with most of the men either being killed or wounded.

At Chattanooga, the 35th took a position in front of Missionary Ridge. On November 25, 1863, the regiment participated in the Battle of Missionary Ridge, successfully ending the Confederate siege of Chattanooga. The 35th was among the first regiments to reach the crest of the ridge. On November 26, the regiment pursued the retreating Confederates as far as Ringgold, Georgia before entering into winter encampment.

In February 1864, the 35th participated in the Battle of Buzzard's Roost, before going into camp at Ringgold. The regiment played an active role in William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, engaging the enemy at the Battles of Dalton, Resaca, Pine Mountain, Kennesaw Mountain, and Peachtree Creek and several other lesser engagements. While the Union army lay before the city of Atlanta, Georgia, the 35th's term of service expired, and officials ordered the regiment to return to Chattanooga, where the men mustered out of service on September 27, 1864.

During the 35th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry's term of service, eighty men, including five officers, died on the battlefield. An additional 128 men, including two officers, succumbed to disease or accidents.

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