1861–1862
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. In the spring of 1861, the 3rd Ohio Independent Battery of Ohio Volunteer Artillery organized. The men in the battery were to serve three months. The unit originally had one artillery piece.
Officials dispatched the 3rd to western Virginia (modern-day West Virginia), where the organization participated in the Battle of Scarey Creek (July 17, 1861), capturing an artillery piece from Confederate forces. At the end of the unit’s term of service, its members reenlisted for three additional months due to a lack of Union artillery batteries in western Virginia. Upon completing its second three months of service in February 1862, many members of the 3rd Ohio reenlisted for three years in a unit with the same name.
