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5th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry (Three Months Service)

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. Among Ohio's earliest regiments was the 5th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This organization was formedon April 20, 1861, at Camp Harrison near Cincinnati, Ohio. Most of the enlistees came from Cincinnati and surrounding communities. The 5th Ohio Volunteer Infantry's members enlisted for three months of military duty. On April 23, 1861, officials sent the entire regiment to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, Ohio, where the soldiers were formally mustered into the United States military between April 29, 1861 and May 9, 1861. Military officials soon requested that the soldiers reenlist for three years of service. Most men agreed, but those who did not were mustered out of service upon the end of their three-months term between August 24, 1861 and September 5, 1861.

5th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry (Three Months Service):

Roster of Officers:

Name

Rank

Age

Date of Entering Service

Term of Service

Samuel H. Dunning

Colonel

38

April 20, 1861

Three months

John H. Patrick

Lieutenant Colonel

41

April 20, 1861

Three months

Charles L. Long

Major

33

April 20, 1861

Three months

Alfred Ball

Surgeon

40

April 18, 1861

Three months

Charles Greenleaf

Assistant Surgeon

23

April 20, 1861

Three months

William Gaskill

Adjutant

24

April 20, 1861

Three months

Augustus Moonart

Sergeant Major

34

April 20, 1861

Three months

William Tomlinson

Quartermaster Sergeant

34

April 20, 1861

Three months

Thomas Davis

Principal Musician

38

April 20, 1861

Three months

Jacob A. Remley

Captain

34

April 20, 1861

Three months

Robert L. Kilpatrick

Captain

36

April 20, 1861

Three months

Henry R. Symmes

Captain

26

April 20, 1861

Three months

Robert M. Hayes

Captain

42

April 20, 1861

Three months

George B. Whitoom

Captain

35

April 20, 1861

Three months

Theophilus Gaines

Captain

36

April 20, 1861

Three months

Alonzo C. Horton

Captain

23

April 20, 1861

Three months

John Franklin Fletcher

Captain

34

April 20, 1861

Three months

Henry G. Armstrong

Captain

26

April 20, 1861

Three months

Charles H. Jackson

Captain

24

April 20, 1861

Three months

George H. Whitcamp

First Lieutenant

26

April 20, 1861

Three months

John C. McDonald

First Lieutenant

36

April 20, 1861

Three months

Thomas A. Startsman

First Lieutenant

28

April 20, 1861

Three months

Robert S. Logan

First Lieutenant

26

April 20, 1861

Three months

Lewis C. Robinson

First Lieutenant

25

April 20, 1861

Three months

Robert R. Bromwell

First Lieutenant

36

April 20, 1861

Three months

Waldo C. Booth

First Lieutenant

24

April 20, 1861

Three months

George Nelson C. Frazier

First Lieutenant

33

April 20, 1861

Three months

Joseph Rudolph

First Lieutenant

23

April 20, 1861

Three months

Thomas Hefferman

First Lieutenant

32

April 20, 1861

Three months

Charles W. Smith

Second Lieutenant

26

April 20, 1861

Three months

John Collins

Second Lieutenant

28

April 20, 1861

Three months

Thomas Watson

Second Lieutenant

31

April 20, 1861

Three months

Frederick W. Moore

Second Lieutenant

22

April 20, 1861

Three months

James Kinkaid

Second Lieutenant

23

April 20, 1861

Three months

William W. Dick

Second Lieutenant

33

April 20, 1861

Three months

Robert Kirkup

Second Lieutenant

30

April 20, 1861

Three months

John M. Pavor

Second Lieutenant

22

April 20, 1861

Three months

Hugh Marshall

Second Lieutenant

27

April 20, 1861

Three months

Robert H. Barrett

Second Lieutenant

20

April 20, 1861

Three months

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