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6th 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 6th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This organization was formedon April 20, 1861, at Camp Harrison near Cincinnati, Ohio. Most of the enlistees came from Cincinnati, and most members belonged to the Guthrie Gray Battalion, a pseudo-military organization. The 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry's members enlisted for three months of military duty. Officials sent the entire regiment to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati. Military authorities 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 on August 21, 1861.

6th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry (Three Months Service):

Roster of Officers:

Name

Rank

Age

Date of Entering Service

Term of Service

William K. Bosley

Colonel

35

April 20, 1861

Three months

Eliphalet Loring

Lieutenant Colonel

29

April 20, 1861

Three months

Alexander C. Christopher

Major

37

April 20, 1861

Three months

Starling Loving

Surgeon

May 2, 1861

Three months

Fisher W. Ames

Assistant Surgeon

35

May 2, 1861

Three months

Nicholas L. Anderson

Adjutant

23

April 20, 1861

Three months

John P. Wood

Sergeant Major

30

April 20, 1861

Three months

Charles C. Peck

Quartermaster Sergeant

29

April 20, 1861

Three months

John A. West

Hospital Steward

27

April 20, 1861

Three months

Marcus A. Wescott

Captain

34

April 20, 1861

Three months

Julian White

Captain

30

April 20, 1861

Three months

John C. Lane

Captain

30

April 20, 1861

Three months

Frank Ehrman

Captain

22

April 20, 1861

Three months

Samuel C. Erwin

Captain

36

April 20, 1861

Three months

George S. Smith

Captain

27

April 20, 1861

Three months

Anthony O. Russell

Captain

34

April 20, 1861

Three months

Henry H. Tinker

Captain

25

April 20, 1861

Three months

James Beuse

Captain

30

April 20, 1861

Three months

Julius C. Guthrie

Captain

24

April 20, 1861

Three months

Richard Southgate

First Lieutenant

30

April 20, 1861

Three months

John W. Morgan

First Lieutenant

22

April 20, 1861

Three months

William S. Getty

First Lieutenant

28

April 20, 1861

Three months

John W. Wilson

First Lieutenant

25

April 20, 1861

Three months

James W. Wilmington

First Lieutenant

20

April 20, 1861

Three months

John A. Ashbury

First Lieutenant

28

April 20, 1861

Three months

John C. Parker

First Lieutenant

21

April 20, 1861

Three months

John F. Hoy

First Lieutenant

39

April 20, 1861

Three months

Charles H. Brutton

First Lieutenant

25

April 20, 1861

Three months

Francis M. Hulburd

First Lieutenant

23

April 20, 1861

Three months

Augustus B. Billerbeck

Second Lieutenant

23

April 20, 1861

Three months

Charles F. Porter

Second Lieutenant

28

April 20, 1861

Three months

Edgar M. Johnson

Second Lieutenant

24

April 20, 1861

Three months

Jules J. Montagnier

Second Lieutenant

25

April 20, 1861

Three months

Charles H. Heron

Second Lieutenant

23

April 20, 1861

Three months

Lewis S. Worthington

Second Lieutenant

35

April 20, 1861

Three months

Ezekiel H. Tatern

Second Lieutenant

24

April 20, 1861

Three months

Charles H. Titus

Second Lieutenant

25

April 20, 1861

Three months

Thomas S. Royse

Second Lieutenant

28

April 20, 1861

Three months

Henry McAlpin

Second Lieutenant

29

April 20, 1861

Three months

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