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.
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. On September 2, 1862, the 6th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Militia mustered into service at Cincinnati, Ohio. The men in the regiment were to serve one month.
In August 1862, Confederate forces under the command of Braxton Bragg and Kirby Smith had invaded Kentucky. Union officials feared that Bragg would assault Louisville, Kentucky, while Smith would attack Cincinnati. On September 2, 1862, Major General Lew Wallace, the commanding officer of United States soldiers in Cincinnati, issued an order, requiring each city councilman to organize the adult males in his respective city ward into one hundred-man militia companies. The city eventually provided Wallace with three regiments or thirty companies of men, with the first one being the 6th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Militia, plus a company of cavalry and an artillery battery.
On September 10, 1862, the 6th crossed the Ohio River and took up a position near Fort Mitchell in Kentucky. Smith's Confederates withdrew on September 12, prompting officials to order the 6th to return to Cincinnati on September 13. The organization spent the next few weeks performing garrison and provost-guard duty in the city, before being discharged from service on October 4, 1862.
On July 5, 1866, the United States Congress authorized payment for the members of the 6th Regiment equal to one-month's pay during the Civil War. To legally process the payments, the federal government had to muster the 6th Regiment into the regular service. Officials mustered the regiment into and out of service on November 8, 1866, with the official in-date being September 2, 1862 and the out-date being October 3, 1862.
