1861-1865
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.
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.
Soldiers of Ohio infantry regiments served the Union for varying lengths of time, ranging from one hundred days to three years. One of the three-year regiments was the 80th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Volunteers from Tuscarawas, Coshocton and Carroll Counties formed the regiment. Enlistees for the 80th began to arrive at Columbus, Ohio and at Cincinnati, Ohio in October 1861. Due to slow enlistments, the regiment did not formally muster into service until February 1862. At this time, 919 men comprised the 80th Ohio.
In February 1862, the 80th departed Ohio for Paducah, Kentucky. The regiment remained at this location until April 20, 1862, when the organization sailed to Hamburg Landing on the Tennessee River. Once the 80th arrived at Hamburg Landing, the regiment joined General John Pope's command and participated in the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi. On May 9, 1862, the 80th fought in its first engagement, supporting the Missouri Battery at Farmington, Mississippi during a Confederate attack. Upon the conclusion of the Siege of Corinth, the regiment joined the Union pursuit of the retreating Confederates as far as Booneville, Mississippi, before returning to Corinth. On June 22, 1862, the Ohioans departed Corinth on a forced march to Ripley, Tennessee, a distance of forty-six miles. The march, done under extreme heat, resulted in the deaths of several men due to heatstroke.
On September 19, 1862, the 80th participated in the Battle of Iuka, under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel M.H. Bartleson. In this Union victory, the regiment lost forty-five men killed or wounded. and Bartleson was severely injured.
Following the engagement at Iuka, the 80th advanced to Jacinto, Mississippi, before returning to Corinth, where the organization participated in the Battle of Corinth. In the resulting Union victory, the regiment had eighty officers and enlisted men killed or wounded. The 80th briefly pursued the retreating Confederates before returning to Corinth.
The 80th Regiment next joined general Ulysses S. Grant's march through central Mississippi. Passing through Davis's Mills and Cold Water, the regiment and its brigade surprised a Confederate force at Holly Springs, Mississippi, capturing a number of Southern soldiers. Following this victory, the 80th returned to Davis's Mills to await further orders.
Under new orders, the 80th departed Davis's Mills to guard a supply train to Memphis, Tennessee. After this expedition, the regiment encamped at Forrest Hill, eighteen miles east of Memphis. The 80th remained here until mid-February 1863, when the organization marched into Memphis, staying at this location the remainder of the month. The 80th moved out of camp on March 1, 1863 and embarked upon the Yazoo Pass Expedition. After this, the Ohioans joined General Ulysses S. Grant's campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi, reaching Bruinsburg, Mississippi on May 1, 1863.
During the Vicksburg Campaign, on May 12, 1863, the 80th participated in the Battle of Raymond, Mississippi, having no men killed in the engagement. Two days later, the 80th fought in the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi. In this Union victory, the regiment had ninety men killed or wounded. On May 16, at the Battle of Champion Hill, the 80th Ohio saw no combat, as the organization guarded supply trains in the rear. The next day, the regiment escorted 1,500 Confederate prisoners to Memphis, Tennessee. After escorting the prisoners, the 80th Ohio marched to Vicksburg, Mississippi, participating in a siege that captured that Confederate stronghold on July 4, 1863.
After a period of rest at Vicksburg for the 80th Ohio, officials ordered the regiment to Little Rock, Arkansas but quickly countermanded this order, choosing to send the organization with General William T. Sherman to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Confederacy's Army of Tennessee had besieged the Union's Army of the Cumberland in this city. The 80th helped lift the siege on November 23, November 24, and November 25, 1863, by attacking the Confederate right. On November 25, 1863, at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, the Northern military drove the Confederates from the ridge, ending the Siege of Chattanooga. In the siege, the 80th had nearly one hundred men killed or wounded. The regiment joined the Union pursuit of the retreating Confederates as far as Grayville, Georgia, before returning to Chattanooga. While encamped at this Tennessee city, the80th permanently transferred from the Seventeenth Corps to the Fifteenth Corps.
In January 1864, the 80th Ohio arrived at Huntsville, Alabama, where the organization's members reenlisted for another three-year term of service. The regiment entered winter encampment at Huntsville and, in April, received a thirty-day furlough to Ohio for reenlisting. Upon the furlough's expiration, the 80th Regiment traveled to Larkinsville, Alabama, where the organization performed guard duty on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.
In June 1864, the 80th entered Georgia, primarily serving on guard duty in areas that Union General William T. Sherman's command had freed from Confederate control during the Atlanta Campaign. The regiment spent most of this time at Resaca, Georgia, conducting periodic expeditions from this community into the surrounding countryside. On October 12, 1864, twenty-eight thousand Confederates, under the command of General John Bell Hood, demanded the surrender of Resaca. In reply to the Southerners' demand, the 17th Regiment Iowa Infantry's commanding officer proclaimed that, "he was there to defend the post and if the Rebel Commander wanted it he might come and take it."
This bold proclamation enraged the Confederates, and they immediately launched an assault on the Union lines. The Northern force inside of the town, including the 80th Ohio, consisted of just one thousand men but, through skillful maneuvering, convinced the Southerners that more than ten thousand soldiers defended the community. After two days of fighting, the Confederates abandoned their efforts to take Resaca but continued their advance northwards, headed towards Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Following the successful defense of Resaca, the 80th Regiment advanced to Atlanta, Georgia, where the organization joined General William T. Sherman's "March to the Sea." This campaign ended with the Union's capture of Savannah, Georgia on December 21, 1864.
The 80th Ohio remained at Savannah until January 19, 1865, when the regiment embarked upon Sherman's Carolinas Campaign. The organization advanced to Pocotaligo, South Carolina, before marching towards Goldsboro, North Carolina. On the march, the 80th participated in a small engagement on the shores of the Salkehatchie River.
On March 19, 1865, the 80th Regiment participated in an important movement that prevented the Confederates from burning down the Cox Bridge over the Neuse River in North Carolina. The Union force drove the Southerners back from the bridge, securing the structure for the North. After this successful mission, the regiment marched to Bentonville, North Carolina, where the organization participated in the closing scenes of the Battle of Bentonville on March 21, 1865. Following this Northern victory, the 80th returned to Goldsboro, before advancing to Raleigh, North Carolina.
The 80th Ohio remained at Raleigh until the surrender of Confederate General Joseph Johnston's army in late April 1865. Officials then ordered the regiment to proceed to Washington, DC via Richmond, Virginia. At the nation's capitol, the 80th Ohio participated in the Grand Review. After several days of rest, the organization proceeded to Little Rock, Arkansas where the regiment performed guard and garrison duty for the next three months.
On August 13, 1865, the men of the 80th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry mustered out of service at Little Rock. The regiment immediately proceeded to Columbus, Ohio, arriving several days later. Officials discharged the 80th Ohio's members on August 25, 1865.
During the Civil War's course, fifty-two men, including two officers, from the 80th Ohio died from wounds received on the battlefield. An additional 172 soldiers, including two officers, succumbed to illness or accidents.
