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Battery A, 1st Regiment Ohio Light Artillery (Federal Organization)

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.

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 units in Ohio served for varying lengths of time, averaging one hundred days to three years. On September 25, 1861, Battery A of the 1st Regiment Ohio Light Artillery mustered into service at Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, Ohio. This regiment had previously served for three months as a state organization. Battery A's members were now to serve three years.

Upon Battery A mustering into service, officials dispatched the organization to Louisville, Kentucky. On October 22, 1861, Battery A relocated to Camp Nevin, Kentucky, where it joined General Alexander McCook's command. The battery traveled with McCook to Nashville, Tennessee, moving via the Green River, to Louisville, and finally to Nashville. In March 1862, Battery A departed Nashville for Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, arriving on April 7, 1862, just after the Battle of Shiloh (April 6 and 7, 1862) ended. The battery participated in the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi. Following the Union's capture of Corinth, Battery A traveled with McCook's division to Florence, Alabama. The battery eventually returned to Nashville, after stops in the Tennessee communities of Battle Creek, Jasper, Decherd, Winchester, Tullahoma, and Shelbyville.

Battery A rested a short time in Nashville before joining the Army of the Ohio's pursuit of Braxton Bragg's Confederate army, which was advancing into Kentucky during the autumn of 1862. During this movement, Bragg's command captured a portion of Battery A at Munfordsville, Kentucky. The remainder of the battery continued with the Army of the Ohio to Louisville. In early October, the Union army departed Louisville in search of Bragg's force. On October 8, 1862, the two armies engaged at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, but Battery A did not arrive at the scene of the fight until three days after the battle. The battery did engage in the Northern pursuit of Bragg's retreating army as far as Crab Orchard, Kentucky. Battery A then moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, arriving on October 31, 1862, followed by Nashville, which the organization reached on November 7, 1862. At Nashville, the battery joined General William S. Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland.

In late December 1862, Battery A advanced with the Army of the Cumberland to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where the Battle of Stones River (December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863) occurred. In this battle, Battery A, which was positioned on the Union right, had all of its cannons disabled or captured. The battery's members then assisted other batteries in the engagement. Following Stones River, officials re-equipped the battery with artillery pieces and brigaded the organization with Simonson's Indiana Battery and the 20th Ohio Independent Battery of Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Army of the Cumberland's 2nd Division.

Battery A remained at Murfreesboro until embarking on the Tullahoma Campaign in June 1863. The organization next participated in the Chattanooga Campaign, engaging Confederate forces at the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia (September 19 and 20, 1863) and having seventeen men killed or wounded. After this Union defeat, Battery A retreated with the rest of the Army of the Cumberland to Chattanooga, Tennessee, shelling Confederate positions at the Battles of Lookout Mountain (November 24, 1863) and Missionary Ridge (November 25, 1863).

Following the Union victory at Missionary Ridge, officials dispatched Battery A on the Knoxville Campaign. The battery participated in several skirmishes with Confederate forces on the Knoxville Campaign. After this expedition, the battery encamped at Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, where numerous skirmishes occurred with Southern cavalry forces. On January 30, 1864, most members of Battery A reenlisted and received a thirty-day furlough to their homes in Ohio.

In February 1864, Battery A rendezvoused at Cincinnati and traveled to Nashville. In late March, the battery traveled to Catoosa Springs, where the organization joined the 2nd Division, 4th Army Corps and embarked upon William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign. Battery A participated in most of the campaign's major engagements.

Upon the Union's capture of Atlanta, Georgia in early September 1864, Battery A returned to Chattanooga. The battery participated in Northern attempts to stop Confederate General John Bell Hood's advance into northern Georgia, northern Alabama, and Central Tennessee during the autumn and early winter months of 1864. Battery A engaged portions of Hood's Confederates at Pulaski, Tennessee and at Columbia, Tennessee. The battery arrived at Nashville immediately following the Battle of Nashville (December 15 and 16, 1864) and then moved to Gallatin, Tennessee.

In early 1865, officials dispatched Battery A to New Orleans, Louisiana. The organization remained at this location until officials ordered the battery to Cleveland, Ohio, where it mustered out of service between June and July 1865.

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