1863–1864
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.
Units formed in Ohio served for varying lengths of time, averaging one hundred days to three years. In the early summer of 1863, the Departmental Corps Ohio Volunteer Infantry formed. At this time, President Abraham Lincoln authorized the creation of the Department of Monongahela, consisting of Columbiana, Jefferson, and Belmont Counties, Ohio and portions of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The department's headquarters was located at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The principal reason Lincoln ordered the creation of this department was in response to the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia's invasion of Pennsylvania in June and July 1863 and Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raid into Indiana and Ohio during this same period. Officials authorized the enlistment of eight military companies to assist the department's commander in protecting the region's people and transportation infrastructure from Confederate forces. Ohio was to provide four of these companies, which, when combined together with the companies from West Virginia and Pennsylvania, were to be known as the Departmental Corps Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
Military authorities recruited all four of Ohio's companies in Belmont County in July 1863. The companies were known as James L. Deens' Company, which enrolled at Barnesville, Ohio on July 12, 1863 and mustered into the regular service at Pittsburgh on July 16, 1863; Hamilton Eaton's Company, which enrolled at Barnesville, Ohio on July 15, 1863 and mustered into the regular service at Wheeling, West Virginia on July 15, 1863; Joseph P. Arrick's Company, which enrolled at Hendrysburg, Ohio on July 15, 1863 and mustered into the regular service at Wheeling on July 19, 1863; and Samuel Beard's Company, which enrolled at Somerton, Ohio on July 27, 1863 and mustered into the regular service at Wheeling on July 28, 1863.
The Departmental Corps remained in active service for less than sixty days, before officials ordered the soldiers to return to their homes. Although there was no military need for the Departmental Corps by the late summer of 1863, the companies remained mustered into the regular service until November 1, 1864, when the companies mustered out of service. Deens' and Eaton's Companies mustered out of service at Barnesville, while Arrick's Company and Beard's Company mustered out at Hendrysburg and Somerton respectively.
