Ohio in the American Civil War
During the American Civil War, the State of Ohio played a key role in providing troops, military officers, and supplies to the Union army.
Due to its central location in the Northern United States and burgeoning population, Ohio was both politically and logistically important to the war effort.
Portions of Southern Ohio followed the Peace Democrats and openly opposed President Abraham Lincoln's policies.
Its most significant Civil War site is Johnson's Island, located in Sandusky Bay of Lake Erie.
Without being asked by the War Department, Dennison sent Ohio troops into western Virginia, where they guarded the Wheeling Convention.
Brough strongly supported the Lincoln Administration's war efforts and was key to persuading other Midwestern governors to raise 100-day regiments, such as the 131st Ohio Infantry in early 1864, to release more seasoned troops for duty in Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's spring campaign.
[10] Through the middle of the war, the Copperhead movement had appeal in Ohio, driven in part by noted states rights advocate, Congressman Clement Vallandigham, a leading Peace Democrat.
After General Ambrose E. Burnside issued General Order Number 38 in early 1863, warning that the "habit of declaring sympathies for the enemy" would not be tolerated in the Military District of Ohio, Vallandigham gave a major speech charging the war was being fought not to save the Union, but to free blacks and enslave whites.
President Lincoln attempted to quiet the situation by writing the Birchard Letter, which offered to release Vallandigham if several Ohio congressmen agreed to support certain policies of the Administration.
To try to prevent political backlash and preserve authority of Gen. Burnside, Abraham Lincoln changed Vallandigham's sentence to banishment to the South.
[14] En route to Washington, D.C. for his inauguration, President Lincoln passed through Ohio by train, with brief stops in numerous cities.
When it became evident that the war would not end quickly, Ohio began raising regiments for three-year terms of enlistment.
Ohio mustered 230 regiments of infantry and cavalry, as well as 26 light artillery batteries and 5 independent companies of sharpshooters.
[21] Ohioans first had military action at the Battle of Philippi Races in June 1861, where the 14th and 16th Ohio Infantry participated in the Union victory.
Ohioans comprised one-fifth of the Union army at the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh, where 1,676 Buckeyes suffered casualties.
[23] John Clem, celebrated as "Johnny Shiloh" and "The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga," became the youngest person to become a noncommissioned officer in United States Army history.
When someone inquired why, Lincoln remarked, "Because I know that if there are many Ohio soldiers to be engaged, it is probable we will win the battle, for they can be relied upon in such an emergency.
"[24] Small-scale riots broke out in ethnic German and Irish districts, and in areas along the Ohio River with many Copperheads.
Holmes County, Ohio was an isolated localistic areas dominated by Pennsylvania Dutch and some recent German immigrants.
Among the 19 major generals from Ohio were William T. Sherman, Philip H. Sheridan, Don Carlos Buell, Jacob D. Cox, George Crook, George Armstrong Custer, James A. Garfield, Irvin McDowell, James B. McPherson, William S. Rosecrans, and Alexander M. McCook (of the "Fighting McCook" family, which sent a number of generals into the service).
[28] A handful of Confederate generals were Ohio-born, including Bushrod Johnson of Belmont County and Robert H. Hatton of Steubenville.
[29] Charles Clark of Cincinnati led a division in the Army of Mississippi during the Battle of Shiloh and then became the late war pro-Confederate Governor of Missouri.
One is at the prisoner-of-war camp on Johnson's Island, the most significant Civil War site in the state and intended mostly for officers.
[5] Monuments in Cincinnati and Mansfield commemorate the hundreds of Ohio soldiers who had been liberated from Southern prison camps, such as Cahaba and Andersonville, but perished in the Sultana steamboat tragedy.
[35] In the aftermath of war, women's groups were instrumental in raising money and organizing activities to create the memorials.
[36] Some of the homes of noted Civil War officers and political leaders have been restored and are open to the public as museums.
Similarly, "Lawnfield", the home of James A. Garfield in Mentor, has a collection of Civil War items associated with the assassinated President.
[37] The Ohio Historical Society maintains many of the archives of the war, including artifacts and many battle flags of individual regiments and artillery batteries.
