5th Ohio Cavalry Regiment

Last updated
5th Ohio Cavalry Regiment
ActiveAugust 1861 – October 30, 1865
Country United States of America
Allegiance Union
Branch Union Army
Type Cavalry
Size2,737 (total)
Part ofKilpatrick's Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Tennessee
Engagements American Civil War
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Col. Thomas T. Heath

The 5th Ohio Cavalry Regiment was a regiment of Union cavalry raised in seven counties in southwestern Ohio for service during the American Civil War. It primarily served in the Western Theater in several major campaigns of the Army of the Tennessee.

Contents

Service record

Organization

The 5th Ohio Cavalry Regiment was commissioned as a three-years regiment under Colonel William H. H. Taylor. It was originally organized at Camp Dick Corwin, near Cincinnati, Ohio, between October 23 and November 14 as the 2nd Ohio Cavalry. Its designation was changed by Gov. William Dennison in mid-November 1861. [1]

Field duty

The 5th Ohio Cavalry was sent to the front lines in February 1862, taking boats up the Tennessee River to the vicinity of Pittsburg Landing. From there, the regiment was part of a raid on Confederate supply lines in Mississippi. On March 15, the 5th encountered Confederates near the small Shiloh Chapel and skirmished with the enemy frequently over the next few weeks. In early April, it participated in the Battle of Shiloh, where it participated in a series of charges on enemy infantry columns. Subsequently, the 3rd Battalion of the regiment took part in the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi, in the army of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans. After the evacuation, the entire regiment transferred its base of operations to Memphis, Tennessee.

On December 21, 1862, near what is today known as Michigan City, Mississippi, the 1st and 3rd Battalions fought against Confederates under Sterling Price and Earl Van Dorn at the Battle of Davis Mill, firing 200 rounds without changing position. [2] In 1863 the 5th Ohio Cavalry guarded the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, and raided into Mississippi in support of Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. Companies E, H, I, and K (under Major Joseph C. Smith) were at the Siege of Vicksburg serving in the XVI Corps. [3]

In October, the regiment joined William T. Sherman's march to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was present at the battles about Chattanooga, and went with Sherman to Knoxville. It then went back to Alabama and wintered at Huntsville.

In the spring of 1864, the 5th Ohio Cavalry participated in Sherman's Atlanta campaign. However, having lost most of its horses in hard service, the regiment acted as infantry. The regiment then was attached to Maj. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick's command and subsequently took part in Sherman's March to the Sea. At the Battle of Buck Head Creek on November 28, Kilpatrick was surprised and nearly captured, but the 5th Ohio Cavalry halted Wheeler's advance. The 5th also fought against Confederates near Waynesboro, Georgia, and at other places during the march to Savannah, arriving there in December. [1]

In early 1865, the 5th Ohio Cavalry was part of the Carolinas Campaign, skirmishing and raiding throughout its march through South Carolina and into North Carolina. It fought in two significant battles, taking severe casualties in both actions.

After the war ended, the 5th Ohio Cavalry remained on active duty for several months, performing picket duty in North Carolina until mustered out October 30, 1865. The regiment lost during its term of service 1 officer and 26 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 3 officers and 140 enlisted men by disease, for a total of 170 casualties. [1]

Related Research Articles

William J. Hardee Confederate general and businessman

William Joseph Hardee was a career U.S. Army and Confederate States Army officer. For the U.S. Army, he served in the Second Seminole War and in the Mexican–American War, where he was captured and exchanged. In the American Civil War, he sided with the South and became a general. Hardee served in the Western Theater and quarreled sharply with two of his commanding officers, Braxton Bragg and John Bell Hood. He served in the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 and the Carolinas Campaign of 1865, where he surrendered with General Joseph E. Johnston to William Tecumseh Sherman in April. Hardee's writings about military tactics were widely used on both sides in the conflict.

Army of the Tennessee Unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War

The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River.

Benjamin Grierson 19th-century U.S. Army officer; cavalry general in the Union Army during the Civil War

Benjamin Henry Grierson was a music teacher, then a career officer in the United States Army. He was a cavalry general in the volunteer Union Army during the Civil War and later led troops in the American Old West.

Army of the Cumberland Principal Union army unit in the Western Theater of the American Civil War

The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.

The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union armies in the American Civil War. The first army became the Army of the Cumberland and the second army was created in 1863.

Siege of Corinth Major battle of the American Civil War

The siege of Corinth was an American Civil War engagement lasting from April 29 to May 30, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. A collection of Union forces under the overall command of Major General Henry Halleck engaged in a month-long siege of the city, whose Confederate occupants were commanded by General P.G.T. Beauregard. The siege resulted in the capture of the town by Federal forces.

Campaign of the Carolinas Military campaign during the American Civil War

The campaign of the Carolinas, also known as the Carolinas campaign, was the final campaign conducted by the United States Army against the Confederate States Army in the Western Theater. On January 1, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman advanced north from Savannah, Georgia, through the Carolinas, with the intention of linking up with Union forces in Virginia. The defeat of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army at the Battle of Bentonville, and its unconditional surrender to Union forces on April 26, 1865, effectively ended the American Civil War.

The Meridian campaign or Meridian expedition took place from February 3 – March 6, 1864, from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Meridian, Mississippi, by the Union Army of the Tennessee, led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman captured Meridian, Mississippi, inflicting heavy damage to it. The campaign is viewed by historians as a prelude to Sherman's March to the Sea in that a large swath of damage and destruction was inflicted on Central Mississippi as Sherman marched across the state and back.

Western theater of the American Civil War American Civil War area of operations

The Western Theater of the American Civil War encompassed major military operations in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as Louisiana east of the Mississippi River. Operations on the coasts of these states, except for Mobile Bay, are considered part of the Lower Seaboard Theater. Most other operations east of the Appalachian Mountains are part of the Eastern Theater. Operations west of the Mississippi River took place in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.

William Wirt Adams American politician

William Wirt Adams (1819–1888) was a banker, planter, state legislator, and a Brigadier General in the Confederate States Army.

Knoxville campaign 1863 campaign in the American Civil War

The Knoxville campaign was a series of American Civil War battles and maneuvers in East Tennessee during the fall of 1863 designed to secure control of the city of Knoxville and with it the railroad that linked the Confederacy east and west, and position the First Corps under Longstreet for return to the Army of Northern Virginia. Union Army forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside occupied Knoxville, Tennessee, and Confederate States Army forces under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet were detached from Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee at Chattanooga to prevent Burnside's reinforcement of the besieged Federal forces there. Ultimately, Longstreet's Siege of Knoxville ended when Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman led elements of the Army of the Tennessee and other troops to Burnside's relief after Union troops had broken the Confederate siege of Chattanooga. Although Longstreet was one of Gen. Robert E. Lee's best corps commanders in the East in the Army of Northern Virginia, he was unsuccessful in his attempt to penetrate the Knoxville defenses and take the city.

The 95th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

80th Illinois Infantry Regiment Military unit

The 80th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was composed of ten companies that drew primarily from eight southern Illinois counties. Over the course of the war the regiment traveled approximately 6,000 miles, and was in over 20 battles.

12th Iowa Infantry Regiment Military unit

The 12th Iowa Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment (Confederate) Military unit

The 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

The 7th Ohio Cavalry Regiment was a regiment of Union cavalry raised in southern Ohio for service during the American Civil War. Nicknamed the "River Regiment" as its men came from nine counties along the Ohio River, it served in the Western Theater in several major campaigns of the Army of the Ohio.

Joseph Andrew Jackson Lightburn

Joseph Andrew Jackson Lightburn was a West Virginia farmer, soldier and Baptist Minister, most famous for his service as a Union general during the American Civil War.

The 57th Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment Military unit

The 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was a regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Western Theater, seeing action in the Vicksburg, Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. Due to attrition; the 9th Arkansas was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles.

Battle of Coffeeville Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Coffeeville, fought December 5, 1862, was a military engagement of the American Civil War fought near Coffeeville, Mississippi.

References

Notes