The 11th Ohio Cavalry Regiment, known in vernacular as the 11th Ohio Cavalry, was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

raised in the name of the governor of Ohio from several counties in southwest Ohio, serving in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The regiment was stationed in the

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, a ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

territories on the

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of United States territorial acquisitions, American expansion in mainland North Amer ...

to protect travelers and settlers from raids by American Indians.

Service

The first four companies of the regiment were originally raised by Lt. Col. William Oliver Collins as the 7th Ohio Cavalry Regiment, but were later to be consolidated into the 6th Ohio Cavalry Regiment posted at

Camp Dennison Camp Dennison was a military recruiting, training, and medical post for the United States Army during the American Civil War. It was located near Cincinnati, Ohio, not far from the Ohio River. The camp was named for Cincinnati native William De ...

. Collins refused to redesignate his companies, and to settle the political dispute, they were detached from the 6th in February 1862 to be sent west under the command of Collins, a 52-year-old lawyer from Hillsboro and member of the Ohio Senate. On April 4, 1862, the battalion was ordered to St Louis, Missouri, and during the month of May, marched to

Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...

in the

Idaho Territory The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho. History 1860s The territory w ...

, a prominent post along the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...

. It was permanently detached from the 6th Ohio Cavalry and designated the 1st Ohio Independent Cavalry Battalion. The battalion located its headquarters at Pacific Springs,

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska ...

, assigned to protect travelers and interests along the North Platte and Sweetwater Rivers, and then at South Pass, Idaho Territory, to guard the

Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially the Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service ...

routes from

Julesburg, Colorado Julesburg is the statutory town that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Sedgwick County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,225 at the 2010 United States Census. It is close to the Nebraska border. History T ...

, to

Green River, Wyoming Green River is a city in and the county seat of Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 12,515 at the 2010 census. History The townsite of Green River, Dakota Territory was platte ...

. In June 1863, Collins recruited four additional companies at Camp Dennison, including 40 former Confederates enlisted from the prisoner-of-war camp at

Camp Chase Camp Chase was a military staging and training camp established in Columbus, Ohio in May 1861 after the start of the American Civil War. It also included a large Union-operated prison camp for Confederate prisoners during the American Civil War ...

, who were to be sent west to combine in July with the 1st Independent battalion as the 11th Ohio Cavalry. The additional four companies were activated as a defense against

Morgan's Raid Morgan's Raid was a diversionary incursion by Confederate cavalry into the Union states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia during the American Civil War. The raid took place from June 11 to July 26, 1863, and is named for the commander ...

in July before being sent to

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perman ...

, at the start of August. Following the burning of

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, the battalion was sent after

William Quantrill William Clarke Quantrill (July 31, 1837 – June 6, 1865) was a Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. Having endured a tempestuous childhood before later becoming a schoolteacher, Quantrill joined a group of bandits who ...

for a short time. Companies E through H arrived at Fort Laramie on October 13. Three more companies (I, K, and L) were formed in 1864 from surplus recruits and men of Companies A through D who did not be re-enlist at the expiration of their enlistments. Companies A through D mustered out April 1, 1865, along with Collins. He was replaced in command by Lt. Col. Thomas L. Mackey, former captain of Company C. Companies E and K, many members who were "

Galvanized Yankees Galvanized Yankees was a term from the American Civil War denoting former Confederate prisoners of war who swore allegiance to the United States and joined the Union Army. Approximately 5,600 former Confederate soldiers enlisted in the "United St ...

", accompanied the column of Brig. Gen.

Patrick Edward Connor Patrick Edward Connor (March 17, 1820Rodgers, 1938, p. 1 – December 17, 1891) was an American soldier who served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He is most notorious for his massacres against Native Americans during the ...

on the 1865

Powder River Expedition :''This event should not be confused with the Big Horn Expedition during the Black Hills War.'' The Powder River Expedition of 1865 also known as the Powder River War or Powder River Invasion, was a large and far-flung military operation of the U ...

and saw action in the

Battle of the Tongue River The Battle of the Tongue River, sometimes referred to as the Connor Battle, was an engagement of the Powder River Expedition that occurred on August 29, 1865. In the battle, U.S. soldiers and Indian scouts attacked and destroyed an Arapaho villa ...

. The remaining seven companies mustered out July 14, 1866. They were the last volunteer troops from Ohio in service. The 11th Ohio Cavalry suffered three officers and 20 enlisted men killed in action, and one officer and 60 enlisted men died from disease.

Service on the emigrant trails

The 11th Ohio Cavalry was assigned to the

Department of Kansas The Department of Kansas was a Union Army command department in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the American Civil War. This department existed in three different forms during the war. 1861 The first "Department of Kansas" was created on No ...

(

Department of the Missouri The Department of the Missouri was a command echelon of the United States Army in the 19th century and a sub division of the Military Division of the Missouri that functioned through the Indian Wars. History Background Following the successful ...

after January 30, 1865), District of Nebraska. The battalion and later the regiment were stationed in the Idaho Territory to replace the regular troops who had been posted there before the Civil War. As a result of the military withdrawal, Indian attacks on emigrants intensified. By the time the volunteers arrived at Fort Laramie, most traffic on the trail had dropped off in favor of the more southern

Overland Trail The Overland Trail (also known as the Overland Stage Line) was a stagecoach and wagon trail in the American West during the 19th century. While portions of the route had been used by explorers and trappers since the 1820s, the Overland Trail w ...

that went from Julesburg, Colorado, to the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountere ...

and through the

Laramie Plains The Laramie Plains is an arid highland at an elevation of approx. in south central Wyoming in the United States. The plains extend along the upper basin of the Laramie River on the east side of the Medicine Bow Range. The city of Laramie is the ...

to meet the other emigrant trails at

Fort Bridger Fort Bridger was originally a 19th-century fur trading outpost established in 1842, on Blacks Fork of the Green River, in what is now Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. It became a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, Ca ...

. U.S. mail service also moved to the southern line after the contract was assigned to

Ben Holladay Benjamin Holladay (October 14, 1819 – July 8, 1887) was an American transportation businessman responsible for creating the Overland Stage to California during the height of the 1849 California Gold Rush. Ben Holladay created a stagecoach ...

's Overland Stage Line in 1861. Upon arrival at Fort Laramie, the troops were assigned to various posts along the Sweetwater and

North Platte North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Rivers between Nebraska and South Pass. A company was sent immediately to construct Fort Halleck near Elk Mountain on the Overland Trail. After it became the 11th Ohio Cavalry, troops manned Fort Halleck and several outlying satellite posts until they were abandoned in 1866. In 1864, two companies were sent to

Camp Collins Camp Collins (also known as the Fort Collins Military Reservation) was a 19th-century outpost of the United States Army in the Colorado Territory. The fort was commissioned in the summer of 1862 to protect the Overland Trail from attacks by Native ...

(named for Lt. Colonel Collins) and later

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

until it, too, was decommissioned in 1866. Collins became commander of the West Subdistrict, District of Nebraska, with his headquarters at Fort Laramie. On December 31, 1864, the 11th was posted in the West Subdistrict as follows: * Fort Laramie: four companies * Camp Collins: two companies * Fort Halleck: one company * Fremont Orchard: one company * Camp Marshall: one company * Camp Mitchell: one company * Platte Bridge: one company On July 26, 1865, a detachment of the 11th Kansas Cavalry posted at Platte Bridge Station near present-day

Casper, Wyoming Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nic ...

, engaged a large band of Cheyenne and Sioux who intended to destroy the bridge and the soldiers posted there to protect it. Lt. Colonel Collin's son Caspar, a 20-year-old second lieutenant en route with the mail escort back to his company farther west, was ordered by Major Martin Anderson of the 11th Kansas Cavalry to lead a relief force of Kansas cavalrymen to escort a small wagon train into the fort after the four officers of the Kansas regiment refused to do so. Collins and 25 Kansas troopers marched into an ambush less than a half mile after crossing the bridge. Most fought their way back to the bridge, held by a 20-man support force of the 11th Ohio and Company I, 3rd U.S. Volunteer Infantry en route to Fort Laramie, but six were cut off and killed, including Collins. The wagon train of 25 troopers and teamsters of the 11th Kansas was surrounded before reaching the bridge, and all but three troopers were killed. In August, Companies E and K from Fort Laramie accompanied Colonel James H. Kidd's western column of Brigadier General

Patrick E. Connor Patrick Edward Connor (March 17, 1820Rodgers, 1938, p. 1 – December 17, 1891) was an American soldier who served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He is most notorious for his massacres against Native Americans during the ...

aimed at stopping Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho attacks on the

Bozeman Trail The Bozeman Trail was an overland route in the western United States, connecting the gold rush territory of southern Montana to the Oregon Trail in eastern Wyoming. Its most important period was from 1863–68. Despite the fact that the major pa ...

. On August 29, the troops attacked an Indian village along the Tongue River. Five soldiers were killed, and seven were wounded compared to 63 killed or wounded Arapaho.

Notable members

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Charles L. Thomas Charles Leroy Thomas (April 17, 1920 – February 15, 1980) was a United States Army Major (United States), major who was a company commander during World War II. In 1997, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration ...

, Company E -

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient for heroism during the Powder River Expedition

Legacy

In 1957, the

Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps The Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Casper, Wyoming, the Troopers was one of the thirteen founding member corps of Drum Corps International (DCI). History The early years James E. " ...

was founded in Casper, Wyoming. Paying homage to Casper's history, director Jim Jones based the Troopers uniforms on the field uniforms of the 11th Ohio Cavalry. To this day, the corps' symbol is a pair of crossed sabers with the number 11 emblazoned above them, the same symbol the 11th Ohio would have used.

References

External links