The 42nd Ohio Infantry Regiment was an
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
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 ...
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 ...
.
Service
The 42nd Ohio Infantry Regiment was organized 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 ...
in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
September through November 1861 and mustered in for three years service on December 7, 1861, under the command of
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
James Abram Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
.
The regiment was attached to 18th Brigade,
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.
History
1st Army of the Ohio
General Orders No. 97 appointed Maj. Gen. Do ...
, to March 1862. 26th Brigade, 7th Division, Army of the Ohio, to October 1862. 4th Brigade, Cumberland Division, District of West Virginia,
Department of the Ohio
The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River.
1st Department 1861–1862
Genera ...
, to November 1862. 3rd Brigade, 9th Division, Right Wing,
XIII Corps,
Department of the Tennessee
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
, to December 1862. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, to January 1863. 3rd Brigade, 9th Division, XIII Corps,
Army of the Tennessee
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, to February 1863. 2nd Brigade, 9th Division, XIII Corps, to July 1863. 4th Brigade, 1st Division, XIII Corps, Department of the Tennessee, to August 1863, and
Department of the Gulf
The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.
History United States Army (Civil War)
Creation
The department was cons ...
to September 1863. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, XIII Corps, Department of the Gulf, to November 1863. Plaquemine, District of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Department of the Gulf, to March 1864. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XIII Corps, Department of the Gulf, to June 1864. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division,
XIX Corps, to December 1864.
Companies A, B, C, and D mustered out September 30, 1864; companies E and F mustered out November 25, 1864; companies G, H, I, and K mustered out December 2, 1864 (all at Camp Chase). Veterans and recruits were transferred to the
96th Ohio Infantry
The 96th Ohio Infantry Regiment, sometimes 96th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry (or 96th OVI) was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Service
The 96th OVI was organized at Camp Delaware in Delaware, Ohio and mu ...
.
Detailed service
Moved to Catlettsburg, Ky., December 14, 1861; then to Louisa, Ky. Garfield's Campaign against Humphrey Marshall December 23, 1861, to January 30, 1862. Advance on Paintsville, Ky., December 31, 1861, to January 7, 1862. Jennies Creek January 7. Occupation of Paintsville January 8. Middle Creek, near Prestonburg, January 10. Occupation of Prestonburg January 11. Expedition to
Pound Gap, Cumberland Mountains, March 14–17, Pound Gap March 16. Cumberland Gap Campaign March 28-June 18. Cumberland Mountain April 28. Occupation of Cumberland Gap June 18 to September 16. Tazewell July 26. Operations about Cumberland Gap August 2–6. Big Springs August 3. Tazewell August 6. Evacuation of Cumberland Gap and retreat to the Ohio River September 17-October 3. Expedition to Charleston October 21-November 10. Ordered to Memphis, Tenn., November 10, and duty there until December 20. Sherman's Yazoo Expedition December 20, 1862, to January 3, 1863. Chickasaw Bayou December 26–28. Chickasaw Bluff December 29. Expedition to Arkansas Post, Ark., January 3–10, 1863. Assault and capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, January 10–11. Moved to Young's Point, La., January 17. Duty there and at Milliken's Bend, La., until April 25. Operations from Milliken's Bend to New Carthage March 31-April 17. Movement on
Bruinsburg, Mississippi
Bruinsburg is a ghost town in Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States.
It was located on the south bank of Bayou Pierre, east of the Mississippi River. The town's port, Bruinsburg Landing, was located directly on the Mississippi River, ju ...
and turning Grand Gulf April 25–30. Battle of Port Gibson May 1. Skirmish near Edwards Station May 15. Battle of Champion Hill May 16. Big Black River May 17. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 5–10. Near Clinton July 8. Siege of Jackson July 10–17, Moved to New Orleans, La., August 13. Duty at Carrollton, Berwick, and Brashear City until October. Western Louisiana Campaign October 3-November 20. Duty at Plaquemine November 21, 1863, to March 24, 1864. Provost duty at Baton Rouge until May 1. Expedition to Clinton May 1–3. Comite River May 1. Moved to Simsport May 18, thence to Morganza and duty there until September 6. Expeditions up White River July 15 and September 6–15. Moved to Duvall's Bluff, Ark., September 15, and duty there until November.
Casualties
The regiment lost a total of 240 men during service; 1 officer and 58 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 3 officers and 178 enlisted men died of disease.
Commanders
* Colonel
James Abram Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
* Colonel
Lionel Allen Sheldon
Lionel Allen Sheldon (August 30, 1828 – January 17, 1917) was appointed a brigadier general in the Ohio militia in 1858 by Governor Salmon P Chase and served as an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. A U.S. Representative fr ...
*
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Don Albert Pardee - commanded during the siege of Vicksburg
*
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Frederick A. Williams - commanded at the Battle of Champion Hill
Notable members
* Colonel James A. Garfield -
20th President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
, 1881
* Colonel Lionel Allen Sheldon -
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
(1869–1875) and
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
New Mexico Territory
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...
, 1881–1885.
Don Pardee - Commanded the 42 OVI in the assault on Vicksburg. Appointed by President Garfield a United States federal judge, United States circuit court for the Fifth Circuit (1881-1917)
Orlando C. Risdon - 1LT in the 42 OVI was promoted to LTC of United States Colored Troops in 1863. Promoted Colonel and Commander of 53d Regiment USCT 1864. Promoted Brigadier General (Brevet) March 13, 1865.
See also
* List of Ohio Civil War units
During the American Civil War, nearly 320,000 Ohioans served in the Union Army, more than any other Northern state except New York and Pennsylvania. Of these, 5,092 were free blacks. Ohio had the highest percentage of population enlisted in the ...
* Ohio in the 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 political ...
References
* Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908.
* Hopkins, Owen Johnston. ''Under the Flag of the Nation: Diaries and Letters of a Yankee Volunteer in the Civil War'' (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press for the Ohio Historical Society), 1961.
*
* Ohio Roster Commission. ''Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War on the Rebellion, 1861–1865, Compiled Under the Direction of the Roster Commission'' (Akron, OH: Werner Co.), 1886–1895.
* Pardee, George K. ''My Dear Carrie: The Civil War Letters of George K. Pardee and Family'' (Akron, OH: Summit County Historical Society Press), 1994.
* Reid, Whitelaw. ''Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers'' (Cincinnati, OH: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin), 1868.
;Attribution
*
External links
Ohio in the Civil War: 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Larry Stevens
National flag of the 42nd Ohio Infantry
National flag of the 42nd Ohio Infantry, identified as "Garfield's flag"
Regimental flag of the 42nd Ohio Infantry
{{James A. Garfield
Military units and formations established in 1861
Military units and formations disestablished in 1864
1864 disestablishments in Ohio
Units and formations of the Union Army from Ohio
1861 establishments in Ohio