The 72nd Ohio Infantry Regiment, sometimes 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry (or 72nd OVI) 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 72nd Ohio Infantry was organized in

Fremont, Ohio Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Sandusky County, Ohio, United States, located along the banks of the Sandusky River. It is about 35 miles from Toledo and 25 miles from Sandusky. It is part of the Toledo metropolitan area. The populat ...

October 1861 through February 1862 and mustered in for three years service 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 ...

Ralph Pomeroy Buckland Ralph Pomeroy Buckland (January 20, 1812 – May 27, 1892) was a U.S. Representative from Ohio, as well as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and an executive of the Union Pacific Railroad following the war ...

. The regiment was attached to District of Paducah, Kentucky, to March 1862. 4th Brigade, 5th Division,

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 May 1862. 3rd Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July 1862. 3rd Brigade, 5th Division, District of Memphis, Tennessee, to November 1862. 5th Brigade, 5th Division, District of Memphis, 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, ...

, November 1862. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, District of Memphis, XIII Corps, to December 1862. 3rd Brigade, 8th Division, XVI Corps, to April 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division,

XV Corps 15th Corps, Fifteenth Corps, or XV Corps may refer to: *XV Corps (British India) * XV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * 15th Army Corps (Russian Empire), a unit in World War I *XV Royal Bav ...

, Army of the Tennessee, to December 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XVI Corps, to December 1864. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Detachment Army of the Tennessee,

Department of the Cumberland 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. History The origin of the Army of the Cumberland dates back to the creation ...

, to February 1865. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XVI Corps, Military Division West Mississippi, to July 1865. Department of Mississippi to September 1865. The 72nd Ohio Infantry mustered out of service at

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vic ...

, on September 11, 1865.

Detailed service

1862

Moved to

Camp Chase, Ohio 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 ...

, January 24, then to Paducah, Ky. Moved from Paducah, Ky., to Savannah, Tenn., March 6–10, 1862. Expedition from Savannah to Yellow Creek, Miss., and occupation of Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., March 14–17. Crump's Landing April 4.

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...

April 6–7. Advance on and

siege of Corinth The siege of Corinth (also known as the first Battle 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 ...

, Miss., April 29-May 30. Russell House, near Corinth, May 17. March to Memphis, Tenn., via La-Grange, Grand Junction, and Holly Springs June 1-July 21. Duty at Memphis, Tenn., until November. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign, operations on the

Mississippi Central Railroad Mississippi Central Railroad (reporting mark MSCI) is a short line railroad operating over 51 miles from Oxford, Mississippi, to Grand Junction, Tennessee, owned by Pioneer Railcorp. The railroad's principal commodities are wood products and ...

, November 2, 1862, to January 12, 1863.

1863

Duty at White's Station until March 13. Ordered to Memphis, Tenn., then to Young's Point, La. Operations against Vicksburg, Miss., April 2-July 4. Moved to join army in rear of Vicksburg, Miss., May 2–14. Mississippi Springs May 13. Jackson, Miss., May 14.

Siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Missis ...

May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Expedition to Mechanicsburg May 26-June 4. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 5–10.

Siege of Jackson The Jackson Expedition, also known as the Siege of Jackson, occurred in the aftermath of the surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in July 1863. Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman led the expedition to clear General Joseph E. Johnston ...

July 10–17. Brandon Station July 19. Camp at Big Black until November. Expedition to Canton October 13–20. Bogue Chitto Creek October 17. Ordered to Memphis, Tenn., and guard

Memphis & Charleston Railroad The Memphis and Charleston Railroad, completed in 1857, was the first railroad in the United States to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. Chartered in 1846, the gauge railroad ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Stevenson, Alabama th ...

at Germantown until January 1864.

1864

Expedition to Wyatt's, Miss., February 6–18. Coldwater Ferry February 8. Near Senatobia February 8–9. Wyatt's February. Operations against Forrest in western Tennessee and Kentucky March 16-April 14. Defense of Paducah, Ky., April 14. Sturgis' Expedition to Ripley, Miss., April 30-May 2. Sturgis' Expedition to Guntown, Miss., June 1–13.

Battle of Brices Cross Roads The Battle of Brice's Cross Roads, also known as the Battle of Tishomingo Creek or the Battle of Guntown, was fought on Friday, June 10, 1864, near Baldwyn, Mississippi, then part of the Confederate States of America. A United States Army, Fe ...

, near Guntown, June 10. Salem June 11. Smith's Expedition to Tupelo, Miss., July 5–21. Camargo's Cross Roads, Harrisburg, July 13. Harrisburg, near Tupelo, July 14–15. Old Town or Tishamingo Creek July 15. Smith's Expedition to Oxford, Miss., August 1–30. Abbeville August 23. Moved to Duvall's Bluff, Ark., September 1. March through Arkansas and Missouri in pursuit of Price September 17-November 16. Moved to Nashville, Tenn., November 21-December 1. Reconnaissance from Nashville December 6.

Battle of Nashville The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting west of the coastal states in the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 1 ...

December 15–16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17–28.

1865

At Eastport, Miss., until February 1865. Moved to New Orleans, La., February 9–22. Campaign against Mobile, Ala., and its defenses March 17-April 12. Siege of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely March 26-April 8. Assault and capture of Fort Blakely April 9. Occupation of Mobile April 12. March to Montgomery April 13–25, and duty there until May 10. Moved to Meridian, Miss., and duty there until September.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 298 men during service; 4 officers and 56 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 2 officers and 236 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

* Colonel

- promoted to

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, November 29, 1862 *

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 ...

Herman Canfield – commanded at Battle of Shiloh and killed in action, April 6, 1862 * Lieutenant Colonel Leroy Crockett – commanded during Siege of Vicksburg; died December 10, 1863 * Lieutenant Colonel Charles G. Eaton – commanded during Siege of Vicksburg as

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 ...

and at Battle of Nashville; mustered out with regiment September 11, 1865

Notable members

* 1st Lieutenant Charles H. McCleary, Company C –

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 action at the battle of Nashville, December 16, 1864

References

* Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * Lemmon, John M. ''Speech of Captain John M. Lemmon: Delivered at the Reunion of the Seventy-Second Reg't., O.V.I., Held in Fremont, O., June 17, 1875'' (Fremont, OH: I. M. Keeler), 1875. * 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. * 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: 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Larry Stevens

National flag of the 72nd Ohio Infantry
{{Ohio in the Civil War Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Units and formations of the Union Army from Ohio 1861 establishments in Ohio