The 9th 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 mar ...

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 conscript ...

that was a part of 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 of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

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 ...

. The members of the regiment were primarily of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

descent and the unit was the first almost all-German unit to enter the Union Army.

Organization

Between 1836 and 1860, four German militia units had been formed in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

. In 1861, in response to a call to arms by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and subsequently by Ohio Governor William Dennison, these units swelled with hundreds of

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

. Gustav Bergmann, a Cincinnati public school teacher, was the first volunteer to join the unit. The city of Cincinnati gave $250,000.00 for the organization of this unit. Nearly 1,500 men, mostly of German descent, volunteered for the 9th Ohio Infantry Regiment in the first three days. Col. Robert L. McCook, a local lawyer, trained and drilled the new soldiers at

Camp Harrison Camp Harrison was one of several Union Army training posts in Hamilton County, Ohio, established during the American Civil War. In early 1861, Governor William Dennison ordered the creation of a new military camp six miles north of Cincinnati, Oh ...

and Camp Dennison, both near the city. The initial field officers on April 23, 1861, were: *Colonel Robert L. McCook * Lieutenant Colonel Karl Sonderson * Major Frank Mattice *Surgeon Karl Krause *Asst. Surgeon Rudolph Wirth *Adjutant

August Willich August Willich (November 19, 1810 – January 22, 1878), born Johann August Ernst von Willich, was a military officer in the Prussian Army and a leading early proponent of communism in Germany. In 1847 he discarded his title of nobility. He later ...

The regiment lost six

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

and 85

enlisted Enlisted may refer to: * Enlisted rank An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or ...

men killed and mortally wounded during its three-year term of service. It also lost two officers and 60 enlisted men to disease, for a total of 153.

Battle of Carnifex Ferry

The 9th Ohio Infantry Regiment participated in the

Battle of Carnifex Ferry The Battle of Carnifex Ferry took place on September 10, 1861 in Nicholas County, Virginia (now West Virginia), as part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War. The battle resulted in a Union strategic vict ...

, which took place on September 10, 1861. Casualties were eight men killed and two wounded while attacking the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

left flank, defended by the 36th Virginia Infantry. Ohio 9th Infantry Photograph, Turner Hall Cincinnati

Notes

References

9th Ohio Infantry by Larry Stevens
2009-10-23) The 9th Ohio Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War, 1861-1864
National Colors of the 9th O.V.I.
*The Queen City, by Daniel Hurley, published by the Cincinnati Historical Society, 1982, page 45. *Cincinnati, a Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors, American Guide Series, The Weisen-Hart Press, May 1943, page 219
9th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment by Joe Reinhart
* Tafel, Gustav. "The Cincinnati Germans in the Civil War." Translated and edited with Supplements on Germans from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana in the Civil War by Don Heinrich Tolzmann. (Milford, Ohio: Little Miami Publishing Co., 2010). * Bertsch, Friedrich, Wilhelm Stängel, and Joseph R. Reinhart. 2010. A German hurrah!: Civil War letters of Friedrich Bertsch and Wilhelm Stängel, 9th Ohio Infantry. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press.

External links

* ttps://civilwarindex.com/9th-ohio-infantry-3-years.html Civil War Index: 9th Ohio Infantry - 3 Years Service in the American Civil War {{Ohio in the Civil War Units and formations of the Union Army from Ohio German-American history Cincinnati in the American Civil War 1861 establishments in Ohio Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865

Organization

Battle of Carnifex Ferry

See also

Notes

References

External links