The Army of the Ohio was the name of two

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

armies in 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 first army became the

Army 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 ...

and the second army was created in 1863.

History

1st Army of the Ohio

General Orders No. 97 appointed

Maj. Gen. Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Don Carlos Buell Don Carlos Buell (March 23, 1818November 19, 1898) was a United States Army officer who fought in the Seminole War, the Mexican–American War, and the American Civil War. Buell led Union armies in two great Civil War battles— Shiloh and Per ...

to command the

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 Gener ...

. All the forces of the department were then organized into the Army of the Ohio, with Buell in command. Early in 1862, the army fought its first battle at Mill Springs, although only the 1st Division, commanded by

Brig. Gen. 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 ...

George H. Thomas George Henry Thomas (July 31, 1816March 28, 1870) was an American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and one of the principal commanders in the Western Theater. Thomas served in the Mexican–American War and later chose ...

, was engaged. The whole army marched to reinforce

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

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 ...

at the Battle of Shiloh. Buell was replaced as commander of the Department of the Ohio by Brig. Gen.

Horatio G. Wright Horatio Gouverneur Wright (March 6, 1820 – July 2, 1899) was an engineer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He took command of the VI Corps in May 1864 following the death of General John Sedgwick. In this capacity, he ...

in August 1862, but because of Wright's junior rank, Maj. Gen.

Henry W. Halleck Henry Wager Halleck (January 16, 1815 – January 9, 1872) was a senior United States Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies, he was known by a nickname that became derogatory: "Old Brains". He was an important par ...

ordered Thomas to replace Wright in command. However, Thomas foresaw a major battle and felt it unwise to change an army commander on the eve of battle. Thus Buell remained in command of the Army and Thomas was made his second-in-command. The battle Thomas foresaw occurred on October 8, 1862, west of Perryville, Kentucky. Confederate General Braxton Bragg had marched into Kentucky to recruit soldiers and take the state from the Union. The full force of Buell's command was gathering when Bragg attacked. Known as the

Battle of Perryville The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) during the ...

, or the Battle of Chaplin Hills, casualties were very high on both sides. Union casualties totaled 4,276 (894 killed, 2,911 wounded, 471 captured or missing). Confederate casualties were 3,401 (532 killed, 2,641 wounded, 228 captured or missing). Although Union losses were higher, Bragg withdrew from Kentucky when the fighting was over, and therefore Perryville is considered a strategic victory for the Union. Buell was subsequently relieved of all field command. Maj. Gen.

William S. Rosecrans William Starke Rosecrans (September 6, 1819March 11, 1898) was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was ...

was appointed to command the Army of Ohio. He was also appointed to the command of the Department of the Cumberland and subsequently renamed his forces the

2nd Army of the Ohio

On 25 March 1863, Maj. Gen.

Ambrose Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...

assumed command of the Department of the Ohio headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. On March 19, 1863 two divisions of the IX Corps under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke had been ordered from Virginia to Burnside's department. On April 27, 1863 the War Department ordered all troops in Kentucky not belonging to IX Corps to be organized into the XXIII Corps under the commanded of Maj. Gen. George L. Hartsuff. By May 1863 Burnside had consolidated the forces of Kentucky into the IX Corps and XXIII Corps which he styled the Army of the Ohio.Army of the Ohio 1863-1865
/ref> Thus, Burnside became one of the few officers to directly command two completely different armies (he had earlier commanded the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

). The IX Corps was soon transferred to Mississippi in June to participate in the

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 ...

but was returned to the Army of the Ohio in August. Meanwhile, the new Army of the Ohio' XXIII Corps repelled Morgan's Ohio raid, although the entire army rarely functioned as one complete unit during this campaign. Reunited with the IX Corps and the addition of a cavalry division, Burnside moved to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. There he defeated the Confederates at the

Battle of Fort Sanders The Battle of Fort Sanders was the crucial engagement of the Knoxville Campaign of the American Civil War, fought in Knoxville, Tennessee, on November 29, 1863. Assaults by Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet failed to break through the def ...

in the Knoxville Campaign. After the battle, he asked to be relieved of command due to illness. Maj. Gen.

John G. Foster John Gray Foster (May 27, 1823 – September 2, 1874) was an American soldier. A career military officer in the United States Army and a Union Army, Union general during the American Civil War, he served in North Carolina, North and South Caroli ...

replaced Burnside as commander of the Army and Department of the Ohio on December 9. Foster's time in command of the Army was short. On February 9, 1864, Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield assumed command of the Department of the Ohio, and then the Army of the Ohio and the XXIII Corps in April. During this time the XXIII Corps and the Army of the Ohio were synonymous. Schofield led the Army during the Atlanta Campaign and pursued

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 ...

Lt. Gen.

John Bell Hood John Bell Hood (June 1 or June 29, 1831 – August 30, 1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Although brave, Hood's impetuosity led to high losses among his troops as he moved up in rank. Bruce Catton wrote that "the dec ...

into

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

after the fall of Atlanta. At the Battle of Franklin, Schofield inflicted a severe defeat on Hood's army before joining with Maj. Gen.

and the Army of the Cumberland for the

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 ...

. On February 9, 1865, Schofield was transferred to command the Department of North Carolina. When Schofield departed to assume departmental command, Maj. Gen.

Jacob D. Cox Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr. (October 27, 1828August 4, 1900), was a statesman, lawyer, Union Army general during the American Civil War, Republican politician from Ohio, Liberal Republican Party founder, educator, author, and recognized microbiologist ...

temporarily assumed command of the Army. The XXIII Corps was ordered to North Carolina and only Cox's division was present for the

Battle of Wilmington The Battle of Wilmington was fought February 11–22, 1865, during the American Civil War, mostly outside the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, between the opposing Union and Confederate Departments of North Carolina. The Union victory in Ja ...

. It was not until March 1865 that the rest of the XXIII Corps landed at

New Bern, North Carolina New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...

. Upon the arrival of the XXIII Corps in its entirety, Schofield joined that corps with the

X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to: France * 10th Army Corps (France) * X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

under Maj. Gen.

Alfred H. Terry Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) was a Union army, Union Major general (United States), general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 18 ...

to form the Army of the Ohio. The Army was designated the Center Wing of Maj. Gen.

William T. Sherman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

's army and participated in the final stages of the

Carolinas Campaign The campaign of the Carolinas (January 1 – April 26, 1865), also known as the Carolinas campaign, was the final campaign conducted by the United States Army (Union Army) against the Confederate States Army in the Western Theater. On January 1 ...

. With the close of the war, the troops were mustered out of military service. A number of post-war reunions were held by various elements of the old Army of the Ohio.

Commanders

* Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell (November 15, 1861 – October 24, 1862) ''also department commander until March 11'' * Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans (October 24–30, 1862) ''became the Army of the Cumberland'' * Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside (March 25 – December 9, 1863) ''also department commander'' * Maj. Gen.

(December 9, 1863 – February 9, 1864) ''also department commander'' * Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield (February 9 – September 14, 1864) ''also department commander'' * Maj. Gen. Jacob D. Cox (September 14 – October 22, 1864) * Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield (October 22, 1864 – February 2, 1865) * Maj. Gen. Jacob D. Cox (February 2–9, 1865) * Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield (February 9 – March 31, 1865) ''also commander of the Department of North Carolina''

Major battles and campaigns

* Battle of Shiloh (Buell) *

(Buell) *

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 ...

(Burnside) * Knoxville Campaign (Burnside), (Foster) * Atlanta Campaign (Schofield) * Battle of Franklin (Schofield) *

(Schofield) *

(Schofield)

Orders of Battle

* Shiloh Union order of battle * Perryville Union order of battle *

Knoxville Union order of battle The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Knoxville Campaign and subsequent East Tennessee operations during the American Civil War from November 4 to December 23, 1863 under the command of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside. Engagem ...

* Atlanta Campaign Union order of battle * Franklin Union order of battle * Nashville Union order of battle *

Wilmington Union order of battle The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Wilmington (February 11-22, 1865) of the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately. Abbreviations used Military Rank * MG = Major General * BG = B ...

Notes 1. Livermore, Thomas L., ''Numbers and Losses in the American Civil War 1861–1865'', New York, 1901, p. 95, cited in McDonough, James Lee, ''War in Kentucky'', University of Tennessee Press, 1994, pp 289–290. . Noe, Kenneth W. ''Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle.'' Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001. .

References

Army of the Ohio

External links

{{Union Army Formations Ohio, Army of the Tennessee in the American Civil War Kentucky in the American Civil War Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War South Carolina in the American Civil War North Carolina in the American Civil War 1861 establishments in the United States Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865