Just the beginning
Ohio & the Civil War
There's a new book "Blood, Tears & Glory" by James Bissland in which he states that the Civil War was the most important event in the United States since the Constitution.
Up to the outbreak of the great war, most of Ohio tended to ignore the social conflict brewing. On occasion the differences between north and south would erupt, but for the most part, Ohio's citizens were busy growing into one of the most industrious states in the Union.
John Brown
In 1859, just a little over a year before actual fighting erupted, a man from northeastern Ohio called John Brown would provide the match that would ignite the country in conflict. Although he was born in Connecticut, his family moved to Hudson, Ohio in 1805 when John was just 5 years old. As John grew up in the small community, he developed from his father and others in the community, a deep hatred for slavery.
Northeastern Ohio was a hotbed filled with antislavery sentiment. At one rally in support of antislavery, John Brown stood up and vowed to dedicate his life to the destruction of slavery.
John tried numerous occupations and ventures, but nothing was successful. He moved often from place to place trying to find his way. The only thing that Brown became successful at was inciting others in his personal hatred for slavery. John Brown became an outspoken abolitionist. Later, Abraham Lincoln would call him a "misguided fanatic."
Although many antislavery supporters detested the idea of slavery, they had different feelings about the rights of blacks. Not John Brown. In 1838, John Brown invited a number of blacks to the little church in Franklin Mills, Ohio. The congregation was astonished-- it was one thing to express support against slavery, quite another to actually have blacks in their midst.
In 1856 John Brown led a group of men in Kansas against the residents of the small community Osawatomie known for its pro-slavery sentiments. Brown and his men went from cabin to cabin butchering those they knew were pro-slavery. All together they killed 5 people, cut off the arms and legs of numerous others. This put John Brown's name on the map of the infamous.
In October, 1859, the former Ohioan led a group of 22 men against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry. Their goal was to take enough weapons that they could arm escaping slaves with weapons so they could rise up in revolt against slavery. The raid was over within 36 hours and Brown was quickly captured. The state of Virginia charged him with treason and hanged him in December.
This act by the fanatical Brown, convinced many southerners that he was typical of all northern abolitionists. This opinion by the south is one of the main reasons they feared the election of Abraham Lincoln whom they also viewed as an abolitionist. After Lincoln was elected to the Presidency, in less than 4 months, the south succeeded from the Union, resulting in the outbreak of the Civil War.
Ohio's Militia
At the outset of the Civil War, the United States consisted of 34 states and 32 million people. It had a regular army of just 15,322 enlisted men and 1,080 officers that were mostly scattered on the western frontier.
Each state had its own militia. In Ohio, the militia consisted of mostly town folks who dressed up for special parades and holidays. Militia members elected their officers, not on merit or abilities, but on their popularity or position in the community.
Each militia unit could choose their own uniforms. Training usually meant learning how to accomplish parade maneuvers without bumping into one and other. All together, before the start of the war, Ohio had just over 1,000 militia members.
Immediately after the onset of the war, the ranks of the militia grew at an unimaginable rate. As quickly as someone requested to form a company, the company was filled with would-be soldiers.
The initial enlistment period was just 90 days. Feeling that the rebellion would soon be quashed,
there was no need to ask for longer enlistments from these citizen soldiers.
The First Shot of the War
At 4:30 a.m. on Friday, April 12, 1861, cannon fire was heard over the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina. The cannon fire was aimed at Fort Sumter. While both sides exchanged fire, Fort Sumter fell quickly. In charge of the southern forces firing on the fort, was Roswell Ripley, who was born in Worthington Ohio in 1823.
With the surrender of Fort Sumter, the Charleston paper stated "The revolution of 1860 has been initiated."
In Ohio, word came quickly to most of the state over the new telegraph wires. On Saturday, newspapers such as the Ohio State Journal in Columbus ran headlines stating "THE WAR BEGUN!! The Rebels Fire the First Shot!" In Cleveland, the Cleveland Morning Leader read: "THE WAR HAS BEGUN!!! FORT SUMTER ATTACKED YESTERDAY MORNING!"
Immediately after the news reached Ohio, citizens brought out flags, and bunting, everything that could be associated with patriotism was put on display. Anxious crowds gathered around the newspaper offices to hear the latest news read out loud.
By Monday, Union fervor had only grown. In Cleveland the paper stated that "no man should be allowed to live in Ohio who is not for the Union first, last, and all the time."
The War Begins for Ohio
That spring in 1861, after the sound of the cannon firing on Fort Sumter and fell silent, men of all ages rushed to volunteer to fight the war. At the time, it was a common opinion that a show of force by the Union would force the Southern states to back down. The men traveling to Columbus were eager to be counted on to defend the nation and protect the Union.
When Lincoln sent word throughout the country that there was a need for troops, Ohio's men answered. Lincoln's request for 13 regiments from Ohio. Ohio responded with enough men to make up 20 regiments.
Thousands of men poured into Ohio so quickly that there weren't enough space to house, feed or provide uniforms for all of them. The Statehouse became a temporary campground as did Goodale Park. Every hotel, boarding house, public building, churches and even private homes helped house the men as they continued to arrive.
It soon became a crises for the state to take care of everyone. Money was needed for food, weapons and uniforms. State agents were sent to neighboring states in order to acquire additional equipment and supplies.
On April 19, Ohio's first regiment left Columbus for Washington D.C., just 7 days after those opening cannon signaled the beginning of the war that would last 4 bloody years. But the men arriving and departing from Columbus had no idea. They all believed it would be over in 3 months and that they would be back home in time for the fall harvest.
The War's Cost in Ohio
By 1865, over 300,000 Ohioans had enlisted in the army. Among all the Union states, Ohio provided the third largest number of troops to the war, second to only New York and Pennsylvania. Whereas in other states, as the war dragged on, drafts were necessary to fill the quickly diminishing ranks, very few men were ever needed to be drafted from Ohio.
The human cost of the war in Ohio would total more than 35,000 Ohio lives lost. One of every 10 Ohioans serving in the war, never returned home. Horrendous casualties would total in the hundreds of thousands.
Once the war was over, and the fighting men started to return, many would never re-adjust to the mental toll of the war.
