The 118th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (or 118th OVI) was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Service

The 118th Ohio Infantry was organized Lima

Lima, Ohio

Lima is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio along Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton and south-southwest of Toledo....

, Mansfield

Mansfield, Ohio

Mansfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Richland County. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau, approximately southwest of Cleveland and northeast of Columbus....

, and Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 August through September 1862 and mustered in at Cincinnati for three years service under the command of Colonel

Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...

 Samuel R. Mott.

The regiment was attached to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Kentucky, Department of the Ohio

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.General Orders No...

, September to November 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Army of Kentucky, November 1862. District of Central Kentucky, Department of the Ohio, to June 1863. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, XXIII Corps, Department of the Ohio, to July 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XXIII Corps, to August 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, XXIII Corps, to April 1864. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XXIII Corps, Army of the Ohio

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:...

, to February 1865, and Department of North Carolina to June 1865.

The 118th Ohio Infantry mustered out of service June 24, 1865 at Salisbury, North Carolina

Salisbury, North Carolina

Salisbury is a city in Rowan County in North Carolina, a state of the United States of America. The population was 33,663 in the 2010 Census . It is the county seat of Rowan County...

. Company K, whose term of service had not expired, was transferred to the 183rd Ohio Infantry

183rd Ohio Infantry

The 183rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 183rd Ohio Infantry was organized in Sandusky and Cincinnati, Ohio September through October 1864 and mustered in for one year service on October 12, 1864 at Camp Dennison under...

.

Detailed service

Ordered to Kentucky and assigned to duty as guard along Kentucky Central Railroad from Buston's Station to Paris, Ky., September 1862 to August 1863. Skirmish at Paris, Ky., July 29, 1863 (detachment). Burnside's Campaign in eastern Tennessee August 16-October 17, 1863. Duty at Kingston until December 6. Action at Kingston November 24, and near Kingston December 4. Moved to Nashville December 5; then marched to Blain's Cross Roads and Mossy Creek. Action at Mossy Creek December 29. Operations in eastern Tennessee December 1863 to April 1864. Atlanta Campaign May 1 to September 8. Demonstrations on Dalton May 9–13. Battle of Resaca May 14–15. Advance on Dallas May 18–25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church, and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Lost Mountain June 15–17. Muddy Creek June 17. Noyes Creek June 19. Kolb's Farm June 22. Assault on Kennesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2–5. Chattahoochie River July 5–17. Decatur July 19. Howard House July 20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Utoy Creek August 5–7. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25–30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1 (reserve). Lovejoy's Station September 2–6. Operations against Hood in northern Georgia and northern Alabama September 29-November 3. Nashville Campaign November-December. Columbia, Duck River, November 24–27. Battle of Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15–16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17–28. At Clifton, Tenn., until January 16, 1865. Movement to Washington, D.C., then to Fort Fisher, N.C., January 16-February 9. Operations against Hoke February 11–14. Fort Anderson February 18–19. Town Creek February 19–20. Capture of Wilmington February 22. Campaign of the Carolinas March 1-April 26. Advance on Goldsboro March 21. Advance on Raleigh April 10–14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. Duty at Raleigh, Greensboro and Salisbury until June.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 184 men during service; 1 officer and 55 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 127 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

• Colonel Samuel R. Mott - resigned February 10, 1864
• Colonel Thomas Lowry Young
  Thomas L. Young
  Thomas Lowry Young was a Republican politician from Ohio. Young served as the 33rd Governor of Ohio.-Biography:...
  
   - discharged due to illness, September 14, 1864
• Colonel Edgar Sowers

Notable members

• Colonel Thomas Lowry Young - 33rd Governor of Ohio, 1877–1878; U.S. Representative
  United States House of Representatives
  The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
  
   from Ohio
  Ohio
  Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
  
  , 1879–1883

See also

• List of Ohio Civil War units
• Ohio in the Civil War
  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 politically and logistically important to the war effort...
  
  

External links

• Ohio in the Civil War: 118th Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Larry Stevens
• National flag of the 118th Ohio Infantry (first issue?)
• National flag of the 118th Ohio Infantry
• Regimental flag of the 118th Ohio Infantry