18th Ohio Independent Battery was an artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 battery

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 that served 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 battery was organized in Portsmouth, Ohio

Portsmouth, Ohio

Portsmouth is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Scioto County. The municipality is located on the northern banks of the Ohio River and east of the Scioto River in Southern Ohio. The population was 20,226 at the 2010 census.-Foundation:...

 and mustered in September 13, 1862 for a three year enlistment under Captain Charles C. Aleshire.

The battery was attached to 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...

, to February 1863. 2nd Brigade, Baird's Division, Army of Kentucky, Department of the Cumberland, to June 1863. Artillery, 1st Division, Reserve Corps, Army of the Cumberland

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:...

, to October 1863. 1st Division, Artillery Reserve, Department of the Cumberland, to March 1864. 2nd Division, Artillery Reserve, Department of the Cumberland, to December 1864. Unassigned, District of the Etowah, Department of the Cumberland, to January 1865. Post of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to June 1865.

The 18th Ohio Battery mustered out of service on June 29, 1865.

Detailed service

Left Ohio for Covington, Ky., October 9, 1862. March to Lexington, Ky., October 23-29, 1862, and duty there until December 26. Moved to Louisville, Ky., December 26; then to Nashville, Tenn., arriving there February 7, 1863. Moved to Brentwood, Tenn., February 21. Expedition to Franklin and Spring Hill March 2-5. Action at Franklin March 4. Thompson's Station, Spring Hill, March 4-5. Duty at Franklin until June. Repulse of Van Dorn's attack on Franklin April 10. Moved to Triune June 2. Action at Triune June 11. Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Action at Fosterville, Guy's Gap and Shelbyville June 27. Moved to Wartrace July 3, and duty there until August 12. Chickamauga Campaign August 16-September 22. Reconnaissance from Rossville September 17. Ringgold, Ga., September 17. Spring Creek September 18. Battle of Chickamauga September 19-20. Siege of Chattanooga September 24-November 23. Battles of Chattanooga November 23-25; Lookout Mountain November 23-24; Missionary Ridge November 25. Pursuit to Graysville November 26-28. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., December 1, and garrison duty there until October 1864. March to Chattanooga October 6-21. Moved to Nashville November 27. Battles of Nashville December 15-16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17-28. Duty at Chattanooga, Tenn., until May 1, 1865, and at Resaca, Ga., until June 20.

Casualties

The battery lost a total of 23 enlisted men during service; 2 killed and 22 died due to disease.

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: 18th Ohio Battery by Larry Stevens