61st Ohio Infantry

compiled by Larry Stevens

References for this Unit

• see also Bibliography of State-Wide References
• Ohio In The War-Volume II. Whitelaw Reid. Moore, Wilstach & Baldwin. Cincinnati 1868
• Thaddeus Miller Papers. Thaddeus Kane Miller. Co. A. 61st OVI. 31 items. Photocopies of Civil War letters from Miller to his father in Tiffin City, Seneca County, Ohio. Miller writes from Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Washington, D.C. Originals at the River Falls Area Research Center. University of Wisconsin. Call# General VFM2657. Ohio Historical Society. Columbus. Ohio
• Augustus Hively Diary. Pvt. Augustus Hively. Co C. 61st OVI. February 6 1864 - February 22 1865. CWMiscColl. USAMHI. Carlisle Barracks. PA
• National Tribune. Where the 61st Ohio Began Its Career. James A. Ralston. May 15, 1884
• "The Battle of Chancellorsville, Reminiscences of J.H. Peabody, First Sergeant, Company B, Sixty-first Ohio." James H. Peabody. In GAR Papers. Read before Fred C. Jones Post, no. 401, Department of Ohio GAR, 49-75, 1891.
• The Sixty-First Ohio Volunteers, 1861-1865. Written and Compiled by Frederick Stephen Wallace, formerly Captain 61st Ohio Volunteers, late Major 82nd Ohio Volunteers. Published for private circulation by Theodore Mullen, late Corporal Co. B, Sixty-First, O.V.I. Marysville. Ohio. 1902
• The Opening of the Cracker Line - Response by Major L.M. Jewett. Leonidas M. Jewett. The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. A Stenographic Report of After Dinner Speeches at the Sixteenth Annual Dinner of the Commandery of Ohio, Cincinnati, May 3rd, 1899. pgs. 40-45. NP. ND.
• From Stafford Heights to Gettysburg in 1863. by Brevet Major Leonidas M. Jewett. MOLLUS-Ohio V, 213-222, 1902
• The Boys in Blue at Missionary Ridge. by Brevet Major Leonidas M. Jewett. MOLLUS-Ohio VI, 89-94, 1902
• National Tribune. At Peachtree Creek. Frederick Stephen Wallace. June 10, 1909
• A Civil War Diary February 1864 - February 1865: Co. C 61st O.V.I.. by Augustus Hively. Transcribed by Mary E. Lapetina. Compiled by Henry L. Hively. 29 pgs. H. Hively. Pittsburgh. 1982
• Unit Bibliography. U.S. Army Military History Institute. Carlisle Barracks. PA. 1995
• A Story of Prove Loyalty: the Sixty-first Ohio. by Patrick D. Kelly. M.A. Thesis. 215 leaves bound. Call# MAIN Special Coll E525.5 61st .K45x 1997. KSU Masters Thesis Dept. of History. Kent State University. Kent. Ohio. 1997
• From Freeman's Ford to Bentonville: The 61st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Edited with an introduction by Robert G. Carroon. Civil War Heritage Series-Volume XII. Burd Street Press. Division of White Mane Publishing Company Inc. Shippensburg. PA. Printed by Beidel Printing House Inc. Shippensburg. PA. 1998
• 61st OVI Blog. by Fred Previts. On the web since 2000
• Brevet Brigadier General Stephen J. McGroarty. In Ohio In The War-Volume I. pgs. 974-975. Whitelaw Reid. Moore, Wilstach & Baldwin. Cincinnati. 1868
• Buckeye Blood: Ohio at Gettysburg. by Richard A. Baumgartner. 254 pgs. Blue Acorn Press. Huntington. West Virginia. 2003
• Fox: Mascot of the 61st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Seward R. Osborne. pg 79. The Military Collector & Historian. Volume 49. No. 2. Summer. 1997. The Company of Military Historians. Rutland. MA
• Pvt. John Wright of the 61st Ohio Infantry. by Joseph Stahl. Issue 38. 2007. The Gettysburg Magazine. Morningside Bookshop. Dayton. OH

 
Captain Jacob F. Mader
Company H 61st OVI
Courtesy of and Copyright © L.M. Strayer Collection

History

Organized April 23, 1862, under Colonel Newton Schleich, it joined Fremont's army in June. The Regiment operated under Pope in Virginia. At this time Colonel Stephen McGroarty took command of the Regiment for the duration of the war. The Regiment participated in the second Bull Run battle; and in May, 1863, fought four days at Chancellorsville with severe loss. The Regiment took part in the battle of Gettysburg in July, meeting with disaster, and in October was transferred to the Western army, participating in the assault on Mission Ridge. It joined the march to Knoxville and returned to Chattanooga, and in the spring of 1864 moved with Sherman on his famous Atlanta campaign, fighting the enemy to the end. The Regiment marched to the sea and through the Carolinas, participating in the last battle of the war, at Bentonville. At Goldsboro the 61st was consolidated with the 82nd Ohio, marched through Richmond to Washington. The men were finally mustered out September 1, 1865.

From Dyer's Compendium

61st Regiment Infantry. Organized at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, April 23, 1862. Ordered to West Virginia May 27, and joined Fremont's army at Strasburg, Va., June 23, 1862. Attached to 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 1st Corps, Army of Virginia, June to September, 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 11th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to October, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 11th Army Corps, to November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 11th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to October, 1863. Army of the Cumberland to April, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to March, 1865.
SERVICE.--March to Sperryville and duty there till August 8, 1862. Pope's Campaign in Northern Virginia August 16-September 2. Freeman's Ford August 22. Sulphur Springs August 23-24. Battles of Groveton August 29, and Bull Run August 30. Duty in the Defences of Washington, D.C., till December. March to Fredericksburg, Va., December 10-15. "Mud March" January 20-24, 1863. Duty at Stafford Court House till April 27. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-5. Gettysburg (Pa.) Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 1-3. Pursuit of Lee to Manassas Gap, Va., July 5-24. Duty along Orange & Alexandria Railroad July 26 to September 26. Movement to Bridgeport, Ala., September 26-October 3. Reopening Tennessee River October 26-29. Battle of Wauhatchie, Tenn., October 28-29. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Orchard Knob November 23. Mission Lodge November 24-25. March to relief of Knoxville, Tenn., November 28-December 8. Moved to Bridgeport, Ala., and duty there till March, 1864. Veterans on furlough March and April. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1-September 8. Demonstration on Rocky Face Ridge May 8-11. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Cassville May 19. New Hope Church May 25. Battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills, May 25-June 5. Lost Mountain June 8. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Gilgal, or Golgotha Church, June 15. Muddy Creek June 17. Noyes' Creek June 19. Kolb's Farm June 22. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Ruff's Station July 4. Chattahoochie River June 5-17. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Operations at Chattahoochie River Bridge May 26-September 2. Occupation of Atlanta September 2-November 15. Expedition from Atlanta to Tuckum's Cross Roads October 26-29. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Montieth Swamp December 9. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to March, 1865. Taylor's Hole Creek, Averysboro, N. C., March 16. Battle of Bentonville March 19-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Consolidated with 82nd Ohio Infantry March 31. 1865. Regiment lost during service 7 Officers and 68 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 90 Enlisted men by disease. Total 165.

Thanks to Dr. Richard A. Sauers for the initial research and indexing of the National Tribune articles.

More about the Civil War in Ohio.

Copyright © 1995 Larry Stevens

Last updated June 4 2012