The 81st Ohio Volunteer Infantry (or 81st 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 81st Ohio Infantry was originally organized as "Morton's Independent Rifle Regiment" and mustered in 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...

 Thomas Morton.

The regiment was attached to Department of Missouri, to March 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of the Tennessee

Army of the Tennessee

The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. It should not be confused with the similarly named Army of Tennessee, a Confederate army named after the State of Tennessee....

, to July 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Corinth, Mississippi, to September 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Corinth, Mississippi, to November 1862. 2nd Brigade, District of Corinth, Mississippi, XIII Corps, Department of the Tennessee, to December 1862. 2nd Brigade, District of Corinth, XVII Corps, to January 1863. 2nd Brigade, District of Corinth, XVI Corps, to March 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XVI Corps, to September 1864. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, XV Corps, to July 1865.

The 81st Ohio Infantry mustered out of service at Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 on July 13, 1865.

Detailed service

Duty at Benton Barracks, Mo., until September 24, 1861. Moved to Franklin, Mo., September 24, then to Harman, Mo., September 27, and duty there until December 20. Expedition to Fulton, Calloway County, Mo., November 1861. Expedition after guerrillas in northern Missouri December 20, 1861 to January 4, 1862. Duty along Northern Missouri Railroad at Wellsville, Montgomery City, and Danville (headquarters at Danville) until March 1, 1862. Moved to St. Louis, Mo., then to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., March 1–15, 1862. Battle of Shiloh, April 6–7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Pursuit to Booneville June 1–14. Duty at Corinth until August. Guard stores at Hamburg until September 17. Movements on Iuka, Miss., September 17–20. Battle of Corinth October 3–4. Pursuit to Ripley October 5–12. Five companies joined the regiment October 19. Duty at Corinth until April 1863. Raid to Tupelo, Miss., December 13–19, 1862 and January 3–19, 1863. Raid to intercept Forrest January 2–3. Cornersville Pike January 28 (detachment). Dodge's Expedition to northern Alabama April 15-May 8. Great Bear Creek April 17. Rock Cut, near Tuscumbia, April 22. Tuscumbia April 23. Town Creek April 28. Moved to Pocahontas June 3, and duty there until October 29. March to Pulaski October 29-November 10. Duty at Pulaski, Wales, Sam's Mills, and Nancy's Mills (headquarters at Pulaski) until March 1864. Moved to Lynnville March 5, and to Pulaski April 19. March to Chattanooga, Tenn., April 29-May 4. Atlanta Campaign May to September. Demonstrations on Resaca May 8–12. Snake Creek Gap and Sugar Valley, near Resaca, May 9. Near Resaca May 13. Battle of Resaca May 14. Lay's Ferry, Oostenaula River, May 14–15. Rome Cross Roads May 16. 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. Assault on Kennesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2–5. Ruff's Mills July 3–4. Chattahoochie River July 6–17. Battle of Atlanta July 22. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Ezra Chapel July 28. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25–30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy's Station September 2–6. Non-veterans mustered out September 26, 1864. Garrison duty at Rome until November. Reconnaissance from Rome on Cave Springs Road and skirmishes October 12–13. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Ogeechee Canal December 8. Siege of Savannah December 10–21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Salkehatchie Swamps, S.C., February 2–5. South Edisto River February 9. North Edisto River February 12–13. Columbia February 16–17. Lynch's Creek February 26. Battle of Bentonville, N.C., March 19–21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10–14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 20. Grand Review of the Armies

Grand Review of the Armies

The Grand Review of the Armies was a military procession and celebration in Washington, D.C., on May 23 and May 24, 1865, following the close of the American Civil War...

 May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 222 men during service; 4 officers and 58 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 160 enlisted men died of disease.

Notable members

• Major
  Major (United States)
  In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
  
   Charles Nelson Lamison
  Charles N. Lamison
  Charles Nelson Lamison was a politician, soldier, and lawyer who was a two-term United States congressman from Ohio.-Biography:...
  
   - 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...
  
  , 1871–1875

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: 81st Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Larry Stevens
• Diary of Lieutenant Cornelius C. Platter at the Digital Library of Georgia
• National flag of the 81st Ohio Infantry
• National flag of the 81st Ohio Infantry (probably second issue)
• Regimental flag of the 81st Ohio Infantry
• Regimental flag of the 81st Ohio Infantry (probably second issue)
• Information on Battle of Lay's Ferry at the Friends of Resaca Battlefield website