Friday, November 20, 2009

End of one season and the beginning of another...

I want to personally thank Lisa and Rob Morgan for their service this past year as President and Captain, respectively. They did a wonderful job! For those who have served the unit in the past and made us what we are today, my hat's off to you!

Over the last year we've made leaps and bounds in civilian recruiting. At the November meeting we added two families, 3 civilians and 2 soldiers to our ranks. At Hayes we had the largest group present at the event, at least in the Confederate camp.



With the Christmas party being the last "event" of the year for the 14thOVI/3rdARK, I expect that it will be a fitting end to a wonderful year of living history. There are big hopes and dreams for the 2010 season. We are the host unit for Wildwood this year and there are HUGE plans for the Hayes event in October. Everything is in the works and many of us are already beginning to develop expectations for the year to come. It will most certainly be an exciting venture.

I personally look forward to the service I will be doing for the unit, for the companionship around the campfire and being able to do justice by the original cast.

Warmest Regards,
E. Aldridge

Thursday, November 19, 2009

History of the 14th OVI

The 14th Ohio Voluntary Infantry Regiment was organized at Toledo, Ohio from 8/14 - 9/5/1861. The 14th OVI was Northwest Ohio's first volunteer regiment formed. Dyer's Compendium Of The War Of The Rebellion lists the regiments losses during service as 5 Officers and 141 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 185 Enlisted men by disease.

Lt Col Henry Dennison Kingsbury, pictured at right


Fourteenth Infantry. - (Three Years' Service.)


Cols., James B. Steedman, George P. Este; Lieut.-Cols., Paul Edwards, Henry D. Kingsbury, Albert Moore; Maj., John W. Wilson.

This regiment was organized at Toledo, from Aug. 14 to Sept. 5,
1861, to serve for three years. It first saw service in
Kentucky and in October went into quarters at Camp Dick
Robinson. About this time rumors were rife that the Federal
forces stationed at or near Wild Cat were surrounded by the
Confederates. The 14th, with Barnet's 1st Ohio artillery,
started at once for that place, making forced marches through
the deep mud and driving rain, and reached there on the morning
of Oct. 21. On nearing the battlefield the crash of musketry
and artillery was heard. This spurred the excited troops, who
were going into their first engagement, and they double-quicked
to the point of attack. The enemy shortly abandoned the field
and retreated. In the charge which carried the works at Mill
Springs the 14th was the first regiment to enter, and pushing
on after the flying enemy it reached the bank of the river in
time to fire into the rear of the retreating column as it was
boarding the steamer. The regiment was with the army that
shared in the slow advance upon Corinth. It was in the march
from Nashville to Louisville, but on Oct. 9 the brigade with
which it was acting was detailed to guard headquarters and the
ammunition train, and hence did not participate in the battle
of Perryville. The following winter was spent at Gallatin and
other points in middle Tennessee, and in June, 1863, the regi-
ment formed a portion of Rosecrans, advance on Tullahoma and
Chattanooga. At Hoover's gap a brisk engagement ensued, in
which the 14th participated with its brigade. On Sept. 19 it
marched upon the field at Chickamauga and was immediately de-
ployed in line of battle. The men were not in the best trim to
engage in a fatiguing day's work, having marched incessantly
all the previous day and night, but they were ready and willing
to perform their whole duty and they did it nobly. The regi-
ment was engaged in hot and close contest with the enemy from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m. Being then relieved, it replenished its ammu-
nition boxes and again entered the fight, continuing until
sunset. The regiment went into the battle with 449 men, and
out of that number it lost 233, killed, wounded and missing.
In the brilliant assault on Missionary ridge the 14th bore a
gallant part, charging and capturing a Confederate battery of 3
guns, which Gen. Hardee in person was superintending, losing 16
killed, 91 wounded and 3 missing. Of those that were eligible,
all but 30 men of the entire regiment re-enlisted for another
term of three years and after a 30-days' furlough home it re-
joined the army at Ringgold, Ga., and commenced that long, fa-
tiguing campaign for the possession of Atlanta, the "gate
city," of the South. In all the marches and the almost
incessant skirmishes and flanking movements of that campaign it
bore an honorable part, losing heavily in men and officers.
While lying in front of Atlanta the regiment lost 20 men,
killed and wounded. In that heroic charge at Jonesboro the 14th
took nearly as many prisoners as the regiment numbered men, a
battery of 4 guns, several stands of colors, and two lines of
trenches full of Confederates. All this was not accomplished
without sad cost. One hundred members of the regiment whose
time had expired went willingly into this fight, some of whom
were killed and many wounded. It next followed Hood into Ten-
nessee and then returned and participated in the "march to the
sea." It was mustered out of the service at Louisville, Ky.,
July 11, 1865.

source: Union Army, Vol 2