Army of the Ohio

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Army of the Ohio
Active1861–62
1863–65
Country 
John M. Schofield

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

1st Army of the Ohio

General Orders No. 97 appointed

George H. Thomas, was engaged. The whole army marched to reinforce Grant's Army of the Tennessee at the Battle of Shiloh
.

Buell was replaced as commander of the Department of the Ohio by Brig. Gen.

Henry W. Halleck
ordered Thomas to replace Wright in command. However, Thomas foresaw a major battle and felt it unwise to change an army commander on the eve of battle. Thus Buell remained in command of the Army and Thomas was made his second-in-command.

The battle Thomas foresaw occurred on October 8, 1862, west of Perryville, Kentucky. Confederate General Braxton Bragg had marched into Kentucky to recruit soldiers and take the state from the Union. The full force of Buell's command was gathering when Bragg attacked. Known as the Battle of Perryville, or the Battle of Chaplin Hills, casualties were very high on both sides.

Union casualties totaled 4,276 (894 killed, 2,911 wounded, 471 captured or missing). Confederate casualties were 3,401 (532 killed, 2,641 wounded, 228 captured or missing). [1] Although Union losses were higher, Bragg withdrew from Kentucky when the fighting was over, and therefore Perryville is considered a strategic victory for the Union.

Buell was subsequently relieved of all field command. Maj. Gen.

William S. Rosecrans was appointed to command the Army of Ohio. He was also appointed to the command of the Department of the Cumberland and subsequently renamed his forces the Army of the Cumberland
.

2nd Army of the Ohio

Badge of the XXIII Corps.

On 25 March 1863, Maj. Gen.

George L. Hartsuff. By May 1863 Burnside had consolidated the forces of Kentucky into the IX Corps and XXIII Corps which he styled the Army of the Ohio.[1] Thus, Burnside became one of the few officers to directly command two completely different armies (he had earlier commanded the Army of the Potomac). The IX Corps was soon transferred to Mississippi in June to participate in the siege of Vicksburg
but was returned to the Army of the Ohio in August.

Meanwhile, the new Army of the Ohio' XXIII Corps repelled

Knoxville Campaign. After the battle, he asked to be relieved of command due to illness. Maj. Gen. John G. Foster
replaced Burnside as commander of the Army and Department of the Ohio on December 9.

Foster's time in command of the Army was short. On February 9, 1864, Maj. Gen.

Jacob D. Cox
temporarily assumed command of the Army.

The XXIII Corps was ordered to North Carolina and only Cox's division was present for the

Carolinas Campaign
. With the close of the war, the troops were mustered out of military service. A number of post-war reunions were held by various elements of the old Army of the Ohio.

Commanders

Major battles and campaigns

Orders of Battle

  • Shiloh Union order of battle
  • Perryville Union order of battle
  • Knoxville Union order of battle
  • Atlanta Campaign Union order of battle
  • Franklin Union order of battle
  • Nashville Union order of battle
  • Wilmington Union order of battle

Notes

1. Livermore, Thomas L., Numbers and Losses in the American Civil War 1861–1865, New York, 1901, p. 95, cited in McDonough, James Lee, War in Kentucky, University of Tennessee Press, 1994, pp 289–290.

ISBN 978-0-8131-2209-0
.

References

  1. ^ Army of the Ohio 1863-1865

External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1921 Collier's Encyclopedia article about Army of the Ohio.
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