Arming the Buckeyes Pt. 2: Longarms of Ohio’s Infantry Regiments



In part one of this series, we explored how Ohio’s first 126 infantry regiments were armed at the outset of the Civil War. This post will explore how Ohio’s regiments that entered service from 1863-1865 were armed. It is worth noting that Ohio’s regiments went out in eight distinct phases during the course of the war:

1)     90 days’ men (April-May 1861) 1st- 22nd

2)     Three years’ men (June 1861-March 1862) 1st-83rd

3)     The Three Months’ Men (June-July 1862) 84th-88th

4)     The 300,000-more (August 1862-January 1863) 89th-126th

5)     The Morgan Response (June-August 1863) 86th, 127th-129th

6)     Hundred Days’ Men (May 1864) 130th-172nd

7)     Eleven More in 64 (September-November 1864) 173rd-183rd

8)     The Lucky 13 (February-April 1865) 184th-197th

          Phases 1-4 were covered in part 1 of this article; phase 5-8 will be covered in this article.

         To help set the stage, Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field in 1861-1862. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on their way to Washington by the Federal government. At the conclusion of their three-month term of service, those weapons were returned to the Federal government for reissue to the three years’ regiments.  

          The men went to war with what could be secured, and much of what was issued through the end of 1861 were older U.S. Model altered flintlocks, muskets, and rifle muskets along with a smattering of imported arms, primarily the much-desired English Enfield rifle. That situation changed as the Federal government secured sufficient supplies of domestically produced Springfield rifle muskets in the latter half of 1862 and into 1863. By the spring of 1863, the state of Ohio embarked on a program whereby its regiments in the field exchanged their second- and third-class firearms for modern Enfield and Springfield rifle muskets. That said, the story of arming Ohio’s later war regiments is largely a matter of figuring out which ones got Enfields or Springfields.  

As the Civil War progressed, improvements in the supply of domestically produced late model Springfield rifle muskets allowed federal and state governments to rearm their regiments in the field with class 1 firearms and also ensured that new regiments went to the field suitably equipped for combat. That said, nearly all of Ohio's regiments that left the state from 1863-1865 were armed with either Springfield or Enfield rifle muskets with just a few exceptions. 


The Morgan Response

          The invasion of Ohio by General John H. Morgan’s cavalry in the summer of 1863 spurred the enlistment of the 86th and 129th regiments for short term service and both saw action in eastern Tennessee. The 127th Ohio, the state’s only regiment of black soldiers, was enlisted from August-November 1863 and became the 5th U.S. Colored Troops. The 128th Ohio was an outgrowth of the Hoffman Battalion tasked with guarding prisoners of war at the Johnson’s Island camp on Lake Erie. The series of Union victories in the fall of 1863 led to the need for the Battalion to be increased in size and it became the 128th Ohio.

 

86th Ohio (Second Organization- 9 months)

Q3 1863: 433 .58 caliber Austrian Lorenz rifles, 90 .54 caliber Austrian Lorenz rifles (Co. A), (Cos. A, D, and I missing)

Q4 1863: 60 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets (Co. H only), 193 .58 caliber Austrian Lorenz rifle muskets (Cos. C, E, and G only), balance of regiment not reported

127th Ohio/5th U.S. Colored Troops

Q4 1863: 663 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets (Co. K report missing)

Hoffman Battalion (Johnson’s Island guards)

Q3 1863: 394 .69 caliber M1842 smoothbore muskets

Q4 1863: 394 .69 caliber M1842 smoothbore muskets

128th Ohio (expansion of Hoffman Battalion to regiment)

Q1 1864: 864 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets, 294 .69 caliber M1842 rifled muskets (Cos. A, B, and D only)

Q3 1864: 957 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

129th Ohio (6 months’ service- August 1863-March 1864)

Q3 1863: 500 .54 caliber Austrian Lorenz rifle muskets (Cos.) F, G, H, and K reports missing)

Q4 1863: 479 .54 caliber Austrian Lorenz rifle muskets, 4 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. B only), (Cos. E, G, H, and K reports missing)

 

The vast majority of Ohio's Federalized National Guardsmen went to war in May 1864 carrying some version of the popular English-made .577 caliber Enfield rifle musket. It is worth noting that prior to entering Federal service, many of these troops were armed with class 3 firearms. One example would be the 144th Ohio which was formed from the 19th Battalion, O.N.G. of Wyandot County and the 64th Battalion, O.N.G. from Wood County. The 19th Battalion was armed with both .72 caliber Model 1809 Prussian smoothbores and .71 caliber French Model 1842s; the 64th Battalion had a stock of .69 caliber U.S. Model 1822 smoothbores. After mustering into Federal service, both battalions received Enfields for field service but upon their return in August 1864, retrieved their old firearms from the state arsenal and returned to their respective county seats. 

Arming Ohio’s Hundred Days’ Men

          In the spring of 1864, Ohio sent forth 42 regiments of Federalized National Guardsmen for 100 days’ service. The second quarter 1864 ordnance returns provide the details of how most of these federalized Ohio National Guardsmen were armed. These regiments primarily served in the rear areas of the eastern theater although a few of them served in Kentucky. Many of these regiments saw active service around Petersburg, Washington, or the Shenandoah Valley and two of them (the 168th and 171st) were captured nearly entire in their lone engagement at Keller’s Bridge, Kentucky in June 1864.  All 42 regiments mustered out in August-September 1864 and as shown below, these troops were almost universally armed with .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets with few exceptions.

130th Ohio

756 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

131st Ohio

873 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

132nd Ohio

566 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. I report missing)

133rd Ohio

587 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. K report missing)

134th Ohio

745 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

135th Ohio

81 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets (Co. B)

598 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Cos. A, C, D, E, G, H, I, K)

(Co. F report missing

136th Ohio

22 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets (general stores)

730 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. K report missing)

137th Ohio

13 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. I only)

Balance of arms not reported

138th Ohio

187 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Cos. D, E, F, H, and I)

Balance of arms not reported

139th Ohio

638 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. D report missing)

140th Ohio

778 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

141st Ohio

797 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

142nd Ohio

137 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets (general stores)

547 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Cos. C, F, H, and I reports missing)

143rd Ohio

715 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

144th Ohio

656 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. G report missing)

145th Ohio

76 .58 caliber Springfield rifle muskets (Co. I only)

629 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. G report missing)

146th Ohio

799 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

147th Ohio

750 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

148th Ohio

679 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

149th Ohio

788 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

150th Ohio

876 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

151st Ohio

766 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

152nd Ohio

737 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

153rd Ohio

655 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. E report missing)

154th Ohio

723 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

155th Ohio

655 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

156th Ohio

799 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

157th Ohio

756 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

158th Ohio (organization began but not completed)

159th Ohio

619 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. F report missing)

160th Ohio

794 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

161st Ohio

768 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

162nd Ohio

28 .54 caliber Austrian Lorenz rifles (Co. K only)

156 .69 caliber M1842 smoothbores (Cos. B and D)

Balance of regiment not reported

163rd Ohio

694 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

164th Ohio

601 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Cos. C and K reports missing)

165th Ohio

520 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Cos. C, I and K reports missing)

166th Ohio

849 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

167th Ohio

708 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

168th Ohio

No report (regiment had been captured a few weeks prior at Cynthiana)

169th Ohio

861 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

170th Ohio

680 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. G report missing)

171st Ohio

No report (regiment had been captured a few weeks prior at Cynthiana)

172nd Ohio

No report (regiment had .69 caliber cartridges but no reported weapons)

 

Over 1,000,000 Model 1861 Springfields were produced during the war such that it became the standard arm of the Union army the last two years of the war. Production centered at the government's Springfield Arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts, but 20 other makers produced the Model 1861 under Federal contract including such companies as Colt Firearms in Hartford, Connecticut, Whitney Firearms Co. in Whitneyville, Connecticut and as depicted above, the Savage Revolving Firearms Co. of Middletown, Connecticut.
(Image courtesy of Mike Santarelli)

11 More in 64

          In the fall of 1864, Ohio sent forth another 11 regiments of one-year service troops, the regiments numbering from 173 to 183. All of these regiments were sent to either Alabama or Tennessee, the intention being to have them serve as a rear area garrison as General Sherman’s forces pushed south from Atlanta. Hood’s invasion of Tennessee led to several of these regiments seeing significant action in the Battles of Franklin and Nashville. With Hood’s defeat, most of the 23rd Army Corps was sent to North Carolina, among them several Ohio regiments of this group who took part in the capture of Wilmington and action at the Battle of Wise’s Forks. With the exception of the 173rd Ohio, they all were armed with .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets.

173rd Ohio

Q3 1864: 908 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

Q4 1864: 848 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

174th Ohio

Q3 1864: 844 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

Q4 1864: 638 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

175th Ohio

Q4 1864: 370 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets, 11 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets

176th Ohio

Q3 1864: 871 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

Q4 1864: 877 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

177th Ohio

Q3 1864: 822 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

Q4 1864: 770 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

178th Ohio

Q3 1864: 80 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

Q4 1864: 669 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

179th Ohio

Q4 1864: 818 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

180th Ohio

Q4 1864: 746 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

181st Ohio

Q4 1864: 630 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets (Co. B report missing)

182nd Ohio

Q4 1864: 835 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets

183rd Ohio

Q4 1864: 482 .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets, 5 .577 caliber Enfield rifle muskets (Co. C only)

The Lucky 13: Ohio’s 1865 Regiments

          In the winter and early spring of 1865, Ohio sent forth another 13 regiments of infantry, all of them led by veteran commanders and containing many veterans who had served in earlier three years’ regiments. Two more infantry regiments were started but did not complete organization including the 190th and 198th Ohio regiments. These regiments went into service primarily in Tennessee and Virginia but few saw any serious action outside of small-scale skirmishing with Confederate cavalry or battling bushwhackers. They’ve been called the “Lucky 13” as they had the luck to come into service in the war’s closing days. Unfortunately, ordnance records do not indicate how these troops were armed but if the arming practices for Ohio’s previous 11 regiments are any indicator, the 184th-197th regiments were most likely armed with .58 caliber M1861 Springfield rifle muskets.

184th-197th Ohio

No reports on file


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