On April 15, only days after the bombardment of union occupied Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for seventy-five thousand state militiamen to serve for 90 days. Ohio was expected to enlist thirteen regiments of one thousand men each. Two of the regiments were to be sent directly to Washington for defense of the Capital due to the proximity to slave owning states. Ohioans enthusiastically volunteered. Volunteers from every walk of life swarmed Columbus to join the war effort. “Ohio’s little country capital of Columbus, with its fewer than twenty thousand residents, was overrun with would-be soldiers and had nowhere to put them. ” Once Ohio’s quota of soldiers was filled Governor Dennison persuaded the legislature to approve ten additional regiments, ten thousand men, for defense. The remaining volunteer units were disbanded. Only a week after the attack on Fort Sumter, the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry regiments were formed and sent to Washington in response to the President’s request. O.V.I regiments 3rd through 13th were formed in the following months.

In an effort to protect the state, feed and shelter soldiers, and aid the federal government the Ohio state legislature passed several acts and appropriations, including the “million dollar war bill” and an act to exempt volunteers’ property from foreclosure.

Photo:

Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor: 12th & 13th of April, 1861, created by Currier & Ives. Library of Congress

Source:

Bissland, James. Blood, Tears, & Glory: How Ohioans Won the Civil War, Orange Frazer Press, Willmington: Ohio, 2007