The Sixty-Fifth was one of the regiments included in the brigade
raised at Mansfield, Ohio, by the Hon. John Sherman. It was organized at
Camp Buckingham, near Mansfield, on the 3d of October, 1861, and was
mustered into service on the 1st of December. The regiment left Mansfield
for active duty on the 18th of December, and moved, by way of Cincinnati, to
Louisville, Kentucky, where it remained for a week, and then marched to Camp
Morton, four miles east of Bardstown, arriving on the 30th of December. The
Sixty-Fifth was assigned to a brigade composed of the 64th and 65th Ohio,
the 51st Indiana, and the 9th Kentucky. Colonel Charles G. Harker, of the
65th, commanded the brigade, and General Wood the division.
On the 13th of January, 1862, the brigade broke camp, and passing
through Bardstown, Springfield, Lebanon, Haysville, Danville and Stanford,
Kentucky, arrived at Hall's Gap on the 24th. The regiment was ordered to
corduroy the roads. The labor was severe, the country being swampy; and the
miasma engendered disease to such degree that many of the men died. On the
7th of February the regiment marched to Lebanon, and on the 12th embarked on
cars for Green River. It arrived at Camp Wood, near Munfordsville, on the
13th, where it remained until the 23d, when it crossed Green River on the
Railroad bridge, and passing Bowling Green, Franklin, Tyree Springs and
Goodlettsville, arrived at Nashville on the 13th of March, and went into
camp two and a half miles south-east of the city. On this march the troops
were forced, at times, to march through the woods and on by-roads, as the
Rebels had destroyed the turnpike in places. The men were compelled
frequently to transport the contents of the baggage wagons on their backs
over steep hills; and in one instance, after marching three days,
the regiment had only advanced twelve miles.
On the 29th of March, the regiment, with General Garfield in command
of the brigade, marched by way of Columbia to Savannah, where it arrived on
the 6th of April, and on the morning of the 7th it moved on steamer to
Pittsburg Landing. At four o'clock P.M. it was on the battlefield of Shiloh,
but it did not become actively engaged. It lost two men wounded. The
regiment next participated in the movements against Corinth, and during the
siege was under fire almost hourly. After the evacuation it moved through
Eastport, Iuka, Tuscumbia, Decatur and Huntsville to Bridgeport, where it
was engaged in guarding the Tennessee River until the 29th of August, when
it marched northward in pursuit of Bragg's army, passing through
Murphreesboro', Nashville and Bowling Green, arriving at Louisville on the
24th of September. After resting about a week it moved to the vicinity of
Perryville, and from there marched to Nashville.
In the reorganization of the army at Nashville, under General
Rosecrans, the regiment remained in its old brigade, with Colonel Harker
commanding. On the 26th of December the brigade moved on the Nashville Pike,
in Crittenden's corps, fighting its way into Lavergne, across Stewart's
Creek and up to Stone River. On the night of the 29th the brigade crossed
Stone River under orders, the men wading in water to their armpits, in the
face of a murderous fire. The opposite bank was gained, and a line was
formed, but supports failed to come up and the brigade was ordered to
retire, which it did in good order. Crittenden's corps lay on its arms all
that night and during the whole of the next day; it was waiting for McCook
to move on the right. Early on the morning of the 31st, McCook's corps was
driven back, and Harker's brigade was ordered to its support. The brigade
met a storm of bullets, and a solid column of exultant Rebels. For eight
hours the brigade was engaged heavily, and at last succeeded in checking the
Rebel army. In this engagement the Sixty-Fifth lost two officers killed and
eight wounded (one mortally), and thirty-eight men killed, one hundred and
six wounded, nineteen missing, and three deserted in the face of the enemy.
All the commissioned officers of Company A were either killed or wounded;
but Sergeant Culbertson Henwood bravely took command of the company and led
it through the battle. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant by Governor Tod.
The regiment was under fire throught the entire engagement.
The regiment remained at Murfreesboro' until the 7th of June, 1863,
when it moved to the vicinity of Chattanooga, and on the 7th of September,
skirmished with the enemy, losing one man. During the first day of the
battle of Chickamauga, the regiment was held in reserve at Lee and Gordon's
Mills until five o'clock in the afternoon, when it became briskly engaged.
Gallant Second Lieutenant Henwood was killed in this action. The regiment
moved to the left center and lay on its arms all night. On the next morning
at 10 o'clock it advanced about a mile but was driven back to a ridge, on
which it reformed. Fighting continued all day with alternate success and
reverse. On the night of the 20th the entire army fell back to Mission
Ridge, and from there to Chattanooga. In this engagement the regiment lost
three officers killed and five wounded, and thirteen men killed, sixty
wounded, and twenty-four missing. During the siege of Chattanooga supplies
became exceedingly scarce, and men and animals suffered greatly. The
regiment participated in the battle of Mission Ridge, with a loss of one
officer wounded, one man killed, and thirteen wounded.
In the Atlanta campaign the Sixty-Fifth was under fire almost
constantly. At Lookout Mountain it lost three men wounded and one missing.
At Resaca it lost one officer wounded, two men killed and twenty-five
wounded. At Dallas it lost one officer wounded, one man killed and four
wounded. At Marietta it lost one officer killed, one man killed and ten
wounded. In a skirmish near Kenesaw it lost two men wounded; and in a charge
on Kenesaw it lost one officer killed and one wounded, and two men killed
and six wounded. In this charge Brigadier-General Charles Harker, formerly
Colonel of the Sixty-Fifth, was killed. At Peachtree Creek it lost four men
wounded and one missing; and at Atlanta, on the 22d of July, it lost one man
killed and one wounded. The regiment participated in the flanking movement
to Jonesboro', and from there advanced to Lovejoy. After the evacuation of
Atlanta it fell back to that place and went into camp.
The Sixty-Fifth remained at Atlanta about three weeks and then moved
in pursuit of Hood. It marched to Mission Ridge, and was sent from there, on
cars, to Alpine, Georgia; but after remaining there four days it moved to
Chattanooga, and was engaged in guarding the Railroad near the Tennessee
River. On the 29th of November the regiment participated in the battle of
Spring Hill, losing two officers wounded (one of whom was captured), and
five men killed, twenty wounded and fourteen missing. On the 30th of
November it was engaged in the battle of Franklin, with a loss of one man
killed, twenty-two wounded and twenty-one missing. The non-veterans were
discharged on the 3d of October, 1864, leaving the regiment with an
aggregate of one hundred and thirty men. The regiment was engaged in the
battle of Nashville and in the pursuit of the Rebel army across the
Tennessee. When the pursuit was abandoned the regiment returned to Nashville
and went into camp.
In June , 1865, the regiment moved from Nashville to Johnsonville, on
the Tennessee River, where it embarked on transports for New Orleans. It
remained at New Orleans for several weeks and was then ordered to Texas.
It performed garrison duty at San Antonio until December, 1865, when it was
ordered to Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, where it mustered out, paid, and
discharged, on the 2d of January, 1866.
From: Ohio in the War
By Whitelaw Reid
Moore, Wilstach and Baldwin
Cincinnati Ohio 1868
For more info see the 65th Ohio Infantry
page at Ohio in the Civil War.
Mail: lstevens@core.com