47th Ohio Infantry Regiment

The 47th Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment had 14 Medal of Honor recipients, the most of any Ohio regiment during the war.

47th Ohio Infantry Regiment
Ohio state flag
Active	August 13, 1861, to August 11, 1865
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Infantry
Engagements	Battle of Carnifex Ferry Siege of Vicksburg, May 19 & May 22 assaults Siege of Jackson Chattanooga Campaign Battle of Missionary Ridge Atlanta Campaign Battle of Resaca Battle of Dallas Battle of New Hope Church Battle of Allatoona Battle of Kennesaw Mountain Battle of Atlanta Siege of Atlanta Battle of Jonesboro Battle of Lovejoy's Station Sherman's March to the Sea Carolinas Campaign Battle of Bentonville
Commanders
Colonel	Frederick Poschner 1861–1862
Colonel	Lyman S. Elliott 1862–1863
Colonel	Augustus C. Parry 1863–1865

Service

The 47th Ohio Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Dennison near Cincinnati, Ohio and mustered on August 13, 1861,^[1] for three years service under the command of Colonel Frederick Poschner.

The regiment was attached to McCook's Brigade, Kanawha District, West Virginia, to October 1861. 1st Brigade, Kanawha Division, West Virginia, to March 1862. 2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division, West Virginia, to May 1862. 3rd Brigade, Kanawha Division, West Virginia, to August 1862. District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, Department of the Ohio, to December 1862. Ewing's Brigade, Kanawha Division, West Virginia, to January 1863. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, XV Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to October 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XV Corps, to June 1865. Department of Arkansas to August 1865.

The 47th Ohio Infantry mustered out of service at Little Rock, Arkansas, on August 11, 1865.

Detailed service

1861

 

Skirmishing at the New River

• Ordered to Clarksburg, Va., August 27; then moved to Weston August 29.
• Battle of Carnifex Ferry, Va., September 10, 1861.
• Advance to Camp Lookout and Big Sewell Mountain September 24–26.
• Retreat to Camp Anderson October 6–9.
• Operations in the Kanawha Valley and New River Region October 19-November 16.
• Moved to Gauley Bridge December 6, and duty there until April 23, 1862.

1862

• Expedition to Lewisburg April 23-May 10.
• Moved to Meadow Bluff May 29.
• Expedition to Salt Sulphur Springs June 22–25.
• Duty there until August.
• Moved to Gauley Bridge, thence to Summerville September 3.
• Campaign in the Kanawha Valley September 6–16.
• Retreat to Gauley Bridge September 10.
• Cotton Hill, Loop Creek, and Armstrong's Creek September 11.
• Charleston September 12.
• Duty at Point Pleasant and in the Kanawha Valley until December.

1863

• Ordered to Louisville, Ky., December 30; then to Memphis, Tenn., and to Young's Point, La., January 21, 1863.
• Expedition to Rolling Fork via Muddy, Steele's, and Black Bayous and Deer Creek March 14–27.
• Demonstrations on Haines and Drumgould's Bluffs April 29-May 2.
• Moved to Join army in rear of Vicksburg, Miss., May 2–14 via Richmond and Grand Gulf.
• Siege of Vicksburg May 18-July 4.
• Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22.
• Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4–10.
• Siege of Jackson, Miss., July 10–17.
• At Camp Sherman, Big Black, until September 26.
• Moved to Memphis, Tenn., then march to Chattanooga September 26-November 21.
• Operations on Memphis & Charleston Railroad in Alabama October 20–29.
• Bear Creek, Tuscumbia, October 27.
• Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23–27.
• Tunnel Hill November 23–24.
• Missionary Ridge November 25.
• Pursuit to Graysville November 26–27.
• March to relief of Knoxville November 28-December 8.
• Return to Bellefonte, Ala., then moved to Larkins' Landing, Ala.

1864

• Reconnaissance to Rome January 25-February 5, 1864.
• Reenlisted March 8. Veterans on furlough March 18-May 3.
• Atlanta Campaign May to September. Demonstrations on Resaca May 8–13.
• Near Resaca May 13.
• Battle of Resaca May 14–15.
• Advance on Dallas May 18–25.
• Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church, and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5.
• Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2.
• Assault on Kennesaw June 27.
• Nickajack Creek July 2–5.
• Ruff's Mills July 3–4.
• Chattahoochie River July 5–17.
• Battle of Atlanta July 22.
• Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25.
• Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25–30.
• Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1.
• Lovejoy's Station September 2–6.
• Operations against Hood in northern Georgia and northern Alabama September 29-November 3.
• Turkeytown and Gadsden Road October 25.
• March to the sea November 15-December 10.
• Siege of Savannah December 10–21.
• Fort McAllister December 13.

1865

• Campaign of the Carolinas January to April 1865.
• Cannon's Bridge, South Edisto River, S.C., February 8.
• North Edisto River February 12–13.
• Columbia February 15–17.
• Battle of Bentonville, N.C., March 20–21.
• Occupation of Goldsboro March 24.
• Advance on Raleigh April 10–14.
• Bennett's House April 26.
• Surrender of Johnston and his army.
• March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 30.
• Grand Review of the Armies May 24.
• Moved to Louisville, Ky., June; then to Little Rock, Ark., and duty there until August.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 219 men during service; 2 officers and 80 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 136 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

• Colonel Frederick Poschner
• Colonel Lyman S. Elliott
• Colonel Augustus Commodore Parry

Notable members

• Private Christian Albert,^[2][3] Company G - Medal of Honor —Participating in a diversionary "forlorn hope" attack on Confederate defenses, 22 May 1863.
• Private Frederick A. Ballen,^[4][5] Company B - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 3, 1863
• 1st Sergeant John H. Brown,^[6][7] Company A - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 19, 1863.
• Assistant Surgeon Andrew Davidson^[8][9] - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 3, 1863.
• Corporal Richard W. De Witt,^[10][11] Company D - Medal of Honor —Participating in a diversionary "forlorn hope" attack on Confederate defenses, 22 May 1863.
• Private John N. Eckes,^[12][13] Company E - Medal of Honor — Participating in the same "forlorn hope."
• Private Thomas Guinn,^[14][15] Company D - Medal of Honor — Participating in the same "forlorn hope."
• Private John Hack,^[16][15] Company B - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 3, 1863.
• Private Addison J. Hodges,^[17][9] Company B - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 3, 1863.
• Corporal Henry Lewis,^[17][18] Company B - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 3, 1863.
• Corporal Henry H. Nash,^[17][19] Company B - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 3, 1863.
• Private Henry C. Peters,^[17][20] Company B - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 3, 1863.
• Private Peter Sype,^[21][22] Company B - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 3, 1863.
• Captain William Henry Ward,^[23][24] Company B - Medal of Honor recipient for action during the siege of Vicksburg, May 3, 1863.

See also

• List of Ohio Civil War units
• Ohio in the Civil War

Notes

1. War Department (1880), p. 535.
2. Roster Commission (1886), p. 416, vol.IV.
3. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 18.
4. Roster Commission (1886), p. 396, vol.IV.
5. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 24.
6. Roster Commission (1886), p. 391, vol.IV.
7. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 43.
8. Roster Commission (1886), p. 70, vol.IV.
9. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 121.
10. Roster Commission (1886), p. 403, vol.IV.
11. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 75.
12. Roster Commission (1886), p. 409, vol.IV.
13. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 82.
14. Roster Commission (1886), p. 405, vol.IV.
15. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 105.
16. Roster Commission (1886), p. 397, vol.IV.
17. Roster Commission (1886), p. 395, vol.IV.
18. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 150.
19. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 180.
20. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 193.
21. Roster Commission (1886), p. 398, vol.IV.
22. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 240.
23. Roster Commission (1886), p. 394, vol.IV.
24. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 257.

References

• Castel, Albert (2000). Tom Taylor's Civil War. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
• Brown, Theodore F. (1909). Marching Through Georgia with Sherman from Atlanta to the Sea: Address Delivered at the Twenty-Third Annual Reunion of the Forty-Seventh Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry at Geo. H. Thomas Post Hall, Cincinnati September 28, 1909. West Alexandria, OH: Louis Mund. hdl:2027/mdp.39015065336573. OCLC 301205250.
• Dyer, Frederick H (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co. ASIN B01BUFJ76Q.
• Reid, Whitelaw (1868a). The History of the State During the War, and the Lives of Her Generals. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers. Vol. I. Cincinnati, OH: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin. p. 1112. ISBN 9781154801965. OCLC 11632330.
• Reid, Whitelaw (1868b). The History of Her Regiments, and Other Military Organizations. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers. Vol. II. Cincinnati, OH: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin. p. 1002. ISBN 9781154801965. OCLC 11632330.
• Roster Commission, Ohio (1886). Three Year's Service — 37th–53rd Regiments-Infantry. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War on the Rebellion, 1861–1865. Vol. IV. Akron, OH: The Werner Ptg. and Mfg. Co. p. 846. OCLC 181357575.
• Saunier, Joseph A (1903). A History of the Forty-Seventh Regiment, Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry: Second Brigade, Second Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, Army of Tennessee. Hillsboro, OH: Press of the Lyle Printing Company.
• Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare (1968). Edward M Kennedy, Chairman (ed.). Medal of Honor, 1863-1968 : "In the Name of the Congress of the United States". Committee print (United States. Congress), 90th Congress, 2nd session. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 1087. OCLC 1049691780.
• War Department, U.S. (1880). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 857196196.

External links

• Ohio in the Civil War: 47th Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Larry Stevens
• Culture, West Virginia Medal of Honor Recipients
• Vicksburg Medal of Honor Recipients