April 27, 1861               Mustered by Captain Grainger for 3 months service (Camp Harrison).

June 18, 1861               Mustered by Captain Walker, U.S. Army, for 3 years service (Camp Dennison - Aggregate

                                    1,016 men.

June 30, 1861               Left Camp Dennison.

July 4, 1861                  On duty, Grafton, West Virginia.

July 13, 1861                Battle of Carricks Ford (6th arrived to late to take part).  Bivouac  Cheat River.

August, 1861                 Went into camp at the foot of Cheat Mountain.  Involved in reconnaissance, holding

                                     fortifications, and skirmishing.  40 men of the 6OVI placed as advanced picket post.

                                     Company "I" taken prisoner (exchanged in fall of 1862).

Nov. 26-29, 1861           Moved by steamer to Louisville where the 6th OVI joined the Army of the Ohio, General

                                     Don Carlos Buell commanding.  Enter Camp Jenkins (later named Camp Buell).

Dec. 9, 1861 -                Camp Wickliffe, Kentucky.

Feb. 13, 1862

Dec. 6, 1861                  6th OVI place in 15th Brigade-Col. M.S. Hascall, commanding.  Brigadier General "Bull" 

                                     Nelson commanding the 4th Division.

Feb. 25, 1862                Army of the Ohio, 4th Division, reached Nashville.  6th OVI was the first regiment of the

                                     division to march through town.

March, 1862                  Army of the Ohio moved southward from Nashville.  Crossed Duck River at Columbia,

                                    Tennessee.

April 5, 1862                 Set up camp at Savannah, Tennessee.

April 7. 1862                 Battle of Shiloh (2nd Day).  Division was advanced at daybreak and engaged on the left. 

                                     Several companies of the 6th sent out as a part of the skirmish line to drive off the enemy.

                                     6th ordered to support Terrill's battery of 5th U.S. Artillery.  Volunteers from 6th take gun

                                     positions as Terrill's gun crews become depleted.  Final charge by the division clears enemy

                                     from Stuart's camps.  Army camped on the field of battle.

May 24, 1862                The advance on Corinth, Mississippi commenced.

July 17, 1862                 Division ordered to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  Remained there a week, then ordered to

                                     McMinnville, Tennessee where they went into camp.  At McMinnville, 6th OVI detailed as

                                     provost guards and quartered in town.

August 17, 1862            Movement of the Army of the Ohio to Louisville commenced.

September, 1862           Army reaches Louisville.  In a reorganization of the Army of the Ohio, 6th OVI placed in 3rd

                                     Brigade (Col. Grose), 2nd Division (Brig. Gen. W.S. Smith), 14 Corps (Maj. Gen. T.S. Crittenden).

                                     Division marched across Ky. in pursuit of Bragg to within 35 miles of Cumberland Gap.

October 24, 1862           Buell replaced as commander of the Army of the Ohio by Major General Wm. Rosecrans.

Nov. 23, 1862                Went into camp at Nashville, Tennessee.

Dec. 26, 1862                Brigade marched south toward Murfreesboro as part of the army's left wing under Major

                                     General T.S. Crittenden.  6th OVI in 2nd Division (Brigadier General John M. Palmer).

Dec. 31, 1862                Battle of Stone's River commenced.  Division heavily engaged.  (Out of 383 officers and men in

                                     the 6th OVI, 152 were killed, wounded or captured).

January, 1863                Battle of Stone's River (no major action took place on January 1, 1863).  6th OVI heavily 

                                     engaged in support of the left (7 casualties).

Jan.-May, 1863              Army of the Ohio is renamed the Army of the Cumberland.  6th OVI camped in Murfreesboro.

June 24, 1863                Army moved south against rebel forces at Tullahoma.  Hard maching but no fighting for the

                                      6th.

August 16, 1863             Campaign against Chattanooga commenced.

Sept. 19-20, 1863          The regiment activley engaged at Chickamauga losing 12 killed and wounded out of 384

                                      officers  and men.  Colonel Nicholas Anderson (commanding the 6th) was wounded on the

                                     19th, and the regiment was under the command of Major Erwin until October when Lt. Col.

                                     Christopher joined the regiment from the recruiting service.  After the army fell back to

                                     Chattanooga, the 20th and 21st Corps were consolidated as the 4th Corps under Major

                                     General Gordon Granger.  The 6th OVI became part of the 2nd Brigade.

October 25, 1863           The shutting up of the army at Chattanooga after the fiasco at Chickamauga, and the scarcity

                                     of rations was a severe test of endurance for both officers and men.  The affair known as the

                                     Battle of Browns Ferry, was fought by picked men from the brigades of Hazen and Turchin,

                                     which the 6th furnished it due portion of men.  This battle opened up what is known as the

                                     "Cracker Line" and supplies were then made available for the besieged troops of

                                      Chattanooga.

Nov. 23-25, 1863           When active operations commenced in front of Chattanooga, the 4th Army Corps occupied

                                     the center, and the 6th was in the advance upon Orchard Knob on the 23rd, and in the charge

                                     up Missionary Ridge on the 25th.  While actively engaged in skirmishing on the 25th Major

                                     Erwin was killed, and in the first line of battle on the afternoon of the same day the 6th lost

                                     33 out of a total of 265 officers and men.

June 6, 1864                 Battle of Resaca (Georgia).  After guarding a railroad bridge over the Oostenaula River, the

                                     6th OVI was released from duty and ordered home to be mustered out of service.

June 15, 1864               The regiment arrived at Cincinnati and was mustered out of service on June 23, 1864 at

                                     Camp Dennison.

 

Many of the men of the 6th OVI reenlisted in Hancock's "Veteran Corps" after mustering out.  The 6th OVI marched, in round numbers, 3250 miles and travelled by steamer 2,650 miles.  The 6th was in four pitched battles losing a total of 325 killed, wounded and missing.  In addition, it shared a half dozen skirmishes and lesser engagements.  A large number of enlisted men, at least 75, received commissions in other regiments.  11 of these were in the regular army.

The 6th was in a good state of discipline from start to finish.  The men were always cheerful, willing, and obedient, and were at all times ready for duty.  It is sufficient to say that both officers and men enjoyed to the fullest the confidence of their brigade, division, and corps commanders.  They earned a reputation in the Army of the Ohio and Army of the Cumberland that their native city should well be proud of.

Upper left:   Ebenezer Hannaford, regimental historian, image courtesy of Larry M. Strayer