51st Ohio Infantry

The 51st Ohio Volunteer Infantry (or 51st OVI) was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Service
The 51st Ohio Infantry was organized at Camp Meigs in Dover, Ohio beginning September 17, 1861 and mustered in for three years service on October 26, 1861 under the command of Colonel Thomas Stanley Matthews. The regiment was recruited in Coshocton, Darke, Madison, and Tuscarawas counties.

The regiment was attached to 15th Brigade, Army of the Ohio, to December 1861. 15th Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to March 1862. Unattached, Nashville, Tennessee, to June 1862. 10th Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to July 1862. 23rd Independent Brigade, Army of the Ohio, to August 1862. 23rd Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September 1862. 23rd Brigade, 5th Division, II Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November 1862. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, Left Wing, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January 1863. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, XXI Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, IV Corps, to June 1865. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, IV Corps, to August 1865. Department of Texas to October 1865.

The 51st Ohio Infantry mustered out of service at Victoria, Texas on October 3, 1865. The regiment was discharged at Columbus, Ohio November 3, 1865.

Detailed service
Moved to Wellsville November 3, thence to Louisville, Ky., and duty there until December 10. Duty at Camp Wickliffe, Ky., until February 1862. Expedition down the Ohio River to reinforce General Grant, thence to Nashville, Tenn., February 14–25. Occupation of Nashville February 25. Provost duty there until July 9. Moved to Tullahoma, Tenn., and joined Nelson's Division. March to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 21-September 26. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1–22. Battle of Perryville, Ky., October 8. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 22-November 7, and duty there until December 26. Dobbins' Ferry, near Lawrence, December 9. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26–30. Battle of Stones River December 30–31, 1862 and January 1–3, 1863. Duty at Murfreesboro until June. Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. At McMinnville until August 16. Passage of Cumberland Mountain and Tennessee River and Chickamauga Campaign August 16-September 22. Battle of Chickamauga September 19–20. Siege of Chattanooga, Tenn., September 24-November 23. Reopening Tennessee River October 26–29. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23–27. Lookout Mountain November 23–24. Missionary Ridge November 25. Ringgold Gap, Taylor's Ridge November 27. Duty at Whiteside until January 1864. Reenlisted January 1, 1864. At Blue Springs, near Cleveland, until May. Atlanta Campaign May to September. Tunnel Hill May 6–7. Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge and Dalton May 8–13. Buzzard's Roost Gap May 8–9. Battle of Resaca May 14–15. Near Kingston May 18–19. Near Cassville May 19. Advance on Dallas May 22–25. 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. Pine Hill June 11–14. Lost Mountain June 15–17. Assault on Kennesaw June 27. Ruff's Station, Smyrna Camp Ground, July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5–17. Peachtree Creek July 19–20. 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. Moved to Pulaski, Tenn. Nashville Campaign November-December. Columbia, Duck River, November 24–27. Battle of Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15–16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17–28. Moved to Huntsville, Ala., and duty there until March 1865. Operations in eastern Tennessee March 15-April 22. Duty at Nashville, Tenn., until June. Ordered to New Orleans, La., June 16, thence to Texas. Duty at Indianola, Green Lake and Victoria, Texas, to October.

Casualties
The regiment lost a total of 346 men during service; 4 officers and 108 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 233 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

 * Colonel William P. N. Fitzgerald - appointed and resigned October 14, 1861
 * Colonel Thomas Stanley Matthews - commissioned October 23, 1863 and resigned April 14, 1863
 * Colonel Richard W. McClain - commanded at the battles of Perryville and Stones River as lieutenant colonel; promoted to colonel, May 25, 1863 and resigned September 30, 1864
 * Colonel Charles H. Wood - commanded at the battle of Nashville as lieutenant colonel
 * Colonel David W. Marshall - appointed regimental commander as lieutenant colonel January 21, 1865

Notes and references

 * Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908.
 * Helwig, Simon. The Capture and Prison Life in Rebeldom for Fourteen Months of Simon Helwig, late Private Co. F. 51st O.V.I. (Canal Dover, OH: Bixler Printing Company), n.d.
 * Ohio Roster Commission. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War on the Rebellion, 1861–1865, Compiled Under the Direction of the Roster Commission (Akron, OH: Werner Co.), 1886-1895.
 * Reid, Whitelaw. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers (Cincinnati, OH: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin), 1868. ISBN 9781154801965
 * Schaar, Nancy Boothe. Letters from the 51st OVI (New Philadelphia, OH: Tuscarawas County Genealogical Society), 2001.
 * Attribution