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History & Genealogy

Source:
HISTORY of JEROME TOWNSHIP, UNION COUNTY, OHIO
Curry, W. L. : Columbus, Ohio: Press of the E. T. Miller Co.
1913

54TH REGIMENT
OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
- THREE YEARS SERVICE -
pg. 107

     This regiment was organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, in the summer and fall of 1861, under Colonel Thomas Kirby Smith, who was promoted to a Brigadier-General August 11th, 1863.
     Fourteen Jerome Township soldiers are credited to the regiment, of whom James Clark and David Kent died in the service.  The regiment was ordered to Kentucky in February, 1862, and arrived at Paducah on the 20th of that month, where it was assigned to the division of General W. T. Sherman.  The regiment was among the first troops to arrive by steamer, going up the Tennessee River, at Pittsburg Landing, early in March.
     It was on outpost duty continuously through the month

Pg. 108 -
of March, and when the battle of Shiloh commenced it held the Union lines on the extreme left.  It participated in that bloody battle, April 6th and 7th, with a loss in killed, wounded and missing of about two hundred men.  During the siege of Corinth the regiment was on the front line the greater part of the time until the evacuation of that stronghold by the Confederates, May 30th, and had a number of skirmishes and minor engagements.
     Soon after the evacuation of Corinth the regiment moved with the Division to LaGrange, Tenn., and then on to Holly Springs, Miss.  In July the regiment marched to Memphis, Tenn., and from here was on several scouting and reconnoitering expeditions, and was with the advance of Sherman's army on the first expedition against Vicksburg.
     In the engagement at Chickasaw Bayou, on the 28th and 29th of December, the regiment lost twenty men killed and wounded.  In January, 1863, it took part in the assault and capture of Arkansas Post.
     From this place the Fifty-fourth proceeded to Young's Point, La., and for a time was employed in digging a canal; then marched to the rescue of a fleet of gunboats which were about to be destroyed.  In May it moved with Grant's army to the rear of Vicksburg, was engaged in the battles of Champion Hills and Big Black Bridge, and on the 19th and 22nd of May took an active part in the assault upon the enemy's works, losing in the two days forty-seven men killed and wounded.
     In October the regiment proceeded to Memphis and thence to Chattanooga, taking part in the assault on Mission Ridge, November 26th.  The following day it marched to the relief of Knoxville and after pursuing the enemy through Tennessee into North Carolina returned to Chattanooga, and from there proceeded to Larkinsville, Ala.  On the 22nd of January, 186-4, the Fifty-fourth reenlisted, and after the furlough to Ohio, returned to the Army with 200 recruits.
     In May it joined Sherman's Atlanta campaign, and participated in the engagements at Resaca. Dallas and New Hope

Pg. 109 -
Church.  In the assault upon Kenesaw Mountain, June 27th, the regiment lost twenty-eight killed and wounded.  At Nicojack Creek, July 3rd, thirteen were killed, wounded and missing; in the battles on the east side of Atlanta, July 21st and 22nd, ninety-four were killed, wounded and missing; and at Ezra Chapel, on the 28th, eight more were added to the list of killed and wounded.
     From this time until the 27th of August the Fifty-fourth was continually engaged in the works before Atlanta.  It took a prominent part in the engagement at Jonesboro, pursued Hood northward, returned and marched to the sea, taking part in the capture of Fort McAllister on the 15th of December.  It moved through the Carolinas, participating in many skirmishes, and in the last battle of the war at Bentonville, N. C, March 21st, 1865.
     The regiment moved to Richmond, Va., and from there to Washington City. After passing in review it moved to Louisville, Ky., thence to Little Rock, Ark., and there performed garrison duty until mustered out, August 15th, 1865.
     The regiment marched upward of 3,500 miles, participated in seventeen hard-fought battles and many skirmishes.  The losses in killed, wounded, died of disease and missing were five hundred and six.  It fought in the States of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, and North Carolina.

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