164th Ohio Infantry Regiment

The 164th Ohio Infantry Regiment, sometimes 164th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (or 164th OVI) was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

164th Ohio Infantry Regiment
Active	May 11, 1864 - August 27, 1864
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Infantry
Engagements	Battle of Fort Stevens

Service

The 164th Ohio Infantry was organized at Camp Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio, and mustered in May 11, 1864, for 100 days service under the command of Colonel John Calvin Lee.

The regiment left Ohio for Washington, D.C., May 14 and was attached to 1st Brigade, DeRussy's Division, XXII Corps. It was assigned to duty on south side of the Potomac River as garrison at Fort C. F. Smith, Fort Strong, Fort Bennett, Fort Haggerty and other forts and batteries in the defenses of Washington, D.C. until August. Participated in the repulse of Early's attack on Washington July 11–12.

The 164th Ohio Infantry mustered out of service August 27, 1864.

Ohio Militia

Over 35,000 Ohio Militiamen were federalized and organized into regiments for 100 days service in May 1864. Shipped to the Eastern Theater, they were designed to be placed in "safe" rear areas to protect railroads and supply points, thereby freeing regular troops for Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s push on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. As events transpired, many units found themselves in combat, stationed in the path of Confederate Gen. Jubal Early’s veteran Army of the Valley during its famed Valley Campaigns of 1864. Ohio Guard units met the battle-tested foe head on and helped blunt the Confederate offensive thereby saving Washington, D.C. from capture. Ohio Militia units participated in the battles of Monacacy, Fort Stevens, Harpers Ferry, and in the siege of Petersburg.

Casualties

The regiment lost 18 enlisted men during service, all due to disease.

Commanders

• Colonel John Calvin Lee

Notable members

• Pvt. John Peter Altgeld - 20th Governor of Illinois, 1893-1897

See also

• American Civil War portal
• Ohio portal

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

References

• Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908.
• 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

Attribution

• This article contains text from a text now in the public domain: Dyer, Frederick H. (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Publishing Co.

External links

• Ohio in the Civil War: 164th Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Larry Stevens