Ohio and the Civil War

Ohio has a unique place in the Civil War. Only Pennsylvania and New York sent more men to fight, but Ohio provided the military firepower to win the war. Grant, Sheridan and Sherman were Ohio-born. Lincoln's brain trust, part of the original "team of rivals," included Ohioans Salmon Chase and Edwin Stanton. Today Ohio is still significant when it comes to the Civil War.

Ohio has many Civil War re-enactment units and re-enactment opportunities. As an educator I have brought to my middle school the 19th Ohio Light Artillery, based out of Clinton, Ohio. The picture to the right is of the 19th Ohio, with a sepia effect added (notice cars in the parking lot and the parking lot light).

The cannon itself is an 1860's antique, but the limber a reproduction. The unit will actually haul the cannon to Michigan and participate in live shoots on a firing range! ( to enlarge)

A nice 50% powder charge is used to demonstrate the effect of the noise and it appropriately rattles our building, sets off a few car alarms and gets the middle school kids buzzing with energy (see right, click to enlarge). We have even used Styrofoam soldier cutouts (about 8-feet tall in size) as props on the field and the shock waves obliterate the Styrofoam.


There are re-enactment events scattered all about the state, from Findlay's Heritage Days to the Ohio Regimental Ball at the McKinley Grand Hotel in Canton, Zoar's Battle of the Ohio-Erie Canal and Hale Farm and Village's "Drums of August" Civil War Day. It was at one of these Civil War Day's at Hale Farm that I took a bunch of pictures shown here. To the left is a rebel reenactment group marching from the field of battle by the saw mill at Hale Farm. (click to enlarge)

Hale Farm is the perfect spot where a little photo-editing filtering of sepia tones can give the impression that the photo is authentic to the time. I have done some Photoshop fun to blend the sepia filtering with full color of the reenacting. Below is the same Confederate unit assembling in formation. (click to enlarge)


To better access this period in history, Hale Farm & Village has changed their living history year in the historically fictional town of Wheatfield from 1848 to 1862. Each year they will move the calendar forward until 1865 and then reset to 1861 and repeat the cycle. The historical buildings, most relocated here from northeast Ohio, give an authentic flair to Civil War reenactment. The two photos below are again Photoshop fun with sepia and modern tones. One is of a Union regiment on the march to battle, the other of "colored troops" (the moniker of the time) in camp. (click left or right below to enlarge)















One of the units at the Civil War Day was the Camp Chase Fife and Drums. Based in central Ohio, this unit performs throughout the country. (click pictures below to enlarge)












I had some some more Photoshop fun with a water color special effect on the soldiers marching off to the reenactment battle below. (click below to enlarge)

And yes... I get into the act too. My school purchased a reenactment uniform and I have used it to do small scale living history to my students. My uniform was based partially off of my great-great uncle, Joseph Hinson, who as a teenager enlisted in the 1st Ohio Infantry, saw action at Bull Run, then re-enlisted in the 33rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry (see right, click to enlarge). He rose to rank of Captain but regimental records show he finished the war (minus one arm) as the commanding officer of the regiment. Today there is a 33rd OVI reenactment group based out of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.

- J.