The 6th Ohio was organized in southwestern Ohio in the spring of 1861 and was mustered into Federal service on 12 May. Most of its recruits were from Hamilton County and surrounding areas. The Colonel and first commander was William K. Bosley, and Nicholas Longworth Anderson of Cincinnati was its first Lieutenant Colonel. Anderson did serve as the COL of the regiment during its last two years of service. The 6th was first sent to western Virginia before mustering out when its initial three-months term of enlistment expired. Reorganized as a three-years regiment, the 6th Ohio Infantry spent the next three years in the Western Theater before being mustered out on 23 June 1864. While serving, the regiment engaged in several skirmishes and two major campaigns; Murfreesboro, and Chickamauga. Towards the end of their service, they fought in Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.