21st Ohio Infantry The 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War . Mostly an all - volunteer unit , with the exception of a few draftees , the 21st Ohio served for both ninety - day and three - year enlistments and fought exclusively in the Western Theater . It saw action in some of the war ' s bloodiest battles including Stones River , Chickamauga , the Atlanta Campaign , and Sherman ' s March to the Sea . Three - months regiment . On April 27 , 1861 , volunteers from throughout northwestern Ohio were organized into the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry at Camp Taylor , near Cleveland , Ohio . The recruits hailed from the counties of Hancock , Defiance , Wood , Ottawa , Sandusky and Putnam . Many were farmers and farmers ' sons who had spent years taming the Great Black Swamp , a huge , black , liquid mire that still blanketed a good portion of the region , in order to cultivate the rich soil beneath it . Other early volunteers were merchants , lawyers , school teachers , blacksmiths , politicians and a county sheriff who was a veteran of the Mexican - American War . Of the soldiers in the regiment , Captain , Americus V . Rice , would become a brigadier general by the end of the war . In addition , among the privates , Thomas W . Custer and Edward S . Godfrey , both would later win the Medal of Honor ( Custer won two ) . Both later fought with the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn , Godfrey survived and eventually retired as a Brigadier General . On May 23 , the new regiment under the command of Colonel Jesse S . Norton , and marched to Gallipolis , Ohio , where it went into camp along the banks of the Ohio River at Camp Carrington . Two months later , the regiment crossed the river into western Virginia as a part of the force under George B . McClellan and entered into its first engagement at the Battle of Scary Creek , July 17 , 1861 . During the five - hour battle , the 21st O . V . I . lost nine men killed and seventeen wounded . Colonel Norton was wounded and captured , but later was paroled and exchanged . When its three - month term of enlistment expired , the 21st O . V . I . marched to Columbus , where it was mustered out of service on August 12 , 1861 . Three - years regiment . Reorganized at Camp Vance in Findlay , Ohio , the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry reenlisted for three - years service on September 19 , 1861 . On September 26 , the regiment left Camp Vance and headed to Camp Dennison in Cincinnati , where it received arms and equipment . It then proceeded to Kentucky , where it saw action at the Battle of Ivy Mountain in early November . Campaigns . Tennessee and the Andrews ' Raid . Campaigning into Tennessee in early 1862 as part of the Army of the Ohio , the 21st O . V . I . was one of a number of Union regiments instrumental in capturing the capital of Nashville in February . From there , the regiment moved toward Murfreesboro , Tennessee , and then to Confederate - held Huntsville , Alabama , in early April . Concurrent with the move toward Huntsville in April 1862 , nine men of the 21st O . V . I . volunteered to participate in a secret mission known as Andrews ' Raid . The men , along with two civilians and thirteen soldiers from two other Ohio regiments , dressed in civilian clothes and slipped behind enemy lines . They hijacked the Confederate locomotive " The General " . The mission was a failure , and all of the raiders were captured . Eight men , including Private John M . Scott of Co . F , 21st O . V . I . , were hanged . Another eight , including 21st O . V . I . privates Wilson W . Brown , William J . Knight , John R . Porter , Mark Wood , and John A . Wilson , escaped from captivity . The remaining raiders , among them Private William Bensinger , Private Robert Buffum , and Sergeant Elihu H . Mason of the 21st O . V . I . , were released in a prisoner exchange the next year . In recognition of their actions , Congress awarded most of the raiders , including all nine from the 21st O . V . I . , the newly created Medal of Honor . Bensinger , Buffum , and Mason were three of the first six men ever to receive the medal . Near La Vergne on October 7 , the 21st O . V . I . captured a part of the 3rd Alabama Rifle Regiment , along with its colors and fifty - four horses . The regiment participated in the Siege of Nashville from September 12 to November 7 . By December , the regiment was in the vicinity of Murfreesboro , Tennessee , and on December 30 – January 2 , 1863 , participated in the Battle of Stones River . On January 2 , the 21st O . V . I . was ordered to charge across the frigid water of Stones River , where it captured a Confederate artillery battery of four guns . The regiment suffered 159 casualties , and Private Wilson Vance of Company B was awarded the Medal of Honor for saving a fellow soldier from capture . Tullahoma and Chickamauga campaigns . Following the Battle of Stones River , the 21st remained in camp until June 1863 , when it embarked on the Tullahoma Campaign . Marching and skirmishing through Tennessee and northern Georgia during the campaign , the regiment crossed over Lookout Mountain in late August and arrived in the vicinity of Chickamauga Creek on September 19 . Fully engaged in the Battle of Chickamauga , the 21st O . V . I . , under the command of Lt . Colonel Dwella M . Stoughton , deployed into line of battle and opened a brisk fire upon the enemy , which continued until night . The next morning , September 20 , the regiment , then occupying a reserve position , witnessed the Confederate breakthrough . Lt . Colonel Stoughton immediately moved to the right and occupied the crest of a ridge , known as Snodgrass Hill , in an attempt to stem the Confederate onslaught . The Confederates made their first assault on the 21st O . V . I . around 11 a . m . They continued to attack throughout the morning and afternoon , but each attack was repulsed by a murderous fire from the regiment ' s five - shot Colt Revolving Rifles . So heavy was the volume of fire that the Confederates were convinced that they were attacking an entire division , not just a single regiment . At around 3 : 30 p . m . , Lt . Colonel Stoughton , seated on his horse at the rear of the regiment , was fired upon by a rebel sharpshooter . Ignoring the warning , Stoughton dismounted and walked to the front of the line , where another shot rang out and the colonel , struck through the left arm , fell to the ground severely wounded . Command of the 21st O . V . I . passed to Major Arnold McMahan . Stoughton would die on November 19 from an illness that set in during his convalescence . By late afternoon , the 21st was desperately low on ammunition . Soldiers plundered the cartridge boxes of the dead and wounded in a frantic attempt to procure Colt ' s ammunition . When this reserve was depleted , a runner was sent to the rear to search the ordnance trains , but quickly discovered that they had left with the rest of the retreating Union army for Chattanooga . At dusk , having exhausted all of their ammunition , the 21st retired to the rear of the ridge , having expended 43 , 550 rounds of ammunition . The 21st was ordered to fix bayonets and occupy the extreme right flank . They managed to procure one last round of ammunition for each man . After each firing their round , the men , remaining in their position , were surrounded and quietly captured . Major Arnold McMahan , 120 soldiers and the colors of the 21st O . V . I . were now in the hands of the enemy . In six hours of fighting , the 21st Ohio , numbering about 540 men , lost 265 killed , wounded or captured . 46 men would eventually be sent to Andersonville prison . Only ten of the prisoners would survive . Later campaigns . During the Battle of Chattanooga , the 21st was part of the assaulting column that carried the crest of Missionary Ridge . Colonel McMahan led the troops up the steep slopes into the enemy positions . When the three - year term of enlistment expired , the majority of the men re - enlisted for the duration of the war . The reconstituted 21st OVI participated in the Atlanta Campaign under William T . Sherman . The regiment marched through Georgia to Savannah , Georgia , arriving on the coast at the end of the year . In early 1865 , the 21st participated in the Carolinas Campaign , including the Battle of Bentonville . Following the surrender of the opposing Confederate army at Bennett Place in April , the 21st marched to Washington , D . C . and participated in the Grand Review . The soldiers were discharged from the army and paid on July 28 , 1865 , when the regiment mustered out in Louisville , Kentucky . Postbellum . Many veterans of the 21st OVI joined the Grand Army of the Republic , and several posts were established throughout northwestern Ohio . Several towns erected statues and monuments to honor local soldiers . The 21st OVI was also remembered by the U . S . War Department , which erected a commemorative tablet in 1908 on the Chickamauga Battlefield .