41st Ohio Infantry The 41st Regiment , Ohio Volunteer Infantry ( or 41st OVI ) was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War . The 41st served in the Western Theatre for the entire war , under such well - known generals as Grant and Sherman . It fought in many battles over the course of four years , suffering more than 300 casualties . It earned a reputation among the hardscrabble Western units for its spit and polish , and was often held as an example of good soldiering . The Medal of Honor was newly established at the start of the Civil War , and over 1 , 500 Federal troops were awarded it during the conflict . Two of them were in the 41st . Organization and early service . Much of the success of the 41st OVI was due to the abilities of its initial commander , William Babcock Hazen . Hazen , a graduate of West Point , was a professional soldier in the Regular Army before the war . Though initially the volunteers felt he was too harsh and dictatorial , once battle was joined , their opinions rose along with their success . Hazen had grown up in northeastern Ohio near Hiram , and returned to that area in fall of 1861 to raise a volunteer regiment . The regiment organized at Camp Wood in Cleveland with much of August through October spent organizing and drilling . On October 29 , 1861 , the regiment mustered into service for a term of three years . In November 1861 , the regiment moved to Louisville , Kentucky , then on to Camp Wickliffe to join its brigade . Once arrived , it was organized as part of the 15th Brigade , 4th Division , Army of the Ohio , under Maj . Gen . Don Carlos Buell . Shortly after arriving , some of the men carried out a scouting expedition into western Virginia . In January 1862 , the regiment was finally armed by the State of Ohio . Prior to this , the men were using whatever weapons they may have brought from home or acquired on their own . The official issue weapons were a great disappointment to the men , however , as they were provided with " Greenwood Rifles " ; cast off older muskets and rifles that had been reconditioned and rebored by Miles Greenwood & Co . of Cincinnati , Ohio . While the weapons were functional and would serve the men in battle , they felt they were unreliable and inaccurate . Because of this , the men sought to replace these weapons whenever an opportunity arose . Battle of Shiloh . Early in 1862 , General Grant and General Buell were advancing south through Kentucky toward Nashville , Tennessee , with Grant on the western side of the Tennessee River , and Buell on the eastern side . Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston ' s Army of Tennessee was moving to oppose this advance , and Johnson chose to strike before the two Union armies could join together . He chose to attack Grant ' s formations on the western bank , near Pittsburg Landing and a small chapel called Shiloh Church . Johnson began his attack just before dawn on April 6 , 1862 . The 41st Ohio was with Buell ' s army on the eastern bank of the river . Prior to the battle , Colonel Hazen had been promoted to command of the 19th Brigade in the Army of the Ohio , of which the 41st OVI was one of three regiments ( the others being the 9th Indiana under Colonel Moody , and the 6th Kentucky under Colonel Whitaker ) . Of these three regiments , the 41st was the smallest , having been reduced to 371 active duty men through sickness and incapacitation during their months of training and marching . Above Hazen in the chain of command was Brigadier General William " Bull " Nelson , in charge of the 4th Division , in the vanguard of the advance toward the action at Pittsburg Landing . For most of April 6 , the division was stopped eight miles away from the river crossing to Pittsburg Landing , waiting for promised local guides who could help them find their way through the swampy ground in front of them . Though some could hear the battle raging , at that time they could not tell if it was a major engagement or merely a skirmish . In the afternoon of April 6 , a local pro - Union resident was found to guide the division forward , and the advance finally started . Unfortunately , the difficult march through a narrow track in the swamp caused the division to become strung out and widely separated . At 5 p . m . the lead elements arrived at the crossing point on the east bank of the river . Across the river chaos ensued , with roughly 10 , 000 to 15 , 000 disorganized Union troops milling about seeking a way to escape the Confederate attack that was in the process of smashing the Federal lines on the west bank . Desperate to begin moving his men across the river , Nelson commandeered any floating craft he could and pressed them into service , shuttling men of the 4th Division to the west bank . Despite his best efforts , however , by the time Johnson and his Confederates launched their final attacks around 6 p . m . , only about 500 men of the division had made it across . The rest , still working their way out of the swamp , began to stack up on the eastern bank , waiting for transport . Among the stranded troops were Hazen ' s brigade and the 41st . After nightfall , under the light of torches and bonfires , the shuttling of troops across the river continued . To make matters worse for the demoralized Federal troops , rain began to fall . The 41st crossed the river in the night and moved to take up its assigned position not far from the river , to the right of the 4th Division . Not long after finding their place , the troops began to prepare for a pre - dawn counterattack against the Confederates . At 5 a . m . , the troops stepped off . Due to inexperience and rough ground , the troops had to pause frequently to adjust their alignment . They crossed over Dill ' s Creek , and began to come across corpses from the previous day ' s fighting . They advanced cautiously through the underbrush to the edge of Cloud Field , near a set of ancient Indian mounds . The division soon came upon Confederate pickets , drove them back , and at about 6 a . m . , began to come under artillery fire . The division halted while Federal artillery was brought up to support them . Hazen ' s 19th Brigade then charged the Confederate batteries across an open field ( Wicker ' s and Sarah Bell ' s fields ) , taking heavy losses . It was now around 9 a . m . Upon reaching the enemy guns , the Confederate forces counterattacked with infantry and drove the 19th Brigade back across the fields . Captain Terrel ' s Fifth Artillery , having just landed at Pittsburg Landing , was rushed forward to support the hard pressed 4th Division . The Fifth Artillery placed their guns in a favorable , though exposed position , and began an accurate fire into the enemy ' s flanks . The Confederate attack faltered under this new bombardment . Captain Terrel ' s guns , however , attracted the attention of the Confederate troops , and were soon forced to withdraw . Here the attack faltered and paused . About noon , the 4th Division was reinforced by a regiment from another division and attacked once again ( in cooperation with Gen . Crittenden ' s division ) , forcing the Confederates out of their positions , overrunning several batteries and capturing their guns . Over the course of this first engagement for the 41st , nearly half of the regiment became casualties ( 24 men killed , 110 wounded , and 1 missing in action ) . It was , by any measure , a difficult introduction to what they would see for the next three years of war . Medals of Honor . During the assault of the Confederate positions at Nashville in 1864 , the 41st found itself in an untenable position and was forced to withdraw . Several men , who had crawled through the enemy ' s outer defenses , found themselves trapped in a no - man ' s land between the abatis and the trenches . One of these men chose to leap into the trenches at that point and was captured . Others simply hugged close to the ground , and waited for the attack to resume . Two men chose to watch for an opportunity and , when the morale of the Confederate forces began to waver , these men leaped to their feet , raced into the trenches , and managed to capture several prisoners , two battle flags , and four artillery pieces . The 41st soon arrived on the scene to reinforce this attack . For this effort , two men were awarded the Medal Of Honor in 1865 . " Garrett , William " . Rank and organization : Sergeant , Company G , 41st Ohio Infantry . Place and date : At Nashville , Tenn . , 16 December 1864 . Entered service at : - - - - - - . Birth : England . Date of issue : 24 February 1865 . Citation : With several companions dashed forward , the first to enter the enemy ' s works , taking possession of 4 pieces of artillery and captured the flag of the 13th Mississippi Infantry ( C . S . A . ) . " Holcomb , Daniel I . " . Rank and organization : Private , Company A , 41st Ohio Infantry . Place and date : At Brentwood Hills , Tenn . , 16 December 1864 . Entered service at : - - - - - - . Birth : Hartford , Ohio . Date of issue . 22 February 1865 . Citation . Capture of Confederate guidon .