Three-months Regiment
On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces that had recently seceded from the Union fired upon Federal controlled Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. In response to the attack, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion. Hundreds of men from northeastern Ohio were quick to respond, volunteering for three months of military service. The 8th Regiment was organized in Cleveland between April 18 and May 4, 1861. In June, the regiment moved via train to Camp Dennison near Cincinnati for training and garrison duty. It mustered out June 22, having not left the Buckeye State.
Among the early recruits in Company F was Fremont dentist Everton Conger, who later in the war led the cavalry that tracked down and killed President Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Conger did not re-enlist in the regiment after his term expired, instead joining the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry.
Another future notable who initially served in the 8th Ohio was William E. Haynes, who would become a U.S. congressman from Ohio.
Read more about this topic: 8th Ohio Infantry
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