The Sixty-Fifth was one of the regiments included in the brigade raised at
Mansfield, Ohio, by the Hon. John Sherman. It was organized at Camp Buckingham, near
Mansfield, on the 3d of October, 1861, and was mustered into service on the 1st of
December. The regiment left Mansfield for active duty on the 18th of December, and moved,
by way of Cincinnati, to Louisville, Kentucky, where it remained for a week, and then
marched to Camp Morton, four miles east of Bardstown, arriving on the 30th of December.
The Sixty-Fifth was assigned to a brigade composed of the 64th and 65th Ohio, the 51st
Indiana, and the 9th Kentucky. Colonel Charles G. Harker, of the 65th, commanded the
brigade, and General Wood the division.
On the 13th of January, 1862, the brigade broke camp, and passing through
Bardstown, Springfield, Lebanon, Haysville, Danville and Stanford, Kentucky, arrived at
Hall's Gap on the 24th. The regiment was ordered to corduroy the roads. The labor was
severe, the country being swampy; and the miasma engendered disease to such degree that
many of the men died. On the 7th of February the regiment marched to Lebanon, and on the
12th embarked on cars for Green River. It arrived at Camp Wood, near Munfordsville, on the
13th, where it remained until the 23d, when it crossed Green River on the Railroad bridge,
and passing Bowling Green, Franklin, Tyree Springs and Goodlettsville, arrived at
Nashville on the 13th of March, and went into camp two and a half miles south-east of the
city. On this march the troops were forced, at times, to march through the woods and on
by-roads, as the Rebels had destroyed the turnpike in places. The men were compelled
frequently to transport the contents of the baggage wagons on their backs over steep
hills; and in one instance, after marching three days, the regiment had only advanced
twelve miles.
On the 29th of March, the regiment, with General Garfield in command of the
brigade, marched by way of Columbia to Savannah, where it arrived on the 6th of April, and
on the morning of the 7th it moved on steamer to Pittsburg Landing. At four o'clock P.M.
it was on the battlefield of Shiloh, but it did not become actively engaged. It lost two
men wounded. The regiment next participated in the movements against Corinth, and during
the siege was under fire almost hourly. After the evacuation it moved through Eastport,
Iuka, Tuscumbia, Decatur and Huntsville to Bridgeport, where it was engaged in guarding
the Tennessee River until the 29th of August, when it marched northward in pursuit of
Bragg's army, passing through Murphreesboro', Nashville and Bowling Green, arriving at
Louisville on the 24th of September. After resting about a week it moved to the vicinity
of Perryville, and from there marched to Nashville.
In the reorganization of the army at Nashville, under General Rosecrans, the
regiment remained in its old brigade, with Colonel Harker commanding. On the 26th of
December the brigade moved on the Nashville Pike, in Crittenden's corps, fighting its way
into Lavergne, across Stewart's Creek and up to Stone River. On the night of the 29th the
brigade crossed Stone River under orders, the men wading in water to their armpits, in the
face of a murderous fire. The opposite bank was gained, and a line was formed, but
supports failed to come up and the brigade was ordered to retire, which it did in good
order. Crittenden's corps lay on its arms all that night and during the whole of the next
day; it was waiting for McCook to move on the right. Early on the morning of the 31st,
McCook's corps was driven back, and Harker's brigade was ordered to its support. The
brigade met a storm of bullets, and a solid column of exultant Rebels. For eight hours the
brigade was engaged heavily, and at last succeeded in checking the Rebel army. In this
engagement the Sixty-Fifth lost two officers killed and eight wounded (one mortally), and
thirty-eight men killed, one hundred and six wounded, nineteen missing, and three deserted
in the face of the enemy. All the commissioned officers of Company A were either killed or
wounded; but Sergeant Culbertson Henwood bravely took command of the company and led it
through the battle. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant by Governor Tod. The regiment was
under fire throught the entire engagement.
The regiment remained at Murfreesboro' until the 7th of June, 1863, when it
moved to the vicinity of Chattanooga, and on the 7th of September, skirmished with the
enemy, losing one man. During the first day of the battle of Chickamauga, the regiment was
held in reserve at Lee and Gordon's Mills until five o'clock in the afternoon, when it
became briskly engaged. Gallant Second Lieutenant Henwood was killed in this action. The
regiment moved to the left center and lay on its arms all night. On the next morning at 10
o'clock it advanced about a mile but was driven back to a ridge, on which it reformed.
Fighting continued all day with alternate success and reverse. On the night of the 20th
the entire army fell back to Mission Ridge, and from there to Chattanooga. In this
engagement the regiment lost three officers killed and five wounded, and thirteen men
killed, sixty wounded, and twenty-four missing. During the siege of Chattanooga supplies
became exceedingly scarce, and men and animals suffered greatly. The regiment participated
in the battle of Mission Ridge, with a loss of one officer wounded, one man killed, and
thirteen wounded.
In the Atlanta campaign the Sixty-Fifth was under fire almost constantly. At
Lookout Mountain it lost three men wounded and one missing. At Resaca it lost one officer
wounded, two men killed and twenty-five wounded. At Dallas it lost one officer wounded,
one man killed and four wounded. At Marietta it lost one officer killed, one man killed
and ten wounded. In a skirmish near Kenesaw it lost two men wounded; and in a charge on
Kenesaw it lost one officer killed and one wounded, and two men killed and six wounded. In
this charge Brigadier-General Charles Harker, formerly Colonel of the Sixty-Fifth, was
killed. At Peachtree Creek it lost four men wounded and one missing; and at Atlanta, on
the 22d of July, it lost one man killed and one wounded. The regiment participated in the
flanking movement to Jonesboro', and from there advanced to Lovejoy. After the evacuation
of Atlanta it fell back to that place and went into camp.
The Sixty-Fifth remained at Atlanta about three weeks and then moved in
pursuit of Hood. It marched to Mission Ridge, and was sent from there, on cars, to Alpine,
Georgia; but after remaining there four days it moved to Chattanooga, and was engaged in
guarding the Railroad near the Tennessee River. On the 29th of November the regiment
participated in the battle of Spring Hill, losing two officers wounded (one of whom was
captured), and five men killed, twenty wounded and fourteen missing. On the 30th of
November it was engaged in the battle of Franklin, with a loss of one man killed,
twenty-two wounded and twenty-one missing. The non-veterans were discharged on the 3d of
October, 1864, leaving the regiment with an aggregate of one hundred and thirty men. The
regiment was engaged in the battle of Nashville and in the pursuit of the Rebel army
across the Tennessee. When the pursuit was abandoned the regiment returned to Nashville
and went into camp.
In June , 1865, the regiment moved from Nashville to Johnsonville, on the
Tennessee River, where it embarked on transports for New Orleans. It remained at New
Orleans for several weeks and was then ordered to Texas. It performed garrison duty at San
Antonio until December, 1865, when it was ordered to Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, where it
mustered out, paid, and discharged, on the 2d of January, 1866.