The 76th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry ( or 76th OVI) was an infantry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment served in the Western Theater, primarily as part of the XV Corps in the Army of the Tennessee.
Special Order Number 882 of October 1861 authorized Col. Charles R. Woods to organize a regiment of infantry at Camp Sherman, near Newark, Ohio. Recruitment had begun for a Licking County regiment as early as September 1861. Enrollment was for three years' duty. Since the majority of the troops were from Licking County, the regiment had the field nickname of "The Licking Volunteers." The regiment held 962 officers and men when it was mustered in on February 9, 1862.
The initial officers were as follows:
Colonel Charles R. Woods
Lt. Colonel William Burnham Woods
Major Willard Warner
Adjutant Jerome N. Rappleyea (1831-1896)
Quartermaster Henry D. Wright
Surgeon Charles R. Pierce
Asst. Surgeon Thomas B. Hood
Chaplain Reverend John W. McCarty
Company A formed November 1, 1861:
Captain Thaddeus Lemert
• Captain Zebulon Parker Evans
1st Lieutenant Bevery W. Lemert
2nd Lieutenant Simeon B. Wall
Company B formed November 12, 1861:
Captain Joseph M. Scott
1st Lieutenant Ira P. French
2nd Lieutenant John R. Miller
Company C formed December 4, 1861:
Captain Levi P. Coman
1st Lieutenant John S. Anderson
2nd Lieutenant John V. Gray
Company D formed December 16, 1861:
Captain Charles H. Kibler
1st Lieutenant I. Newton Hempsted
2nd Lieutenant Reason C. Strong
Company E formed December 16, 1861:
Captain Joseph C. Wehrle
1st Lieutenant Michael R. Maher
2nd Lieutenant Charles Luther
Company F formed December 18, 1861:
Captain Strew M. Emmons
1st Lieutenant James H. H. Hunter
2nd Lieutenant Freeman Morrison
Company G formed January 7, 1862:
Captain James Stewart
1st Lieutenant Jehile T. Wintrode
2nd Lieutenant Richard W. Burt
Company H:
Captain Jerome N. Rappleyea (1831-1896)
1st Lieutenant John A. Dill
2nd Lieutenant Lucien H. Wright
Company I was originally Company B of the 61st Ohio Infantry. They were transferred to the 76th OVI on February 3, 1862.:
Captain Edward Biggs
1st Lieutenant James M. Blackburn
2nd Lieutenant John H. Hardgrove
Company K:
Captain James M. Jay
1st Lieutenant David R. Kelley
2nd Lieutenant Mark Sperry
During the service time of the 76th OVI, from February 1862 to July 1865, the unit saw action in an estimated 44 battles across eleven Confederate States. Notable events were as follows:
February 9: Mustered in and left Camp Sherman to join the campaign up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers
February 14 to February 16: Battle of Fort Donelson
March 6 to March 31: Operations along the Tennessee River and then joined the division of Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace
April 6 and April 7: Battle of Shiloh
April 29 to May 30: Siege of Corinth
August 16: Captured 40 men from the 31st Louisiana at Milliken's Bend, Louisiana
August 18: Captured the steamer Fairplay
October 22 to[November 12: Rest and reorganization at Pilot Knob, Missouri
December 22: joined the Yazoo River expedition of Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in the Operations against Vicksburg Campaign
December 26 to December 29: Battle of Chickasaw Bayou
January 9 to January 11: Battle of Fort Hindman
January 23 to April: various movements as part of Grant's Operations against Vicksburg
May 12: Battle of Raymond
May 14: Battle of Jackson (MS)
May 18 to July 4: Siege of Vicksburg
July 10 to July 17: Siege of Jackson
July 23 to late September: camped at Big Black River
October 20 to October 29: destroyed tracks along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad
November 23 to November 25: Third Battle of Chattanooga
November 27: Battle of Ringgold Gap {the colors of the 76th OVI were captured by the 1st Arkansas CSA; the colors were returned to the 76th OVI Veterans by the 1st Arkansas September 20. 1916
November 28 to December 8: relief of Knoxville, Tennessee
January 1: went to winter quarters at Paint Rock, Alabama
January 4: about two-thirds of the unit re-enlisted as veterans
January to early March: on furlough in Ohio
mid-March: return to Alabama
May to September: participated in the Atlanta Campaign
May 7 to May 13: Battle of Rocky Face Ridge
May 14 and May 15: Battle of Resaca
May 28: Battle of Dallas
June 9 to July 3: Battle of Marietta
June 27: Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
July 22: Battle of Atlanta
July 28: Battle of Ezra Church
August 31 and September 1: Battle of Jonesborough
September 29 to November 3: operations against Hood's Tennessee Campaign in northern Georgia and Alabama
October 18: non-veterans mustered out at Summerville, Georgia
November 15 to December 21: Sherman's March to the Sea
December 21 to January 9, 1865: provost guard in Savannah, Georgia
January 31 to April 1: Carolinas Campaign
March 19 to March 21: Battle of Bentonville
March 24: occupation of Goldsborough
April 10 to April 24: advance on and occupation of Raleigh, North Carolina
May 24: Grand Review of the Armies in Washington, D.C.
July 15: mustered out in Louisville, Kentucky
July 24: discharged in Columbus, Ohio
The 76th OVI mustered out on July 15, 1865.
