EIGHTY-NINTH INFANTRY
(Three Years)
Eighty-ninth Infantry. - Cols., John G. Marshall, Joseph D. Hatfield, Caleb H. Carlton; Lieut.-Cols., James Rowe, Wil- liam H. Glenn; Majs., William Hays, John H. Jolly. This regi- ment was organized at Camp Dennison, Aug. 22 and 26, 1862, to serve for three years, and numbered 1,000 officers and men. Crossing the Ohio river on a pontoon bridge, the regiment went into camp 3 miles in the rear of Covington, Ky. After spending a short time in Kentucky it moved into western Virginia and in the early part of 1863 was ordered to Tennessee to join Gen. Rosecrans. After remaining at Murfreesboro until June, the regiment joined in the movement against Bragg at Tullahoma. It met with sturdy opposition from the enemy the first day out and at Hoover's gap it supported Wilder's brigade of mounted infan- try in a sharp encounter, in which the enemy lost over 100 in killed and wounded. The regiment suffered terribly in this campaign from the incessant rains, which flooded the whole country and made it almost impossible to supply the army with rations. The regiment engaged in the bloody battle of Chicka- mauga, where on the second day it was in the hottest of the fight, holding its position until darkness began to settle like a pall upon the ground, when a division of the enemy came up in its rear, surrounded and captured it entire. The noncommis- sioned officers and privates were sent to Belle Isle and from there to Andersonville, where a majority of them died of star- vation and exposure. Forty wounded, 20 sick and 75 well men who were not engaged in the battle, were all that were left of the 89th. Receiving recruits, the regiment soon mustered 200 men and established a respectable standing, and when the charge was made on Missionary ridge this little band went to victory in the front of the attacking column. It made a partial charge on the enemy's work at Rocky Face ridge, in which it had 2 men killed, 10 wounded and 2 captured. It was next engaged in the fight at Resaca, but without loss, and it bore its part in the almost constant fighting for four months, up to and into At- lanta. After participating in the expedition against Hood, in his mad attempt to capture Nashville, the regiment was at its post in Sherman's grand march to the sea and was present at the capture of Savannah. In the Carolina campaign it was at the crossing of the Cahawba river, when the pontoons gave way twice from the force of the swollen and raging stream; engaged in the fights at Averasboro and Bentonville, N. C. , and was at the surrender of Johnston. After two years and nine months' serv- ice the remnant of the 89th was mustered out at Washington, D. C., June 7, 1865. Source: The Union Army, vol. 2 Chickamagua after battle report: Report of Capt. Isaac C. Nelson, Eighty-ninth Ohio Infantry. HDQRS. 89TH REGT. OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY, Chattanooga, Tenn., September 28, 1863. SIR: I have the honor to transmit my official report of the action of the Eighty-ninth Regt. Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the battle of the 19th and 20th of September, 1863. The regiment at the time of the battle was brigade with the Twenty-second Regt. Michigan Volunteers, in Steedman's division, of the Reserve Corps. The regiment left camp at Rossville, Ga., early on the morning of the 19th, and were in the battle on Chickamauga Creek, where 9 of the regiment were wounded. The regiment remained on picket at that place the night of the 19th, and moved to re-enforce troops on the right about 10 a. m. About 2 p. m. of the 20th, they became engaged in a most terrific musketry fight, which lasted over an hour, during which time they drove the enemy from their position on a hill, and held the place. A short time before dark they became engaged again and fought superior numbers until after dark, when their ammunition gave out and they were surrounded and captured. The casualties in the regiment are, as far as can be ascertained, as follows: Officers killed, 2; wounded, 2; missing, 13. Enlisted men killed, 17; wounded, 61; missing, 158. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, I. C. NELSON, Capt., Comdg. Eighty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Lieut. J. R. BOONE, Acting Assistant Adjutant-Gen., First Brigade. Source: Official Records CHAP. XLII.] THE CHICKAMAUGA CAMPAIGN. PAGE 866-50 [Series I. Vol. 30. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 50.] Organized: Camp Dennison, OH on 8/1/62 Mustered Out: 6/7/65 at Washington, DC Officers Killed or Mortally Wounded: 3 Officers Died of Disease, Accidents, etc.: 5 Enlisted Men Killed or Mortally Wounded: 47 Enlisted Men Died of Disease, Accidents, etc.: 245 (Source: Fox, Regimental Losses) |