This
regiment was organized at Kenton, Ohio, in the fall
of 1861, and was mustered into service under
Colonel James Cantwell, December 31st, 1861.
It was ordered to Fetterman, Va., in January, 1862,
and that winter was devoted to drilling and
equipping. In March it was assigned to Gen.
Robert Schenk's Brigade and the baptism of fire
was the attack on Bull Pasture Mountain.
On the 25th of May it moved with the army under
General Fremont to Cross Keys, and
followed Stonewall Jackson's forces to
the Shenandoah. In the organization of the army of
Virginia, under General Pope, the
Eighty-second was assigned to an independent brigade
under Milroy, of the First Corps, Sigel's
command.
In August it was again engaged with Jackson at Cedar
Mountain. A few days later the two armies met on the
opposite banks of the Rappahannock River, and for
more than a week kept up an incessant skirmishing,
the enemy making many attempts to gain Waterloo
Bridge, which was defended by Milroy's Brigade.
When orders were received for the destruction of the
bridge, the work was intrusted to the Eighty-second.
Then followed the second Bull Run battle, in which
the regiment fought with conspicuous gallantry,
losing heavily.Pg. 115 -
In this engagement Colonel Cantwell was killed and
Colonel James S. Robinson assumed
command.
It participated in the advance on Fredericksburg, and
in December went into winter quarters at Stafford C.
H. General Howard succeeded General
Sigel in command of the Eleventh Corps; and
the Eighty-second having been relieved from duty at
headquarters, reported to General Schurz,
its division commander, and by him was designated as
a battalion of sharpshooters for the division. In
the movement upon Chancellorsville on the 2nd of
May, the Eighty-second performed good service, and
from this time until the 7th, was engaged in the
trenches or on the picket line.
When the army fell back the regiment returned to
Stafford and remained quietly in its old camp until
the 10th of June. Then, having been assigned
to the Second Brigade of the Third Division, it
moved on the Gettysburg campaign, and so severe was
its loss in this sanguinary battle that- only
ninety-two of the 258 men who went into the action
remained to guard its colors.
The Eleventh Corps followed in pursuit of the
retreating enemy as far as Warrenton Junction. At
Hagerstown the Eighty-second had been assigned to
the First Brigade of the Third Division, and when
the Third Division was ordered to guard the Orange
and Alexandria Railroad, it was placed at Catlett's
Station, where it performed guard and patrol duty
until September. On the 25th, the regiment, with the
Eleventh Corps, was transferred to the Army of the
Cumberland, and participated in the battle of
Wauhatchie, October 28th, and in the assaults upon
Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge.
On January 1st, 1864, the Eighty-second reenlisted for
another three years' service; on the 10th started to
Ohio on veteran furlough; on the 23rd of February
reassembled at Columbus, Ohio, with 200 recruits,
and, on the 3rd of March, joined its brigade at
Bridgeport, Ala. Here the Eleventh and Twelfth
Corps were consolidated, forming the Twentieth, and
the Eighty-second was assigned to the Third Brigade,
First Division of this corps.
Pg. 116 -
On the 30th of April marching orders were received and
the regiment entered upon the Atlanta campaign,
moving toward Resaca. On the 14th of May it
assisted the Fourth
Corps in repulsing an attack by the rebels on Dalton
Road, and in the engagement of the next day held an
important position with but slight loss.
At Dallas the regiment took an active part, holding the
center of the line. The entire brigade was
exposed to a heavy fire; by sunset almost every
cartridge was gone, and it was only by searching the
cartridge boxes of the dead and wounded that a
straggling fire was kept until night, when the
brigade was relieved.
On the 20th of July it crossed Peach Tree Creek and
found the rebels in the woods about four miles from
Atlanta. The regiment lost in this affair,
seventy-five killed and wounded. During the
siege of Atlanta the Eighty-second occupied an
important but exposed position. On one
occasion the regimental colors were carried away and
torn to shreds by a cannon ball. On the 20th
of August it was removed to a position on the
Chattahoochie, and General Slocum
assumed command of the corps. On the 2nd of
September the National forces took possession of
Atlanta, and the regiment went into camp in the
suburbs. On the 15th of November it moved with
Sherman's army to the sea—a detachment taking
part in the encounter with Wheeler's cavalry at
Buffalo Creek. From Savannah it marched
through the Carolinas.
The regiment took a prominent part in the engagement at
Averysboro, losing two officers and eight men
wounded, and was again actively engaged in the last
battle of the war at Bentonville, in which it lost
two officers and nine men wounded and fourteen men
missing. From Bentonville it moved to
Goldsboro, and on the 9th of April was consolidated
with the Sixty-first Ohio, the new organization
being denominated the Eighty-second. After the
surrender of Johnston at Raleigh, the regiment
marched to Washington, and having participated in
the grand review on the 2-ith of May, went into camp
near Fort Lincoln.
Pg. 117 -
On the 15th of June it moved to Louisville, Ky., where
it remained until the 25th of July, then proceeded
to Columbus, Ohio, and was discharged July 29th,
1865.
The Eighty-second Regiment fought in five different
states, and participated in twenty-four battles.
The loss in killed, died of wounds and disease, was
two hundred and fifty-seven. The service of
this regiment was most distinguished, it having
participated in many decisive battles, and was on
the firing line when the war ended. |
