Sculpted by Gary Casteel
1863 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Monument Replicas
101st Ohio Infantry (Chickamauga)
The 101st Ohio Infantry (also called the 101st Ohio Volunteer Infantry) fought as part of the Union Army of the Cumberland during the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19–20, 1863), specifically in Gen. William P. Carlin’s (2nd) Brigade, Gen. Jefferson C. Davis’s (1st) Division of the 20th Corps. Initially commanded by Lt. Col. John Messer, the regiment had advanced with the army through the Chickamauga Campaign (crossing the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River after the Tullahoma Campaign). On September 19, it moved with its brigade toward Crawfish Spring, then left the pike in the early afternoon, advanced at the double-quick, and formed line of battle in a cornfield and woods near Viniard Field (its monument stands near the intersection of Viniard and Lafayette Roads).
Around 2–2:30 p.m., it advanced to a fence line dividing the cornfield and woods. Units on its flanks (including the 38th Illinois on the left and a Kentucky regiment from Wood’s division on the right) became engaged. When the Kentucky regiment broke and ran through the 101st’s right wing, the Ohioans were temporarily disordered and fell back over a ridge in some confusion. They rallied, counterattacked, drove the Confederates back through the cornfield, were driven back themselves, and then advanced again—Lt. Col. Messer personally seizing the colors after the color-bearer was killed and leading the charge. Fighting in this sector continued with the lines alternately advancing and receding until after 5 p.m. The regiment then moved behind the ridge, threw out skirmishers, and later that evening was ordered to the rear of Sheridan’s division (with only about 119 enlisted men and a handful of officers present and organized under Maj. McDonald who took command after Lt. Col. Messer was severely wounded).
On September 20, the regiment was repositioned early in the morning to high ground in the rear of the Chattanooga (Lafayette) pike opposite Rosecrans’s headquarters, then moved left and forward, recrossing the pike to a ridge near a peach orchard. It later advanced about a mile, deployed behind logs used as breastworks, and threw out skirmishers. Around 11 a.m. its skirmishers were driven in, and after firing only a few rounds, the regiment was struck by a severe flank fire and found Confederates coming over the works on its left—consequences of the famous gap created when Wood’s division was ordered to shift left. The 101st was broken, mixed with troops from another regiment (reportedly of Sheridan’s division), lost organization, and retreated. Maj. McDonald was severely wounded during the retreat, and command passed to Capt. Leonard D. Smith. The survivors collected what men they could, fell back with the brigade to Rossville, held a new position there until the night of September 21, and then withdrew into Chattanooga. Later, the regiment took part in the subsequent siege of Chattanooga.
Casualties were heavy relative to the regiment’s effective strength: 13 killed, 83 wounded, and 51 captured or missing. Pvt. George S. Myers (Company F) later received the Medal of Honor for saving the regimental colors through personal bravery during the fighting. Some secondary accounts note the regiment re-capturing a battery and fighting over the guns with clubbed muskets, consistent with the intense close combat described in the official reports.
The marker was dedicated in 1894, and is located by the intersection of Viniard Road and Lafayette Road in the Chickamauga National Battlefield Park.
