Ohio State Militia

Creation Date

1788

Entity Type

Organization

The Ohio State Militia consisted of two principle branches, enrolled and active. The 1857 Militia Law of Ohio created twenty-three divisions of universally enrolled militia consisting of all white men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five who were subject to duty as called by the governor. The active militia, designated the Ohio Volunteer Militia (OVM), included those men of military age who volunteered for service.. Ohio's Militia Act of 1863 reformed the OVM and mandated drilling in anticipation of Confederate incursions into the state.

Following John Hunt Morgan's 1863 raid into Ohio, further reform, in the form of the 1864 Act to Organize and Discipline the Militia, created the Ohio National Guard. In the spring of 1864, 38,000 Ohio National Guardsmen mustered into federal service for a period of 100 days.

Militia Law of Ohio: Being an Act to Organize and Discipline the Militia and Volunteer Militia (Columbus: Richard Nevins, State Printer 1857), 3-6.
Cyrus Moore, "The Ohio National Guard before the Militia Act of 1903," (Unpublished MA Thesis: Kent State University, 2015), 19-63.
"Ohio National Guard History,"_The Ohio Adjutant General's Department: Ohio National Guard, accessed September 12, 2022, www.ong.ohio.gov/history/index.html.

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