Franklin in the Civil War

Men from Franklin Township were among the first from Ohio to leave for the war and participated in many of the conflict’s great campaigns. Individual companies of the 1st Ohio (90 day), 2nd Ohio, 75th Ohio, and 79th Ohio infantry were raised locally. Other Franklin men served in the 60th (1 year), 69th Ohio, and 93rd Ohio Infantry Regiments, the 4th Ohio Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Ohio Heavy Artillery Regiment. The township’s regiments served from First Bull Run in 1861 to Bentonville in 1865, participating in the battles of Perrysville, Stone’s River, Chicamauga, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, among many others.

[Side B]: Two companies of the 146th Ohio (100 day) Infantry Regiment were also raised locally. In all, more than 200 township men served in the Union’s Armies. Over 100 of these men served in regiments that enlisted for the three years that performed most of the war’s fighting. From this group, more than 20 men died. More than 20 men were wounded, several more than once. About 30 men were captured and most of these same men suffered months in Confederate prisoner of war camps. Four men who enlisted from Franklin rose to become colonels or lieutenant colonels. Obadiah Maxwell was brevetted a brigadier general.