115th Ohio Infantry Regiment

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The 115th Ohio Infantry Regiment, also known as the 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (115th OVI), was a Union infantry unit in the Civil War. It was organized in Massillon, Ohio, and mustered in on September 18, 1862, for a three-year term under Colonel Jackson A. Lucy.

The regiment served mainly in the Department of the Cumberland and later with the XII and XX Corps. It was stationed at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and later assigned to duties protecting forts, arsenals, storehouses, and magazines across Camp Chase, Camp Dennison, Maysville, Covington, Newport (KY), and Cincinnati until October 1863. On October 23, 1863, it moved to Chattanooga, then to Murfreesboro, and performed guard duties along the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, living in block houses and guarding bridges until June 1865. The unit was chosen for this hard work because many of its members were skilled mechanics and artisans.

The 115th fought in several small engagements and skirmishes, including Cripple Creek and Woodbury Pike on May 25, 1864; Smyrna on August 31, 1864; and multiple blockhouse actions around Nashville. It took part in the Siege of Murfreesboro (December 5–12, 1864) and related actions at The Cedars (Dec 5–7) and Lavergne (Dec 8). It continued duties along the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad from Nashville toward Tullahoma through June 1865.

Casualties for the regiment totaled 151 men: 1 officer and 8 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, and 4 officers and 138 enlisted men who died of disease.

A controversial incident involved a patrol from Company K, led by Sergeant Taylor Temple, accused of torturing Confederate dispatch rider DeWitt Smith Jobe on August 29, 1864. Federal officers did not prosecute for violation of the laws of war. A Tennessee historical marker near Nolensville commemorates Jobe’s death, noting that he was captured, tortured, and killed after refusing to reveal dispatch contents.