155th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry

The thousands of books written about the Civil War have at least one thing in common; none of them have been written about, and few even mention, the 155th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This is due primarily to the inescapable facts that the 155th served for only 100 days, fought in no decisive battles, and did not otherwise distinguish itself in the annals of military and civil history. To make matters worse, they were attached to one of the most infamous Federal Armies of the war; Butler's Army of the James. Their story however, is valid for several significant reasons.
The 155th was comprised of nearly 900 men from Ohio who volunteered to serve their country, at a time when war tolerance was decidedly low, in the critical final year of the bloodiest of all American wars. Unlike many, they were paid no "bounty," or cash-signing bonus, to join the army. They served for 100 days, more or less, in the late spring and summer of 1864, marched across the war-torn country and into the heart of the Confederacy. The volunteer militia was made up mostly of men both above and below the typical age of a soldier, as well as veterans who had already served their enlistment's and now returned for another go.
These green, barely-trained, soldiers provided primarily garrison and escort duty where it was needed in order to enable the more seasoned Federal troops to go where they were most needed. Their duty took them into and periously near numerous points of criticality in the great struggle. Nearly every 100-Days soldier would come under fire, some would die, many would be wounded or captured. In the end, these summer soldiers placed themselves in harms way, endured the rampant diseases that devastated the troops, witnessed the unspeakable horrors of that war, and did their jobs. Then they went home. Perhaps the balance of their lives were not as deeply affected by what they had endured and seen and thought, during that incomparable war, as were the lives of other men who served longer. Or maybe, as some have argued, one hundred days in hell is as good as a thousand.