Portage County in the Civil War

The population of Ohio in 1860 was 2,343,739. Approximately 310,000 men enlisted during the war. Of those, 35,475 died (approximately 10% of Union deaths deaths). Roughly 19% were killed in action, 13% were mortally wounded, 61% died of disease and 6% died of other causes or cause was unknown. (1860 Census, Dyer's Compendium, Vol. 1, Pg. 11, 16) Ohio was third overall in number of troops sent to the war effort and first in percentage of population sent. Three of every five males in Ohio between 18 & 45 went to war.

Portage County's population in 1860 was 24,208. Over 2000 men enlisted from the county and over 300 of them died in service. (from the 1885 History of Portage County. A breakdown by township is below.) An untold number of men, and their families and friends, suffered effects of the war for the rest of their lives

The first man from Portage County to die in the Civil War from battle was John Haven, of Shalersville. He was mortally wounded in a skirmish at Scary Creek, Virginia (now West Virginia) on July 17, 1861. The first to die in service of any cause may have been Alpheus Clark, of Rootstown, who drowned at Camp Dennison, Ohio on May 21, 1861.

Number of soldiers by township in Portage County:^*
Atwater, 107
Aurora, 82
Brimfield, 88
Charlestown, 59
Deerfield, 113
Edinburg, 46
Franklin, 159
Freedom, 55
Hiram, 120
Mantua, 85
Nelson, 118
Palmyra, 38
Paris, 79
Randolph, 210
Ravenna, 235
Rootstown, 61
Shalersville, 72
Streetsboro, 96
Suffield, 132
Windham, 115

* These figures are from the 1885 History of Portage County, page 382. Other historical sources give somewhat different numbers. Recent research on the soldiers from Nelson Township indicates the number of soldiers from Nelson and elsewhere in Portage County may have been undercounted in these sources. The actual number of soldiers from Nelson Township may have been closer to 180 and the same relative difference may hold true for the other communities in Portage County.

More on Portage County and the Civil War
To the Portage County Volunteers (1861)
Portage County Civil War Sites
Notes and Selected Resources: Portage County and the Civil War
The Nelson Township Civil War Monument
The Portage County Democrat's Coverage of the Nelson Monument - 1865
How To Research Your Civil War Ancestor (Courtesy Mark Radeleff, Inland Empire Civil War Round Table)