Ohio's Civil War Battlefield

Yes! It's true! Ohio has a Civil War Battlefield. And I never knew about it until I started reenacting. Nobody talks about it. I don't think many people know about it. It always seems to me that the State of Ohio who doesn't really seem to value our history.(I promise not to get going on Zoar) I mean, our school systems never taught it! Can you imagine having a connection to the civil war like that and not having it taught in school? I mean, West Point teaches about it, but the Ohio Schools don't? Oops... Tangent!

Anyway, today I was surfing the web looking up future reenactment locations when I stumbled upon an OHS The Battle of Buffington Island (aka St. Georges Creek Skirmish) web page which shamed me to pieces! Buffington Island has had its own little monument for 20 years! Its a nice little decaying pillar, suffering from apathy and neglect even though the community tries to care for it. It has a nice little park around it also suffering from neglect. There is good news! Our little battlefield has a preservation action plan attached to it and everything! I hope this means the community will get the funds keep it going. I guess if its being taught at West Point, there is something more to it than a generic 3.5 hour battle, right? So here I'll quote from the web page "Buffington Island commemorates the only significant Civil War battle that took place on Ohio soil.

Here a Union army routed a column of Confederate cavalry commanded by General John Hunt Morgan in 1863. Major Daniel McCook, patriarch of the fighting McCook family, consisting of his eight sons and his brother John's five sons, was mortally wounded in the fight.

A monument made of broken Ohio glacial boulders is set in a four acre outdoor park where visitors can enjoy picnics and read the signs describing the history of the area. It is not on an island."

So now we have General Morgan slithering around Southern Ohio, sending fear into the tri-state area only to be hunted down like the dog he was. He was finally captured and after some song and dance about surrendering to one of his prisoners, who granted him a full pardon he ended up in one of Ohio's many prisons. Unlucky for him that he was pretty much surrounded by Union prisons in Ohio. We had, Johnson's Island, Camp Chase and the Ohio Penitentiary which was where he landed.