History of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry

An engaging portrait of a Civil‑War cavalry regiment comes to life through the eyes of one of its own chroniclers. Drawing on vivid recollections of recruitment across ten Ohio counties, the narrative sketches the colorful mix of officers and enlisted men who answered the War Department’s call for “border service.” Readers meet the regiment’s senior leaders—Colonel Israel Garrard, Lieutenant Colonel George Minor, and a host of captains and lieutenants—while learning how the fledgling unit organized, trained, and prepared for battle in the autumn of 1862.

The early months are marked by a series of daring forays across the Ohio River, from a night‑time charge at Brookville, Kentucky, to scouting missions that captured enemy combatants and tested the men’s resolve. These first engagements reveal both the hardships and the camaraderie that defined the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, setting the stage for the challenges they would face as the war progressed.