Battle of Spotsylvania • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The monument to the 126th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment is at The Bloody Angle, Stop Three on the Auto Tour. It is about 300 yards by trail from the parking lot. (see map and directions at bottom of page) It is a short walk to the monument to the 49th New York, visible in the distance in the photo below.
The monument is a three tiered granite monolith. On the front and back of its cap is the cross that is the symbol of the Sixth Corps, surrounded by laurel leaves. The names of the thirty men who were killed or mortally wounded at Spotsylvania are inscribed on the back and side. The monument was dedicated by the State of Ohio on May 15, 1914.
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Attached to the 6th Corps, 3rd Division, 2nd Brigade |  |
The 126th Ohio at Spotsylvania
On May 12 the regiment was advanced to the very exposed position where the marker is today to support the Union attack on the Bloody Angle. Lying prone the men loaded their rifles, then briefly rose to a kneeling position to fire at the heads of the Confederates in the earthworks. The few who stood up were instantly killed. The men fired fifty rounds each in a period of about two hours, then searched the bodies of the dead for more cartridges.
After exhausting their ammunition the men fixed bayonets and continued to hold their position. By this time half their number were casualties, including Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Ebright, who had been wounded early in the fighting. But the Confederates quickly noticed the lack of fire and began advancing, and the Ohioans were forced to pull back.
In the woods they rearmed, then returned to take up a position a short distance to the rear of where they had been during the day’s fighting. In the morning they advanced to occupy the Confederate works, which had been abandoned during the night.
From the front of the monument:
Dedicated to the memory of
the gallant 126th Reg’t O.V.I.
commanded by Colonel Benjamin F. Smith
and Lieut. Colonel Aaron W. Ebright
2nd Brigade
3rd Division
6th Army Corps.
Army of the Potomac
Ohio
From the left side of the monument:
Ohio’s tribute to
the heroes of the
gallant 126th Reg’t O.V.I.
who fell here
May 12th 1864
From the right side of the monument:
These heroes fell to
the right of this position
Captain.
Ruben Lampton
Privates.
James Atkinson
Joshua C. Howell
John H. Myers
Valentine Eckert
From the rear of the monument:
These heroes fell
before this bloody angle.
Sergeants.
John M. Russel
Henry Richardson
Corporal.
John B. Beatty
Privates.
Alvin V. Brashier
John H. Ramsey
William Wharton
James Everett
Daniel Zigler
George W. Arion
John J. Armstrong
Jacob Hecathorn
Josiah W. Smith
David Moses
John Trump
Gashem Arnold
Thomas M. Hervey
Abram M. Pollock
Isaac Hamilton
Elan Dye
Monroe Crawford
James S. Kneale
Martin Swick
George W. Gillhart
Enos E. Swinehart
Lewis H. Wolf
The Muleshoe from the 126th Ohio monument. The Confederate trenches were across the small depression at the foot of the tree line.
Map and directions to the 126th Ohio Infantry monument at Spotsylvania
The monument is at Stop Three on the Auto Tour, about 110 yards north of the Bloody Angle walking trail and about 300 yards by trail from the parking area. (38.224192° N, 77.600444° W)
See more about the history of the 126th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Civil War.
(go to the main Tour Stop 3 page)
(go to the main Battle of Spotsylvania Auto Tour page)