Minor Millikin was born July 9, 1834 in Butler County, Ohio, the eldest son of a prominent lawyer. He was educated at Hanover College, Miami University and completed his studies at Harvard Law School in 1855. When the Civil War broke out, his tastes and excellent horsemanship naturally inclined him to the cavalry service. He gathered 24 recruits and mounted and equipped them at his own expense. He and his recruits were presently united to Captain Burdsall’s Cincinnati Company where Millikin became Sergeant, then Lieutenant.
   They departed for western Virginia with Company C. He returned from 3 months campaigning with the reputation of being one of the finest cavalry officers on duty in that department. He was then appointed Major in the 1st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. When Colonel Ransom resigned in January 1862, Millikin was appointed Colonel by the governor of Ohio. Several senior officers in the regiment objected vigorously, one of the most vocal being the brother of the governor. Complaints were made and many officers threatened to resign on the charges that Millikin was too young and inexperienced to lead the 1stOVC.
   In May of 1862 he was ordered before a board of examination and passed it with flying colors. Testimony as to his ability was given by many officers including General George “Pap” Thomas. Millikin led the 1st Ohio through the summer and fall of 1862 in actions in northern Mississippi and western Tennessee, including the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky in October.
   In late December, 1862, the 1st Ohio covered the right flank of McCook’s Corps as it advanced against General Braxton Bragg. On December 31, 1862, the Battle of Stone’s River erupted. Millikin was ordered to take the 1st Ohio and repel rebel cavalry attacks in the right rear. Desperate to protect an ammunition wagon train, Millikin formed the 1^st OVC, ordered the regiment to draw sabers, then he himself led the charge.
   The 1st Ohio slammed into the Confederates. The left and right wings of the regiment were checked by heavy resistance but Millikin’s section pushed their way through the center only to find themselves cut off from the rest of the regiment. He refused to surrender and urged his detachment to fight their way out. Millikin's fine swordsmanship enabled him to fight off one attacker after another. Enraged at his obstinate resistance, Private John Bowers of Company K, 8th Texas Cavalry, shot Millikin in the neck, killing him instantly.
   The 1st Ohio reformed and charged again, this time forcing the Rebels to withdraw from the area. Millikin’s body was recovered, but the rebels had stripped him of his wallet, watch and saber. Minor Millikin rests today in Greenwood Cemetery, Hamilton, Ohio. General George Thomas addressed a letter to Millikin’s father that ended, “While mourning his loss, you have the consolation of knowing that he fell a Christian and patriot gallantly defending the honor of his country.”
 

   Valentine Cupp was born June 30, 1830 at Pleasantville, Fairfield County, Ohio. He was known locally as a farmer and stock dealer up to the time he entered service at the outbreak of the war. He was commissioned Captain of Company F, 1st OVC on September 5, 1861; promoted to Major, December 31, 1862 on the death of Major Moore; promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, April 1, 1863.
Cupp was written as one of the most popular officers in the regiment. He was at all times and under all circumstances a high-toned gentleman and a true soldier. Kind-hearted to a fault, if he had occasion to discipline or punish a soldier, he was sure to pay him back tenfold by some act of kindness at the first opportunity. He served in the regiment 2 years and 15 days, at the front at all times. He commanded the regiment through the Tullahoma and Chickamauga Campaigns with distinction. He never shirked any duty and was held in high regard by General George Thomas.
   At about eleven o’clock on the morning of September 20, 1863, the 1st Ohio was in line of battle on the right wing of the army not far from Crawfish Springs, Georgia. The battle would be written in history as the Battle of Chickamauga. They had been fighting dismounted rebel cavalry for nearly 2 hours when an order came from General Long’s brigade headquarters. Cupp was ordered to form the regiment and charge the dismounted cavalry in a cornfield ahead. Cupp wheeled the 1st Ohio and ordered sabers drawn. Just as the regiment was about to charge, a countermanding order came from Long’s headquarters to halt. The cornfield was not weakly held by dismounted cavalry but was thick with infantry. Had they made this charge, scarcely a man would have survived.
   Before the regiment could withdraw, the rebel infantry fired a massive volley, cutting down Lt.Col. Cupp and roughly one-fifth of the regiment. The 1st Ohio withdrew under cover of artillery fire, but returned later after it was learned the area was clear. Many wounded were recovered from the field including Cupp. He was taken to a field hospital at Crawfish Springs where he died that afternoon. He was buried on the battlefield of Chickamauga, but was later removed and reburied at Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.

 

   Major David Alexander Blackburn Moore was born in Newark, Ohio on October 9, 1821, the only son of Moses Moore, one of Newark’s pioneers and a veteran of the War of 1812. Moore first saw military service in 1847 as First Lieutenant of the Licking Rangers, a mounted company that saw action in the war with Mexico. In 1856, Governor Salmon P. Chase commissioned him Captain of the Newark Guards, an office he retained until the disbanding of the Guards in 1860.
   When the Civil War broke out, he raised a company of cavalry in Newark and Licking County, and on August 5, 1861, he received his commission as Captain of Company D, 1st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. Moore served as acting Major until his official appointment came from Governor Todd in September of 1862. He was deeply imbued with the military spirit his soldierly qualifications brought him distinction within the regiment.
   On December 31, 1862, the regiment was drawn up in line of battle at Stone’s River. Colonel Minor Millikin was soon to meet his death, but Major Moore would become the first casualty that day. As the regiment stood waiting for orders, a Confederate artillery shell hit in the staff ranks and mortally wounded Major Moore when shrapnel entered his forehead.
   Taken to a field hospital in Mufreesboro, Moore lingered for several days, finally succumbing to his wound on January 3, 1863. During this time, the tide of battle turned and Moore’s hospital was captured by the rebels. Through the kindness and courtesy of a Confederate Colonel, his personal effects and papers were forwarded to his widow. After nearly six weeks, the Union army retook Murfreesboro and the buried remains of Major Moore were located. He was disinterred and taken home to Ohio where he now rests peacefully in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Newark.
 

   Little is known of Capt. William Scott's background, but his deeds have made him one of the regiment's more notable figures. William Scott was an Irish immigrant who came to America perhaps in his late teens, but this is speculation. By his own words he had no family in the United States, but he laid his life down for his adopted country with a spirit that can only be described as inspiring.
   "Scotty", as he was known in the regiment, enlisted on August 5, 1861 at the age of 24. Rising from the rank of Private without friction, he attained the rank of Sergeant-Major, 2nd Lieutenant of Company K on October 1st, 1862; Captain on March 16, 1864 . He was posted to regimental and brigade staff posts on several occasions and gained notice and promotions. He served for a while as Assistant Inspector General on the staff of General Eli Long and was a trusted friend and adjutant to Colonel Minor Millikin.
   Capt. Scott is best described by his friend Captain John Rea; "A friendless Irish boy…gentle by nature; careful of his men. He reveled in the storm of battle when it broke and rode to the fiery front, a veritable prince of war. He had decision without arrogance; the enthusiasm of a knight of old combined with the daring of a modern cavalryman."
   Scott was at the side of Col. Minor Millikin at Stone's River on December 31, 1862. Scott was shot through the groin and fell from his horse in that desperate fight. Moments later as he lay bleeding, he saw his friend and superior Minor Millikin fall dead from his horse and watched angrily yet helplessly as the rebels looted his body. Recovered from the field and taken to a hospital, Scott was not able to return to duty until the summer of 1863.
   In August of 1864, the First Ohio was attached to Kilpatrick's division during the Atlanta Campaign and was surrounded by a superior force of Confederate infantry, cavalry and artillery near Lovejoy Station, Georgia. Kilpatrick ordered the division to charge and break out; the First Ohio would lead the charge.
   Scott was at the head of the saber charge and fell severely wounded in front of one of the guns of a rebel battery, shot through the shoulder. He followed his regiment on foot, urging his men on by waving his saber in his left hand while his shattered right arm dangled uselessly at his side. Placed in an ambulance, he rode without complaint over rough roads for seventy-five miles, cheering up his wounded companions. Going into camp, the surgeon asked Capt. Rea to help him convince "Scotty" to allow him to amputate the arm, for Scott would die unless it came off.
   The surgeon and Capt. Rea began talking to "Scotty", but the surgeon left after a few moments. Scott had heard the moans of pain of a young soldier and said, "Never mind me, let me alone with John here and go relieve the suffering of that brave boy."
   Rea talked with Scott for over an hour but in the end, Scott refused to permit the amputation. "No," he said, "That will leave me maimed and disfigured. I can die, but I can not fight the battle of life alone without my good right arm. I have no mother, no wife, no relative in America; except my comrades there are none to mourn my death; I want to live, but will not purchase life at such a cost."
   After lingering for several weeks, "Scotty" died.
   In the center of one of the circles of dead in the National Cemetery in Chattanooga, facing the morning sun and the slopes of Missionary Ridge, Captain William H. Scott rests with honor.

   Frank Putnam Allen was born at Darby Creek, Madison County, Ohio on August 31, 1841. His father, William Allen was descended from the Ethan Allen family, and his mother Harriet, was a daughter of Joshua Ewing, the first white settler of Darby Creek.
   He enlisted in Company K, First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry on September 22, 1861, rising through the ranks to Corporal, Sergeant, then to Quartermaster Sergeant after re-enlisting in March, 1864. He was a much loved man and soldier; trustworthy and intelligent. He was with the regiment during all campaigns to almost the very end of the war.
   On April 1, 1865, he laid his hand on the still smoking barrel of a captured rebel artillery piece during the battle of Ebeneezer Church, Alabama. Joyous from the capture, a moment later his smile vanished when he fell, shot through the groin. He lived to be taken from Selma on a hospital boat on which he died near Cairo, Illinois on May 25. He died without ever learning of his promotion to Lieutenant.
   A month later his body was taken home where he now rests beside his parents in Plain City, Ohio. He had written a note on the day he was shot which read, "If I don't get home, tell pa and ma it is all right with me; it all came right after I was hit."
 

   John M. Renick was born near Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio on October 1, 1831, the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Renick, a simple farmer.
   Renick was appointed Second Lieutenant of Company M on August 30, 1861 and served with the regiment through the campaign in Kentucky during winter of 1861-1862, and continued serving with distinction through the campaign and siege of Corinth, Mississippi in April and May of 1862. It was during the Corinth siege that he contracted what was known as camp fever and died in Corinth on May 28, 1862.
   He was buried near Corinth with full military honors and has the distinction of being the recipient of the first military funeral of any officer in the First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry.