Battle of Buffington Island observed
Photo Provided More than 170 people attended the 2026 Annual Battle of Buffington Island Memorial Service and Marietta Militia Historical Marker Dedication on July 18 at the Buffington Island State Memorial in Portland. The event was an America 250 – Ohio Celebration.
Photo Provided The Marietta Militia & Redoubt historical marker was dedicated during ceremonies on July 18. It was erected a half-mile south of the Buffington Island Memorial Park on Ohio Route 124 where the earthwork guarded the Ohio River ford there on July 18, 1863.
Photo Provided An artillery salute was a highlight of the ceremonies at the Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial on July 18. Batteries K and L, 1st Ohio Light Artillery and Carlin’s Battery D participated in the salute.
Photo Provided Darryl Smith, president of the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation, outlined needs to advance interpretation, education, visitation and preservation of what remains of the Buffington Island Battlefield.
Photo Provided David L. Mowery, historian and author of “Morgan’s Great Raid: The Remarkable Expedition Across Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio,” was the featured speaker and addressed the significance of Morgan’s Raid and role of the Marietta Militia in Morgan’s eventual capture.
Photo Provided Battery K, 1st Ohio Light Artillery posts the colors while Jim Oiler, commander, Cadot-Blessing Camp #126 SUVCW and master of ceremony, salutes from the podium.
Photo Provided Marietta Mayor Joshua D. Schlicher read a proclamation that detailed the events that posted the 200 men in the Marietta Militia in front of Morgan’s 1,930 cavalrymen on the evening of July 18, 1863. The proclamation declared Saturday, July 18, 2026, “Marietta Militia Day” in Marietta.
Photo Provided More than 170 people attended the 2026 Annual Battle of Buffington Island Memorial Service and Marietta Militia Historical Marker Dedication on July 18 at the Buffington Island State Memorial in Portland. The event was an America 250 – Ohio Celebration.
Photo Provided The Marietta Militia & Redoubt historical marker was dedicated during ceremonies on July 18. It was erected a half-mile south of the Buffington Island Memorial Park on Ohio Route 124 where the earthwork guarded the Ohio River ford there on July 18, 1863.
Photo Provided An artillery salute was a highlight of the ceremonies at the Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial on July 18. Batteries K and L, 1st Ohio Light Artillery and Carlin’s Battery D participated in the salute.
Photo Provided Darryl Smith, president of the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation, outlined needs to advance interpretation, education, visitation and preservation of what remains of the Buffington Island Battlefield.
Photo Provided David L. Mowery, historian and author of “Morgan’s Great Raid: The Remarkable Expedition Across Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio,” was the featured speaker and addressed the significance of Morgan’s Raid and role of the Marietta Militia in Morgan’s eventual capture.
Photo Provided Battery K, 1st Ohio Light Artillery posts the colors while Jim Oiler, commander, Cadot-Blessing Camp #126 SUVCW and master of ceremony, salutes from the podium.
Photo Provided Marietta Mayor Joshua D. Schlicher read a proclamation that detailed the events that posted the 200 men in the Marietta Militia in front of Morgan’s 1,930 cavalrymen on the evening of July 18, 1863. The proclamation declared Saturday, July 18, 2026, “Marietta Militia Day” in Marietta.
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PORTLAND, Ohio - The anniversary of the largest and most significant Civil War battle in Ohio was observed July 18 at the annual Battle of Buffington Island Memorial Service and Marietta Militia Historical Marker Dedication at the Buffington Island State Memorial in Portland.
More than 170 people attended the event hosted by the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation, Cadot-Blessing Camp 126 SUVCW and the Civil War Round Table of the Mid-Ohio Valley.
Saturday's dedication featured the annual memorial service conducted by Cadot-Blessing Camp 126 SUVCW, a presentation by David L. Mowery, author of "Morgan's Great Raid," a proclamation by Marietta Mayor Joshua D. Schlicher, the unveiling of the historical marker, comments by President Darryl Smith of the Battlefield Preservation Foundation, an artillery salute, period music performed by the 73rd OVI Regimental Band and a picnic.
Smith said the Ohio History Connection, owner and caretaker of the park, is failing in its stewardship. No American flag is flown because a flagpole struck by lightning in the 1960's was never replaced, a large granite and mortar monument constructed in 1933 as the centerpiece of the park is crumbling and in need of repair, an interpretive bronze plaque dedicated to the Adena mound that stands in the park is missing, pit toilets on the property are in disrepair and rarely cleaned and the open pit mining of the battlefield authorized by State of Ohio agencies in the 1990s has resulted in the permanent loss of more than 40% of the battlefield, he said.
The Battle of Buffington Island occurred on July 19, 1863.
In July 1863, Confederate Gen. John H. Morgan led a raid across Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Late on the evening of July 18, 1863, Morgan and his cavalry of 1,930 men arrived at Portland Bottom to cross the Ohio River to escape pursuing Union land forces.
However, the Ohio River ford there was guarded by an earthwork built by 200 members of the Marietta Militia. Because of the darkness, Morgan was unable to assess the scope of the earthwork or determine what force or how many men guarded the ford.
He decided to camp that night on the river bottom delaying the attack on the earthwork and the river crossing until daylight. However, later that night, the Union army and four U.S. Navy gunboats arrived at Buffington Island and in the two-hour battle that followed the next morning, nearly half of Morgan's force was captured.
Morgan and his remaining force escaped and continued the raid north and eastward across Ohio until they were captured on July 26, 1863, in Columbiana County, Ohio near the Pennsylvania border. The 1,100-mile raid was the longest of the Civil War.