Defense of Cincinnati

Defense of Cincinnati
Part of the American Civil War

A modern mural depicting the "Squirrel Hunters" crossing the Ohio River for the defense of Cincinnati.
DateSeptember 1–13, 1862
Location
Result Union strategic victory
Belligerents
United States United States (Union) Confederate States of America CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Lew Wallace Henry Heth
Strength
85,000
[approximate 25,000 military & 60,000 militia]
8,000
[approximate]
Casualties and losses
6 total
1 killed
5 wounded
Unknown

The Defense of Cincinnati occurred during what is now referred to as the Confederate Heartland Offensive or Kentucky Campaign of the American Civil War, from September 1 through September 13, 1862. Confederate Brigadier General Henry Heth was sent north from Lexington, Kentucky, to threaten Cincinnati, Ohio, then the sixth-largest city in the United States. Heth was under orders from his superior, Major General Edmund Kirby Smith, not to attack the city, but to instead make a "demonstration".[1] Once Heth arrived and reconnoitered the defenses, he realized an attack was pointless. After a few minor skirmishes, he took his men back to Lexington.

  1. ^ "About midnight, he [Smith] came to my room and said I might take such and such brigades and make a demonstration on Cincinnati." Heth, p. 166.