Today's 54th OVI

The reorganization of the 54th Ohio goes back to 1996. Members of the 91st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Co. B were making plans for the 135th Shiloh the following year. As the original 91st was campaigning in western Virginia (future West Virginia) in April of '62 and were not anywhere near southern Tennessee, a unique inpression was sought and found in the 54th, or the 2nd Ohio Zouaves. Using, chiefly, information from "Ohio In the War" by Whitelaw Reid and information from a history of the unit written by the son of original commander Thomas Kilby Smith, enough of a description was at hand to start working on a uniform.

A call was also put out within the reenacting community for those interested in portraying the 54th at the upcoming Shiloh event. Some likely suspects from the 30th OVI decided to join in on the fun and a company was born. A few meetings were held. The uniform was cussed and discussed, and a command structure was decided. By the time of the event, around a dozen or so men had enough parts of the uniform to create a fairly decent and distinctive company. The "wingnut" hat garnered its share of attention that weekend, or what there was of it. The event was called off by mid-day Saturday because of the deluge of rain that struck and would not leave.

With the "Mudloh" experience behind them, the lads decided that they needed to get more of their money's worth out of the uniforms. While maintaing their memberships in their respective units, they continue to get together frequently for parades, living histories, and some generic-type reenacting events where a specialty uniform may be worn. A highlight of the 2001 reenacting season was the June Army of Ohio Preservation March. Quite a bit of interest was generated by others in the battalion who had never seen the uniform. Bets were even made by those trying to figure out what it was. The current members may be from 2 seperate reenacting organizations, but for the person who would be interested in joining the 54th, there is no requirement to be a part of either the 91st or 30th.

Research continues on the regiment, the men who formed it, and the uniform. What started as a simple desire to do something different has evolved into a serious, ongoing attempt at historic realism.

Return to Homepage