Camp Ripley / Camp Ammen

With news of hostilities at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, Ripley men formed one of Ohio’s first military units and established Camp Ripley on the 12-acre Ripley Fairgrounds. West Point graduate Jacob Ammen was chosen as captain, and his unit later became a saving force for Ulysses S. Grant’s troops at Pittsburg Landing, raising him to the rank of Brigadier General. Barns and buildings soon became military quarters, and tents dotted the landscape from William Street to Maplewood Cemetery. Camp Ripley, also known as Camp Ammen, served as a regional mustering point and military drilling location. Ripley gained distinction as the only town in the United States to have soldiers’ organizations fighting from the Rocky Mountain to the Atlantic Ocean. Soldiers who mustered and trained there served in the 7th Regiment, Company E, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry; First Regiment, Company E, Battery F, Ohio Light Artillery; 12th Regiment, Company H, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; 34th Regiment, Company B, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; 70th Regiment, Company A, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; 188th Regiment, Company K, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; 10th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry, USA; 100th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry; 59th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; 89th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; 91st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; 16th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry, USA; and the U.S. Navy River Gunboat Service.

Ripley, Ohio · United States