Web Author's Notes:
This index provides access to images and transcriptions of 10 letters written by Oscar Derostus Ladley who served in the 90-day 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a Private in Company E from April 26 to August 18, 1861. These letters are important to the history of the 16th Ohio as they provide information about the regiment's 90-day formation for which such details are scarce.

Pvt. Ladley served the full term of the 90-day 16th Ohio and afterwards, on January 18, 1862, enlisted as a 1st Sergeant in Company G of the 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He rose rapidly through the ranks of that regiment eventually being promoted to Captain of Company E on October 6, 1862, serving in that position until mustering out on January 1, 1865, at Jacksonville, Florida. Ladley and the 75th OVI fought valiantly in the thick of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1 and 2, 1863, losing 186 officers and men.

Ladley made a career of the military and on October 2, 1867, enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant in Company D of the 22nd United States Infantry. He served with this regiment in the western states until he contracted pneumonia and died, on duty, at Farmington, New Mexico, on January 11, 1880, at just 39 years of age.

Images of these letters, herein, are courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University. Many additional letters from Oscar Ladley, written before and after his service with the 16th OVI, are available at the Wright University website.