During the winter session of 1862, the Ohio Legislature enacted a militia law authorizing the formation of military companies known as Ohio National Guards. Some of the “leading Union men in our town, such as Jacob Holl, Michael Bitzer, Dan R. Holl, John J. Shook [and] Henry L. Schlott” decided to form a company. Once they had the required 75 enlistees, they were authorized by the state and were designated as Company E, 45th Battalion Ohio National Guards. While Company E was in the U.S. service in the summer of 1864, “never…did so many women work out in the fields”

 

(Basner 55, 59).