3rd Ohio Cavalry was organized in September 1861 by future Civil War general Lewis Zahm. At the age of thirteen, Charles Oliver Brown, D.D. followed his father, Major Oliver M. Brown, with the unit, served throughout the war and became the "Boy Bugler" of Sherman's Army. In April 1862, it moved with General Don Carlos Buell through Tennessee. During that summer, the 3rd Ohio Cavalry participated in the Siege of Corinth. It later fought at the Battle of Chickamauga. In January 1864, the regiment was re-formed as its three year term had expired. The unit later participated in raids with Stoneman and Wilson before it was discharged on August 14, 1865.