"Now we are engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure." - Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War was the bloodiest conflict on U.S. soil. An estimated 620,000 people died during this war. Ohio was one of the leading states to provide military power to the Union during this time. The state also played an essential part in keeping Confederates from pushing farther North through the Kentucky and Ohio border during the Morgan Raids. My research looks at the vital role the city of Cincinnati and surrounding areas played socially, economically, and militarily to bring a swifter end to the Civil War. This research paper takes an individualist approach to Civil War history by focusing on Ohio’s involvement rather than focusing on the Civil War as a whole. Therefore, adding important information to the collective such as the involvement of squirrel hunters in defending Cincinnati and how Ohio’s military leadership strengthened the Union’s hold of northern states.