Ohio has been involved in regional, national, and global conflicts since statehood. As a result of the global conflicts, the American Veterans of Foreign Service was established in 1899 in Columbus, ultimately becoming known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1913. The state has produced 319 Medal of Honor recipients, including the first recipient of the award in the country Jacob Parrott.
In 1886, the state authorized the creation of the Ohio Veterans Home in Sandusky and a second one created in 2003 in Georgetown to provide for soldiers facing economic hardship. Over 50,000 veterans have lived at the Sandusky location as of 2005. Since World War One, the state has paid stipends to veterans of wars, including recently authorizing funds for soldiers of the Gulf and Afghanistan wars. The state also provides free in-state tuition to any veteran regardless of state origin at their colleges.
War of 1812
Ohio was on the front lines of the War of 1812. Frontiersmen believed that British agents in Canada had provided rifles and gunpowder to hostile Native American tribes. At the same time Tecumseh's War started, the conflict in the Old Northwest between the U.S. and a Native American confederacy led by the Shawnee chief Tecumseh. He became an official ally of the British in 1812. William Henry Harrison's victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, coupled with the defeat and death of Tecumseh in 1813, broke the power of the Natives. After 1815 the British no longer traded with the Native Peoples of Ohio nor provided them military supplies.
The Battle of Lake Erie was fought on September 10, 1813. Nine vessels of the United States Navy commanded by Oliver Hazard Perry defeated a Squadron of six ships of the Royal Navy near Put-In-Bay, Ohio.
Michigan-Ohio War
In 1835, the Michigan-Ohio War broke out over the disputed Toledo Strip. Ohio, led by Governor Robert Lucas, marched into the strip in the spring of 1835. Michigan Governor Stevens T. Mason responded by marching an army into Toledo, destroying agricultural operations and seizing a prisoner of war. Following intelligence reports to the Michigan army that a vast army of Ohio sharpshooters had gathered to engage them, half of Mason's troops deserted and the rest withdrew. Michigan eventually ceded the Toledo Strip to Ohio through congressional diplomacy, and gained their northern peninsula in return.
War of the Rebellion
Ohio's central position and its population gave it an important place during the War of the Rebellion. The Ohio River was a vital artery for troop and supply movements, as were Ohio's railroads. Ohio provided numerous senior commanders to the United States Army during the war. The experience of war shaped more than a generation of citizens. Five Buckeye veterans later served as President of the United States.
Spanish–American War
The Spanish–American War broke out in 1898 while former Ohio Governor William McKinley was the President of the United States. Over 15,000 Ohioans participated in the military aspects of the war, losing 230 soldiers in the conflict, mostly because of disease.
World War One
When World War I broke out in 1914, the United States was originally neutral. The sinking of the Lusitania paved the way for the country to enter the war. Camp Sherman was mobilized in the state as one of the largest military training installations for the war. Over 200,000 Ohioans served in the military during the conflict, suffering over 6,000 casualties. Eddie Rickenbacker of Columbus became one of the country's most respected heroes from the war.
Opposition
There was considerable opposition to the war in the state. Many European American generations recently removed from Europe brought with them their rivalries from that continent, including the Irish, Germans, and Italians. Isaac Sherwood was a lead anti-war politician from the state. Former U.S. President and Ohio native William Howard Taft started the League to Enforce Peace, which had support from anti-war political factions. In 1916, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson avoided endorsing the group.
Domestic fallout
Many German Americans in the state privately supported the German cause before the United States entered the war. They raised funds for Germany and sent their sons to fight in the German army. A backlash occurred when the country entered the war, and Ohio became a scene of pro-war terrorism. Columbus's German Village witnessed the persecution of many German Americans, who in majority usually voted Democrat but threw their support to Republican and future U.S. President and Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding in 1920 in response to Wilson's treatment of them during the war.