LANCASTER, Ohio – A cigar-chomping William Tecumseh Sherman still lives in Lancaster. He would like to talk about the Civil War, about Ohio’s place in it, about whether the state has given the war the proper consideration.

But first:

“It is with great reluctance that I grant this damn interview!” he yells, and spits a little. “Get it right, or I will find out where you live!”

Sherman never did like the press. Modern folks could learn that by visiting the Fairfield Heritage Association’s Sherman House Museum, run by Laura Bullock in the Fairfield County seat.

Frank Bullock, Laura’s husband, looks like Lancaster’s most-famous native and sometimes dresses like him to give a presentation or shout at the odd reporter.

But most people don’t visit the great general’s birthplace. Three people will show on a slow day. Most Lancaster residents grew up with the Sherman House and don’t pay particular attention, the Bullocks say.

And although the big business of Civil War tourism is built on what Sherman did in some parts of the South, Civil War tourism in Ohio doesn’t highlight Sherman, the Bullocks say.

“Ohio has done a wretched job of marketing itself as a Civil War destination,” said Eric Wittenberg, a Columbus lawyer who has written 16 books about the war.

Wittenberg sits on the Ohio Historical Society’s Civil War 150 Advisory Committee, created to commemorate the war’s 150th anniversary and Ohio’s role.

About 15,000 soldiers fought in the 1863 Battle of Buffington Island in Meigs County, part of the famous Morgan’s Raid into Ohio.

The two most important Union generals, Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant, were natives of Ohio.

Ohio contributed more than 300,000 soldiers to the fight, the most per-capita of any state. The Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery in Columbus and the Johnson’s Island Confederate Cemetery on Sandusky Bay mark the spots of two important military prisons.

All of which means that Ohio has had ample opportunity to market itself as a Civil War state, Wittenberg said. Two separate Civil War trails could be created if Ohio would tie numerous historic sites together, he said.

“For decades, it was amusement parks, state parks, sports teams,” said Mark Holbrook, a Civil War enthusiast and spokesman for the Ohio Historical Society. Marketing dollars couldn’t stretch to cover the war.

They do now. Sort of. With the 150th anniversary, Ohio’s tourism industry thinks that promotion for its Civil War sites will find a receptive audience for the first time in a long time, said Amir Eylon, the state’s tourism director.

Eylon talks of the Civil War attractions as part of an overall Ohio experience, not so much as travel destinations on their own. The DiscoverOhio.com website promotes Ohio’s role in the Civil War in the same place it promotes baseball teams and space-travel heritage.

Other organizations are promoting the Civil War more specifically.

A historical society website, OhioCivilWar150.org, will track Civil War events and opportunities in the state.