Blue vs. gray, Ulysses S. Grant, Gettysburg -- these are commonly associated with the Civil War.

But Asians?

It's a little-known fact, even among some Asians, that they fought in the Civil War.

But a state historical marker honoring the Asian soldiers from Ohio might change that. It will be dedicated today in Franklin Park.

Of the 313,180 Ohioans who fought in the Civil War, at least 17 were Asian, said Sonya Gong, board chairwoman of the Columbus chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans.

Most of them were Chinese, she said.

It's unknown whether any of the Asian soldiers' descendants are living, Gong said.

Siu-Leung Lee, a member of the Chinese-American group, suggested the marker as a way of representing Asian contributions to Ohio history. The Ohio Bicentennial Commission had asked for ideas.

"The Chinese contributed to the building of this country,'' Lee said, but "there's very little mention of them in (history) textbooks.''

Unlike many of the other Civil War soldiers, Asians were denied war pensions and citizenship because of anti-Asian sentiment at the time, he said.

Asians first arrived in the United States in the 17th and 18th centuries through the Philippines, Lee said. They came as laborers.

"We are something like forgotten in the history. That's why it needs to be told,'' said Chih Ping Chen, a Vietnam native and member of the Chinese-American group. He moved to Columbus in 1979 for graduate school.

Other soldiers in the war were American Indian, French, German, Irish and Moravian, said Tom Vince of the Cuyahoga Valley Civil War Roundtable.

The marker could prompt requests for others to represent the role of ethnic groups in the Civil War, said Kristina Markel, who coordinates the marker program for the Ohio Historical Society.

"I think if anything it will get people talking, taking a look at their own ancestry and saying, 'I know I had relatives who served in the Civil War,' '' she said.