The 16th Regiment Indiana Infantry was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. In August 1863, the regiment was converted to

mounted infantry Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Mounted rifles are half cavalry, mounted infantry merely specially m ...

for the remainder of the war.

Service

The 16th Indiana Infantry was organized at

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and initially served on a one-year enlistment from May 27, 1861 through August 19, 1862, and mustered again in August 19, 1862 for three years' service under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Thomas J. Lucas. The regiment was attached to Manson's Brigade,

Army of Kentucky The Army of Kentucky was the name of two Union army formations. Both were small and short-lived, serving in Kentucky in 1862 and 1863. Army of August 1862 On August 25, 1862 Major General William "Bull" Nelson assumed command of the forces statio ...

. Captured and reorganized after the battle of Richmond, it was attached to 1st Brigade, 10th Division, Right Wing, XIII Corps,

Department of the Tennessee Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

, to December 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition to January 1863. 1st Brigade, 10th Division, XIII Corps,

Army of the Tennessee An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, to July 1863. 1st Brigade, 4th Division, XIII Corps, Department of the Tennessee, to August 1863, and

Department of the Gulf The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. History United States Army (Civil War) Creation The department was cons ...

to September 1863. Unattached Cavalry Division, Department of the Gulf, to November 1863. 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division, Department of the Gulf, to June 1864. 4th Brigade, Cavalry Division, Department of the Gulf, to August 1864. District of LaFourche, Department of the Gulf, to June 1865. The 16th Indiana Infantry mustered out of service after June 30, 1865. Veterans and recruits were transferred to the 13th Indiana Cavalry.

Detailed service

Moved to Louisville, Kentucky, August 19, and to Richmond, Kentucky. Battle of Richmond, August 30. Regiment captured. Paroled and sent to Indianapolis. Exchanged November 1, 1862. Ordered to Memphis, Tennessee, November 20. Sherman's Yazoo Expedition December 20, 1862, to January 3, 1863. Expedition to Texas and Shreveport Railroad December 25–26. Chickasaw Bayou December 26–28. Chickasaw Bluff December 29. Expedition to Arkansas Post, Arkansas, January 3–10, 1863. Assault and capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, January 10–11. Moved to Young's Point, Louisiana, January 17–21. Duty there and at Milliken's Bend until April. Expedition to Greenville, Mississippi, and Cypress Bend, Arkansas, February 14–29. Action at Cypress Bend, Arkansas, February 19. Fish Lake, near Greenville, February 23. Movement on

Bruinsburg, Mississippi Bruinsburg is a ghost town in Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. It was located on the south bank of Bayou Pierre, east of the Mississippi River. The town's port, Bruinsburg Landing, was located directly on the Mississippi River, ju ...

, and turning Grand Gulf April 25–30. Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi, May 1. Battle of Champion Hill May 16. Big Black River May 17. Siege of Vicksburg May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Mississippi, July 4–10. Siege of Jackson July 10–17. Duty at Vicksburg until August 24. Ordered to New Orleans, Louisiana, August 24. Regiment mounted and assigned to duty along eastern shore of the Mississippi, protecting transportation to New Orleans and points along the coast until October. Expedition to New and Amite Rivers September 24–29. Western Louisiana "Teche" Campaign October 3-November 30. Action at Grand Coteau November 3. Vermillionville November 8. Camp Piatt November 20. Ordered to New Orleans to refit. Action at Franklin February 22, 1864. Red River Campaign March 10-May 22. Advance from Franklin to Alexandria March 14–26. Bayou Rapides March 20. Henderson's Hill March 21. Monett's Ferry and Cloutiersville March 29–30. Crump's Hill April 2. Wilson's Plantation, near Pleasant Hill, April 7. Bayou de Paul Carroll's Mills April 8. Battle of Sabine Cross Roads April 8. Pleasant Hill April 9. Grand Ecore April 16. Natchitoches April 22. About Cloutiersville April 22–24. Cane River Crossing April 23. Alexandria April 28. Hudnot's Plantation May 1. Alexandria May 1–8. Retreat to Morganza May 13–20. Wilson's Landing May 14. Avoyelle's Prairie May 15. Mansure May 16. Morganza May 28. Ordered to report to General Cameron, and assigned to frontier and patrol duty in District of Lafourche, Department of the Gulf, until June 1865. Action at Berwick August 27, 1864. Expedition to Natchez Bayou August 30-September 2. Near Gentilly's Plantation September 1. Expedition to Grand Lake, Grand River, Lake Fosse Point, Bayou Pigeon, and Lake Natchez September 7–11. Labadieville September 8. Bayou Corn September 9. Expedition from Terre Bonne to Bayou Grand Caillou November 19–27. Bayou Grand Caillou November 23. Expedition from Morganza to Morgan's Ferry, Archafalaya River, December 13–14. Expedition from Brashear City to Amite River February 10–13, 1865. Expedition to Grand Glaze and Bayou Goula February 14–18 (Companies B, F, & K). Scout to Bayou Goula March 23–24 (Company K). Skirmish Grand Bayou April 4. Expedition to Bayou Goula April 19–25 (Companies B & K). Operations about Brashear City April 21–22. Skirmish Brown's Plantation May 11.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 297 men; 3 officers and 82 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 212 enlisted men due to disease.

Commanders

Pleasant A. Hackleman Pleasant Adams Hackleman (November 15, 1814 – October 3, 1862) was a lawyer, politician and Union general who was killed during the American Civil War. Hackleman was born in Franklin County, in 1814. He married Sarah Bradburn in 1833 and began ...

* Colonel Thomas J. Lucas *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

John M. Orr - commanded at the battle of Arkansas Post; wounded in action *

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

James H. Redfield - commanded at the battle of Arkansas Post and during the siege of Vicksburg

References

* Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * ''History of the Sixteenth Indiana Mounted Infantry, Giving a Reliable Account of Its Marches, Hardships and Battles, from Its Original Organization to the Present Time'' (New Orleans, LA: s.n.), 1864. * Perry, Oran. ''Recollections of the Civil War'' (Indianapolis, IN: Historical Bureau of the Indiana Library and Historical Dept.), 1928. ;Attribution * {{Indiana in the Civil War

External links