The 3rd Indiana Cavalry Regiment, also designated the 45th Indiana Infantry Regiment or the 45th Indiana Volunteers was a military unit from the U.S. state of

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 ...

that participated in 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 ...

. It consisted of two separate "wings" that never operated together: * The

3rd Indiana Cavalry Regiment (East Wing) The 3rd Indiana Cavalry Regiment, also designated the 45th Indiana Infantry Regiment or the 45th Indiana Volunteers was a military unit from the U.S. state of Indiana that participated in the American Civil War. It consisted of two separate "wings ...

(or Right Wing), consisting of Companies A, B, C, D, E and F, organized at

Madison, Indiana Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2010 United States Census its population was 11,967. Over 55,000 people live within of downtown Madison. Madison is the larges ...

, August 22, 1861, that were intended for service with the

1st Regiment Indiana Cavalry First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

. On October 22, the six companies were designated the 3rd Cavalry and assigned to the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

in the Eastern Theater of the war. The East Wing saw action at the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

and fought with distinction at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

, where in the opening day's action on July 1, 1863 the unit held off far larger Confederate forces until the main Union force arrived.Eric J. Wittenberg, The Devil's to Pay:John Buford at Gettysburg. El Dorado, CA: Savas Beatie LLC, 2014). * The

3rd Indiana Cavalry Regiment (West Wing) The 3rd Indiana Cavalry Regiment, also designated the 45th Indiana Infantry Regiment or the 45th Indiana Volunteers was a military unit from the U.S. state of Indiana that participated in the American Civil War. It consisted of two separate "wings ...

(or Left Wing), consisting of Companies G, H, I, K, L and M. The first four companies were organized at Madison on October 1, 1861. In December, they were assigned to the

Army of the Ohio The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union armies in the American Civil War. The first army became the Army of the Cumberland and the second army was created in 1863. History 1st Army of the Ohio General Orders No. 97 appointed Maj. Gen. Do ...

. Company L, organized in October 1862, and Company M, organized in December 1862, later joined the unit in

Eastern Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...

. The West Wing saw action at the

Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between United States, U.S. and Confederate States of America, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union Army, Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign ...

. In December 1864, the West Wing companies were transferred to the

8th Regiment Indiana Cavalry 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

References

Sources

* ''Indiana Battle Flags and a Record of Indiana Organizations in the Mexican, Civil and Spanish–American Wars'', Indianapolis: Indiana Battle Flag Commission (1929), pp. 589–601. * ''Indiana at Antietam: Report of the Indiana Antietam Monument Commission'', Indianapolis: Aetna Press (1911), pp. 139–153.

External links

* {{Indiana in the Civil War 3 cav Military units and formations established in 1861 Excelsior Brigade 1861 establishments in Indiana

See also

References

Sources

External links