The 68th 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 ...

that served 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 ...

Service

The 68th 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 mustered in for three years service August 19, 1862. The regiment was attached to 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Kentucky, Department of the Ohio. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division,

XIV Corps 14 Corps, 14th Corps, Fourteenth Corps, or XIV Corps may refer to: * XIV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XIV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World ...

, Army of the Cumberland, to October 1863. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, XIV Corps, October 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, IV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to April 1864. Garrison at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to November 1864. In response to Hood's invasion, it was recalled to Nashville where it joined 2nd Brigade, 1st Separate Division, District of the Etowah, Dept. of the Cumberland. This brigade and the 1st Colored made the assaults on Hood's right at the

Battle of Nashville The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting west of the coastal states in the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 1 ...

. They remained in Nashville as part of the garrison to June 1865. The 68th Indiana Infantry mustered out of service on June 20, 1865, at

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Detailed service

The regiment left Indiana for Louisville, Kentucky on August 20, 1862, and subsequently moved to Lebanon, Kentucky on August 25; then to Munfordville, Kentucky, where the regiment was involved in the Siege of Munfordville from September 14–17. The regiment was captured September 17, but later paroled and sent to Indianapolis. It reorganized at Indianapolis until December 25, and then moved back to Louisville, Kentucky, December 26; then to Murfreesboro, Tennessee on January 1, 1863. It went on duty at Murfreesboro, from January to June 1863, and participated in the expedition to McMinnville on April 20–30. It fought in the Tullahoma Campaign on June 23-July 7, where it took part in the Battle of Hoover's Gap on June 24–26, and then went to Tullahoma on June 29–30. Along with the rest of the Union forces in the area, it occupied Middle Tennessee until August 16, and later took part in the Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River, and the Chickamauga Campaign from August 16-September 22. It reached Shellmound on August 21, from where it performed reconnaissance toward Chattanooga on August 30–31, then engaging in the Battle of Chickamauga September 19–21. Before Chattanooga September 22–26. Siege of Chattanooga September 22-November 23. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23–27. Orchard Knob November 23–24. Missionary Ridge November 25. March to relief of Knoxville November 28-December 8. It operated in eastern Tennessee until April 1864, being around Dandridge on January 16–17, and then went on garrison duty at Chattanooga from April to September 1864. Relief of Dalton, Georgia, August 14–15. March to Cleveland, Charleston, Athens, and Madisonville August 18–20. It moved to Tullahoma on September 1, then to Chattanooga and Decatur, Alabama, October 27, where it participated in the defence of the city, on October 29–31. Duty at Resaca, Georgia, November 13–29; then moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Battle of Nashville, December 15–16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17–28. It moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was on garrison duty there until June 1865, from where it moved to Nashville, Tennessee, on June 16.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 150 men during service; 4 officers and 35 enlisted men were killed or mortally wounded, and 111 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

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 ...

Edward A. King – original commander *

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 ...

Harvey J. Espy – commanded during the Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign until wounded in action *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Richard L. Leeson – commanded at the Battle of Chickamauga

References

Footnotes Citations Bibliography * * Mauzy, James H. ''Historical Sketch of the Sixty-Eighth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, Its Commanders, Officers and Men'' (Rushville, IN: The Republican Co.), 1887. * {{Indiana in the Civil War Military units and formations established in 1862 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Units and formations of the Union Army from Indiana 1862 establishments in Indiana

Service

Detailed service

Casualties

Commanders

See also

References