The 81st 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 81st Indiana Infantry was organized and mustered in at New Albany,

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 ...

for a three-year enlistment on August 29, 1862, 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 ...

William W. Caldwell. The regiment was attached to 32nd Brigade, 9th Division, Army of the Ohio, September 1862. 32nd Brigade, 9th Division,

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

, Army of the Ohio, to November 1862. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Right Wing,

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 January 1863. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, XX Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to March 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XX Corps, to October 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, IV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to June 1865. The 81st Indiana Infantry mustered out of service at

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, on June 13, 1865.

Detailed service

Ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, August 29. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1–15, 1862. Battle of Perryville, October 8. March to Nashville, Tennessee, October 16-November 7, and duty there until December 26. Reconnaissance toward Franklin December 9. Near Brentwood December 9. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26–30. Nolensville December 26–27. Battle of Stones River, December 30–31, 1862 and January 1–3, 1863. Duty at Murfreesboro until June. Reconnaissance from Salem to Versailles March 9–14. Operations on Eaglesville Pike near Murfreesboro June 4. Tullahoma Campaign June 22-July 7. Liberty Gap June 22–27. Duty at Winchester until August. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga Campaign August 16-September 22. Battle of Chickamauga, September 19–20. Siege of Chattanooga, September 24-October 25. Reopened Tennessee River October 26–29. Duty at Bridgeport, Alabama, until January 26, 1864, and at Ooltewah until May 1864. Atlanta Campaign May 3 to September 8, 1864. Tunnel Hill May 6–7. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge and Dalton May 8–13. Buzzard's Roost Gap May 8–9. Battle of Resaca, May 14–15. Near Kingston May 18–19. Near Cassville May 19. Advance on Dallas May 22–25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church, and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11–14. Lost Mountain June 15–17. Assault on Kennesaw June 27. Ruff's Station, Smyrna Camp Ground, July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5–17. Peachtree Creek July 19–20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25–30. Battle of Jonesboro, August 31-September 1. Lovejoy's Station September 2–6. Operations against Hood in northern Georgia and northern Alabama September 29-November 3. Nashville Campaign November–December. Columbia, Duck River, November 24–27. Battle of Franklin, November 30. Battle of Nashville, December 15–16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17–28. Moved to Huntsville, Alabama, and duty there until March 1865. Operations in eastern Tennessee March 15-April 22. At Nashville until June.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 245 men during service; 4 officers and 52 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 188 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

* Colonel William W. Caldwell - dismissed by President Lincoln, July 7, 1863 * Colonel Oliver P. Anderson - promoted to colonel, but never mustered *

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 Timberlake - commanded at the battles of Perryville and Stones River *

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 E. Calloway - commanded at the battle of Chickamauga * Major Edward Gustave Mathey - commanded at the battle of Nashville *

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 ...

Nevil B. Boone - commanded at the battle of Chickamauga

References

* Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * Morris, George W. ''History of the Eighty-First Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the Great War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1865'' (Louisville, KY: The Franklin Printing Company), 1901. ;Attribution *

External links