The 31st Regiment Indiana Infantry was an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

that served in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Service

The 31st Indiana Infantry was organized and mustered in at

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716. Located along the Wabash River about e ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, for a three-year enlistment on September 15, 1861, under the command of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

Charles Cruft. The regiment was attached to 13th Brigade,

Army of the Ohio The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union Army, 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 ...

, to December 1861. 13th Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Ohio, to February 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division,

Army of the Tennessee The Army of the Tennessee was a Union Army, Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. A 2005 study of the army states that it "was present at most of the great battles that became turning points ...

, to March 1862. 3rd Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to April 1862. 22nd Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September 1862. 22nd Brigade, 4th Division, II Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Left Wing, XIV Corps,

Army of the Cumberland The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio. History The origin of the Army of the Cumberland dates back to the creatio ...

, to January 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, XXI Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Division,

IV Corps 4 Corps, 4th Corps, Fourth Corps, or IV Corps may refer to: France * 4th Army Corps (France) * IV Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * IV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperi ...

, Army of the Cumberland, to August 1865. Department of Texas to December 1865. The 31st Indiana Infantry mustered out of service at

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, on December 8, 1865.

Detailed service

Ordered to Kentucky and camp at Green River until February 1862. Moved to Fort Donelson, Tennessee, February 11–13, 1862. Investment and capture of Fort Donelson February 14–16. Expedition to Crump's Landing, Tenn., March 9–14. Battle of Shiloh, April 6–7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Mississippi, April 29-May 30. Phillips' Creek, Widow Serratt's, May 21. Bridge Creek before Corinth May 28. Occupation of Corinth May 30. Pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 12. Buell's Campaign in northern Alabama and middle Tennessee June to August. March to Louisville, Kentucky, In pursuit of Bragg, August 21-September 26. Pursuit of Bragg to London, Kentucky, October 1–22. Battle of Perryville, October 8. Wild Cat October 17. March to Nashville, Tennessee, October 22-November 8. Destruction of Goose Creek Salt Works October 23–24. Duty at Nashville until December 26. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26–30. Lavergne December 26–27. Battle of Stones River December 30–31, 1862, and January 1–3, 1863. Duty at Murfreesboro and Cripple Creek until June. Action at Spring Hill, Woodbury, April 2. Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Occupation of middle Tennessee to August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga Campaign August 16-September 22. Lee and Gordon's Mills September 11–13. Battle of Chickamauga September 19–20. Siege of Chattanooga, September 24-October 26. Reopening Tennessee River October 26–29. At Bridgeport, Alabama, October 28, 1863, to January 1864. Regiment veteranized January 1, 1864, and on furlough February and March. At Ooltewah until May. Atlanta Campaign May 1-September 8. Tunnel Hill May 6–7. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge and Dalton, Ga., 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. Chattahoochee River July 5–17. Vining Station July 7. 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. Duty at Nashville until June. Moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, June 16, then to Texas, July. Duty at Green Lake and San Antonio until December.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 378 men during service; 5 officers and 115 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 5 officers and 253 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

* Colonel Charles Cruft - promoted to brigadier general, July 16, 1862 * Colonel John Osborn - resigned July 14, 1863 * Colonel John Thomas Smith - resigned March 12, 1865 * Colonel James R. Hallowell

References

* Dillman, Henry F. ''Diary of Henry Dillman'' (Bloomington, IN: Monroe County Civil War Centennial Commission), 1962. * Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * Smith, John Thomas. ''A History of the Thirty-first Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion'' (Cincinnati: Western Methodist Book Concern), 1900. ;Attribution * {{Indiana in the Civil War

External links