The 6th Indiana Infantry Regiment was an infantryregiment from the State of Indiana that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. This regiment was the senior Indiana regiment of the Civil War,[2] as it was numbered first in sequence after the five Indiana volunteer regiments which had served in the Mexican–American War. The regiment was originally mustered-in for a three-month period of service between April and August 1861, but after its initial term of service had expired it was re-formed in September 1861 for a further three-year period, before being mustered out in September 1864.
Service
The companies of the 6th Indiana Volunteer Infantry were raised in different parts of the state and organized at Indianapolis, Indiana between April 22 and April 27, 1861.[3] The companies' counties of origin included Jefferson, Bartholomew, Daviess, Howard, Henry, Jennings, Jackson, and Hamilton. The Regiment was officially mustered into United States service for a period of three months on April 25, 1861.
On the May 30, 1861, the regiment left Indianapolis, by way of Cincinnati, Ohio, for Grafton, Virginia (now West Virginia). Sent on to the town of Webster, they arrived on June 2 and marched 14 miles (23 km) that same night to Philippi. On the morning of June 3, the 6th Indiana participated in the Battle of Philippi, one of the first land battles of the Civil War.[4] They later participated in the Rich Mountain Campaign.
The total strength of the 6th Indiana Infantry at the time of its organization in April 1861 was 782 men, including 37 commissioned officers.[5] During its first three-month period of service, the regiment suffered no casualties in battle, but three enlisted men died of disease and one member of the regiment was captured by the enemy and later exchanged.[6] After being mustered in as a three-year regiment, the unit lost a further nine officers and 116 enlisted men killed in battle or died of wounds, and a further two officers and 140 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 267 fatalities.[7]
^Per Federal Publishing, Since Indiana raised five regiments for the Mexican-American War, to avoid confusion and preserve regimental histories,atae authorities decided that the numerical designation of the first regiment raised should be the 6th. Indiana regiments were consecutively numbers, without regard to the branch of service. Thus, the 1st cavalry was the 28th regiment of the line; the 2nd cavalry was the 41st regiment; the 3d cavalry was the 45th ; the 4th cavalry was the 77th ; the 5th cavalry was the 90th ; the 6th cavalry was the 71st ; the 7th cavalry was the 119th ; the 8th cavalry was the 39th; the 9th cavalry was the 121st; the l0th cavalry was the 125th; the 11th cavalry was the 126th; the 12th cavalry was the 127th; the 13th cavalry was the 131st. The 16th and 17th regiments served for a time as mounted infantry, and the 21st regiment, which went out as infantry, was converted into the 1st heavy artillery.[1]
Terrell, William Henry Harrison (1865). Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana(pdf). Indiana Adjutant General Reports. Vol. II. Indianapolis, IN: A.H. Connor State Printer. pp. 32–39. OCLC558004259. Retrieved August 11, 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
