20th Indiana Battery Light Artillery was an artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 battery

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 that served in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Service

The battery was organized at Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 and mustered in September 19, 1862 for a three year enlistment.

The battery was attached to District of Western Kentucky, Department of the Ohio

Department of the Ohio

The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River.General Orders No...

, to May 1863. Post and District of Nashville, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to January 1864. Artillery, 1st Division, XI Corps, Army of the Cumberland

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:...

, to April 1864. Unattached, 4th Division, XX Corps, Department of the Cumberland, to July 1864. Artillery Brigade, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to November 1864. Artillery, Provisional Division, District of the Etowah, Department of the Cumberland, to January 1865. Garrison Artillery, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to June 1865.

The 20th Indiana Battery Light Artillery mustered out of service on June 28, 1865.

Detailed service

Left Indiana for Henderson, Ky., December 17, 1862. Duty at Henderson Ky., and in the District of Western Kentucky until May 1863. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., and duty there until October 5, 1863. Refitted and assigned to guard duty along Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad until March 5, 1864. Moved to Bridgeport, Ala., March 5, and garrison duty there until July. Ordered to the field and joined XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, south of the Chattahoochie River, Georgia. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Pursuit of Hood into Alabama October 1-26. Action near Atlanta October 30. Moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., November 5, then to Nashville, Tenn. Battles of Nashville December 15-16. Duty at Courtland, Ala., and Chattanooga, Tenn., until June 1865.

Casualties

The battery lost a total of 25 men during service; 7 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 24 enlisted men died of disease.

See also

• List of Indiana Civil War regiments
• Indiana in the Civil War