26th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery

26th 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...

. It was also known as Wilder Battery and Rigby's Battery.

Service

The battery was organized in May 1861, but was not accepted for the service. Instead, the recruits were mustered in as Company A, 17th Indiana Infantry on June 12, 1861, but retained their status as artillery. The battery was detached from the 17th Indiana Infantry in mid-September 1861.

The battery was attached to Reynolds' Cheat Mountain District, West Virginia, to November 1861. Milroy's Command, Cheat Mountain, West Virginia, to March 1862. Milroy's Cheat Mountain Brigade, Department of the Mountains, to June 1862. Milroy's Independent Brigade, I Corps, Army of Virginia

Army of Virginia

The Army of Virginia was organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War. It should not be confused with its principal opponent, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Robert E...

, to July 1862. Piatt's Brigade, Winchester, Virginia, to August 1862. Trimble's Brigade, White's Division, Winchester, Virginia, to September 1862. Miles' Command, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, September 1862. Camp Douglas, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Indiana, to March 1863. Central District of 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 June 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XXIII Corps, Army of the Ohio

Army of the Ohio

The Army of the Ohio was the name of two 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:...

, to July 1863. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, XXIII Corps, to August 1863. Reserve Artillery, XXIII Corps, to October 1863. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, XXIII Corps, to April 1864. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, XXIII Corps, to February 1865. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, District of East Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to March 1865. 1st Brigade, 4th Division, District of East Tennessee, to July 1865.

The 26th Indiana Battery Light Artillery mustered out of service on July 19, 1865.

Detailed service

Left Indiana for Parkersburg, July 2. Moved from Parkersburg, Va., to Oakland July 23, 1861; then to Camp Pendleton and duty there until August 7. Moved to Cheat Mountain Pass and Elkwater August 7-13. Operations on Cheat Mountain September 11-17. Petersburg September 11-13. Cheat Mountain Pass September 12. Elkwater September 13. Greenbrier River October 3-4. Expedition to Camp Baldwin December 11-14. Allegheny Mountain December 13. Duty at Beverly until April 1862. Expedition on the Seneca April 1-12. Monterey April 12. Battle of McDowell May 8. Franklin May 10-12. Strasburg and Staunton Road June 1-2. Battle of Cross Keys June 8. Duty at Winchester until September 1. Defense of Harpers Ferry September 12-15. Bolivar Heights September 14. Surrendered September 15. Paroled and sent to Annapolis, Md., then to Camp Douglas, Ill.; duty there, at Camp Butler, Springfield, Ill., and at Indianapolis, Ind., until March 1863. Left Indiana for Lexington, Ky., March 18. Duty in Central District of Kentucky until August. Operations against Pegram March 22-April 1. Action at Danville, Ky., March 24. Hickman's Heights March 28. Dutton's Hill, Monticello, May 1. Burnside's Campaign in eastern Tennessee August 16-September 17. Carter's Depot September 20-21. Jonesboro September 21. Knoxville Campaign November 4-December 23. Siege of Knoxville November 17-December 5. Garrison duty at Knoxville until March 1865. Stoneman's Raid through eastern Tennessee into North Carolina March and April 1865. Duty at Greenville, Tennessee, until July.

Casualties

The battery lost a total of 13 men during service; 1 officer and 12 enlisted 6 men due to disease.

Service

Detailed service

Casualties

See also