The 40th Indiana Infantry Ended Their Service in Texas

Several weeks have passed since I last featured one of the Union regiments from William F. Fox’s list of “300 Fighting Regiments” that served at some point in the trans-Mississippi. This will mark the third and last Indiana regiment to be featured as part of this series. The 40^th Indiana Infantry compiled an active combat record during its four years of service. After serving as part of the Army of the Cumberland, the 40^th Indiana was dispatched to Texas to finish out its service. Far too many people think that with the surrender of the Confederate armies, all Union soldiers were swiftly mustered out. There were a significant number of volunteer soldiers who continued serving into late 1865 and even into 1866 before being mustered out; in the case of the 40^th Indiana, they were finally sent home in December 1865. Earlier in the war, these Indiana soldiers had served in Philip H. Sheridan’s division, and they were reunited with Sheridan when they served in his Army of Occupation.

For more information about the 40^th Indiana see the following:

40^th Indiana Infantry: A creation of Scott R. Busenbark, this is a blog that also contains pages of information about the unit. Additional features include a roster, photographs, primary accounts, etc.

“Wagner's Brigade —Sheridan's Division--Fourth Corps.

(1) Col. William C. Wilson.

(2) Col. John W. Blake.

(3) Col. Henry Leaming.

Companies.		killed and died of wounds.			died of disease, accidents, in Prison, &c.			Total Enrollment.
		Officers.	Men.	Total.	Officers.	Men.	Total.
Field and Staff					2	2	4	19
Company	A	1	21	22		14	14	140
	B	1	19	20		16	16	136
	C		12	12	1	24	25	149
	D		14	14	1	27	28	159
	E	1	11	12		23	23	139
	F	1	17	18		25	25	164
	G	1	15	16		24	24	152
	H		12	12		18	18	146
	I		10	10		11	11	137
	K		12	12	1	22	23	132
Totals		5	143	148	5	206	211	1,473

148 killed=10 per cent

Total of killed and wounded 551

Battles	Killed and M. W.
Shiloh, Tenn., April 15, 1862	1
Perryville, Ky.	1
Stone’s River, Tenn.	10
Lookout Mountain, Tenn.	2
Missionary Ridge, Tenn.	39
Resaca, Ga.	4
Adairsville, Ga.	1
Dallas, Ga.	9
Pine Mountain, Ga.	7
Kenesaw Mountain, Ga.	4
Assault on Kenesaw	37
Peach Tree Creek, Ga.	8
Siege of Atlanta, Ga.	4
Franklin, Tenn.	17
Nashville, Tenn.	4

Present, also, at Corinth; Jonesboro; Lovejoy's Station.

Notes.--Organized at Lafayette, Ind., in December, 1861, and ordered immediately into Kentucky, where it went into a Camp of Instruction near Bardstown. In February, 1862, it moved with Buell’s Army on its various campaigns in Kentucky and Tennessee, having been assigned to Wagner's Brigade of Wood's Division, in which it was present at Shiloh, but not under fire. Wood’s (6th) Division participated in the campaigns of the Army of the Ohio in 1862, the occupation of Tennessee, and the retreat into Kentucky. The regiment was engaged at Stone’s River, where it lost 4 killed, 68 wounded, and 13 missing. The brigade was absent at Chickamauga, it having been detailed just at that time on duty at Chattanooga, and left behind as the army passed through. Upon the re-organization of the Army of the Cumberland, October 20, 1863, the regiment was assigned to Wagner's (2d) Brigade, Sheridan's (2d) Division, Fourth Corps, in which command it fought at Missionary Ridge, where it sustained a loss of 20 killed and 138 wounded; total, 158. During the Atlanta campaign, General Newton commanded the division, and in the unsuccessful assault on Kenesaw Mountain the regiment met with another severe loss, the percentage of casualties being very large. At the battle of Franklin, General Wagner commanded the division, and Colonel John Q. Lane the brigade. After the battle at Nashville the regiment remained in winter-quarters near that city until the spring of 1865, when, the war having closed, it was ordered to New Orleans. From there it went with the Fourth Corps to Texas, where it joined Sheridan 's Army of Occupation, remaining there until December 21, 1865, when it was mustered out” (Fox, page 352).