9th Indiana Light Battery
in the American Civil War
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Online Books:
9th Indiana Light Battery Officer Roster - Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, Volume 3, by W.H.H. Terrell, Adjutant General, Indiana, 1866 9th Indiana Light Battery Soldier Roster - Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, Volume 7, by W.H.H. Terrell, Adjutant General, Indiana, 1867 Regimental History Ninth Indiana Light Battery. — Capts., Noah S. Thompson, George R. Brown. This battery was organized at Indianapolis in Dec, 1861, and was mustered in Dec. 20. It left the state Jan. 27, 1862, reporting to Gen. Paine at Cairo. Owing to informalities in the original muster, the battery was remustered into service on Feb. 25. On March 27 it moved to Crump's landing and joined Gen. Lew Wallace's division, with which it reached the battle-field of Shiloh just at the close of the first day's battle. Moving into position on the right, it opened fire at daylight the next morning, the first to commence in the Union lines, following the enemy nearly a mile as he retired. It kept up a continuous fire until 4 p. m., firing 1,152 rounds and sustaining a loss of 1 killed, 5 wounded, and 5 horses killed. It formed a part of the force in the siege at Corinth, serving with Wallace's division in the reserve. At Bolivar it was detached and assigned to the right wing of the 13th corps, remaining at Bolivar until the following November. Lieut. Brown took command on the retirement of Capt. Thompson in August. It moved with Grant's army to Holly Springs, thence to Oxford and the Yockeney river. Retracing its steps with the army, it was detached at the crossing of the Tallahatchie river; remained there until Jan. 20, 1863, when it moved to Moscow, Tenn. ; marched from there to Collierville, thence to Memphis; was immediately ordered to Columbus, Ky., whence it embarked for Cape Girardeau, Mo., to reinforce Gen. McNeil, then engaged with Gen. Marmaduke. Reaching there too late to take part, it returned to Columbus, where it remained on duty until July 10, when it joined Waring's brigade at Clinton, in a campaign against Roddey's forces. It then moved to Union City, Tenn., where it remained until Dec. 20, when it joined Gen. Smith's division in pursuit of Forrest. It was then at Union City until Jan. 23, 1864, when it moved to Columbus and embarked for Vicksburg. Attached to Moore's brigade, Smith's division, 16th corps, it took part in the Meridian expedition, being in an engagement near Queen's hill and in constant skirmishing until it reached Jackson. At Meridian it assisted in the destruction of the town and railroad, then moved to Marion, thence to the Pearl river and Canton, marching from there to Vicksburg, where 32 of the men reenlisted as veterans. It took part in the Red River expedition and then remained at Alexandria, until March 21, when it marched to Henderson's hill where the garrison was captured. It remained inactive at Cotile landing until April 2, when it moved to Grand Ecore. In the action at Pleasant Hill it captured 2 guns. On the 20th it moved to Natchitoches and took up the line of March toward Alexandria, covering the rear of the retreating army and engaging in skirmishes at Cloutierville, Cane river, Cotile landing and the crossing of the Bayou Rapides Alexandria was reached on the 26th and on May 7 the battery was in a skirmish at Bayou Boeuf. It was next engaged on the prairie between Marksville and Mansura and the following day played a conspicuous part in the battle at Yellow bayou. Returning to Vicksburg, it proceeded up the river to Lake Chicot, where it fought the enemy under Marmaduke, defeating him and raising the blockade at Columbia. On June 9 the veterans were furloughed home, and the detachment left behind moved into northern Mississippi and participated in the battle of Tupelo. The battery came together at Memphis during the month, remaining until Aug. 8, when it joined the pursuit of Forrest, going as far as Oxford, returning to Memphis until Sept. 8, when it proceeded to Jefferson barracks at St. Louis. On Oct. 2, it started with Smith's command in pursuit of Price, following him to the Kansas border. The battery then remained at St. Louis until Nov. 25, when it moved to Nashville and was engaged in the battle before that city Dec. 15-16, following Hood's retreating army as far as Clifton, then proceeding to Eastport, Miss. Ordered to Indianapolis for the muster-out of the non-veterans and the reorganization of the battery, it boarded the steamer Eclipse, Jan. 26, 1865. At Paducah on the following morning, the steamer's boiler exploded, setting fire to the vessel, which was consumed. Of the 70 men and officers of the battery on board, 30 were killed or died of their wounds, and but 10 escaped injury. The wounded were sent to the general hospital at Evansville and the uninjured and those but slightly injured proceeded to Indianapolis, where the non-veterans were mustered out March 6, 1865. The veterans and recruits were ordered to Camp Butler, Ill., remaining there until June, when they were ordered to Indianapolis and mustered out June 26, 1865.Footnotes: Regimental history taken from "The Union Army" by Federal Publishing Company, 1908 - Volume 3 |
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