Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and NEWTON, Indiana Historical and Biographical F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1883 691-693 Fifty-first Infantry. - This regiment was organized at Indianapolis on the 11th of October, 1861, and mustered in on the 14th of December, 1861, with ABEL D. STREIGHT as Colonel. From Indianapolis it proceed- ed to Kentucky, going into a camp of instruction at Bardstown. In February, 1862, it marched with BUELL'S army toward Nashville, where it encamped for awhile and then moved to the Tennessee River, reaching the field of Shiloh too late to participate in the battle at that place. In the movement upon and the seige of Corinth, it took an active part, and after the evacuation it marched with Wood's division of the Army of the Ohio through Northern Alabama to Stevenson. When BUELL'S army fell back from Nashville to Louisville, the regiment marched with it, and after the campaign in Kentucky it returned to Nashville, from whence it marched with ROSECRAN'S army toward Murfreesboro in December. The regiment was engaged in the battle of Stone River, on the 31st of December, 1862, and 1st and 2d of January, 1863, losing five killed, thirty-six wounded and missing - making a total of forty-nine. After this engagement, it remained in the vicinity of Murfreesboro un- til the month of April, when it left on the STREIGHT expedition. The forces engaged in this expedition had been organized as a provisional brigade by Col. STREIGHT at his own solicitation, and by command of Gen. ROSECRANS, and consisted of the Fifty-first and Seventy-third Indiana, Third Ohio, and Eightieth Illinois, with two companies of cavalry and two pieces of artillery. The brigade, numbering about 1,700 men and 800 animals, left Nashville under command of Col. STREIGHT on the 11th of April, and proceeded to Palmyra, on the Cumberland River, by transports, and then marched through the country to Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, picking up on the route all the serviceable horses and mules that could be found. From thence it pro- ceeded on transports to Eastport, Miss., which place it left on the 21st of April (about two-thirds of the command being mounted), and marched in the direction of Rome, Ga., for the purpose of making a raid in the rear of BAGG'S army, then at Tullahoma. The expedition reached the base of Sand Mountains on the evening of the 29th, and on the 30th were overtaken by the rebel cavalry under FORREST, when a battle ensued, resulting in the defeat of the enemy. This was the battle of Day's Gap, in which the Fifty-first lost thirty-one killed and wounded. Among the latter was Lieut. Col. SHEETS, who fell mortally wounded. On the 1st of May, another fight took place on Crooked Creek, in which the enemy was again repulsed. On the 2d of May, another engagement was fought on BLUNT'S farm, near Gadsden, Ala., the enemy being again defeated. In this fight, Col. HATHAWAY, of the Seventy-third Indiana, was killed. The command pushed forward in hopes of capturing Rome, Ga., but on the 3d of May it was over- taken near Gaylesville, Ala., by the command of Gen. FORREST, and com- pelled to surrender. The whole force was consigned to rebel prisons, and the officers were treated with great severity. After being kept prisoners for some time, the enlisted men were paroled for exchange, and went into parole camp at Indianapolis until their exchange was effected. On the 9th of February, 1864, Col. STREIGHT escaped Libby Prison, by means of a tunnel, after ten months' imprisonment. In November, 1863, the regiment was exchanged, and at once returned to the field, joining the army at Nashville. During the fall of 1863, the regiment was engaged in guarding the communications of the army between Nashville and Chattanooga. It was afterward sent into East Tennessee, and in the months of January and February, 1864, a portion of the regiment re-enlisted as veterans. On the 29th of February, the veterans reached Indianapolis on veteran furlough, and about the 1st of April returned to the field. During the campaign of 1864, the regiment did duty at Chattanooga, and after the occupation of Atlanta moved to that place, where it remained until the Fourth Corps marched northward, when it moved with the First Brigade, Third Division of that corps, reaching Pulaski, Tenn., in November, and, upon the ad- vance of HOOD'S army on Nashville, it fell back toward that place. On the 14th of December, the non-veterans were mustered out of service, and proceeded home. On the 15th of December, the regiment partici- pated in the battle of Nashville, and afterward joined in the pursuit of the routed rebels, going as far as Huntsville, Ala. At this place it remained until March, 1865, when it moved with the Fourth Corps into East Tennessee. About the 1st of May it returned to Nashville, where a number of recruits that remained in service after the muster out of the Seventy-ninth Regiment were transferred to the Fifty-first. In June, the regiment moved on transports to New Orleans with the Fourth Corps, and from thence was transported to Texas, and landing on the coast marched into the interior of Western Texas, as far as San Antonio, where the regiment was stationed until November, 1865. It was subsequently ordered North, and was mustered out December 13, 1865. =========================================================================== If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access more information about Newton County, Indiana by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/in/newton/ ===========================================================================