3rd Indiana Cavalry

[tlyne]

 

[Legion Para]

For those wanting to know more about the 3rd Indiana Cavalry.

 

[Taylin]

Interestingly, this regiment had two "wings" until, December 1864 - one in the eastern theatre and one in the west. Anyone know if any other regiment had this sort of oddity?

 

[JOHN42768]

Appropriately placed in corn field

 

[captaxe]

Interestingly, this regiment had two "wings" until, December 1864 - one in the eastern theatre and one in the west. Anyone know if any other regiment had this sort of oddity?

Not one like that Taylin. The First Mass Cavalry was split, with 2 of its battalions serving with the Army of the Potomac, while its 3rd battalion fought in South Carolina and Florida. Not exactly an east-west thing, but similar.

 

[donna]

Nice photo.

 

[Lusty Murfax]

At least two of my 3rd Great Uncles were in the 3rd Indiana Cav. Rgt. Two more were in the 4th and 10th Indiana C.R., respectively. @Booner might have something to say about them. I believe his avatar photo is of William H. Sheets, Pvt., Co. C, Indiana 3rd C.R.

 

[Booner]

My avatar is indeed Pvt. William Sheets, of Co. C, 3rd Ind Cav;, our 3rd great Uncle.
He was wounded in '62 and released from service due to the wound. He died in '65 from those wounds. His sister married my GG grandfather, Francis Asburry Heath of Co. A 3rd Ind. Cav. Francs had two brothers also in the 3rd, but in company C.
When the war broke out, there were four Heath brothers who wanted to join the army, but their father would only let 3 of the go, as he needed the 4th to help on the farm. So the brothers drew straws to decide who would stay home.
The stay behind brother got his chance to be a soldier when he was drafted in '63.

 

[Lusty Murfax]

My avatar is indeed Pvt. William Sheets, of Co. C, 3rd Ind Cav;, our 3rd great Uncle.
He was wounded in '62 and released from service due to the wound. He died in '65 from those wounds. His sister married my GG grandfather, Francis Asburry Heath of Co. A 3rd Ind. Cav. Francs had two brothers also in the 3rd, but in company C.
When the war broke out, there were four Heath brothers who wanted to join the army, but their father would only let 3 of the go, as he needed the 4th to help on the farm. So the brothers drew straws to decide who would stay home.
The stay behind brother got his chance to be a soldier when he was drafted in '63.

So, we had four Uncles in the 3rd Indiana? William is named after Pres. William Henry Harrison, father of his Father's friend, neighbor, and brother-in-law, future President Benjamin Harrison. President Harrison gave the eulogy at his Uncle's funeral.

 

[Booner]

So, we had four Uncles in the 3rd Indiana? William is named after Pres. William Henry Harrison, father of his Father's friend, neighbor, and brother-in-law, future President Benjamin Harrison. President Harrison gave the eulogy at his Uncle's funeral.

ah, no....

Thanks to your question, I have just cleaned up some ancestry questions/problems.
For sure Francis Asbury Heath (my gg grandfather, your gg great uncle), was in Co. A, and William H. Sheets ( our gg grand Uncle) was in Co. C. (and some other things have been cleared up).

I had two other Heaths, a Samuel and a Martin Heath also in Co. C., but your question got me started looking at my genealogy records, as I have always wondered why the two other Heaths were in Co. C and Francis was in Co. A., (both companies were recruited from Switzerland County, Ind.). At best, with Heath not being a common name, they may have been cousins to Francis. Unfortunately, both of those other Heaths were killed in the war. Now I have to find out if Francis' father had a brother who sons joined the 3rd. cav.
Francis was one of 8 sons, and at least his brothers Samuel and Hiram served in Co. H 6th Ind Vol Inf. and William served in the 82 Ind. Vol. Inf. Both Samuel and William were Sergeants, and Hiram a
Corporal.
As I said, Francis married a Sheets (sister of William), and Benjamin (brother of Francis) also married another of Williams sisters. I believe William is buried in Union Star, MO. William Sheets had a brother who is listed as also serving in the 3rd Ind. Cav., but I don't find his name on the unit roster.

I'll have to verify all of this with cousin Lisa!

 

[Booner]

I'm assuming this picture is from Sharpsburg, MD and the Antietam creek would be off to the right of the picture?

 

[Lusty Murfax]

ah, no....

Thanks to your question, I have just cleaned up some ancestry questions/problems.
For sure Francis Asbury Heath (my gg grandfather, your gg great uncle), was in Co. A, and William H. Sheets ( our gg grand Uncle) was in Co. C. (and some other things have been cleared up).

I had two other Heaths, a Samuel and a Martin Heath also in Co. C., but your question got me started looking at my genealogy records, as I have always wondered why the two other Heaths were in Co. C and Francis was in Co. A., (both companies were recruited from Switzerland County, Ind.). At best, with Heath not being a common name, they may have been cousins to Francis. Unfortunately, both of those other Heaths were killed in the war. Now I have to find out if Francis' father had a brother who sons joined the 3rd. cav.
Francis was one of 8 sons, and at least his brothers Samuel and Hiram served in Co. H 6th Ind Vol Inf. and William served in the 82 Ind. Vol. Inf. Both Samuel and William were Sergeants, and Hiram a
Corporal.
As I said, Francis married a Sheets (sister of William), and Benjamin (brother of Francis) also married another of Williams sisters. I believe William is buried in Union Star, MO. William Sheets had a brother who is listed as also serving in the 3rd Ind. Cav., but I don't find his name on the unit roster.

I'll have to verify all of this with cousin Lisa!

Well, she will certainly know. I was wondering where you came up with Samuel and Martin Heath. I never heard of them.

 

[3rd INCAV]

Let me clarify the two wings of the 3rd Indiana Cavalry. When the regiment was organized, cavalry regiments had 10 companies.

Companies A-F were sent to the east and Companies G-K were organized a bit later and were sent to Kentucky. Later, Congress authorized the addition of two more companies per cavalry regiment and Companies L&M were raised but stayed in Indiana for nearly a year by Governor Morton as a provost marshal/mounted presence against the Copperheads in state. They chased Morgan across Indiana and Ohio and were present at his surrender. It was late 1863 when Companies L & M were ordered to Tennessee to join Companies G-K with whom they then served the rest of the war. In mid-1864, Companies G-K were mustered out and Companies L & M (plus a few of original Co. G-K men who had re-enlisted) were merged with the 8th Indiana Cavalry.

At no time did the two wings serve together though they maintained a single regimental command structure throughout the war.

The West wing fought throughout the campaigns in Tennessee and Georgia, including Atlanta and the later march to the sea.

Members of the East wing were recruited as "scouts" in 1863 by the Bureau of Military Information and contributed valuable service as spies. The East wing fought at Gettysburg on the first day and sustained the highest percentage of casualties of any Union cavalry unit at that battle. for a time in 1864, George A. Custer was their divisional commander. In August 1864, the original members who had not re-enlisted were mustered out and the remaining men plus recruits whose 3 year enlistment was not yet up, were re-organized as Companies A and B and served through the rest of the war, primarily as headquarters messengers and guards.

Needless to say, this unique unit of Hoosiers may be the only unit in the entire war to chase Morgan, be present at the surrender of Johnston at Bentonville, and be at Appomattox and Lee's surrender!

 

[3rd INCAV]

This is the unit's monument at Gettysburg. The Lutheran Seminary is just to the upper right of this photograph. The 3rd Indiana actually camped in the cornfield area the night of June 30.

 

[Karmike50]

H. Sheets, Pvt., Co. C, Indiana 3rd C.R.
[/QUOTE]
I had two great grandfathers in the 3rd Indiana Cavalry, one, Sgt Hiram Wiley (left) is pictured in the far left of the picture, and the other, Sgt John W. Senior was injured prior to the photo.

 

[Karmike50]

H. Sheets, Pvt., Co. C, Indiana 3rd C.R.

I had two great grandfathers in the 3rd Indiana Cavalry, one, Sgt Hiram Wiley (left) is pictured in the far left of the picture, and the other, Sgt John W. Senior was injured prior to the photo.
[/QUOTE]

 

[Booner]

H. Sheets, Pvt., Co. C, Indiana 3rd C.R.

I had two great grandfathers in the 3rd Indiana Cavalry, one, Sgt Hiram Wiley (left) is pictured in the far left of the picture, and the other, Sgt John W. Senior was injured prior to the photo.
[/QUOTE]
I'm not seeing your pictures. Do you know what company they were in?
And my gg grandfather, Pvt. Francis Asbury Heath was in Co. A, and Pvt. William H. Sheets, my gg grand Uncle, was in Co. C and his picture is my avatar. Francis married William's sister after the war ended. William died from wounds he received in '62 also after the war.
And welcome to the forum.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

Interestingly, this regiment had two "wings" until, December 1864 - one in the eastern theatre and one in the west. Anyone know if any other regiment had this sort of oddity?

The 12th Illinois Cavalry did, too.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

For those wanting to know more about the 3rd Indiana Cavalry.

View attachment 216531

A note of caution is required. This really isn't a conventional regimental history. It's really just a collection of official reports without a roster and without much of any value. I find it to be not terribly useful or helpful.

 

[Booner]

I'm not seeing your pictures. Do you know what company they were in?
And welcome to the forum.

Well, I can see the photo now. I couldn't last night.