View source for 51st Indiana Infantry Regiment

{{Infobox Military Unit
|unit_name= 51st Indiana Infantry Regiment
|image=Col. Abel D. Streight, 51st Ind. Inf. USA.jpg
|image_size=200px
|caption=Col. Abel Delos Streight, Commander of the 51st Indiana Infantry
|dates= December 14, 1861, to December 13, 1865
|country= [[United States]]
|allegiance= [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]
|branch= [[Infantry]]
|equipment=
<!-- Culture and history -->
|battles=[[Battle of Shiloh]]<br/>[[Siege of Corinth]]<br/>[[Battle of Perryville]]<br/>[[Battle of Stones River]]<br/>[[Streight's Raid]]<br/>[[Tullahoma Campaign]] (detachment)<br/>[[Second Battle of Franklin]]<br/>[[Battle of Nashville]]
}}

{{Wikisource|Report of Col. Abel D. Streight, August 22, 1864}}

The '''51st Indiana Infantry Regiment''' was an [[infantry]] [[regiment]] that served in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]].

==Service==
The 51st Indiana Infantry was organized and mustered in at [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], for a three-year enlistment on December 14, 1861, under the command of [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Abel D. Streight]].

The regiment was attached to 20th Brigade, [[Army of the Ohio]], to January 1862. 20th Brigade, 6th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September 1862. 20th Brigade, 6th Division, [[II Corps (Union Army)|II Corps]], Army of the Ohio, to November 1862. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Left Wing, [[XIV Corps (Union Army)|XIV Corps]], [[Army of the Cumberland]], to January 1863. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, [[XXI Corps (Union Army)|XXI Corps]], Army of the Cumberland, to April 1863. Streight's Provisional Brigade, Army of the Cumberland, to May 1863. Prisoners of war until December 1863. Post of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to April 1864. 1st Separate Brigade, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to September 1864. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, [[IV Corps (Union Army)|IV Corps]], Army of the Cumberland, to November 1864. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, IV Corps, to August 1865. Department of Texas to December 1865.

The 51st Indiana Infantry mustered out of service at [[San Antonio, Texas]], on December 13, 1865.

==Detailed service==
'''December 14:'''  Moved to ''Louisville, KY''

'''until February 1862:'''  to ''Bardstown, KY'' (and duty there)

'''February 7-March 13, 1862:'''  March to ''Nashville, TN''

'''March 29-April 6:'''  March to ''Savannah, TN''

'''April 6–7:'''  ''Battle of Shiloh''

'''April 29-May 30:'''  Advance on and siege of ''Corinth, MS''

'''May 31-June 12:'''  Pursuit to ''Booneville''

'''June to August:'''  Buell's Campaign in ''northern Alabama'' and ''middle Tennessee''

'''August 21-September 26:'''  Guarding ''Memphis'' & ''Charleston Railroad''. March to ''Louisville, KY'' (in pursuit of Bragg)

'''October 1–22:'''  Pursuit of Bragg to ''London, KY''

'''October 8:'''  Battle of ''Perryville'' (reserve).

'''October 22-November 7:'''  March to ''Nashville, TN''

'''until December 26:'''  Duty in Nashville, TN

'''December 25:'''  Prim's Blacksmith Shop, ''Edmonson Pike''

'''December 26–30:'''  Advance on ''Murfreesboro''

'''December 30–31, 1862 and January 1–3, 1863:'''  ''Battle of Stones River''

'''until April:'''  Duty at ''Murfreesboro''

'''January 13–15:'''  Reconnaissance to ''Nolensville'' and ''Versailles''

'''April 26-May 3:'''  Streight's Raid to ''Rome, GA''

'''April 30:'''  ''Dug Gap'', ''Sand Mountain'', ''Crooked Creek'' and ''Hog Mountain''

'''May 1:'''  East Branch ''Black Warrior Creek''

'''May 2:'''  ''Blount's Farm''

'''May 3:'''  ''near Centre'' ''Galesville'' (''Cedar Bluff'')  (where the regiment was captured)

'''November 1863:'''  Exchanged

'''December 1863:'''  Reorganized at ''Indianapolis, IN,'' and rejoined the army at ''Nashville, TN''

'''June 23-July 7:''' (A detachment on Tullahoma Campaign)

'''until April 1864:'''  Assigned to duty as guard on Railroad, ''between Nashville and Chattanooga''

'''until September 1864:'''  Duty at ''Chattanooga''

'''until October:'''  Duty at ''Atlanta''

'''August 14–15:'''  Action at ''Dalton, GA''

'''October 3–26:'''  Pursuit of Hood ''into Alabama''

'''November–December:'''  ''Nashville Campaign''

'''November 24–27:'''  ''Columbia, Duck River''

'''November 30:'''  ''Battle of Franklin''

'''December 15–16:'''  ''Battle of Nashville''

'''December 17–28:'''  Pursuit of Hood to the ''Tennessee River''

'''December 21:'''  ''Columbia''

'''December 22:'''  ''Duck River''

'''December 14, 1864:'''  Non-veterans mustered out

'''until March 1865:'''  Moved to ''Huntsville, AL'' (and duty there)

'''March 15-April 22:'''  Operations in ''eastern TN''

'''until June:'''  At ''Nashville''

'''June 16:'''  Ordered to ''New Orleans''

'''July:''' To ''TX''

'''until December:'''  Duty at ''Green Lake'' and ''San Antonio''

==Casualties==
The regiment lost a total of 264 men during service; 1 officer and 55 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 6 officers and 202 enlisted men died of disease.

==Commanders==
* Colonel Abel D. Streight
* [[Captain (United States)|Captain]] William W. Scearce - commanded at the battle of Nashville

==Notable members==
* Captain [[Marion T. Anderson]], Company D - [[Medal of Honor]] recipient, for action at Nashville
* Captain Milton Russell, Company A - Medal of Honor recipient, for action at Stones River

==See also==
{{portal|American Civil War}}
* [[List of Indiana Civil War regiments]]
* [[Indiana in the Civil War]]

==References==
* ''Brief Sketches of the Military Services, Escape from Libby Prison, How He Won a Medal of Honor, and Grand Army Record of Major Marion T. Anderson, Late of the 51st Indiana Vet. Vols.'' (Washington, DC:  Gibson Brothers), 1897.
* Dyer, Frederick H.  ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA:  Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908.
* Hartpence, William R. ''History of the Fifty-First Indiana Veteran Volunteer Infantry: A Narrative of its Organization, Marches, Battles and Other Experiences in Camp and Prison, from 1861 to 1866'' (Cincinnati:  [[The Robert Clarke Company]], Printers), 1894.
;Attribution
* {{CWR}}

{{Indiana in the Civil War}}

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1861]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1865]]
[[Category:Units and formations of the Union army from Indiana]]
[[Category:The Lightning Mule Brigade]]
[[Category:1861 establishments in Indiana]]