21st Indiana Battery Light Artillery was an artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 battery

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 that served in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Service

The battery was organized at Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 and mustered in September 9, 1862 for a three year enlistment under the command of Captain William W. Andrew.

The battery was attached to 2nd Division, Army of Kentucky, Department of the Ohio

Department of the Ohio

The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River.General Orders No...

, October 1862. Unassigned, Army of Kentucky, Department of the Ohio, to December 1862. Artillery, 3rd Division, Army of Kentucky, Department of the Ohio, to February 1863. Crook's Brigade, Baird's Division, Army of Kentucky, Department of the Cumberland, to June 1863. Artillery, 4th Division, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland

Army of the Cumberland

The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.-History:...

, to October 1863. 2nd Division, Artillery Reserve, Department of the Cumberland, to March 1864. Garrison Artillery, Columbia, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to November 1864. Garrison Artillery, Nashville, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to March 1865. 2nd Sub-District, District of Middle Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to June 1865.

The 21st Indiana Battery Light Artillery mustered out of service on June 26, 1865.

Detailed service

Left Indiana for Covington, Ky., September 9. Duty at Lexington, Richmond, Danville, and Louisville, Ky., until February 2, 1863. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., February 2; then moved to Carthage, Tenn., and duty there until June. Moved to Murfreesboro June 3. Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Hoover's Gap June 24-26. Occupation of middle Tennessee until August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga Campaign August 16-September 22. Catlett's Gap, Pigeon Mountain, September 15-18. Battle of Chickamauga September 19-21. Siege of Chattanooga, Tenn., September 24-November 23. Battles of Chattanooga November 23-25. Duty at Chattanooga until March 26, 1864, and at Columbia, Tenn., until November 24. Moved to Nashville, Tenn., November 24. Battle of Nashville December 15-16. Garrison duty at Nashville until June 1865.

Casualties

The battery lost a total of 28 men during service; 4 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 24 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

• Captain William W. Andrew
• Captain A. Piatt Andrew
• Lieutenant William E. Chess - commanded during the Chattanooga Campaign

See also

• List of Indiana Civil War regiments
• Indiana in the Civil War