80th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, July 1862 History

Below are brief descriptions of events at the national and state level that lead directly to the formation of the 80th Indiana.

Also included below are quotes from primary and secondary sources that are intended to give insights into what the times, and the soldiers' lives, were like. These quotes have been entered on the date they were written or published (unless otherwise noted) and without changing the original grammar or spelling. Abbreviations used on this page include: Assist.=Assistant; Brig.=Brigadier; Co.=Company; C.S.A.=Confederate States of America; Dept.=Department; Gen.= General; Gov.=Governor; Ind.=Indiana; Mus.=Muscian; Pvt.=Private; Sec.=Secretary; U.S.=United States; and '62=1862.

The 80th Indiana was formed in response to President Lincoln's call for 300,000 more volunteers for the Federal Army. The regiment left Indiana in September, 1862, and did not return until July, 1865. During that time it marched over 3,700 miles on foot and fought in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. Of the roughly 1,000 men who served in it, only 320 were still with the 80th when it came home.

Sources: 80th Indiana Regimental and Company Order Books; Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, Volumes III and IV, 1861-1865 (Indianapolis, Indiana, 1866); and other items as noted.

*Dates*	*Synopsis*	*Quotes*
July 1 Tuesday	Call For Volunteers. Proclamation by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln asking for 300,000 More Volunteers to help put down the Confederate rebellion. "I have decided to call into the service an additional force of 300,000 men. I suggest and recommend that the troops should be chiefly of infantry...I trust that they may be enrolled without delay, so as to bring this unnecessary and injurious civil war to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion."
July 2 Wednesday
July 3 Thursday	Private and Confidential. Telegram from U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to Ind. Gov. Oliver P. Morton. "MY DEAR SIR: I should not want the half of 300,000 new troops if I could have them now. If I had 50,000 additional troops here now I believe I could substantially close the war in two weeks. But time is everything, and if I get 50,000 new men in a month I shall have lost 90,000 old ones during the same mouth, having gained only 30,000, with the difference between old and new troops still against me. The quicker you send the fewer you will have to send. Time is everything. Please act in view of this."
July 4 Friday	Independence Day. Telegram from U.S. Sec. of War Edward M. Stanton to Ind. Gov. Oliver P. Morton. "Your telegram to the President has been received...Give us the fifteen regiments if you can do so, and at the earliest moment, raising them on any plan you deem most expedient." Telegram from Ind. Gov. Oliver P. Morton to U.S. Sec. of War Edward M. Stanton. "When I sent you my dispatch yesterday I had not seen your call for 300,000 men. Indiana will furnish her full quota."
July 5 Saturday
July 6 Sunday
July 7 Monday	Indiana's Quota. Telegram from U.S. Brig. Gen. C. P. Buckingham, U.S. War Dept., to Ind. Gov. Oliver P. Morton. "You are requested to raise as soon as practicable for the U. S. service, for three years or during the war, nine regiments of volunteer infantry, being a part of your quota under the call of the President."
July 8 Tuesday
July 9 Wednesday
July 10 Thursday	Secret Expenditures. Telegram from U.S. Assist. Sec. of War C. P. Wolcott to Ind. Gov. Oliver P. Morton. "SIR: You are hereby authorized to make a requisition on the Secretary of War for such sum as you may deem necessary (not to exceed $1,000), to be expended at your discretion in employing speakers, or in such other secret manner as you may deem advisable, for encouraging enlistments of volunteers. Your account of such fund will be rendered to the Secretary of War, accompanied by proper vouchers."
July 11 Friday
July 12 Saturday
July 13 Sunday	First 80th Men Enlisted. These volunteers are the first recorded enlistments into the 80th. William Barr, Mus. John W. Kellams, Mus.
July 14 Monday	Enlisted in what became Co. D of the 80th. Philip G. Allensworth, Pvt.
July 15 Tuesday
July 16 Wednesday
July 17 Thursday
July 18 Friday
July 19 Saturday	Enlisted into what became Co. D of the 80th. Edwin B. Reeves, Pvt.
July 20 Sunday	Enlisted into what became Co. D of the 80th. James M. Barr, Pvt.
July 21 Monday
July 22 Tuesday
July 23 Wednesday
July 24 Thursday
July 25 Friday
July 26 Saturday
July 27 Sunday
July 28 Monday
July 29 Tuesday	Enlisted in what became Co. E of the 80th. William T. Skelton, Pvt.
July 30 Wednesday
July 31 Thursday

This page Copyright by Scott Cantwell Meeker of Deep Vee Productions. All Rights Reserved. Created July 2, 2000. Last updated December 2, 2004.

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	July 1862 80th Indiana Volunteer Infantry An American Civil War Regiment
U.S. Secretary of War Edward M. Stanton