Home Guards 

Tim Beckman sent in the following information and rosters of the Home Guards.

The Indiana Legion (also sometimes called the Home Guards) was organized under the militia law of May 11, 1861. It was created for the purpose of maintaining civil order within the state and for repelling attacks from outside the state during the period of the Civil War. The Legion was composed entirely of volunteers with the vast majority of the regiments being organized in the counties along the Ohio River where the threat of raids and attacks by Confederate sympathizers from Kentucky was always looming. Some of the more notable engagements that the Legion participated in included the Kirby Smith invasion of Kentucky (1862) and the Hines and Morgan raids of Indiana (1863). The Legion also served as a kind of recruiting and training ground for service in the Union Army, with a substantial number of these men volunteering for service in Indiana regiments.

Source: Indiana in the Civil War Era 1850-1880, by Emma Lou Thornbrough. Pages 141-142.

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The following was excerpted from: Indiana in the War of the Rebellion, Report of the Adjutant General, Volume I, by W. H. H. Terrell. Reprinted by the Indiana Historical Society, 1960. Pages 148-150.

The Third Regiment, First Brigade (Warrick County Regiment), Colonel Daniel F. Bates, commanding, was organized to the extent of six very efficient companies, in the summer and autumn of 1861. All these companies were armed and equipped, and drilled to a fair degree of proficiency in the manual of arms and in company and battalion evolutions. Two companies located at Newburgh were called out for guard duty during the fall and winter, and maintained the utmost vigilance for several months. In the spring of 1862, the ranks of the battalion had become so thinned by men volunteering for active field service, that three companies were disbanded. Nine other companies were subsequently, and at different dates, organized and attached to this command. Company drills were maintained throughout the spring months of this year, but the constant drain upon the ranks by volunteering, induced the Colonel commanding (with the consent of General Blythe), to call in the arms of two companies, an act which opened the way for the Newburgh raid. This event threw the county into intense excitement, and in the connection with the presence of large bodies of guerrillas in the vicinity of Green river, Kentucky, caused the regiment to be called out and kept in camp for several days. Many of the men were farmers, and while they were on duty at camp their crops were wasting. As excitement began to subside, the men were permitted to stay at their homes during the day time, but details of one third of each company were placed on guard every night until the danger was over.

About the 20^th of September, Colonel Bates, with four hundred men hastily called together, went to Owensboro, Kentucky, to aid in repelling an attack upon the United States forces stationed there. They arrived too late to participate in the engagement, and after remaining on day returned to Newburgh. During their absence the town had been threatened again and two companies had been called out, who were dismissed to their homes on the return of the Colonel commanding. Details were, however, kept on guard until the 1^st of November following. Drills were kept up without regard to weather and to the neglect of all other interest. Eleven militia companies were organized under the Governor�s proclamation of September 5^th, 1862, and when they were disbanded, the morale of the regiment did not suffer as was the case in some other counties. On several occasions battalion dress parades were held, and the command received the commendation of officers of high rank, for their soldierly bearing and marked proficiency in discipline and tactics.

Nothing of greater importance than details for guard duty and scouting was required of the regiment during the winter and spring of 1863, or until the month of July. On the 8^th of that month Colonel Bates, in obedience to an order from the Governor called out his entire command to repel an expected attack from the rebels acting in concert with John Morgan. Eight companies of infantry and one company of artillery were stationed at Scuffletown Barr, on the Ohio River; one company of cavalry at Newburgh, to be used as scouts; two companies of infantry were mounted and sent out as scouts into Dubois, Orange and Perry counties, to ascertain if Morgan was moving westward, as was currently reported. The command remained on duty eight days, when all but two companies were permitted to return to their homes, with orders to hold themselves in readiness for instant service if required. The two companies retained were placed on guard at several points on the river, where, on account of the low stage of the water, it was easily fordable. This duty was continued for two weeks.

This regiment was not called upon for further service until 10^th of June, 1864, when General Hughes ordered the Colonel commanding to go into camp near Newburgh with two companies and be prepared to repel a raid which seemed imminent from threatening demonstrations on the Kentucky border. The cavalry company attached to the regiment was at the same time ordered to report to General Hughes and, in addition to other service, participated in the expedition into Kentucky. Colonel Bates picketed the river the entire breadth of this county and patrolled the bank every night until the 15^th of June, when he was ordered to break up his camp and dismiss the men to their homes. The regiment was not subsequently called out.

This regiment was particularly fortunate in continuing throughout the war under the command of the same Colonel, than whom no officer of the Legion exhibited more earnest zeal or more unflinching loyalty. He succeeded in infusing his spirit and energy into his officers and men, and no portion of the command ever hesitated to respond to any call, at whatever sacrifice of personal interests.

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ROSTERS OF OFFICERS OF THE INDIANA LEGION

THIRD REGIMENT, INDIANA LEGION � WARRICK AND GIBSON COUNTIES

Source: Terrell, W. H. H., Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, Volume III, Indianapolis, IN 1866. Pages 543-545.

FIELD AND STAFF

Daniel F. Bates
Colonel
Newburg
Sept. 26, 1861

Rufus F. Roberts
Colonel
Newburg
Nov. 22, 1861

Isaac W. Adams
Lieut. Col.
Boonville
Jan. 2, 1862

James Wood
Adjutant
Newburg
Jan. 22, 1862

John B. Handy
Qr. Master
Newburg
Jan. 22, 1862

Daniel A. DeForrest
Surgeon
Newburg
July 1, 1863

William W. Slaughter
Judge Adv.
Newburg
Aug. 3, 1864

Companies

Newburg Home Guards

Union Bethell
Captain
Newburg
July 8, 1861

John H. Darling
1st Lieut.
Newburg
July 8, 1861

Yost Moog
2d Lieut.
Newburg
July 8, 1861

Campbell Township Union Home Guards

H. C. Nanny
Captain
Oct. 22, 1861

Jacob Miller
1st Lieut.
Oct. 22, 1861

C. J. Reagan
2d Lieut.
Oct. 22, 1861

Yankeetown Home Guards

Peter Taylor
Captain
Yankeetown
Oct. 12, 1861

Daniel Hartley
1st Lieut.
Yankeetown
Oct. 12, 1861

Lewis A. Baker
2d Lieut.
Yankeetown
Oct. 12, 1861

Boonville Home Guards

Larkin L. Boyd
Captain
Boonville
Oct. 10, 1861

William Lankford
1st Lieut.
Boonville
Oct. 10, 1861 Resigned, Nov. 22, �61(?)

Thomas S. White
2d Lieut.
Boonville
Oct. 10, 1861

Newburg Greys

Rufus R. Roberts
Captain
Newburg
Oct. 10, 1861 Promoted Major

B. J. Ralison
1st Lieut.
Newburg
Oct. 10, 1861

Robert Hall
2d Lieut.
Newburg
Oct. 10, 1861

Warrick Rangers

Joshua F. Roberts
Captain
Newburg
Oct. 10, 1861

Ratcliff B. Alexander
1st Lieut.
Newburg
Oct. 10, 1861

Walker J. McKinney
2d Lieut.
Newburg
Oct. 10, 1861

Warrick Home Guards

Robert Perigo
Captain
Boonville
Oct. 10, 1861

S. M. Davis
1st Lieut.
Boonville
Oct. 10, 1861 Resigned, Dec. 17, �61

William McConnel
1st Lieut.
Boonville
Dec. 17, 1861

Nelson G. Dubois
2d Lieut.
Boonville
Oct. 10, 1861

Warrick Bates Guard

John W. Barnett
Captain
Boonville
Aug. 14, 1862

James Hart
1st Lieut.
Boonville
Aug. 14, 1862 Entered U.S. service

John Hodges
2d Lieut.
Boonville
Aug. 4, 1864

Larkin C. Bethell
2d Lieut.
Boonville
Aug. 14, 1862

Jackson Artillery

Yost Moog
Captain
Newburg
Aug. 15, 1862

Frederick Roeter
1st Lieut.
Newburg
Aug 15, 1862

Herman Ulrich
1st Lieut.
Newburg
Aug. 15, 1862

Newburg Blues

John H. Darby
Captain
Newburg
Sept. 9, 1862

Daniel White
1st Lieut.
Newburg
Sept. 9, 1862

Peter Breuner
2d Lieut.
Newburg
Sept. 9, 1862

Pigeon Township Rangers

William M. Bryan
Captain
Polk Patch
Nov. 10, 1862

John Chinn
1st Lieut.
Polk Patch
Nov. 10, 1862

John Easley
2d Lieut.
Polk Patch
Nov. 10, 1862

Warrick Guards

James L. Philips
Captain
Warners
Nov. 10, 1862

John Hart
1st Lieut.
Warners
Nov. 10, 1862

William Youngs
2d Lieut.
Warners
Nov. 10, 1862

Warrick Greys

John R. Bell
Captain
Newburg
Sept. 30, 1862

Silas Bell
1st Lieut.
Newburg
Sept. 30, 1862

John E. Wallace
2d Lieut.
Newburg
Sept. 30, 1862

Warrick Cavalry

William H. Stone
Captain
Boonville
Aug. 8, 1862

William R. Davis
1st Lieut.
Boonville
Aug. 8, 1862

Thompson Tweedy
2d Lieut.
Boonville
Aug. 8, 1862

Johnson Guards

Squire Johnson
Captain
Boonville
Sept. 30, 1862

John Stephenson
1st Lieut.
Boonville
Sept. 30, 1862

James Simpson
2d Lieut.
Boonville
Sept. 30, 1862

Enlisted Men:

Hornback, Abraham
Warrick Home Guards 3rd Regt.

If you have additional soldiers to add, please email me.