Whether posed in a studio at Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne, or in the field, the Hoosier soldiers who look out from these portraits represent the citizens who left farms, shops, and small towns to preserve the Union. Under the determined leadership of Gov. Oliver P. Morton—known to troops as the “Soldier’s Friend”—Indiana mobilized with speed and resolve after the firing on Fort Sumter.
By war’s end, more than 208,000 Indianans—roughly 15 percent of the state’s population—had served, with another 2,000 in naval service. They filled 129 infantry regiments, 13 cavalry regiments, and numerous artillery batteries, fighting in more than 300 engagements, largely in the Western Theater. Some 25,028 lost their lives.
Indiana’s contribution extended well beyond the ranks. Its farms supplied grain and livestock, its railroads moved troops and materiel, and Indianapolis emerged as a major training and logistics hub. Camp Morton, first organized as a mobilization center, later became one of the largest Confederate prisoner-of-war camps. At home, women organized aid societies, nursed the wounded, and sustained families and communities during years of absence and loss…